the extra session to lift the Avalanche to the 3-2 decision. Du

HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points and help the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-98 on Wednesday night to avoid elimination. The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland. A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about three minutes left. The shot brought the crowd, which was clad almost completely in red shirts emblazoned with the words "Clutch City" on them, to its feet. That started an 8-0 Houston run to close it out. Harden finished with 17 points and seven assists. Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points, after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26. Lin got extended minutes on Wednesday night with Pat Beverley dealing with an illness. Beverley had five points in 21 minutes. The Rockets led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Portland cut it to one point three times in the fourth quarter, but never went back on top. Terrence Jones added a basket for Houston after the big 3 by Harden before Howard got after Aldridge on the other end. He blocked his short jump shot, sending it out of bounds. Portland got the ball back and Aldridge got the ball again, but he badly missed a shot with Howard in his face as the shot clock expired, leaving Aldridge yelling for a foul. The Rockets were up by nine early in the fourth quarter after four quick points from Lin before Portland used an 8-0 run, with the first four points from Nicolas Batum, to cut the lead to 91-90 with 7:39 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Matthews cut Houstons lead to 62-58 early in the third quarter. He added 12 more points in the period to finish with 18 of Portlands 29 points. Howard and Lin carried the Rockets in the third, combining for 18 points. Howard had 10 and Lin scored the rest, including a long two as the shot clock expired with Lillard right in his face. Matthews, who was 4 for 5 from long range in the third, made two 3-pointers within 20 seconds late in the quarter to cut Houstons lead to two points. But Lin finished off the quarter with a three-point play to make it 82-77 entering the fourth. Robin Lopez received a flagrant-1 foul when he fouled Howard in the air while fighting for a rebound and pulled him to the ground by the shoulders on the way down. Howard made one of two free throws to stretch Houstons lead to 74-68 with three minutes left in the quarter. Houston led by three after one and used an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and go up 41-27. Jones scored the first four points in that span and rookie Troy Daniels capped it with a 3-pointer. The Trail Blazers had six turnovers while the Rockets built the lead and didnt score until a pair of free throws by Aldridge with about nine minutes left until halftime. Howard picked up his third foul soon after that and went to the bench. Portland scored the next five points to get within seven but the Rockets used a 10-0 spurt to push the lead to 51-34. Lin had a reverse layup and a 3-pointer during that run. The Trail Blazers ended the first half with a 14-5 run, with eight points from Lillard, to cut the lead to 56-48 at halftime. Aldridge had just six points at halftime after sitting out about half of the first quarter after getting his second foul. NOTES: The Trail Blazers wore patches on their jerseys to honour Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died on Monday at 89. Ramsay coached the team to an NBA title in 1977. The plaid patch has the words "Dr. Jack" and a "77" to honour the championship team. The Blazers will wear the patch for the remainder of the post-season. ... Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon watched from a courtside seat. ... Chandler Parsons added 20 points for Houston. Cheap Jerseys From China . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. China Jerseys Wholesale . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ . Top-seeded Djokovic swept to a 6-1, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in just 57 minutes, but fourth-seeded Federer had to see off a serious challenge from 48th-ranked Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before coming through 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Fake China Jerseys . Freddie Roach said if the Rios fight "does not go well, we will seriously talk about his retirement," but that Pacquiao was training as well as ever for the Nov. China Jerseys Stitched . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract.The Winnipeg Jets are desperate to end their longest losing streak under head coach Paul Maurice and they hope to take advantage of the ice-cold Vancouver Canucks in Wednesdays home game at MTS Centre. Catch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and TSN Radio 1290 at 6:30pm ct/4:30pm pt. The Jets and Canucks both have 68 points on the season, leaving them six points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Neither club has done itself any favors in the postseason chase of late, as Winnipeg has lost four in a row while the Canucks have dropped five of six and 12 of their last 14 games. Vancouver has actually lost 21 of 27 games dating back to late December, and the clubs most recent setback did not inspire confidence the club is ready to break out of the lengthy slump. The Canucks led a visiting New York Islanders club 3-0 after two periods on Monday before giving up a whopping seven goals over the final 20 minutes of regulation to lose the tilt by a 7-4 count. Chris Higgins, Christopher Tanev, Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin all scored for the Canucks, while Eddie Lack gave up six goals on 27 shots in the collapse. "We should have had this game," said Sedin. "We played great hockey for 37 minutes but then we started making poor decisions. We should have been back in the race but now were down and looking up." Lack is expected to start in goal. His record is 1-1 against the Jets this season, with a 2.94 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. The Canucks will try to put their latest disappointment behind them when they kick off a four-game road trip tonight. Vancouver, however, has lost seven straight as the guest and is just 13-17-4 on the road this season.dddddddddddd. The clubs last victory away from Vancouver was on Jan. 21 in Edmonton. The Jets had lost four straight against the Canucks before posting a 4-3 home win on Jan. 31. That victory gave Winnipeg a 7-2-0 record since Maurice replaced Claude Noel as head coach, but the club is just 4-3-3 in the 10 games following that win. Winnipeg lost for the sixth time in eight outings Monday in Colorado, although the Jets were able to record a point in the overtime loss. Matt Duchene scored 2:33 into the extra session to lift the Avalanche to the 3-2 decision. Duchene lost control of the puck after twirling out of the corner. Winnipeg defenseman Tobias Enstrom tried to chip the puck away from the crease area, but it hit Duchene and the Avalanche forward scored on a backhand. "He got position at the net. The puck came right back to him and a guy like that, he will not miss those," Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien said of Duchene. Byfuglien scored both Winnipeg goals, with Bryan Little notching an assist on each score. Al Montoya took the loss despite stopping 31-of-34 shots. Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal this evening. He has a 1-3 record lifetime against Vancouver with a 3.04 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Winnipeg, which hasnt made the playoffs since the franchise relocated from Atlanta prior to the 2011-12 season, hopes to boost its postseason chances during a home-heavy part of its schedule over the next week and a half. The Jets, who are 15-13-5 as the host this season, are beginning a three-game homestand on Wednesday and will play five of their next six games at MTS Centre. ' ' '