Basisphilosophie » knee when Marchand was down

PORTLAND, Ore. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Portlands All-Star forward had 16 points and the Blazers won their fifth straight game with a 102-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Aldridge was averaging 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds before a left groin injury caused him to miss five games. "Im not going to call guys out but I thought that they just played great," Aldridge said about the team in his absence. "I thought everybody did more, whether it was rebounding or whatever. Everybody just played better." The win moved the Blazers (41-18) a season-high 23-games over .500. After failing to make the playoffs last season, Portland sits in third place in the Western Conference. Robin Lopez led the Blazers in scoring for the first time this season with 18 points, while Nicolas Batum had a career-high 16 rebounds. "That was a solid win for us," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "We did a lot of good things. I felt like we were in control for the most part." Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye and Evan Fournier scored 16 points apiece, but Denver (25-33) lost its fifth straight. Faried, who also had 10 rebounds, took a hard fall with less than two minutes left and appeared to injure his right knee, but finished out the game. Portland won all four meetings this season against Denver, its first sweep of the series since the 1999 season, when the Blazers won all three games against the Nuggets. Damian Lillards driving layup gave Portland a 100-87 lead with 4:09 left in the game and the Nuggets never really challenged. Lillard finished with 17 points. The Blazers had a bit of a rest after a 124-80 rout of Brooklyn on Wednesday night. The Nets played in Denver the next night, routing the Nuggets 112-89. "The effort was there and it was something to build off of because everybody -- the whole city of Denver -- after that loss to Brooklyn had a sour taste in our mouth," Foye said. "We just wanted to get back out there and try to give the fans something to cheer about." The Nuggets have won just one of their last 11 games. Aldridge was greeted with a roar from the crowd at the Moda Center when he was announced as a starter. "It felt good," Aldridge said. "My timing was a little off but it felt good to be back out there playing with the guys." Second-year centre Meyers Leonard also returned after a five-game absence because of a sprained right ankle. But the Blazers did not have forwards Thomas Robinson, who has a left knee injury, and Joel Freeland, with a right knee sprain. The Nuggets were hurting, too. Top scorer Ty Lawson missed his ninth straight game with a left rib fracture. But guard Aaron Brooks, acquired before the trade deadline from Houston, played despite a sore ankle, and Wilson Chandler returned after missing a game because of a right knee sprain. Denver closed within 52-47 late in the half after a pair of free throws from Faried, but Lopezs dunk and Lillards layup helped push Portlands lead to 56-48 at the break. Lopez led all players with 12 points. Lillard, Batum and Leonard had consecutive dunks to give the Blazers an early 22-12 lead. The Blazers stretched the lead to 73-60 in the third quarter on Batums finger-roll layup. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said he liked the effort after the loss to Brooklyn, but pointed to missed free throws. Denver was 23 of 35 from the line. "You lose the game by six points and you miss 12 free throws, that can be the difference in the game," Shaw said. "I thought the team played a lot better and responded after the embarrassing game we had the other night at home against Brooklyn. So we got better tonight and Im happy with our effort." Notes: Brooks played at the University of Oregon and got warm applause during pregame game introductions. .... Batum becomes the fourth Trail Blazer this season with 16 or more rebounds in a game, joining Aldridge, Lopez and Robinson. ... It was the first time this season that no player for the Blazers or their opponent had a player with at least 20 points. Chaussure Air Max Pas Cher Chine .K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. Air Max Pas Cher Livraison Rapide . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. http://www.pascherairmaxchine.fr/ . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. Air Max Pas Cher Livraison Gratuite . With nothing tangible at stake, the Raptors turned in their most impressive outing of the fall in their seventh and second to last exhibition tilt against their stiffest competition yet, but they lost a couple starters in the process. Vente Air Max Pas Cher . At 11:06 of the first period, Neal struck Marchand with his knee when Marchand was down on the ice. Marchand remained in the game. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Minnesota Wild were reeling. The Phoenix Coyotes were rolling. Then the teams met Saturday night and everything turned around. Zach Parise scored two of Minnesotas three third-period goals and the Wild rallied to beat the Coyotes 3-1 on Saturday night in a game with important playoff implications. "We need to use this as a game we can kind of springboard something off of," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "Weve had enough games where there have been some bad feelings afterward. Lets use this as one that hopefully we can build something off of." Phoenix nursed a 1-0 lead through two periods on Mikkel Boedkers early power-play goal, but the Coyotes went 24 minutes, 28 seconds without a shot. After giving up five goals in each of its previous two games, Minnesotas defence was outstanding with Ilya Bryzgalov in net. Parise tied it from the top of the circle off a faceoff 8:03 into the final period, and then came Jared Spurgeons slap shot from the top of the right circle with 7:03 to play. Parise added an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Coyotes would have moved ahead of Minnesota into seventh with a victory." "We cant let them come out in the third and let them score two and an empty-net goal," Boedker said. "Thats not how we do it around here, and obviously this was a good opportunity for us to jump up to seventh, but thats the way it goes." The Wild pulled three points ahead of Phoenix for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference. The Coyotes are just a point ahead of Dallas for the No. 8 spot. The Stars won at St. Louis 4-2 Saturday. "Its going to be like that," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "It is why you cant get too high right now and you cant get too low. ... Its like a playoff series. You forget the one you just played and move on whether you won or lost." Minnesotas win also clinched a playoff berth for the Chicago Blackhhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions.dddddddddddd The Wild won for only the second time in six games and fourth time in 12 games. Phoenix, just back from a three-game trip east, lost for just the third time in eight games. Bryzgalov, 3-0-2 as a starter since being acquired by the Wild in a trade deadline deal from Edmonton, had 21 saves for Minnesota. "A lot of this goes to Bryz. Its 1-0 and he makes and unbelievable glove save in the second period and keeps it at 1-0," Yeo said. "Thats an important one." Thomas Greiss had 27 for Phoenix, without their usual goalie Mike Smith due to injury. Just 2:28 into the game, Minnesota was penalized for too many men on the ice. Forty-eight seconds later, Shane Doans close-range shot deflected off Boedkers leg into the net, the power-play goal giving Phoenix a quick 1-0 lead. It was Boedkers team-high eighth first-period goal of the season and his 19th overall. Each team also killed a penalty in the second period. The Coyotes didnt get a shot from the time Doan missed with 7:49 to play in the second period until Radim Vrbadas with 1:56 left in the game. Minnesota finally tied it off a face off on a shot by Parise from the top of the circle and it was 1-1 with 11:57 to play. It was a set play, Parise said. "Weve tried that before," he said. "Its just never worked." Spurgeons powerful slap shot sailed past Greiss high into the net to put the Wild ahead. Doan disputed stats on the long span without a Phoenix shot, blaming it on the scorer. "It wasnt that long between shots," Doan said. "The guy just doesnt keep track very well." The Wild had three penalty kills after the Coyotes power play goal. Notes: The Wild won the season series 2-1 and would have the tiebreaker. ... The Coyotes are 13-5-0 when Boedker scores a goal. ... Minnesota didnt have a power play until there was 5:17 left in the second period. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '