Valteri Filppula to begin the Winter Games. Koivu suffered an ankle

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Trail Blazers who got off to such a strong start this season re-emerged against Washington Wizards. "The ball was moving. It was a lot of fun to be out there," Wesley Matthews said. "Thats how we play. Thats how we got on a roll, thats how we got to be one of the hottest teams." Matthews matched his season high with 28 points, including four 3-pointers, and the Portland defeated the Wizards 116-103 on Thursday night. Damian Lillard added 23 points and 10 assists for the Blazers, who are still playing without injured All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. Portland (45-24) remained in fifth place in the Western Conference with three victories in their last four games after slumping with a four-game losing streak. The Wizards (35-33) have lost two straight to open four-game swing against the Western Conference while they vie for a playoff spot in the East to end a five-year absence. Washington currently sits sixth in their conference. John Wall had 24 points and 14 assists for Washington, which trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half. "They are a team that gets hot from time to time," Wall said. "And they got hot and made some contested shots, they rotated the ball and guys knocked down their shots." Portland played small in Aldridges absence and finished with 32 assists on 41 field goals. " I think right now were just moving the ball really well," Lillard said. "And when youre moving the ball, you put yourself in position to make shots." Wizards centre Marcin Gortat was scratched from the lineup just before the game because of a lower back strain. It was the first game hes missed this season. Gortat, who hurt his back during pregame warmups and left the court wincing, is averaging 12.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. In Washingtons 117-111 overtime loss at Sacramento on Tuesday, Gortat had 19 points and 14 rebounds. The Wizards started Kevin Seraphin in his place. The Wizards are still without forward Nene, who missed his 12th gram because of a sprained left MCL. "Things arent going our way right now," Wall said. "Some guys are down, but there are no excuses. We know we should be 1-1 on this trip right now. Two more games left to put this one behind us. Win the next two, go home even." The Blazers, who opened the season 22-4 and rose to the top of the standings, played without Aldridge for the fourth straight game because of a lower back contusion. He is expected to return when the Blazers play at Charlotte on Saturday. They got a scare against the Wizards when reserve guard Will Barton, who has been a spark off the bench this season, appeared to injure his right arm and left the game for a time. In the second half he wore a brace on his elbow. The Blazers jumped out to a 19-14 lead, but the Wizards answered with a 14-4 run to lead 28-23 after the first quarter. Bradley Beals layup extended the lead to 35-27. The Wizards stayed in front, going up 45-39 on former Blazer Martell Websters dunk. But Lillard dunked with less than a minute to go in the half and Robin Lopez added a layup to tie the game at 51. Lillard added a pair of free throws for a 53-51 Blazers lead at the break. Portland opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run, including 3-pointers from Lillard, Dorell Wright and Matthews, to stretch the lead to 64-53. The Blazers had six 3s in the quarter to head into the final period with an 86-73 lead. Bartons pass between the legs of Drew Gooden was snagged by Thomas Robinson for the jam to make it 89-73. Wright, who has been starting in Aldridges absence, matched his season-high with 15 points. Gooden had 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Washington. NOTES: The Blazers on Thursday announced a $16 million makeover of the Moda Center, including renovation of the arenas suites and a new glass enclosed bar on the upper level that will offer a panoramic view of Portland. The Blazers are also holding a fan contest to redesign the teams court. ... The Blazers have had four straight games with at least 12 3-pointers, a franchise record. ... The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Wizards in the series with Portland. Texas Rangers Pro Shop .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Texas Rangers Gear . Formula One Teams Association secretary general Oliver Weingarten says the organization collapsed over unpaid subscription fees and a failure to strike an agreement for 2014 with all 11 teams. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/ . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Texas Rangers Shirts . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. Texas Rangers Store . Coach Randy Carlyle didnt know the severity of Bozaks injury. Bozak left the bench and went down the tunnel early in the second period, returned to play a handful of shifts and then did play in the third.SOCHI – Finland will be shorthanded when it clashes with Canada on Sunday. Young forward Aleksander Barkov, who left a couple of shifts into the third period of his teams game on Friday, has suffered a knee injury that will force him out for the remainder of the Olympic tournament. The 18-year-old Barkov had an assist in his five-plus periods in Sochi. According to published reports in Finland, Barkov is expected to be out from four to six weeks. The Finns already were without star players Mikko Koivu and Valteri Filppula to begin the Winter Games. Koivu suffered an ankle injury in early January that he hasnt fully recovered from and Filppula was knocked out action with a broken ankle in late January. But without Koivu and Filppula, the Finns still managed to score a combined 15 goals in wins over Austria and Norway. Goaltending, however, is tthe strength of the Finnish team, which like Canada also took the day off to rest on Saturday.dddddddddddd Tuukka Rask played in Finlands first win and made only 12 saves in an 8-4 decision over Austria. Kari Lehtonen was in goal for Finlands 6-1 victory over Norway. If Rask starts against Canada, will assistant coach Claude Julien share any secrets with the Canadian players? Julien, of course, coaches Rask with the Boston Bruins. “First of all, we dont know who will be their starting goalie, so I havent said a word about Tuukka yet,” Julien said. “When the time comes, and I told Tuukka before the Games that Ill say it, he doesnt really like shootouts. Hes been very public about it. Hes an excellent goalie. We havent spent too much time on goalies strengths and weaknesses. But Tuukka doesnt have many weaknesses.” ' ' '