Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Wesley Matthews had 28 points and the red- hot Portland Trail Blazers used a strong second half to beat the struggling Charlotte Hornets, 105-97, on Wednesday. Damian Lillard added 22 points and seven assists for the Blazers, who have won nine in a row. Robin Lopez tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Brian Roberts ended with a career- high 24 points off the bench for the Hornets, who have lost seven straight. Al Jefferson donated 21 points and 14 boards. Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson each had 15 points for Charlotte, which lost forward Marvin Williams to a left shoulder strain. Final Score: Cleveland 113, Washington 87 Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James third straight double-double helped the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-87 win over the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. James, who scored 22 points on just 38 percent shooting in Clevelands 91-78 loss to the Wizards last Friday, poured in 29 points on 7-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals in the Cavs second straight win. Kevin Love netted 21 points on an efficient 7- of-10 shooting and Kyrie Irving dropped in 18 with five assists for Cleveland, which committed 19 turnovers in the loss to the Wizards compared to just 10 on Wednesday. Rasual Butler led the Wizards with 23 points off the bench, while Paul Pierce supplied 15 and Marcin Gortat added 12 in the setback, Washingtons second straight. Final Score: Golden State 111, Orlando 96 Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Stephen Curry scored 25 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, and Golden State dominated the Orlando Magic, 111-96, in the Warriors seventh consecutive victory. Harrison Barnes had 16 points and Shaun Livingston scored 15 off the bench for the Warriors, who at 12-2 are continuing their best start in the franchises 69-year history. Additionally, Golden States 7-1 road mark is its best ever at this juncture of a season. Curry, who had 14 points in the opening quarter, finished the game 9-of-13 from the field, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Tobias Harris, who missed the previous two games due to a strained right calf, scored 16 and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Magic, losers of three straight. Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and 13 boards, while Elfrid Payton and Ben Gordon both scored 13 in defeat. Final Score: Brooklyn 99, Philadelphia 91 Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia 76ers had a fourth- quarter lead but walked off the court with another loss to match the worst start in franchise history. Kevin Garnett and the Brooklyn Nets did just enough to escape with the win. Garnett scored three key points in the final minutes of the game and the Nets held on for a 99-91 victory on Wednesday night, dropping the Sixers to 0-15. That matches the 1972-73 Philadelphia team for the most losses to start a season without a win. Those Sixers ended 9-73, the worst record for an NBA team in an 82-game season. The Sixers are three losses from matching the 2009-10 Nets for the worst start to an NBA season. Final Score: Toronto 126, Atlanta 115 Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and Kyle Lowry deposited 14 with 13 assists as the Toronto Raptors rallied past the Atlanta Hawks, 126-115, to win their sixth straight game. Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, in another dominant bench effort for the Raptors. Torontos reserves outscored their counterparts, 52-27. All five starters also reached double figures for the Raptors, who own the best record in the NBA at 13-2 and have won six in a row for the first time since March 22 - April 4, 2009. Terrence Ross scored 12, Jonas Valanciunas had 11 with seven rebounds and Amir Johnson added 10 points. Final Score: Dallas 109, New York 102 (OT) Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyson Chandler pulled down an NBA season-high 25 rebounds to go with 17 points and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Carmelo Anthony-less New York Knicks 109-102 in overtime on Wednesday night. Dallas used a 9-0 run and forced six Knicks turnovers to pull away in the extra session. Monta Ellis stripped Samuel Dalembert from behind and fed Chandler for a dunk for a 101-99 lead with 1:37 in overtime. After a Dallas miss a trip down the floor later, Chandler Parsons forced turnover to give the Mavericks an extra possession. Dirk Nowitzki then hit a fallaway from the foul line with 43.5 seconds left and another Knicks turnover put the game away, with Ellis swiping a pass from Jose Calderon. New Yorks J.R. Smith hit a jumper with less than a second remaining in regulation to force overtime. Nowitzki posted his first 30-point game of the season, netting 30 on the number to go with six boards for the Mavericks, who snapped a brief two-game slide. Theyve won seven of their last nine games overall. Calderon tallied 21 points, 10 boards and four assists for New York, which has dropped four of its last five games. Anthony missed the game due to back spasms. . Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. .J. -- While Martin Brodeur wasnt willing to say he stole one for the New Jersey Devils against the Columbus Blue Jackets, almost everyone else was.
