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NEW YORK -- LaMarcus Aldridge was stunned, suddenly finding himself matched against a version of Kevin Garnett that hadnt been seen yet in Brooklyn. "I think he had one of those flashbacks to when he was in Minnesota and I was coming in as a rookie," Aldridge said. Just as quickly, the old Garnett reverted to just old, and the young Portland Trail Blazers ran right by the Brooklyn Nets. Aldridge scored 27 points, Wesley Matthews added 24 and Portland shot 54 per cent in a 108-98 victory Monday night that extended its winning streak to seven. "This team is good. Guys can get going," Aldridge said. Damian Lillard finished with 19 points and nine assists as the Trail Blazers withstood the Nets blistering start to win seven in a row in the same season for the first time since a 13-game run in December 2007. Portland (9-2) is just a half-game behind San Antonio and Indiana for the NBAs best record. The Blazers will try to complete a perfect 4-0 road trip Wednesday at Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the Nets (3-7) remain one of the NBAs biggest disappointments, shooting 9 of 41 (22 per cent) in the second half. Garnett made all six shots in Brooklyns 40-point first period, then went 2 for 13 from there to finish with a season-high 16 points. "I take the blame for this," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "We got stagnant on the offensive end, so that falls on my shoulders. We came out flat in the third quarter." Shaun Livingston scored 23 points for the Nets, who stormed out to their best first quarter of the season and then seemed to run out of gas. "Theyre a talented team. Theyve got Hall of Famers on that team and we had to throw our first punch, because we felt like they did that to us in that first quarter," Matthews said. "We came at them defensively and ramped it up." Garnett and Paul Pierce were back in the starting lineup after missing Saturdays loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles with injuries, though Brook Lopez and Deron Williams continued to rest sprained left ankles. Pierce, who had a sore left groin, played as if he was still hurting, managing just 11 points on 2-for-12 shooting. Neither he nor Garnett spoke to reporters. "Its been a tough month for us," said Jason Terry, who came with them from Boston. "Were going to stay optimistic, man. We have a great situation here and were just going to keep building." Portland turned the game around in the third quarter, limiting the Nets to 3-of-18 shooting and outscoring them 27-12 to take an 83-78 lead. They then opened the fourth with a 12-4 spurt to open a 95-82 advantage when Mo Williams was credited with a basket on a goaltending call. Matthews was 5 of 8 from 3-point range, improving to 30 for 57 for the season (52.6 per cent). He kept the Blazers in the game in the first quarter, when the Nets made 14 of 19 shots for a 40-31 lead. "What won the game for us was turning it on the last three quarters defensively," Matthews said. "Were not going to outscore teams on a consistent basis and win. We have to practice what we preach, which is defence, and thats what we were able to do tonight." Garnett, who hadnt been in double figures yet in the Brooklyn black and white, got there in this one by hitting five jumpers in less than 3 minutes at the start. He took a seat after starting 6 for 6 and then Livingston took over. He made all three of his shots in the period, including a driving, left-handed slam dunk over Robin Lopez that had teammates leaping up off the nearby Nets bench. But they fell apart in the third, just as they have in all their losses. Brooklyn has won the third quarter in all three victories and been outscored in the period in every loss. "We were hot. We had momentum. But you can go cold at any time in the game, so thats where we have to make adjustments," Livingston said. "Were all veterans out there on the floor." NOTES: Aldridge grabbed eight rebounds, ending his streak of five straight double-doubles. ... The Nets were also without reserve forward Andrei Kirilenko, who continues to be bothered by back spasms. ... Brooklyns previous high was 33 points in the first quarter at Washington. The Nets also lost that game after a bad third quarter. Evander Kane Jersey . "If we could score a six in every game, obviously I would be pretty excited," Jones said. "Its a long week but a short week. Its a pretty short round robin from what were used to so you dont want to get behind the eight ball early. Kevin Labanc Jersey . Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years. Bach, the longtime favourite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/customized/ . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. Logan Couture Jersey . On the eve of the 2013-14 NBA season, he can finally take a step back and allow his team to do the talking. Joe Thornton Jersey . Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States made lighter work of her day as she beat 2009 champion and Swiss wild card Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3. Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Higher-seeded teams with the lead in a best-of-seven series over the history of the NHL playoffs have had plenty of trouble putting the opponent away. Sometimes the brink of elimination has been what truly gets a team going. Consider the Chicago Blackhawks, though, when their foe is down. An ability to swoop down and delivering the finishing victory has become a clear trait of this team since coach Joel Quenneville took over and stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews arrived. "The bigger the setting, the bigger the stage, they seem to rise to that challenge," Quenneville said. Since 2009, the first post-season appearance for Kane and Toews, the Blackhawks have not lost in any of the seven playoff series theyve been in that were tied after four games. Thats a 13-0 record in Games 5 and 6 of such matchups that were even at two each, including the Stanley Cup finals in 2010 against Philadelphia and 2013 against Boston. Theyll test that perfect mark once more on Tuesday in Game 6 against the Minnesota Wild, who fell behind 3-2 in this Western Conference semifinal series after losing 2-1 in Chicago on Sunday. "To do exactly whatever it takes ... is one of the hardest things in any series, to clinch it," said Blackhawks left wing Bryan Bickell, whos tied for the NHL lead with six goals this year in the playoffs. "But I feel we have the confidence and the poise and the relaxation that we dont get ahead of ourselves and just play shift by shift." During the Kane-Toews era -- which includes left wing Patrick Sharp and core defencemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson -- the Blackhawks are 11-2 in games played with a chance to win a series. Theyre 5-1 on the road, with the only losses in those clinching situations against Vancouver, in 2011 in Game 7 of the first round and in 2010 in Game 5 of the second round. They rebounded in 2010 to win Game 6 and advance. The Wild are bound to be one of the toughest outs these Blackhawks have encountered. Theyre 5-0 at Xcel Energy Center since the playoffs began, ouutscoring their opponents 16-5 and allowing an average of 19.dddddddddddd2 shots on goal per game. The Blackhawks were stifled in Games 3 and 4, unable to amount any kind of offensive rhythm. "The building has been electric. The fans have been unbelievable. Im sure theyre having a good time with the late starts," Wild defenceman Ryan Suter said, smiling. "Everything, its been a lot of fun for us. Were driving to the rink and you see the excitement outside the rink, and we just build off that." The Wild won two elimination games in the last round against Colorado and, to factor in franchise history, are 9-5 all time in those situations. Theyre trying to become the first NHL team to force consecutive Game 7s in the same post-season without holding a series lead since the New York Islanders in 1987. "Just get ready for Game 6 here. Thats our Game 7 right now," captain Mikko Koivu said. Quenneville declared injured centre Andrew Shaw out again for Game 6. Wild coach Mike Yeo said left wing Matt Moulson and defenceman Keith Ballard were skating on Monday but declined to speculate on their status. Suter took a hard spill in Game 3 in a tangle with Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa, leaving the game briefly with an apparent injury to his right arm, but he and Yeo have said repeatedly hes fine. Really, at this point in the playoffs, any pain is mostly an afterthought. So, too, is the elimination scenario for the Wild. "I think we like the challenge. We always seem to make things harder than it needs to be. I dont know if thats a good thing to do, but it seems throughout the year thats kind of been the way weve gone about it," Suter said. So the teams will take the ice on Tuesday, with the pressure on each side higher than its been all season. "I think we know what theyre doing. I think they know pretty much what were doing, too," Blackhawks defenceman Johnny Oduya said. "From this point I think its just a matter of will and who wants to win the most and whos fresher and who plays better." ' ' '