WSD Sports Page (5-3-14): Damian Lillard leads Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference Semifinals

Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge are men amongst boys in Portland, the San Francisco 49ers pick up the option for Aldon Smith, and college lacrosse continues to dazzle. All in today's sports page.

The Lede

It took 24 Western Conference first round games, but a team finally advances to the next round. Damian Lillard makes a shot with 0.9 seconds on the clock, giving the Portland Trail Blazers a ticket to the next round over the Houston Rockets.

How much of a badass was Lillard? Against Houston, the man can do everything. In this playoff series, Lillard averaged 25.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in 45 minutes of action. All of that is above his normal season averages.

Also tack on an incredible 45.9 percent shooting from downtown and constant drilling from the free throw line. The man had it all, and he was one of the two big reasons why the Blazers are headed to the next round.

Another one is LaMarcus Aldridge, who rebounded from his off night in Game 5 and put down 30 in the series clincher. His efficiency died when compared to his first two games in the series, but it knocked his percentage down to 50 percent, which just explains how freaking nuts he was in the first two games at Houston -- which was about a 59 percent average for those scoring at home.

These last two games in the series weren't like the insane, zero-defense affairs. But at some point you just gotta be a little tired from scoring all the time, right?

Poor Dwight Howard. He was non-existent in his first and only playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was certainly the man for the Rockets averaging 26 points and 14.2 rebounds per game, but the Laker fans already having fun slapping him on the ass as he exits the door.

Can't blame them for how he left, but he was certainly not the reason why Houston isn't moving on.

Their defense is.


Other Headlines

1. NBA: The latest on Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano -- Sterling admits that he should have "just paid her off" while the woman spoke to Barbara Walters on 20/20 and insists that Sterling should publicly apologize. Considering Sterling's history, he is a racist, and any sort of apology would be fabricated garbage that would just be wasting everybody's time.
2. NBA: Dallas, Brooklyn force even more Game 7s. That brings us to a total of five Game 7s in the NBA this weekend. Most of the time you'd be lucky to have a single game on Saturday night, and the second round usually began the next day. Enjoy it!
3. NHL: Chicago lays the wood down with 5-2 shellacking. Patrick Kane closes it out with two goals in the third period.
4. NFL: 49ers pick up the option for Aldon Smith. I'm still firmly against it, but ultimately it was the right move in a business sense and it's not a surprise after hearing all signs pointing to go in the past couple days. It's only guaranteed until next March, and again, I've got the under on that bet he'll stay clean until then.
5. NFL: Colin Kaepernick comes out and says the Miami "incident" has changed him. Unless you're an idiot like Aldon and haven't grown up after screwing up royally over three times in your life, you quickly learn that a target is on your back when you're a big figure. But, perhaps Joshua David should just tell him to shut the f*ck up.
6. LAX: Ivy League semifinals both ended in one-goal games. The only time Ivy League sports is exciting is when the Harvard men's basketball team has their moments and when their teams meet on the field for men's lacrosse.

Yesterday's Favorites

• Giants 2, Braves 1 - Tim Lincecum picks up his second win of the season thanks to Angel Pagan's leadoff home run and Michael Morse's solo shot in the sixth inning to break a 1-run tie. Sergio Romo's eighth save was like watching the end of an NBA game. Long and brutal.
• NCAA Baseball: West Virginia 5, Texas 3 - It's the Longhorn's third straight Big 12 loss despite Brooks Marlow going 4-for-5 and the team getting the same amount of hits as the Mountaineers (11). Texas was down 4-0 until the seventh inning when they put up three straight runs. And that was it.

Today's Slate

Central times listed.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

-Tottenham at West Ham - 6:45a NBCS

Sunderland at Man United - 9:00a NBCS

Man City at Everton - 11:30a CNBC

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 2

Canadiens at Bruins (MON 1-0) - 11:30 NBC

-Kings at Ducks (Game 1) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1

Hawks at Pacers (Game 7) - 4:30 TNT

Grizzlies at Thunder (Game 7) - 7:00 TNT

Warriors at Clippers (Game 7) - 9:30 TNT

MLB

Dodgers at Marlins - 6:10 SNLA/FSFL

-Giants at Braves - 6:10 CBA/FSS

Mets at Rockies - 7:10 SNY/RSRM

D'backs at Padres - 7:40 FSAZ/FSSD

LAX

AE: UMBC vs Albany (Final) - 9:00a ESPNU

-Johns Hopkins at Loyola - 11:00a CBSS

Army at Notre Dame - 11:00a ESPNU

Colgate at Syracuse - 3:00 ESPN3 (ONL)

BE: Denver at Villanova (Final) - 3:30 FS1

ECAC: Fairfield vs Air Force (Final) - 4:00 FS2

Lizards at Bayhawks - 6:00 PT

Hounds at Launch - 6:00 TLN (ONL)

CBB

Baylor at Oklahoma - 2:00 FSOK

Texas Tech at Kansas - 2:00 ESPN3 (ONL)

-Texas at West Virginia - 3:00

Kansas St at TCU - 4:00 FSSW

Playoff recap: Chicago, Anaheim move on in Stanley Cup

Chicago and Anaheim move on in the NHL, while more NBA Western Conference playoffs games went overtime because that's all they do. That and more in today's playoff recaps.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

• Rangers 4, Flyers 2 (NYR 3-2)
• Blackhawks 5, Blues 1 (CHI wins series 4-2)
• Ducks 5, Stars 4 (F/OT) (ANA wins series 4-2)

In shocking fashion, Anaheim moved on in the West by scoring two goals in the final 2:10 of the game to force overtime. Nick Bonino, who scored the first goal in the quick comeback, made the game winner nearly three minutes into overtime. Devante Smith-Pelly had the other goal in the 3rd period, scoring his first two goals of the postseason in this game.

Chicago put the game out of reach early in the 3rd period after Jonathan Toews got a power play goal and Patrick Sharp scored a little over a minute later, making it 3-1. 

Philadelphia took six more shots, held New York to 22 shots, had 15 more faceoff wins, and lost.

NBA Playoffs

• Wizards 98, Bulls 89 (WSH 3-1)
• Warriors 118, Clippers 97 (Tied 2-2)
• Raptors 87, Nets 79 (Tied 2-2)
• Blazers 123, Rockets 120 (F/OT) (POR 3-1)

Trevor Ariza put up 30 points for Washington, and the team turned it over just six times on the day, forcing Chicago to win at home in Game 5.

Both Toronto and Brooklyn were a disaster from long range, the main reason for a lower score. But the Nets were also dismal from the free throw line, going 19-of-29 while the Raptors missed just gimmies. DeMar DeRozan had 20 of his 24 points in the first half, and Toronto won their first playoff road game since 2001.

Portland and Houston played another thrilling overtime game with zero defense. For the first time in this series, a game was won by the home team, which is awful news for Houston. LaMarcus Aldridge had a calmer 29 points, 10 rebounds. Seven players on both teams combined had 21 or more points. Troy Daniels on Houston had 17 off the bench. Everyone else finished in single digits.