NEW ORLEANS -- With a quick step to his left, Anthony Davis bolted from the man he was supposed to guard and launched himself toward the backboard in time to swat away Ty Lawsons driving layup. As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. "I dont think I was supposed to (guard Lawson)," Davis said of his pivotal block. "I just tried to make a basketball play. Coach (Monty Williams) tells us all the time, If youre going to do something like that, you better go get it. Thank God I got the rebound. It got us hyped and it was a play that we needed down the stretch." Williams was delighted and amused by the play because of how it fit the theme of pregame banter he had overheard between Davis and his teammates. "Its funny because they were just talking about before the game how he wanted to just go up and grab it out of the air like Patrick Ewing used to," Williams said. "I was like, What are you guys talking about? Where is this conversation going? And then he makes a play like that, so it shows you how much I know." For Davis, it was one last historic performance before hes old enough to legally accept someones offer to buy him a drink for all hes done in less than two seasons of basketball in the Big Easy. Since the Pelicans were founded as the Charlotte Hornets in 1988, no one had racked up as many points, rebounds and blocks in the same game as Davis did against Denver. "Thats a testament to my team. Theyre giving me the ball where I can score and cutting hard so their man cant help, making big shots, playing defence, having my back if I try to go block a shot, boxing out and letting me get the rebounds," said Davis, who turns 21 on Tuesday. "It all goes to the team and not just me. I cant do it by myself." Indeed, Davis pointed out that his overtime heroics, which included four crucial free throws, never would have happed if not for teammates like Anthony Morrow, whose 14 points included a 15-foot pullup in the lane that tied the game at 94 with 1 second left in regulation. Morrow had to save a ball tipped away from Davis, then had to get off a shot over the taller Lawson. "Hes a great defender. He was up under me, so I just wanted to make sure I got to where I wanted to get to and just knocked the 15-footer down," Morrow said. Tyreke Evans, meanwhile, added 20 points, his fifth straight game with 20 or more. Kenneth Faried had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Denver, which had won its previous two games and led by as many as 16 in the second quarter. Aaron Brooks scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, nearly rescuing Denver from its collapse. After being up by as many as 13 points early in the second half, Denver had fallen behind by seven in the fourth quarter before Brooks scored six straight on three free throws and a transition 3-pointer. Later, his clutch, weaving drive around Davis for a scoop off the glass put Denver in front 94-90 with 1:20 left. But Brian Roberts free throws, followed by Morrows clutch jumper, sent the game to overtime. "It wasnt the end, it was the third quarter. We let them get back in the game," Faried said. "Its something about us and this team this year. We dont have that killer instinct quite yet." There were nine lead changes in the overtime thriller between two teams well out of playoff contention, but playing with pride. Davis deep offensive rebound and assist on Morrows 3 made it 100-98, and Davis exuberantly held three fingers in the air as the ball went down, only to see Lawson convert a quick three-point play on a driving layup as he was fouled to give Denver the lead right back. Roberts followed with a jumper for New Orleans, then Wilson Chandler nailed a 3 to put the Nuggets back up by two. Evans layup tied it for the eighth and final time at 104 before Davis free throws gave New Orleans the lead for good. Lawson finished with 15 points, Chandler with 14 and JJ Hickson 12 for the Nuggets, who outshot New Orleans 47.1 per cent (40 of 85) to 45.6 per cent (41 of 90), but hurt themselves 27 turnovers. "Weve just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball, and our role mentality, the things we talk about when youre playing your role -- fundamentally, boxing out and doing the things that we need to do to win this type of game," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. NOTES: Davis has surpassed 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game 22 times this season, and he has 30 double-doubles. ... The Nuggets resume their five-game road trip Monday night in Charlotte, followed by games Wednesday in Orlando, Friday in Miami and Saturday in Atlanta. .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. . This weeks Raptors Report puts a bow on Gays brief, 10-month tenure in Toronto and ponders how his absence will affect the teams offence. Are they a better team without him? In addition to acquiring some valuable cap flexibility, what impact will the four incoming players have this season and beyond? Click here for the Dec.
