Post by jenny123 on Dec 19, 2013 0:42:08 GMT -5
NEW ORLEANS -- Already missing forward David West for the rest of the season, the New Orleans Hornets received another scare when Chris Paul crumpled to the floor with an apparent knee injury in the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers. Paul turned out to be fine, and so are the Hornets playoff hopes. Trevor Ariza scored 19 points and Paul shook off the pain with 18 points and eight assists to lead the Hornets to a 108-96 win over the Pacers on Sunday night. Paul hobbled off the court in the second quarter favouring his left knee -- the same one that had to be surgically repaired last season and forced him to miss 24 games. "Im good," Paul said. "Scared me, too. I knocked knees, but Im all right." Paul collided with Indianas Jeff Foster while the Pacers had the ball midway through the second quarter. When the Hornets gained possession, he called a timeout with 6:25 left while lying on the floor grimacing, and teammates gathered around him in concern. New Orleans lost West, its leading scorer, to a torn ACL on March 24. Fighting to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence, the Hornets could not afford to lose Paul, a four-time all-star and their floor leader. "I knew that was his surgically repaired knee," backup point guard Jarrett Jack said. "We just went through the situation with David, and seeing him on the ground, theres never anything good. I was glad he was able to get up and finish the game." After being assisted off the court, Paul stayed on the bench and returned to a loud ovation with a 3:38 left in the quarter. He immediately fed Okafor for a layup. Paul hit two jump shots and passed to Aaron Gray for another layup on the Hornets next three possessions as they stretched their lead to 53-39. They put the Pacers away with a 13-2 run to start the second half, going ahead 70-46 on a running one-leg bank shot from Paul. He even hit a three-pointer after missing 14 in a row dating to March 16. "We didnt really let the ball stop tonight," Paul said. "There were times when somebody will penetrate, kick it to the next guy and we just hold it, not sure what to do. Tonight we didnt second-guess it. We ripped the gap, got into the lane and was able to make plays." Okafor, who had a double-double by halftime, finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Hornets, who can clinch a playoff berth by beating Houston at home on Wednesday. Carl Landry added 18 points. Ariza and Paul were both 8-of-13 from the floor. "Chris had it going early, and the guys fed off of that," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "Trevor was attacking early, he knocked down some shots and was getting to the basket." The game was never close. The Hornets led 29-21 at the end of the first quarter, 57-44 at the half and 89-65 entering the fourth quarter, outrebounding the Pacers 48-33 while shooting 51.2 per cent. "Our defence was not in synch like it had been the last couple of games," Indiana centre Roy Hibbert said. "We let guys drive to the basket right and left." Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy each scored 15 points for Indiana, which snapped a three-game win streak and is two games ahead of Charlotte for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Reserve A.J. Price had 12 points and six assists. New Orleans, which had scored a season-low 12 points in the first quarter of a home loss to Memphis on Friday, came out hot, hitting 15-of-25 shots in the first quarter while taking a 29-21 lead. Ariza was 3-for-3 from the field, and Okafor had eight points and eight rebounds. After the Hornets scored the first six points of the second quarter, they were in control the rest of the way. Paul sat out the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter, returning with 2:11 left after Indiana cut the deficit to 103-92. The Pacers could have cut it to single digits but Dunleavy missed an outside shot. Jack and Okafor made two free throws on the next two possessions to close it out. "I didnt want to put Chris back in the game and risk injuring his knee, banging it the way he did," Williams said. "But they started knocking down threes, and we had some guys out there in pretty difficult situations." Notes: With a steal off Hibbert in the third quarter, Paul became the fourth fastest player in NBA to history to record 1,000 steals, doing it in 420 games. The only guys who did it faster are Michael Ray Richardson (383), Michael Jordan (362) and Alvin Robertson (351). ... Indianas Darren Collison, Pauls backup in New Orleans last season, had 10 points and five assists. ... James Posey, who played for the Hornets the past two years, went 0-of-4 from the floor before getting a dunk in garbage time. Harold Carmichael Jersey .C. -- Joe Corvos confidence is growing for the Carolina Hurricanes. LeSean McCoy Jersey . Werdum was in control from the start, looking quicker on the feet in the standup department and stronger on the floor. Still, the 27-year-old Nogueira showed his legendary tenacity as he constantly walked forward and looked to strike from the clinch. www.nickfolesjerseys.com/Womens-Desean-Jackson-Jersey/ . The quarterback waved to fans waiting for a glimpse of him and gave a thumbs up. Maybe signs that Tennessees pitch to the four-time NFL MVP went well, though no deals were announced after Manning spent about eight hours with Titans executives on a plane and at the teams headquarters. Jason Avant Jersey . "Its disappointing obviously," Glencross said as the Flames cleaned out their lockers. "Its too many years in a row that weve missed the playoffs." Glencross said Flames general manager Jay Feaster and his staff will face a tough task if they hope to