"What's the value of a 44-point victory?

For the Trail Blazers, who absolutely walloped Charlotte 112-68 on Wednesday at the Rose Garden, one of the biggest benefits was surely rest, especially for leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge.

Aldridge played 26 minutes, 16 seconds and got his time's worth, scoring 22 points on 8-for-16 field goal shooting and 6-for-6 free-throw shooting.

"I don't think I've played 26 minutes since my first year in the league," Aldridge said. "It's definitely going to be big.""