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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to post a 5-under 67 and lie two shots off the lead two rounds into the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday. At 7 under overall in the European Tour event, McIlroy was rapt to be in contention for a second win in three tournaments. Playing partner Phil Mickelson was also happy, though in relief to make the cut by two shots at 1 under with a 70 after a first-round 73. "Im really glad I made the cut and I now have a chance over these next two days, because I kind of keyed in on something with my swing starting to feel much better," Mickelson said. "I really need these two days to get my game in shape." Mickelson was impressed with McIlroys form. "His game looks really sharp and his driving was impeccable," Mickelson said of McIlroy. Tied for the lead were Scotlands Craig Lee (67) and Spains Rafa Cabrera-Bello (68) at 9 under, a stroke ahead of Englands Danny Willett (63), who eagled the par-5 8th hole at National Course beside seven birdies. McIlroy was sharing fourth with Argentinas Ricardo Gonzalez (66) and Denmarks Thomas Bjorn (70). He was holding the end-of-2013 form that saw him come from behind and defeat Masters champion Adam Scott in the Australian Open in Sydney last month. "Its a great position to be in, as Im only a few off the lead, so Im excited," McIlroy said. He was happy to compare with how he missed the cut a year ago, when he debuted new equipment and left himself and sponsor Nike red-faced. In that humbling display of consecutive 75s were two double bogeys and seven bogeys. "Coming off the last green last year, after 36 holes, I was deflated to say the least," he said. "The week didnt go as how I imagined it or how I planned. But its so much better this year. Im happy with how Im playing. Im striking the ball really well. I got a few putts to drop on the back nine, which was nice. And yeah, I mean, I feel like if I can keep hitting it the way I have been, Ive got a great chance to win in this tournament." While McIlroy won two tournaments ago in Sydney it has been 13 months since his last success on the European Tour when he birdied his closing five holes in winning the season-ending World Tour Championship in nearby Dubai. Cabrera-Bello is also no stranger to winning in the Emirates, having captured the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic. The overnight leader dropped a shot at his last hole, the ninth, to fall into a tie with Lee, who seeks his first win on tour. "I have been practicing hard the last two weeks and trying also to get back into shape, so Im glad that is all paying off," Cabrera-Bello said. Wholesale Shoes . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile. Cheap Shoes . -- Max Domi scored twice and set up two more as the London Knights toppled the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 6-4 on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.shoeschinacheap.com/. However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Cheap Nike Shoes China .J. - The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Graham Harrell, giving them some added depth at the position.The Portland Trail Blazers will try to win a playoff series for the first time since 2000 on Wednesday night when they visit the Houston Rockets for Game 5 at the Toyota Center. Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. They fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the Conference Finals, but since, Portland has lost six times in the first round. That could all change on Wednesday. The Trail Blazers won the first two games in Houston, then fell in Game 3 at home. Portland is on the precipice of advancement, but its been a tough trek to get to this point. Three of the first four game went to overtime, including Game 4, which the Blazers won 123-120. "Its not exhausting if you win, its exhausting if you lose," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of the series three overtime games. "And weve lost two of the three." LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 29 points for the fifth-seeded Blazers, followed by 25 from Nicolas Batum. Damian Lillard had 23 and Wesley Matthews added 21. James Harden had 28 points to lead the Rockets, Chandler Parsons scored 26 -- but just seven after halftime -- and Dwight Howard ended with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Portland took its first lead since 6-5 when Batum spun Parsons around with a crossover dribble and knocked down a 3-pointer from the high right side to make it 99-97 with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation. Later, Howards only two blocks of the game came before Harden made four foul shots in a row to give Houston a 104-102 edge with 50.9 seconds on the clock. After Batum missed a 3, Jeremy&nbbsp;Lin rebounded the ball for the Rockets but was stripped by Mo Williams.dddddddddddd Matthews missed a layup, but Lillard got the rebound and kicked it to Williams, who knocked down a 3 to give Portland a one-point lead with 18.9 seconds left in the fourth. Howards game-tying dunk came after Dorell Wright missed one of two foul shots for the Blazers, and Williams missed a 3-point try at the buzzer for Portland. Matthews opened overtime by wrestling the ball away from Howard and called a timeout, Parsons smacked Aldridge across the face at the other end for a Flagrant 1 foul and Aldridge made his free throws for the first points of overtime. Still, the game was tied until Batum scored five straight to spark a 7-0 run that gave the Blazers the lead for good. He made a 3-pointer after Aldridge stripped Howard under the Rockets basket, then found Lillard in transition for a layup and 117-110 lead with 2:19 to play. Troy Daniels, the former D-League player and unexpected hero for the Rockets in Game 3 when he hit the winning 3 in the closing seconds of overtime, made his first three NBA foul shots to get them within a point with 8.9 seconds left. After Williams made two free throws at the other end, Matthews stepped in front of Patrick Beverley just beyond midcourt and knocked the ball loose, sealing the win -- Portlands second in overtime in the series. "It was another terrific game and I think its obvious that both teams are pretty evenly matched," said Portland coach Terry Stotts. "I was really proud of the way we played in the second half. I thought we showed a lot of heart and determination to get back into the game." If needed, Game 6 will be Friday night in Portland. ' ' '