SAN ANTONIO -- The Portland Trail Blazers were feeling good about themselves after withstanding a barrage from the San Antonio Spurs. Roberto Osuna Jersey . LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 24 points, and Portland overcame San Antonios second-half rally to beat the Spurs 109-100 on Friday night. "To beat the best team in the West on their floor -- that sticks out," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "We showed a lot of resolve at both ends of the floor. I thought we had a good defensive game throughout, except for the stretch in the third quarter when they hit the 3s." Damian Lillard had 21 points and eight assists and Mo Williams added 13 points as Portland snapped San Antonios six-game winning streak. Matthews shot 6 for 7 on 3-pointers, including going 3 for 3 in the final 4 minutes to snuff the Spurs hopes. "My teammates were finding me," Matthews said. "They did the hard job and all I had to do was knock the shots down." Manu Ginobili had a season-high 29 points, and Boris Diaw and Marco Belinelli added 14 points each for the Spurs. Tim Duncan had 13 points and Tony Parker added 12, but the two combined for just eight points in the second half. "It was really intense," Lillard said. "We both played physical. There were a lot of fouls called, but that was how we knew we were going to win the game. Just keep playing the same way and sticking with it." San Antonio (31-9) still holds the Wests best record, but came in with something to prove. The Spurs are aware of the criticism that they cant beat an elite team, having now gone 1-8 against the Wests remaining top-five teams and the Easts best, Indiana. "No, we dont ignore anything," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Its like when we started the season the first thing we did was watch Game 6 in Miami (of the NBA Finals, which the Spurs lost in overtime). We look everything square in the eye and talk about what we need to do" The Spurs needed to control Aldridge and Lillard, but struggled to contain either. Portland was controlling the contest when Popovich was ejected with 7:18 left in the third quarter after drawing two technical fouls during a San Antonio timeout and the Trail Blazers leading 65-55. "We knew eventually they would find their way back into the game, especially after Pop got tossed," Lillard said. "He looked like he wanted to get tossed because he just kept going off. I knew that that would spark something in their team. They got some calls they made some shots." Popovich began his rant a minute earlier when Diaw fell to the court defensively after taking a bump from Aldridge that Popovich thought was a foul. Official Mark Ayotte issued the first technical after Popovich was screaming and following him around. The technical only further incensed Popovich, who was attempting to push aside his assistants to reach Ayotte when official Bill Kennedy issued a second technical. The tirade sparked the fiery Ginobili, who scored 18 straight points to close the quarter and help San Antonio outscore Portland 33-12 following Popovichs ejection. "I got in the game and I had two wide-open shots, both went in," Ginobili said. "Things started to happen. They found me on a 3-point shot. I started to feel more confident and the whole situation was exciting. Things went our way in that third quarter." After starting the game 2 for 8 on 3s, Belinelli and Ginobili made the teams next three attempts to pull San Antonio to 73-66 with 3:31 left in the third. Ginobili closed the quarter by making three free throws after inducing C.J. McCollum into a foul and then driving, hitting a 3-pointer and then driving into the lane from the right side of the 3-point line to the left side of the basket and spinning in a reverse layup with his left hand to give the Spurs a 78-77 lead entering the fourth. Portland regained the lead at 88-87 on Aldridges 16-foot jumper with 6:21 remaining. After the teams exchanged leads for a few minutes, Aldridge and Matthews proved unstoppable. Aldridge scored eight of Portlands 11 points late in the game, and his jumper gave Portland a 97-93 lead. San Antonio then began to double Aldridge, which left Matthews free to hit from long range. He made three consecutive 3s, with his final giving Portland a 105-96 lead with 1:25 remaining. "We couldnt keep that emotion up," Ginobili said. "Every time we made a run or played good defence, then they would get a 3 or an isolation for Aldridge and a bucket." Ginobili sat for most of Portlands run, with his only points in the final quarter came on a one-hand dunk with 31.7 seconds remaining. Lillard only had three points in the fourth, but he had four assists in guiding the team to shoot 60 per cent in the quarter. Parker, who wore a compression sleeve on the bruised right shin, had trouble staying in front of Lillard. The second-year guard had 14 points in the first half and committed just one turnover in 18 minutes. "I wish I was 100 per cent tonight, but it happens," Parker said. "Ill play, Ill play on Sunday (at home against Milwaukee). It will all get better with time." NOTES: Spurs F Matt Bonner left the game midway through the first quarter after suffering a nasal fracture on an elbow from Thomas Robinson. Bonner did not return and his status is unknown for Sundays home game against Milwaukee. ... First-year assistant Jim Boylen took over as head coach when Popovich was ejected. Boylen was hired from Indiana after San Antonio lost long-time assistants Mike Budenholzer and Brett Brown in the off-season to head coaching positions in Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively. ... Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington and relief pitchers J.P. Arencibia and Neal Cotts were in attendance along with team executives. ... Kennedy told Terry Stotts, "We cant get them all right," after the Portland coach kept haranguing him about a foul assessed on Lopez following his block of Ginobili. Stitched Astros Jerseys . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week. Lance Mccullers Jr. Astros Jersey . The 23-year-old Woods, Tiger Woods niece, closed with a 4-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under 276. Lee also shot 69 in the event sanctioned by the European and Australian tours. Woods birdied the par-5 15th to open a two-stroke lead, hitting a wedge from about 120 yards to 4 feet. https://www.cheapastros.com/ .S. - Nova Scotias Mary Fay guaranteed at least one more match and a shot at the Canadian junior curling championships final on home ice.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Unable to get much lift off his sore right ankle, Bobcats centre Al Jefferson figured it was time to make an adjustment. So Jefferson made a conscious decision to try a new technique Tuesday night, jumping off both feet instead of just his right. He never expected the results he got. Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points, Kemba Walker had 12 of his 25 in the fourth quarter and Charlotte snapped the New York Knicks five-game winning streak with a 108-98 victory. "It worked for me tonight -- on my jump shot, on my jump hook. I just decided to try to do something different to get some lift," said Jefferson, who acknowledged for the first time hell likely need surgery on the ankle after the season. It was Jeffersons best game since joining the Bobcats as a free agent this past off-season and more of what he envisioned when he signed a three-year, $41 million contract. When he wasnt dominating in the low post, he was kicking the ball out to the wing and the Bobcats were knocking down shots, hitting 6 of 14 on 3-point attempts. It came at a great time. Coach Steve Clifford said he didnt want any doubt to slip into his players minds after theyd lost three straight and eight of their last 10 games. "Thats a professional win," Clifford said. "Thats a win you can get on a plane and feel good about." Walker was 4 of 4 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. He also finished with seven rebounds and five assists. The Bobcats benefited from the return of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who had eight points and seven rebounds after sitting out the last 19 games with a broken left hand. He also brought some needed energy on the defensive end. "You can see value of having a guy like Kidd-Gilchrist," Clifford said. "People dont always understand the energy and intensity and those kinds of things. Those are skills." Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks (15-23) with 20 points and six rebounds. Tyson Chandler returned to the lineup after missing four games with bronchitis, but wasnt much of a factor. Chandler made both shots from the field and finished with five points and four rebounds in 16 1/2 minutes. "I felt decent out there," Chandler said. "I was a little winded the first half but after that I kind of got my lungs together."t; J. Luis Gonzalez Astros Jersey. R. Smith was benched for the second time in four games. With Chandler limited, the Knicks had a tough time shutting down Jefferson. "We havent been hitting the bigs," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "Were letting our bigs play guys one-on-one and (Jefferson) got going and by the time we started to double team, he had already felt good about his game and that didnt even help either." The Bobcats led throughout the second half, but the Knicks cut the lead to four with less than 11 minutes remaining. Thats when Walker began to take over. After a timeout, Walker scored a layup on a nice one-handed feed from Jefferson, who had drawn double coverage. Walker then knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, including a 29-footer from the top of the key to beat the shot clock. Jefferson added an inside jumper to push the lead the 13 and the Knicks never challenged again. Jefferson finished 14 of 20 from the field and had eight rebounds. "You could tell from the first time he touched the ball he was on the attack," Clifford said. After giving up 23 second-chance points in a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, the Bobcats limited the Knicks to just four Tuesday night and led 55-46 at the break. Jefferson had a huge first half, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting as the Bobcats outscored the Knicks 22-14 in the paint. Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 3. He missed a few layups, but provided a needed presence on defence. The Bobcats were 7-12 without Kidd-Gilchrist in the lineup. The Knicks clearly looked fatigued on the second night of a back-to-back. "Im not using that as an excuse but we were a step slow defensively in terms of our rotations," Woodson said. "We scored enough points. 98 points is more than enough points. This team averages 93 points and we gave up 108 points so our defence was non-existent. You just cant do that, especially on the road." NOTES: Mike Tolbert and DeAngelo Williams of the NFLs Carolina Panthers were in the crowd. ... Amare Stoudemire had an embarrassing turnover when he threw a pass to no one in particular and knocked over a womans drink in the front row. ... In the fourth quarter, a portion of Knicks fans on hand for the game began chanting Smiths name, but to no avail. ' ' '