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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Houston has a LaMarcus Aldridge problem. The Trail Blazers All-Star forward has been dominating with more than 40 points in each of the opening two playoff games with the Rockets in Houston. Portland is up 2-0 as the series moves to Rip City on Friday night, giving the Rockets little time to figure out how to defend Aldridge. He opened the playoffs with a franchise post-season-best 46 points in the Blazers 122-120 overtime victory, then followed it up with 43 points in the 112-105 win on Wednesday night. Rockets coach Kevin McHale summed it up best when he said: "So far, hes had a hell of a series." Aldridge found success in the paint in the opener so the Rockets adjusted -- but so did Aldridge, who went outside to pepper Houston with midrange jumpers. Thirteen of his 18 field goals came from 10 feet out or more. "Hes making tough shots, hes getting to the foul line. Hes offensive rebounding. Hes doing the whole package and its tough for us," said Houston guard James Harden. "We gotta figure something out real soon. In game three, it is either we win or its over." Aldridge is the first player to score 43 or more points in consecutive playoff games since Tracy McGrady in 2003, and the first to score at least 40 in back-to-back post-season games since LeBron James in 2009. It almost goes without saying that Aldridge is the first Blazer with at least 40 points in back-to-back playoff games. "You can tell just by his approach how hes really dialed in and hes playing big. Hes really taken it upon himself to do all these things," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said Thursday. "Give him all the credit. Hes been wanting this moment for a long time and hes rising to the challenge." Aldridge acknowledged the team for his success. "This team in general just believes in me so much and they ride the wave so well," he said. "When Im going one through 15, they are all cheering and telling me to shoot it. If I pass up a shot, theyre all mad at me and I think having 15 guys having your back like that is great." Aldridges play has put Portland in charge as the team returns home. The Blazers havent opened a playoff series 2-0 since 1977, when they got the early jump on the Lakers en route to the Western Conference title. Portland went on to beat Philadelphia for its lone NBA championship Portland ranked seventh in the league during the regular season with just 10 losses at home. Only three teams have come back to win after losing the first two games of a seven-game series at home: The last was the 2004-05 Mavericks, who came back against the Rockets. Houston is 0-7 overall when falling behind 0-2 in the first round since the 1983-84 expansion. Dwight Howard said its no time to panic. "Weve played against Portland in the regular season and we were successful. We just got to play basketball. We cant look back. We have to stay positive," he said. "They (Portland) won two games but its the first to four and we cant let our heads down. We dug a hole but we can always get out of it." Howard had 32 points and 14 rebounds in Wednesdays loss, while Harden had 18 points. Harden was the leagues top shooting guard in the regular season, but hes 14 of 47 from the field in the playoffs for his worst two-game stretch of the season. Part of that is due to Portlands Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum taking turns at shutting him down. "Weve done a good job guarding without fouling and one thing about playoff basketball is that everybody has the every possession mentality," Stotts said. "We didnt fall asleep on him and I dont think he got a lot of easy looks and every great player in this league, you just want to make them work and I think Nick and Wes in particular really have made him work." For his part, Harden isnt really concerned about a slump. Hes more focused on the Blazers -- and stopping Aldridge. "Im not worried about my offence, Im worried about our defence, our defence as a team. When we get stops and get out in transition everybody feels good about themselves and thats when the assists flow in and things start going well," he said. "If we cant get stops it makes it more difficult. They are a very good team." Adam Oates Jersey . -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Johnny Bucyk Bruins Jersey . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/phi...-hockey-jersey/. Now comes an off-season of questions about manager Matt Williams decisions and a handful of key roster choices, including what to do about Ryan Zimmerman, whether to sign Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond to long-term deals, and how to upgrade an offence that fell flat in October. Jaroslav Halak Bruins Jersey . Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night. Derek Sanderson Jersey . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves.DENVER -- The reeling Anaheim Ducks needed something to stop their slide. A record-setting second period did the trick. Kyle Palmieri scored two goals in 47 seconds, and the Ducks netted six in the second to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Friday night. Corey Perry, Daniel Winnik and Ben Lovejoy also scored for the Ducks, who stopped a four-game skid with their biggest offensive output since they scored nine goals against Vancouver on Jan. 1. The teams combined for nine goals in the second. "I wasnt anticipating that," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "When youre struggling and you get a win its just like a monkey off your back and you start relaxing and start playing better." Jonas Hiller made 34 saves two nights after giving up three goals on five shots before being pulled. Jamie McGinn scored two goals, and John Mitchell and Gabe Landeskog added goals for Colorado, which finished 2-2 on its homestand. The Ducks stayed tied with San Jose in the Pacific Division. The Sharks beat the New York Islanders on Friday. Both teams have 95 points, but the Ducks have played one fewer game. Anaheim came to Denver on the heels of a 7-2 defeat at Calgary, its worst since losing by five goals to Colorado on opening night. The Ducks stopped the slide with a franchise record for goals in a period. "I think it was just desperation," Winnik said. "We havent been playing very good hockey and weve been down after every first period. I think we are finally just sick and tired of chasing the third period. Five goals were scored in a span of 8:45 against goalie Semyon Varlamov, who left after Lovejoys shot bounced off the backboards and went in off his right leg to make it 5-2 at 11:31. "We couldnt stop the bleeding," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "Look at the fifth goal. It hit the backboards and goes in." Palmieri had given Anaheim a 3-2 lead with his 10th and 11th goals less than a minute apart. Perry scored his 36th just 1:06 later, and Lovejoy followed with his fourth. "It was one of those things we felt the ball start to roll and just kept on going with itt," Palmieri said.dddddddddddd The Avalanche played four of the top five teams in the Western Conference on this homestand and moved into second place, one point ahead of Chicago, which lost at home to Nashville on Friday night. They missed a chance to move further ahead of Chicago after their worst period of the season. "We just werent good enough defensively," centre Matt Duchene said. "It is disappointing. This was a big game for us." Mitchell, who signed a three-year extension a few hours before the game, gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 12:25 of the first period. Winnik tied it early in the second. McGinn gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead before the Ducks broke out their offence. McGinn and Landeskog scored 38 seconds apart late in the second to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Anaheims Mathieu Perreault made it 6-4 with a redirection past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere 30 seconds later. Tempers were raised throughout the third period. Colorado defenceman Erik Johnson was given a match penalty for a cross-check on Perreault at 2:07, and things flared up after Nathan MacKinnon had a goal disallowed because of a high stick. Players from both teams pushed and shoved in front of the benches, and after things settled down Avalanche enforcer Patrick Bordeleau reached across the partition between the benches to push Anaheims Patrick Maroon. Both players were ejected. It was reminiscent of opening night when Roy took exception to a hit on MacKinnon late in the Avalanches 6-1 win. He slammed the glass between the benches while shouting at Boudreau. Roy was fined $10,000 by the NHL for his actions. "I learned my lesson," Roy said. "I was quiet." NOTES: The Avalanche signed Mitchell to a three-year extension and G Reto Berra to a three-year contract. Both deals run through the 2016-17 season. ... Lovejoy returned to the lineup after missing Wednesdays game with the flu. ... Colorado C Paul Stastny missed his third straight game because of a back injury. He is day-to-day. ... Anaheim D Cam Fowler sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didnt return. ' ' '