Overachieving Blazers winning despite injuries

The Blazers were hit particularly hard at center, when Oden and Przybilla both suffered season ending injuries in December. But Portland brought in Camby, and the Blazers won a surprising 50 games and made it to the playoffs.

This season it was much of the same. In addition to Oden and Roy, Camby needed arthroscopic surgery in mid-January to repair a partial meniscus tear in his left knee.

Camby, a 6-foot-11 veteran of 15 NBA seasons, was averaging 5.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.87 blocks in 39 games this season, all starts.

Additionally, second-year forward Jeff Pendergraph injured his knee in the preseason and required season-ending surgery, while rookie guard Elliot Williams has had surgery this season on both knees.

Roy and Camby have both returned to practice. Roy told reporters this past week that he hoped to play when the Blazers host the defending NBA champion Lakers on Wednesday.

Last season, Roy had arthroscopic surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee two days before the Blazers opened their first-round playoff series against Phoenix. He made a remarkable comeback and played in the fourth game of the series, which the Suns eventually won.