Neues » going to give him a free pass

FIVE QUICK HOOPS THOUGHTS: 1. CHRIS ANDERSON (Heat): He played big last night with 12 rebounds. One of those unsung players with a cast of stars that does the dirty work and plays with incredible energy. When you play the Pacers you need one of your big guys to stand his ground and match their physicality and paint dominance. The Bird-Man has not backed down in his game whatsoever. Miami had lots of concerns with their ability to match Indy in the paint. If Anderson plays like he did last night it will go a long way towards winning this series. 2. PACERS BENCH: Nine points? Gotta get a whole lot more from this unit. I know that Evan Turner was sick, but when you reflect on his contributions since coming over from Philly for Danny Granger, it hasnt worked out the way theyd like. When Rasual Butler - at this stage of his career - is your top scorer off the bench youve got some challenges to overcome. Ive always been a fan of Luis Scola, but if the Pacers could rewind things back a year, theyd be more than happy to have Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee back from the Phoenix Suns. Cant do anything about that now. Simply put - more production needed. 3. TONY PARKER (Spurs): In Game 1, he was brilliant with 14 points, 12 assists and only one turnover. He was masterful at getting into the lane and breaking the defence down. He changes speeds as well as anyone in the game today and is so crafty getting his shot off in traffic. Good to see that the nagging hamstring issue wasnt a problem. A major impact guy when hes right - and was he ever right! 4. KEVIN DURANT AND RUSSELL WESTBROOK (Thunder): Played 41 and 36 minutes respectively in Game 1. I know Westbrook has had knee issues, but whatever extra few minutes he can play - hes gotta play. And if Im Scott Brooks, I dont ever substitute KD out of the game. With no Serge Ibaka they need their best players to play every possible minute. Will be a significant chore to overcome that challenge. 5. OKCS OTHER STARTERS (Nick Collison/Kendrick Perkins/Thabo Sefolosha): A combined five points on 2-10 shooting in Game 1? Seriously? Man I feel for Scott Brooks - hes searching for answers and more importantly if these guys continue to be ineffective it allows the Spurs to leave them and Gang up defensively on Westbrook and Durant, making them take even more difficult shots. You must have shot makers and guys who you have to guard who space the floor out. If not, the court gets very congested and your stars are limited in the types of quality possessions they have. Cant win this series with this type drag on your offense from three struggling players. They pick it up and they give The Big Two a fighting chance - thats all you ask for. Steven Nzonzi Jersey . Vonn flew back to Vail, Colo., last week after hurting her surgically repaired right knee at a downhill race in France. "Her knee was swollen again after Val dIsere," U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser told The Associated Press. Hugo Lloris Jersey .Y. - Joe Johnson hit six 3-pointers in his 27 points, Mason Plumlee added 18 points, and the Brooklyn Nets won their 11th straight at home, beating the Boston Celtics 114-98 Friday night. http://www.nationalfrancesoccer.com/n-go...-france-jersey/. He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr. Custom France Jerseys .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Nabil Fekir France Jersey . Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers needed a breather. They got one Friday night. Anderson Varejao scored 16 points and Kyrie Irving had 10 points and 10 assists, leading the Cavaliers to a 93-78 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. A visit from the worst team in basketball helped Clevelands cause. The Cavaliers used a 17-0 run in the second quarter and a 12-2 spurt in the third to win going away. "Id take this every game," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "We obviously havent had many of those." Varejao scored eight points to spark a 12-2 run that gave Cleveland a 64-46 lead late in the third quarter. Irving, selected an All-Star starter for the first time Thursday, had seven assists in the second half. Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 13 points. Brandon Knight, who leads the Bucks with a 15.9 average, was held to eight points and went 4 of 12 from the field. The Bucks (8-34) have lost 10 of 11. Milwaukee snapped a nine-game losing streak Wednesday against Detroit, but couldnt build on the momentum from that win, a fact that disappointed coach Larry Drew. "We didnt play with a sense of urgency and, clearly, thats my responsibility," he said. "It is disappointing -- take nothing away from this Cleveland Cavalier team -- but I was expecting our guys to have a little bit more firepower. They were clearly the aggressor from start to finish." The game capped a couple of good days for Irving, who had no turnovers in 28 minutes. The third-year guard has also been chosen for the USA Basketball player pool. Irving plans on defending his 3-point title during All-Star weekend and said he would like to become the first player to win the contest three years in a row. "We started off a little sluggish, but we definitely picked it up," he said. "We forced them into some tough shots and got on our run." Irving is looking forward to next months All-Star festivities and the basketball world championships in the summer. "Im just really happy," he said. "I wouldnt be able to be a star without the fans and also my teammates just encourage me every single game. Its a great honour to be part of USA roster and All-Star." Tristan Thompson scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds while Dion Waiters added 13 points for Cleveland. The Cavaliers lost the first two games of a five-game homestand after going 3-2 on a West Coast trip.dddddddddddd "It was a good performance, especially after the two losses," Brown said. "Our guys stepped up. We had a lot of good individual performances that turned into a good team performance." Cleveland was leading 54-44 when Varejao hit three jumpers and a running hook shot that helped push the lead to 18 points. Irving scored on a reverse layup and Thompson added a three-point play. The Cavaliers used a 17-0 run in the first quarter to take a 23-11 lead. Irving scored five points while Luol Deng and Thompson added four apiece. The Bucks went 5:21 without scoring, a stretch that was finally broken on Middletons 3-pointer at the 2:56 mark. Milwaukee ended the quarter on a 12-1 run and trailed 24-23. Waiters scored all 10 of his first-half points in the second quarter and Cleveland led 46-37 at halftime. The Bucks havent won two in a row since March 17-19 of last season. "Its happened all year," said forward Ersan Ilyasova. "We always give up separation (on the scoreboard) and cant come back. We always find a way to give up the game." The Cavaliers are 5-4 since acquiring Deng, who scored nine points, from Chicago on Jan. 7. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 10 points for the Bucks. Ekpe Udoh, Milwaukees starting centre, left the game late in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle and didnt return. Larry Sanders took his place in the third quarter. Cavaliers forward Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the draft, played the final 5:14 after seeing no action in the previous five games. He hit two free throws with 26 seconds to play and had three rebounds. NOTES: Brown said "we havent discussed in depth" sending Bennett to the NBA Development League. Brown thinks it will benefit Bennett more to remain with the team than it would to be sent down. "Hes not just our top pick, hes the No. 1 pick in the draft, so hes going to get plenty of opportunity, but as you guys can see Im not going to give him a free pass," Brown said. ... Sanders (head cold) and G O.J. Mayo (virus) returned after not playing against Detroit. ... Milwaukee G Luke Ridnour picked up two fouls in 14 seconds in the first quarter. ... Cavaliers C Tyler Zeller had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in 22 minutes. ' ' '