Willkommen » ed great didnt he?" Padres manager Bud Black ask

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. Cheap Nike Dunk High . Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, president of the EOM (Municipal Olympic Company), will be leaving her post but will remain as an advisor, a city hall statement said Tuesday. Cheap Wholesale Nike Sb Shoes . Obasi chested the ball past one defender, prodded it past another and then rounded the keeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 16th minute. Seconds after the restart, Oed great didnt he?" Padres manager Bud Black askAmber Holland on Thursday. Cheap Nike Dunk Low . - While a fast-paced offence has become more of a fixture in recent years, the San Antonio Spurs can still grind out games when needed. Nike Air Foamposite Sale Cheap . The attacking midfielder arrives on a free transfer from Spains Malaga. The 28-year-old joins Scottish striker Kenny Miller and Argentine midfielder Matias Laba as designated players on the Whitecaps roster. SAN FRANCISCO -- Cuban defector Odrisamer Despaigne made fired San Diego general manager Josh Byrnes look good in his sterling major league debut. Despaigne became the fourth Padres pitcher to throw seven scoreless innings in his first big league start, leading San Diego to a 6-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. "He pitched great didnt he?" Padres manager Bud Black asked. "Are you kidding me? That was great." Tommy Medica hit a two-run double off Matt Cain (1-6) after the umpires took away a three-run home run by Yasmani Grandal on a replay review to give the crafty Despaigne (1-0) the support he needed. Despaigne, who defected from Cuba last summer, got the win less than two months after Byrnes signed him to a minor league deal. Byrnes was fired Sunday so he didnt get the chance to benefit from the decision. Despaigne had a 6.03 ERA in seven minor league starts in his first season as a professional after defecting from Cuba last summer. "It took me for surprise to be here," he said through an interpreter. "It was a dream come true." Despaigne kept the Giants off-balance all game by changing his arm angle and mixing in big, slow curveballs with his harder pitches. He allowed four hits and became the seventh pitcher in the past 100 years to throw at least seven scoreless innings with no walks in his first career start. Despaigne had the element of surprise in his favour as the Giants had not even seen him pitch in spring training. "At this point in the year youve kind of seen everything but he was just on," right fielder Hunter Pence said. "He was locating, he had the ball moving a lot of different directions. He threw me pretty much everything. He didnt really leave too much over the plate. I think he just mixed it up the whole game." The Giants lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Neither team had a hit in the first three innings before the Padres got to Cain in the fourth. The rally started when Everth p;Cabrera reached on a one-out infield single and advanced to third on Seth Smiths single.dddddddddddd One out later, Grandal hit a drive to right-centre that initially appeared to clear the wall for a three-run homer. But Pence immediately signalled that a fan interfered on the play and ran toward the umpires to protest. The umpires called for a video review and the play was changed to a double with Smith being sent back to third base even though he most likely would have scored easily from first on a two-out hit to the deepest part of the stadium. Black ran out of the dugout to challenge the ruling and was immediately ejected by crew chief Brian ONora. "I just thought the logical thing to do was have Smitty score," Black said. "I was in disbelief when they placed him at third base." The call became moot when Medica followed with a two-run double to make it 3-0 as Cain struggled once again. The Padres tacked on three runs in the eighth with an RBI single by Cabrera, a run-scoring double to Smith and a throwing error by Pence. Cain allowed six runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings and has just one win in 12 starts this season. "Ive been throwing the ball good but I havent been making the pitch that I need to here and there to shut down an inning," Cain said. "I need to do a better job of doing that. I think everything else will work itself out but Ive got to make those pitches." NOTES: There was a pregame video tribute to Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died last week at age 54. There was also a No. 19 honouring Gwynn on the wall in right field. ... Padres 3B Chase Headley (back) missed his fourth straight game but could return Tuesday. ... Gi