homered -- only his second of the season -- to le

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The scoreboard may say victory, but Damian Lillard sees work to do.Lillard scored 38 points, making key free throws in the waning seconds, and the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Phoenix Suns for a 124-121 victory on Tuesday night.After leading by 18 points early, it shouldnt have been so close at the end, Lillard said.We talk about just being able to play the way we want to play for longer spans of time, he said. Well play really well for seven minutes, and then in four minutes well give up a 15-2 run and give up everything we just worked for. We got to continue to work on that. The good thing is, were able to find a way to win games while we work on it.CJ McCollum added 33 points for the Blazers, who have won three straight.Lillard hit a 3-pointer with 6:45 left that put Portland in front 101-95. Eric Bledsoe made a free throw to pull Phoenix within 115-114 with just under a minute left, but he missed the second attempt that would have tied it and Lillard scored a layup on the other end.Bledsoe hit two free throws to again get within a point, but Lillard was fouled with 13.3 seconds left and made both to put Portland up 119-116.Devin Booker made a 3-pointer that pulled the Suns within 122-121 but Lillard again hit two free throws with 3.7 seconds left and Booker missed from some 25 feet has time ran out.Bledsoe finished with 31 points and Booker had 23.Its not tough for us to come back, we come back a lot, Suns coach Earl Watson said. Thats what we do. Our team is really close and we have a lot of belief.The Suns, who opened the season with four straight losses before winning two of their last three, were without Tyson Chandler because of personal reasons. Chandler has been in double-digit rebounds in three of the last four games.Watson started rookie Marquese Chriss, who was making his first career start. Chriss, who finished with seven points, was a first-round draft pick (eighth overall) out of Washington by the Sacramento Kings, acquired by the Suns in a draft-day trade.Portland was hurt when they lost starting forward Al-Farouq Aminu to a left calf strain early and he did not return. Aminu is averaging seven points and 7.9 rebounds this season.Aminu said after the game that he was unlikely to play on Wednesday when the Blazers visit the Clippers.McCollum hit his first six shots, including three 3-pointers, and the Blazers jumped out to a 27-12 lead. McCollum matched his career high with 37 points in Portlands 100-94 victory at Memphis on Sunday.Booker had 39 points in the Suns 119-108 loss at the Lakers on Sunday, after scoring 38 in a 112-111 overtime victory over New Orleans on Friday, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to have back-to-back games with at least 38 points.TIP-INSSuns: The Suns beat the Blazers 118-115 in overtime last week in Phoenix. The teams play four games this season.Trail Blazers: Portland made 12 of its first 13 field goal attempts. ... It was the second time in his career that McCollum has had back-to-back games with 30 or more points.MENTOR AND FRIEND: Watson played his final NBA season with Portland and grew close to Lillard. The summer before last, when the Blazers lost four starters and Lillard was the last remaining starter on the roster, Watson said the two talked and he told Lillard he needed to be a leader on and off the court. Lillard responded by organizing a team bonding trip to San Diego and the young Blazers went on to go 44-38 and advance to the second round of the playoffs.That is when you saw this young group become something else, Watson said.FAST START: Lillard has scored 262 points so far this season, the most through the first eight games of a season in franchise history. It is also the most by an NBA player since Kobe Bryant had 264 through the first eight in 2009-10.UP NEXTSuns: Host the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.Trail Blazers: Visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. The Clippers beat the Blazers in Portland 114-106 on Oct. 27. Marble Water Bottle Cheap . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Swell Canada . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. http://www.swellbottlesaleclearance.com/swell-water-bottle-black-wholesale.html . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Swell Water Bottle Wood . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Swell Ombre Bottle . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Yordano Ventura was not at his best, but good enough to end a personal losing drought.Ventura pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Kendrys Morales hit a grand slam, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 Sunday.As far as stuff-wise and command, it obviously wasnt one of his best games, but his mental toughness was great, Royals catcher Drew Butera said. Thats what we need out of him. Somedays youre not going to have your best stuff. He came out and battled. He didnt get too flustered on the mound and stayed within himself.Ventura (7-9), who was 0-5 in seven starts since a June 17 victory over the Detroit Tigers, limited the Blue Jays to one run and five singles in 6 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out four.The Blue Jays had four hits and two walks in the first four innings, but wound up stranding eight men and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.I was fighting the whole game, Ventura said with catching coach Pedro Grifol as his interpreter. I didnt feel comfortable with my mechanics early, but the goal was to keep us in the ball game until we could score some runs and we did.Morales third career grand slam and his first since July 30, 2012, while with the Los Angeles Angels came off left-hander Brett Cecil with two out in the eighth to break the game open. Raul Mondesi, Alcides Escobar and Cheslor Cuthbert led off the inning with singles. It appeared Toronto might escape unharmed after Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer struck out, but Morales hit Cecils first pitch out to straight-away center.I went up to the plate with an aggressive mindset and he threw a fastball and I was able to make good hard contact, Morales said through a translator. It was a high fastball, mask high and I was able to catchh it out front.ddddddddddddlue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman (8-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. He threw 95 pitches before being replaced by Scott Feldman.Drew Butera and Mondesi delivered run-producing singles in the second. Butera cracked his bat on his hit to bring home Alex Gordon, while Mondesis bunt single scored Paulo Orlando, who logged his fourth straight multi-hit game.Theyre a dynamic team with their speed, Stroman said. They dont have to beat you with homers. Theyre looking to move the ball, move guys. Very fast and they put the ball in play.Escobar homered -- only his second of the season -- to lead off the fifth.Ventura was pulled after walking Darwin Barney and giving up a single to Devon Travis with two out in the seventh. Peter Moylan replaced Ventura and struck out Jose Bautista, but not before a wild pitch allowed Barney to score.Today was a little frustrating, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Its always tough to play here. Theyre world champs. Theyre that for a reason and they held us in check. We really havent been swinging that good since the beginning of the last homestand. Weve been in kind of a rut, so were due to explode.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: CF Kevin Pillar jammed his left thumb sliding into second base Saturday and not in the lineup as a precaution.UP NEXTBlue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey, who is second in the AL with 12 losses, will start against the Rays in the opener of a six-game homestand. Tampa Bay will start RHP Jake Odorizzi.Royals: After a day off Monday, Edinson Volquez will start Tuesday against the White Sox. Volquez has a 9.82 ERA in losing his past two starts. ' ' '