|
ATLANTA -- With Paul Millsap nursing a sore knee and Al Horford likely out for the season, Mike Scott filled a big void to help the Atlanta Hawks snap an eight-game skid. Nike Free 3.0 V5 Sale UK . Scott scored a career-high 30 points, Jeff Teague added 28 and the Hawks rallied to beat the New York Knicks 107-98 on Saturday night. "We were down Paul, down so many bodies," Scott said. "It was great for everyone to come out and play and finally get a win." Carmelo Anthony finished with 35 points and Tyson Chandler had a season-high 23 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a double-digit, third-quarter lead for the second straight night. New York has lost two straight and seven of nine to fall 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Atlanta began the game without Millsap, who sustained a right knee contusion late in Fridays loss at Detroit, but the Hawks rallied from a 17-point deficit to take a 74-73 lead on Lou Williams 3-pointer early in the fourth. The Hawks, who finished 16 for 31 beyond the arc, never trailed again. "It feels so good," Teague said. "You work hard every day. We come in here and compete. We just couldnt get over the jump the last couple of games. To get one under our belt made us feel really good." New York coach Mike Woodson said before the game that the Knicks were preparing to buy out the contracts of veterans Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih. Neither made the trip to Atlanta, but Anthony indicated the teams problems are bigger than one or two players. "Its same things, different days," Anthony said. "Its starting to get tough to handle. Its definitely tested me. The frustration has definitely sunk in." Scott scored nine straight points to put the Hawks up 33-23 in the second, but New York went on a 33-6 run to take a 56-39 lead on Raymond Feltons long jumper early in the third. Anthony grabbed a rebound midway through the third, dribbled up the court and hit a 3 from the right wing to make it 63-48. He and Hawks guard DeMarre Carroll were called for a double technical foul on Atlantas ensuing possession and Woodson, who was defending Anthony to official Ed Malloy, was called for a technical, too. "I think the biggest thing is a lot of people get caught up in me and Carmelo trash talking, but I think it was bigger than Carmelo tonight," said Carroll, who finished with a season-high 24 points. "Coach (Mike Budenholzer) told me that youve got to learn how to get your guys motivated. If Ive got to talk to our guys to get Jeff Teague scoring (eight) in a row and Mike knocking down 3s and Lou, thats why Ive got to do." The Knicks, who lost in double-overtime Friday at Orlando, fell into another defensive lapse on the perimeter from the closing seconds of the third through the first two-plus minutes of the fourth. Williams began the game 0 for 7 from the field, but hit three straight 3s, and Hawks also got one trey from Scott and Teague to take an 80-75 lead. "We have leads, we have opportunities to win the ball game and down the stretch we get in close games," Chandler said. "Whenever you give up 39 points in the fourth quarter, its going to be difficult for you to win." Scotts previous career high was 23 points at New York last April 17. Elton Brand, the Hawks 15th-year centre, played a team-high 43 minutes, finishing with one point and six rebounds. Another starter, guard Shelvin Mack, finished with just three points after going 1 for 9 from the field. Atlanta outscored the Knicks by 17 points at the free throw line. It seems as nothing is going right for New York. "Im going to keep coaching and Im going to keep pushing," Woodson said. "If it means being naggy or whatever, thats my job. But Ive got to get them over the hump, man. Ive got to get them over this funk that were in." NOTES: Former Atlanta and New York coach Lenny Wilkens, 76, was honoured at halftime by the Hawks 20 years after he led the team to its most recent division title in 1993-94. Wilkens, who last coached in 2004-05, was joined on the court by longtime friend and former teammate Paul Silas, former Hawks centre Dikembe Mutombo and Atlanta general manager Danny Ferry, who played for Wilkens in Cleveland. .... Kyle Korver hit first 3-point attempt, extending his NBA record to 124 straight games with a trey. ... With Millsap injured, the Hawks requested waivers on G Jared Cunningham and signed C Dexter Pittman to a 10-day contract. Pittman did not play. Nike Free 3.0 V5 Womens UK . Ulissi made his move inside the final 300 metres, bursting out of the peloton to edge Robert Kiserlovski for a second stage win in the race. Wilco Kelderman was third on the 179-kilometre (111-mile) leg from Foligno to Montecopiolo, which had two category one climbs, including the final ascent to the finish. Cheap Nike Free Trainer 5.0 Mens . Nick Bonino and Matt Beleskey also scored in regulation and Frederik Andersen stopped 27 shots for the Ducks, who will face Dallas in the opening round of the post-season. Anze Kopitar had two goals, including the tying one with 3:12 left in the third period, and Dustin Brown also scored for Los Angeles.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Kings finally broke through with a win in the Western Conference first round the last time out. The Kings hope to stave off elimination again when they visit the San Jose Sharks for Saturdays Game 5 at SAP Center. The Kings dropped the first three games of this best-of-seven series to get pushed to the brink of elimination, but Los Angeles survived one do-or-die game with Thursdays 6-3 home victory against the Sharks. Of course, L.A. needs to make NHL history in order to make it out of the first round. Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and 2010 Philadelphia Flyers have won a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games. The Kings, however, have not had success in San Jose in recent years and those struggles extend into the postseason. Los Angeles outlasted the Sharks in seven games during last springs meeting in the conference semifinals, but it lost all three outings in San Jose. The Sharks, who hold the home-ice advantage in this set, have beaten the Kings in 12 of the past 13 meetings as the host, including Games 1 and 2 of this set. San Jose is 6-2 all-time against the Kings in home playoff games. "Going into their building, every home team thrives off of their crowd and their home building this time of year," said Kings captain Dustin Brown. "So we need to be prepared to do the little things and the right things, especially early, and again, chip away. You cant look too far ahead, especially against a team like this." Marian Gaborik and Justin Williams each scored twice to help the Kings post Thursdays win and make their first step towards a monumental comeback. Jonathan Quick stopped 36 shots to help L.A. avoid the sweep. The game was tied 2-2 in the second before Williams and Tyler Toffoli tallied 2:54 apart late in the frame to send thee Kings into the third with a 4-2 lead. Nike Free 3.0 V3 Womens. Gaborik scored his second of the night 34 seconds into the third, and Quick, despite giving up a power-play goal to Joe Pavelski at 11:36, made enough saves down the stretch to extend Los Angeles season. Brown added an empty-netter with 1:28 remaining to account for the final margin. "Were certainly happy we got the win but we feel we have a long road to go obviously," Williams said. "Youre happy to play in the playoffs but you want to excel in the playoffs and we havent been able to do that so far in this series. Were trying to push it game by game and win one more next game." Los Angeles does have a few players on its roster that were part of a 3-0 playoff comeback. Kings forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards were both members of the 2010 Flyers team that stormed back to beat Boston in the conference semifinals after losing the first three games. Carter, however, missed that historic series with a broken foot before returning later in the playoffs to help Philadelphia make a surprise run to the Cup Finals. James Sheppard and Matt Nieto each scored once for the Sharks. Antti Niemi allowed five goals on 26 shots before being pulled early in the third in favor of Alex Stalock, who made four saves in relief. "We didnt execute anywhere near the way they did," San Jose head coach Todd McLellan said. "When we go back to the goals its quite easy to pinpoint some of the mistakes that we made and for us to have success moving forward, that has to get cleaned up quickly." A win tonight will get San Jose into the second round for the fourth time in five seasons. The Kings were last eliminated in the opening round in 2011, when San Jose beat them in six games. If L.A. wins Saturdays Game 5 then the series will continue Monday in Los Angeles. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
