The Portland Trail Blazers advanced to the NBA Western Conference semi-finals by holding off the resilient Los Angeles Clippers 106-103 to claim the first-round play-off series 4-2. Jason Denayer Jersey . They will now take on the Golden State Warriors, with the series against the defending champions beginning on Sunday. Damian Lillard had 27 points for the Blazers and CJ McCollum added 20 points as they completed a successful rally from a 2-0 series deficit; becoming the first team to do so in three years.Jamal Crawford had 32 points for the Clippers and Austin Rivers added 21 points and eight assists despite having 11 stitches above his left eye from a collision in the first quarter.But the Clippers could not recover from injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in Game 4 of the series.Meanwhile, Paul George scored 21 points and Myles Turner added 15 as the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 101-83 to force Game 7 in their series.The decider will be played on Sunday in Toronto with the winner progressing to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.Indiana scored 18 straight points in the second half to pull away from the second-seeded Raptors, who have not won a post-season series since 2001.DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph each had 15 points for the Raptors.The Eastern Conference series between the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets is also tied at 3-3 after the Heat prevailed 97-90 in Game 6.Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and hit two crucial baskets in the final minute to secure the win.Luol Deng was nine of 14 from the field and finished with 21 points, while Goran Dragic added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, who will host Game 7 on Sunday.The Heat overcame a play-off career-high 37 points from Kemba Walker to hand the Hornets only their 11th home defeat of the season.Al Jefferson had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Cody Zeller had 12 points off the bench for Charlotte. Christian Benteke Jersey . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. Zakaria Bakkali Jersey .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. http://www.belgiumsoccerauthority.com/jan-vertonghen-belgium-jersey/ . Hall had a goal and three assists in a 5-4 loss to San Jose on Tuesday, had an assist in each of Edmontons next two games the capped the week with a goal and two assists in the Oilers 4-2 win over Anaheim on Sunday.Way back at the start of the season, amid all the whistles and fouls, the defensive-minded teams appeared to be in trouble, a seemingly dying breed hamstrung by the NCAAs new hands-free rules. As the season progressed, the top coaches and teams adjusted to the changes and found ways around the impediments. Now, after the all increases in scoring and shooting percentages and offensive flow, the season has come down to a Final Four of teams held together by one common thread: shutdown defences. "In general, its like most sports: Defence wins championships," said Bill Frieder, a longtime coach and TV/radio analyst. "You still need to score, but basically when it gets right down to it, you have to make stops. The teams that can make a stop or two back to back are the teams that advance." The Final Four teams in this wild ride of an NCAA tournament earned a trip to North Texas this weekend because they can do just that. Florida is the best defensive team in the country, allowing just 88.5 points per 100 possessions, according to the analytics of KenPom.com. The Gators can be downright dominating on the defensive end, swarming ballhandlers and luring shooters into a fall sense of security before rising up to swat shots back in their faces. Defence has been a cornerstone for Bo Ryan since he won four national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville and its been the calling card -- along with that ultra-patient offence -- since he arrived at Madison. The Badgers are fundamental and fierce, allowing about 56 points per game to NCAA opponents -- nearly eight less than before the tournament. For all the flash of Kentuckys fabulous freshmen, these young Cats can get after you on D. Kentuckys latest one-and-done lineup is filled with long, athletic players who can harass on the perimeter and guard the rim -- 10th nationally with 6.1 blocked shots per game -- like few teams in college basketball. And for all the hype heaped on Connecticuts Shabazz Napier, the Huskies are pretty husky when it comes to defence. Ryan Boatright has become a point-guard stopper -- he had four steals and helped limit Michigan States Keith Appling to two points in the East Regional final -- and UConn seems to have an entire roster of rim protectors, ranking 16th nationally with 5.8 blocked shots per game. "We are predators out there," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. In most years, the high-scoring teams often get the attention, whether it was Florida Gulf Coasts Dunk City a year ago or backk to Houstons Phi Slamma Jamma of the early 1980s. Kevin De Bruyne Jersey. What usually happens at the finish? The best defensive teams end up with the hardware. Louisville rode its swarming, chaos-inducing defence to a title last season. The year before that, Anthony Davis and Kentuckys shot-swatting young Cats set an NCAA record with 335 blocked shots on their way to the national championship. In 2011: Connecticut 53, Butler 41. Great defensive teams litter the list of national champions throughout history, too. UNLV ran its wrecking crew through the bracket in 1990. North Carolina State and Georgetown let the air out of Phi Slamma Jamma in consecutive title games. Indiana played superb team defence during the last perfect season in 1976. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton anchored the UCLA teams that ran off 10 titles in 12 years. Go all the way back to the 1950s and the San Francisco teams that won consecutive championships had a young Bill Russell dominating the middle before he went on to do the same thing for the Boston Celtics. "In the NBA, its always seems to come down to the teams that play the best defence and its no different in college basketball," Arizona State associate head coach Eric Musselman said. "At the end of the day, no matter how well you score, youve got to be able stop people." The Final Four teams have proven they can do it so far in the tournament. Wisconsin opened the NCAA tournament by holding American to 35 points and reached the Final Four by preventing Arizona from getting off a potential game-winning shot before the buzzer sounded in overtime. Kentucky held Kansas State to 49 points in its NCAA opener and held Michigan scoreless for nearly 4 1-2 minutes of a three-point Midwest Regional final win that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons. UConn went toe-to-toe with one of the nations best defensive teams in the East Regional final, holding Michigan State to 39 per cent shooting and two field goals -- one at the buzzer after the game was decided -- over the final 5 minutes. Florida is the third team in NCAA tournament history to win four games by double digits and hold opponents under 70 points per game en route to the Final Four, limiting teams to an average of 55 points per game. "We just take so much pride into being able to disrupt the team and being able to lock down guys," Florida forward Patric Young said. So do the other three teams, a big reason why theyre all together in North Texas. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys 2020 Cheap Authentic Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap ' ' '