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zake201
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May 16 2014, 09:52 AM
Post #1
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ATLANTA -- Al Horford believes the Atlanta Hawks are starting to tap into their potential. Even with Josh Smith injured and unable to play, the Hawks still got some important baskets, rebounds and defensive stops from role players in a 109-100 over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night. "I think it showed growth from our team being in a position where they made a run at us and we needed to score," Horford said. "Guys scored some key points. We got stops when we needed to. That was a game where we got better." Lou Williams had 21 points and a career-high 12 assists, Horford added 20 points and Atlanta won its fourth straight. David West scored a game-high 29 points for the Pacers, who had won four in a row and seven of eight. Smith, Atlantas leading scorer this season, watched the game from the bench as Zaza Pachulia made his seventh start of the season and responded with 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Williams, who signed in the off-season to be the Hawks sixth man, had his first career double-double. Rookie John Jenkins scored a career-high 10 points, and Ivan Johnson shook off flu-like symptoms to add six points and six rebounds. Injuries to reserve guards Devin Harris and Anthony Morrow left Atlanta coach Larry Drew with just nine players in his rotation, but Indiana never got closer than three in the fourth quarter after Paul Georges three-point play made it 91-88 at the 5:18 mark. Jeff Teagues floating runner made it 101-90 less than 3 minutes later. Teague scored 10 of his 15 points in the final period. "From a production standpoint, everybody gave a little something," Drew said. "We did what we had to do, particularly on the defensive end. We had to make a lot of adjustments as the game went on to try to keep them off-balance a little bit." Pachulia and Horford combined to hold Pacers centre Roy Hibbert to no points, one rebound and one blocked shot in 20-plus minutes. Hibbert was such a non-factor that Indiana coach Frank Vogel kept him on the bench in the fourth quarter. "I love the kid," Vogel said. "He has great heart, gave great effort. He didnt have it tonight." West gave Atlanta fits for much of the game, twice hitting 3-pointers at the shot-clock buzzer, but his offensive movement away from the ball opened up chances for teammates and helped him find good looks to score 11 points in the fourth. "We knew David West had it going," Teague said, "so we just had to try to do our best to let him see a double-team and a wall, and we got some big stops." George finished with 18 points and George Hill added 15 for Indiana. Hill started and played 33 minutes despite a sore right groin. West liked the Pacers chances before the game with Smith, Harris and Morrow unable to play. It just didnt work out the way he had hoped. "Even though we had it close, they controlled the game from start to finish," West said. "They were locked in offensively. We just couldnt put up a big enough fight to slow them down." Kyle Korver scored five points in a single possession late in the third to push the lead to 12 points. After officials watched a video replay, the call was upheld that Lance Stephenson committed a flagrant foul on Korver, pushing him to the floor on a play away from the ball. Korver hit both free throws and then a 3-pointer at the 4:10 mark to make it 77-65. "He purposely ran at me," Korver said. "I saw him coming. I knew he was going to hit me like that. I just took it, you know? But he put a shoulder into my chest." The Hawks lead swelled to 18 with 2:12 remaining in the third on Johnsons putback. Horford, who played 37 minutes despite a right hip contusion, hit a 17-footer to make it 93-88 with 5:02 remaining. Indiana never led after Korvers 3-pointer made it 18-16 at the 4:13 mark of the first. NOTES: Smith was injured in Fridays win at Cleveland. Drew listed his status as day to day. ... Stephenson was helped off the floor with 5:44 remaining after getting hit on the left side of the face. ... Atlanta has won 11 straight at home over Indiana and four straight overall. ... Harris missed his six straight games with a sore left foot. ... Morrow is recovering from a strained right hip after getting hurt at Cleveland. ... Pacers reserve G Sam Young did not travel with the team because of the flu. ... Atlanta is 4-0 with Williams in the starting lineup. http://www.authenticjaguarsshop.com/Dwayne-Gratz-Jaguars-Jersey . The Canadiens, drafting an uncharacteristic third, ignored Alex Galchenyuks recent injury problems and chose the 18-year-old centre only two picks after Yakupov, his teammate with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League, who went No. http://www.authenticjaguarsshop.com/Josh-Scobee-Jaguars-Jersey . "I feel deflated and disappointed. I feel frustrated and distracted," Gleason said in a statement on his website. Gleason has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and has allowed filmmaker Sean Pamphilon to capture his struggle with the incurable disease. He played for the Saints from 2000 to 2007 and maintains a strong relationship with the club, which has backed his efforts to improve the lives of those living with the debilitating symptoms of ALS. http://www.authenticjaguarsshop.com/Jason-Babin-Jaguars-Jersey . Jonas Andersson had four goals in a game for Atlant in the Kontinental Hockey League last week - and the next day he was traded. http://www.authenticjaguarsshop.com/Senderrick-Marks-Jaguars-Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.authenticjaguarsshop.com/Luke-Joeckel-Jaguars-Jersey . The team is set to compete in August in the biggest tournament of the Olympic quadrennial, and give their everything to wrestle for medals in London from August 8 to 12. Canada will be competing five days in London.SAN FRANCISCO -- Sitting along the shore and staring at one of the worlds most majestic metropolitan views, Joe Lacob leaned over to hear fellow Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber whisper in his