Post by jenny123 on Jan 7, 2014 23:08:06 GMT -5
ATLANTA -- The weary Golden State Warriors managed to put together quite the finale to an impressive seven-game road trip. They sure look like one of the top teams out West. David Lee had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Warriors beat the listless Atlanta Hawks 115-93 on Saturday night. Stephen Curry collected 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for Golden State, which went in front to stay in the second quarter. Harrison Barnes and Carl Landry each had 19 points. The Warriors capped a 6-1 tour against Eastern Conference teams, including a win at Miami. It was the teams first winning trip of at least six games since a 4-3 trip in the 1970-71 season. "It was important for us to do that to show that were for real and were going to be here for the long haul," coach Mark Jackson said. "It was a quality, quality effort." Golden State (16-8) closed the long trip with back-to-back games, including a loss at Orlando on Friday night. "I told them before the game Im tired so I know theyre tired," Jackson said. "Physically beat up, ready to get home. Thats no excuse; 6-1 sounds better than 5-2. The good teams make sure that they finish the course. "Even though its a legitimate excuse about fatigue, we didnt allow it to take over us." Jarrett Jack, who had 13 points, said the Warriors were determined to avoid a losing streak. "We didnt want to go back with two losses in a row," Jack said, adding players told each other: "Lets give it everything in the tank." The Hawks, who fell out of a first-place tie with Miami in the Southeast Division, looked like the fatigued team. "That was probably one of our worst games all year from the standpoint of just our energy," coach Larry Drew said. "We didnt have it. For some reason, we did not have the energy. We were a step late with a lot of things and we shot short." Al Horford led Atlanta with 17 points. Lou Williams scored 16 and Ivan Johnson had 15 points and nine rebounds. The Warriors set season highs for points and assists (32). "I was really proud of our guys," Lee said. "Everybody brought it." The Warriors shot 49.5 per cent (49 of 99) from the field. "Give them credit. They were on fire," Atlantas Zaza Pachulia said. "They did a good job and we didnt." The Hawks had won 11 of 13 but quickly dropped off the pace after the teams played to a 26-all tie in the first quarter. The Warriors grabbed control when they outscored the Hawks 36-23 in the second period. Barnes gave Golden State the lead for good when he opened the period with his first of two straight 3-pointers. No Hawks starter logged 30 minutes, and backups played most of the final period. Golden State completed a sweep of its two-game season series against Atlanta. It was Lees seventh straight game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Drew was called for a technical foul as he protested a play at the end of the first half. No foul was called as Jeff Teague was knocked to the floor on a missed layup. Drew charged from the bench and drew the technical as he was restrained by his assistants. Curry made the free throw awarded for the technical foul to open the second half. Warriors rookie centre Festus Ezeli was held out due to a bruised right knee. He banged his knee in Friday nights loss at Orlando and had difficulty loosening up in pregame drills. Andris Biedrins filled in for Ezeli and had seven rebounds and no points in his first start of the season. Josh Smith had a difficult night for Atlanta. He was 1 for 12 from the field for three points while playing only 24 minutes. "If youve ever played basketball, you know youre going to have games when you dont make shots," Smith said. "Tonight was my game." Smith wasnt alone. Teague made only 3 of 11 shots and the Hawks shot a season-low 36.9 per cent from the field. NOTES: Newly retired Braves 3B Chipper Jones attended the game with two of his sons. ... Lee has scored 20 or more points in eight straight games, the longest streak of his career. ... Hawks G Anthony Morrow (sore back) did not play. ... The Warriors continue to be without C Andrew Bogut, who is recovering from ankle surgery, and G Brandon Rush, who is out for the year with an injured left knee. Cam Newton Limited Jersey . Canada opened competition in Pool B with a 4-3 win over Mongolia. Calgarys Carol Huynh, Tonya Verbeek of Grimsby, Ont., Michelle Fazzari of St. Catharines, Ont., and Calgarys Leah Callahan all won their matches to secure Canadas victory. Panthers Cam Newton Jersey .A. Dickey is still searching for the winning formula at Rogers Centre as he prepares to make his 13th home start of the season on Sunday. www.jerseycamnewton.com/ . -- Enter the Toronto Blue Jays spring training clubhouse, turn right and youll find Darren Oliver. Cam Newton Camo Jersey . Crazy games at Coors Field wont be one of them. "This place," Jones said, shaking his head. Cam Newton Jersey . Burfict had hit defenceless Packers receiver James Jones in the head and neck area, which cost him $21,000, and then struck Green Bay tight end Ryan Taylor, costing him $10,000. LAS VEGAS -- Race car drivers always know the worst can happen whenever they get behind the wheel. On Sunday, it happened to one of IndyCars biggest and most popular stars. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and hit the catch fence just outside turn 2 in a season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "Things happen in this kind of racing," said Wade Cunningham, also caught up in the wreck. "Its so close. Not much room for error. I was near the front of what caused all this, so Im not thrilled about it. At this point, whose fault it was is kind of immaterial." The green flag had barely stopped waving when disaster struck. Wheldon, driving from the back of the field for a chance at US$5 million, was in the middle of the pack when he drove into a tangle of cars careening off each other in every direction. Unable to avoid the massive wreck unfolding before him, Wheldon clipped another car and went hurtling through the air, his car bursting into flames as it flew into a fence. After just 11 laps, the race was over. Two hours later, track officials announced that Wheldon was dead. He was 33. "One minute youre joking around at driver intros and the next, Dans gone," said Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer." With the speed -- close to 365 kilometres per hour during practice -- and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race. Chaos started when two cars touched tires and almost no one had time to react. Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt. "When we came around after the caution (flag) was thrown, I cant even describe to you what the scene looked like on the race track from our point of view," rookie driver James Hinchcliffe of Toronto told ABC. "It was unlike anything Id ever seen before in my life." Video replays showed Wheldons car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into whats called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier designed to give a bit when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldons car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene. "Its unfortunate that early on in the race theyve got to be racing so close. ...," Team Penske owner Roger Penske said. "You always worry about those at these mile-and-a-halves at the speed and with this many cars." Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup. Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; news of his death came from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard: "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race." In his honour, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the oval as thousands of fans stood and cheered from the grandstand. Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005. Despite winning this years Indy 500, Wheldon couldnt put together a full-time ride this season. He was racing in Las Vegas on the same team as Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que. "Its a very sad day," Tagliani said on his Twitter account. "He was my little brother from another mother." Also injured in the crash were JR Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. Both will remain in the hospital overnight. IndyCar said Mann was being treated for a burn to her right pinkie finger and will be released Monday morning; Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation. Power was evaluated and released. An autopsy was planned Monday for Wheldon. "Ill tell you, Ive never seen anything like it," Ryan Briscoe said. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because theres just stuff everywhere.dddddddddddd Crazy." IndyCar has not had a fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006, during a crash in a morning warmup. Wheldon won the race later that day. The accident appeared to start when Cunninghams car swerved on the track and Hildebrand drove over the left rear of Cunninghams car. Hildebrand appeared to go airborne, and Cunninghams car shot up into the wall, setting off a chain reaction among the cars behind him. Some of those cars slowed, others didnt, and others spun in front of Wheldon and Power. There was so much confusion on the track it was hard to tell who was driving what car. Power appeared to fly over Alex Lloyds car, rolling into the catch fence and landing on its right side. His in-car camera showed one of the front tires coming toward him in the cockpit. Wheldon then appeared to drive over a car driven by Torontos Paul Tracy, who seemed to be slowing down. Wheldon, however, went airborne and spun into the fence. "It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible," said Danica Patrick, making her final IndyCar start. "It was debris everywhere across the whole track. You could smell the smoke. You could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered." Wheldon landed in the Las Vegas race thanks to Bernards promise of $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. Although there were no takers, Bernard refused to scrap the idea and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize, which would have been split with a fan. Asked about speed after the crash, Wheldons former boss Chip Ganassi said, "Therell be plenty of time in the off-season to talk about that. Now is not the time to talk about that." And Franchitti said: "I agree. Well discuss that and sort it out." But driver Oriol Servia didnt mince words: "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because thats what we do," he said. "We knew if could happen, but its just really sad." Wheldon had been providing blog posts for USA Today in the days leading up to the Las Vegas race, and in one posted Saturday to the newspapers website he spoke of how he expected Sunday to be "pure entertainment." "This is going to be an amazing show," Wheldon wrote. "The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. Its going to be a pack race, and you never know how thats going to turn out." The accident spoiled what Bernard had hoped would be a showcase event for the struggling IndyCar Series. The second-year CEO worked the entire season on turning the finale into a spectacle, and said he would offer his resignation to the IndyCar board of directors if ABCs broadcast didnt pull a .8 ranking. His goal was to improve upon last years season finales horrible television rating and give the series some momentum for a strong season in 2013 with the introduction of a new car and new manufacturers. So Bernard poured everything into Las Vegas, renting the speedway from owner Bruton Smith and agreeing to promote the event himself. He landed enough sponsorship to at least break even on race, and the $5 million challenge bought him an enormous amount of publicity the entire year. Bernard got the Las Vegas Strip to close to stage a parade of cars, hosted industry parties and a blackjack tournament all to boost interest in the race. He even got MGM Grand Resorts to offer a pair of tickets to anyone staying this weekend in one of the chains 14 properties. But what was hoped to be a day of celebration quickly turned sombre. When drivers returned to the track for the tribute laps, Wheldons No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard. Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the memorial ride. The sound of "Danny Boy" echoed around the track, followed by "Amazing Grace." Hundreds of crew workers from each team stood at attention in honour of Wheldon. "What can you say? Were going to miss him," Ganassi said. "Everybody in IndyCar died a little today." ' ' '