The NBA season gets underway tonight as the defending champion San Antonio Spurs play host to their bitter rivals the Dallas Mavericks followed by a matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. You can catch all the action starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT on TSN2. Spurs vs Mavericks - 8pm ET/5pm PT The San Antonio Spurs will begin defense of their NBA title on Tuesday night when they kick off the 2014-15 campaign with a home matchup against bitter rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs will receive their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony and, for the fifth time in franchise history, San Antonio will raise a title banner. Its an unbelievable feeling, said All-Star guard Tony Parker. At the same time, its a tough night because you know youre happy and you get a ring, but you have to focus on the game. It is difficult. The Spurs are 4-0 in the previous games they received their championship rings. The Spurs cruised to a fifth title in the Tim Duncan/Gregg Popovich era in June, dismantling the Miami Heat in more ways than one. San Antonio cruised to a five-game NBA Finals victory, and LeBron James bolted South Beach, thus ending the Big Three incarnation in Miami. And, basically, the Spurs returned everyone from that title roster. Not everyone will play in the season-opener. Kawhi Leonard, the Finals MVP, will miss the game with a right eye infection, Tiago Splitter has a calf injury, and Patty Mills will miss the first few months after shoulder surgery. But Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili and Pop are back. The Spurs only additions this offseason were first-round pick Kyle Anderson and Becky Hammond, the first female assistant coach to start a season in the NBA. San Antonio, despite its great record in ring games, will need all hands on deck Tuesday night. The Spurs open with their inter-state rivals, a Mavericks team that gave them their most difficult challenge last postseason. Dallas took the Spurs to seven games, a feat the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Heat all failed to reach. San Antonio gained confidence from its thrilling first-round escape. Game 7 was definitely a big one win for us, got us focused, said Parker. Then, we started rolling after that. Theres a fine line between winning and losing. The Mavericks improved this offseason with the signings of Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson, coupled with the trade for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. Chandler returns after anchoring the defense that helped Dallas win the NBA title in 2011. However, the Mavericks are still led by Dirk Nowitzki, a 12-time All-Star. The future Hall of Famer returned to the midseason classic last season, and, while excited to have his fellow big man back in Big D, Nowitzki cautioned about returning to the past. Weve got a good and deep team now, and we just want to make our own destiny, Nowitzki said. We cant always live in 2010-11. That was a great year for us, but this is almost a completely new team. But, you know, were very deep. Weve got a lot of scorers on this team and weve got a lot of playmakers. Its fun to play that way, and offensively were just sharing the ball. Hopefully, we can keep it going. The Mavs improved, but lost several solid veterans like Shawn Marion, Vince Carter, Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert. With Nowitzki at the helm, Monta Ellis manning a wing and head coach Rick Carlisle pacing the sidelines, the Mavs should be in the thick of things come playoff time. Despite the epic seven-game Western Conference semifinal series, the Spurs have owned the Mavericks in the regular season. San Antonio has taken nine straight regular-season meetings, including seven consecutive in the AT&T Center. Lakers vs Rockets - 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT Kobe Bryant returns to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup Tuesday night as they open the season at the Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. Bryant played just six games last season after starting the campaign recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon. He then hurt his left knee and was shut down for the season. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer will begin his 19th season, all with the Lakers, with the added significance, even if Bryant wants to downplay it to some degree, of returning from injury. Its step one of a long journey, said Bryant. Im excited to get back out there and I cant say I havent missed the game. I missed it so much. Im just happy to be playing. The Lakers have to be happy as well. The team endured a 27-55 campaign, the franchises worst mark in the 82-game schedule era, and only the second season under .500 since Bryant joined the NBA. Things didnt get much better in the offseason, excluding Bryants return to the lineup. Pau Gasol left the team via free agency, deciding to sign with the Chicago Bulls. Steve Nashs tenure with the team will end with a missed season due to a back injury. Mike DAntoni resigned as head coach and the Lakers, very late in the hiring process, brought back former player, Byron Scott. Hes been very successful in stops in New Orleans and with the Nets, but his recent run with the Cleveland Cavaliers was less than memorable. Jeremy Lin was acquired from the Houston Rockets, Carlos Boozer was claimed after the Bulls amnestied him and the team selected Julius Randle with its first-round pick. Nick Young, the teams leading scorer last season, will miss time at the start of the season thanks to a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb. The Rockets are coming off an impressive 54-28 2013-14 season, but were bounced in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Portland Trail Blazers. Houston held the homecourt advantage in the series, but it didnt matter. Needing to improve, the Rockets went in the opposite direction. They lost key personnel and failed to land the big free-agent prize in the summer, despite sending rotation players packing in order to free up cap space. The Rockets shipped Lin to the Lakers and packaged Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans. These moves were done with the intention of prying Chris Bosh from the Miami Heat. Seemed like the Rockets were in a good position to do that when LeBron James left the Heat for the Cavs, but Bosh re-upped with the Heat. Then, Chandler Parsons, the teams third-leading scorer last season, signed an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks. Houston opted not to match, so Trevor Ariza was brought in as his replacement. Houston lost three key players, failed to get Bosh and has taken steps backward in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Game starts tomorrow, so were going to have to be ready, head coach Kevin McHale said Monday. Were ready to get going and find out where were at. The Rockets still have All-NBA performers in shooting guard James Harden and center Dwight Howard. McHales squad needs to improve its rebounding, especially on the defensive side, and defense in general. Ariza is a massive upgrade defensively over Parsons, point guard Patrick Beverley made the All- Defensive second team and Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year four times. The Rockets won three of four against the Lakers last season, but are 3-6 in the last nine as the visitor in this series. .5 million. University officials released the term sheet signed by Harsin Wednesday, the day the former Broncos walk-on player and Boise native was named the successor to Chris Petersen, who left for Washington last week. . The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics.
