MINNEAPOLIS -- D.J. Augustins career was swirling down the drain when the Toronto Raptors waived him in December, and the former No. 9 overall pick seemed destined to join the long list of promising prospects that just never made it in the NBA. Four days later, the Chicago Bulls signed him in an attempt to add some scoring punch to a defence-first team. Augustin has flourished in Chicago, one of the big reasons the surprising Bulls have been able to weather Derrick Roses injury and the trade of Luol Deng to stay in the hunt in the Eastern Conference. "We needed him," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "and he needed us." Augustin had another big game Wednesday night, scoring 21 points to lead Chicago to a 102-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joakim Noah added 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double, moving into a tie with Indianas Lance Stephenson for the most in the NBA this season. Kirk Hinrich scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and the Bulls hit 11 of 21 3-pointers to stay right on Torontos heels for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. "We wouldnt be in this position without D.J.," Noah said. "His passing ability, his scoring ability, just the way he plays the game. ... I feel like I have really good chemistry with him and I think the rest of this team feels that way, too. Were going to need him down the stretch." Kevin Love had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves. But he hyperextended his right elbow in the first half and only made 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 8 3-pointers. Ricky Rubio added 15 points and six assists, but the Wolves were just 4 for 17 from long distance. "I shouldve made a lot of those open shots that I missed," said Love, who also had a large bloody scratch on his chest after getting tied up with Carlos Boozer. "Yeah it was bothering me a little bit. But thats no excuse for the poor shooting." The Bulls entered the night with the same record as Toronto, with the tiebreaker going to the Raptors and only five games to play before the playoffs begin. The schedule certainly favours the Raptors, who beat the 76ers on Wednesday night and finish the season with two games against the Knicks and one each against the Pistons and Bucks. Thanks to the raggedy East, the Bulls dont have it much tougher with the Pistons, Knicks and Magic coming up before the season finale at playoff-bound Charlotte. That made this game against short-handed Timberwolves a crucial one. The Timberwolves played without Nikola Pekovic (right foot), Chase Budinger (right ankle), Kevin Martin (right heel), Shabazz Muhammad (right knee) and J.J. Barea (back and neck), leaving them with only 10 healthy players, and without three of their better offensive players to go at the tenacious Bulls defence. But even though the Wolves have been eliminated from playoff contention, theyve put up quite a fight against some of the best teams in the league down the stretch. Last week Minnesota beat Memphis at home and won at Miami. The Wolves then throttled the Spurs at Target Center on Tuesday night and shot 52.6 per cent to take a 53-48 lead over the Bulls at halftime. Eventually that Bulls defence started squeezing the Wolves and grinding the game down. The Wolves missed eight of their first 10 shots of the second half and scored only 17 points in the third quarter. They shot 33 per cent and managed just 34 points in the second half. "It looked like we ran out of gas in the second half," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. On the other end, the 3s kept falling. Mike Dunleavy, who had 15 points, hit one to give the Bulls a 65-62 lead they would never relinquish. Augustin hit two more in the fourth to help the Bulls pull away. Even bigger were his 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, when the Bulls were struggling to get their offence going. "Im just getting a chance to play, period," Augustin said. "Just getting an opportunity and trying to make the best of it." NOTES: Bulls F Taj Gibson finished with 13 points and five rebounds. He picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter for gesturing angrily after not getting a foul call under the basket. ... Little-used PG Alexey Shved had nine points and a season-high five assists in 16 minutes for Minnesota. ... The Wolves host their former coach and GM Kevin McHale and the Houston Rockets on Friday night in their third home game of the week. . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going.
