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06-02-2017, 09:18 AM | #1 |
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(SportsNetwork. Joe Pavelski Sharks Jersey .com) - The Miami Heat will try to inch one step closer to a fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals Monday night when they host the Indiana Pacers for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at American Airlines Arena. Follow all the action live on TSN2 and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. The Heat, who have won the last two NBA titles and lost three years ago in the Finals, took a 2-1 series lead on Saturday night with a 99-87 win. Miami is a perfect 6-0 as the home team in the postseason. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade fueled Miamis strong third quarter and Ray Allens sharp-shooting helped hold Indiana at bay in the fourth. The Heat trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and didnt take their first lead until midway through the third, when James capped an 8-0 burst with a two-handed, fastbreak dunk for a 52-51 advantage. James and Wade combined for 22 points in the third -- the same amount as the Pacers -- to help the Heat take a 71-64 spread into the fourth. Indiana got as close as two in the final frame before Allen took over, draining all four of his 3-point tries en route to 16 points as the Heat pulled away down the stretch. "This team has proven to be resilient," Allen said of his team battling back despite trailing by double digits. "In bad situations, we pick it back up." James finished with 26 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Wade added 23 points, four boards and four assists for the Heat. Allen was the only other double-digit scorer for Miami. Paul George, who suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Indianas 87-83 loss in Game 2, supplied 17 points and Roy Hibbert tallied 16 points for the Pacers, who had won five straight road games. David West chipped in 13 points, while Lance Stephenson tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds. Indiana took advantage of a sluggish start from Miami Saturday and stifled the Heat for much of the opening frame, forcing seven turnovers and holding the home team to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor over the first 12 minutes. The Pacers held a 21-14 lead after one and the 14 first-quarter points was a season-low for the two-time champions. With the margin at seven following a Chris Bosh triple early in the second, Luis Scola supplied back-to-back buckets to spark a 10-2 burst that Rasual Butler capped with a trey for a 37-22 cushion with 6:22 on the clock. The Heat clamped down defensively from there, holding Indiana without a field goal over the next five-plus minutes to claw their way back into the game. "We had no choice but to regather," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of his team falling behind by double digits. "It was good to see us bounce back in the second quarter and show some toughness." The Heat turned a four-point deficit at the start of the second half into a seven-point cushion thanks to Wade and James. Wade opened the fourth with another trey to push the spread to 10, but George scored eight points in a 10-2 Indiana burst to pull the Pacers within 76-74. Allen caught fire from there, nailing three 3-pointers in a 3:23-span to help the Heat create a 90-79 advantage. Allens fourth triple of the frame made it 97-82 with 2:50 to play and Miami cruised the rest of the way. "Its very early in the series," Indiana head coach Frank Vogel said. "They came back, they took care of their home court. We gotta try to come out and get Game 4." Game 5 will be Wednesday night in Indianapolis. Tommy Wingels Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. Marc-Edouard Vlasic Sharks Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. 403 Forbidden . According to a report from the Hamilton Spectator, Infrastructure Ontario has informed the City of Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats the stadium may not be ready by the June 30 deadline.Gustav Nyquist hasnt scored a lot of goals on Jonas Gustavsson at Red Wings practice recently. "I think lately he saves them for the game," Gustavsson said. Nyquists scoring prowess has helped save Detroits NHL-best streak of 23 straight playoff appearances. Thanks in large part to Nyquists 14 goals and 10 assists in 22 games since the Olympic break, the Red Wings overcame a season rife with significant injuries to extend their playoff run. "With all the injuries weve had, its been pretty crazy," Nyquist said Tuesday in Buffalo. "But with all the injuries, I think all of us young guys have gotten more opportunity out there and (are) playing bigger minutes. ... As a young player I think that gives you confidence, knowing that you can make more plays with the puck when youre confident out there." The Red Wings injury list reads like almost like a full NHL roster. Pavel Datsyuk missed 37 games, captain Henrik Zetterberg 35 and counting, Darren Helm 40, Johan Franzen 27, Danny DeKeyser 16, Daniel Alfredsson 13 and Jimmy Howard 13. Whats even crazier is how the Red Wings seemingly havent missed a beat. And the craziest thing is that Nyquist, who spent the first 22 games of the season in the minors, still leads the team with 28 goals in just 55 games. And its not even close. "He made a splash right away: first game, two goals, when he came up, so I dont know if its a surprise," Alfredsson said. "Maybe a surprise hes been able to keep up that pace. We hadnt seen him in the NHL as much. Hes made a name for himself, a reputation for himself." Nyquist, soft-spoken and humble at 24 with 137 regular-season AHL games under his belt, wouldnt agree that he has been one of the best goal-scorers in the world lately. But with a stretch of 23 goals in 32 games, Nyquist helped the Red Wings go 17-10-5 to beat out the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals for a playoff spot. "It feels like hes one step ahead sometimes, knowing where the pucks going to end up, and thats how he scores a lot of goals," Gustavsson said on a recent trip to Toronto. "Hes going to the right spots. Im not surprised that he has been scoring a lot for us. Maybe hes scored more than I thought right now." Certainly more than the Red Wings could have envisioned in September, when Nyquist was sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins instead of making the opening-night roster. That was more a consequence of the salary cap than an indictment of his play, as Nyquist was still exempt from going through waivers, but his three goals and three assists in 22 games last year didnt seem a preview of future NHL stardom. Joe Thornton Jersey. Nyquist brings up "playing with great players" as one reason for his stellar scoring output. But after back problems put Zetteberg on the shelf, Nyquist kept scoring with Franzen, Riley Sheahan, David Legwand and Tomas Tatar rotating as his linemates. "Sometimes in the NHL if youre playing with great players, youre going to find a way to put that in, and hes done that," defenceman Brendan Smith said. "Its been huge for our club." But where did this all come from? "Gus would tell you that he was a pretty good player when he came out of college, I would assume, and that it took the coaches a long time to figure out he was good enough to play him enough to give him the confidence he needs to score enough," coach Mike Babcock said. "Thats probably his theory. My theory is you have to grow as a player and earn your way. I think hes a really intelligent player. Hes got hockey IQ off the chart. He makes good plays, he can shoot the puck, hes got a good release but he gets himself in good spots and weve needed him." Smiths time at the University of Wisconsin overlapped with Nyquists at the University of Maine. Smith can count the ways Nyquist can beat opponents. "Hes a hell of a skater, hes a great puck-mover, he makes great plays, hes got great skill, he can dangle you, hes hard to hit, hes wormy or snakey, whatever you want to call it," Smith said. "I knew he was this good, but I didnt see the scoring nature of it." It wouldve been hard for anyone to see this coming. In 40 career NHL games entering this season, Nyquist had a grand total of four goals. Maybe its just the growth and maturation of a young player, something the Red Wings organization has become very proud of over the years. Or perhaps practice makes perfect. "Hes one of those guys thats always staying till the end of the of practice putting the puck in the net," Gustavsson said. "He works hard and he deserves all the success that he has right now." Gustavsson said Nyquist is just entering his prime and can still get better. And Alfredsson sees ingredients that could ensure this isnt a one-season wonder. "Goal-scorers, a lot of times, they just have a knack for it," Alfredsson said. "It doesnt have to be the perfect shot. They seem to find a way, and they shoot the puck a lot. Hes got everything to be able to be a consistent goal-scorer in this league." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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