PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers may get Brandon Roy back after all.

The All-Star guard could return as soon as Sunday's home game with San Antonio, Blazers coach Nate McMillan said Wednesday.

The Blazers has struggled since Roy went down in the first half against Washington March 25, losing their next three games by an average of 12.3 points.

AP Photo

Portland Trail Blazers' Brandon Roy moves the ball down the court during an NBASummer League basketball game against the Houston Rockets.

An MRI this week showed that Roy has a strain and not a tear in his groin, paving the way for him to possibly return for some of Portland's remaining six games.

"They want to make sure there's no structural damage before I push it," Roy told The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, Wash. "It's just a precautionary thing, just to make sure nothing's wrong."

Portland's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday mathematically ended its playoff hopes. The game was tied at halftime but the Blazers scored just 13 points in the third quarter and got left in the dust as Kobe Bryant went for 36 points.

"We've got to raise our level of play," McMillan said after the game, "especially when we're playing a playoff team."

Four of Portland's last six opponents -- the Lakers, Spurs, Dallas and Phoenix -- are all in either in the playoffs or still in the race.

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PRZYBILLA GETS THE BOARDS: In one of their strangest games of the year, the Blazers lost last Saturday at home to Charlotte, despite outrebounding the Bobcats 57-32.

Portland also had a 21-6 advantage on the offensive boards.

The statistics are surprising partly because the Blazers haven't been a good rebounding team most of the season. Portland is 24th in the NBA, averaging 40.7 rebounds a game.

Portland's better performance on the boards can be partly attributed to a greater reliance on center Joel Przybilla.

The 7-foot-1 Przybilla, Portland's leading rebounder at 8.3 per game, played almost seven more minutes per game in March than previously in the season and that was reflected an improved rebounding prowess.

Przybilla averaged 11.7 rebounds in March, tied a franchise record for regulation games with 26 against the Los Angeles Clippers and also had games of 18 and 17.

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ROY NAMED A FINALIST: Blazers guard Brandon Roy has been named one of six finalists for the NBA Sportsmanship Award, annually given to the player who best represents ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

Detroit's Antonio McDyess, Houston's Shane Battier, Toronto's Chris Bosh and Washington's Antawn Jamison are the other nominees.

The finalists came from each of the NBA's six divisions and players vote for the winner.

The trophy is named for original winner Joe Dumars.

Other previous winners include former University of Oregon star Terrell Brandon, Grant Hill, David Robinson and Ray Allen.