intensity we played with

[jinshuiqian0713]

WASHINGTON -- Raise your hand if you had Greg Oden as the Miami Heat MVP. Or if you had any inkling the Washington Wizards were capable of taking a 34-point lead against the two-time defending champs. Or if you thought LeBron James and Co. would follow a White House visit by dropping their third straight against the heart of the middling Eastern Conference. Oden played his first game in more than four years Wednesday night, and that might have been the only positive for the Heat. He played all of 8 minutes, 24 seconds and made a pair of dunks to help start a rally that had loads of promise -- until it fell flat in the fourth quarter of a 114-97 loss to the Wizards on Wednesday night. "They came here, whatever. Went to the White House, whatever," Wizards forward Nene said. "We just came here to play." John Wall scored 25 points, and Bradley Beal and Nene had 19 apiece to lead seven players in double figures for the Wizards, who had their lead cut to nine before closing with a 17-9 run. They had dropped seven of eight at the Verizon Center, having blown a fourth-quarter lead to the Houston Rockets on Saturday in a game twice delayed because water was leaking onto the court through a hole in the roof. Chris Bosh scored 26 points, and James had 25 for the Heat, who had been off since Friday and therefore had time to be feted by President Barack Obama on Tuesday for winning a second consecutive NBA title. For one half, the Wizards made Miami look like a team that will never again be invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington went on a 20-0 run in the first quarter. James had three of the Heats six first-quarter turnovers. The Wizards, with their first sellout crowd of the season, taunted the Heat fans in attendance with the "Bandwagon Cam" that mocked those wearing the visitors colours. Washington didnt even commit a foul until the 8:48 mark of the second quarter. "They was playing at another speed," James said. "They was playing at, like, 15 and we was playing at, like, seven." James paused, then corrected himself. "Dont even gonna give us that much of a credit," he added. "We was playing at, like, five." James said he even lost his voice during the second or third quarter. He was still hoarse after the game. "We love adversity more than anything. Were definitely at that point," he said with a smile as his voice cracked. "As you can tell, my damn voice is gone. I gotta try to find it, too." At least the Heat found Oden, who stepped onto the court for his first regular-season game since Dec. 5, 2009. He scored six points, going 2 for 3 from the field with a pair of dunks. He made both of his free throws and grabbed two rebounds. It was Oden, of all people, who helped get the Heat going after the Wizards led 43-18 at the end of the first quarter and 64-30 during the second. Wearing No. 20 and with both knees heavily wrapped, he entered with 6:03 remaining in the first half and made an immediate impact: an offensive rebound, a dunk and a foul in 30 seconds. By halftime, the score was 69-48. Oden also started the second half and played four minutes before sitting for the rest of the game. "In a short amount of minutes tonight," James said, "he was pretty good for us." It was Odens first appearance in a regular-season game since fracturing his left kneecap while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers against the Rockets. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft also missed what would have been his rookie year because of a right knee injury. He has had three microfracture surgeries on his knees. Oden said the Heat have "come up with something to keep me playing, not just to get me out there and get injured." "So this is the plan and its got me this far," he said. "It got me in the game." Norris Coles jumper pulled the Heat within single digits -- 84-75 -- with less than a minute to go in the third, but they never got any closer than nine. The Wizards had nine turnovers in the third quarter but only one in the fourth, and an alley-oop from Wall to Martell Webster put Washington up by 17 with 3:02 to play. "We knew they were going to make a run," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "Thats still the best team." NOTES: The Wizards began the day 1-14 against teams with winning records. ... The Heat hadnt lost three in row since the 2012 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. Their last regular-season three-game skid was Jan. 10-13, 2012. ... The loss ended the Heats 22-game winning streak vs. Southeast Division opponents. ... Miami played without F Chris Andersen, who "landed awkwardly on his knee," according to coach Erik Spoelstra. G Mario Chalmers (strained right Achilles) missed his fourth straight. F Shane Battier was in the starting lineup after missing five games with a strained left quadriceps. G Dwyane Wade was back after resting his sore knees for one game. ... Washington shot a season-high 55 per cent. