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. Authentic Anthony Mantha 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. Authentic Mike Green Jersey . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. Authentic Jonathan Bernier Jersey . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season. http://www.cheapredwingsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-luke-witkowski-jersey . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major.LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- As Louisville strives to reach the high level of performance and consistency achieved by last years championship squad, the Cardinals also know that getting there will take time with a bunch of new faces. Wednesday nights game against Missouri-Kansas City could be considered a small step in that process. The No. 7 Cardinals used contributions from veterans and newcomers to get the job done in a 90-62 win over Missouri-Kansas City. Montrezl Harrell scored 14 points to lead five Louisville players in double figures. Facing first-year UMKC coach Kareem Richardson, Louisville reminded the former Cardinals assistant what he left behind to take the job with the Kangaroos. A year after they beat UMKC 99-47, the Cardinals (7-1) controlled the game throughout and steadily pulled away in the second half. "Sometimes, you dont look at what were doing because everybodys so focused on last year, which is where we need to get to because we were so successful," Cardinals senior guard Russ Smith said. "Its going to take some time. Its a tough, empty space to fill, but I think well get there." As Louisville continues to learn how to replace point guard Peyton Siva and centre Gorgui Dieng, it had some things to feel good about. The Cardinals manhandled UMKC 44-24 in the paint, forced 20 turnovers that led to 29 points and outrebounded the Kangaroos 49-29, grabbing 22 on the offensive end. Chane Behanan came off the bench for 11 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Jones, Smith and Luke Hancock each added 10 points and combined for five of Louisvilles 10 3-pointers. The Cardinals shot 33 of 77 from the field (43 per cent). Nelson Kirksey and Martez Harrison had 14 points apiece for UMKC (1-6), which shot 23 of 50 (46 per cent) and was 5 of 17 from long range but were never in a game that matched Richardson against Louisville counterpart Rick Pitino, with whom he spent last season during the teams national championship run. The Kangaroos were consoled with shooting fairly well against a team that prides itself on defence. That fact bothered Pitino and illustrated his belief of how far the Cardinals have to go to match last years standard. "We did some things well tonight and some things we did not do,&qquot; the coach said. Authentic Sergei Fedorov Jersey. "We pressed well, got a lot of deflections. We just got beat off of the dribble quite a bit. That is probably our biggest weakness to date. ... We have got to correct that the next few days, because this team was obviously very inferior to our athletic ability." Louisville nonetheless helped Pitino improve to 34-9 against teams coached by former assistants such as Richardson, 39. Though Pitino supported his desire to be a head coach, he also noted the huge challenge he faced in starting his career with a team that was 8-24 last season. Compounding Richardsons task is blending in six freshmen and three transfers, two of whom must sit out this season due to NCAA rules. Things got even tougher for UMKC late in the first half when starting guard Aaron Washington injured his right knee going for a loose ball. The senior went to the locker room at halftime on crutches with the knee wrapped in ice and did not return. The Kangaroos were down 43-27 at that point, shooting a decent 46 per cent from the field (11 of 24) and only four points shy of the Cardinals in the paint (18-14). That was the only area in which UMKC stayed close to the defending champions, who took a plodding approach in pulling away from a team they beat by 52 points here nearly a year ago. "Obviously, going up against a calibre team like Louisville has was certainly a challenge for us," Richardson said. "I was really pleased with our guys effort. That was one of the main things we wanted to come in and play hard. "But Ill tell you, that Louisville team, theyre going to be good -- not going -- they are very good. Despite what Coach may think and that (North) Carolina loss, they have enough talent, enough depth, to really make a run at it again. I know a lot of things got to go the right way, but theyre certainly good." Freshman guard Terry Rozier started in place of Smith, a senior, and quickly hit a 3-pointer to spark a Louisville outside game that UMKC couldnt match. The Cardinals shot 6 of 17 from long range in the first half while the Kangaroos missed all five attempts, helping provide a cushion that reached 23 late in the first half despite 15-of-39 shooting (39 per cent). cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '