SAN ANTONIO -- Portland coach Terry Stotts is running out of adjectives and analogies to describe the San Antonio Spurs dominance in the second quarter. cheap jerseys From China . Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points, Tony Parker had 16 points and 10 assists, and San Antonio rolled to a 114-97 victory over the Trail Blazers on Thursday night for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. After being struck by a "tidal wave" during the second quarter of the opener, Portland took on even more water in Game 2. "The onslaught at the beginning of the second quarter was obviously the turning point in the game," Stotts said. Boris Diaw scored six straight points to ignite a 23-8 run that gave San Antonio a 54-36 lead with 7 minutes remaining in the first half. The Spurs outscored the Trail Blazers 41-25 in the second quarter, raising their advantage to 77-48 in that period in winning the first two games of the best-of-seven series convincingly. Nicolas Batum scored 21 points for the Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard had 19 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but the Trail Blazers All-Star duo put up 43 shots. Aldridge was 6 for 23, missing back-to-back dunks in the second quarter. "We missed a lot of shots," Aldridge said. "I definitely wasnt in a good rhythm tonight. I missed two dunks and four or five layups, so if those shots go in, then the whole game is different." The Trail Blazers host Game 3 on Saturday night. Manu Ginobili added 16 points, Marco Belinelli scored 13 and Diaw had 12 as San Antonios reserves outscored Portlands 50-19. Making matters worse for the Trail Blazers, reserve Mo Williams was limited to 9 minutes due to a groin injury. He finished with four points. "Our bench is coming alive," Parker said. "They had a hard first round. They had a hard time against Dallas, but the last two games the bench is playing well." The Trail Blazers, who found a snake in their locker room before the game, had a much better start than in Game 1. Batums 3-pointer gave Portland its first lead of series at 7-4 with 9:47 remaining in the first quarter. It lasted for 16 seconds before Leonards 3 tied it. San Antonio soon began using the quicker pace to force turnovers and find open shooters. The Spurs had 17 fast-break points in the first half compared to two by the Trail Blazers. Wesley Matthews was clearly frustrated, taking his mouthpiece out and looking upward in frustration before glaring at his teammates. Matthews responded by scoring 10 straight points in the third quarter while San Antonio went scoreless for 4 minutes, pulling Portland within 81-69 with 2 minutes remaining in the third. After losing 116-92 in the opener, Portland was sparked by greater activity by Robin Lopez, who had six rebounds and a blocked shot in the opening six minutes. He struggled once Diaw entered the game. Portland did not allow any fast-break points in the second half, closing within 10 points midway through the final quarter. Lillards 18-foot jumper pulled the Blazers within 92-80 with 9:17 remaining and his driving layup a minute and half later cut the margin to 94-84. Batum, who was 1 for 5 on 3-pointers in Game 1, hit his third of the game to cut the lead to 99-91 with 5:37 remaining. "The first two games, they went on a big run in the first half of both games," Lillard said. "Then in the second half, we come out and make those adjustments and those corrections and clean things up and then we play a much better half. We have to do a better job of taking away those second chances." The Trail Blazers had a chance to close within seven inside 5 minutes, but Leonard blocked Matthews layup from behind to maintain the Spurs advantage at 102-93. Parker followed with a jumper in the lane on Lillard, and Leonard and Ginobili hit back-to-back 3s to put San Antonio up 110-93 and put the game out of reach. NOTES: Portlands Thomas Robinson found the snake two hours before tipoff when he reached for a bag in his locker. The team initially thought it was a baby rattlesnake, but stadium officials later determined it was a non-venomous snake. The snake was estimated between 3 to 4 feet in length. ... Spurs general manager R.C. Buford was honoured before the tip after being awarded NBA Executive of the Year on Wednesday. Buford, who won the award for the first time in his 12th season as the teams general manager, received a rousing ovation from the sell-out crowd. ... Parker had to towel off after having beer spilled on his left leg when he tumbled into the courtside seats 2 minutes into the game. wholesale nfl jerseys . In all, 43 people died, including 27 players of the well-known Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team and coach Brad McCrimmon, of Plenty, Sask., who took over the club in May. Nine other team officials and seven crew members were also killed. McCrimmon, 52, was most recently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings, and played for years in the NHL for Calgary, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix. wholesale jerseys . PSG could have clinched the title this weekend if Monaco lost and it won on Sunday at Lyon. For now, Monaco pulled within 10 points of the leader. Emmanuel Riviere chased a through ball from Jeremy Toulalan to score with a sliding effort in the 55th minute.LOS ANGELES - When Jonathan Quick rapped his goal stick on his posts as the buzzer sounded, the sellout crowd unleashed 11 years of deferred playoff excitement on their Los Angeles Kings. After so many false starts and failures, the long-suffering Kings are on the verge of an unlikely breakthrough. The mighty Vancouver Canucks? Theyre on the brink of collapse. Quick made 41 saves, Dustin Brown scored on a long rebound with 13:30 to play, and the eighth-seeded Kings pushed Vancouver to the edge of a shocking playoff ouster with a 1-0 victory in Game 3 on Sunday night. Brown sparked the Kings with a crushing second-period hit on Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin, and his fourth goal of a stellar series put the Kings one win away from their first playoff series victory since 2001. They couldnt celebrate until Quick finished off his second career playoff shutout after posting a club-record 10 in the regular season. "Weve gone through a lot this year, but weve always battled out and found a way," Brown said. "Its important for us to understand that we cant take it easy now that we have a three-game lead ... but it feels great to have an opportunity to close out a series at home." With their stalwart captain and their all-star goalie playing at their absolute peaks, the Kings earned a chance to finish off the two-time Presidents Trophy-winning Canucks in Game 4 on Wednesday night. The Kings also snapped a five-game playoff losing streak at Staples Center. Los Angeles is starved for playoff success after watching first-round defeats the past two years following an eight-year post-season absence. "This team has been trying to put pieces together for the last six years," Brown said. "Its been a long road, and I really think its only just starting for us. Going into the series, did this group believe we could beat them? Definitely. We never thought we were going to be up 3-0 in a series against a team thats pretty well dominated this league for the last two years. Still, its three games, and it takes four to win." After barely making the playoffs and blowing the Pacific Division title in the final week of the regular season, the Kings stunned the defending Western Conference champions with two 4-2 victories in Vancouver last week, taking a 2-0 lead in a seven-game playoff series for the first time since the Second Six franchises debut season in 1968. Vancouver largely controlled the first two periods of Game 3, but Quick kept it even until the Kings got some flow in the third. Anze Kopitar set up the goal with a sharp drop pass to Williams, whose vicious shot that bounced off Cory Schneiders pads straight to Brown. Los Angeles had a power play for the final 1:35 of regulation, but the Canucks pulled Schneider anyway. Quick beat his stick on the goalposts in celebration after the final buzzer sounded. "We havvent done anything special yet," Quick said. cheap nfl jerseys. . "Theres still work to be done." Schneider made 19 saves in his first start of the post-season for Vancouver, but also gave up a rebound of Justin Williams shot leading to Browns goal. Despite a huge shots advantage, the Canucks failed to score on four power plays, dropping to 0 for 14 in the series. Vancouver has lost seven of its last eight post-season games since taking a 2-0 lead in last summers Stanley Cup finals. "I think you know the stats," Sedin said. "Its not easy, but I think we have the team in here to do it. Its going to turn around, and we all know what can happen. We were there last year. Chicago was one game away from (rallying from an 0-3 first-round series deficit), and were in the same spot right now." Three of the previous six Presidents Trophy winners lost their first-round playoff series. Canucks coach Alain Vigneault switched goalies for Game 3, benching veteran Roberto Luongo in favour of Schneiders second career playoff start. The change made only a slight difference, but Vancouver clearly still misses leading goal-scorer Daniel Sedin, whos out with an apparent concussion. "Playing against that team, sometimes you have to be perfect," Schneider said. "You have to try to win a game 1-0 against them, and unfortunately, we just came up one goal short of being perfect. We had every chance to win it. We just couldnt get it done." Los Angeles hadnt won a home playoff game since beating Vancouver in Game 3 of their 2010 first-round series. The Canucks won the next three games to advance. Until Brown connected, the Kings put on a quiet offensive performance befitting the NHLs second lowest-scoring team, managing just 11 shots in the first two periods despite six power plays. Emotions boiled when Brown steamrolled Sedin with a shoulder hit in the Canucks captains chest early in the second period, sending Sedin crawling to the bench and sparking a fight between Anze Kopitar and Alex Burrows. The hit wasnt penalized, and Sedin returned from a brief trip to the locker-room. Afterward, Sedin confirmed the hit was legal, and Brown spoke of his respect for Sedin. NOTES: The Los Angeles Lakers went to overtime to beat the Dallas Mavericks earlier Sunday, slightly delaying Staples Centers changeover from basketball to hockey. Kobe Bryant stuck around to watch the Kings with his two daughters, as did David Beckham after watching the Lakers from courtside. Will Ferrell also attended the game. ... After Vancouvers Ryan Kesler appeared to embellish a cross-checking penalty against Willie Mitchell in the second period, the Staples Center scoreboard showed the replay, followed by several clips of springboard divers. Kesler and a few Vancouver teammates have been accused of diving by numerous opponents. cheap jerseys ' ' '
