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PORTLAND, Ore. -- There was some shouting going on in the Trail Blazers locker room after they fell behind by 10 points at halftime to the Rockets. Up 2-1 in their first playoff series since 2011, the Blazers didnt want to mess up Game 4, especially in front of their hometown fans. "In the words of Chuck -- Charles Barkley -- we were playing like wussies," Portland guard Wesley Matthews said. "That was the message to each other." Whatever was said, the Trail Blazers pulled out of their funk and went on to defeat the Rockets 123-120 in overtime Sunday night to take a 3-1 advantage in the series that moves to Houston on Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 10 rebounds in the first win for the home team in the series, while Nicolas Batum added 25 points. It was the third game in the series decided in overtime. The Blazers havent advanced out of the first round since 2000. Portland also hasnt held a 3-1 advantage in a series since the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against Utah, which the Blazers won 4-1. James Harden had 28 points and Dwight Howard added 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets. "The playoffs are a grind," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Its a different game than the regular season. Youve got to be built for the grind." Portland trailed by as many as 11 points, but rallied in the fourth quarter. Mo Williams 3-pointer put the Blazers in front 105-104 with 18.9 seconds left. Dorell Wright missed the first of two free throws, making it 106-104 with 8.3 seconds to go. Howard dunked off a feed from Harden with 3.6 seconds left to tie it and Williams missed a 3 at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Chandler Parsons was hit with a flagrant foul on Aldridge, who made both free throws to give the Blazers the lead to start off OT. Batum scooped up a layup before adding a 3-pointer and Damian Lillard made a layup to put Portland ahead 117-110. Houston rookie Troy Daniels nailed a 3 and Harden landed a jumper to narrow it to 119-117, but Lillard made free throws to extend the lead to four points with 17 seconds left. Aldridge missed a pair of free throws and Daniels was fouled by Wright on a 3-point attempt and made all three shots to narrow it to 121-120 with 8.9 seconds left. After a Portland timeout, Mo Williams made free throws for the final margin. "It was tough," Aldridge said. "I thought it was a gut-check by everybody. I thought our guys took on the challenge." Aldridge opened Portlands return to the playoffs with a franchise post-season-best 46 points in the Blazers 122-120 overtime victory in Game 1, then followed it up with 43 points in the 112-105 win. The Rockets won the third, 121-116 in overtime on Friday night at the Moda Center. McHale again started Omer Asik in place of Terrence Jones. Asik had success against Aldridge in Game 3, helping to hold Portlands All-Star to 23 points. The two teams played closely for most of the first quarter, but the Rockets took a 29-22 lead after an 11-4 run highlighted by two straight 3-pointers from Daniels. Daniels, who spent time in the D-League this season and only made his NBA debut on March. 5, was the unlikely hero of Game 3 when he drained a 3 with 11.9 seconds to go in OT that proved to be the winner. Houston led 61-51 at the half, led by Parsons with 19 points. The Rockets maintained the lead through the third quarter and Hardens jumper from the top of the key stretched it to 92-84 with 8:31 left. Portland got within 94-91 on Batums layup with 6:35 left. Lillards 3-pointer tied it at 94, but Harden answered with his 3 for the Rockets. Aldridge made a layup to put Portland up 102-97, but Howard made three of four free throws to narrow it before making two big blocks. Harden hit free throws to tie it at 102 with 1:11 left. Aldridge missed a layup and Harden hit another two foul shots to give the Rockets back the lead. Parsons finished with 26 points for the Rockets. "Everything you do is magnified and all the little things that were not doing cost you ... and were down 1-3 because of it," Parsons said. NOTES: Houston guard Patrick Beverly did not participate in the shootaround because he wasnt feeling well, but he started the game. .... NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was at the game but he was not available to the media. Silver is facing a storm of controversy surrounding racist comments purportedly made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. ... The Blazers all wore black socks in solidarity with the Clippers. "I wanted to do something to support our brothers," Aldridge said. ... It was the Blazers 100th overall playoff victory. ABIDJAN -- Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure were picked for Ivory Coasts provisional World Cup squad of 28 players on Tuesday. Drogba and Toure are expected to form the spine for Africas top-ranked team when it plays Japan, Colombia and Greece in Group C in Brazil. Toures brother Kolo, a Liverpool defender, was also on the preliminary list released by coach Sabri Lamouchi, along with strikers Wilfried Bony of Swansea and Gervinho of Roma. Emmanuel Eboue, the former Arsenal and now Galatasaray right back, was not picked and looks set to miss the World Cup. Drogba, one of Africas best-ever strikers, is 36 and almost certainly heading to his last World Cup. Ivory Coast has its best chance of going far at the World Cup in Brazil after being drawn in a relatively manageable group. "I never said it was an easy group ... but we have our chances," Lamouchi said. Lamouchi expressed fears Tuesday at his squad announcement over the fitness of midfielders Souleman Bamba and Mathis Bolly, and Everton striker Lacina Traore, but he picked all three in his preliminary squad. The group will be cut to 23 for the World Cup. The coach also said Drogbas recent lack of game time because of a knee problem was an issue. "Not seeing Drogba on the field is also worrying." Lamouchi said. Yet the Ivorians still have a tallented squad drawn mainly from the Turkish, French, German and English leagues and are expected to perform better than 2010, when they exited in the group stage after being drawn to face with Brazil and Portugal.dddddddddddd The squad will travel to the United States on May 24 for a training camp in Dallas ahead of World Cup warm-up games against Bosnia on May 30 and El Salvador on June 4. Ivory Coast opens its World Cup campaign against Japan in Recife on June 14. ------ Squad: Goalkeepers: Boubacar Barry (Lokeren), Sylvain Gbohouo (Sewe San Pedro), Sayouba Mande (Stabaek), Badra Ali Sangare (ASEC Mimosas) Defenders: Serge Aurier (Toulouse), Benjamin Angoua (Valenciennes), Brice Dja Djedje (Marseille), Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (Toulouse), Didier Zokora (Trabzonspor), Kolo Toure (Liverpool), Souleman Bamba (Trabzonspor), Arthur Boka (Stuttgart), Constant Djakpa (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ousmane Viera (Rizespor) Midfielders: Cheik Tiote (Newcastle), Serey Die (FC Basel), Ismael Diomande (Saint-Etienne), Didier Ya Konan (Hannover), Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Max Gradel (Saint-Etienne), Mathis Bolly (Fortuna Dusseldorf) Forwards: Didier Drogba (Galatasaray), Wilfried Bony (Swansea), Gervinho (Roma), Salomon Kalou (Lille), Lacina Traore (Everton), Giovanni Sio (FC Basel), Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) ' ' ' |
