Dein erstes Forum » he struggled in Game 4. D Sheldon Brookbank

LOS ANGELES, Calif. Joe Montana Jersey . - The Portland Trail Blazers are hoping theyve put all the bad habits behind them with the playoffs on the horizon. And with a healthy LaMarcus Aldridge providing his usual numbers, they are confident that they can make some noise in the post-season — with or without home-court advantage. Damian Lillard scored 34 points, Aldridge had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and the Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 124-112 Tuesday night. "We had a rough stretch, but now weve kind of picked it back up and were going in the right direction at the perfect time," Lillard said. "Now that were close to the post-season, we want to have that rhythm going into the playoffs — because thats what we play the regular season for." The Blazers fourth straight win, coupled with Houstons loss at Brooklyn, moved Portland within 1 1/2 games of the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets have three games in hand. The Blazers have six games left on their schedule, five of them at home. One more win will give them their 12th 50-win season in the franchises 44-year history. But the last four times the team won 50 or more games, they didnt make it past the first round of the post-season. "We dont have a lot of control over that. Right now, its about winning every game and gearing up for the playoffs," coach Terry Stotts said. "Its that mindset thats the most important thing. Whatever happens with the seedings and all that — I mean, we havent even clinched a playoff spot yet." Nick Young, the fifth and last player off the Los Angeles bench, made his first eight shots and finished 15 for 26 with a season-high 40 points. But it wasnt enough to prevent the Lakers 10th defeat in 14 games. They slipped to 25-49 — the most losses by the club since finishing 33-49 in 1993-94. The franchise hasnt lost 50 games in a season since 1974-75 (30-52). "I didnt know I made my first eight shots," Young said. "I just got into a zone. I got into a rhythm kind of fast." Youngs point total was the highest off the bench by any player in the league this season, surpassing the 37 Jamal Crawford had for the Clippers on Jan. 25 at Toronto. Youngs high-point game in the NBA was 43, for the Washington Wizards against Sacramento on Jan. 11, 2011. "Nick Young had a lot of easy shots in the first half," Aldridge said. "Hes a great scorer, so hes going to score. But we did a better job in the second half of making his shots harder." Aldridge, playing his fourth game after missing the previous seven because of a bruised lower back, hit a 13-footer to cap an 18-9 run that extended Portlands two-point halftime margin to 81-70 at the midway mark of the third quarter. Young kept the Lakers within striking distance with his 3-point shooting, draining one with 10:47 left in the game to pull them within 93-86. But Lillard responded with a pair of 3-pointers 28 seconds apart to extend Portlands margin to 13 points, and Los Angeles got no closer than nine the rest of the way. "Coming in, we felt this could be a trap game against a team thats not in the playoff race. But we knew coming in that they were a dangerous team," Lillard said. The Lakers were bolstered by the return of Xavier Henry and two-time MVP Steve Nash, who played in only his 13th game of the season and came off the bench for just the third time in his 18-year career. Nash, who turned 40 on Feb. 7, had 10 points and 10 assists in 22 minutes. The eight-time All-Star has been plagued most of the season by nerve root irritation following his comeback from a broken left leg, which led to issues with his back, hip and hamstrings. NOTES: Lillard became the first player in Trail Blazers history to make 200 3-pointers in a season when he connected with 8:07 left in the first quarter. Wesley Matthews is close behind him with 186. ... The Lakers played before their eighth non-sellout crowd. Before this season, they had sold out every home game since Dec. 6, 2006. ... Portland C Meyers Leonard was ejected after his flagrant 2 foul on Kendall Marshall with 39.9 seconds to play. ... Portland C Robin Lopez had 10 points and 10 rebounds on his 26th birthday. Breeland Speaks Jersey . Mark Teahen scored the go-ahead run in the home seventh on an error by Scott Sizemore, who had knotted the game with a solo homer in the previous half- inning. Paul Konerko then hit an RBI single which proved to be the winning run. Cameron Erving Jersey . But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game. http://www.prochiefsauthentic.com/Youth-Kyler-Fackrell-Elite-Jersey/ . