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. Justin Williams . 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. Drew Doughty Kings Jersey . Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies. Jeff Carter . A few changes have been made this year, as RDS will no longer be producing it. Instead, the Canadiens have hired their own team of creative masterminds to produce the reality series.TORONTO - Bobby Orr waited 35 years after his final NHL game to write a book. The result is a reflection on the nostalgia of playing hockey on frozen ponds growing up in Parry Sound, Ont., the physical and emotional pain of knee injuries that cut his career short and the off-ice struggles that the legendary Boston Bruins defenceman hasnt talked much about. "Orr: My Story" was also created as something of a how-to book by a grandparent about how parents, coaches and children should approach the sport. "I touch a lot of things, people who have made a difference, people who have sacrificed so I could reach my goals," Orr said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "I talk about a lot of different things and finally I convinced myself that maybe I could put something together that the reader will get something from." Over roughly 300 pages, Orr, with the help of author and former player Vern Stenlund, describes his beginnings as a talented young rushing defenceman through his Hall of Fame NHL career. Lessons, like his fathers hands-off approach to hockey, are dropped in along the way. "People would come up to my father and say, Your sons going to play in the NHL," Orr said. "And hed come to me and say, Look, go out and play, have fun and well see what happens. Thats how it should be." Regrets arent a major part of the narrative, aside from the knee injuries that limited the eight-time Norris Trophy winner to just nine full NHL seasons and parts of three more. In the past, Orr hadnt been all that open about discussing his knee issues, and this book offers a look into the psychology of injury and the mindset of an athlete robbed of the physical ability to do what his mind thinks he can. "In the end thats why I stopped," he said. "I had a way I played, and I just couldnt play like that anymore. I couldnt skate. Skating was my game, and I just couldnt play the game that I used to play, and that was very difficult. To finally sit there and say, Hey, its over, youve taken my skates from me, I cant play anymore was a very difficult thing to do. But I just couldnt do it." Orr mentions early on that it wasnt his intention to dig up dirt from the past. For much of the time, the focus remains on his journey to the NHL and the two Stanley Cups he won with the Bruins. The one person who isnt spared harsh criticism is former agent and former NHL Players Association executive director Alan Eagleson, who stole money from Orr and others along the way. Orrs finances were destroyed by a man who went on to be convicted of fraud and embezzlement. Orr had to be convinced by the books publisher to write about Eagleson, but he conceded it was the right decision and then didnt hold back. "He stole from the guys that he was representing and back in those days, early on, this was supposedly going towards pensions for the players," he said. "Heres a man, hes been a convicted felon, stripped of his Order of Canada, out of the Hall of Fame, disbarred. What he did was disgraceful to the people that trusted him like I did. I trusted Alan. He was like a brother and I trusted him with everything. Not only me but so many players, he hurt so many players. Its incredible." Orr left plenty of room for praise, especially of his wife, Peggy, several minor-hockey coaches, and the player he still admires more than any other, Gordie Howe. Perhaps more than anyone else, Orr singles out Don Cherry, as an entire chapter is devoted to "Grapes," one of his coaches with the Bruins and a longtime friend. "Don came to Parry Sound for an Easter Seals skate-a-thon, so before leaving town we went over to see Grandma Orr," Orr said. "Gram Orr was, she was over 90 then and she was a little lady. WWe walked in, she didnt see very well and I walked over and said, You know Don Cherry. Jarret Stoll Jersey. Shes looking up at him and she says: I like you. Youre the only one that tells the truth, and shes poking him in the chest. Shes over 90. Like him or dislike him, they watch and they listen." Orr contends that Cherry belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, more for his years on "Coachs Corner" as a respected voice than for his one game as a player and six seasons as an NHL head coach. Thats far from the only opinion Orr shares. Now an agent and the head of The Orr Hockey Group, the 65-year-old believes fighting and hitting should remain in the game but that the red line should be put back in and the trapezoid behind the net taken out to reduce injuries. "I think today our game is a little more dangerous because of the size of the players, the speed of the players, the strength of the players, and we have no barriers," Orr said. "I like the open game, but I think weve got to really be careful now. The players always have to be aware of where they are. Many of them are coming through the middle with their heads down. "We are a contact game, but the thing weve got to rid of, weve got to get rid of those high, blind-side hits, the hitting from behind." Even with the concerns about getting hit, Orr said hed enjoy playing today because as a creative skater and puck handler hed have more room to work with than during his career. But he doesnt know if his risky style would be tolerated, especially growing up in an age where kids learn systems and are coached to make the smart play from a young age. "I played a style that most defencemen didnt play," he said. "Coaches didnt like that style: defencemen going down the ice. They did not ask me to change from the time I was 14 through junior and into the pros. They just thought thats the way I was most effective, and I would hope if I was coming into the game today that the coaches and the team would think the same thing." Times have changed, something Orr freely acknowledges. The innocence of he and his friends leaving in the morning to play hockey and being told by their parents to be home by dark just isnt possible in a lot of places anymore. But that doesnt mean Orr is afraid to share his philosophies, like the notion that children — even if theyre that "Next One" — shouldnt play hockey year-round and should be encouraged to play other sports. More than an attempt to get the NHL to change its rules, Orr wants his autobiography to be a teaching tclayers. "We dont have any control on what goes on at the NHL level in minor sports. But were supposed to have control over our kids programs," Orr said. "There should be rules (for) what happens inside their organizations, and we all have to work together to make sure its a great experience for every kid. In my case, my fondest memories are of my days of minor hockey, and for some kids thats not happening and thats wrong." Eric Lindross parents asked Orrs folks for advice when Lindros was the so-called "Next One." Their answer was to do nothing, a sentiment their son tries to pass along decades later. "I guarantee any of the parents, if your son or daughter has the ability to play at a higher level, as long as theyre having fun, as long as they love the game, as long as they have passion for the game, theyll get a chance," Orr said. "Keep in mind, .0025 per cent of all kids playing hockey ever play one game (in the NHL), so the chances of your son being the one, its slim. "Its a marathon, not a sprint. Leave the kids, let them play, let them have fun, well see what happens." cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