put an end Calgarys streak of playoff futility next season. Nate Allen Jersey . The networks prime fans for the 2013 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX with live practice coverage on Friday, June 7 (1:55 p.m. ET on TSN2; 2 p.m. ET on RDS) followed by live qualifying coverage on Saturday, June 8 (12:55 p.A little more than a month into his tenure as USCs interim head coach and Ed Orgeron has earned a chance to stay beyond this season. The turnaround at Southern California has been nothing short of remarkable. This past week, USC went to Corvallis, Ore. and beat the Beavers, 31-14. It was USCs first win at Reser Stadium since 2004. Trojans QB Cody Kessler was an efficient 17-of-21 for 247 yards with a touchdown and one interception. Standout wide receiver Marquise Lee returned from injury to score a 71-yard touchdown on SCs first play, running back Javorius Allen shredded Oregon State for 133 yards and three majors, and Silas Redd added another 140 yards on the ground. On the other side of the ball, the Trojan defence was just as lethal. USC held Oregon State to 369 total yards, and the Beavers went just 2-for-11 on third downs. QB Sean Mannion, who led the nation in passing coming in with a 30-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio, threw for just 277 yards, and a season-worst three interceptions. The Trojans are 3-1 under Orgeron, and 3-0 in conference play. A defensive line coach for most of his career, Orgerons team is eighth in the nation with 29 sacks, ranks 13th in rushing defence, and sits 12th in total defence allowing just over 230 yards per game. Now the Trojans are 6-3 and Bowl-eligible, something that seemed out of the realm of possibility when Lane Kiffin was fired in the wee hours of September 29th. With games remaining against Cal, Stanford, Colorado and UCLA, its likely the Trojans will finish 8-5, and even plausible they could finish 9-3. Outside of Kiffins Bowl-banned 10-2 season, 9-3 would be the Trojans best record since the Pete Carroll era. And with a 3-2 conference record, USC is still very much alive in the Pac-12 South. Coach "O" has a history at Southern California. He was the Trojans defensive line coach from 1998 to 2004, and as Carrolls top assistant, became the programs recruiting coordinator. Following USCs back-to-back AP National Championships, he got the chance to go out on his own. In 2004, Orgeron took the head coaching job at Ole Miss, and in three seasons in Oxford, Miss., led the Rebels to a disappointing 10-25 record. Now back at the Coliseum, its a wiser Orgeron whos learned from his failures thats roaming the sidelines. Harkening back to the Carroll era, hes fostered the loose, rah-rah atmosphere at USC that disappeared under Kiffin. He shortened practices, and opened them up to the LA media. Unlike Kiffin, Orgeron increased media access and has shied away from talking about sanctions. He took away yellow practice jerseys from quarterbacks, eliminating barriers between teammates, and even brought cookies back to team meals, previously banned under Kiffin.dddddddddddd When Kiffin was fired, Orgeron was the longest of shots to become the permanent head coach. One month and a 3-0 conference record later, and he deserves to be the frontrunner. Some other notes from around the NCAA: Is there any turnaround more stunning than Auburns? Last season, the Tigers were 3-9, and 0-8 in the SEC. This season, Auburn has won five straight games and sports an 8-1 record. The offence has scored 41 touchdowns in nine games, after scoring just 24 all of last year. Ninth in the BCS standings, Auburns Iron Bowl date with Alabama looms large. Win, and the Tigers could get an SEC title shot. A remarkable turnaround in the programs first year under Gus Malzahn. There may be no hotter player in the country than QB Jordan Lynch. Last week in the Huskies rout of UMass, the senior threw for a touchdown, and ran for four more. The week before, Northern Illinois pivot threw for four touchdowns, rushed for one, and even caught one against Eastern Michigan. In the last three games, Lynch has been responsible for 14 total touchdowns running and passing. Thats more than 106 teams have scored in any way over that same span. Even playing in a conference like the MAC, Lynch deserves serious consideration from Heisman voters. Logan Thomas season of disappointment continues at Virginia Tech. Thomas turned the ball over four times in the Hokies 34-27 loss to Boston College last week. It was Techs second loss in as many weeks, and Thomas has now thrown 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions on the season. The senior leads the FBS with 33 turnovers since the start of last season, a remarkable fact for a former 4-star recruit. Most concerning for Frank Beamers team, the Hokies are 10-12 when Thomas throws an interception, 14-0 when he doesnt. The performance of Michigan States defence in last Saturdays 29-6 win over Michigan was simply historic. The Spartans held the Wolverines to 168 total yards en route to Michigans worst loss in the rivalry since 1967. On the strength of seven sacks, Michigan finished with minus 48 yards rushing, their worst output on the ground in the history of the program. Even without the sacks, MSU held the Wolverines to just a single yard on 22 carries. Michigan State leads the nation in total defence, and ranks 3rd and 4th in scoring and passing, respectively. Theyre allowing 43.4 yards rushing per game, a number that isnt just best in the country, but would also be tied for best in the last decade. With a 5-0 mark in the Big Ten, and an 8-1 record on the season, the Spartans should be headed to the conference championship, setting up an intriguing matchup with Ohio State. ' ' '