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defending overall champion,
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PORTLAND, Ore. -- There was some shouting going on in the Trail Blazers locker room after they fell behind by 10 points at halftime to the Rockets. Up 2-1 in their first playoff series since 2011, the Blazers didnt want to mess up Game 4, especially in front of their hometown fans. "In the words of Chuck -- Charles Barkley -- we were playing like wussies," Portland guard Wesley Matthews said. "That was the message to each other." Whatever was said, the Trail Blazers pulled out of their funk and went on to defeat the Rockets 123-120 in overtime Sunday night to take a 3-1 advantage in the series that moves to Houston on Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the first win for the home team in the series, while Nicolas Batum added 25 points. It was the third game in the series decided in overtime. The Blazers havent advanced out of the first round since 2000. Portland also hasnt held a 3-1 advantage in a series since the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against Utah, which the Blazers won 4-1. James Harden had 28 points and Dwight Howard added 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets. "The playoffs are a grind," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Its a different game than the regular season. Youve got to be built for the grind." Portland trailed by as many as 11 points, but rallied in the fourth quarter. Mo Williams 3-pointer put the Blazers in front 105-104 with 18.9 seconds left. Dorell Wright missed the first of two free throws, making it 106-104 with 8.3 seconds to go. Howard dunked off a feed from Harden with 3.6 seconds left to tie it and Williams missed a 3 at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Chandler Parsons was hit with a flagrant foul on Aldridge, who made both free throws to give the Blazers the lead to start off OT. Batum scooped up a layup before adding a 3-pointer and Damian Lillard made a layup to put Portland ahead 117-110. Houston rookie Troy Daniels nailed a 3 and Harden landed a jumper to narrow it to 119-117, but Lillard made free throws to extend the lead to four points with 17 seconds left. Aldridge missed a pair of free throws and Daniels was fouled by Wright on a 3-point attempt and made all three shots to narrow it to 121-120 with 8.9 seconds left. After a Portland timeout, Mo Williams made free throws for the final margin. "It was tough," Aldridge said. "I thought it was a gut-check by everybody. I thought our guys took on the challenge." Aldridge opened Portlands return to the playoffs with a franchise post-season-best 46 points in the Blazers 122-120 overtime victory in Game 1, then followed it up with 43 points in the 112-105 win. The Rockets won the third, 121-116 in overtime on Friday night at the Moda Center. McHale again started Omer Asik in place of Terrence Jones. Asik had success against Aldridge in Game 3, helping to hold Portlands All-Star to 23 points. The two teams played closely for most of the first quarter, but the Rockets took a 29-22 lead after an 11-4 run highlighted by two straight 3-pointers from Daniels. Daniels, who spent time in the D-League this season and only made his NBA debut on March. 5, was the unlikely hero of Game 3 when he drained a 3 with 11.9 seconds to go in OT that proved to be the winner. Houston led 61-51 at the half, led by Parsons with 19 points. The Rockets maintained the lead through the third quarter and Hardens jumper from the top of the key stretched it to 92-84 with 8:31 left. Portland got within 94-91 on Batums layup with 6:35 left. Lillards 3-pointer tied it at 94, but Harden answered with his 3 for the Rockets. Aldridge made a layup to put Portland up 102-97, but Howard made three of four free throws to narrow it before making two big blocks. Harden hit free throws to tie it at 102 with 1:11 left. Aldridge missed a layup and Harden hit another two foul shots to give the Rockets back the lead. Parsons finished with 26 points for the Rockets. "Everything you do is magnified and all the little things that were not doing cost you ... and were down 1-3 because of it," Parsons said. NOTES: Houston guard Patrick Beverly did not participate in the shootaround because he wasnt feeling well, but he started the game. .... NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was at the game but he was not available to the media. Silver is facing a storm of controversy surrounding racist comments purportedly made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. ... The Blazers all wore black socks in solidarity with the Clippers. "I wanted to do something to support our brothers," Aldridge said. ... It was the Blazers 100th overall playoff victory. Myles Garrett Youth Jersey . Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. Inter was beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at home on Sunday and has won only seven of 16 matches at the San Siro this season, as the squad seems to still be searching for its identity under new owner Erick Thohir and first-year manager Walter Mazzarri. Larry Ogunjobi Jersey . Icardi is living with the ex-wife of former teammate Maxi Lopez, and the Sampdoria forward refused to shake Icardis hand before kickoff. Walter Samuel and Rodrigo Palacio also scored for Inter while Lopez had a penalty saved. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com...te-Jersey/ . Petersburg of the KHL. Belov was a free agent last summer when he signed a one-year contract with the Oilers. In 57 games this season he had one goal and six assists with 34 penalty minutes in Edmonton. David Njoku Youth Jersey . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. DeShone Kizer Jersey .A. remained bitter for Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers on the long flight back home to New York.LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland - About four weeks after winning Olympic gold in the super-G, Anna Fenninger completed her run to the overall World Cup title Thursday by taking second in the same event. The 24-year-old Austrian finished behind Lara Gut at the World Cup Finals but built an unassailable 215-point lead over her Swiss friend with two races remaining this weekend. "Its just, Wow," said Fenninger, the first Austrian woman to win the overall title since Nicole Hosp in 2007. "It means that you are the best skier in the world over the whole season." Fenningers path to Alpine skiings most prestigious honour was made easier when her closest challenger, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, sustained season-ending injuries after crashing in the downhill on Wednesday. Still, her consistency over a tiring five-month season earned her the honour of becoming the 27th different womens champion since the World Cup launched in 1967. "You cant win the overall because you are lucky," Gut said. "You win the overall because you are the best." Fenninger carried the momentum of her Olympic exploits, including silver in giant slalom, into a surge of points in recent weeks. Her only slip since Sochi was a sixth-place finish in the final downhill on Wednesday, racing minutes before Hoefl-Riesch crashed. "I was so nervous yesterday it was not normal," Fenninger said. "But I learned from yesterday for today and Im stoked that I can show my good skiing again." Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein, who was second in the overall standings heading to Sochi, also wass lost for the season when she crashed in training on the Olympic downhill course.dddddddddddd Starting just before Gut on Thursday, Fenninger punched the air with her right fist after crossing the line, then blew a kiss to the television camera while waiting for her rival in the finish area. Gut then finished in 1 minute, 17.14 seconds on the sunbathed course, 0.61 seconds faster than Fenninger. Tina Maze of Slovenia, the defending overall champion, trailed Gut by 0.95 in third. Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., did not finish. Guts victory, her second straight after her downhill success, clinched the season-long super-G title, a first career World Cup trophy for the 22-year-old Swiss racer. Gut looked up at the giant screens, pumped both fists and basked in a loud ovation from a 5,000-strong home crowd. "Its cool," the 22-year-old Gut said. "Winning it at home and finally bringing a (crystal) globe back to Switzerland, its amazing." Guts seventh World Cup race win this season is the most on the womens circuit, and leaves her third overall. Fenninger, however, won three giant slaloms — including back-to-back races last week in Are, Sweden — and racked up podium finishes. She finished second in the downhill standings, behind Hoefl-Riesch, and in super-G. She also stands second in the giant slalom race behind Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden. The final GS race closes the season on Sunday. By then, Austria hopes Marcel Hirscher will have clinched the mens overall title to give the Alpine nation its first double success since 2002. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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