Aldridge, Oden Combine For 48 Points, Blazers Rout Bulls

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for the Portland Trailblazers has been integrating Andre Miller. He started the season off the bench while Steve Blake started, grumbled about it a bit and then eventually moved back into the starting lineup alongside Blake once Nicholas Batum and Travis Outlaw suffered serious injuries.

Now, he’s coming off the bench again, which could rekindle the discontent we saw in preseason. However, as Blazers Edge, SB Nation’s Portland Trailblazers blog noted, Miller certainly succeeded coming off the bench Monday against the Bulls.

Brandon Roy tallied 18 points and seven assists for Portland, which won for the ninth time in its last 11 contests. Andre Miller missed just one of his 11 foul shots and finished with 16 points, while Rudy Fernandez scored 13 in the win.

Luol Deng had 25 points and John Salmons 22 for the Bulls, who lost for a third straight time on their six-game road swing. Chicago has games at Utah and Milwaukee to finish the trip.