NEW YORK -- They were bloodied and eventually beaten, though not before delivering the type of effort Gregg Popovich always expects of his San Antonio Spurs.
[b]Austin Croshere Jersey[/b] . Even when his team is so banged-up that it had two guys in protective facemasks on the court at the same time -- and one of them broke his nose again, anyway. "I know we didnt look pretty," Popovich said. "Im more interested in results than how we look. So I thought they performed well." The short-handed Spurs hung in, but Alan Anderson scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 103-89 victory Thursday night. Despite playing without Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard, their top four scorers, the Spurs were still within five points early in the fourth quarter before the Nets pulled away for good. Deron Williams added 16 points and eight assists as Brooklyn ended a six-game losing streak to San Antonio with its first victory since March 29, 2010. The Spurs overcame all their challenges to pull out a 125-118 double-overtime victory at Washington on Wednesday, but didnt have enough to beat an improving Brooklyn team and fell to 2-1 on their nine-game rodeo trip. "Im disappointed we didnt win," Popovich said, shrugging off the injuries. "Im thinking we make a couple of 3s in the second half and we hang right in there, and thats the way youve got to look at it." Nando De Colo started for Parker, but had to rush off the court bleeding from the nose after he was whacked while trying to defend Andrei Kirilenko. He returned in the second half wearing a mask, as Matt Bonner already was. Bonner took another hit later and said he broke another bone in his nose. Cory Joseph scored 18 for the Spurs, Danny Green had 17 and Patty Mills 16. Paul Pierce had 12 points for the Nets, who have turned things around since the Spurs outclassed them 112-93 in San Antonio on New Years Eve, leaving Brooklyn at 10-21. They are 12-4 in 2014 and have won two straight since dropping three in a row, all against division leaders. "Weve got the pieces," Anderson said. "Were finally starting to turn the corner a lot more lately. I just want to win no matter how much Im playing." The Spurs trotted out Green, Marco Belinelli, Tiago Splitter, Joseph and De Colo to start, an unheralded lineup similar to the one Popovich used when he sent Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green home before another Thursday night nationally televised game at Miami early last season. That decision cost the Spurs a $250,000 fine from former Commissioner David Stern, but Popovich didnt have much of a choice who he played this time. Ginobili (left hamstring) and Leonard (broken bone in right hand) were already out, and Popovich noticed Parker labouring with a back injury during the first half Wednesday. Parker then sat the remainder of the game, and Duncan played a season-high 40 minutes, well more than Popovich prefers to use the 37-year-old forward and essentially mandating a night off Thursday. Making matters worse, Boris Diaw then was vomiting during the day at the team hotel because of food poisoning and couldnt play. "Really wishing that some of those guys were healthy right now," said Green, who played 35 minutes after logging 46 Wednesday. "Its always good to play a lot of minutes, but at the same time it would have been nice to have some of those guys healthy tonight." The guys that were left raced to a 20-8 lead and were ahead the whole first quarter, settling for a 24-17 advantage. The Nets took a 40-39 lead into halftime when Williams made a jumper with 38 seconds remaining. With the Nets leading by two late in the third, Anderson converted a three-point play, his first of seven straight Brooklyn points to end the quarter and give the Nets a 75-68 lead. He another three-point play with the Nets ahead by five in the fourth, and his 3-pointer made it 87-77 and the Nets were comfortably ahead from there. "I thought he was taking wide-open shots. He was also being aggressive, driving the ball knowing that they didnt have any shot blocking," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. Notes: The Nets Joe Johnson and the Belinelli were announced Thursday as competitors in the 3-point contest at All-Star Saturday night. ... Parker and Ginobili also missed the Nets previous victory in the series. The Nets havent beaten the Spurs when those two played since Nov. 13, 2002, according to STATS.
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[b]Detlef Schrempf Jersey[/b] . The 21-year-old Wickham headed Sunderland into a 26th-minute lead --to add to the double he scored at Manchester City and his strike in last weekends win at Chelsea -- and then sealed the win with a late header.(SportsNetwork.com) - Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins are ready to get back to work on Wednesday, as they emerge from the Olympic break to visit the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. You can catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Chara created a minor stir by leaving the Bruins early so he could take on the duties of flag bearer for his native Slovakia at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. Boston split two games (1-0-1) without Chara in the lineup, but the reigning Eastern Conference champions still entered the break with a seven-point lead over Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division lead. While Chara and Team Slovakia were knocked out in the qualification playoffs by the rival Czechs, the Bruins did have a representative win a medal of every kind in Sochi. Patrice Bergeron won gold with Team Canada, fellow Bruins forward Loui Eriksson picked up a silver for Sweden and goaltender Tuukka Rask earned a bronze medal with Finland. Now the trick for Bostons Olympians is to try and adapt quickly to the grind of the NHL season, and to get back their sleep schedule back to normal. "Im sure were going to feel it for a few days; theres no secret (to it)," said Chara after Mondays practice in Boston. "Youre on anywhere from a nine to twelve-hour time difference and you know, you felt it today. I felt it for sure today, a little bit of jet lag and its going to probably take a few days.
[b]Len Elmore Jersey[/b]. " Boston won three of its last four games before the Olympics and closed its pre-break schedule with a 7-2 rout of Ottawa on Feb. 8. It marked the fourth time in eight games that the Bruins had scored six or more goals in a game. The Bruins will play five of their first eight games after the break on the road, where the club is just 14-10-2 this season compared to a stellar 23-6-2 mark on home ice. Boston is 2-1-0 against the Sabres this season with two meetings left in the season series. The Bs have three wins over their last five trips to Buffalo. The Sabres, who are last in the NHL with only 40 points on the season, had lost four straight before returning from the Olympic break with a 3-2 win over visiting Carolina on Tuesday. Christian Ehrhoff scored the winner with 43.4 seconds to play to lift the Sabres in the NHLs first tilt after the Winter Games. Ehrhoff also scored the first goal of the game, while Tyler Ennis added a marker for the Sabres. Ryan Miller stopped 36 shots to secure the victory. "It had to do a lot with Miller again," Ehrhoff said. "He made some huge saves for us. He was very sharp. He was our best player again tonight." Buffalo is opening its post-Olympics schedule on a three-game homestand. The Sabres, who are 10-17-5 at First Niagara this season, had lost eight straight as the host before posting Tuesdays win over the Hurricanes. ' ' '
