11-22-2019, 05:38 AM
[/url]MINNEAPOLIS -- After a strong start to the season, the Atlanta Hawks never thought theyd be in a fight to make the playoffs when April came rolling around. [url=http://www.airmaxscarpescontate.it/]Nike Air Max Saldi . If they dont find a way to stop the tumble theyve been on before March closes, they could find themselves on the outside looking in. Gorgui Dieng had 15 points and 15 rebounds to continue his out-of-nowhere emergence, and the Minnesota Timberwolves dealt the slumping Hawks another costly loss with a 107-83 victory. "I think to a certain degree each guy has just got to find it in him," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "And I think the group has got to find the energy that the group can build. Weve spent most of this season playing with very good energy, so I think theres a lot of things we can pull on an reference to how we want to play and tonight would not be one of those nights." Paul Millsap had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta (31-39), which has lost four straight and has the New York Knicks right in their rearview mirror for the eighth and final playoff spot. Jeff Teague, who had averaged more than 23 points over the previous four games, went scoreless for the first time this season on 0-for-5 shooting. "I think we just didnt come ready to play," Hawks guard DeMarre Carroll said. "Once we started missing a lot of shots, then we lost our focus. At this time of year, you cant lose your focus." Corey Brewer and Kevin Martin each scored 18 points and Kevin Love had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota scored 32 points off 26 Hawks turnovers and blew the game open in the second half. The struggling Wolves defence held Atlanta to 37.8 per cent shooting and had six of its 17 steals in the third quarter to start pulling away. With starting centre Nikola Pekovic out for the sixth straight game, Wolves coach Rick Adelman had no choice but to thrust the rookie Dieng into the first significant minutes of his career. Dieng has flourished with the added responsibility, posting double-doubles in five of the six games. He had 10 points and 13 rebounds in the first half, helping the Wolves weather an unusually quiet night from Love. "I dont care what the record is or where we are in the season, were trying to make them believe that we still have work to do," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "We still have to get better as a team and as individuals." The last time these two teams met, on Feb. 1, the Hawks overcame 43 points and 19 rebounds from Love to win for the fifth time in seven games. That put them at 25-22 and in third place in the Eastern Conference. But the Hawks have gone 6-17 since then, a slide exacerbated by injuries to Gustavo Ayon and Kyle Korver, who missed his fourth straight game with back spasms. Atlantas crumbling, combined with a surprising surge from the Knicks, turned a playoff spot that once appeared to be a foregone conclusion into anything but a sure thing. They led the ninth-place Knicks by three games for the final spot in the muddled East. And yet on Wednesday night it was the Wolves, who have essentially been out of the Western Conference playoff race for about two weeks and were completely deflated after a home loss to the Suns on Sunday, who played with the urgency and tenacity on defence of a team that needs every win it can get. "We needed a game like this in order to get our spirits up," Love said. "It was good for us. It goes to show you were down, but were not out." The Hawks had won five straight games after an ugly string of 14 losses in 15 games. But they dropped games to the Pelicans, Raptors, Suns and Wolves to allow the Knicks to creep back into the race. "Were a close team," Hawks forward Mike Scott said. "Weve been through a slump before. Its not good at all. But we know how to do good things, were professionals and were going to stick together." NOTES: Ricky Rubio had four points on 1-for-6 shooting, but he also had 10 assists and six steals. He had to leave in the first quarter to get 15 stitches in his upper lip after a collision with Hawks forward Mike Scott. ... Hawks F Mike Muscala, who played in high school in the Minneapolis suburb of Roseville, had eight points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Vapormax Prezzo Basso . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. Nike Air Max Scontate . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. http://www.airmaxscarpescontate.it/scarp...saldi.html . -- Canadas Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory.The Tampa Bay Lightning took advantage of the Vancouver Canucks desire to shed a veteran defenceman. Numbers Game looks at the deal sending Jason Garrison back to the state of Florida. The Lighting Get: D Jason Garrison and LW Jeff Costello. Garrison, 29, is a defenceman with good size and a cannon of a shot from the point who tied a career-high with 33 points last seasn and will be able to handle top-four minutes on the Tampa Bay defence. Garrison has played more than 20 minutes per game in each of the past four seasons and, over the course of those four years, no defenceman has fired shots at a higher rate on the power play. Over the past three seasons, he ranks 15th among defencemen with 2.16 shots on goal per game and has missed a total of seven games, so hes been durable. Last season wasnt Garrisons best, in terms of possession stats, but hes had positive possession numbers in the past, so last year shouldnt preclude him from being a useful part of the Tampa Bay defence. In Tampa Bay, the Lightning really needed an upgrade on defence. Victor Hedman and Matt Carle were the only defencemen on the roster that averaged more than 20 minutes per game last season and Garrison will add stability, as well as a power play point threat, to that group. Garrison had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through, and he has four years, at a cap hit of $4.6-million, remaining on his contract. Its also not a bad deal for Tampa Bay since the contracdt was front-loaded, so the last four years come at a total cost of $15.6-million (an aveerage of $3. Air Max 90 Saldi. 9-million per season). Costello is a 23-year-old winger who finished a four-year career at Notre Dame, scoring 82 points in 145 games. He was acquired from Ottawa at the trade deadline, but hes not signed and may be set to become a pro free agent after August 15. The Lightning dont currently have much room on their reserve list, and the Canucks could also use the extra room in their attempts to acquire more players. The Canucks Get: A second-round pick. The 50th overall pick presents about a one-in-three chance of netting an NHL player. While its useful to get an asset, the move is more about clearing room on the Vancouver blueline. Chris Tanev joins Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler in the top four on defence, and newly-acquired Luca Sbisa can pair with Ryan Stanton on the third pair, so there was room for the Canucks to move out an established NHL defenceman and, just as importantly move out the accompanying salary. Its been a busy day, just leading up to the draft, for the Canucks, so there could very well be more to come but, whats been done establishes that Vancouver will be younger than they were last season, with financial flexibility to make moves this summer if they so choose. With a new regime, it would come as no surprise if the Canucks continue to be active in their attempt to re-build the roster. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '