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Its New Years Day and Jack Armstrong is here with his first thoughts of 2015 on the high-flying Portland Trail Blazers, the Toronto Raptors current road trip, the return of Kevin Durant, Jared Dudleys impressive first year in Milwaukee and the injury to Al Jefferson. Greetings from San Francisco! I can think of a lot worse places to be, thats for sure. Happy New Year! My Best Wishes to each of you and I hope you have a wonderful 2015. FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS: 1. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Im really impressed. They have a very nice team and a big factor that jumps out at me is that they have four above-average perimeter defenders in Damian Lillard, Steve Blake, Nicholas Batum and Wesley Matthews. All do a solid job in making you earn everything you get. Not many teams in the league that have a perimeter corps that prides itself on being two-way players. This team is sound on both sides of the ball. 2. GREAT CHALLENGES FOR THE RAPTORS: It was a sensational game in Portland on Tuesday night between the #2 and #3 teams in the NBA in overall record. There was a terrific atmosphere and, even though Raps ran out of gas late, it once again proved to me that theyre growing as a team and are capable of playing with anyone. Another awesome test awaits on Friday against the top team in Association and the Golden State Warriors. I cant wait. These are the games that Raptors fans having been waiting to experience for years. Enjoy it - win or lose. Its all part of the journey of this team figuring out how to become a contender. Its not there yet, but this is what shapes and tests you for future improvement. There are many more ups and downs coming, but its nice to have true meaning each time game night arrives. 3. KEVIN DURANT (Thunder): A quiet night for Durant against the Suns on Wednesday with only 44 points, 10 boards and with seven assists. Eh, the guy is decent. The Thunder are only a game-and-a-half back from the final playoff spot in the West. If these guys stay healthy, watch out. Imagine being a top-three seed and having a sensational season and then being stuck having to play the Thunder as a bottom-three seed. Itll be fun to watch the elite Western teams in early April try to avoid a first-round match-up with these guys. Scary opponent. 4. JARED DUDLEY (Bucks): Ive always been a huge fan of his. Dudleys a no-frills, hard-working guy, who gets a lot out of his abilities. He does whatever you need to win. The Bucks second unit has been a huge plus this season and a big reason is his team-first approach. A winning player, Dudleys bounced back from a tough year and Im sure the Clippers miss him. 5. AL JEFFERSON (Hornets): What a nightmare season. Josh McRoberts bolts to Miami (and they miss him), Lance Stephenson has been a bust, chemistry has been shaky and now the big fella is going to miss some time with a groin injury. Jeffersons a force inside that you cant replace. Its a tough blow for Coach Steve Clifford, one of the talented young coaches in our game. Its been a brutal year for Charlotte after such a fun one last season. Winning, health and chemistry are a very fragile thing. Cheap Jerseys From China .com) - Maria Sharapova reached her 10th career grand slam final after beating Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets at the Australian Open on Thursday. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . The Extreme Heat Policy was enacted at Melbourne Park just before 2 p.m. Thursday, suspending all matches on outer courts until the early evening and requiring the closure of the retractable roofs at Rod Laver and Hisense arenas before play could continue on the show courts. http://www.jerseyscheapcustom.com/ . - The situation looked bleak at best for the coach Doc Rivers Clippers — down by four points with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Cheap Fake Jerseys Free Shipping . Plata blasted a rising shot to the upper left corner for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. He got the kick after referee Allen Chapman ruled Chris Tierney fouled John Stertzer in the penalty area. Fake China Jerseys . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year.BOSTON -- In just a few minutes, Bostons hitters turned a slow offensive night into an easy victory. Dustin Pedroias two-run double capped a seven-run sixth inning Thursday night that sent the Red Sox to their fourth straight win, 9-4 over the Houston Astros. "We came to life. We were able to combine some base on balls with some base hits," manager John Farrell said. "It seemed like we got a couple of pitches up in the zone from (Scott) Feldman. The first time or two in the order he kept us in check and kept us off balance." Pedroia finished with three hits, Daniel Nava had two doubles and David Ortiz added two singles as the Red Sox improved to 8-0 at Fenway Park against the Astros. Matt Dominguez hit a two-run homer for Houston, which opened a 10-game road trip with its fourth loss in five games. Allen Webster (3-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in six innings for Boston. "I grinded through it and then they took over with the seven runs," the soft-spoken Webster said. "I cant complain at all." Trailing 4-1, the Red Sox chased Feldman (6-9) during their biggest inning of the season. "It just snowballed. He was one pitch away from getting out of it, but they just continued to find holes and continued to keep the line moving," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "Before that he was in complete command of the game and really was commanding both sides of the plate." Pedroias ground-rule double bounced off the chalk on the right-field line and caromed into the stands. Ortiz, Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks each had an RBI single before Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Darin Downs that pushed Boston ahead 5-4. Christian Vazquez had a sacrifice fly before Pedroias double. Brock Holt opened the inning with a hustle double and drew a walk as the Red Sox sent 12 batters to the plate. Feldman was charged with seven runs on nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. And he felt he was in trouble before the big inning. "I think it actually started probably before that," hee said.dddddddddddd "It felt like I had turned into a one-pitch guy. I really had command of only one pitch, from like the fourth, fifth, sixth, something like that." The Astros scored single runs in the second and third before Dominguezs homer made it 4-0 in the fourth. Dominguez homered into the Green Monster seats after Jon Singletons leadoff walk. Boston sliced it to 4-1 when Pedroia scored on Yoenis Cespedes double-play grounder. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: OF Alex Presley (strained right oblique) wont play in games and will only get treatment for a couple of days because he had some discomfort during his minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class A Tri-City. Red Sox: Cespedes was back in the lineup after coming out of Wednesdays game with a bruised right hand, but fouled a ball off his shin and left in the ninth. ... Farrell said outfielder Allen Craig, on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left foot, will take batting practice the next few days before being sent on a rehab assignment. UP NEXT LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.07 ERA) pitches Friday for the Astros after losing his last start, giving up five runs in six innings at home against Texas. It was his worst start in more than a month. Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (5-7, 5.98) looks for his second strong start against Houston this season. He struck out 12 in a complete-game victory at Minute Maid Park on July 13. WHAT A THROW Nava nailed Jake Marisnick at the plate with a throw on the fly from medium-deep right field when he was trying to score on Jose Altuves fly ball to end the seventh. NO UPDATE Porter joked that hell be shutting down injury updates on rookie outfielder George Springer (right quadriceps), who had a setback in his rehab and was shut down for two weeks. Springer has been out since July 19. "In 13 days we can talk about him again," Porter said, smiling. NO NEED TO PACK FOR A WHILE The Red Sox opened an 11-game homestand, their longest in more than three years. After four games against Houston, they have four with the Los Angeles Angels and three with Seattle. ' ' '