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SAN ANTONIO -- The Portland Trail Blazers were feeling good about themselves after withstanding a barrage from the San Antonio Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 24 points, and Portland overcame San Antonios second-half rally to beat the Spurs 109-100 on Friday night. "To beat the best team in the West on their floor -- that sticks out," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "We showed a lot of resolve at both ends of the floor. I thought we had a good defensive game throughout, except for the stretch in the third quarter when they hit the 3s." Damian Lillard had 21 points and eight assists and Mo Williams added 13 points as Portland snapped San Antonios six-game winning streak. Matthews shot 6 for 7 on 3-pointers, including going 3 for 3 in the final 4 minutes to snuff the Spurs hopes. "My teammates were finding me," Matthews said. "They did the hard job and all I had to do was knock the shots down." Manu Ginobili had a season-high 29 points, and Boris Diaw and Marco Belinelli added 14 points each for the Spurs. Tim Duncan had 13 points and Tony Parker added 12, but the two combined for just eight points in the second half. "It was really intense," Lillard said. "We both played physical. There were a lot of fouls called, but that was how we knew we were going to win the game. Just keep playing the same way and sticking with it." San Antonio (31-9) still holds the Wests best record, but came in with something to prove. The Spurs are aware of the criticism that they cant beat an elite team, having now gone 1-8 against the Wests remaining top-five teams and the Easts best, Indiana. "No, we dont ignore anything," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Its like when we started the season the first thing we did was watch Game 6 in Miami (of the NBA Finals, which the Spurs lost in overtime). We look everything square in the eye and talk about what we need to do" The Spurs needed to control Aldridge and Lillard, but struggled to contain either. Portland was controlling the contest when Popovich was ejected with 7:18 left in the third quarter after drawing two technical fouls during a San Antonio timeout and the Trail Blazers leading 65-55. "We knew eventually they would find their way back into the game, especially after Pop got tossed," Lillard said. "He looked like he wanted to get tossed because he just kept going off. I knew that that would spark something in their team. They got some calls they made some shots." Popovich began his rant a minute earlier when Diaw fell to the court defensively after taking a bump from Aldridge that Popovich thought was a foul. Official Mark Ayotte issued the first technical after Popovich was screaming and following him around. The technical only further incensed Popovich, who was attempting to push aside his assistants to reach Ayotte when official Bill Kennedy issued a second technical. The tirade sparked the fiery Ginobili, who scored 18 straight points to close the quarter and help San Antonio outscore Portland 33-12 following Popovichs ejection. "I got in the game and I had two wide-open shots, both went in," Ginobili said. "Things started to happen. They found me on a 3-point shot. I started to feel more confident and the whole situation was exciting. Things went our way in that third quarter." After starting the game 2 for 8 on 3s, Belinelli and Ginobili made the teams next three attempts to pull San Antonio to 73-66 with 3:31 left in the third. Ginobili closed the quarter by making three free throws after inducing C.J. McCollum into a foul and then driving, hitting a 3-pointer and then driving into the lane from the right side of the 3-point line to the left side of the basket and spinning in a reverse layup with his left hand to give the Spurs a 78-77 lead entering the fourth. Portland regained the lead at 88-87 on Aldridges 16-foot jumper with 6:21 remaining. After the teams exchanged leads for a few minutes, Aldridge and Matthews proved unstoppable. Aldridge scored eight of Portlands 11 points late in the game, and his jumper gave Portland a 97-93 lead. San Antonio then began to double Aldridge, which left Matthews free to hit from long range. He made three consecutive 3s, with his final giving Portland a 105-96 lead with 1:25 remaining. "We couldnt keep that emotion up," Ginobili said. "Every time we made a run or played good defence, then they would get a 3 or an isolation for Aldridge and a bucket." Ginobili sat for most of Portlands run, with his only points in the final quarter came on a one-hand dunk with 31.7 seconds remaining. Lillard only had three points in the fourth, but he had four assists in guiding the team to shoot 60 per cent in the quarter. Parker, who wore a compression sleeve on the bruised right shin, had trouble staying in front of Lillard. The second-year guard had 14 points in the first half and committed just one turnover in 18 minutes. "I wish I was 100 per cent tonight, but it happens," Parker said. "Ill play, Ill play on Sunday (at home against Milwaukee). It will all get better with time." NOTES: Spurs F Matt Bonner left the game midway through the first quarter after suffering a nasal fracture on an elbow from Thomas Robinson. Bonner did not return and his status is unknown for Sundays home game against Milwaukee. ... First-year assistant Jim Boylen took over as head coach when Popovich was ejected. Boylen was hired from Indiana after San Antonio lost long-time assistants Mike Budenholzer and Brett Brown in the off-season to head coaching positions in Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively. ... Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington and relief pitchers J.P. Arencibia and Neal Cotts were in attendance along with team executives. ... Kennedy told Terry Stotts, "We cant get them all right," after the Portland coach kept haranguing him about a foul assessed on Lopez following his block of Ginobili. Stephen Piscotty Jersey . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. Brett Anderson Jersey . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals. http://www.athleticsrookiestore.com/Athletics-Bruce-Maxwell-Kids-Jersey/ . His apology came before a pregame ceremony in which the team honoured its 2004 team that won Bostons first World Series championship since 1918. "I realize that I behaved bad in Boston," Ramirez said. Jake Smolinski Jersey . So far, so good: Gonzalez has allowed one run through 12 innings this season. His second start came Tuesday night, when he gave up only three singles over six innings to lead the Nationals to a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. Dennis Eckersley Jersey . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday.NEW YORK -- Martin St. Louis day started way better than it finished. The former Tampa Bay Lightning star got his wish when he was dealt to the New York Rangers on NHL trade deadline day. He then got into the lineup with his new team right away, but wasnt able to celebrate his first home win on Broadway. Tyler Bozak scored on a penalty shot and then got the winning goal 1:51 into overtime to lift Toronto to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night after the Maple Leafs squandered a two-goal lead in the third period. "Tonight was a gutsy comeback," St. Louis said. "Unfortunately we didnt get the extra point, but I was happy to come here and just break the ice." Bozak got to a loose puck in front that bounced past Rangers defencemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh and slammed a shot past Henrik Lundqvist to snap the Maple Leafs three-game losing streak (0-1-2) and stretch New Yorks skid to three (0-2-1). Lundqvist slammed his stick on the glass as he left the ice and was still aggravated when he got to the dressing room. "Every point is important right now. Its annoying the way it ends," he said. "We played really well and worked ourselves back into this game. Its a big frustration right now to not come out of it with two points." Toronto built a 2-0 lead on Bozaks second-period goal and Nazem Kadris tally in the third. The Rangers tied it on short-handed goals by McDonagh and Dominic Moore 1:19 apart. "That was tough," Bozak said of the Rangers rally. "Just have to play well on the power play. We played well for the most part. Made better decisions, just got lackadaisical for a bit." Lundqvist bounced back from two straight losses in which he gave up 10 goals, and finished with 26 saves. Torontos Jonathan Bernier had dropped two straight after regulation -- allowing nine goals in the process -- before sitting out Mondays loss against Columbus. He stopped 35 shots. The Rangers got even by scoring twice on the first power play they gave up in two games. McDonagh made it 2-1 at 5:34 with his 10th goal, and Moore tied it when he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Derek Stepan. It was the second time in four games Toronto allowed two short-handed goals on one power play. "Aside from those two minutes on the power play, we played a strong game," Kadri said. "We got the result we wanted, the two points. "We just to have to clean up the powerr play and well be better, but were all pleased with the overall good job we did.dddddddddddd." That was enough to prevent St. Louis from being a winner in his first Rangers game. St. Louis was acquired Wednesday morning from Tampa Bay in the rare swap of team captains that sent New Yorks Ryan Callahan to the Lightning. St. Louis, whose jersey was flying off the racks in the team store at Madison Square Garden before the game, got the chance to wear his own just hours after being dealt. "I always felt if I was going to leave Tampa, the first place Id want to play would be in New York," St. Louis said. "Its been in the back of my mind for a long time, but I wouldnt trade those 14 years in Tampa for anything." Just after Toronto killed a power play that carried over from the first period, James van Riemsdyk came out of the penalty box and sent Bozak in on a breakaway. Rangers defenceman John Moore hounded him from behind with his stick and prevented Bozak from getting a clean shot away. However, Bozak was awarded with a penalty shot at 1:44. Bozak skated in on Lundqvist, who came way out above his crease, and found space between his pads to score his 13th goal of the season on his first career penalty shot. The Maple Leafs next best scoring chance didnt register on the shot board as defenceman Jake Gardiners drive struck the crossbar and then the right post before bounding away. It was originally ruled a goal on the ice, but that call was overturned by video replay. Toronto managed only five shots in the second period, compared to nine for New York. The Maple Leafs doubled their lead at 2:00 of the third when Kadri steered in the rebound of Nikolai Kulemins shot. St. Louis got a nice ovation when he hopped over the boards for his first shift 38 seconds in, and created a surge of excitement when he fired a hard shot on goal from the top edge of the left circle. Bernier was sharp and stood tall following a handful of miscues by teammates in front of him, stopping 12 shots in the first period. Lundqvist was just as solid at the other end, denying all 11 shots that came his way. NOTES: The Rangers wont name a new captain this season. Instead, D Dan Girardi joined Marc Staal and Brad Richards as those wearing an A on their jersey. ... Cam Talbot was the winning goalie in the Rangers two victories over Toronto this season. The Maple Leafs avoided a three-game, season-series sweep. ' ' '