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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Damian Lillard couldnt believe when he got a clear look at the rim. With the final buzzer about to sound, he took his shot. "I got my feet squared up and it felt real good leaving my hands," Portlands point guard said. "Once I saw it on line, I said, Thats got a chance." Lillards shot fell and the Trail Blazers stunned the Houston Rockets 99-98 to take their playoff series in six games and advance to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in 14 years. In the frenzied postgame celebration, Lillard took the public address microphone and shouted "Rip City!" The hometown crowd roared. Portland, making its first playoff appearance since 2011, had been eliminated in the first round in its last six trips, and hadnt advanced to the second round since 2000. "Its a great feeling," said fellow guard Wesley Matthews. "Im excited for Portland, of course excited for us. The grind of the season: Youre a competitor, you want to win, you want to play, you want to advance, you want to be a champion. ... Its unbelievable." Dwight Howard made four consecutive free throws to tie the game at 91 before making a bank shot that put Houston ahead with 3:04 to go. Robin Lopez scored on a tip shot to give the Blazers a 94-93 lead with 2:15 left, setting up a wild finish. Howards layup and foul shot put the Rockets back up 96-94 before Nicolas Batums fadeaway jumper tied it again with 39.9 seconds left. Chandler Parsons scored on a reverse layup with 0.9 seconds left to give Houston the lead. Lillard prevented the series from going back to Houston with his 3-pointer as time ran out. He finished with 25 points. The Trail Blazers said Lillard is the first player to make a buzzer-beating shot to win a playoff series since John Stocktons 3 that led Utah over Houston in 1997s Western Conference finals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. "He made a hell of a shot," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of Lillard. Portland will face the winner of the series between San Antonio and Dallas. The Mavericks forced a deciding Game 7 with a 113-111 victory over the Spurs on Friday night. There are five first-round playoff series that have gone to seven games. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 30 points and 13 rebounds. He averaged 29.8 points during the series. After losing the opening two games in Houston, then claiming one of a pair in Portland, the Rockets staved off elimination with a 108-98 victory on Wednesday night to narrow Portlands advantage in the series to 3-2. Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin redeemed himself from a poor performance in Game 4 with 21 points off the bench. James Harden led the Rockets on Friday night with 34 points. Howard had 26 points and 11 rebounds as Houston -- which earned the nickname "Clutch City" back in the mid-1990s when the team won back-to-back NBA championships -- failed to become the ninth team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series and advance. "It hurts," Howard said. "When you put everything youve got on the floor and somebody hits you with a dagger like that, its a tough pill to swallow." After Lillards 3, Howard went over to congratulate his friend and told him he was proud of him and to go win the title. Aldridge helped the Blazers steal the first two games in Houston, scoring 46 points in a 122-120 overtime Game 1 win, then 43 in a 112-105 victory. The Rockets claimed the first of two in Portland, 121-116 in overtime, led by Harden with 37 points. The series third OT game ended in a 123-120 Blazers win. Aldridge gave the Rockets credit for making the Blazers better. "We felt like they definitely helped us grow. Were so young in the playoffs, but they definitely helped us grow and we feel we should be better for the next round," Aldridge said. "Were happy now, but were not satisfied." NOTES: The Blazers honoured former coach Jack Ramsay, who led the team to its lone NBA championship in 1977, in a moving pregame ceremony. Ramsay died Monday after a long battle with cancer in Florida. ... A fan at the game held a sign reading: "Play like its 1977." ... Lillard has multiple 3-pointers in six straight playoff games, a franchise record. ... It was the first time that the Blazers had defeated Houston in the post-season after three previous meetings. Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN. Wholesale Nike Air Force 1 Shoes . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. http://www.cheapairforce1canada.com/ . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Cheap Air Force 1 Canada . The former Toronto FC designated player played three of his 15 professional seasons with the team. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale . But its also a smart game. Theres more to the Kings than banging bodies. They take a toll mentally on their opponents.WASHINGTON -- Washingtons Ian Desmond took a substantial lead off third base in the seventh inning of a tie game, wondering whether St. Louis pitcher Michael Wacha might leave a changeup in the dirt. "I was just kind of anticipating," Desmond explained later. Sure enough, Wacha threw a wild pitch that bounced away from catcher Yadier Molina, who compounded the problem with a throwing error as Desmond charged home, leading to a second unearned run on the play. That was enough to propel Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals to a 3-1 victory Friday night, ending their eight-game losing streak against the Cardinals. "I saw it bounce off a little bit. I said, Weve got to take a chance here," Desmond said. "And fortunately for us, it worked out." Said Nationals manager Matt Williams: "You never see a ball get away from Yadi. Ever." Thats because Molina has won six consecutive NL Gold Glove awards. But his miscue fit, somehow, with this series so far. A night after the Nationals made three errors -- they initially were charged with four, but one was changed to a hit Friday -- in an 8-0 loss, it was the Cardinals turn to be sloppy. St. Louis finished with three errors, two coming in the pivotal seventh inning. A pair of singles and an error by third baseman Matt Carpenter -- who dropped Wachas throw of Danny Espinosas bunt -- loaded the bases with no outs. "I stretched before I saw where it was going and ended up missing it. It was a good throw. I should have caught it," Carpenter said. "But it tipped off my glove and ended up being the difference in the game." Wacha struck out Nate McLouth and got Jose Lobaton to hit a roller that led to a forceout at home. But with pinch hitter Zach Walters up, Wachas pitch darted to his catchers right. "Just spiked a changeup," Wacha said. Molina tried to make an underhand toss to Wacha, but the throw -- which did not appear in time to beat Desmond, anyway -- was off-target. It went into the Cardinals dugout, allowing Espinosa to score, too. "Im just trying to make a play," Molina said. &quuot;I threw it away.dddddddddddd My fault." Desmond shouted and punched the air, a 1-1 game suddenly 3-1. "Desi made the decision instantly to get toward the plate," Williams said. "He read it correctly." Wacha (2-1) gave up five hits and one earned run. On Sept. 24, in his ninth career start, Wacha no-hit the Nationals until there were two outs in the ninth inning, when Ryan Zimmermans infield single ended the bid. This time, Washington had three hits by the third, when Anthony Rendons solo shot came off a first-pitch 74 mph curveball. Gonzalez (3-1) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, retiring the last 11 batters he faced. He had seven strikeouts and one walk as Washington beat St. Louis for the first time since Game 4 of the teams 2012 NL division series. "It was one of those games that we needed. We needed to bounce back," Gonzalez said about Friday. "We needed something like this. It put us back together. Now we go from here, one game at a time." Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard came on for the eighth and needed 26 pitches just to get one out. With runners on second and third, and No. 3-4 batters Matt Holliday and Allen Craig coming up, Clippard was replaced by Drew Storen. "Youve got two great hitters right there, guys in scoring position," Storen said. He was the closer back in October 2012, when he let the Cardinals erase a 7-5 deficit with two outs in the top of the ninth of Game 5 to win 9-7. But this time, Storen got Holliday on a popup in foul territory, then Craig on a groundout, before Rafael Soriano shook off a comebacker that hit his leg and a walk in the ninth to earn his fourth save. "A good win. Theyre a tremendous team. Theyve gotten the best of us in the past," Rendon said. "But were trying to change that." NOTES: Nationals CF Denard Span (7-day DL, concussion) is expected to be in Washington for Saturdays game. ... In the third game of the four-game series, Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmermann (1-0, 5.27 ERA) will start against Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn (3-0, 4.00). 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