Hilfe & Support » n. Amongst them is Joe Thornton, who has

LOS ANGELES -- Portlands enormous fourth-quarter lead dwindled to a single point before the Trail Blazers finally figured out how hold off the Los Angeles Lakers patchwork lineup. Wesley Matthews thinks the harrowing experience will be good for the Blazers as they try to cement their spot among the NBAs elite. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and nine rebounds, and Portland blew most of a 20-point lead before holding on to beat the Lakers 114-108 Sunday night. Damian Lillard had 26 points and nine assists, and Matthews scored 17 points for the Blazers, whose 11-game winning streak ended four days earlier in Phoenix. The Blazers tied their franchise record with 13 victories in November, and they opened December with an unlikely nail-biter, surviving despite blowing big leads in each half. "We shouldnt have had to do that," Matthews said. "Theres still a learning curve for us, but its a good sign if your lesson is you have to learn how to play with a lead. Its better than having to fight back." The Lakers would agree, even though their rally got Staples Center rocking. Xavier Henry scored a career-high 27 points and Jodie Meeks added 20 for Los Angeles, which had won five of six to climb above .500 despite injury woes. Portland led 94-74 entering the fourth, but promptly failed to score for nearly six minutes as the Lakers mounted a 24-5 run with a lineup featuring no point guard and energetic backup centre Robert Sacre, who had career highs of 12 points and seven rebounds. "We have guys down right now, but we cant do anything about that," said Henry, who surpassed his previous career high set earlier this season. "The guys we do have can still give any team a run for its money." Portland returned from its holiday break with its first road victory over the Lakers in seven tries since April 11, 2010, but only after a little drama. The Blazers blew a 17-point lead in the first half, but thought they had taken control with a 41-point third quarter -- their biggest period of the season. Los Angeles cut Portlands lead to 99-98 on Shawne Williams tip-in with 3:44 to play, but Lillard hit a 3-pointer with 2:54 left, and Matthews added another with 1:20 to play. Los Angeles kept it close, but the Blazers hit five of their six free throws in the final 23 seconds. "We need to stay consistent," Lillard said. "When things are going well, we tend to ease up instead of tightening up and putting teams away. Once teams get fired up and get back in the game, our intensity rises again. We have to find a way to keep it at that high level." The Lakers were left with only nine or 10 healthy players -- and one point guard -- when Jordan Farmar limped to the locker room in the first quarter, straining his left hamstring shortly after checking in to the game. Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash still havent returned to uniform, and centre Chris Kaman -- who recently recovered from a back injury -- dressed but didnt play. Pau Gasol, who missed Saturdays practice to deal with nagging injury issues, missed nine of his 10 shots in the first half before finishing with six points on 3-of-15 shooting. He plans to have an MRI on his sore ankle Monday. But the Lakers league-leading bench had another big game led by Henry, Sacre and Nick Young, who scored 17 points. "Thats what this team is all about -- you never know whos going to come out and produce," Sacre said. "Thats the whole essence of this team. Were all about one another, and we want each other to succeed." The Lakers hoped to play aggressively with the next four days off to rest, but instead got off to a horrific start. Portland took an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes as Los Angeles missed its first eight shots, stretching the margin to 21-4 before many fans had settled in their seats. Lakers coach Mike DAntoni yanked four of his starters, and they gradually got back in it with a tying 19-6 run capped by Meeks 3-pointer midway through the second quarter. Lillard scored 11 points in the third quarter as Portland made 17 of its 24 shots while taking command. Los Angeles then scored 10 straight points to open the fourth, and the Blazers didnt get a field goal until 5:31 remained. NOTES: Lillard converted a four-point play early in the second quarter, and Henry also did it midway through the fourth quarter. ... DAntoni said Nash will be at practice on Tuesday after a trip to Vancouver for further rehab on his nerve root irritation. Theres no timetable for the return of the two-time MVP point guard -- or Bryant, who also will be in practice this week. DAntoni declined to speculate whether Bryant could make his season debut when the Lakers visit Sacramento on Friday. ... Williams and Johnson both fouled out in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles. T.J. Tynan Jersey . Mesoraco hurt his hamstring while scoring from second in Friday nights 5-4 loss at Atlanta. Chapman was hit by a line drive during an exhibition game on March 19, breaking his nose and a bone above his left eye. The left-hander looked strong while throwing 43 pitches in batting practice before Saturday nights game against the Braves. Shea Theodore Jersey . