Off Topic » player in Pelican history to record

HOUSTON -- LaMarcus Aldridges son JJ, who turned 5 on Wednesday, texted him after the Portland Trail Blazers playoff win and told him he looked like Spider-Man on one of his dunks. To the Houston Rockets the Portland star probably looked like a superhero on more than just that one play. Aldridge continued his dominance against the Rockets, scoring 43 points to lift the Trail Blazers to a 112-105 victory and a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. Aldridge has made the most of the return to his home state and put the Trail Blazers in control heading home for Game 3 in Portland on Friday. The former University of Texas star who grew up in Dallas laughed heartily and said maybe when asked if hed rather stay in the Lone Star state after the way hes played in the first two games. "(Leading) 2-0 going home feels great, but its not over," he said. "Were going to stay hungry, stay humble and go home and try to duplicate the same (success)." Aldridge became the first player with consecutive games of 43 points games in the playoffs since Tracy McGrady did it in April 2003 after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 in an overtime win in Game 1. Hes also the first player Trail Blazers history to have two 40-point games in the post-season and his 89 points in a teams first two playoff games trail only Michael Jordan (1986, 1988) and Jerry West (1965) in the last 50 years. Hes helped the Trail Blazers win two road games to start a playoff series for just the second time in franchise history and the first since they took the first two against the Lakers in the 1977 Western Conference Finals. Damian Lillard made six free throws down the stretch to help out in the win. But the guard gave all the credit for the win to Aldridge. "What can they do to stop him? He was great once again, just like Game 1," Lillard said. "When a lot of guys couldnt get going and couldnt hit shots, he just carried us. He played like an MVP again." The Rockets spent the last two days of practice focused on how to slow Aldridge down, but nothing they did seemed to faze the 6-foot-11 player. "We tried changing it up tonight," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Tonight, he was picking and popping and moving and we were having trouble running people at him. We were trying to get the ball out of his hands as much as we could." Aldridge credited coach Terry Stotts for moving him around early in the game to help evade Houstons double-teams. "I made tough shots," Aldridge said. "I dont think too much was easy tonight. I just got in that rhythm and started making shots." James Harden knocked down a 3-pointer with about 30 seconds left to get the Rockets within 3. Lillard made two free throws before Harden fouled out about 10 seconds later. Mo Williams and Lillard both made a pair of free throws after that to secure the win. Lillard finished with 18 points. Dwight Howard was unstoppable early and scored 25 points in the first half, but managed just seven in the second half. After missing 20 shots in Game 1, Harden promised a better performance in this game. But it was much of the same as he was 6 of 19 and finished with 18 points. "We dont have our same flow, our same mojo that we had throughout the season," Harden said. "We dont have our same swag ... weve got to get that back." The Rockets trailed by nine points before a 5-0 run cut the lead to 102-98 with about a minute left. Both teams made a pair of free throws after that before Lillard found Wesley Matthews wide open for a reverse layup to make it 106-100 with 33 seconds left. A one-handed dunk by Aldridge over Omer Asik gave Portland a 96-87 lead with about five minutes left. With Aldridge on the bench to start the fourth, Houston scored the first four points of the period to cut the lead to two points, but Williams and Dorell Wright made consecutive 3s to make it 89-81 midway through the quarter. Aldridge made 10 of Portlands first 14 points of the second half to help the Trail Blazers build a 67-58 lead with about eight minutes left in the quarter. Houston scored the next nine points, with the last five from Chandler Parsons, to tie it at 67 a couple of minutes later. Portland an 83-77 led entering the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers scored seven straight points to take a 53-51 lead late in the second quarter, but Beverleys basket at the buzzer tied it at halftime. Howard scored Houstons first 13 points and had 19 -- with five dunks -- by the end of the first quarter to help the Rockets to a 31-23 lead. NOTES: Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who has been working with Howard this week, watched the game from a courtside seat. ... Wright finished with 15 points. ... Howards 19 points in the first quarter were a franchise-high for a quarter in the playoffs, surpassing the 18 Olajuwon scored against Utah on May 5, 1995. New York Mets Shirts . - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore. New York Mets Pro Shop . In sunny and almost windless conditions, the Swede shot four consecutive birdies on the front nine on his way to a 68 and went 9 under for a one-shot lead over Englands Lee Slattery and two over Paraguays Farbrizio Zanotti (68). https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/. "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. New York Mets Gear . The 20-year-old Barkley, whose impressive form this season could earn him a place in Englands World Cup squad, was hurt in Evertons 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup on Jan. Stitched Mets Jerseys . - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series.The Toronto Raptors have dropped two straight and will try to get back on track Wednesday night when they visit the Smoothie King Center to take on the New Orleans Pelicans. The Raptors fell at home to the Phoenix Suns and lost on the road to the Atlanta Hawks during this mini swoon. Torontos lead in the Atlantic Division is just 2 1/2 games over the Brooklyn Nets and the Raptors advantage over the Chicago Bulls for the third seed in the Eastern Conference is down to a half- game. On Tuesday, the Raptors fell in overtime to the Hawks at Philips Arena, 118-113. DeMar DeRozan paced Toronto with 29 points to go along with 10 rebounds and Kyle Lowry contributed 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the loss, their second straight on the road. Jonas Valanciunas, who will miss Wednesdays contest with a back injury, scored 16 points, while Amir Johnson and Terrence Ross each chipped in with 11 points for Toronto. Toronto had the ball with under 20 ticks to play in the extra session and trailed by two when Johnson turned the ball over after an offensive foul. Atlanta sealed it at the free throw line to continue its late season surge to maintain its playoff position. "(In the overtime) we got stops but you got to able to score," said Toronto coach Dwane Casey. "I thought DeMar (DeRozan) did a good job of playing out of tthe double-team they were committed to, had some open looks, but again, you got to knock those down, you got to make those plays and we had trouble doing that.dddddddddddd" The Pelicans halted a two-game slide last time out, a 121-120 overtime victory Sunday night over the Boston Celtics. That pushed New Orleans to 3-2 on this six-game homestand, which comes to an end Wednesday night. Anthony Davis posted 40 points and 21 rebounds to carry the Pelicans. Davis surpassed his career-highs in points and rebounds while also becoming the first player in Pelican history to record a 40-point/20-rebound game. "Im just trying to stay locked in. Every game, coach talks about being great. Anthony Morrow tells me, Be great every game. I just go out there and do the things for us to win. As long as we get the win, thats all that matters to me," said Davis. Tyreke Evans scored 26 and Eric Gordon added 19 points and eight assists for the Pelicans. Evans scored five of his 26 in the extra session to help New Orleans to victory. The Pelicans visit the Hawks on Friday, then play four in a row in the Big Easy. The Raptors have won five straight against the Pelicans, including this seasons only matchup, a seven-point win at the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 10. Toronto is 5-2 in its last seven meetings as the visitor in this series. ' ' '