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Topic Started: Apr 20 2014, 09:44 AM (7 Views)
zake201
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SAN ANTONIO -- Apparently the San Antonio Spurs are not comfortable unless they are under duress. After needing last-second shots to win their first two games, the Spurs required another valiant effort from Tony Parker after squandering a 19-point lead against the Utah Jazz. Parker had 24 points and 10 assists to help the Spurs fend off a late rally and beat the Jazz 110-100 on Saturday night. Parker had six points and three assists in the final 5 minutes as San Antonio (3-0) continued its home dominance over Utah (1-2). "Its tough when youre on the road against a team like that and come back, but we did," Jazz forward Paul Millsap said. "We put ourselves within reach to win the game, but their veterans came through." Tim Duncan added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Danny Green had 21 points and Kawhi Leonard 13. The Spurs seemed assured of matching their best start since the 2007-2008 season after a blazing start at home. San Antonio shot 74 per cent from the field in racing to a 62-44 lead at the half. They made 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half and held the Jazz to 32 per cent shooting. The Spurs also had Manu Ginobili back in the lineup after he missed the teams first two games due to back spasms. Everything was pointing to an easy victory before the Jazz took over after the half. The Spurs squandered a 19-point lead in the third quarter when the Jazz went on a 24-5 run to tie the game. Mo Williams hit a pair of free throws to cap the run and tie the game at 79 at the close of the third quarter. Williams had 11 of his game-high 29 points during the run. "It just flowed that way," Williams said. "I hit a couple of shots and we got into some transition situations. I had it going a little bit. If it was me, if it was Al (Jefferson), if it was Paul (Millsap) -- anyone of us want to ride the hot hand -- and I just happen to be the point guard with the ball in my hand. I created some shots. I thought I did a good job to get my teammates more involved." Millsap added 17 points, Jefferson 16 and Gordon Hayward 15. The Spurs said they expected the Jazz to eventually cut into their lead, but the 7-minute outburst took even them by surprise. "We expect teams to make runs," Duncan said. "We hope they dont make runs and get hot so they dont get back in the game (but they did). We didnt panic. I thought we did a great job of sticking with what we were doing, and focused ourselves on defence." The Spurs then turned to their two stars in the fourth. Duncan and Parker combined to score seven points in the final 4 minutes to preserve the victory. San Antonio also forced six turnovers in the fourth quarter and held Utah to 11 field goal attempts after allowing the Jazz to make 12 of 24 shots in the third. "Our guys were really embarrassed by that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Together playing good individual and team defence; holding them to 21 (points) was the key and they knew it." It was the same defensive intensity San Antonio displayed in building the 19-point lead. After Gordon Heyward made a 22-foot jumper on the teams first attempt, the Jazz missed their next nine shots as the Spurs raced to a 15-5 lead. Derrick Favours dunk snapped Utahs dry spell with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. "We were rolling," Green said. "We were playing well, and we were moving the ball and things were going well. They were playing pretty good defence, and that made us play better defence, which generated our offence and gave us a little boost and a little energy." The Spurs had seven turnovers in the first quarter, but offset that by holding Utah to 32 per cent shooting. After having only one turnover in his first two games, Parker had three in the first quarter alone. Ginobili made his season debut with 3:06 left in the first quarter, drawing thunderous applause from the sold out crowd. Ginobili scored his first points in typical style, driving from behind the three-point line for a scooping left-handed layup. His entry in the second half drew an equally loud response from the crowd. NOTES: San Antonio holds a 63-20 record at home against the Jazz and lead the overall series 91-73. ... The Spurs eclipsed their previous high for points in the first half (43) set in their season opener against New Orleans. The Spurs record for field goal percentage in a half is 84 per cent, which they set in the first half against Cleveland on Dec. 11, 2004. cheap nfl jerseys china . Allen was acquired from the Gary SouthShore RailCats along with outfielder Mike Coles late last season in exchange for pitcher Dexter Carter and a player to be named later, which turned out to be outfielder/catcher Kyle Day. cheap jerseys . Hills co-agent, Michael Whitaker, wrote in a text message Tuesday that Hill, a 26-year-old restricted free agent, will sign once the NBAs moratorium period ends on July 11. http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/ . According to the Nashville Tennessean, Predators general manager David Poile will try to trade the Russian forwards rights or allow him to return to the Kontinental Hockey League. wholesale nfl jerseys . Thursday afternoon at Shaw Park, the visiting Capitales got another great start, this time from Canadian righthander Jeff Duda, as the Caps beat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-0 to sweep Winnipeg in a three-game series. cheap jerseys nfl . -- Brett Favre lines up at the 40-yard line and takes off in a dead sprint, juking briefly to his right before heading left. PITTSBURGH -- Neil Walker scored on Clint Barmes tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied against Johan Santana and the New York Mets for a 5-4 victory Monday night. Mike McKenry tied it with a two-run homer in the seventh off Santana and Walker made it all the way to third in the eighth when his long drive off Jon Rauch (3-3) glanced off the glove of centre fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis for an error and rolled to the wall. One batter later, Barmes hit a fly to right and Walker just beat the wide throw from Lucas Duda. Jared Hughes (1-0) earned his first major league win in relief. Joel Hanrahan worked the ninth for his 10th save. David Wright had two hits for the Mets to lift his batting average to a major league-best .415. Ex-Pirate Ronny Cedeno added two hits but New York committed three errors and lost for the fifth time in seven games. Santana has shown flashes this season of the form that made him a two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, though it has rarely translated into victories. He began the night with five no-decisions, tied for third-most in the National League. The Mets, who have struggled scoring runs when Santana is on the mound, staked him to a 4-0 lead in the second when Pirates starter Erik Bedard temporarily lost the impeccable command that has given the top of Pittsburghs rotation a steady presence this season. Vinny Rottino, called up from the minors earlier in the day, singled with one out and Cedeno -- a former Pittsburgh shortstop who signed with the Mets in the off-season and was booed constantly -- doubled to right-centre to give New York the lead. Two walks sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases and Justin Turner delivered a two-run single. Wright followed with a RBI single and the Mets appearred in business against the Pirates, who entered the game 6-20 when allowing an opponent to score at least four runs.dddddddddddd Pittsburgh chipped away in the fourth thanks to three consecutive doubles by Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez -- who recorded just the fifth hit by a left-handed batter off Santana this season. Santana escaped the fourth when McKenry hit into a double play, though the backup catcher atoned in the seventh, taking an 87 mph fastball and drilling it into the seats in left to tie the game. Santana gave up four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings, walking two and striking out seven. The Mets then did their best to give it away. Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter both entered as pinch-hitters in the eighth and then moved to the outfield in the bottom half, with Nieuwenhuis in centre and Baxter in left. Walker didnt wait long to test them, hitting a long fly to left-centre. Nieuwenhuis appeared to call off Baxter but the two outfielders were standing next to each other when the ball ticked off Nieuwenhuis glove as Walker raced to third. Rauch struck out Casey McGehee, but Barmes followed with a sacrifice fly just deep enough to let Walker slide under the tag of catcher Mike Nickeas. NOTES: Mets C Josh Thole, on the 7-day disabled list with a concussion, has been cleared to begin baseball activities but there is no timetable for his return. ... Pittsburgh starting pitcher Jeff Karstens worked three scoreless innings in a rehab start at Double-A Altoona. Karstens gave up two hits and had one strikeout. Karstens has been on the disabled list since April 17 with right shoulder inflammation. ... The series continues Tuesday, with New York knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-1, 3.75 ERA) facing Pittsburghs James McDonald (3-2, 2.68). ' ' '
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