ear. "Man," Guber said, "we got to do this." And with that, the franchises new vision started to come into focus. The Warriors, NBA Commissioner David Stern and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee officially announced Tuesday that the Bay Areas only NBA team will try to move back to scenic San Francisco. The earliest the team could leave Oakland would be 2017, when it can escape its lease at Oracle Arena. "We can turn this dream into a goal by giving it urgency," said Guber, the movie mogul and Mandalay Entertainments chief executive. "We will play here in 2017. Take that as a promise that we will fulfil. There will be a world-class entertainment venue. Were all-in." The still-in-the-works project has a spot picked out that few can match. The Warriors unveiled some of the plans for the estimated $500 million, privately funded arena on a sun-soaked day at Piers 30-32. The waterfront site near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge -- one of the most beautiful views in one of the worlds most beautiful cities -- is just blocks from the Giants ballpark and the downtown financial district. "This natural amphitheatre is second to none anywhere in the world," California Lt. Gov. and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said. A city fire department boat shot off water cannons and San Francisco-themed songs blared in the background at the end of an event that was all about smiles -- and not shovels -- with the project several years and road blocks away from reality. Under the proposed deal, the city will provide the site and the Warriors will repair the crumbling piers at a cost of $75-100 million. There will be no new taxes and no money from the citys general fund. "Absolutely, they have the money to do it," Stern said of Golden States ownership group. Little else about the financing plan has been announced -- mostly because its still in its infancy. Renderings of the building on display show an arena with near floor-to-ceiling windows on the main concourse overlooking the towering Bay Bridge. The team and the city also hope the proposed arena will attract NCAA tournament games, concerts and other major events. "We intend to build the most spectacular arena in the country for all Bay Area residents, not just San Francisco, to be proud of," Lacob said. "An architecturally significant building on truly an iconic site. It doesnt get any better than this." The announcement came as no surprise to Bay Area fans. Lacob and Guber have been working to return the team to the City by the Bay since buying the Warriors for a league-record $450 million in 2010. The Warriors played in San Francisco from 1962 to 1971 after moving from Philadelphia. The proposed move is still sure to upset some in Oakland, the centre of the areas basketball prowess. Many NBA players past and present -- Bill Russell, Gary Payton and Jason Kidd, among scores of others -- rose to basketball fame in Oakland. One aspect that hasnt been a problem is fan suppoort.dddddddddddd Despite only one playoff appearance since 1994, the basketball-booming Bay Area has supported the Warriors surprisingly well. The team ranked 10th in attendance this past season, averaging 18,857. Lacob said the team has more season-ticket holders who live in San Francisco than Oakland and the fan base is split 50-50 between the East Bay and the San Francisco Peninsula. The franchise -- once called the San Francisco Warriors -- will remain under its current name, Lacob said, "until further notice." "Its the Golden State Warriors and its going to remain the Golden State Warriors for the foreseeable future and maybe forever," Lacob said. He later added, "It comes down to what the fans want." The political push in San Francisco has only just begun. Lee sent a letter to the owners this month saying the city would work with Warriors executives to bring the team to San Francisco in time for the 2017-18 season. The note, signed by all 11 city supervisors and numerous business and labour leaders, was sent a few days after Lee met with Guber in Los Angeles. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan responded last week by sending the team her own letter to express the citys commitment to keeping the Warriors -- and the Raiders and As, who both need a replacement to the outdated Oakland Coliseum. She expressed disappointment following Tuesdays announcement and said Oaklands proposal "was always a larger project than just one sports team" and the city will continue to pursue all avenues for an arena. That now seems like a lost cause. "Its been 41 years since the Warriors played here in San Francisco," Lee said. "In my humble opinion, its time to welcome them home." Of course, building anything in San Francisco is never easy. Overcoming the environmental concerns on the shoreline, the addition of a high-rise structure on the pier -- not to mention the adjacent condominiums and businesses that could fight to keep their beautiful Bay Bridge views -- and political wrangling in the politically charged city are among many obstacles for the project. Lacob said it will likely take "two to two-and-a-half years" just to acquire all the permits. But he noted the NFLs San Francisco 49ers headed some 40 miles south to Santa Clara for the 2015 season "created a great incentive on the part of the mayor and the city" to help the Warriors build an arena in San Francisco. The Warriors are counting on the 16-mile drive between the teams Oakland arena and the waterfront site in San Francisco to make all the difference. Team executives believe more corporate sponsorship and national attention will follow in San Francisco and give the franchise the ability to land marquee free agents. Most teams that play at Golden State already stay and practice in San Francisco. Warriors President and CEO Rick Welts called the move the "most important journey in the history of the Warriors." "You have to be a dreamer," added Warriors executive board member Jerry West, the former Lakers star and symbol of the NBAs logo. "And we have two owners here who have vision. And theyre putting their money where their mouth is." ' ' '
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