http://www.cheaplsujerseys.com/?tag=lsu ... ege-jersey. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Raptors have traded forward Steve Novak along with a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Diante Garrett - who will then be waived. . Sixteen teams have moved on. Sixteen teams have gone home. . The 33-year-old Spaniard, who held the lead since the second round, turned in a solid final round that featured six birdies and two bogeys to finish on 22-under 266. The victory is Garcias first this year with his last win coming at the Johor Open, an Asian Tour event in Malaysia last December.GLENDALE, Ariz. - It will be out with the new and in with the old for the Arizona Coyotes this season.After two fruitless years of trying to boost their scoring punch, the Coyotes are going back to the down-in-the-trenches, outwork-your-opponent ways that had been the cornerstone of their previous success.We may have lost a little on pure talent, proven talent, but we brought in some people who are going to fit into the chemistry mix, that junkyard dog, hang-around-games-find-a-way-to-win mentality, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said. And thats how we have to be right now.Since Dave Tippett was hired in 2009, the Coyotes have fit the mould of their defensive-minded coach, relying on a pack-it-in-mentality, good goaltending and a counterpunching offence.Arizona ran Tippetts system well, earning three straight playoff berths a€” all without an owner a€” including a trip to the 2012 Western Conference finals.In the two seasons after that surprising run, the Coyotes tried to find ways to boost their offensive output, including the big-ticket signing of forward Mike Ribeiro before last season.None of it worked.The Coyotes were inconsistent with their defence-first approach and Ribeiro was a bust, his contract bought out by the team during the off-season after he struggled with inconsistency on the ice and personal problems off it.This off-season, there were no splashy signings like the Ribeiro deal. Instead, Arizona picked up gritty, hard-working guys who fit their system, like Sam Gagner, Joe Vitale and B.J. Crombeen.Now its back to the lunch pail for the blue-collared desert dogsWe need to be a very competitive team night in and night out and thats what our goal will be, Tippett said.A few more things to look for from the Coyotes, who open the season with four straight home games, starting Oct. 9 against Winnipeg.YOUTH MOVEMENT: Arizona has been reluctant to thrust young players into important roles in the past, preferring to let them gain experience in the minors before giving them a shot with the big club. The Coyotes seem to be more willing to give the young guys a chance this season, in part because of competition within the team, but also because of the talent they have. Pllayers like Henrik Samuelsson, Tobias Rieder and Tyler Gaudet will not start the season with the Coyotes, but theres a good chance theyll be called up and play.ddddddddddddSMITHS HEALTH: As goalie Mike Smith goes, so do the Coyotes, particularly now that theyre trying to get back to a more defensive style of hockey. Smith carried Arizona at times during its run to the Western Conference finals. He suffered a groin injury in the third game of the strike-shortened 2012-13 season and wasnt nearly as consistent as the year before. The Coyotes were still in position for a playoff spot last season, but Smith missed the final 10 games with a knee injury and Arizona fell two points short of the playoffs. Healthy again, Smith and the Coyotes are hoping he can get back to being one of the leagues elite goalies.SCORING LOAD: So now that the Coyotes are turning back the defensive clock, the question comes up again: Where will the offence come from? Arizona lost top-line winger Radim Vrbata, the teams leading scorer two years ago, and Ribeiro, who had 47 points despite his struggles last season. Arizona is hoping Gagner can fill some of the scoring load after a change of scenery. The 24-year-old had five straight 40-point seasons with Edmonton before his production dropped off slightly the past two years.THE DOANER: Captain Shane Doan got off to one of the best starts of his career last season, but missed 12 games after contracting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and had to work his way back into shape even after he returned. Doan still finished second on the team with 24 goals, but worked relentlessly on his conditioning over the summer and reported to camp in great shape. At 37, hes still an offensive force and the catalyst for the Coyotes.BLUE-LINE SCORERS: Arizonas roster still includes two of the best offensive defencemen in the league. Keith Yandle led the Coyotes with 53 points last season and Oliver Ekman-Larsson added 44 points, including 15 goals. They also helped Arizonas power play, which was fourth in in the league in efficiency after struggling in previous seasons. Ekman-Larsson is a solid two-way player as well, but Yandle said he wants to be better in Arizonas end. ' ' '
