Regeln » "Ive got to prove that I deserve to be on this team." S

PORTLAND, Ore. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Portlands All-Star forward had 16 points and the Blazers won their fifth straight game with a 102-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Aldridge was averaging 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds before a left groin injury caused him to miss five games. "Im not going to call guys out but I thought that they just played great," Aldridge said about the team in his absence. "I thought everybody did more, whether it was rebounding or whatever. Everybody just played better." The win moved the Blazers (41-18) a season-high 23-games over .500. After failing to make the playoffs last season, Portland sits in third place in the Western Conference. Robin Lopez led the Blazers in scoring for the first time this season with 18 points, while Nicolas Batum had a career-high 16 rebounds. "That was a solid win for us," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "We did a lot of good things. I felt like we were in control for the most part." Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye and Evan Fournier scored 16 points apiece, but Denver (25-33) lost its fifth straight. Faried, who also had 10 rebounds, took a hard fall with less than two minutes left and appeared to injure his right knee, but finished out the game. Portland won all four meetings this season against Denver, its first sweep of the series since the 1999 season, when the Blazers won all three games against the Nuggets. Damian Lillards driving layup gave Portland a 100-87 lead with 4:09 left in the game and the Nuggets never really challenged. Lillard finished with 17 points. The Blazers had a bit of a rest after a 124-80 rout of Brooklyn on Wednesday night. The Nets played in Denver the next night, routing the Nuggets 112-89. "The effort was there and it was something to build off of because everybody -- the whole city of Denver -- after that loss to Brooklyn had a sour taste in our mouth," Foye said. "We just wanted to get back out there and try to give the fans something to cheer about." The Nuggets have won just one of their last 11 games. Aldridge was greeted with a roar from the crowd at the Moda Center when he was announced as a starter. "It felt good," Aldridge said. "My timing was a little off but it felt good to be back out there playing with the guys." Second-year centre Meyers Leonard also returned after a five-game absence because of a sprained right ankle. But the Blazers did not have forwards Thomas Robinson, who has a left knee injury, and Joel Freeland, with a right knee sprain. The Nuggets were hurting, too. Top scorer Ty Lawson missed his ninth straight game with a left rib fracture. But guard Aaron Brooks, acquired before the trade deadline from Houston, played despite a sore ankle, and Wilson Chandler returned after missing a game because of a right knee sprain. Denver closed within 52-47 late in the half after a pair of free throws from Faried, but Lopezs dunk and Lillards layup helped push Portlands lead to 56-48 at the break. Lopez led all players with 12 points. Lillard, Batum and Leonard had consecutive dunks to give the Blazers an early 22-12 lead. The Blazers stretched the lead to 73-60 in the third quarter on Batums finger-roll layup. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said he liked the effort after the loss to Brooklyn, but pointed to missed free throws. Denver was 23 of 35 from the line. "You lose the game by six points and you miss 12 free throws, that can be the difference in the game," Shaw said. "I thought the team played a lot better and responded after the embarrassing game we had the other night at home against Brooklyn. So we got better tonight and Im happy with our effort." Notes: Brooks played at the University of Oregon and got warm applause during pregame game introductions. .... Batum becomes the fourth Trail Blazer this season with 16 or more rebounds in a game, joining Aldridge, Lopez and Robinson. ... It was the first time this season that no player for the Blazers or their opponent had a player with at least 20 points. Discount Air Max Shoes . PAUL, Minn. Cheap Air Max Authentic . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell. http://www.cheapairmaxchinafreeshipping.com/ . Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow. Wholesale Air Max Shoes . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were third with 210.84 points. Teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were fourth. Duhamel and Radford, who were seventh at the Sochi Olympics, also won bronze at last years world championships in London, Ont. Cheap Air Max For Sale .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- After nearly a decade in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers doesnt need that many snaps in Packers preseason games. Theres not really much to prove for a quarterback who seems as sharp as ever in practice. But backup play is at a premium, especially following a 2013 season during which Rodgers was sidelined for nearly two months with a collarbone injury. Ten days into training camp, the Packers appear to have two competent candidates for a job that, realistically, few people in Green Bay would like to see either perform on a regular basis. The first test arrives Saturday when coach Mike McCarthys team travels to Tennessee to play the Titans in the preseason opener. "Every time you step on the field, its a huge opportunity, regardless of where you rank or where you are in the depth chart, it does not matter," quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt said Thursday. Well, there is one big exception. "Obviously, Aaron is a little bit different. But after that, guys are going out to compete and compete against the defence, put up their best performance. The chips fall where they may," Van Pelt said. The coaching staff hadnt decided by Thursday morning on how Flynn and Tolzien would split reps Saturday, though there should be plenty to go around. Rodgers doesnt expect a big workload. "I dont want to put anybody out, but I would think its going to be light work, as we usually do," Rodgers said. "The thing about this team, as you can tell, were a pretty deep team. We have a lot of athleticism and talent in different areas. One area especially is quarterback." Last year in training camp, Vince Young, Graham Harrell and B.J. Coleman were among the candidates to back up Rodgers. By the first week of September, all three were cut. The Packers signed Seneca Wallace and Tolzien, then added Flynn in November after Rodgers and Wallace got hurt. Flynn went 2-2 in four late-season games in 2013, helping to settle a Packers offence struggling without offence. Wallace is now gone. But the offence appears to have benefited from having a full off-season of Flynn and Tolzien back in the system. Flynn also has the benefit of haviing been somewhat familiar with the Packers already after having been drafted by Green Bay in 2008 before returning as a free agent.dddddddddddd Flynn is listed ahead of Tolzien on the unofficial team depth chart, though the order seems to be far from being permanently set. "Ive got to prove that I can still get the job done," Flynn said. "Ive got to prove that I deserve to be on this team." Still, offensive co-ordinator Tom Clements calls the process of getting the offence up to speed this preseason a "much smoother operation" with more experience behind Rodgers at quarterback. The backups, perhaps even more than Rodgers, are tasked with getting younger players with whom they may be playing with on the second and third teams up to speed. Tolzien has showed potential with his arm strength, and he performed admirably in two starts last season for someone thrown relatively quickly into the No. 1 quarterback job with just two months of preparation. According to Van Pelt, things are slowing down for Tolzien, which is a sign of a young player learning to grasp the system. Also Thursday: GOING UPSTAIRS: The depth chart also revealed a tweak in game day operations, with Clements going to the press box and Van Pelt staying on the sideline. Van Pelt moved over from coaching running backs to quarterbacks this year to replace Ben McAdoo, now the New York Giants offensive co-ordinator. With the staff change, McCarthy said he preferred the quarterbacks coach to stay on the field. THUMBS UP: Defensive co-ordinator Dom Capers likes how linebacker Clay Matthews has looked so far in training camp. One of the games top pass rushers when healthy, Matthews missed much of 2013 with a thumb injury that required two surgeries. Saturday would mark the debut of what the Packers hope will be an improved pass rush featuring Matthews and free agent acquisition Julius Peppers. SITTING OUT: Safety Morgan Burnett is among seven Packers -- but the only projected starter -- who will not travel to Tennessee. Burnett is recovering from an oblique injury, a week after missing a couple days with an ankle injury. McCarthy hopes Burnett will return next week. ' ' '