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Playing without Zach Randolph, the Trail Blazers held on in the second half against the Toronto Raptors, and left Canada with a 93-83 victory. There were several anxious moments in the final few minutes of the game, as the Blazers got very conservative, and the Raptors suddenly got hot from behind the three-point line, but Portland hung on. They improved to 2 and 2 on this long 6-game trip, and will look for a second-consecutive victory Monday night at Philadelphia. The trip wraps up Wednesday night in Memphis.

With the main focal point of the offense back at the hotel watching the game on TV, the Blazers' offense found new ways to score. Even though they turned the ball over 20 times, something that had coach Nate McMillan frustrated, the Blazers got big offensive games from Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack, who scored 22 apiece. Five Blazers in all scored in double figures, the first time that's happened this season. Juan Dixon had 16 off the bench, Ime Udoka was solid again with 13, and Travis Outlaw had 10.

Even though the Blazers shot just 43 percent from the field, they absolutely dominated Toronto on the boards, outrebounding them 56-34. Statistically, the Raptors ranked ahead of the Blazers in that category coming into the game. While the Blazers had those 20 turnovers, the Raptors took very good care of the ball, turning it over only 5 times.

We're in Philadelphia now, and take on the Sixers Monday night. Flying into, and leaving, Canada is always a bit of a challenge, compared to the usual in-and-out we face in other NBA cities. The break for the Blazers here was the fact that it was a 1 o'clock Eastern start on Sunday, so we got into Philly fairly early, and were at the hotel by 8:30pm. We normally check into hotels in the middle of the night, and that makes things tough.

Winning a game late in a long road trip always boosts spirits, and following Friday's disappointing loss in Indiana, this is just what Portland needed. It seems like we've been out of the road for a long, long time, and everyone is starting to feel it. Not only are we away from home, which carries with it the usual stress, but we've hit five cities in six days, and have another left before we get to come home. We're all ready to come home.

It'll be an interesting game on Monday. As you know, Allen Iverson is dominating the headlines in the NBA, and the Philadelphia newspapers are wall-to-wall with this stuff. It takes a big story to bump the Eagles off the top of the sports pages here, but the Sixers have done it. It certainly sounds like Iverson has played his last game as a Sixer, and one headline today said "Iverson Era Comes to an End." Maurice Cheeks would be out, but he's Philly's fifth coach in six years, and they're still paying Jim O'Brien, who they canned after the 04-05 season. It's not a good situation.

All that being said, the Sixers are actually coming off a very strong performance against the Magic, in Orlando. They had a chance to win it, but fell to the Magic 86-84. That's seven-straight losses for the Sixers, and 11 of their last 12, and they stand 5-14 overall. They fought hard against Orlando, and expect the same on Monday. Despite their recent struggles, this will not be an easy game to win for the Blazers.

The big question now is, where will Iverson end up? Denver? We'll see, and according to some, he could be traded by the time the game starts on Monday.