HOUSTON -- LaMarcus Aldridge had just fouled out late in overtime after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 points when he went to Portland teammate Damian Lillard with a simple message.
Robert Golden Jersey . "I said: Take it over," Aldridge said. Lillard did just that, finishing with 31 points and making the go-ahead free throws in overtime to lift the Trail Blazers to a 122-120 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night in a thrilling first-round series opener. Aldridge fouled out with about a minute left in overtime and Lillard, who was making his playoff debut, scored Portlands next five points and put the Trail Blazers on top by one point with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left. "When youve got your best player playing like that, it fires you up," Lillard said. "When he went out of the game, I felt like our team ... had to have L.As back and come through for him." Joel Freeland made one of two free throws seconds after Lillards free throws to give the Blazers the win in their first trip to the post-season since 2011. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston. Aldridge, who was playing in his home state, also had 18 rebounds and two blocks. "Hes been a handful for us all year long," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "We just didnt have any answers for him." James Harden and Dwight Howard each scored 27 points for Houston, and Howard grabbed 15 rebounds. Houston could have tied it, but Harden missed a short jump shot at the buzzer. He had missed a 3-pointer on Houstons second-to-last possession. "Ive got to play better," Harden said. "I didnt shoot the ball well ... Ive got to shake it off, but it will be better in Game 2." It was a physical game with the teams combining for 79 free throws. A three-point play by Lillard gave Portland a one-point lead with 44.5 seconds remaining. Francisco Garcia and Howard both made one of two free throws after that to give Houston a 120-119 lead 20 seconds later. Aldridge fouled out when he knocked Patrick Beverley to the floor setting a pick with 1:04 left in overtime. An emotional Aldridge continued to yell at the referees even after he went to the bench. "This is one of those games where I could show my team that I wanted to lead," Aldridge said. Beverley re-injured his right knee on the play where Aldridge fouled out and McHale said the Rockets would know more about the guards status after an MRI exam on Monday. Beverley missed eight games late in the season because of a torn meniscus in that knee. A dunk by Robin Lopez gave Portland a 116-114 lead before he fouled out seconds later. Howard made both free throws to tie it. Houston scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, with the first four from Howard, to make it 86-73. But Portland used a 10-0 run, with the help of the Hack-A-Howard defence of intentionally fouling the centre, to tie it at 98 with 2:46 remaining. Howard missed four straight free throws as Portland cut the deficit. A 3-pointer by Lillard had tied it at 104-all before Harden put Houston up with two free throws. Aldridges tip-in with 2.9 seconds left tied it at 106. Houston had a chance to win it in regulation, but Hardens shot was off. Howard and Jeremy Lin both made three-point plays to start overtime before Aldridge and Nicolas Batum hit consecutive 3s to tie it back up. Portland trailed by 11 when it used a 9-2 spurt to get within 73-69 with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Aldridge started the run with four points and Wesley Matthews finished it off by scoring the last five and capping it with dunk on a fast break. The Rockets had a four-point lead early in the third quarter when Harden heated up, scoring 10 points of a 12-3 run that extended Houstons advantage to 66-53 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the period. NOTES: Rockets Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston Texans star J.J. Watt watched the game from courtside seats. ... Houston general manager Daryl Morey asked local rappers Slim Thug and Bun B if they could make a remix of the 2005 hit "3 Kings" for the Rockets, and the pair came through in just one day. The two did a concert before the game across the street from the Toyota Center and dropped the track, which mentions several players by name, to wrap up the show as Morey bobbed his head and sang along.
Cameron Sutton Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday.
JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey . Reyes, 26, was traded from Atlanta to Toronto in July 2010 and spent the remainder of the season in the minors. He began 2011 in the majors and made 20 starts with the Blue Jays, going 5-8 with a 5.40 earned run average before he was waived on Aug.TAMPA, Fla. - Cedric Paquette replaced a top rookie in the Lightning lineup and played a key role in Tampa Bays win.Paquette scored a tiebreaking goal late in the first period, and the Lightning snapped the New York Islanders five-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night.Im still battling (for playing time), said Paquette, who has played nine of his 11 NHL games this season. My confidence is getting better in every game. A game-winner, I feel great.Paquette, inserted into the lineup in place of 2013 No. 3 pick Jonathan Drouin, put the Lightning ahead 3-2 from the slot with his fifth goal this season at 15:29.We put a lineup in tonight that we thought would give us the best chance to win, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. Somebody has to sit out.Drouin, a healthy scratch for the first time in his rookie season, has gone nine games without a goal since netting his first in the NHL on Oct. 24.Jo is going to be a great player for us, Cooper said. So is Cedric Paquette. You want to have depth, and weve got that right now. These things are going to happen. Its a learning process for everybody.Paquette took a high stick to the head from New Yorks Anders Lee midway the third, but remained in the game. The forward was a healthy scratch in the Lightnings 2-1 loss to San Jose on Thursday.Ryan Callahan, Valtteri Filppula, Tyler Johnson and Radko Gudas also scored for the Lightning, 7-1-1 in their last nine games. Jason Garrisson had two assists, and Ben Bishop improved to 10-2-2 after making 25 saves.
Mike Webster Jersey. The Islanders got goals from Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey. New York, looking to tie its longest winning streak since February 2008, allowed just six goals during their five-game run.Callahan and Filppula also scored first-period goals.We werent as sharp as we would like to be defensively in the first period, New York captain John Tavaras said. They capitalized on their chances and got a lead. We generated some chances ourselves. We just couldnt get that next one to kind of put them on their heels.Tampa Bay took a 4-2 lead when Tyler Johnson beat Chad Johnson from the right circle 1:39 into the second. Gudas stopped his 26-game goal drought with a late third-period goal.Chad Johnson stopped 23 shots.The Islanders also failed in an attempt to sweep their third straight set of back-to-back games this season. New York beat Florida 4-3 on Friday night in a shootout.Back-to-back nights, I thought we were all right, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. It wasnt a bad game for us. It wasnt a great game.NOTES: Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck sat out due to an undisclosed injury. ... Lightning C Steven Stamkos set up Filppulas power-play goal and has 11 assists and 21 points in 21 games against the Islanders. ... Stamkos didnt have a shot on goal. ... Tavares had an assist, giving him 13 assists and 19 points in 18 games against Tampa Bay.
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