Blazers expected to start Roy, Camby against Celtics

TUALATIN, Ore. — Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy said he will play tonight against the Boston Celtics at the Rose Garden.

“I feel like I’m ready to go,” said Roy, following a morning practice at the team’s workout facility.

Roy, who is recovering from a strained right hamstring, stated that he is still feeling tightness in the muscle and is not sure how many minutes he will play. Roy added that issues concerning the hamstring are part-injury related and part-mental.

Roy said his main concern is that he pulls his hamstring again.

“In practice, there were a couple times where I made some plays and I was thinking about it,” Roy said. “I’ve got to get over that part of it and just start to play.”

Asked to put a percentage on the health of his hamstring, Roy said he would not.

“I stay away from that,” Roy said. “It’s something that’s still there. I can’t really say exactly where I feel like it’s at. It’s something that I’m just going to continue to try to play with and play through and just try to put it behind me.”

Roy did not practice hard the last two days. As far as treatment, Roy said he has cut down stretching exercises. He is primarily relying on “pull work” and training room-related exercises to strengthen the muscle.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan said forward Nicolas Batum will play tonight. However, McMillan would not reveal his team’s starting lineup.

Roy said he was excited for the Blazer debut of newly acquired center Marcus Camby, who is expected to start.

“I haven’t played in a while,” Roy said. “But I know the guys in practice yesterday were just excited to have him — a true center back there. And now we’ve got Juwan (Howard) coming off the bench, which I think is really going to help our team.”