MIAMI -- It was just a game, not a playoff series.
Stan Mikita Jersey . Still, Brandon Jennings finally got a long-awaited win over the Miami Heat. And he made the two biggest
plays to get it done. Jennings made a deep, well-covered 3-pointer to snuff out
one Miami rally with 4:09 left, then stole the ball from LeBron James to set up
another score two minutes later, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Heat 107-97 on
Tuesday night to snap the NBA champions 10-game winning streak. Kyle Singler
scored 18 points to lead seven Detroit players in double figures, Andre Drummond
had 18 rebounds -- more than any three Heat players combined -- and Greg Monroe
and Rodney Stuckey each scored 16 for the Pistons. "We had a lot of good
performances from a lot of people," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Then we
just held our composure because we knew that at some point theyd make a run.
Brandon made that big 3 and we were able to hold on. When Brandon hit that big
3, it kind of settled us down a little bit." It might have of deflated the Heat,
too. Miami trailed by as many as 18 and then got within three on a dunk by James
midway through the fourth. The Heat then missed their next three shots, two of
them 3-point tries that would have knotted the game, before Jennings connected
from 26 feet out -- "the dagger from 90 feet," James said afterward -- to put
Detroit up by six. "Just the way the game goes," said Heat guard Norris Cole,
who was defending Jennings on the play. "He made a big shot. Just got to tip
your hat." The Heat never got any closer. They nearly did, being down seven and
with James charging downcourt with about two minutes left, but Jennings stole
the ball away, brought it to the other end and set up Monroe for an easy bucket
that sealed the deal for Detroit. And for Jennings -- who predicted his
Milwaukee Bucks would oust the Heat in six games when they met in the opening
round of last seasons playoffs, then got swept -- it was a small measure of
comeuppance. "They didnt make shots down the stretch that they usually do," said
Jennings, whos in his first season with the Pistons. "Were still getting better
and better. But we cant have a stretch like in the fourth, with a lead, that we
couldnt get a bucket." James and Michael Beasley each scored 23 for Miami. The
Heat played without guard Dwyane Wade, the All-Star sitting for the fourth time
this season to rest a sore knee. Miami shot a season-low 44 per cent. "Its a
miss or make league at times," James said. "They made. We missed." Jennings and
Josh Smith each scored 15 for Detroit, which got 10 points apiece from Drummond
and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Chris Bosh scored 14 and Ray Allen added 12 for
Miami, which was outrebounded 46-34. The Heat had more turnovers (eight) than
field goals (seven) in the first period, missed 12 of their first 16 shots and
found themselves down by 11 points before the game was 11 minutes old. And it
wasnt like the Pistons were all that hot, either -- they shot 48 per cent in the
quarter. When the second quarter started, the Pistons were sizzling. Drummond
had four points in an 8-0 spurt to start the second, one that gave Detroit an
18-point lead with 9:30 left in the half. With that, the Pistons became just the
second opposing team in the last 83 Miami home games, including playoffs, to
lead by that many on the Heats home floor. And that was just one of many
instances where the Heat were left shaking their collective heads. James had 14
points in the second quarter, one of the very few reasons why it wasnt a total
Detroit runaway by the break. "It was really tough to get a flow," Bosh said.
"We kept turning the ball over, we didnt have the necessary energy we needed
tonight and we got beat." NOTES: Reserve guard Roger Mason Jr. was active for
the Heat, two nights after Miami police said he was a robbery victim. Police
said two men brandishing pistols went into a restaurant where Mason Jr. was
dining, ordered everyone on the floor and one of the items they stole was a
Rolex watch from the NBA veteran. The watch was recovered Monday and police have
arrested two men while still looking for two other suspects. ... The 10-game
winning streak was the sixth-longest in Heat history. ... The Pistons came in
averaging a league-best 51.2 points in the paint, and had 60 on Tuesday.
Trevor Van Riemsdyk Blackhawks Jersey .com) - The collective hearts of Chicago Bulls fans sank on Friday night when Derrick
Rose went down with a leg injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Steve Larmer Jersey . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk.TORONTO – Dave Bolland repeated himself to hammer
home the point. "Fifty-fifty," he said of his odds to return before the Olympic
break. "Fifty-fifty." Bolland, who took part in his first full practice Friday
since returning to the ice, continues to inch back toward a return from a
severed left ankle tendon, one that has kept him out of the Toronto lineup since
Nov. 2 – a stretch of 41 games and counting. Whether he returns before the Leafs
conclude their pre-Olympic schedule – they have four games left – is a matter of
some uncertainty and will depend entirely on the state of his recovery. "Im not
going to get back into it if Im not ready," said Bolland, joining the team for a
brief 35-minute skate. "Theres no point in me getting back into it if Im not
ready ... I dont want to be back in there and take a minus and be a liability
out there. I want to be back and be 100 per cent." Bolland seemed to hint toward
a target of Feb. 8, the teams final game before the Olympic break, giving him an
opportunity to test the recovered area in a string of practices before
potentially returning. "Well see," he said. "If Im ready then Im ready. If I
feel that I can contribute out there in that last game. If not, then Ill take
those two weeks to get back into it." "Theres no rush," added Leafs assistant GM
Claude Loiselle.
Michal Rozsival Jersey. "You always hope that you can get a player like that back [sooner]. "But to get back sooner when
youre not ready is the wrong thing to do." Describing the rehab as "grueling"
recently, the three-month recovery process has not been easy for the native of
nearby Mimico, Ontario. Forced onto crutches and glued to a whole lot of Apple
TV for a month after the injury, Bolland began skating in mid-January, joining
the team for the first time earlier this week. A two-time Stanley Cup champion
with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was arguably Torontos best skater in October,
totaling six goals and 10 points in 15 games. Winners of eight of their past 10,
the Leafs will be mindful of not rushing him back, especially with the upcoming
two-week layoff. "Its a long process coming back from an injury like that,"
said Joffrey Lupul. "I dont think anything is going to happen overnight, but
yeah he looks good out there. I think for him its probably just increasing the
workload a little bit every day. And its certainly not something you want to
rush, especially with a couple weeks off here. We in the room want him back as
soon as possible, but were going to need him at 100 per cent eventually so
hopefully [the organization] take[s] the right course."
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