PORTLAND, Ore.
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. -- San Antonio stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker took the night off
Wednesday. No matter. As is usual when the Spurs are without their
stars, the rest of the team got the job done.
Patty Mills came off the bench to score 29 points, Marco Belinelli hit a
go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining and San Antonio rallied in the
second half to pull out a 111-109 victory over the Trail Blazers.
San Antonio has won two of three games this season when Duncan and
Parker were both absent from the lineup.
Mills helped fill the void with a 24-point second half. The fourth-year
guard from Australia came off the bench to hit 13 of 26 shots against
the Blazers.
Belinelli had 20 points and Manu Ginobili 16 for San Antonio.
Mills has been on a hot streak since the All-Star break concluded,
scoring 25 and 29 points in the Spurs first two games back.
"If it wasnt for him the last couple nights, we would have really
struggled," San Antonio forward Danny Green said. "Hes doing what Tony
usually does, in taking over in that fourth quarter."
Mills explained his recent stretch in humble tones, saying "for me, its
just been learning from great guys. Weve got three future Hall of Famers
and a great coach, so Ive just sat back and learned."
It wasnt just Mills, though. Belinelli hit four 3-pointers, and
Tiago Splitter had 15 points and six rebounds in returning to the lineup
for the first time since Feb. 6.
"I thought the effort was fantastic," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Portland was without leading scorer and rebounder LaMarcus Aldridge, who
missed the game with a groin injury and is expected to be out at least a
week. Also sidelined were forward Joel Freeland (knee) and centre
Meyers Leonard (ankle).
Aside from Duncan and Parker, the Spurs also were without guard
Kawhi Leonard (right hand).
Damian Lillard scored 31 points, including 15 during the fourth quarter,
for Portland. Coming off his first All-Star game appearance, Lillard
hit 13 of 21 shots and handed out six assists.
Mo Williams had 19 points and Wesley Matthews 18 for the Blazers.
Without Aldridge, Freeland and Leonard, the Blazers had to resort to
playing a small lineup. It resulted in erratic play, with stretches when
the Blazers offence went missing.
"We tried to beat San Antonio at their game and they did it better than
us," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "San Antonio is used to playing
these games without their guys and they plug guys in and they play
well."
Trailing 81-79 after three quarters, San Antonio took command when Green
hit back-to-back 3-pointers to fuel a 10-0 run at the fourth quarters
outset. The Spurs led by as many as 10 points, but the Blazers
eventually pulled even at 101-101 on Matthews steal and dunk with 1:52
remaining.
On San Antonios next possession, Belinelli hit a 3-pointer from the top
of the key with 1:34 left to put the Spurs back on top.
Portland led by as many as eight points during the first half, and
settled for a 52-51 halftime lead.
Both teams had big runs during a free-flowing third quarter. Mills
finished an 8-2 run with a layup to give San Antonio a 69-61 lead.
Portland responded with seven consecutive points, then took a 79-75 lead
when Williams scored six consecutive points late in the quarter.
NOTES: Portland was the last NBA team to use the same starting lineup
this season until Wednesday, when Dorell Wright replaced Aldridge
against San Antonio. The Blazers are the first team since the 2010-11
Spurs to start the same lineup during its first 53 games. . Splitter
returned to the lineup after missing the past four games with a calf
injury. . Blazers forward Victor Claver, who hasnt played since Nov. 15
and has logged just three minutes of playing time this season, made a
first-quarter appearance and played seven minutes . San Antonio
concludes a nine-game road trip that began Feb. 3 on Friday at Phoenix. .
Before Wednesday, San Antonio was 1-9 in its past 10 games at Portland.
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.
Wheeler said Kane was just making a joke that was misunderstood and
misinterpreted by "Winnipeg folks" and the media once again.
Wheeler repeated that he believes Kane is a player who has the ability
to help the Jets get to the next level as they try once again to reach
the playoffs in 2014.
He made the comments initially in an interview, when asked how the Jets
could compete in the Central Division with teams that have made some
high-profile off-season signings.
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. LA (SportsNetwork.SEATTLE -- Chad Marshall headed in a corner kick
from Marco Pappa in the 84th minute Saturday night as the Seattle
Sounders completed a comeback from a first-half own goal to beat the
Philadelphia Union 2-1.
The Sounders (6-2-1) won their MLS-leading fourth straight game,
extended their unbeaten streak to five and took the overall league lead
with 19 points.
"I think Ill be thinking about that goal tonight," said Marshall, whose
tally was his first since Sept. 14, 2013, while still with the Columbus
Crew before he came to Seattle in an off-season trade. "Ive been close a
couple times this year, so it was nice to get one, especially at home.
And for it to be a game-winner was pretty sweet."
During their five-game unbeaten streak, the Sounders have come from
behind in four of them to get the result.
"We said at the beginning of the season that we wanted to be a team that
fought to the very end of games, and were doing that," coach Sigi
Schmid said. "Coming back, we made it a little bit hard for ourselves.
We had some good chances in the first half. . We didnt put those chances
away."
Philadelphia (1-4-5) saw its winless streak extended to eight games
(0-4-4), tying a club record that was first set in 2011 and matched in
2012.
Pappas corner kick from the right side floated into the penalty area
just outside the 6-yard box. Marshall ran and headed it high into the
net over goalkeeper Zac MacMath for his first of the year.
Marshall was also on top of his game at the other end of the field,
blocking several Philadelphia attempts and clearing away two that were
dangerously close to the Seattle net.
"Im a big guy, and Im just trying to get in their way," said the
6-foot-4 Marsshall, who has played all 810 minutes this season.
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"I think I have a nice Adidas tattoo on my back from one of (the
blocked shots)."
The Union took the lead late in the 13th minute when a long free kick
into the penalty area went into the Seattle net off of Brad Evans head.
The own goal was the result of a free kick by the Unions Cristian
Maidana about 40 yards upfield and slightly toward the right side. He
drove it into the box, where teammate Maurice Edu and Seattles Evans
both went up for it. The ball flew into the right side of the net and
originally was credited to Edu, but was changed moments later to an own
goal off of Evans.
Obafemi Martins tied it for Seattle in the 61st minute, his fourth goal
of the season.
The Sounders created multiple opportunities to tie it before halftime,
none better than Osvaldo Alonsos penalty kick early in the 40th minute
after Philadelphias Amobi Okugo was called for a hand ball in the box.
Alonso went toward the right post, but MacMath dived to his left and
blocked it.
Evans started the play that led to the tying goal when he headed a short
ball into the penalty area. Martins caught up with it at the penalty
spot, took it to the top of the 6-yard box and shot into a wide-open
right side of the net for his fourth of the season.
"Its a difficult one to take because we came in and played well in the
first half and we got up a goal," Union coach John Hackworth said. "Even
in the second half, we had some chances to get a second one, and we
didnt put those away. They came back to get back in the game, and Chad
Marshall makes a great play on a corner kick - I dont know what to say.
"Once again, we kind of let ourselves down."
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