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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. Kevan Barlow Jersey . 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. Gino Cappelletti Jersey . -- The Minnesota Vikings have signed Jerome Simpson, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver recently convicted on a felony drug charge. Ted Kwalick Jersey . Even if he is shooting 38 per cent from the field overall this season, the Utah Jazz rookie always feels like his final shot is going in.Im going to talk margins in todays blog. The knife-edged difference between success and failure. Moments in a game, and in a season that can swing your fortunes dramatically - especially in a league like MLS. There were one or two of those in the World Cup Final. A bad back pass here, a post hit off a corner there, with the stakes infinitely higher for both Germany and Argentina. In the end, one brilliant moment 117 minutes in will be remembered for a lifetime in Deutschland. A priceless memory, even though with even the slightest of variables, it could have been so much different. As the Whitecaps reach half-time on their 2014 campaign, think for a moment about how Caps supporters are feeling today, compared with how they might have felt had their team managed to beat Chivas USA on Saturday night. With three points, Vancouver would be sitting second in the West alongside Real Salt Lake, with a four-point cushion above the playoff bar. They would have also been two points ahead of last years pace - an impressive achievement given Carl Robinsons dependence on youth. Instead, the Whitecaps sit in fifth - two points behind last years pace - with the LA Galaxy, Chivas and Portland bearing down in the rear-view mirror. There you have the margins in an MLS season. Then there are the defining ones within a game. Carlyle Mitchell found a yard of space in the penalty area before nodding home his first MLS goal between Dan Kennedys legs. The cross from Pedro Morales had to be inch perfect. Johnny Leveron lost his man for one second, and Agustin Pelletieri equalized from a Chivas corner. That corner itself appeared contentious, until further review when the ball appeared to havve just marginally brushed off the top of Steven Beitashours head. Randy Moss Jersey. A twinge of irony too, as it was Pelletieri who was sent off in the two teams earlier meeting in Carson. The decision was probably incorrect, but the Whitecaps couldnt take advantage on that day. Jordan Harvey was one second late and one yard behind his tackle on Oswaldo Minda, and was sent off. Nigel Reo Cokers right foot was one inch too open, and his side-footed effort from an Erik Hurtado cutback was a yard wide from giving Vancouver the lead. Erick Torres found an extra yard of space, and he took full advantage as the 21-year-old Mexican scored a remarkable 13th goal, and a fourth straight game winner. Think about his value to the Goats having contributed 65 per cent of their goals this season. And Dan Kennedy had at least four fingers and part of a palm on top of the ball that sat on his goal-line, before Morales poked it in during second half stoppage time. Just enough to be considered "in control" of the ball under the FIFA laws. The problem for Coach Robinson right now is that he needs two players to swing some of those critical moments in his favour. The challenge is, some quick math will tell you there isnt a whole lot of margin on the payroll to add the elite central defender and certified goal poacher that can swing more moments in the Whitecaps direction. Saturday ended the Whitecaps eight-game sellout run. Would another second half season slump turn people off? The decisions Whitecaps brass make in these next few weeks may ultimately decide the margin of error between playoff soccer, and another off-season of "what-ifs" in Van City. ' ' '