HOUSTON -- LaMarcus Aldridge had just fouled out late in overtime after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 points when he went to Portland teammate Damian Lillard with a simple message. "I said: Take it over," Aldridge said. Lillard did just that, finishing with 31 points and making the go-ahead free throws in overtime to lift the Trail Blazers to a 122-120 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night in a thrilling first-round series opener. Aldridge fouled out with about a minute left in overtime and Lillard, who was making his playoff debut, scored Portlands next five points and put the Trail Blazers on top by one point with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left. "When youve got your best player playing like that, it fires you up," Lillard said. "When he went out of the game, I felt like our team ... had to have L.As back and come through for him." Joel Freeland made one of two free throws seconds after Lillards free throws to give the Blazers the win in their first trip to the post-season since 2011. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston. Aldridge, who was playing in his home state, also had 18 rebounds and two blocks. "Hes been a handful for us all year long," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "We just didnt have any answers for him." James Harden and Dwight Howard each scored 27 points for Houston, and Howard grabbed 15 rebounds. Houston could have tied it, but Harden missed a short jump shot at the buzzer. He had missed a 3-pointer on Houstons second-to-last possession. "Ive got to play better," Harden said. "I didnt shoot the ball well ... Ive got to shake it off, but it will be better in Game 2." It was a physical game with the teams combining for 79 free throws. A three-point play by Lillard gave Portland a one-point lead with 44.5 seconds remaining. Francisco Garcia and Howard both made one of two free throws after that to give Houston a 120-119 lead 20 seconds later. Aldridge fouled out when he knocked Patrick Beverley to the floor setting a pick with 1:04 left in overtime. An emotional Aldridge continued to yell at the referees even after he went to the bench. "This is one of those games where I could show my team that I wanted to lead," Aldridge said. Beverley re-injured his right knee on the play where Aldridge fouled out and McHale said the Rockets would know more about the guards status after an MRI exam on Monday. Beverley missed eight games late in the season because of a torn meniscus in that knee. A dunk by Robin Lopez gave Portland a 116-114 lead before he fouled out seconds later. Howard made both free throws to tie it. Houston scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, with the first four from Howard, to make it 86-73. But Portland used a 10-0 run, with the help of the Hack-A-Howard defence of intentionally fouling the centre, to tie it at 98 with 2:46 remaining. Howard missed four straight free throws as Portland cut the deficit. A 3-pointer by Lillard had tied it at 104-all before Harden put Houston up with two free throws. Aldridges tip-in with 2.9 seconds left tied it at 106. Houston had a chance to win it in regulation, but Hardens shot was off. Howard and Jeremy Lin both made three-point plays to start overtime before Aldridge and Nicolas Batum hit consecutive 3s to tie it back up. Portland trailed by 11 when it used a 9-2 spurt to get within 73-69 with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Aldridge started the run with four points and Wesley Matthews finished it off by scoring the last five and capping it with dunk on a fast break. The Rockets had a four-point lead early in the third quarter when Harden heated up, scoring 10 points of a 12-3 run that extended Houstons advantage to 66-53 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the period. NOTES: Rockets Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston Texans star J.J. Watt watched the game from courtside seats. ... Houston general manager Daryl Morey asked local rappers Slim Thug and Bun B if they could make a remix of the 2005 hit "3 Kings" for the Rockets, and the pair came through in just one day. The two did a concert before the game across the street from the Toyota Center and dropped the track, which mentions several players by name, to wrap up the show as Morey bobbed his head and sang along. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/. The 27th-ranked Austrian underwent surgery on a torn tendon in October and needs more time to recover, the Austria Press Agency reports on Saturday. Nike MLB Jerseys For Sale . The Rainbow FlickNext up is the Rainbow Flick, or as you probably know it, the trick that everybody at soccer camp thought they knew how to do. Wholesale MLB Jerseys .ca NHL Power Rankings, ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. Moving up, from 10 to seven this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won seven straight despite a depleted lineup.TAMPA, Fla. -- Henrik Lundqvist had a positive return performance to help the New York Rangers pull out a one-goal victory. Lundqvist made 37 saves in his first start in four games, and Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists in the Rangers 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night. "Sometimes its a good thing to get a lot of work," Lundqvist said. "Theres been a lot of games where Ive been waiting for shots, and then theres been some odd-man rushes or breakaways, and its been hard to really get the game going. "A game like this definitely helps you to work on your positioning and a lot of different things, so Im pleased with the win and the way I played." Lundqvist watched from the bench as backup Cam Talbot started the previous three games, winning two, after Lundqvist struggled through a 1-4-2 stretch. "He played a real strong game, gave us a chance to win, especially in the third when they had a real strong push and they were tough to handle," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "He had some huge saves to make, and he did." Rick Nash, Chris Kreider and Benoit Pouliot also scored for the Rangers, who had three power-play goals. Ryan McDonagh and Derick Brassard had two assists each. Tampa Bay got goals from Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Valtteri Filppula. The Lightning were coming off a 2-1 shootout loss Saturday night to Montreal. "They earned that victory," Lightning captain Martin St. Louis said. "We got what we deserved." The Rangers went up 4-2 on second-period, power-play goals by Kreider and Pouliot. Kreider beat Anders Lindback with a backhander at 4:35, and Pouliot extended his point streak to seven games with an in-close redirection 3:16 later. Tampa Bay pulled within 4-3 on Filppulas tip-in 8:14 into the third.dddddddddddd It was one of 16 shots the Lightning had on Lundqvist during the period. "Hank was our best player," Zuccarello said. "He played really well for us. They had numerous chances, and we were a little bit nervous there in the third period." After Johnson tied it with a power-play goal at 10:41 of the first, Palat scored a rebound goal from the left circle to make it 2-1 with 3:55 left in the period. Nash snapped his seven-game goal drought to put the Rangers up 1-0 just 4:30 into the game. Derek Stepan set up the goal after stealing a pass by Lightning defenceman Radko Gudas. Zuccarello got the Rangers even at 2 during a power play when his pass into the low slot deflected off Gudas into the net at 18:25. The centre assisted on goals by Kreider and Pouliot. "I dont think Ive seen us mismanage the puck more," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "That was painful to watch, to be honest." NOTES: Lightning star Steven Stamkos, out since breaking his right leg on Nov. 11, did a series of agility drills during a 30 minute on-ice workout. The centre, who hopes to return in February, resumed skating 2 1/2 weeks ago. ... Rangers RW Ryan Callahan (sprained knee) had a limited workout, wearing a no-contact jersey, during the teams morning skate. ... Tampa Bay D Eric Brewer (upper body), Sami Salo (upper body) and LW Ryan Malone (broken ankle) could return during a four-game trip that starts Wednesday at Vancouver. ... New York D Marc Staal (concussion) and D Anton Stralman (left hand and wrist) practiced. ... Tampa Bay D Dmitry Korobov assisted on Filppulas goal for his first NHL point. ... Rangers D Conor Allen played nearly 16 minutes in his NHL debut. ' ' '