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Frye steps up to fill Przybilla's shoes for Blazers

08:38 AM PDT on Friday, April 11, 2008

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Channing Frye knows opportunities come and go when you least expect them in the NBA, and his play against the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night was a matter of just concentrating on his job.

The Portland forward-center had 22 points and 11 rebounds, played credible defense on Pau Gasol and led to the Trail Blazers to their sixth straight win over the Lakers at the Rose Garden, while taking over for the injured Joel Przybilla in that game.

"The fact that we have nine or ten guys who can play off the bench helps," Frye said, downplaying his own contribution. "That's how we're built and that's the kind of team we are."

Frye came over from the New York Knicks in June as part of the Zach Randolph deal.

After averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds off the bench as a rookie, and starting for most of last year, the third-year pro is averaging 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 74 games, and the addition of Greg Oden next year might leave him the odd man out in the Blazer rotation.

With Przybilla out for the season, Nate McMillan chose to start Frye over veteran Raef LaFrentz because of his scoring ability. The coach was grateful for Frye's contribution.

"It was a great game for a lot of people, but especially Channing Frye," McMillan said. "He had the difficult assignment of guarding Pau Gasol and he didn't back down. I told him before the game that I wanted to see 10 points and 10 rebounds, and he gave us that and more."

Przybilla broke his hand on the rim trying to block former Blazers teammate Ime Udoka's shot last Sunday. It was a tough stroke of bad luck for the big man, who had talked about playing all 82 games this season after an injury plagued 2006-07. Przybilla had even bet trainer Jay Jensen that he would play in every game.

"Joel has been playing with a number of injuries through out the season and he's been able to battle through those injuries," McMillan said. "This guy's been a warrior all season long and for that to happen the other night ... it's just frustrating for him. He's got pins in his hand now and he's going to recover fine."

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WEBSTER MAY RETURN: The Blazers are hopeful that Martell Webster can return to play the final two games of the season, but no final decision will be made until next week.

Webster, Portland's starting small forward for most of the season, has missed games recently with flu-like symptoms and an irregular heartbeat and was checked out by doctors on Tuesday.

The examination included the insertion of a catheter into Webster's leg, but the team said he checked out OK.

"The tests came back really good; they didn't really see anything, but he will stay out for a couple days," coach Nate McMillan said.

With Webster and center Joel Przybilla out, the Blazers activated little-used rookie forward Josh McRoberts from Idaho of the NBA Development League.

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McMILLAN LIKES PAUL: NBA Most Valuable Player voting could be extremely tight, with Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant all making a good case this season.

Paul has led surprising New Orleans to the best record in the Western Conference, James is leading the NBA in scoring at 30.7 points per game, and Bryant is right behind him at 28.7.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan likes Paul, the third-year point guard who is leading the NBA in assists with 11.5 per game, along 21.2 points and 2.7 steals.

"I would probably lean toward Chris Paul based on what he's done and what New Orleans has done," McMillan told Blazers broadcaster Brian Wheeler before a recent game. "New Orleans has had a great season, Kobe has been great and LeBron has some really good games. I would put them in order: Chris Paul is one, Kobe would be two and LeBron three."

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