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. CHICAGO -- This time, it was hard work for the Chicago Blackhawks. No pretty goals on this night, just get to the front of the net and fight for a chance. Pushed, poked and prodded by the Minnesota Wild, Jonathan Toews and Co. found a way. Toews had a tough rebound goal early in the third period, and the Blackhawks beat the Wild 2-1 on Sunday to take a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals. "The whole game, the whole series has been very tight," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Still not a lot of room and space, but thats what weve got to fight through. I thought we showed more determination in the puck area tonight." Bryan Bickell also scored and Corey Crawford made 27 saves as Chicago bounced back from consecutive losses in Minnesota that handed the momentum to the Wild heading into Game 5. But the Blackhawks were back at the United Center, where they improved to 6-0 in this post-season and 17-2 over the past two playoffs. "As the game went on, we found ways to play better as a five-man unit," Toews said. "Once one line would generate a good shift and get us some energy, the next line would follow it right up. I think thats when were an effective team, when we have four lines going like that and contributing." Erik Haula scored in the first period for the Wild, and Ilya Bryzgalov had 26 stops. Minnesota became the first team to score first in the second round of the NHL playoffs and lose, dropping that record to 19-1, according to STATS. "We tried to hang on to something we wanted to have happen and we fell victim to it," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. Game 6 is Tuesday night in Minnesota, where the Wild are undefeated in this post-season. Minnesota had a chance to grab the lead in the third but Crawford made a nice kick save on Cody McCormick about 2 1/2 minutes into the period. He also had a solid glove stop on Ryan Suter with the Blackhawks clinging to a 2-1 lead with 4:38 to go. "We just need a better effort," Wild star Zach Parise said. "Not that it was terrible. I mean, we had our chance to win at the end of the game. We did some things really well. But I think we can be better, and we know we can be better." Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp combined to put Chicago in front 4 1/2 minutes into the third. Hossa sent tthe puck in front to Toews at the right post. Marcus Allen Jersey. The captain was stopped by Bryzgalov, but he managed to slam home a backhand for his fifth goal of the playoffs. "It was an ugly goal," said Toews, who also had a big hit on Wild forward Mikael Granlund right before he scored. "As a line we were playing well and looking to find a way to score. I happened to get an ugly one on the side." The first period looked similar to much of the past two games in Minnesota, with the Wild using their speed and checking ability to shut down Chicagos high-powered attack. The Wild also outworked the defending Stanley Cup champions early on as Quenneville tried several line combinations looking for a spark. Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook was whistled for tripping just 29 seconds into the game, and Granlund sent an open look off the outside of the right post on the ensuing power play. A terrific individual effort by Haula put Minnesota in front at 16:33 of the first. He drove through the Chicago zone and kept moving after his first try was stopped by Crawford, flipping a backhand into the net for his third goal of the post-season. Chicago started to generate more chances in the second, but most of its early shots came from outside and Bryzgalov gobbled them up easily. Marcus Kruger sent a pass through the Minnesota crease, but no one was there for the Blackhawks. It took a well-timed dash by a seldom-used role player to set up Chicagos third goal in the past three games. Playing for the first time since April 12, Peter Regin drove to the net to draw a hooking penalty on Jonas Brodin. Regin was active for the first time in the playoffs after the Blackhawks scratched Andrew Shaw with a lower-body injury, and Brandon Bollig sat out with a two-game suspension for boarding Wild defenceman Keith Ballard in Game 4. On the ensuing power play, Patrick Kanes slap shot went off Bickells left leg and past Bryzgalov to make it 1-1 at 9:18 of the second. It was Bickells sixth goal of the playoffs. NOTES: Game 7 would be Thursday in Chicago. ... The Wild played without Ballard (upper-body injury) and forward Matt Moulson (lower-body injury). ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival was scratched after he struggled in Game 4. D Sheldon Brookbank and F Kris Versteeg returned to Chicagos lineup. ' ' '