http://www.angelsteamshop.com/Angels-An ... ersey/.com) - Ames, IA (SportsNetwork. .Y. - Referee Ed Hochuli referred to replay official Tom Sifferman by his nickname Jungle Boy, which was heard on the in-stadium microphone during the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers NFC wild-card game Saturday. . Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No.Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (SportsNetwork.com) - Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton captured his second Formula One world championship by winning Sundays Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while his teammate and title rival, Nico Rosberg, finished 14th in the season-finale. Rosberg, who entered this race 17 points behind Hamilton, started on the pole, but Hamilton quickly pulled ahead of Rosberg for the lead heading into the first turn of the opening lap. It was a great start, probably the best Ive ever had, Hamilton said. While Hamilton had pulled away from the field, Rosberg experienced a problem with his ERS (Energy Recovery System) on lap 25, causing a loss of engine power. Rosberg gradually fell behind in the field and was lapped by Hamilton on the second-to-lap lap. Hamilton only relinquished the lead during his two pit stops. Felipe Massa from Williams chased down Hamilton in the closing laps, but Massa finished 2.5 seconds behind him. Woooooaaahh! World champion. I cant believe it. Thank you so much everyone, Hamilton radioed to his Mercedes team after he crossed the finish line in first. An emotional Hamilton then grabbed a British flag and waved it during his cool-down lap. At the same time, Britains Prince Harry, who was in attendance for this race, congratulated Hamilton over the team radio, saying, Well done, Lewis, youre an absolute legend. It was the 11th win for Hamilton this season. He also earned his 33rd career victory, allowing him to surpass Fernando Alonso for fifth on the all-time F1 race winners list. Hamilton concluded the season 67 points ahead of Rosberg (384-317). This race awarded double the amount of points for the first time in F1 history. Hamilton scored 50 for the win. His first F1 world championship occurred in 2008 when he drove for McLaren. He claimed the title by only one point over Massa, who drove for Ferrari at the time. Massa won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, but Hamiltons fifth- place finish in that race allowed him to clinch the title. I cant really explain how much this means to me, Hamilton said of his second world championship. This one means more than the first (title). It feels like its the first time. I feel so blessed. Hamilton became the fourth British driver to win multiple F1 world championships, joining Jackie Stewart (1969, 71 and 73), Jim Clark (1963 and 65) and Graham Hill (1962 and 68). Hamilton is also the 16th different driver with two or more titles in the sport. Throughout the season, there has been an inttense rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg, which at times reached the boiling point, particularly in Monaco and Belgium.dddddddddddd After the conclusion of this 55-lap race at Yas Marina Circuit, Rosberg approached Hamilton to congratulate him for winning the race and the championship. It was the second time Hamilton won in Abu Dhabi. His first victory here came in 2011. Nico put on an incredible fight throughout the year, and he was a phenomenal competitor, Hamilton said. We met each other back in 1997, and we always said that it would be pretty amazing to race on the same team and fight for the world championship. He did an amazing job today. His car wasnt quick enough in the end, so he couldnt fight, but he was still graceful enough to come up to me, being very professional, and said, Fantastic. You drove very well. Rosberg concluded the season with five grand prix wins and 11 pole victories. Two weeks ago, he won the Brazilian GP to keep his title hopes alive. Im very disappointed with the ending, of course, but congratulations to Lewis, Rosberg said. Lewis deserves to be champion this year, but for me, it wasnt a nice ending. All in all, its been a great season for the team, and Im proud to be a part of that. Lewis was a little bit better of a driver this year, a tiny bit, so he deserves the win. Massas second-place run marked his best finish in a grand prix since October 2012 in Japan. This was his first season with Williams. It was an incredible race for us, Massa said. I did not expect to have that pace...I wanted so much for victory, but we were close. I hope this is the beginning for next year. Massas teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished third, followed by Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull and McLarens Jenson Button. Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while Sebastian Vettel, the four-time and outgoing champion, was eighth in his final race with Red Bull. Vettel is moving over to Ferrari for the 2015 season, replacing Alonso, who finished ninth. I think the last six years (with Red Bull) have been an incredible journey, Vettel said. Id like to thank Red Bull and the team for everything they did, and I will miss them. I feel ready for the next step. Alonsos teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, completed the top-10. This might have been Buttons last race in F1, as it is widely rumored that Alonso will replace him at McLaren for next season. Button, the 2009 world champion, has been competing in F1 since 2000. ' ' '
