HOUSTON -- LaMarcus Aldridges son JJ, who turned 5 on Wednesday, texted him after the Portland Trail Blazers playoff win and told him he looked like Spider-Man on one of his dunks. To the Houston Rockets the Portland star probably looked like a superhero on more than just that one play. Aldridge continued his dominance against the Rockets, scoring 43 points to lift the Trail Blazers to a 112-105 victory and a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. Aldridge has made the most of the return to his home state and put the Trail Blazers in control heading home for Game 3 in Portland on Friday. The former University of Texas star who grew up in Dallas laughed heartily and said maybe when asked if hed rather stay in the Lone Star state after the way hes played in the first two games. "(Leading) 2-0 going home feels great, but its not over," he said. "Were going to stay hungry, stay humble and go home and try to duplicate the same (success)." Aldridge became the first player with consecutive games of 43 points games in the playoffs since Tracy McGrady did it in April 2003 after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 in an overtime win in Game 1. Hes also the first player Trail Blazers history to have two 40-point games in the post-season and his 89 points in a teams first two playoff games trail only Michael Jordan (1986, 1988) and Jerry West (1965) in the last 50 years. Hes helped the Trail Blazers win two road games to start a playoff series for just the second time in franchise history and the first since they took the first two against the Lakers in the 1977 Western Conference Finals. Damian Lillard made six free throws down the stretch to help out in the win. But the guard gave all the credit for the win to Aldridge. "What can they do to stop him? He was great once again, just like Game 1," Lillard said. "When a lot of guys couldnt get going and couldnt hit shots, he just carried us. He played like an MVP again." The Rockets spent the last two days of practice focused on how to slow Aldridge down, but nothing they did seemed to faze the 6-foot-11 player. "We tried changing it up tonight," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Tonight, he was picking and popping and moving and we were having trouble running people at him. We were trying to get the ball out of his hands as much as we could." Aldridge credited coach Terry Stotts for moving him around early in the game to help evade Houstons double-teams. "I made tough shots," Aldridge said. "I dont think too much was easy tonight. I just got in that rhythm and started making shots." James Harden knocked down a 3-pointer with about 30 seconds left to get the Rockets within 3. Lillard made two free throws before Harden fouled out about 10 seconds later. Mo Williams and Lillard both made a pair of free throws after that to secure the win. Lillard finished with 18 points. Dwight Howard was unstoppable early and scored 25 points in the first half, but managed just seven in the second half. After missing 20 shots in Game 1, Harden promised a better performance in this game. But it was much of the same as he was 6 of 19 and finished with 18 points. "We dont have our same flow, our same mojo that we had throughout the season," Harden said. "We dont have our same swag ... weve got to get that back." The Rockets trailed by nine points before a 5-0 run cut the lead to 102-98 with about a minute left. Both teams made a pair of free throws after that before Lillard found Wesley Matthews wide open for a reverse layup to make it 106-100 with 33 seconds left. A one-handed dunk by Aldridge over Omer Asik gave Portland a 96-87 lead with about five minutes left. With Aldridge on the bench to start the fourth, Houston scored the first four points of the period to cut the lead to two points, but Williams and Dorell Wright made consecutive 3s to make it 89-81 midway through the quarter. Aldridge made 10 of Portlands first 14 points of the second half to help the Trail Blazers build a 67-58 lead with about eight minutes left in the quarter. Houston scored the next nine points, with the last five from Chandler Parsons, to tie it at 67 a couple of minutes later. Portland an 83-77 led entering the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers scored seven straight points to take a 53-51 lead late in the second quarter, but Beverleys basket at the buzzer tied it at halftime. Howard scored Houstons first 13 points and had 19 -- with five dunks -- by the end of the first quarter to help the Rockets to a 31-23 lead. NOTES: Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who has been working with Howard this week, watched the game from a courtside seat. ... Wright finished with 15 points. ... Howards 19 points in the first quarter were a franchise-high for a quarter in the playoffs, surpassing the 18 Olajuwon scored against Utah on May 5, 1995. Wholesale Basketball Shoes Online . Salah, who scored against Chelsea in two Champions League group matches this season, is Jose Mourinhos third significant recruit in the January transfer window after Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore. Cheap Basketball Shoes Free Shipping . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. http://www.basketballshoeswholesale.com/. The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-3 in front of 6,769 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. Cheap Wholesale Basketball Shoes . His actions are much louder on the Fenway Park mound. De La Rosa had another strong home start, going seven solid innings to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Basketball Shoes Wholesale .com) - The San Francisco Giants delivered plenty of big hits to tie the World Series. STANFORD, Calif. -- Shea Salinas and Alan Gordon scored in second-half stoppage time to give the short-handed San Jose Earthquakes a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night. Salinas knocked in a loose rebound in the 92nd minute and Gordon scored on a header a minute later to give San Jose (5-7-6) a second comeback victory in two seasons against the Galaxy at Stanford. The Earthquakes came from two goals down to beat LA 4-3 last June 30. Marcelo Sarvas scored in the 20th minute and Hector Jimenez in the 65th for Los Angeles (7-7-3). Gordon scored his first goal of the season in the 68th minute to pull San Jose to 2-1. The Earthquakes chances looked dire after defender Victor Bernardez saw two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes and was sent off in the 77th minute,, leaving San Jose down to 10 players.dddddddddddd On the tying goal, Salinas pounced on a free ball after Galaxy goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini was unable to corral a deflected flick header from San Jose rookie Adam Jahn. Gordon got the game-winner moments later off a chipped cross from just inside Los Angeles penalty area by San Jose midfielder Sam Cronin. Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane assisted on both goals for the Galaxy, but L.A. was left to deal with failed opportunities after Bernardezs ejection, especially an 88th-minute save by Busch on Jimenez. A prone Cudicini blocked a 50th-minute rebound shot from 8 yards by San Jose midfielder Marvin Chavez. The veteran keeper, who joined LA this year, was unable to come up with the critical saves in the dying minutes, however. ' ' '