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MOSCOW - Zenit St. Petersburg extended its lead at the top of the Russian Premier League to four points on Sunday with a 5-0 thrashing of Mordovia Saransk.Zenit sits four points clear of second-placed CSKA Moscow, which drew with FC Ufa 3-3 earlier.The St. Petersburg side was quiet in the first half at home to Mordovia, but destroyed the visitors after the break with five goals in 20 minutes.Hulk, Alexander Kerzhakov, Axel Witsel and Miguel Danny all got on the scoresheet for Zenit, while Mordovia midfielder Ruslan Nakhushev scored an own goal.Defending champion CSKA struggled to defend against relegation-threatened Ufa, only leaving with a point after Bibras Natcho tied the game with an injury-time penalty, his second spot-kick of the game.With a recorded attendance of just 1,600, the match at Ufa had the smallest crowd of any Russian Premier League game this season, partly due to restrictions for top-flight games.On Saturday, FC Kuban took third place with a 0-0 draw against Torpedo Moscow. However, Dynamo Moscow can retake third with a win over Rubin Kazan on Monday.Spartak Moscows coach Murat Yakin remains under pressure with his team a disappointing seventh following a 1-1 draw with capital city rival Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday.Manuel Fernandes gave Lokomotiv the lead on 84 minutes, but the Railwaymens lead lasted just three minutes before Russia international Roman Shirokov levelled the score in a delayed debut for Spartak after injury.Lokomotiv, in eighth, has a win and a draw in the first two games under new coach Miodrag Bozovic.Also, Ural Yekaterinburg beat fellow relegation candidate Arsenal Tula 1-0 on Friday, while Amkar Perm edged FC Rostov 2-0 Saturday. . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. .I get texts: Do you know Drake? Have you met Drake? He sits there every night, he hears me cuss out the referees every night, Casey said, laughing. http://www.acmilansoccershop.com/c-39-r ... ersey.aspx. - Tom Brady was upset that his New England Patriots hardly looked like a division champion in the first half. . -- Those impatient for the Stanley Cup to return to Canada will have just one team to root for in the NHL playoffs -- the Montreal Canadiens. .com) - The Denver Nuggets snapped a losing streak last time out and will try to carry that momentum Saturday night when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to the Pepsi Center. PORTLAND, Ore. -- There is something about returning to Portland that brings the best out of Memphis forward Zach Randolph. Randolph did another number on his former team Tuesday night, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to a 98-81 victory over the Trail Blazers. Mike Conley had 19 points and seven assists, and Marc Gasol added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies (23-20), who won their third straight and seventh in eight games. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Blazers (33-13) suffered their most lopsided defeat of the season. Portland registered a season low for points scored and had their home winning streak snapped at five games. Randolph registered his 27th double-double of the season as a franchise record-setting 190th for the Grizzlies, who never trailed. Portland fell to 18-5 at home. Randolph, who played his first six seasons with the Blazers, averaged 22.7 points on 52.9 per cent shooting in seven previous visits. "Its always fun to come back," said Randolph, who scored 13 of his 23 points in the first half as the Grizzlies opened a 61-46 lead. "This is where I started, man. Thats just the kind of player that I am." The Grizzlies, picking up where they had left off in Saturdays 99-81 home win over Houston, shot 58.3 per cent in the first quarter against the Blazers and jumped in front 31-22 behind Randolphs 11 points. "It was important for us to get off to a fast start and we did," Randolph said. "We had great offence during the game, but our defence was the key." The Grizzlies held Portland, averaging a NBA-leading 109 points a game, to 34.5 per cent shooting two nights after the Blazers shot a season-low 33.7 per cent in a 103-88 loss at Golden State. "Memphis saw blood and they lunged at our jugular," Blazers centre Robin Lopez said. "I really think we kind of slashed our own throat in a way, which kind of let them run away with it." Aldridge was 6 of 7 in the first quarter and Nicholas Batum converted a three-point play that pulled Portland within 24-22, but Memphis outscored the Blazers 7-0 over the final 2:20 of the period to open a nine-point cushion. "We were in attack mode on bothh ends of the floor," Grizzlies coach David Joerger said.dddddddddddd "Most of the night, we were the aggressors." Memphis connected four times from 3-point range in the second quarter, including one by Courtney Lee that extended the lead to 57-39 with 3:39 to play in the half. Damian Lillard connected from 3 for Portland to start the fourth quarter, sparking a 23-13 run that cut the deficit to 94-81 with 2:27 to play. "It was a disappointing game, needless to say," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts, whose team was playing its ninth game in 14 nights. "We got off to a slow start. We caught a team thats trying to put it together. Theyre on a roll and theyre playing very well. They showed that in the first half." Lillard finished with 16 points, Lopez had 14, and Batum 10 for the Blazers. "Were in a rough patch right now," Lillard said. "Were not shooting the ball very well and weve got to defend better. Weve played so well, we were due for a rough patch and a little bit of adversity." The Grizzlies remain in fourth place in the Southwest Division but are gaining ground. "Were getting our chemistry right," Randolph said. "I dont want to say were right there or that were hitting our peak, but its coming. As long as we keep working hard and playing 48 minutes, we give ourselves a chance to compete with anybody." NOTES: Aldridge recorded his 22nd game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, second most in the league behind Minnesotas Kevin Love (26). . With his 15th point Tuesday, Aldridge passed Cliff Robinson for third among Portlands all-time leading scorers with 10,406 points. Aldridges 27 point brought his career total to 10,418. . Memphis guard Tony Allen, whose last appearance was on Jan. 3 at Denver, was not in uniform and missed his 11th consecutive game with a sprained left wrist. Allen was averaging 10.2 points and 3.9 rebounds at the time of his injury. . Randolph went into Tuesdays game with 384 career double-doubles, ranking eighth among active players. . Randolph won the 2003-04 NBA Most Improved Player Award while in Portland and was the only player in club history to lead the team in scoring and rebounding in four consecutive seasons. ' ' '