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. 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. .com) - Minnesota Vikings fans would surely concede Teddy Bridgewater is not Peyton Manning. . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left.
http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseyssale.c ... y-sale.com) - The Miami Heat will try to close out the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first round series. . -- Mississippis Andrew Ritter said his game-winning, 41-yard field goal felt good off his foot. . The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding a news conference, so they got curious. It didnt take long for them to find out via social media that coach Randy Carlyle was coming back — with a two-year extension — and assistants Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were being let go.PINEHURST, N.C. -- A tough Pinehurst No. 2 tried to make a game out of this U.S. Open. Martin Kaymer always had an answer. Already with one bogey on his card, Kaymers tee shot on No. 4 was so deep into the trees that his golf ball settled in sandy patch that had been washed out by rain, stacked up against 6 inches of pine straw. With nowhere to go and no relief available, he turned to USGA President Tom OToole and said, "If you have a way to play it, Ill follow you." Kaymer navigated his way out of trouble just fine. He escaped with a bogey by getting up-and-down from 165 yards. He followed with an eagle with a 7-iron from 202 yards out of more sand and weeds. And a birdie on the final hole gave him a 2-over 72 and a five-shot lead in a U.S. Open that finally lived up to its reputation Saturday. "I kept it very well together," said Kaymer, who was at 8-under 202. Now he has to do it one more time, with a different cast of challengers behind him. Rickie Fowler, with teen idol status in American golf, birdied the par-3 17th hole and shot 67 to get into the final group of a major for the first time. Even more unlikely was the other player at 3-under 207 -- Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who considers it a victory just to be playing golf. Compton ran off five birdies and an eagle for a 67 "If I were to win the tournament, it would be obviously something that would be extremely special, not only for me, but for my family and for those who have been around me, and I think also for the community and those who have been through some tough times," Compton said. "I might just sail off and never play golf again." Even so, this tournament is in the hands of a 29-year-old German who kept his cool on a broiling day of some wicked pin positions. Only one player in U.S. Open history has lost a five-shot lead in the final round, and that Mike Brady in 1919. "It would be nice if they make it difficult again," Kaymer said of the pins, several of which were on the edges of the Donald Ross turtleback greens. "Because then its all about ball-striking. I enjoy playing those courses a lot more than just a putting competition. ... So I hope they put them in tough positions. Not as tough as today. It would be nice if we could have some kind of a chance once in a while. But that is what you get at the U.S. Open. Its OK. You just have to play very well." Only six players remained under par, and considering no one has come from more than seven shots behind in the final round to win a U.S. Open, they might be the only ones left with a realiistic chance to catch Kaymer.dddddddddddd. Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson each shot 70 and were at 2-under 208. Brandt Snedeker had a 72 and was another shot behind. Asked how much that birdie mattered on the 18th hole, Kaymer said, "One shot." "If youre four shots, five shots, six shots, if you play a golf course like this, it can be gone very quickly," he said. "You could see it today. So the challenge tomorrow is to keep going and not try to defend anything. So well see how it will react tomorrow, how the body feels and how I handle the situation." Kaymer had his way with a softer, gentler Pinehurst No. 2 by becoming the first player to open with 65s to set the 36-hole record at 10-under 130. Some players wondered what tournament he was playing. There was no doubt what it was on Saturday. "Theyve set it up so that no one can go low," Retief Goosen said after a 71. "Some of the pins look like theyre about to fall off the greens." Toru Taniguchi shot an 88. Brendon Todd, playing in the final group with Kaymer, had a 79. Phil Mickelson had a 73 and was 13 shots out of the lead. Hell have to wait until next year to pursue the only major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. Adam Scott, the world No. 1, made bogey on all but one of the par 3s and was 11 shots behind. Kaymer nearly joined the parade of players going the wrong direction. He ended an amazing streak of 29 holes without a bogey by failing to get up-and-down from short of the second green. Trouble really was brewing on the fourth hole, when he pulled his tee shot into the trees and couldnt play his next shot. After being denied relief, he took a one-shot penalty drop and punched out to the fairway. From 165 yards, he hit his fourth shot to 15 feet right of the flag and lightly pumped his fist -- big emotion for Kaymer -- when it dropped for bogey. The other mistakes were sloppy. Kaymer hit a birdie putt off the green on the par-3 sixth and had to scramble for bogey. On the back nine, he twice took three putts for bogey, once from off the green. But he closed with his best shot of a long day, and still had control of this U.S. Open. Mike Brady is the only other player to lose a five-shot lead. That was in 1919 at Brae Burn Country Club in Massachusetts. He shot 80 in the last round, and Walter Hagen beat him the next day in a playoff. Kaymer is all about looking forward, not back at history, hopeful of winning his second major before turning 30. In the last 20 years, only Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els have done that. ' ' '
