DENVER - The Denver Nuggets were struggling and scuffling when they left for the road a week ago.
C. J. Prosise Seahawks Jersey . Five games later they look like the team coach Brian Shaw envisioned.Kenneth Faried and Arron Afflalo scored 19 points each, Wilson Chandler had 18 and Denver beat the New Orleans Pelicans 117-97 on Friday night.Danilo Gallinari had 17 points and JaVale McGee 14 for the Nuggets, who have won four of their last five after starting the season 1-6. They took two of three on the road last weekend and have won two straight at Pepsi Center to even their home record at 3-3.We still have a long way to go, Shaw said. It took longer than we would have liked but its nice to see it coming together.Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 18 points and nine rebounds. It was the first time in eight games Davis has failed to eclipse 20 points.We just have to move on, Davis said. Youre going to have games like this.Davis looked like he was going to have a big night when he scored 10 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans led by 14-2 in the first four minutes, but a timeout by Shaw and a threat to bring in the bench got the starters motivated.We started playing a little defence, got the lead back and control of the game, guard Ty Lawson said. We all knew it was being lazy. Just gave the extra effort and it got better.Denver rallied to tie it at 18-all midway through the first. The Nuggets used an 11-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to take a 37-26 lead.They never trailed again.The advantage grew to 50-34 on two free throws by Gallinari. Jrue Holidays 3-pointer got New Orleans within nine late in the second but the Nuggets led 59-49 at halftime.Gallinaris 17 points were a season high for the forward, who is coming off two ACL surgeries on his left knee.If you dont play basketball for 19 months, trust me, its not easy to come back, he said. You think it is but it is not.The Pelicans got within eight in the third quarter but Denver began to pull away behind Chandler. He scored six straight points, including a 3-pointer with 8:46 left, to put the Nuggets ahead 98-77.We have an identity, New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. When we stray away from that, we get this result.McGee had three dunks and Nate Robinson hit another 3-pointer to put Denver up 107-83 midway through the fourth.___GOOD LUCK SMOOCHMcGee gave the crowd a laugh when he fell into the courtside seats trying to save a ball in the second quarter. Before he got up he planted a kiss on a female fan.Thats my Buddha, McGee said. I dont know her name but thats my Buddha.SCUFFED PAINTNew Orleans came into Fridays game leading the NBA in points in the paint but was outscored 52-32 in the lane.They got all the 50-50 balls, Davis said. They turned them into a layup or a dunk or a three. Something good for them.TIP INSPelicans: Center Omer Asik re-aggravated his back during warm-ups and was a late scratch from the lineup. He has now missed three straight games with the injury. ... New Orleans is averaging an NBA-low 10.9 turnovers a game. In Tuesdays win over Sacramento, the Pelicans had a season-low six turnovers. They had eight in the first 15 minutes against Denver and didnt have another for 12 minutes. They finished with 13, one off their season high.Nuggets: The Nuggets entered Friday averaging just 13.8 turnovers a game. That would stand as the best in franchise history for a full season. They had 10 against New Orleans. ... In Denvers four wins before Friday, Chandler was averaging 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. ... Lawson is fifth on the franchise list in assists. He trails Michael Adams by 57 for fourth. ... Eight players played 20 or more minutes for Denver.UP NEXTBulls: At Utah on Saturday night.Nuggets: At L.A. Lakers on Sunday night.
Justin Britt Seahawks Jersey . Messis father, Jorge Horacio Messi, is apparently still under investigation for an alleged 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in unpaid taxes from Messis image rights from 2007-09. Messis public relations firm confirmed Spanish media reports that the state prosecutor has asked for Messi to be dropped from the investigation that began in June 2013.
Steven Hauschka Jersey . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham.TORONTO – His teammates have said all the right things. Theyve defended him, branded the furious finger-pointing as unfair and claimed that they, not he alone, were responsible for the anxious beginnings of a slide that nearly and may still sweep them out of the playoff picture in the East. With Jonathan Bernier sidelined for the remainder of the regular season – he has an MCL strain in his left knee and will be out three weeks – the Maple Leafs will turn once more to the beleaguered, doubted and frequently dissected James Reimer in what may be his final days as a Leaf. But their goal of reviving playoff hopes that simmer tepidly with four games left dont rest solely on his 26-year-old shoulders. "Now its about time we have his back and step up to the plate," said Nazem Kadri defiantly after a much-needed overtime win against Boston on Thursday night. That wasnt the case the first time around. Reimer, who hasnt won a start in more than two and a half months, may have struggled badly in his first rescue attempt for Bernier last month – he posted an .871 save percentage in five starts (all losses) – but he was deserted on an island through much of the wreckage. Of the 18 goals he allowed in relief of his younger counterpart, four came via breakaway, two via odd-man rush and two more from the back-door with little to no opportunity for a save. "At that point when we were losing the team in front of him just couldnt bring it together and figure things out and obviously the goalies left out there to dry by himself," Kadri said. "We didnt play too good as a team," Carl Gunnarsson concurred. "We didnt help him out." That will have to change, starting Saturday when the Leafs host the Jets in the final regular season game at the ACC this spring. Trailing Detroit and Columbus for the final two wild card positions in the East, their hopes cannot rest on Reimer alone – especially at a point when his confidence has sunk to its lowest at the NHL level. Improvement isnt likely to magically appear in the teams defensive play – a struggle from start to finish – but the glut of glaring and often fatal mistakes needs to be kept to a minimum. Errors like two-time Rocket Richard winner Steven Stamkos being left alone to score three goals or Gustav Nyquist burning away for a pair of breakaway markers on the same night. Until recently, Bernier proved an acrobat at masking such deficiencies, piliing up eight wins when he faced more than 40 shots in a game this season.
Tharold Simon Jersey. Those theatrics, however, have evolved into expectation in Toronto, an unfair burden that became Reimers to shoulder when Bernier went down with a groin injury last month. The situation may have bubbled over in Detroit on Mar. 18. It was after that game against the Red Wings – a 3-2 loss for the Leafs – that head coach Randy Carlyle described his struggling goaltenders performance as "okay, just okay", comments that ignited a firestorm back home. While he later downplayed the remarks – addressing them with Reimer personally a day later – Carlyles blunt post-game observation seemed to ignore the manner in which Reimer was beat that night – two of the three goals came via the Nyquist breakaway, the third circa the odd-man rush – and thereby singled out the goaltender on a night when he was left alone on far too many occasions. It was the culmination of doubt which has surrounded Reimer upon his landing in Toronto for good in January 2011. "Its a non-issue as far as were concerned," Carlyle said Friday of the since quieted controversy. Reimer hasnt won a start since Jan. 21. Like his teammates, his level will need to rise substantially from where its been for the Leafs to have any hope of spicing up a late season race. For all the follies of those around him during the spiral last month, he could not deliver the one or two timely, game-changing saves needed most nights for success. That will have to change in the days ahead. A restricted free agent and almost certainly playing elsewhere next season, Reimer wondered before Thursdays surprise relief appearance if he had seen his last game as a Leaf. Now comes one final (in all likelihood) opportunity to exit on a positive and perhaps even uplifting note – if he and the Leafs can somehow defy the odds and get into the playoffs. "Honestly right now theres lots of thoughts swirling in your head about a lot of things," he said ahead of a clash with the Jets, "but now its just time to stop the puck. It doesnt really matter what transpires after the season or all that white noise per se. All Im trying to do is just play my best, get those two points (Saturday), and then go on to Florida. Try not to think about other stuff." "Ive had a lot of success in the past and had to carry the load in different scenarios and Ive been successful in that. I feel confident."
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