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The Houston Rockets will try to even their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night when the teams play Game 2 at the Toyota Center. Portland snatched Game 1, 122-120, in overtime on Sunday night in Houston thanks to amazing heroics from its two All-Stars. Damian Lillard finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists and LaMarcus Aldridge turned in a monster performance with 46 points and 18 rebounds before fouling out in the extra session. Aldridges 46 points set a Blazers franchise record for points in a postseason game. Down nine with less than five minutes to go in regulation, the Blazers employed the "hack-a-Howard" strategy. Dwight Howard, a 54.7-percent foul shooter, made his first two attempts, but missed the next four as the Blazers rallied with the next 11 points to tie the game on Aldridges two from the line with 2:46 left. James Harden got a tough jumper to fall just inside the final minute of regulation for a 102-99 lead and Aldridge cut it to one with a pair of free throws 13 seconds later. Jeremy Lin missed a runner on the other end, but Howard grabbed the rebound and was fouled. This time, Howard came through for his team and knocked down both free throws for a 104-101 edge. Lillard, however, buried a game-tying trey. On the inbounds pass, Lillard ran his defender Patrick Beverley into a brutal screen which sent him to the deck. Lillard then got Terrance Jones to bite on a pump fake before knocking down the triple. After Harden made it 106-104 with seven seconds left, Wesley Matthews attempted a three from the time out, but it drew iron. Lillard was there for the rebound, but his tip-in didnt fall. Aldridge, though, cleaned up that miss and tied the game again with 2.9 seconds left. Harden couldnt get a tough look from the corner to go as the horn sounded, sending the game into overtime. The Rockets scored the first six points of the bonus period thanks to three- point plays from Howard and Lin. Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, though, hit back- to-back treys and Matthews knocked down two free throws to give the Blazers their first lead since late in the first half. The teams traded blows until Lin blew by his defender and got a layup to fall for a 118-116 lead with 53 seconds left. Lillard, however, used a three-point play on the ensuing trip to put Portland in front. Garcia and Howard split from the stripe before Lillard made the go-ahead free throws. "That was a tremendous game. Obviously when we fouled Dwight he missed some of the free throws, that was a turning point," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "They came out and scored the first six in OT, but we responded. We had to win one here, we did it, but were not satisfied. Tonight is behind us, we have to keep going." Howard and Harden both finished with 27 points while Howard pulled down 15 rebounds. Chandler Parsons added 24 and Lin chipped in 14 off the bench. Jones registered a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards. Beverley injured his knee, but it wasnt as bad as originally diagnosed. Hes expected to play Wednesday night. "Woke up at home, tried to put some weight on it, felt good. Squatted and felt good, one-legged jump felt good," said Beverley. "I did this all at home. I just have an ability to heal quicker than others I guess." Game 3 will be Friday night in Portland. Clearance Basketball Shoes Online . Sundays race will be held at the Sepang circuit, adjacent to Kuala Lumpurs main airport where the ill-fated flight took off earlier this month. Authorities now say it is almost certain it crashed in the Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people aboard. Cheap Basketball Shoes For Sale . Winners of two straight, the Flames will try to become the first team in 25 years to go three consecutive games without taking a penalty Saturday night in San Jose. http://www.basketballshoescheap.net/ . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. Cheap Basketball Shoes Online . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping . Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory.BROSSARD, Que. -- The tight games and nastiness between old rivals Montreal and Boston is coming to a Game 7 climax. The best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference semifinal has the Canadiens and Bruins tied 3-3 going into a final showdown in Boston on Wednesday night. Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 and TSN.ca/Montreal. The Canadiens staved off elimination by using a high-tempo approach for a 4-0 victory in Game 6 on Monday night in Montreal. And while much of the attention has been on disrespectful words, gestures and the odd spear to the groin area, Canadiens veteran Daniel Briere feels his team will have to stick to fast-paced hockey for any chance to topple the leagues first-place overall team. "You cant beat the Bruins playing like the Bruins," Briere said Tuesday. "I think theyre probably the best at (physical hockey). "We have to be smarter. Well have to take punches. Well have to take slashes. Well have to get hurt at times. Thats when were most successful, when we dont get into their game." Its likely that neither side will want to risk penalties in a Game 7 that will send one team on vacation and the other to the conference final, unless the score gets out of hand for one team or the other. But Boston was abuzz with remarks made by Montreals flashy defence ace P.K. Subban after Game 6, in which the teams playoff scoring leader said the TD Garden crowd will provide plenty of energy for the Bruins and "I cant wait to take that all away from them." Subban, who has 12 points in 10 games, also said he gave no credit to the Boston crowd that boos him regularly for making him play better, adding: "I play to win. I dont care if theres nobody in the stands." Briere said Subban, who turned 25 on Tuesday, has learned to thrive on playing the villain in opposing teams rinks. "Lets face it, most of the buildings we go into hes kind of the target," said Briere. "He sticks out. "Hes flashy. He plays with an edge. Hes one of our best players, so he attracts the boos on the road. I think P.K. has become even better as the season went on at dealing with that and using it to his advantage. "Other than screaming at us, theres not much else they can do. If at the end of the night we win, theyre probably going to be very quiet walking home. That would be the ultimate reward for us." The Canadiens and Bruins are facing each other in the playoffs for a record 34th time and this will be their record ninth Game 7. Montreal has won five of them, but the Bruins took the last one on April 27, 2011, when Subban scored the tying goal but Nathan Horrton got the overtime winner in a 4-3 Boston victory.dddddddddddd Subban scored in overtime in the series opener last week in Boston, and scored on a power play in Game 5 in Boston as the Canadiens mounted a late surge before falling 4-2. The series has seen spears to the groin from both sides, including Andrei Markovs jab at Boston captain Zdeno Chara late in Game 6. In the previous game, the Bruins Shawn Thornton was fined for squirting water into Subbans visor from the bench. Boston bruiser Milan Lucic caused a stir with a display of muscle flexing, only to have Montreals Dale Weise do it back to him. "Theres a lot of that going on with their team, their players, even their fans," said Montreal forward Brandon Prust. "They can throw as much disrespect as they want. "It doesnt really bother us at all. That was just (Weise) giving a little bit back and mocking them a little bit. Its not a big deal." Prust does not expect fireworks. "If it was the regular season, Im sure it would carry over, but this is Game 7," he said. "What are we going to do? Go out there and slash them and punch them in the head, take stupid penalties? "Not at all. Well focus on winning a hockey game and not taking dumb penalties." The Canadiens stayed alive with what coach Michel Therrien called their best game of the playoffs so far. He saw Max Pacioretty, with a goal and an assist, and Thomas Vanek, with two goals, deliver the points expected of top-line players. He also got a 26-save shutout from a highly focused Carey Price. And his move to replace slow-footed Douglas Murray with skilled and quick-skating rookie Nathan Beaulieu worked to perfection as the 21-year-old was plus-2 in limited ice time. "We played a hell of a game," said Therrien. "The only thing weve got to do is reset, refocus and make sure weve got another good game (on Wednesday)." The Canadiens have not been to a conference final since 2010, when goalie Jaroslav Halak backstopped them to upsets of Washington and Pittsburgh before they fell to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins hope to reach the conference final for the third time in four years. They won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and lost in the final to Chicago last spring. "Weve felt confident all series against these guys," said Montreal captain Brian Gionta. "(Monday) night was definitely a great effort, but weve had efforts like that already in this series. "The hope is to go in there and have that same effort. And hopefully, the pressures on them." ' ' '