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. http://www.officialgoldenknightsfanstore...ts-jersey-c-13/. -- Arizona coach Bruce Arians says there "were obviously very, very many problems" with the officiating in the Cardinals 24-21 loss at Philadelphia. Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat. Vegas Strong Jersey .com Tours Nova Scotia Open. The 27-year-old Sloan, a former Texas-El Paso player from Calgary matched first-round leader Rodriguez at 10-under 132 on Ashburn Golf Clubs New Course.TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun have the latest on the coaching vacancies in Pittsburgh and Vancouver, the trade market for the top three centres reportedly available and if P.K. Subban will receive an offer sheet in free agency. With Bill Peters being named the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, three coaching vacancies remain in the NHL. What is the latest news on the Pittsburgh Penguins opening? Dreger: Were looking at Willie Desjardins as potentially the next head coach of the Penguins. Now, Desjardins is a hot commodity, given his American Hockey League championship with the Texas Stars of the Dallas Stars organization. We know he was a hot commodity with the Vancouver Canucks, but I expect the Pittsburgh Penguins are the team that will land Desjardins. McKenzie: If Desjardins ends up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, some might consider that to be a blow to the Vancouver Canucks, where hes long been considered a candidate for their head coaching position. Keep in mind that John Stevens, who recently re-upped with the Los Angeles Kings, was another candidate in Vancouver. However, there are still lots of guys who general manager Jim Benning and president Trevor Linden have interviewed and are interested in. Mike Johnston, the general manager and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, is amongst those who is considered to be a strong candidate for this job. LeBrun: Stevens would have had an interview - at very least - with the Hurricanes, Penguins and Canucks but he decided to stay put in Los Angeles, where he was promoted from assistant head coach to associate head coach. I spoke to Stevens and the one thing thats out there that he claims is absolutely false is that this promotion is not about a succession plan. There have been rumours that hes in line to replace Darryl Sutter as coach at some point in the next couple of years. Those are not true, according to Stevens. He stayed because he wants to be there and one day if he wants to be head coach, it will probably happen somewhere else. On the trade front, three centres are drawing a lot of attention. Amongst them is Joe Thornton, who has a no-movement clause. Would he willing to waive it? LeBrun: Joe Thornton has yet to tell the San Jose Sharks he wants to be moved somewhere. Right now, Thornton wants to stayy in San Jose.dddddddddddd Could that change by the end of the summer? I suppose it could before the end of the summer. In the meantime, teams who are intrigued are calling San Jose. Amongst those teams are the Detroit Red Wings. Thornton is from St. Thomas, not too far from Detroit but, again, none of that talk means anything until Thornton decides to tell the Sharks he does not want to be a part of the rebuilding plan, and that has not happened at this point. A lot of talk surrounding Ryan Keslers availability and the availability of Jason Spezza, who after Bryan Murray spoke at the general managers meeting, sounds like its a fait accompli hes moving. LeBrun: Once we get to the draft in Philadelphia it looks like things will really heat up on the Spezza trade front and on the Ryan Kesler trade front, obviously with first-round picks being involved next Friday night. The Anaheim Ducks are real wild card in all of this. We know they want another centre and they tried to get Kesler at the trade deadline in March but failed. The Ducks have talked to Ottawa about Spezza and have talked to the Canucks, again, about Kesler but the price is too high. I think the Senators would love to get their first round pick back from Anaheim, which they traded for Bobby Ryan, but I dont think Anaheim is willing to make that deal. McKenzie: Keep on eye on the Boston Bruins; they have surplus of defencemen. Obviously, Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton wont be moved but Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski, who are all NHL-caliber defencemen. Dont be surprised if they move one of those players for a forward. The Bruins are still looking to sign Jerome Iginla and whether that deal gets done or not will dictate their needs this off-season. Could restricted free agent P.K. Subban draw an offer sheet this summer? Dreger: Hell definitely be a prime target but it is hard to say that it is likely to happen. However, the longer the negotiation - or lack thereof - between Newport Sports and the Montreal Canadiens drags on will create a target for Subban from an offer sheet perspective. However, in saying that, there is no chance the Canadiens would not match and it sounds like the Canadiens are prepared in case of that situation. 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