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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Portland Trail Blazers are hoping theyve put all the bad habits behind them with the playoffs on the horizon. And with a healthy LaMarcus Aldridge providing his usual numbers, they are confident that they can make some noise in the post-season — with or without home-court advantage. Damian Lillard scored 34 points, Aldridge had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and the Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 124-112 Tuesday night. "We had a rough stretch, but now weve kind of picked it back up and were going in the right direction at the perfect time," Lillard said. "Now that were close to the post-season, we want to have that rhythm going into the playoffs — because thats what we play the regular season for." The Blazers fourth straight win, coupled with Houstons loss at Brooklyn, moved Portland within 1 1/2 games of the Rockets for fourth place in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets have three games in hand. The Blazers have six games left on their schedule, five of them at home. One more win will give them their 12th 50-win season in the franchises 44-year history. But the last four times the team won 50 or more games, they didnt make it past the first round of the post-season. "We dont have a lot of control over that. Right now, its about winning every game and gearing up for the playoffs," coach Terry Stotts said. "Its that mindset thats the most important thing. Whatever happens with the seedings and all that — I mean, we havent even clinched a playoff spot yet." Nick Young, the fifth and last player off the Los Angeles bench, made his first eight shots and finished 15 for 26 with a season-high 40 points. But it wasnt enough to prevent the Lakers 10th defeat in 14 games. They slipped to 25-49 — the most losses by the club since finishing 33-49 in 1993-94. The franchise hasnt lost 50 games in a season since 1974-75 (30-52). "I didnt know I made my first eight shots," Young said. "I just got into a zone. I got into a rhythm kind of fast." Youngs point total was the highest off the bench by any player in the league this season, surpassing the 37 Jamal Crawford had for the Clippers on Jan. 25 at Toronto. Youngs high-point game in the NBA was 43, for the Washington Wizards against Sacramento on Jan. 11, 2011. "Nick Young had a lot of easy shots in the first half," Aldridge said. "Hes a great scorer, so hes going to score. But we did a better job in the second half of making his shots harder." Aldridge, playing his fourth game after missing the previous seven because of a bruised lower back, hit a 13-footer to cap an 18-9 run that extended Portlands two-point halftime margin to 81-70 at the midway mark of the third quarter. Young kept the Lakers within striking distance with his 3-point shooting, draining one with 10:47 left in the game to pull them within 93-86. But Lillard responded with a pair of 3-pointers 28 seconds apart to extend Portlands margin to 13 points, and Los Angeles got no closer than nine the rest of the way. "Coming in, we felt this could be a trap game against a team thats not in the playoff race. But we knew coming in that they were a dangerous team," Lillard said. The Lakers were bolstered by the return of Xavier Henry and two-time MVP Steve Nash, who played in only his 13th game of the season and came off the bench for just the third time in his 18-year career. Nash, who turned 40 on Feb. 7, had 10 points and 10 assists in 22 minutes. The eight-time All-Star has been plagued most of the season by nerve root irritation following his comeback from a broken left leg, which led to issues with his back, hip and hamstrings. NOTES: Lillard became the first player in Trail Blazers history to make 200 3-pointers in a season when he connected with 8:07 left in the first quarter. Wesley Matthews is close behind him with 186. ... The Lakers played before their eighth non-sellout crowd. Before this season, they had sold out every home game since Dec. 6, 2006. ... Portland C Meyers Leonard was ejected after his flagrant 2 foul on Kendall Marshall with 39.9 seconds to play. ... Portland C Robin Lopez had 10 points and 10 rebounds on his 26th birthday. Bill Bates Jersey . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right. Chuck Howley Cowboys Jersey . - Vince Wilfork has played only two career games in Kansas City. http://www.shoptheofficialcowboys.com/Elite-Robert-Newhouse-Cowboys-Jersey/ . Sopoaga hit the upright with his first shot at goal from 15 metres. He then kicked nine goals in succession -- two conversions and seven penalties -- before being replaced in the 62nd minute, three points short of the Highlanders record for most points in a match. Roger Staubach Youth Jersey . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Jay Novacek Womens Jersey . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons.CHICAGO -- Ubaldo Jimenez is doing his part to keep the Cleveland Indians in the playoff hunt. Jimenez pitched 8 1-3 strong innings and Asdrubal Cabrera and Lonnie Chisenhall homered to lead Cleveland to an 8-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night that helped the Indians keep pace in the AL wild-card race. Jimenez (12-9) scattered eight hits and struck out eight to win his third straight start, falling just two outs shy of his ninth career complete game and fourth shutout. The last time he did both was on June 1, 2011 with Colorado. "I was looking for my first shutout in the American League," Jimenez said. "I was able to establish my fastball down. Even when they got runners on base, I was able to get everything down for ground balls." The right-hander walked only one before being relieved by Chen-Chang Lee with one out and two on in the ninth. Chicago scored its lone run in the final inning on Josh Phegleys sac fly -- the first earned run charged to Jimenez in his last three outings. Jimenez is 4-2 in his last six starts, and through 40 innings he has allowed eight runs and struck out 50. And thats been a big boost for the Indians, especially with ace Justin Masterson on the disabled list. "Whether you have Masterson sidelined or not, when (Jimenez) takes the ball right now, hes legit kind of top-of-the-league stuff," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "You look at his numbers since a couple months now, its pretty damn good." Cabrera hit a two-run homer and Chisenhall added a three-run shot in a five-run fourth inning that powered the Indians to their 11th straight win against Chicago and third in a row overall to improve to 80-68. Texas, at 81-66, holds one wild-card spot and Tampa Bay at 80-66 has the other. "Everything counts right now," Jimenez said. "You never know what game is going to make the difference." Clevelands Carlos Santana went 3 for 4 and drove in two runs with a single in the sixth. Chicago starter Andre Rienzo (2-2) lasted just four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks.dddddddddddd Rienzo was called up on July 30 and has allowed five or more runs in three of his last four starts. The White Sox, last in the AL Central, have lost five straight and 14 of 16. They managed to get more than one man on base only twice against Jimenez, in the third and ninth. "I saw the stats flash a couple of nights ago where they are .500 against the league and then like (14-2) against us now," said Phegley, who went 3 for 3. "Weve single-handedly put them in the playoff race basically." Rienzo pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the first by striking out Michael Brantley and getting Cabrera to ground out. The Indians batted around and took a 5-0 lead in the fourth. With one out and Santana on first, Cabrera lofted his 13th homer to right to make it 2-0. After Jason Giambi walked and Yan Gomes singled, Chisenhall launched his 10th. Rienzo was relieved by Charlie Leesman after walking Carlos Santana to open the fifth. Santana made it 7-0 by driving in Chisenhall and Michael Bourne off Leesman in the sixth. Ryan Raburn drove in a run with a sac fly in the ninth off Addison Reed. NOTES: Rienzo and Gomes are the only two Brazilians in the majors. Rienzo is the first Brazilian pitcher in MLB. ... RHP Masterson, who leads the team with 14 wins, did not throw Saturday after playing long-toss on two previous days. Hes expected to throw again Sunday. ... Francona is sticking to the "one game at time" approach when asked about the Indians chances of grabbing a playoff spot. "Logic says this probably going to go down near the wire," he said. "I think we just need to worry about winning tonight." ... White Sox 1B/DH Adam Dunn, who is 3 for his last 34, was held out of the lineup on Saturday and manager Robin Ventura said 1B/DH Paul Konerko would rest on Sunday. ... Cleveland RHP Zach McAllister (7-9) is scheduled to face White Sox LHP and ace Chris Sale (11-12) in Sundays finale. ' ' '