http://www.authenticbasketballshophawks ... ks-jersey/. - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November. . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. . Damyean Dotson, 19, Dominic Artis, 19 and Brandon Austin, 18, were suspended after the school received a police report concerning allegations made by a student who said she was assaulted by the players in early March.The Olympic break in the NHL schedule will be upon us following the conclusion of ten games on Saturday night and players selected to represent their country will head to Sochi with their sights set on a gold medal. And I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences gained through International competition and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Seven NHL referees and six linesmen will be assigned upcoming games in Sochi by the IIHF as part of their 28-man officiating roster comprised of 14 refs and 14 linesmen. Referees Dave Jackson, Mike Leggo, Brad Meir, Tim Peel, Kevin Pollock, Kelly Sutherland and Ian Walsh will be joined by NHL linesmen colleagues Derek Amel, Lonnie Cameron, Greg Devorski, Brad Kovachik, Andy McElman and Mark Wheler. The IIHF has also selected linesmen Chris Carlson and Jesse Wilmot (Canada), along with Chris Woodworth and Tommy George (U.S.A. Hockey) to participate. Congratulations and best of luck to each of the officials selected to participate in this International showcase.The IIHF, represented by President Rene Fasel and Officiating Manager Konstantin Komissarov, or their designates will have already briefed the current crop of officials heading to Sochi with regard to rule differences, security measures, travel procedures and many other important matters that surround the Olympic event. Aside from the fact that it will be mostly business for the refs and linesmen once they arrive in Sochi, it is a much different world today than it was in 1998. As such, the current group of officials was strongly discouraged from having any family members join then for this Olympic event. It will be all business with heightened security measures in place! I recall our meeting with Mr. Rene Fasel at the NHL Offices in Toronto a month or so prior to our departure for Nagano. Since this was to be the first time that professional players and officials were being allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics there was extensive information that we were provided. As we were being brought up to speed on rule differences Mr. Fasel, stated that all referees and linesmen were required to wear a helmet and visor! My colleague Ray Scapinello raised his hand and said, "Mr. Fasel I dont wear a helmet let alone a visor." The IIHF President addressed Scapinello directly and informed him if he didnt wear a helmet and a visor he would not be working in the Olympics. Scampy immediately responded with, "My helmet size is 7 1/4 - thank you, sir." Those of us that didnt wear a helmet or visor put one in the last week or two of NHL games in an effort to adjust. As you can imagine I had a very difficult time with it. The visor gave me the feeling of being in a fishbowl. I tried various products and sizes in an attempt to get comfortable and was struggling with it until Ray Bourque helped me out in a game in Boston. He told me I looked ridiculous in the thing I was wearing and had the Bruins trainer put one of his special Oakley visors on my helmet. If nothing else, the style was more appealing and I wore it during the Olympics. In spite of flying business class to Tokyo from North America, it was a very long haul. We were advised to drink plenty of water (limit alcohol consumption) and to get up and exercise throughout the flight in addition to sleep as much as possible. Our Japanese hosts were fantastic. Upon arrival at Narita Airport we were personally escorted to the Bullet Train. We were then handed a ticket with a seat assignment and escorted to the platform where all passengers waited in a very orderly fashion behind a theatre-style rope. The Bullet Train pulled into the station and passengers disembarked. A cleaning crew dressed smartly in uniform and white gloves marched onto the train in single file with their brooms and dusters placed over their shoulders like rifles. They cleaned the train and then marched off in unison the same way they entered. An attendant removed the clip from the rope restrainer and the customers walked onto the train in a calm and orderly fashion, single file. For all of us that had been pushed and jostled on filthy trains throughout the North American public transit systems (especially the New York subway) this was an amazingly pleasant experience.dddddddddddd. We rolled into the mountain region of Nagano 24 hours after our flight had departed from North America. We had one day to quickly recover, meet with our IIHF colleagues in a morning skate and then work the games. The extensive travel to get to Sochi will be a challenge for the current group of officials to overcome as well. In a short tournament on the world stage, every game is crucial and the officials feel the pressure and demand to be at their very best. All of us had extensive Stanley Cup playoff experience (including multiple Cup Finals for several of us) but we were the new kids on the block regarding Olympic competition. The camaraderie that was quickly established between the amateur and professional officials in Nagano made for a unified group of zebras. We were able to share our officiating experience and help one another adjust to the bigger ice surface and style of play that we would encounter. We immediately gelled with our International colleagues and became a unified team. It was obvious to me very early in the tournament that the Czechs were going to be a team to be reckoned with. They had many talented players, but unlike their dismal performance in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey where they were individualistic and disjointed, this group appeared united and going for the gold. Their captain, Vladimir "Rosey" Ruzicka (233 NHL games with Edmonton, Boston and Ottawa) hadnt played in the NHL since the 1993-94 season but was performing at an incredibly high level; one that I had never seen from him previously. He was definitely the leader of this Czech team. And of course, they had The Dominator (Dominik Hasek) in goal! I was the backup referee for the gold medal game between Czechoslovakia and Russia. I was seated in the first row of the lower balcony beside my wife Kathy when Bill Wirtz and his wife arrived to occupy the seats beside us. The stairs were extremely steep and as Mr. Wirtz got to the railing he tripped and started to fall forward. I grabbed him by his belt and yanked hard pulling the Blackhawks owner backward into his seat before he fell over the railing. Startled, he look at me and said, "Thanks Kerry, that was a close call!" Just before the opening puck drop, Mr. Wirtz asked me who I thought was going to win the game. I told him the Czech team had really impressed me throughout the Olympics and I thought they stood a real good chance. He said that was good info because he had laid down a large bet in Vegas for the Czech team to win. The reasoning he shared with me was that he had bet against Dominik Hasek once before when he traded the goalie away from the Hawks. Mr. Wirtz said he wasnt going to bet against Hasek this time around! The Dominator shut out the Russian team and the Czechs won the gold medal. We were a tired but jovial bunch that boarded a bus arranged by Sr. V.P. of Hockey Operations Brian Burke to transport us from Nagano back to Tokyo following the gold medal game. And Burkie was busy snapping pictures of everyone as for his Nagano album. Following a brief sleep in the airport hotel, we boarded an early morning flight back home. Our stay at home was extremely short because the referees had to all fly to Toronto early the next morning for a meeting that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insisted we attend. While we were in Nagano, the Commissioner had us craft a document with referee-in-chief Bryan Lewis in an attempt to solve the ongoing obstruction crisis in the NHL. As such, we had to jump on a plane and attend a referees-only meeting. Fortunately, those of us that had worked the Olympics were given a week off to recover from the jet lag. The meeting held in Toronto didnt prove all that productive since it wasnt until 2006 that a meaningful difference resulted in dealing with obstruction! The Olympic experience is a highlight of everyones career, whether as a player or as an official. I am quite sure the group working in Sochi will feel the same way. Best of luck boys and above all, please remain safe! ' ' '
