Portland welcomes Roy with a standing-O

PORTLAND - Timberwolves guard Brandon Roy's return to Portland officially went unannounced Saturday night at the Rose Garden.

It didn't, however, go unnoticed.

A few wore their old No. 7 jerseys with his surname stitched on the back.

Another carried a sign that simply read, "Thanks, Brandon. #7"

Almost all stood and applauded when an image of him on the Wolves' bench appeared without any other comment on the big overhead score during a timeout midway through the first quarter.

Roy stayed Friday night in the Portland home he still owns and said simply flying back into the city with his new team Friday afternoon and out to his house at night reminded him of the five NBA seasons he starred there.

"Just going back home brings back memories of some really special nights here in the Rose Garden," he said before the game. "I have so many memories, from the very first seasons right up until my [last] year, that I forget things until people remind me about them. That's what you want coming into league, to create memories. I have a lot of special ones here, especially in this building."

Roy said he intends to resume practicing sometime soon after the team returns Sunday from a three-game Western trip that ended in Portland and is hopeful he can play right along with returning injured players Kevin Love and Chase Budinger for the season's final weeks.

"I feel once they're healthy, I'll be that much closer, and we'll give ourselves a look at what this team could have been with all our guys healthy," he said.

Meanwhile, the Wolves played Saturday without Love, without Budinger, without Roy and without yet two more starters when both small forward Andrei Kirilenko (strained calf) and center Nikola Pekovic (abdominal strain) didn't play.

Mickael Gelabale replaced Kirilenko, and Greg Stiemsma replaced Pekovic in the starting lineup.

Wolves coach Rick Adelman said he'd certainly welcome Roy's return, but he isn't counting on it by any means.

"It'd certainly help us if he can play, but I just have to wait and see."

Roy hasn't played a game since Nov. 9 because of the same degenerative knee issues that caused him to retire from the Trail Blazers in December 2011.

He met with a small army of Portland media members before Saturday's game and was asked why he keeps on keeping on, why he hasn't yet decided to finally call it quits on an All-Star career.

"Really, I'm still young," said Roy, 28. "If I was just to stop playing basketball, I don't know exactly what I'd go into right away. So I just say, 'Why not?' I still love to show up and practice and work out. And when the time comes to stop, I'll know when that time comes."

He is being paid $5 million this season and said he committed to giving himself a full season when he signed last summer a two-year, $10 million contract with the Wolves that now is not guaranteed next season.