http://www.clippersnbateamshop.info/mon ... rs-jersey/. Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel also accused Pistorius of tailoring his testimony to fit the evidence at the scene. Pistorius denied the accusations. Nel alleged that the Olympic runner changed his aim with his 9 mm pistol to ensure that he hit Steenkamp as she fell back against a magazine rack in a toilet cubicle. . The win gives Canada its fifth title at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge. "Weve got to keep pushing," said Westlake, who led Canada with five goals in the tournament. "The second you let off the pedal, everyone catches up. . - Alex Dostie scored two goals and assisted on another to lead the Gatineau Olympiques to a 5-3 victory over the Drummondville Voltigeurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Sunday.(SportsNetwork.com) - For the first 32 minutes on Sunday at CenturyLink Field it finally looked like Seattle would overcome its nemesis, the Los Angeles Galaxy. After being knocked out of the postseason at the hands of Bruce Arenas team in 2010 and 2012, Seattle was looking at the Western Conference finals as a chance to finally exorcise those demons. The Sounders found themselves down 1-0 after the first leg in Los Angeles, but the team seemed to seize all the momentum on Sunday with two goals in the span of six first-half minutes, including a potentially demoralizing second goal that saw Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo allow a shot from Clint Dempsey to slip through his hands and find its way over the goal line. Yet after that goal the Sounders failed to build on their lead and put Los Angeles away, allowing the Galaxy to hang around until the 54th minute when a lightning bolt from Juninho found the back of the Seattle net. That goal put the Galaxy in position to advance on the away goals rule and it sucked the life out of CenturyLink Field, leaving Sounders fans with that all- too familiar feeling of coming up short once again. Outside of a late chance from Dempsey, Seattle was never able to quite recover from that punch to the gut provided by Juninho, and the club must now once again reflect on a season that ended just a little too early. Without a doubt there will be plenty of disappointment in Seattle, but head coach Sigi Schmid was able to see a bigger picture regarding this season, which saw his team capture its fourth U.S. Open Cup in six years while also adding the first Supporters Shield in club history to the trophy cabinet. Im going to see [this team] as a team that accomplished a hell of a lot, Schmid said after Sundays match. Im really proud of our team. Im proud of their effort, Im proud of their fight to the very end. Weve won five trophies now in six years. There arent a lot of clubs that have [accomplished that] in this league. In fact, most clubs in MLS would be thrilled just to have five trophies in their MLS existence, let alone in the span of six years.dddddddddddd Not only have the Sounders built the best fan base in the league, but the team has been the definition of consistency, reaching the postseason under Schmids direction each year while winning at least 12 games during the regular season. Compare that to the existence of Toronto FC, which joined the league two years prior to the Sounders and has yet to reach the postseason, while having failed to win more than 11 games in any season. A comparison to a league doormat like Toronto might not offer much in the way of consolation for the Sounders, but it is important to keep in perspective what the club has managed to accomplish in its brief time in MLS. After all the success the team has enjoyed in the U.S. Open Cup it was a big step forward for Seattle to be able to capture the Supporters Shield, which the team clinched, ironically enough, on the final weekend of the season with a 2-0 win over the Galaxy. Supporters Shield is nice, its great because it is a reflection of the whole season, it shows we were the best team over the whole season, Schmid said. Unfortunately it decides that the MLS Cup winner is the top team. Thats a mountain we havent climbed yet - I thought for sure this could be our year to climb that mountain. I thought we were very close to it. Seattle has come close to climbing that mountain before, and this season was nearly a historic one as the Sounders attempted to become the first team in MLS to capture the treble, winning U.S. Open Cup, the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup. But after crossing off the first two items from that list, Seattle once again came up against a Galaxy side that was a little more experienced and had more of a playoff pedigree, which proved to be the difference in getting the team to its third MLS Cup in four years. Seattle may have come up short once again in its quest for MLS Cup, but as the team looks back at its 2014 campaign, it will do so with a feeling of accomplishment, despite the fact that, once again, Los Angeles prevented the Sounders from reaching the top of the mountain. ' ' '
