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SALT LAKE CITY -- Damian Lillard scored 22 points and Mo Williams came off the bench to add 17 to help the Portland Trail Blazers rally from a 12-point second-half deficit for a 99-92 victory over the Utah Jazz in a preseason game Wednesday night. Pink Jerry Rice Elite Jersey . LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points for the Blazers (2-2) and Robin Lopez had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Both of the teams preseason victories have come against Utah. Enes Kanter scored 23 points and Gordon Hayward added 20 to lead the Jazz (1-3), who have lost three straight. The Blazers outrebounded the Jazz 57-43. Utah also struggled to find consistency on offence against Portlands defence. The Jazz shot 31 of 80 from the field (38.8 per cent) and had only two players shoot better than 50 per cent from the floor. Kanter turned the first quarter into a personal layup drill. He made eight straight baskets in the quarter before missing a shot. Kanters 16 first-quarter points helped shore up a sagging offensive effort from the rest of Utahs starters. It helped the Jazz keep pace with Portland even after the Blazers jumped out to a 16-11 lead behind three early baskets from Aldridge. The Jazz rallied and finally took a 27-24 lead when Hayward converted a fast-break layup and a free throw in the final second of the first quarter. Portland went back ahead 37-32 in the second quarter on Aldridges shooting. Utah overtook the Blazers again when Lester Hudson made back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Jazz a one-point lead. Hayward followed up with a pair of baskets and three free throws during the final two minutes of the quarter to give Utah a 49-41 halftime lead. The Jazz carved out their largest lead at 64-52 on back-to-back jumpers from Richard Jefferson and Derrick Favours midway through the third quarter. Thats when things began to unravel. Lillard and Williams took turns making plays to rally the Blazers. Lillard put Portland ahead 71-70 on a driving layup with 1:00 left in the third quarter. Williams put the Blazers ahead for good by closing the third quarter with a long jumper and opening the fourth quarter with a layup. Utah rallied at different points in the fourth quarter, getting to 91-89 on Favours layup with 2:58 left. But the Blazers pulled away by holding the Jazz without another field goal until Favours scored with 20 seconds left. Custom 49ers Jersey . Miamis two-year reign was over. And Bosh almost sounded relieved. The Heat got rolled in the NBA Finals by San Antonio, losing in five games, the last three of them lopsided, and for the first time since 2011 there would be no championship parade in Miami. Vernon Davis . KINGS TAKE FREEWAY SERIES The Los Angeles Kings stormed the Anaheim Ducks early in Game Seven, building a 3-0 first-period lead on their way to a 6-2 decision, earning the Kings a rematch with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final.The Boston Bruins got a huge overtime goal from an unlikely source, and the Anaheim Ducks got on the board against the Los Angeles Kings. Notes on Fraser, Murray, Vanek, Carter, Vatanen, Andersen and more. FRASER THE OT HERO FOR BRUINS The Montreal Canadiens had an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead against the favoured Boston Bruins with Game Four headed to overtime scoreless. Then, Bruins rookie LW Matt Fraser knocked a loose puck into the net to give the Bruins a 1-0 win, tying the series at two games apiece. Fraser, a 24-year-old winger called up to replace demoted winger Justin Florek, had three goals and five points in 27 career NHL games, but has been an effective scorer in the AHL, scoring 90 goals in 179 AHL games over the past three seasons. Fraser, who was acquired from Dallas as part of the Tyler Seguin trade, joined Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson on a Bruins third line that dominated play, the trio on the ice for more than 70% of 5-on-5 shot attempts, led by Fraser at 74.1%. Canadiens D P.K. Subban played 22:52, the first time under 26 minutes in this series, yet 1:19 into overtime, when Fraser scored, the Habs had the pairing of Douglas Murray and Mike Weaver on defence and that should have been an indication of trouble. That pairing was obliterated in terms of puck possession, on the ice for four shot attempts for and 20 against. Francis Bouillon wasnt great for Montreal, but hes been more effective than Murray, who has been on ice for 12 shot attempts for and 42 against (22.2 Corsi%) in two games. While were pointing out troubling signs for the Canadiens, RW Thomas Vanek didnt have a single shot attempted in 16:09 of ice time. The only other Canadiens to get zero shot attempts were Daniel Briere, who played a game-low 8:02, and Weaver. Montreals leader in shot attempts was captain Brian Gionta, with eight. Bostons leader, in terms of shot attempts, was D Dougie Hamilton, who had eight in 23:28, his second-highest ice time of the playoffs. If the Canadiens are going to pull off this series upset, they are really going to have to earn it. The series is even even though the Bruins have held the lead for less than four minutes in four games. Thats not to say that tthe Bruins havent been the better team -- theyve controlled more of the play -- but this series was there for the taking and now its a best-of-three with two games in Boston. Patrick Willis Jersey. DUCKS GET ON THE BOARD The Anaheim Ducks got a late second-period goal from Teemu Selanne, then needed a late third-period marker from Ben Lovejoy to ultimately give them a 3-2 lead in Game Three against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings now lead the series two games to one. The Kings held a possession edge throughout the game, particularly taking advantage against the Ducks line of Mathieu Perreault, Patrick Maroon and Teemu Selanne, a trio that was on the ice for 22.2% or less of 5-on-5 shot attempts. At the same time, Maroon set up Anaheims first goal, on the power play and, as noted, Selanne scored a crucial go-ahead goal. Anaheim was forced to turn to G Jonas Hiller for the last 9:58 of the third period, as starter Frederik Andersen left with a lower-body injury. Andersen had stopped 22 of 23 shots when he got hurt. Jeff Carter led the Kings with a goal and an assist, four shots on goal and seven shot attempts, though Carter and linemates Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli started more than 80% of their shifts in the offensive zone, so they were tilted in that direction. For the Ducks, it was Ryan Getzlaf, who had an assist, four shots and seven attempts. The Ducks inserted D Sami Vatanen into the lineup, playing the Finnish rookie 20:19; only Francois Beauchemin played more among Anaheim defencemen. Theres a reasonable argument to be made that, although undersized, Vatanen should already be handling regular minutes on the Ducks blueline, rather than toiling in the minors waiting for a call-up when the team is in trouble. After dropping the first two games of the series at home, the Ducks desperately needed to get a positive result in Game Three. It wasnt easy, and they lost their starting goaltender in the process, but their win makes the Freeway Series much more interesting heading towards Game Four. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' ' |
