PORTLAND, Ore. Danny Green Jersey . -- With Portland trailing Utah to start the fourth quarter, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard did what an All-Star is supposed to do. Lillard scored 14 points in the final period and finished with 28 for the short-handed Trail Blazers in a much-needed 102-94 victory over Utah on Friday night. "I definitely feel like theres times I have to assert myself," he said. Lillard grabbed attention last weekend by taking part in a record five All-Star events. Last-seasons Rookie of the Year was a first-time All-Star, earning a spot on the West team by vote of the conferences coaches. The Blazers need Lillard to take over games like he did against the Jazz in the absence of fellow All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who sat out with a left groin injury. Robin Lopez had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Blazers, who avoided a season-high fourth straight loss as they struggle to keep pace in the Western Conference. "When youre going through a tough stretch, its hard to get back on track sometimes," Lillard said. "This win will get us back on track." Enes Kanter matched his career-high with 25 points and added 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost their second straight after a three-game winning streak. Utah opened the final quarter with a 73-64 lead, but Portland answered with a 7-0 run to close within 73-71 and went ahead on Lillards 3-pointer with 9:18 left. Energized by regaining the lead, Lillards alley-oop dunk off a dish from Nicolas Batum made it 80-75 with 6:07 left. "Hes always in attack mode," Utahs Trey Burke said of Lillard. Utah kept it close down the stretch, with Richard Jeffersons 3-pointer narrowing the gap to 85-83. Batum answered with a 3-pointer for the Blazers. Kanters jumper got Utah within 94-91 with 1:21 to go, but Mo Williams jumper extended it again for the Blazers, who cruised the rest of the way. Portland outscored the Jazz 38-21 in the final period. "I thought in the fourth quarter we had a nice cushion," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They just came out right from the beginning of the fourth and got a turnover and made a 3-point shot. We made another mistake and they scored on it, and they ran from there." Portland was playing its second game without Aldridge, who leads the team with 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. He is expected to sit out Sunday nights game against Minnesota before he is reevaluated. Dorell Wright started in Aldridges place. The Blazers also were without forward Joel Freeland, who has a right knee sprain, and Meyers Leonard, who sprained his left ankle in practice on Monday. Portlands front court got even thinner when Batum, who has been fighting the flu, retreated to the locker room late in the first half. Will Barton started the second half, but Batum returned late in the third quarter. The Jazz were without forward Derrick Favours, who missed his second straight game because of hip issues. Favours is averaging 12.9 points and nine rebounds a game. Kanter started in his place and led both teams with 15 points at the half. The Blazers led by as many as six points in the first quarter, but the Jazz closed in and went ahead 19-18 on Diante Garretts driving layup. Portland reclaimed a 28-25 lead midway through the second quarter on Bartons fast-break 360-degree dunk. Lillards 3-pointer extended the lead to 43-37. Both teams wrestled for the lead through the third quarter, until the Jazz appeared to make a move, going up 62-57 on Trey Burkes deep 3-pointer. It was Utahs biggest lead of the game to that point. Utah extended the lead to 68-60 on Alec Burks layup. NOTES: Blazers coach Terry Stotts wore a plaid sportcoat and an open-collared shirt in honour of Dr. Jack Ramsays 89th birthday. Ramsay coached the Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA title, hence the throwback outfit. "Im not much of a fashionista, but I think he was able to pull it off," Lopez said. ... The Blazers have won the first three meetings against the Jazz for the first time since 1997-98. ... Portland was 17-of-17 from the free-throw line. James Silas Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. Tim Duncan Jersey .com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South. https://www.cheapspurs.com/976j-tracy-mcgrady-jersey-spurs.html . Fabio Fognini pulled off a surprise 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over two-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray to level the best-of-five quarterfinal at 2-2 before Andreas Seppi defeated James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive match.BRADENTON, Florida - J.A. Happ was pummeled by the Pirates on Tuesday, leaving general manager Alex Anthopoulos with an unappealing conundrum: its become easier for him to sell to the fan base the idea of having $12.7-million (Ricky Romeros and Happs combined 2014 salaries) of dead or differently-allocated money than it is to sell the fan base on including the left-hander in the opening day starting rotation. Happ faced 20 batters in three-plus innings. Twelve of them got hits, including Pittsburgh starter Wandy Rodriguez, who hit a wind-aided, opposite field, two-run home run to cap a four-run second inning. Rodriguez had never homered in 437 career major league at-bats. Happ allowed seven earned runs, bloating his springtime ERA over four starts to 20.57. The Blue Jays lost, wait for it, 22-5. "It wasnt a good day for