A day after general manager Mike Gillis expressed doubt over his own future and that of his bench boss, Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella wouldnt let himself be drawn into the speculation over his job status after the season.
Tim Wright Lions Jersey . "Mike Gillis is my boss and I cant speak for Mike," said Tortorella of his bosss comments on Friday afternoon. "I dont know how to answer to him because I cant speak for him. I dont want to do that. Mike and I are always talking, but to answer that, I just cant. Its not fair to him or me." Sitting six points out of the final wild card in the Western Conference with only five games to play, the Canucks are set to miss the playoffs for just the third time in 13 seasons and the first time since 2008. Still, Tortorella expressed no interest in publicly discussing his teams and, by extension, his own future. "Youre digging at a spot Id rather talk internally about," he said. "Thats probably something we can talk about after the season is over. I have to worry about coaching a hockey team. We have five more games, a team that needs to better and thats my focus." Gillis spoke on Thursday of his teams inability to play up to the style and level of play that theyre accustomed to for much of the season and Tortorella acknowledged his concerns, but maintained that he and Gillis shared a similar vision. "The style of play that were teaching, were on the same page, yes," he explained. "And it was a style of play that we played at the beginning of the year and no one else is responsible for the falter of the team and not staying up with the style of play that needs to be played here than me. I let it go just through our whole situation with the injuries and didnt grab a hold of it quick enough. No one else is responsible." While placing the onus on himself for his teams decline in play, Tortorella shot down the suggestion that he was overworking his star players to the point of injury. The Canucks have lost 282 man games to injury with key contributors including Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa missing significant time. "Its easy to look at numbers and say you played them too much and that is not why theres been a struggle there," said Tortorella. "Youre not going to talk me into that. It just isnt, but I certainly have tried in the second part, as weve tried to get healthy in the second part of the year, tried to stretch it, but a lot of it is determined on depth within your line-up. I dont want to go much further than that because I think Ill be a little bit too critical and I dont want to do that here. Thats an organizational-type situation and an organizational conversation." The Canucks are next in action on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings.
Andre Roberts Lions Jersey . Ortiz hit a pair of two-run homers, including his 400th shot in a Red Sox uniform, and drove in a career high-tying six runs to power Boston past the Houston Astros 10-7 on Saturday night.
Larry Warford Lions Jersey . - Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson sat on the scorers table at Oracle Arena on Wednesday morning.INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers, the best home team in the NBA, faced little challenge from the Washington Wizards, who were trying for their longest road winning streak in more than five years. David West scored 20 points and C.J. Watson had 16, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 93-66 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. "This was a sensational defensive effort," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "You want to see a team come out and play as hard as any on the defensive end, come see this team play." Indiana (29-7) used an 11-3 run in the third quarter to create separation from Washington. Two field goals from West capped off the swing, which put the Pacers up 56-40. Trying for their first four-game win streak on the road since February 2008, the Wizards (16-18) stumbled at the foul line. They finished 9 of 23 on free throws, hitting just five of their first 14. "I thought we did a great job moving the ball early in the game and sticking with it," John Wall said. "But you cant stay in the game when you are missing free throws like we were." Washington lost to the Pacers for the 11th time in 12 tries and havent won at Indiana since April 18, 2007. Indiana remains the NBAs best home team at 17-1 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, including seven in a row. Paul George of the Pacers and Wall of Wizards each opened 1 of 8 from the field. George finishhed with eight points on 2-of-14 shooting and Wall had 13 points.
Tahir Whitehead Lions Jersey. . "We knew they would be tough to beat," West said. "They came out strong and we countered." Walls struggles in Indiana continued. He shot four 4 of 15 from the field Friday and is 8 for 29 in his past two games here. Washington was led by Bradley Beal with 17 points. The Pacers overcame a 37-of-83 shooting night with a 6-of-13 performance from the 3-point range. Washington finished 26 of 81 from the field. The Pacers outrebounded Washington 61-41. They were led by George, who had 14 rebounds, and Lance Stephenson, who had 10. Watson entered with about nine minutes remaining in the second quarter to score five quick points. His 3-pointer pushed Indianas lead to 31-26 with 6:32 left in the quarter. Nene came off the bench in the first half for Washington to tally eight points and four rebounds. He finished with 12 points. Watson again provided a spark for Indiana in the second half. He scored 11 of his 16 in the fourth quarter and finished 6 of 6 from the field. The Wizards got within 10 after Walls dunk with 10:04 left in the game, but Indiana used a 10-0 run to seal. "We didnt give ourselves a chance in the second half to win the game," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "It boils down to your top players making plays to win in a game like this. Thats all it is."
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