News » "We matched Memphis

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A healthy LaMarcus Aldridge makes a world of difference for the Portland Trail Blazers. Aldridge scored 28 points in his third game back from injury and the Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to three games with a 105-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night. "Whether hes scoring or not, just getting him touches has a big effect on the game, has a big effect on how the defence reads our offence," Blazers centre Robin Lopez said of Aldridge. Reserve Mo Williams added 17 points and Wesley Mathews had 15 for the Blazers, who avoided a three-game sweep in the season series. "LA coming back has brought us back to what we do and how we do it," Williams said. "With LA, we know what we need to do and where we need to go, where we get our shots, and when to be aggressive." Portland opened a two-game lead over Golden State for the fifth place in the Western Conference playoff race and pulled within 2 1/2 games of No. 4 Houston with seven games remaining. Zach Randolph scored 21 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Grizzlies, who lost back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 3-5 and dropped a half-game behind idle Dallas for the Wests eighth and final playoff berth. The Blazers shot 52.0 per cent (39 of 75) and had five players score in double figures. Aldridge, who missed seven games with a back contusion, was the catalyst on offence, making 10 of 20 shots from the field and going 8 for 8 at the free-throw line. The Grizzlies were determined to play Aldridge straight up defensively and not double, as they had in their two wins over Portland. Memphis looked mostly to Randolph, their 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward, to go toe-to-toe with the Blazers All-Star. "LaMarcus is their horse," Randolph said. "Hes what makes them go, so anytime youve got your best player out there, it makes a difference." Portland dominated the second quarter, making 10 of 16 shots (62.5 per cent) and getting eight points from both Aldridge and Williams to extend a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter to a 57-45 halftime advantage. "We knew exactly what they were going to run," Grizzlies guard Tony Allen said. "It was a great game plan defensively, and they executed." Mathews and Aldridge combined for 13 points during a first quarter that had eight lead changes and six ties before Will Barton followed his own miss to score and give the Blazers a 25-23 lead. The Grizzlies, making their third stop on a five-game swing, made 3 of 14 shots in the first six minutes of the second quarter and were outscored 16-6 as the Blazers extended the lead to 41-29 on two free throws by Aldridge with 5:59 left in the half. "We matched Memphis physicality," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "Our shooting lineup gave us some separation in the first half. We got a lot of good effort off the bench, too." Mike Conleys 3-pointer pulled the Grizzlies within 43-34, but the Blazers reeled off six quick points to open their largest lead of the second quarter, going up 49-34 when Damian Lillard set up Thomas Robinson for a transition layup with 3:58 to play in the half. Lillard, held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting in the first half, hit his first four shots of the second half, including a 3-pointer that pushed Portlands lead to 78-60. Trailing 91-70 early in the fourth, the Grizzlies mounted one final push and cut the Blazers lead to 103-96 on James Johnsons 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:12 to play. Gasols basket pulled Memphis within 103-98 before Lillard made two free throws with 6 seconds left to close out the scoring. "Portland came out more aggressive and played with more energy," Grizzlies coach David Joerger said. "They have a ton of playmakers and they made us chase them all around the floor." NOTES: The Grizzlies are 16-1 record in road games in which they hold teams to fewer than 90 points and are now 4-15 record when allowing more than 90 points. . Portlands 105 points were the most against Memphis during all of March. The Grizzlies entered Sundays game leading the West in points allowed at 94.0 points per game. . Lopez became the fourth Blazer to record 300 offensive rebounds in a season, joining Kermit Washington, Buck Williams and Chris Dudley. . After making all five of his free throws, Matthews has made 36 consecutive foul shots dating to March 14 at New Orleans. Nike Air Max Belgie . PAUL, Minn – The clock lingered for what seemed like an interminable two minutes and 51 seconds before Mark Fraser finally escaped to the bench during a wildly one-sided first period of an eventual loss to Boston. Nike Air Max Aanbieding . Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun all homered to help the Los Angeles Angels get their first win of the season with an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros. http://www.airmaxbelgie.be/ . The CFL will help tackle womens cancers by playing four special "CFL PINK" games this weekend. Nike Air Max Belgie Online . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to. Nike Air Max Outlet Belgie . Kansas City became the first team in baseball history to win four extra-inning games in a single postseason on Friday, as Alex Gordon crushed a leadoff homer in the 10th and Mike Moustakas added the deciding two-run blast in the Royals 8-6 win.PHOENIX -- Larry Fitzgerald says he has restructured his contract with the Arizona Cardinals, reducing a big salary-cap hit from his old deal and creating room for signing other players. Fitzgerald announced the move on Tuesday via his Twitter account. The receiver says the move was made to help the Cardinals "get better for 2014." Under his old deal, Fitzgerald would have earned $12.75 million next season and counted a whopping $18 million on the cap. The restructured contract came as no surprise. Fitzgerald said in a radio interview in New York last week that he understood the need to restructure his deal. "When those discussions come I will do what I need to do," Fitzgerald told Arizona Sports 98.7 in an interview at the Super Bowls "radio row." "I have a great relationship with (general manager) Steve Keim, he drafted me in Arizona. I understand his vision and what he is trying to do and the direction he is taking this ballclub. I understand at 30 years old there are things that need to change. Thats part of football, thats part of being an older veteran." Fitzgerald said he knew Patrick Petersons "deal is coming up and he needs to be compensated as the best corner in the game, which I feel he is." Fitzgeraald also mentioned defensive linemen Darnell Dockett and Frostee Rucker.dddddddddddd "There are a lot of guys that deserve to be compensated for their play," he said in the radio interview, "and I understand that." Fitzgerald is on his third contract in his 10 NFL seasons, all with the Cardinals. Last season, he made his eighth Pro Bowl. Fitzgerald holds every Cardinals career receiving record. He caught 82 passes, most on the team, for 954 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. In his career, Fitzgerald has 846 catches for 11,367 yards and 87 touchdowns. He has not missed a game since the 2007 season. The Cardinals, coming off a 10-6 season in their first year with Keim as GM and Bruce Arians as coach, had several players on one-year contracts, including inside linebacker Karlos Dansby, who resurrected his career with a big season, leading the team in tackles. Azcentral.com reported that the restructuring was a simple swap of bonus money for salary, saving the team about $10 million on the coming seasons cap. Cardinals President Michael Bidwill expressed confidence last week that the restructuring would get done. Keim has repeatedly said the team has no intention of trading Fitzgerald and wants him to retire a Cardinal. 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