rtime. Niemi was outstanding in tight and found a way to keep the

MINNEAPOLIS -- The banged-up Minnesota Timberwolves were just what the Portland Trail Blazers needed. Cheap Hornets Jerseys . Having lost six of their previous 10 games, and with a date against first-place Oklahoma City looming on Tuesday, the Blazers took advantage of a Timberwolves team missing three of its best players. "We felt that way even if they had all their guys," LaMarcus Aldridge said after scoring 26 points to lead Portland past Minnesota 117-110 Saturday night. "If they had those guys, it definitely wouldve been different, but this was a must-win game either way." Aldridge scored 16 of his points in the second half and Wesley Matthews added 21 as the Blazers held off a tougher-than-expected Wolves team missing starters Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin. Just minutes before tipoff, the Wolves announced Love -- their All-Star power forward -- would miss the game with a bruised left quadriceps sustained in Friday nights loss in New Orleans. Shortly before that, Martin was ruled out indefinitely with a broken left thumb, also suffered against the Pelicans. Combined with Pekovic, the trio accounts for an average of 60 points and 25 rebounds per game. "It takes a little edge off the game," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "We found out Kevin Martin wasnt going to play early and then Love wasnt going to play. I think that deflates the balloon a little bit, you kind of get yourself up for guys like that." But the Blazers knew they couldnt afford to let up against the scrappy Wolves, who trailed for most of the first half but led 82-75 with 1:50 to play in the third quarter. Corey Brewer led Minnesota with 26 points and Ricky Rubio scored a career-high 25. Minnesota led 87-85 with 9:48 to play in the game before Portland went on a 13-1 run to put the game away. Minnesota pulled within 101-96 with 3:29 to play before Matthews scored five straight and Robin Lopez hit a layup to put the game out of reach. The Wolves got 19 points from Chase Budinger, 14 from Dante Cunningham and a season-high 12 from rookie Shabazz Muhammad. "It doesnt matter whos out," coach Rick Adelman said. "The next guy steps up, thats how you have to approach it. You cant worry about whos not playing, worry about who is playing, and make the best out of the situation. I thought we played well tonight." Aldridge had six points during Portlands game-deciding 13-1 run in the fourth quarter. That run came with Rubio on the bench. Rookie C.J. McCollum had a season-high 19 points and Nicolas Batum added 15 for the Blazers, who finished their four-game road trip 2-2. "We were really counting on our bench tonight because I really wanted to rest the starters," Stotts said. "They all played a lot of minutes last night and the first half the bench really gave us a boost. We were able to make a little ground with them in the game." Minnesotas key starters also got a rest -- in their street clothes. "Its tough having all of those guys out," Budinger said. "Those are huge impact guys for us and were hoping Kevin was able to go but he was really struggling and hurting. He tried to get himself going but just couldnt do it." NOTES: During halftime, Love told The AP he hopes to play on Monday night against Houston. ... The Blazers played a second-straight game without backup point guard Mo Williams, who left the team Friday for family reasons. Stotts did not have an update on when Williams might return. ... Adelman is assuming Pekovic will not return until after the All-Star break. ... Love bought a full-page advertisement in Sundays Minneapolis Star Tribune thanking fans for voting him an All-Star starter. "Just my way of paying tribute to the fans," he said at halftime. Percy Miller Jersey . Alexander was released last week by the Edmonton Eskimos, where he spent the past three seasons at safety. He had 121 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles and seven interceptions in 51 regular-season and three playoff games. Tony Parker Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. https://www.cheaphornets.com/855l-malik-monk-jersey-hornets.html . PETERSBURG, Fla.Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Carey Price, Montreal (3) - On the second Lightning goal, he overplayed the post and on the third, it went through his body. He was good when it mattered with good saves on Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat and, most importantly, the only number that matters is four wins, which Price was instrumental in delivering Anders Lindback, Tampa Bay (1) - He got the gate halfway through the game and Lindback certainly did not have a lot of help as the Lightning was grossly outplayed, but he got beat twice on straight shots that were stoppable and had angle issues on them. Lindback looked erratic and overactive. Kristers Gudlevskis, Tampa Bay (3) - He came in and was very good, especially on Brendan Gallagher and Rene Bourque and he helped change the tide for Tampa. The game-winning goal went through his body and was a squeaker. It was tough finish for a real nice performance. Tuukka Rask, Boston (5) - It was a solid effort. Rask wasnt tested too much, but he made big saves on Johan Franzen and Gustav Nyqvist in close in the second period and a monster save on Justin Abdelkader in the 3rd. Rask is playing so poised and positionally sound right now that he makes it look easy in the net. Jimmy Howard, Detroit (3) - The Dougie Hamilton goal was a shortside, stoppable puck. Howard didnt get a lot of help on the second Boston ggoal. Kendall Gill Jersey. He fought to find pucks through lots of traffic on the penalty kill and made big saves on Brad Marchand and Jarome Iginla. Ray Emery, Philadelphia (2) - Emery was not overly sharp this game. He gave up a bad rebound on the Derek Stepan goal and he was beat clean on the Dan Girardi goal from far out. He made a couple of big saves on Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis in close in the second period, but was lifted after the Dan Carcillo goal to give Steve Mason some minutes. Steve Mason, Philadelphia (N/A) Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers (4) He had no chance on the Mark Streit goal in what was a back door play. He fought hard in the crease tonight as Philly really crashed the net on him and made nice saves on Jake Voracek and Scott Hartnell. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles (3) - It was a seeing-eye shot that he didnt see on Patrick Marleaus OT winner. Quick let in three weird goals tonight. He over-pushed through the screen on the first goal and had no chance on the second goal because he was run into by Robyn Regehr. He made big saves, though, on Tomas Hertl, Brent Burns, Raffi Torres, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. It was a good response game from Quicks prior two, but not enough as the Kings go down 3 to 0. Antti Niemi, San Jose (4) - He made a big save on Jordan Nolan in the third and great saves on Mike Richards and Marian Gaborik in overtime. Niemi was outstanding in tight and found a way to keep the puck out at critical times. ' ' '