MILWAUKEE -- The Portland Trail Blazers kept up their strong start and extended the Milwaukee Bucks early-season woes. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points, Damian Lillard added 19 and the Trail Blazers got their eighth straight win, beat the Bucks 91-82 Wednesday night. Portland held the lead throughout the second half but had difficulty pulling away until late in the fourth quarter. "We got a win. Thats all Im worried about," said Portland guard Wesley Matthews, who had 15 points, all in the first half to help the Blazers complete a sweep of a four-game Eastern Conference road trip. "To finish a road trip undefeated and to do it with the defence and energy that we had in the second half is great," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. Luke Ridnour scored 13 points to lead the Bucks, who lost their sixth in row and eight of 10 on the season. They last won on Nov. 6 against Cleveland. Portlands last loss came a night earlier against Houston. "Our margin of error is very small," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. "Were trying to dig ourselves out of a hole and the only way to do that is to play every possession like its going to be the last possession. Portland is hot, needless to say, but we were right there but just couldnt get over the hump." Milwaukee pulled within six points late in the fourth on Caron Butlers 3-pointer. However, Lillard had a breakaway dunk and a 3 of his own to put Portland up 89-78 -- matching the Blazers largest lead of the game. The Bucks got no closer than seven again. "We are in positions to win games but in the fourth quarter we are just making mistakes," Milwaukees Zaza Pachulia said. "We have to keep getting better individually and as a team because nobody is happy in this locker room." Portland shot just 41 per cent for the game while winning for the 10th time in 12 games this season. "Our mentality is right. Were thinking greedy, were thinking win like were supposed to," Matthews said. Bucks guard O.J. Mayo, who had nine points, added to the Bucks injury woes when he sprained his left ankle. Portland opened the third quarter on a 8-0 run to take a 61-51 lead. The Blazers took an 11-point lead late in the quarter when Nicolas Batum hit a 3 as he fell to the court. The Bucks responded as Ersan Ilyasova scored his first points of the contest when he made a 3, then followed it with a leaner in the lane to cut the deficit to 70-64 at the end of the quarter. Portland held a 53-51 lead at the half. The second quarter ended with an exchange of traditional three-point plays. Lillard drew a foul after making a reverse layup on a strong drive to the basket. Ridnour then made an acrobatic floater along the baseline while being fouled as the clock wound down. Ridnour, who has been battling a back injury, had 11 first-half points for the Bucks. Milwaukee shot 50 per cent over the first two quarters, compared to nearly 49 per cent for the Blazers. Milwaukee finished the game at 44 per cent, while Portland connected on just 41 per cent of its shots. Stotts said he was disappointed with his teams first-half defence. "In the first half, there were three or four times where we had a chance to really nail down a defensive possession and it seemed like (Milwaukee) came up with the ball and finished the play." Matthews, returning to the arena where he starred in college for Marquette, scored 13 points in the first quarter, including a trio of 3-point field goals, but the Bucks held a 24-23 lead. NOTES: Ilyasova and Butler returned to the Bucks lineup after missing time because of injuries. Ilyasova saw his first action since Nov. 2. Brandon Knight remained out with a sore hamstring. Ten players saw action in the opening period for the Bucks, who dressed only eight players for a Nov. 13 game against Orlando. ... Portland has won eight in a row in the same season for the first time since a 13-game streak in December 2007. 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Air Max 270 Mens Discount . -- Mike Shanahan gave Robert Griffin III a rest, and may have turned up the pressure on himself, too. DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche are back in the post-season. But they may have to move on without Matt Duchene. If Semyon Varlamov continues his breakout season, the Avalanche might not miss their leading scorer. Varlamov had a season-high 47 saves and Colorado clinched its first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Center John Mitchell had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who moved past Chicago into second place in the Central Division with 100 points in what might have been a costly victory. Duchene suffered a left knee injury on the opening shift Saturday when he collided with teammate Jamie McGinn near the Sharks blue line. He fell to the ice and then gingerly skated to the bench. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Sunday. "Well know more after that," coach Patrick Roy said. "Its not good news for him and its not good news for us. Its the way its been all year." Despite the injuries -- Colorado has lost top-six forwards Alex Tanguay and P.A. Parenteau -- the constant has been Varlamov. He came through again against the relentless Sharks, who threw 74 shots at him. Colorado blocked 25. "Im guessing he was the first star," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said of Varlamov. "He should be." Down a player, Varlamov made up for it with an outstanding performance. He stopped 20 shots in the third period, many during the final minutes when the Sharks were trying to get the equalizer. His 37 wins are the most in the NHL and a big reason the Avalanche reached 100 points for the first time in 10 years. "Hes been tremendous," captain Gabe Landeskog said. "I think its safe to say we wouldnt be here without him." Colorado was a mainstay in the playoffs when the franchise moved to Denver in 1995. After winning the Stanley Cup for a second time in 2001, the Avalanche reached the Western Conference finals the following season before heading into lean times. Now they have a chance to return to the glory years with a young, eager group. "Were certainly not satisfied with just squeaking into the playoffs, we want to do damage," Landeskog said. Mitchell moved upp to centre Colorados top line, and came through with a big power-play goal to give Colorado a 3-1 lead at 6:32 of the second period.dddddddddddd "It came right to me slow enough so I could get a forehand shot and I just one-timed it into the back of the net," Mitchell said. "I was just at the right place at the right time." Paul Stastny and Cody McLeod also scored for Colorado. Varlamovs strong play beforehand helped Colorado maintain a 2-1 lead. The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 11-3 in the second, many of those coming early when they were trying to tie it. Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle scored for the Sharks, who are 1-2-2 in their past five games but still hold a slim lead for first place in the Pacific over Anaheim. Goalie Alex Stalock had 19 saves for San Jose before being pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute. "I thought we played extremely well, thought we generated a lot of chances," Joe Thornton said. "Its just sometimes you dont win those types of games." Boyle cut the lead to 3-2 when he took a pass from James Sheppard and scored off Varlamovs left shoulder 2:03 after Mitchell. It was his 10th goal of the season. The Sharks got a chance to tie on a 4-on-3 power play after Ryan OReilly took his first penalty of the season, a minor for playing with a broken stick. Stastnys 26th goal 1:33 into the game gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. Pavelski tied it on the power play less than two minutes later with his 38th. The Sharks had another power-play chance midway through the first, but McLeod sneaked behind the defence, took a long pass from Nick Holden off Boyles glove and beat Stalock to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. "I took my eye off the puck for a fraction of a second to make sure I wasnt going to get drilled," Boyle said. "I just caught a piece of it and missed it. Thats an unfortunate bounce." NOTES: Mitchell returned to the lineup after missing four games with a back injury. ... The Sharks reassigned F Freddie Hamilton to Worcester of the AHL on Friday. ... McGinn played after skipping practice Friday. He took a shot off his foot in Thursdays win over Vancouver. ' ' '