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! .Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . For the Bombers it has been a combination of things coming together at the most inappropriate moments in time. Quarterback, injuries, Canadian talent or depth and leadership are all issues. Trust me when I say being a Bomber is no fun right now in a city that embraces football the way Winnipeg does. While Buck Pierce will be getting another shot, I think Max Hall does deserve another opportunity.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The hallmark of a good team, at least in Royals manager Ned Yosts opinion, is the ability to wedge open the smallest of openings that an opponent provides. His club sure did that against Cleveland on Wednesday. The Royals scored all their runs by tying a franchise record with four sacrifice flies, and Yordano Ventura dominated the Indians over seven stingy innings in a 4-1 victory. "Its finding a way to win a ballgame thats important," said Yost, whose team has won four straight. "Good teams find ways to score those runs, and we did it four times today." In doing so, the Royals became only the second team to score four runs all on sacrifice flies since it became an official stat in 1954. The Expos managed to do it against the Cubs on May 28, 1980, according to STATS, although that happened in an 8-4, 14-inning loss. "See?" Yost said. "We made history." Ventura (4-5) allowed six hits while striking out three without a walk to win back-to-back starts for the first time. The only run he allowed came in the sixth, when he gave up consecutive singles to start the inning and Carlos Santana hit an RBI single. By then, Indians counterpart Trevor Bauer (1-3) had already allowed sacrifice flies to Jarrod Dyson, Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar. Billy Butler added another sacrifice fly off reliever John Axford in the seventh to complete the scoring. "Usually Im able to strike out guys in situations like that," Bauer said. "I made a couple of good pitches today, but they fouled them off and put them in play. So it is unusual." The Indians loaded the bases off Wade Davis with nobody out in the eighth, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the threat. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 19th save. The Royals (33-32) moved over .500 for the first time since May 18. They also jumped over Cleveland into second place in the AL Central as they embark on a trip that begins with the White Sox and concludes with the division-leading Detroit. Lonnie Chisenhall had a pair of hits for Cleveland, extending his hitting streak to a career-best nine games. Hes had at least two hits in his last ffive.dddddddddddd. Prior to the game, Indians manager Terry Francona recalled with disdain the last time his club faced Ventura -- the young flamethrowers debut last September. Ventura allowed one run over 5 2-3 innings, and at one point threw a pitch to Yan Gomes clocked at 102 mph. "Hes got pretty special stuff," Francona said. "Kind of hope we dont see that today." Turns out he did. Ventura kept the ball down in the strike zone and forced the Indians to chop into a series of groundouts. He retired seven straight batters at one point, never allowing a ball to be hit out of the infield. "I went out there with the mentality to throw a lot of strike," Ventura said through a translator. "Something good was going to happen if I threw a lot of strikes." Nobody was more frustrated than Jason Giambi. With the Royals shifting their infield, the Indians DH grounded out to the exact same spot three straight times before popping out. "Hes got great stuff," Giambi said. "When he locates like he did today, hes tough. He really is. Hes got good mound presence and attacks the strike zone." The Royals scored their first run when Dyson followed a double by Mike Moustakas and a single by Escobar with a sacrifice fly in the third. Nori Aoki followed with a single, and Infante hit his sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Escobars sacrifice fly came after a double by Salvador Perez and a single by Moustakas in the fourth, and Butler added his sacrifice fly after singles by Infante and Eric Hosmer. That was enough to beat Bauer, who has still never won in seven road outings. The Indians starter allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. "That type of energy and intensity we played with today, thats the way we need to play," Butler said. "Bauer was pitching really well. Every opportunity we had we capitalized on." NOTES: Escobar has hit in 10 straight games. ... Indians OF/1B Nick Swisher (left knee) planned to make a final rehab start Wednesday for Double-A Akron before joining the team Thursday in Boston. Asked if Swisher would be activated immediately, Francona said, "Well see." ' ' '