No. 2 Rocco Baldelli

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SALT LAKE CITY -- There are times when Alec Burks is driving to the hoop and he has no idea what hes going to do. "I surprise myself on some of these shots I make," Utahs reserve guard said. The Jazz breathed a collective sigh of relief when Burks put together a string of circus shots after the rest of the team had gone cold. Burks scored 10 of his 26 points in the final two minutes to lift the Jazz to a 105-100 win over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "Alec did a great job closing the game out for us, attacking the basket," said Utah coach Ty Corbin after the Jazz endured a six-minute scoreless stretch with seven missed shots and two turnovers. The game was tied 91-1ll when the Jazz looked to Burks to create some offence. The guard made a number of acrobatic drives to the basket and capped a personal 9-0 run with a soaring dunk to make it 100-91 with 22 seconds to play. Utahs top scorer off the bench got to the free throw line with his aggressive play, making 13 of 14 from the stripe in 22 minutes of play. "I relish contact. I really was just trying to be aggressive," Burks said. "Thats my game, going to the hoop." His clutch scoring extended Utahs season-best winning streak to three and sent the Sixers to their ninth straight road loss to the Jazz. Evan Turner scored 21 points and Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young had 19 apiece for Philadelphia. The 76ers lost their eighth straight, the last two by more than 40 points while nearly matching the NBA mark for the largest total margin of defeat in consecutive games. Philadelphia has given up nearly 116 points per game over the eight-game skid. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Marvin Williams had 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as the Jazz had six players score in double figures. The problem was that no one could find the hoop in the middle of the fourth quarter when they surrendered a 14-point lead. Burks hit a 3-pointer and Richard Jefferson stole a pass and dunked for an 85-71 lead with 10:02 to play. The 76ers then rallied, extending their defence and holding the Jazz scoreless for more than six minutes during a 13-0 run. Spencer Hawes tipped in his own miss to cap the run and then Carter-Williams converted a three-point play after Trey Burke broke Utahs drought to tie the game at 91 with 2:10 to play. Burks had 24 to lead the Jazz over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday and then continued his instant offence in the second half the back-to-back set. Utahs reserves outscored their Philadelphia counterparts, 56-10. James Anderson, who had 15 points, made a trio of 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds, but it was too late after Burks outburst. The Sixers showed some fight in their last game before the All-Star break and the finale of a disastrous three-game road trip. Following a 123-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the 76ers fell behind by 49 points before losing 123-80 to Golden State on Monday No other team in NBA history had lost two straight games by at least 40 points each. Philadelphia has now done it twice, having lost back-to-back games in April 1994 by a combined 93 points. The Detroit Pistons set the record for margin of defeat in consecutive games, losing 95 points combined in back-to-back games in November 1966, according to STATS. One highlight for Philadelphia has been the play of rookie Carter-Williams, who had eight assists and leads all rookies in scoring, rebounding and assists. This was the first game between Carter-Williams, who was drafted 11th, and fellow lottery pick Burke (picked ninth) since their Final Four meeting in April. Burke struggled again Wednesday as he did in Michigans 61-56 win over Syracuse, when he had seven points on 1-of-8 shooting. Burke had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting against Philadelphia. "I thought Michael played with great poise. He could have handled this particular matchup in different ways. I thought he grew tonight," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. Derrick Favours left the game in the first quarter after re-injuring his right hip. He missed a wide-open layup on the first Jazz possession of the game and never got any lift. In six minutes of play, he limped slightly and then left the game and went to the locker room. The Jazz centre has missed four other games with the hip strain and Utah had lost all six contests when Favours is out with injury. NOTES: Brandon Davies, who was raised in Utah and played at BYU, has missed the Sixers last 14 games with a fractured pinkie finger. ... In the third quarter, the Sixers purposely fouled Rudy Gobert, who shoots 51 per cent from the line, but the 7-footer swished both attempts. ... Philadelphia backup big man Lavoy Allen left the game with a sore left knee and did not return. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Catriona Matthew remained atop the Airbus LPGA Classic leaderboard Friday, birdieing four of the last seven holes to take a one-stroke advantage over Charley Hull into the weekend. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . The senior threw for 319 yards and no interceptions in his final college game, leading No. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.I always enjoy going back in time and looking at top prospects at the time and seeing if they lived up to their past billing. Lets go back 10 years for example, to Baseball Americas "Top 100" list of prospects that came out in March of 2003. Nine of the Top 10 are with different organizations now than they were then, or in the case of Hideki Matsui, have retired. The one who has remained was the fourth-ranked man on the list, Joe Mauer of the Twins; a catcher then who will likely be playing 1st base in 2014. No. 1 on the list was Mark Teixeira, then of the Texas Rangers, who ultimately wound up with the New York Yankees. No. 3 was Jose Reyes, then of the Mets, who jumped to the Marlins as a free agent before coming over to the Blue Jays a year ago in that mammoth trade with Miami. All in all I counted 10 players on the Top 100 list that one way or the other spent time with the Blue Jays, but most were acquired, not drafted or developed. The List of 10 included catchers John Buck and Jeff Mathis, outfielders Jayson Werth and Juan Rivera, 1B Lyle Overbay, reliever Jon Rauch, right-hander Jason Arnold and another veteran right-hander who was owned by the Jays, but never really pitched for them, in Edwin Jackson who was part of the three-way deal with the White Sox and St. Louis that brought Colby Rasmus to Toronto. The other two are the only two still with the club in Reyes and right-hander Dustin McGowan, who was No. 36 on that list of 100 in 2003. There was some on the Baseball America list who were clearly overrated and turned out to be busts, while others were clearly underrated and exploded into superstars. Taking the later first, Miguel Cabrera, the best all-round hitter in baseball was only rated 12th then. Dodgers star shortstop Hanley Ramirez was only pegged at No. 19; Phillies ace lefty Cliff Lee checked in at No.dddddddddddd 30 and Dodgers 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez at 31. You can dig even deeper to find greatness. Zack Greinke, just 19 at the time, was only ranked 54th. Shin-soo Choo, who just signed a seven-year deal with Texas, was owned by Seattle at the time and only ranked 61st. Going deep still, you have Mets captain David Wright at No. 75 and Prince Fielder now with Texas at No. 78 Jayson Werth, whos had a fairly impactful career, was listed at No. 94 and the aforementioned Edwin Jackson was No. 99. Some of those who didnt pan out as expected, No. 2 Rocco Baldelli, though illness factored into that. Right-hander Jesse Foppert of the Giants, No. 5 on the list, never really blossomed either. Some of the others who never really made it include 1B Jason Stokes of the Marlins (No. 15), 1B Brad Nelson of the Brewers (No. 23) and right-hander John VanBenschoten of the Pirates (No. 24). The top Canadian on the list was the Twins Justin Morneau at No. 14, whos now with Colorado. Two other names of note: Cardinals ace right-hander Adam Wainright, then of Atlanta was No. 18 and Josh Hamilton, who began his career with the Devil Rays as they were then known, was No. 33. He then proceeded to Cincinnati, Texas, and finally to the Angels, where hes trying to recapture his past glory. Oddly enough of the 100 prospects on this list I counted only five that were still with organization that drafted them: McGowan, Wright, Chase Utley, Colby Lewis, and Mauer. Thats a 95% turnover in 10 years. Consider: the World Series as we know it has been around since 1903, I was surprised to find out the first pinch-hit homer in the Fall Classic didnt come until 1947 with Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra doing the honours at old Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn against the Dodgers. ' ' '