The Oklahoma City Thunder received a huge boost from a returning Serge Ibaka in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs and will try to even the series Tuesday night in Game 4 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Thunder earned their first win of the set with Sundays 106-97 victory and Ibaka played a big role. After suffering a left calf strain against the Los Angeles Clippers in the previous round, Ibaka was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. He missed the first two games of the conference finals in San Antonio, but word changed on Friday that the big man had improved tremendously and was considered day-to-day. Ibaka started Game 3 and dominated early, going 4-for-4 from the floor in first quarter. He finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in just under 30 grueling, limping minutes. "I was so emotional, but you couldnt really tell because I was on the court," Ibaka said. "I just want to thank my teammates, thank Russell, he tried to get me going early in the game. Kevin (Durant), (Kendrick) Perkins, Reggie (Jackson). I will never stop thanking them for tonight. I will never forget that. It was very special tonight." Without Ibaka, the Thunder allowed the Spurs to shoot at least 50 percent in the first two tilts and San Antonio won them by a combined 52 points. The Spurs shot just 39.6 percent (36-of-91) from the floor in Game 3. Westbrook finished 8-of-19 from the field after missing seven of his first eight shots, netting 26 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Durant added 25 points and 10 boards for the Thunder, who held a commanding 52-36 advantage on the glass. Reggie Jackson, who was inserted into the starting lineup for Thabo Sefolosha, also had 15 in the win. Manu Ginobili nailed six 3-pointers and scored 23 points for San Antonio, which has dropped eight straight to the Thunder in OKC, including the postseason. Tim Duncan added 16 and Kawhi Leonard chipped in 10 in the loss. "I was very disappointed that we didnt come out with more of a foot in the neck sort of an attitude," admitted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "They killed us on the board, they beat us on 50/50 balls, and thats very disappointing to me. Thats not the way you approach a game." Ibaka carried OKC in the first quarter, but San Antonio led by one after the first 12 minutes. Westbrook nailed a pair of pull-up triples in the final 30 seconds of the half, including one at the buzzer to give the Thunder a 57-53 cushion heading into the break. Two Perkins free throws at the 8:36 mark of the third capped a 10-2 burst and gave the Thunder a 67-57 cushion. His bonus shots provided OKC its first points not supplied by either Durant or Westbrook since a Jackson floater with 4:01 to play in the second. Ginobili nailed a left wing trey to pull San Antonio within 75-71 with 2:46 to go in the period, but the Thunder extended the margin to 83-76 at the conclusion of the third and then put the game away early in the fourth. Oklahoma Citys lead grew to as many as 20 and the Spurs couldnt get it into single digits. "I think the biggest thing that changed was the intensity on the defensive end," said Durant. "We still turned the ball over more than we should have, but I think we always had great intentions and we moved the ball from side to side tonight." In league history, 94 percent of teams to open a seven-game set 2-0 have gone on to advance. The Spurs sadly know all about the six percent. San Antonio held this exact margin in the 2012 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, only to lose the next four and watch the Thunder lose to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Game 5 will be Thursday night in San Antonio. . Arsenal had already scored its goals in the third round fixture when the fierce rivalry turned ugly in the final ten minutes as Walcott was being carried off on a stretcher. . Bryant underwent an operation in December to correct an irregular heartbeat. His season ended with four games left because of a rapid heartbeat, a condition he has known about for several years and had been treated for in the past.
http://www.cheapwildjerseysauthentic.co ... cks-jersey. The Union looked to have grabbed a big win in the 88th minute when Amobi Okugo finally put the hosts in front. But a terrible giveaway by Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi handed Earnshaw the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, keeping the Union two points back of fifth-place Red Bull New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. . The (35-35-10) Jets have 80 points and are also playing .500 hockey on home ice this season with a 17-17-6 record. Michael Hutchinson will start his second straight game in goal.OTTAWA -- Jason Spezza always believed he could score in the shootout and on Monday he was finally able to prove it. Spezza scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Ottawa Senators a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. This was Ottawas first shootout win of the season after losing their four previous attempts. "Id been good in the shootout historically," said Spezza. "You take pride in that stuff and especially when youre losing games. There was definitely a little extra fist pump and it felt good." Spezza wasnt the only one feeling relief at winning in the shootout as Craig Anderson was clearly elated after stopping Sean Couturier to seal the win. "Its about time," said Anderson, who made 25 saves. "I think weve been in this situation a few times and havent been on the right side of that and (Monday) we find a way to get two points and thats really all that mattered. Youve got to be excited about two points." Clarke MacArthur struck twice for the Senators (12-14-5) in regulation time. Patrick Wiercioch and Kyle Turris also scored for Ottawa. Michael Raffl, Jakub Voracek, Luke Schenn and Kimmo Timonen scored for the Flyers (13-14-3). Steve Mason stopped 30 shots. With the win the Senators put an end to a five-game losing streak on home ice. "Home ice has been a struggle and we want to give the people something to cheer about," said Spezza. "Weve been frustrated with the fact we cant win and it was nice to finally send the fans home happy." Turris gave the Senators a 4-3 lead with his first in eight games as he carried the puck from his own end, moved in along the side boards and fired a shot that went in off Luke Schenn at 8:21 of the third. The lead was short lived as Timonen tied the game with his second of the season with a floater from just inside the blue-line. Trailing 3-2, the Senators tied the game early in the third as a Bobby Ryan rebound went in off MacArthur for his second of the night. "Anytime you go in the third period with a lead you want to keep it," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux. "You want to make sure everyone is accountable for what they do and they were able to get a couple of goals. We fought back and got a point, but its tough to lose in a shootout.&quoot; MacArthur now has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his last ten games.dddddddddddd "(MacArthurs) probably been our most consistent guy all year," said Spezza. "Even at the start of the year when he wasnt scoring you just knew it was a matter of time and now that he is hes driving us offensively and doing a lot of great things. Hes been a heck of a pick-up." Ottawa got off to a better start in the second and was able to take the lead on a power-play goal. Ryan made a back pass to Wiercioch who scored on an open net to make it 2-1. While the Senators will definitely take the two points they admit there remains a lot of room for improvement. "It was good to get rewarded," said MacArthur. "Were still sloppy in some areas. We still can play better, weve still got to play harder if we want to win every night." The Flyers regained the lead with two goals in less than a two-minute span midway through the period. Voracek tied the game on a power-play goal and shortly after that Luke Schenn made it 3-2 with a shot from the boards. Anderson, with traffic in front, never even reacted to the shot until he heard the crowd of 15,786. Raffl, with his first NHL career goal, gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the eight-minute mark of the first. "Its nice to get the first goal, but it would be even nicer with the win," said Raffl. "Its kind of disappointing at the same time." Ottawa did manage to end the period tied 1-1. Spezza fed MacArthur who broke in alone on Mason and was able to get a stick on a bouncing puck to pick up his tenth of the season. This was the final meeting between the two teams this season with the Flyers winning the series 2-1. With three games in the next five nights the Senators see an opportunity to gain ground in the standings. "This is a great week for us to get some points," said MacArthur. "If we want to get back in the hunt youve got to string some games together so thats what it comes down to." Notes: D Eric Gryba and C Mike Hoffman were healthy scratches for the Senators. a The Flyers were without C Vincent Lecavalier (back fracture, indefinitely). LW Tye McGinn was recalled from the AHLs Adirondack Phantoms and was a healthy scratch Monday as were D Erik Gustafsson and D Hal Gill. ' ' '
