ATLANTA - One team was motivated by the goal of dodging the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. The other teams goal was resting its starters. The result was predictable. Chris Douglas-Roberts dribbled into the lane and sank a short jumper as time expired, and the Charlotte Bobcats overcame a 15-point deficit in the final period to beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-93 on Monday night. Al Jefferson had 27 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte, which remained one game behind Washington in the race for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Gary Neal had 17. "Great shot," said Jefferson of Douglas-Roberts game-winner. "Great play. Great finish. Great win." Added Jefferson, referring to his role in the play: "Great pick!" Jeffersons turnaround jumper gave the Bobcats a 93-91 lead before Lou Williams answered with a tying jumper for Atlanta with 2.6 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Douglas-Roberts penetrated and lobbed the soft jumper as the buzzer sounded. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said Douglas-Roberts "made a great shot." Even so, the coach wasnt satisfied, especially with his teams defence. Charlotte has won seven of eight, but Clifford isnt satisfied his team is playing at the level he wants for the playoffs. "We didnt get the defence we needed out of the starters," Clifford said. "The big thing is to be playing well, which were not." The Hawks rested starters Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll the full game, and also held out starters Jeff Teague and Pero Antic the final quarter when the Bobcats made their charge. "Some of our young guys got great opportunities," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I think theres a lot to take from tonight." Mike Scott led Atlanta with 20 points. Shelvin Mack and Williams each had 13, and Teague 11. The Hawks spot as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference already was set, so Budenholzer was playing to protect his top players. "I think when youre in our situation, health and all of those things are a priority," Budenholzer said. Added veteran Elton Brand: "We felt like we let it slip away, but guys got a lot of experience and that is important for us, too." By contrast, Charlotte still had much to play for. The reward for sixth is avoiding Miami in the first round. Washington beat Miami 114-93 on Monday night to protect its lead over Charlotte in the race for sixth and secure first in the conference for Indiana. The Hawks will face the Pacers in the first round. Douglas-Roberts had five points as part of the Bobcats productive bench. "We have a job to do," Douglas-Roberts said. "We did a great job of getting back into this game. Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour basically carried us up until that point. ... I feel like thats the least I can do to help these guys, the way they carried us the whole quarter." Atlanta led 50-44 at halftime and 80-65 entering the final period. The Bobcats opened the fourth period with a 19-4 run, capped by 14 consecutive points, to pull even at 84. Ridnour had all of his 10 points in the run, including the tying jumper with 6:07 remaining. Three free throws by Neal gave Charlotte its first lead of the half at 87-86. The Bobcats led 91-86 before Macks back-to-back baskets — a 3-pointer and short jumper — tied the game at 91. Kemba Walker had five points and seven assists in his returned for the Bobcats after missing two games with a sore right groin. NOTES: The Bobcats salvaged one win in the four-game season series. ... Former Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin was introduced in the day as the Hawks CEO and co-owner. Koonin will direct business operations and represent the owners in league meetings. ... Jefferson posted his eighth straight double-double. ... A young fan sitting on the front row and wearing a Hawks jersey was bowled over by Charlottes Anthony Tolliver. The boy appeared to be shaken up but quickly regrouped as he received high-fives and fist-bumps from Hawks players. During a timeout minutes later, he was presented player-sized athletic shoes which were too big to remain in his lap. . The kind he has every so often. The kind he has when Dwyane Wade sits. James scored 43 points -- 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display -- and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. . He has spent much of his adult life trying to give back to his native South Sudan, the war-torn African nation the Cavaliers forward and his family fled when he was a young boy.
http://www.cheaproyalsjerseysauthentic. ... man-jersey. The Jets have now won three straight at home and four of the last five at the MTS Centre. After a scoreless first period, Brad Marchand scored his first goal in eight games eight seconds into the second. . PETERSBURG, Fla. . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep.NEWPORT, R.I. -- Lindsay Davenport remembers picking up a tennis racket as a child and the feeling that came with the ease of a powerful return. After giving up on two other sports, she found something she liked. On Saturday, she reached her sports highest honour, with her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Davenport spent 98 weeks ranked No. 1. She won the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, 2000 Australian Open and 1996 Olympic gold medal to go with three major doubles titles. She finished the end of four years ranked No. 1. Chris Evert was among those at the ceremony. The tennis great described Davenports game as "so loud, so strong and aggressive." Davenport entered the hall with five-time Paralympic medallist Chantal Vandierendonck in the recent player category, coach Nick Bollettieri, executive Jane Brown Grimes, and broadcaster John Barrett in the contributor category. "Hitting the ball and making contact was always something that came very natural to me," Davenport said. "It was a blessing. It happened at a very young age. I didnt realize that it was that hard to do and I had a special talent, and it took a long time to put that altogether. "Thats what made it so fun to me, the sound, and what I could do witth the shots, and see how hard I could hit them.dddddddddddd Everything else about the game took work and was a struggle, but that was something and that was the reason why I fell in love with it." She was presented by friend and former ATP pro Justin Gimelstob, who played against her at a clinic. The 82-year old Bollettieri has coached 10 players to the No. 1 ranking, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Boris Becker. In 1978, he founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the first full-time tennis boarding school in the U.S. "The older you get, its not the (age), but what you have here," he said, touching his chest near his heart. Vandierendonck was a top Dutch player before she was injured in a car accident in 1983. Shes the first woman wheelchair player inducted. Brown Grimes is a former managing director of the Womens Professional Tennis Council (now known as the WTA Board), president of the U.S. Tennis Association, and president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Barrett was the "Voice of Wimbledon" on the BBC from 1971-2006. His wife, former top-ranked player Angela Mortimer Barrett, was inducted into the hall in 1993. Agassi and Steffi Graf are the only other married couple in the hall. ' ' '