anybody, really," said manager John Gibbons. "We got pounded pretty good. They werent missing em. We got hit around pretty good." Meanwhile, back in Dunedin, Dustin McGowan, the sudden favourite for the final available rotation job, threw four innings of scoreless baseball in a Triple-A game. His fastball was clocked in the mid-90s; McGowan hit the 62-pitch mark. "I thought he looked great," Anthopoulos told a pool reporter in Dunedin. "Its just trying to get him stretched out here. Every step is a step in the right direction, but well see how he feels tonight, tomorrow, all that kind of stuff. He got up to 62 today off of 48 the (outing) before. Well take it outing by outing at this point." The logical next step, provided McGowans wonky shoulder feels good on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, is to have the right-hander throw another minor league game in Florida on Sunday. "The big thing is that we dont get ahead of ourselves because we re-evaluate it almost daily to see how he feels," said Anthopoulos. "I always remind him as well, I keep reminding him that at any time any concerns, any tweaks, anything at all, he needs to tell us, and he said, Absolutely. Hes obviously a big part of wanting to do this as well. As I told him when were even exploring this, he needs to want to do this because we would never take chances with his career or with his health. Hes the one who knows how he feels. Hes been through this enough times. He has to communicate with us." Happ has had a puzzling spring. He arrived in Dunedin under the impression he had a spot in the starting rotation locked up. After poor starts on February 26 and March 3, he missed game action due to a bad back. His two appearances since his return, on March 19 and on Tuesday, have gone no better. "Yeah, thats not an issue," said Gibbons, when asked if Happs back was still a concern. Happ has an option remaining, meaning he could be sent to the minors without first passing through waivers. However, the fly in the ointment is significant: as a major league veteran with more than five years of service time, Happ has the right to refuse the assignment, at which point the Jays could keep him or release him while paying him full freight. Would Happ be willing to move to the bullpen? "Im not thinking about that," he said. "Ill answer that question if someone elsee, one of the bosses, decides they need to ask that. Moses Malone Jersey. Well deal with that then. But thats not something thats on my mind." The Blue Jays still have not officially named Drew Hutchison to their starting rotation although its inconceivable he doesnt make the team. Hutchison has been the clubs best pitcher this spring and Anthopoulos is on the record as saying hes taking the best 25 players north. Assuming Hutchison joins R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle in the rotation, Anthopoulos, Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker have to decide between McGowan, Happ and Todd Redmond for the final spot. The idea of piggybacking McGowan, that is starting him on a strict pitch count and backfilling with Redmond, Esmil Rogers, maybe even Happ, behind him has been bandied about. It likely will be revisited during internal meetings ahead of Sundays deadline to announce the opening day roster. "When we announce the team, everybody will know who it is," said Gibbons. REYES GOING TO MONTREAL? The Blue Jays are encouraged by the MRI results on Jose Reyes left hamstring, which revealed a minor strain. "Hopefully hes in there the next couple of days, maybe at DH," said manager John Gibbons. "Let him run half-speed, three-quarter-speed. It actually made us feel pretty good after we heard the results." When asked on Monday, before he had his MRI, whether he would play through the strain if the regular season already was underway, Reyes didnt answer. It behooves the Jays to be careful, though, especially considering the club plays 91 games (81 at home, 10 in Tampa Bay) of its 162 on artificial turf. "With baseball, too, there can be a lot of dead time too before you actually get a ball," said Gibbons. "That quick movement will sometimes get you. We feel good about it and you hope it doesnt turn into anything down the road either." Still, Gibbons says the plan is to bring Reyes to Montreal, where two games will be played on turf, if hes healthy enough to go. "Im sure everybody wants to see him play up there," said Gibbons. THE SECOND CATCHER R.A. Dickey is scheduled to start the Blue Jays final Grapefruit League home game on Wednesday. By game time, we should have a better idea of who will back up Dioner Navarro. "I would say the guy who catches him (Wednesday) will be the backup catcher," said Gibbons. "Ill leave it at that." Erik Kratz and Josh Thole are vying for the job. Gibbons has repeatedly said that effectively catching Dickey is the jobs number one priority. Thole, to the extent someone can be, is a master at it. Hes also got the most experience. Dickeys pitched 565 innings to Thole over their time together with the Mets and Blue Jays. Kratz, a 2002 Blue Jays draft pick, returned to the organization in an offseason trade with the Phillies. Hes a threat to hit a home run, having gone deep 18 times in 375 at-bats over the last two seasons. Thole posted a .175/.256/.242 line in limited action last season. If he makes the team it appears the club will have trouble generating offence from the eighth and ninth (Ryan Goins) spots in the lineup on the days he plays. ' ' '