The Portland Trail Blazers will try to win a playoff series for the first time since 2000 on Wednesday night when they visit the Houston Rockets for Game 5 at the Toyota Center.
[b]China Jerseys Cheap[/b] . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. They fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the Conference Finals, but since, Portland has lost six times in the first round. That could all change on Wednesday. The Trail Blazers won the first two games in Houston, then fell in Game 3 at home. Portland is on the precipice of advancement, but its been a tough trek to get to this point. Three of the first four game went to overtime, including Game 4, which the Blazers won 123-120. "Its not exhausting if you win, its exhausting if you lose," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of the series three overtime games. "And weve lost two of the three." LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 29 points for the fifth-seeded Blazers, followed by 25 from Nicolas Batum. Damian Lillard had 23 and Wesley Matthews added 21. James Harden had 28 points to lead the Rockets, Chandler Parsons scored 26 -- but just seven after halftime -- and Dwight Howard ended with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Portland took its first lead since 6-5 when Batum spun Parsons around with a crossover dribble and knocked down a 3-pointer from the high right side to make it 99-97 with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation. Later, Howards only two blocks of the game came before Harden made four foul shots in a row to give Houston a 104-102 edge with 50.9 seconds on the clock. After Batum missed a 3, Jeremy Lin rebounded the ball for the Rockets but was stripped by Mo Williams. Matthews missed a layup, but Lillard got the rebound and kicked it to Williams, who knocked down a 3 to give Portland a one-point lead with 18.9 seconds left in the fourth. Howards game-tying dunk came after Dorell Wright missed one of two foul shots for the Blazers, and Williams missed a 3-point try at the buzzer for Portland. Matthews opened overtime by wrestling the ball away from Howard and called a timeout, Parsons smacked Aldridge across the face at the other end for a Flagrant 1 foul and Aldridge made his free throws for the first points of overtime. Still, the game was tied until Batum scored five straight to spark a 7-0 run that gave the Blazers the lead for good. He made a 3-pointer after Aldridge stripped Howard under the Rockets basket, then found Lillard in transition for a layup and 117-110 lead with 2:19 to play. Troy Daniels, the former D-League player and unexpected hero for the Rockets in Game 3 when he hit the winning 3 in the closing seconds of overtime, made his first three NBA foul shots to get them within a point with 8.9 seconds left. After Williams made two free throws at the other end, Matthews stepped in front of Patrick Beverley just beyond midcourt and knocked the ball loose, sealing the win -- Portlands second in overtime in the series. "It was another terrific game and I think its obvious that both teams are pretty evenly matched," said Portland coach Terry Stotts. "I was really proud of the way we played in the second half. I thought we showed a lot of heart and determination to get back into the game." If needed, Game 6 will be Friday night in Portland.
[b]China Jerseys 2022[/b] . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season.
[b]China Jerseys Wholesale[/b] . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. PHOENIX -- Ever since A.J. Burnett found out he had a hernia, hes been at his best. Burnett gave Philadelphia a great finish to a good road trip, allowing five hits in eight sharp innings for his first win of the season, 2-0 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Burnett has an 0.83 ERA in his three outings since he found out he had an inguinal hernia and decided he would forego surgery until the end of the season. "He said thats keeping him humble," catcher Wil Nieves said. "Instead of trying to throw hard, hes throwing nice and easy." "Hopefully, hell have the hernia all year," he kidded. Nieves, the backup to regular catcher Carlos Ruiz, also was Burnetts catcher two starts earlier when he gave up three hits in seven scoreless innings against Atlanta. Thats 15 straight scoreless innings for the pairing. "Man, hes fun to throw to," Burnett said. "He has that energy about him that fires you up and locks you in." Burnett (1-1) struck out seven with no walks and hit a batter. "When I got behind, I was able to make the pitch, whether it was a sinker or a curve ball," he said. "I mixed in one changeup today. ... When Im on, Im a two-pitch pitcher." Burnett has long since deserved a win. He allowed eight runs in his one bad start, five combined in the other five. "A.J. just doesnt get flustered with any men on base or anything," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said, "just pitches and battles and competes, maybe takes it up a notch, makes quality pitches." After beginning its 10-game trip with two messy losses in Colorado, Philadelphia won six of eight to return home a game above .500 (13-12). "A good W," Burnett said, "a happy flight." Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his eighth save and second in as many games, closing out Saturday nights 6-5 victory, a game that the Phillies won after trailing 5-0. On Sunday, chase Utley hit an RBI single in the first, then doubled and scored in the sixth while raising his batting average to .360. The Phillies took two of three from Arizona. Brandon McCarthy (0-5) struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings. He gave up both runs and seven hits. "He threw a heck of a game,"; Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said.
[b]China Jerseys[/b]. "It was his best game this year by far." Still, the Diamondbacks fell to 2-11 at Chase Field this season. Ben Revere opened the game with a single, stole second and scored when Utleys fly ball fell between left fielder Cody Ross and centre fielder A.J. Pollock for a single. Gibson said Ross got a bad break on the ball, thinking it was going deeper. McCarthy shut the Phillies down the next four innings. In the sixth, Utley led off with a double and scored when shortstop Chris Owings made a nice stop on Marlon Byrds grounder but threw wildly to third. Gibson blamed third baseman Martin Prado, saying he didnt get to the bag. The Diamondbacks had their chances. Pollock and Owings opened the fourth with singles, but McCarthy bunted into a force play. Martin Prado bounced into a double play that ended the innings. In the fourth, Burnett struck out the first two batters before hitting Miguel Montero in the left foot. Montero made it to third on Aaron Hills single but first baseman Ryan Howard caught Ross sharp grounder to end the threat. With one out in the third, Owings tripled over the head of Byrd. Burnett helped himself by snagging McCarthys sharp grounder, and Gerardo Parra flied out. Parra doubled with two outs in the eighth but Prado grounded out. Right after entering the game in the ninth, third baseman Freddy Galvis made a diving stop and threw out Paul Goldschmidt from his knees. NOTES: The Phillies Cody Asche struck out four times. ... McCarthys previous career best was 10 strikeouts, accomplished three times. ... Ruiz had the day off after hitting .393 on the trip with seven RBIs in eight games. ... Owings made a diving stab of Utleys line drive to start the fourth inning. ... The Phils open a two-game home series against the New York Mets on Tuesday night. LHP Cole Hamels (0-1, 3.00 ERA) starts for Philadelphia against LHP Jonathon Niese (1-2, 2.45) for New York. ... Arizonas homestand continues with a three-game series against Colorado, Wade Miley (2-2, 4.50) pitches for the Diamondbacks vs. Franklin Morales (2-1, 3.86) Monday. ... Goldschmidt was 0 for 4 in the game, 1 for 11 in the series. ' ' '
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