HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points and help the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-98 on Wednesday night to avoid elimination. Pittsburgh Penguins Shirts . The Trail Blazers lead the first-round series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Portland. A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about three minutes left. The shot brought the crowd, which was clad almost completely in red shirts emblazoned with the words "Clutch City" on them, to its feet. That started an 8-0 Houston run to close it out. Harden finished with 17 points and seven assists. Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points, after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26. Lin got extended minutes on Wednesday night with Pat Beverley dealing with an illness. Beverley had five points in 21 minutes. The Rockets led by as many as 17 points in the first half. Portland cut it to one point three times in the fourth quarter, but never went back on top. Terrence Jones added a basket for Houston after the big 3 by Harden before Howard got after Aldridge on the other end. He blocked his short jump shot, sending it out of bounds. Portland got the ball back and Aldridge got the ball again, but he badly missed a shot with Howard in his face as the shot clock expired, leaving Aldridge yelling for a foul. The Rockets were up by nine early in the fourth quarter after four quick points from Lin before Portland used an 8-0 run, with the first four points from Nicolas Batum, to cut the lead to 91-90 with 7:39 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Matthews cut Houstons lead to 62-58 early in the third quarter. He added 12 more points in the period to finish with 18 of Portlands 29 points. Howard and Lin carried the Rockets in the third, combining for 18 points. Howard had 10 and Lin scored the rest, including a long two as the shot clock expired with Lillard right in his face. Matthews, who was 4 for 5 from long range in the third, made two 3-pointers within 20 seconds late in the quarter to cut Houstons lead to two points. But Lin finished off the quarter with a three-point play to make it 82-77 entering the fourth. Robin Lopez received a flagrant-1 foul when he fouled Howard in the air while fighting for a rebound and pulled him to the ground by the shoulders on the way down. Howard made one of two free throws to stretch Houstons lead to 74-68 with three minutes left in the quarter. Houston led by three after one and used an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and go up 41-27. Jones scored the first four points in that span and rookie Troy Daniels capped it with a 3-pointer. The Trail Blazers had six turnovers while the Rockets built the lead and didnt score until a pair of free throws by Aldridge with about nine minutes left until halftime. Howard picked up his third foul soon after that and went to the bench. Portland scored the next five points to get within seven but the Rockets used a 10-0 spurt to push the lead to 51-34. Lin had a reverse layup and a 3-pointer during that run. The Trail Blazers ended the first half with a 14-5 run, with eight points from Lillard, to cut the lead to 56-48 at halftime. Aldridge had just six points at halftime after sitting out about half of the first quarter after getting his second foul. NOTES: The Trail Blazers wore patches on their jerseys to honour Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died on Monday at 89. Ramsay coached the team to an NBA title in 1977. The plaid patch has the words "Dr. Jack" and a "77" to honour the championship team. The Blazers will wear the patch for the remainder of the post-season. ... Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon watched from a courtside seat. ... Chandler Parsons added 20 points for Houston. Fake Penguins Jerseys . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. Stitched Penguins Jerseys . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season.PARIS - Rafael Nadals back is giving him more trouble than his opponents so far at the French Open. After pushing his winning streak at Roland Garros to 31 matches with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 victory over 65th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the third round Saturday, eight-time champion Nadal said his bothersome back is forcing him to cut back on the velocity of his serves. Nadals back also acted up in January during his loss to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final. "During my career, I had (a) few problems. ... Hopefully will not be (the) case" the rest of the way in Paris, the No. 1-ranked Nadal said. "I served more slowly since I started feeling the pain," he said, noting that hes worn tape on his back for extra support. Against Mayer, Nadal averaged only 102 mph (165 kph) on first serves, with a top speed of 114 mph (184 kph). That was down from an average of 111 mph (179 kph) and top of 122 mph (197 kph) in the first round against Robby Ginepri last Monday. Through six sets across his first two matches, Nadal faced only five break points and lost serve only twice. He needed to deal with eight break points against Mayer, losing two. Still, Nadal made only 10 unforced errors all match — two in the first set, three in the second, five in the third — and equaled his longest run at Roland Garros. But the last time Nadal won 31 in a row in Paris, he failed to get No. 32, losing in the fourth round in 2009 to Robin Soderling. That remains the Spaniards only defeat in 63 matches at the tournament. Nadal has dropped 19 games heading into his match against 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who is in the second major of his career and beat Jack Sock of the United States 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Another American, Donald Young, lost in five sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, leaving No. 10 John Isner as the last U.S. man in the field. Before this French Open, the 23-year-old Lajovic had a 10-21 career record in tour-level matches, never winning two in a row. "I saw him play a few times on TV. Sure, its great to have new players on tour, young players on the tour that are coming strong. Hopefully not ttoo strong," Nadal said with a smile. Cheap Penguins Jerseys. "Well see on Monday. I hope to be ready." Asked whether he would seek advice from another Serbian, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, before facing Nadal, Lajovic joked: "Yeah, I will try to ask everybody (for) some tips." That wont help if Nadal produces shots of the sort he did when Mayer served at 5-all in the second set — a stretching, scooping backhand lob to break. As Mayer watched the shot sail overhead, he waved his left hand to signal to the ball to go out, then rolled his eyes when it curled in. At the other end, Nadal pumped his fist, ahead 6-5 and well on his way to reaching the fourth round for the 10th time in 10 trips to Roland Garros. Roger Federer is the only other man to make it to the final 16 in Paris that many years in a row. The man Nadal beat in last years final, No. 5 David Ferrer, defeated No. 32 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Ferrer now plays No. 19 Kevin Anderson of South Africa. No. 23 Gael Monfils of France put together a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win over No. 14 Fabio Fognini of Italy in a wild match that included a point penalty for Fognini when he threw his racket and it landed near a ball boy. Monfils and Fognini combined for more than twice as many unforced errors, 137, as winners, 66. Earlier Saturday, No. 15 Sloane Stephens moved into the fourth round for the sixth major in a row. The American now meets No. 4 Simona Halep of Romania. Other fourth-round matchups: 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against No. 23 Lucie Safavora; 2012 runner-up Sara Errani against No. 6 Jelena Jankovic; No. 28 Andrea Petkovic against 148th-ranked qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. As the sun came out and the temperature topped 70 degrees (20 Celsius) after several days of overcast skies and occasional rain, Stephens eliminated No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3, 6-4, while Halep beat 55th-ranked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-3, 6-0. Halep is the highest seeded woman left, because of losses by No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 2 Li Na and No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. Said Halep: "Thats a surprise for everyone." ' ' '