Star Game. He expects
Добавлено: 04 мар 2020, 04:15
BOSTON - Donatas Motiejunas wasnt thinking about a new career high when he took an alley-oop from James Harden and hit a layup as he fell to the floor late in the fourth quarter. Preserving a Houston Rockets victory was foremost on his mind.The big man scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, as the Rockets withstood a strong comeback by the Boston Celtics to win 93-87 on Friday night.I just try and win the game. Thats most important to me, said Motiejunas, who added 12 rebounds to the highest point total of his career. His basket extended the Rockets lead back to five and enabled them to hold on for their fourth straight win.His size, first and foremost, was a problem. You could see that right out of the gate, said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, whose team overcame an 18-point deficit at halftime by holding the Rockets to 4-for-20 shooting in the third quarter.We played hideous offensive basketball for 27 minutes, Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. We played beautiful basketball for the first 21 minutes of the game and then, for whatever reason, I told the guys we just completely changed how we played.Harden, the NBAs leading scorer, had 14 points on just 4-for-21 shooting.We stopped doing things that were working. I definitely slowed things up, especially in the second half, he said. Ill take the blame for it.Terrance Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who have won three in a row while star Dwight Howard recuperates from swelling in his right knee. Corey Brewer added 10 for Houston.Marcus Thornton and Brandon Bass each had 17 for the Celtics. Bass two free throws before the alley oop capped a 6-0 Celtics run and cut the lead to 82-79.Tayshaun Prince had 13 points and Avery Bradley added 10.TIP-INSRockets: The team has not put a timetable on Howards return. We wont have Dwight for a while, Im sure, so were going to just go out there and play, McHale said. ... The game was played 21 years to the day the Celtics retired McHales number. On his return to snowy Boston: The streets get smaller, baby, Ill tell you that. ... Harden had a four-point play in the first quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer over Marcus Smart and hitting the subsequent foul shot. The Rockets 17-7 road record tops the Western Conference.Celtics: Fell to 4-20 against teams .500 or better ... Smart has improved his 3-point shooting each month. He shot the 3 at a 43 per cent clip in January.FOOTBALL SUNDAY - BASKETBALL TODAYChants of Drew came from the crowd when former Patriots All-Pro quarterback Drew Bledsoe was shown on the scoreboard. Bledsoe famously lost his starting job to Tom Brady after suffering an injury during the 2001 season. Brady has been the starter ever since.NOTHING TO PROVEThe Rockets Josh Smith has Saturdays game against the Pistons on his calendar. The Pistons waived the veteran on Dec. 22. I dont have anything to prove. I think Ive proven everything on the body of work on being in the league. I just want to get a win, he said.TOUGH DBrad Stevens credited his team with playing tough defence on Harden. Harden said Smart defensively is pretty good. He made a lot of good plays.UP NEXTRockets: At Detroit on Saturday.Celtics: Host Miami on Sunday. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . - The Jacksonville Jaguars are leaning more toward playing injured quarterback Blake Bortles against Tennessee on Thursday night. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. Parnell will be out much longer if it turns out he needs surgery. But first, he will try resting for two weeks before beginning a throwing program that could last up to a month, general manager Sandy Alderson said. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes Thursday for a 7-under 63 to take the lead after one round of the Honda Classic. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep.DETROIT – Alex Anthopoulos likes to say the perception of a player is directly tied to his production. If a team is winning and a player is excelling, the guy becomes known as a "leader" or a "positive clubhouse influence." When a team is losing and a player is struggling, his character is questioned. Its easy to be enamoured with Mark Buehrle because of the year hes having. By now you know the statistics: 10-1, a 2.10 ERA and in his only no-decision of the season, Buehrle left with the lead. Even last season, when Buehrle struggled through the first half of the Blue Jays haltingly poor year, he drew no negative attention. He went about his between-starts routine despite his weight-related self-deprecation. He was always approachable despite his claims that he detests speaking into a microphone. What became clear, quickly, was Buehrles devotion to his family. Married with two kids, he looks in advance at the schedule and plots out homestands that will facilitate relatively lengthy visits. His father, John and mother, Pat, seem to be constants around the ballclub, even though John estimates they attend about 30 games per season. When this reporter renewed acquaintances with Buehrle on the first day of spring training and casually asked how his offseason had gone, it took the pitcher less than five seconds to begin to explain the difficulty he had saying goodbye to his children, who are now old enough to understand their dad has to leave home to go to work but wish that he wouldnt. John is in Detroit for the brief road trip, having scheduled a personal matter in the Motor City to coincide with the Jays lone visit to the Tigers. Hed have it no other way. "Our whole family was brought up as a family," said John Buehrle. "Everything we failed in or excelled in we shared as a family, our trials and tribulations if you will. When Mark did well in school, high school, college, everybody shared. When my other sons did well, everybody shared. They were brought up as a family, just as I was. They were brought up with respect." Mark Buehrle is making $18 million this season and is due $19 million in 2015, the final year of the four-year pact he inked with the Miami Marlins in the 2011-2012 offseason. When it comes to respect, money isnt an object in the Buehrle household. Johns three sons, Mike, 40, Jason, 37, and Mark, 35, and his one daughter Amy, 32, are expected to adhere to a set of rules when they visit. "Even today, they come to my house, they sit downn at my table, their hat comes off," said John Buehrle.dddddddddddd "Ill sit there and Ill stare them down. They wont even look at me, they can feel it. They can feel me looking at them because its manners. Theyll say Yes sir, no sir and Yes maam, no maam and open the door for the wives and their wives because thats the way they were raised." Mark is four wins shy of 200 for his career. Not many pitchers make it to the big leagues, let alone last long enough to win that many games. Johns son has never been placed on the disabled list. Hes pitching in his 15th big league season. John is pleased for Marks success but shows his youngest son no favoritism. "Any parent is proud anytime their child excels or succeeds at anything, regardless of what it is," said Buehrle. "Im just as proud of Mark for being where he is today as I am of my one son whos driving a concrete truck whos never had an accident. And thats a lot to say for concrete truck drivers, believe me, because I used to be one." Asked about Toronto, John returns to what matters most. "Toronto is as much of a family-oriented town as what we had found Chicago to be," said Buehrle. "We were there 12-and-a-half years in Chicago. Everybody in Chicago was like family. Every place we went, they were so nice." He admitted to uncertainty about Toronto after the trade with the Marlins and no, the fact Johns sons pitbull dog wasnt allowed to move to Ontario wasnt his top concern. "We didnt know, coming to Toronto, big city, we didnt know what it was going to be like," said Buehrle. "From day one, the people, everyone, not just the team, the staff, the people we ran into in the restaurants, it was genuine, you can tell when someones putting it on, but you could really tell there was a genuine Were glad youre here." The Blue Jays are glad to have Buehrle. Since last years All-Star Break, Mark is 17-5 with a 2.66 ERA. With an impending second knee replacement surgery scheduled soon, John hopes to be able to travel to Minneapolis for this years All-Star Game. He expects Mark will be a participant. "Hes having a real good year and I couldnt want or wish any better for him or the team," said Buehrle. "Im really happy for the fans, too, because the fans, I guess in a certain way through Mark see a little hope and glimmer and think, Oh, we may just pull it off this year. Its not just Mark. You look at Joey Bats, Edwin, Melky. Everyones having an awesome year." ' ' '