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Portland, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - Life without Kevin Durant was fine for the Oklahoma City Thunder through three quarters. Then the Portland Trail Blazers got red hot in the fourth. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and the Blazers pulled away for a 106-89 win over the Thunder in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night. The Thunder led 77-75 after three quarters, but Portland outscored them 31-12 in the final frame. Russell Westbrook, who had 36 points through three, netted just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the fourth. Wesley Matthews nailed five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, while Damian Lillard netted seven of his 10 points in the fourth for Portland, which went 54-28 a year ago and fell to eventual-champion San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals of the playoffs. I was pleased the way we did it in the second half with defense, Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said. Defense led to some good offense at the end. Nicolas Batum tallied 16 points, six assists and five rebounds in the triumph. Westbrook posted 26 of his 36 points in the first half, ended 11-of-26 from the field and sunk 15-of-16 foul shots for the Thunder, who lost to San Antonio in the West Finals last season. I thought our guys played their hearts out. We just made too many mistakes in the fourth quarter, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. The reigning NBA MVP Durant, who led the league in scoring for a fourth time in the last five seasons, will miss the start of the year after undergoing surgery Oct. 16 to fix a bone fracture in his right foot. Portland led 85-81 with 8:13 left before putting the game away with an 18-4 run. Matthews knocked down back-to-back triples to highlight the surge, which was capped on a Thomas Robinson pull-up right elbow jumper for a 103-85 advantage with 1:31 to play. Portland shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) and limited the Thunder to just a 26.3 percent clip (5-of-19) in the final stanza. Earlier, OKC led 34-29 following a quarter of play. Lance Thomas hit all five of his shots for a 10-point opening frame, while Westbrook added 11. Right after Batum found Matthews for a dunk with 2.8 seconds left in the half, Westbrook received Darren Collisons ensuing inbounds pass near midcourt and raced the rest of the way before finishing with an emphating one-handed dunk right just prior to the horn for a 54-49 OKC lead going into the locker room. Game Notes Westbrook was 7-of-13 in the first half and sunk 12-of-13 from the charity stripe ... Portland put in 20 points off 15 OKC turnovers ... The Thunder were just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc. Mark Grace Jersey . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games. Ernie Banks Jersey . Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-kosuke-fukudome-jersey/ . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form. Billy Williams Jersey .The South African had three birdies on the front nine and another four after the turn at Leopard Creek Country Club to move to 16-under 128 overall.Grace, who won all four of his European Tour titles in 2012, dropped his only shot of the competition on the par-3 fifth. Carlos Zambrano Jersey . Goodell said in an ESPN Radio interview Monday (http://es.pn/1gkbauy ) that participants played harder and made the game very competitive. Goodell says he had fun watching the game Sunday and thinks fans did, too.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Joe Torre, Tommy Lasorda and Jim Leyland were among the many friends and family members at Tropicana Field on Saturday to celebrate the life of longtime baseball man Don Zimmer. The tribute was held before the Tampa Bay Rays played Seattle. Zimmer, a senior adviser for the Rays, died Wednesday at 83 in a hospital in nearby Dunedin. Both teams wore Zimmers No. 23 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey as they lined up along the foul lines. Fans stood and cheered at the end of a video tribute. There is no funeral or other memorial service planned. More than 20 family members, including Zimmers wife "Soot" -- they were married at home plate during a minor league game in 1951 -- also attended. "A great life," Soot Zimmer said. "No regrets." Son Tom Zimmer, a scout with the San Francisco Giants, caught the ceremonial first pitch thrown by granddaughter Whitney Goldstein. Torre says Zimmer was "one of a kind" and "an institution." Zimmer was Torres bench coach for four World Series championships with the Yankees. "His loss creates a void in my life," Torre said. "I hired a coach who became a family member, basically. I think baseball is just going to miss the presence of him. He was a big teddy bear, ttheres no question about it.dddddddddddd" Zimmer spent 66 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach and executive. "I just hope that people remember what a great baseball man this guy was," Leyland said. "He was a character, but he wasnt somebody that you laughed at when you understood how much this guy knew about baseball. His passion for the game and his passion for people." "Its kind of an ironic day," he said. "Todays the day of the Belmont, as you know, and everybody knows how he liked horses. Family came first, baseball second, horses third. So, family is here today, were going to have a ballgame and the Belmont is today." Zimmer convinced Torre not to make ties mandatory when the Yankees travelled. Torre, who wore a tie Saturday with horses on it, removed it when the subject came up during the ceremony. Yankees star Derek Jeter made a video statement. So did Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose first big league manager was Zimmer with the Chicago Cubs. "He made an impact like no else has," Texas Rangers senior adviser Tom Giordano said. The ceremony ended with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" played on a bagpipe. "Perfect," Tom Zimmer said. "Emotional." 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