concussion suffered in a car accident on the way to the airport fo | Forum

PORTLAND, Ore. Swell Bottle Belgie . -- Coach Caleb Porter pumped his fist at Portlands fans following the Timbers victory over FC Dallas: The push for the playoffs is on. Darlington Nagbe scored the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute and the Timbers held on to defeat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Ryan Johnson also scored for Portland, which moved into third place in Major League Soccers Western Conference, a point ahead of the Los Angeles Galaxy and two in front of Vancouver. "We want to start sprinting now," Porter said. "And I think we showed how hungry we are for the playoffs tonight." Dallas is winless in a season-high 11 straight matches. The teams longest drought came last season when they went 13 straight games without a victory. The loss dropped FC Dallas (8-7-9) into seventh place in the Western Conference. Coach Schellas Hyndman said he feels his team is close to breaking out of its funk. "With the artificial surface and the fans, this is a tough place to play," he said of Portlands Jeld-Wen Field. The victory snapped a three-match winless streak for Portland (9-3-11), which had last weekend off after playing to a 1-1 draw with Cascadia Cup rival Vancouver on Aug. 3. "When you get to this point in the season, its all about getting points on the board," Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts said. "It doesnt matter how you do it." Both teams were struggling with injuries. FC Dallas right back Zach Loyd was out with a knee strain and central midfielder A.J. Jacobson sat with a sore hamstring. They were injured in last weekends 3-3 draw against the Galaxy. The Timbers were without Will Johnson, who has six goals and three assists this season, because of a right shoulder injury. Forward Frederic Piquionne also sat out because of an ankle injury he sustained in the Vancouver match. Midfielder Jack Jewsbury, also nursing a sore ankle, was listed as a reserve. The Timbers had a good chance in the 21st minute on Diego Valeris fast-break to the top of the box, but he stumbled on the kick, which went wide. But Ryan Johnson scored on a header off Valeris well-placed corner kick in the 26th minute to give Portland the lead. Johnson leads the Timbers with eight goals. Only two minutes later, Mauro Diaz scored his first goal for FC Dallas to even it. Ricketts slid to the turf out in front of the goal, allowing Diaz to take advantage. Diaz, who is from Argentina, was acquired by FC Dallas last month and had appeared in just one match for the team as a reserve before his start Saturday night. Nagbes goal, off an assist by Valeri, gave the Timbers the lead back -- for good, as it turned out. Valeri has had an assist on each of Portlands last six goals, and is the first Timbers player with 10 assists since the team joined MLS in 2011. "We are a very good attacking team and I try to help," Valeri said. "I try to do my role." The match featured a flurry of yellow cards in the second half, with Portlands Valeri and Ben Zemanski and Dallas Jackson and Blas Perez each called for a yellow in the span of less than five minutes. "I dont know if it was getting more physical, I just think the yellow cards started coming out," Hyndman said. Swell Belgie . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Swell Waterfles . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. http://www.swellkopen.be/ . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans.  The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. Free-agent forward Terrence Jones has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, according to league sources.The Pelicans, as it stands, can only offer a one-year minimum contract, but sources say New Orleans is working to create sufficient financial wiggle room to get Jones 2016-17 into the $1.5 million range.Sources said that Jones received at least one other offer Thursday, reportedly paying him more money, but the chance to reunite with former Kentucky teammate Anthony Davis ultimately swayed the former Houston Rockets player to the Pelicans.Last season, the Rockets wanted to give Jones, a 2012 first-round pick, an opportunity to compete for the startingg job at power forward with Donatas Motiejunas. Swell Fles Kopen. A back issue delayed Motiejunas chance of winning the job, so by default it went to Jones. He just couldnt get going, missing five games with a right eye laceration in November and five more in February with a concussion suffered in a car accident on the way to the airport for a road trip.Jones had 15 DNP-CDs and was inactive twice during the regular season.In just 11 starts, he averaged 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds last season.Information from ESPN.coms Calvin Watkins was used in this report. ' ' '