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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. "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. Edrice Adebayo Jersey . The Canadian Football Leagues all-time passing leader said he has not made a final decision, but he will discuss his future with Montreal Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall on the weekend. Shaquille ONeal Jersey . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://www.basketballheatshop.info/Cheap-Tyler-Johnson-Heat-Jersey/ . For the first time all night, as the Raptors were on the clock to make the 20th overall selection, no one had the slightest idea what was about to happen. No leaks, no whispers, nothing. Miami Heat Jerseys . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. Chris Bosh Jersey . The Toronto Blue Jays star won his second consecutive Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performer in the AL on Monday after votes by fans and a panel of Hall of Famers were tallied.EDMONTON -- Jacob Trouba was able to put a goal and an assist on the board in his NHL debut, but the rookie defenceman was way more concerned about getting into the win column. Michael Frolik scored a pair of goals as the Winnipeg Jets came from behind to spoil Edmontons home opener with a 5-4 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday. Trouba, a defenceman and Winnipegs No. 9 pick in the 2012 Draft scored the game-tying goal 11 minutes into the third period. "It was a pretty cool experience," he said. "I just kind of threw it on net and it was a bit of a knuckleball. They dont draw it up like that, but it was a goal. I was just excited to see it go in. "I think the most important part is the win. Its pretty special to me to get the win in my first game. The rest of the stuff comes when it comes. The win is what I am most happy about." Tied 4-4 with five minutes to play, Eric Tangradi sent a beautiful backhand pass in front to Frolik, who directed his second of the season into the net before Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk could get back across the crease. "It was a really up and down game, but we battled hard, especially in the end," said Frolik, who came to the Jets in an off-season trade from the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. "It was a good finish for us and we can be happy with the way we turned the game around. "I dont think that we can afford to give up that many goals. The defence could be a little tighter." Mark Scheifele and Bryan Little also scored, while Ondrej Pavelec made 34 saves in net for the Jets (1-0-0), who were making their first appearance as a Winnipeg team in Edmonton since 1996. Luke Gazdic, Boyd Gordon, Ales Hemsky and Jesse Joensuu responded for the Oilers (0-1-0), who blew a 4-2 lead. Dubnyk stopped 23 shots. "I just have to be better, I have to give these guys a better opportunity to win the game," Dubnyk said. "I didnt play well enough. Any night that we score four goals, I have to be able to at least get us a point." Dallas Eakins, who was coaching his first NHL game as the new head coach of the Oilers, was clearly annoyed that his team gave the game away. "Its one thing when a team beats you, you can be OK with that, but not when you hand them the game like that," he said. "Our group can not hand people goals in games like that, its unacceptable. "It always hurts more when you give the other team something. I dont like sending them a fruit basket or flowers." Edmonton started the scoring just over two minutes into the game as Gazdic took a backhand shot from the faceoff that hit a defenders stick and eluded Pavelec. The goal was given to Mike Brownn later in the game, but then reversed back to Gazdic, who was playing his first NHL shift, coming to the Oilers off the waiver wire from the Dallas Stars on Sunday as Edmonton looked for an enforcer.dddddddddddd The Jets tied the game just over a minute later on the power play as Schiefele picked the corner with a shot from the top of the circle that Dubnyk waved at. Winnipeg went up 2-1 with just under four minutes to play in the first period as Little took a long pass from Tobias Enstrom at the blue-line before waiting for defender Nick Schultz to go down to block a shot and calmly beating Dubnyk stick-side. It was Littles 100th career NHL goal. Edmonton tied the game two minutes later on the power play as Gordon tipped in a Justin Schultz point shot for his first as an Oiler. Edmonton went up 3-2 three and a half minutes into the second period as Hemsky worked his way into the Jets zone and beat Pavelec with a quick wrist shot from the face-off dot. The Oilers took a two-goal lead eight minutes into the second with another power-play goal as Jordan Eberle had a couple of cracks in tight before Joensuu pounced on the rebound and put it into the empty net. Centre Mark Arcobello earned an assist for his first NHL point. The Jets got back into the game with a touch under four minutes remaining in the second period as Frolik was hit by a puck in front but picked it up and swung a shot through traffic past a screened Dubnyk. Winnipeg tied the game just past the midmark of the third as Trouba intercepted a long Taylor Hall pass attempt and beat Dubnyk with a knuckler from just across the blue-line. It was Troubas first NHL game. The Jets are off until Friday when they host the L.A. Kings. The Oilers travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks on Saturday. Notes: Edmonton came into the game with a pretty impressive record of 18-6-3 in season openers at homea The two teams are both hoping to erase long absences from the playoffs. The Oilers have not been in the playoffs since going to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. The Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise had not see post-season play since 2007a Trouba earned his first point on an assist on a second period goal. A pair of other defencemen who were question marks with training camp injuries, Dustin Byfuglien and Zach Bogosian were able to play in the season opener in Edmontona In addition to head coach Dallas Eakins coaching his first regular season game in the big leagues, the Oilers had three players making their NHL debuts in defenceman Anton Belov and forwards Will Acton and Luke Gazdic. Acton had an assist in his first shift on Gazdics goala Oiler forward Jordan Eberle led the league in pre-season scoring with eight points. ' ' '