straight or by facing a hotshot young goalie
straight or by facing a hotshot young goalie
MINNEAPOLIS - Austin Daye had played a grand total of 6 minutes, 43 seconds in the previous nine games when the San Antonio forward found out 20 minutes before the game against Minnesota that he would be in the starting lineup. Sabres Jerseys 2021 .Like a pitcher with good numbers against a particular hitter in baseball, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went with a guy who has played his best against the Timberwolves. Then again, with the Wolves riding a losing streak that has lasted for a full month now, thats not saying a whole lot.Daye scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to help the Spurs hand the Timberwolves their 15th straight loss, 108-93 on Saturday night.Pop believes in all his players and you know hell throw you into weird situations at any time, said Daye, who has scored 35 of his 96 total points this season in two games against Minnesota. So you just got to be ready.Patty Mills scored 19 points and Tim Duncan added 13 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes for the Spurs (23-15), who were missing Manu Ginobili and Marco Belinelli with injuries.Gorgui Dieng had 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Timberwolves (5-31), who were missing Shabazz Muhammad with an abdominal injury in addition to the long-term absences of Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin. Minnesota hasnt won since Dec. 10 and is tied with New York for the longest active losing streak in the NBA.Andrew Wiggins finished with 18 points for the Wolves. That snapped a streak of six 20-point games for the No. 1 overall pick.Its time we all need to realize that we need to take this very personal, Dieng said. We just need to play harder to win games.Ginobili was out with back spasms and Belinelli had a groin injury. But playing a man or two down has never bothered them and they certainly werent going to worry about it against a young, defensively inept Timberwolves team.And the Spurs dont have time to take it easy on anyone. They entered the night seventh in the Western Conference and just havent really been able to get going yet after winning the franchises fifth championship in June. Theyve mostly traded wins and losses for the last month and havent won more than two in a row since an eight-game winning streak ended on Dec. 3.Thats not going to cut it out West, but the Spurs have been together long enough to know when they need to put their feet on the gas. They are awaiting the return of Kawhi Leonard, who hasnt played since Dec. 17 because of an injured right hand and Tony Parker is still getting up to speed while being bothered by a gimpy hamstring.Were disappointed were in the position we are, said Popovich, whose Spurs are in seventh in the West thanks to an 8-10 December. We lost some games we could have won. And we were just injured at the wrong time. December was a heck of a month for us schedule-wise, and being injured at that time was tough. So now we have to suck it up and try to catch up with some guys.They had more than enough against the undermanned Wolves, who are three losses away from tying the franchise record for longest losing skid.The Spurs closed the first quarter on a 15-4 run and never looked back, carving up Minnesotas woeful defence with cuts to the basket and curls around screens to generate wide open jumpers.Daye hit 4 of 8 3-pointers and Cory Joseph added 12 points and five assists off the bench.TIP-INSSpurs: The Spurs used their 21st starting lineup of the season. Thats the most in the NBA. ... It was the fifth time this season the Spurs held a team under 40 per cent shooting.Timberwolves: One night after missing the loss in Milwaukee with a sprained right ankle, PG Mo Williams had 10 points on 2-for-10 shooting. ... The Wolves set a franchise record by going 26 for 26 on free throws.POP BEING POPPopovich was at his sarcastic best on Saturday night.Q: Would you like to see Daye play like that more often?A: No I hope he plays like crap.Q: How much energy did he give?A: I think 44.5-foot pounds of; exactly, I dont have the same formula.UP NEXTSpurs: Visit Washington on Tuesday night.Timberwolves: Visit Indiana on Tuesday night. Buffalo Sabres Shirts . PETERSBURG, Fla. Stitched Sabres Jerseys . Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema scored two goals each Wednesday night in a 6-1 rout of Schalke in the first leg of their second-round matchup. "We played a very, very good match," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We got well into the match, scored two early goals and that opened the game and left us able to counter and to use the speed of our players. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ . The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom. Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances.EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. – Darryl Sutter was at his sarcastic best on Sunday. "Yeah, Im not rattled," the Los Angeles Kings head coach said when asked about overcoming the Game 4 loss to Anaheim. "Im just thankful Im alive today. Im fortunate to pull through after the devastating loss last night." Sutter joked that he almost didnt make it to his daily media interrogation. "They had to get me up – Radar and Hawkeye had to get me up to come here today," said Sutter, referencing characters from the television show M*A*S*H. The point was clear: this is a veteran coach with a veteran team that isnt about to be fazed by losing two straight or by facing a hotshot young goalie. The Kings lost 20 games during the regular season when outshooting an opponent. Only the New York Rangers (22) and Calgary Flames (21) were ahead of them in that category. So what happened on Saturday night, when they outshot the Ducks 28-14 overall and 19-3 over the last two periods, but still came out on the short end of the scoreboard, is old hat and thus not worth losing too much sleep over. "Pretty nice out here today," said forward Jarret Stoll. "Sun came out. Its Mothers Day and my moms here so itll be a good off day." Meanwhile, about 30 miles down the road in Anaheim, John Gibson had already been named the Ducks starter for Game 5. Only hours earlier he had become the youngest goalie in NHL history to post a shutout in his playoff debut. It was only his fourth career NHL game. Hes stopped 111 of the 115 shots faced in those games (.965 save percentage). It has been a remarkable start to the 20-year-olds career. "I know hes calm and cool or whatever, but its our job to make his job a lot harder," said Kings forward Mike Richards. "Its a lot of pressure to put on a young kid [playing him in this series] and you can say it all you want, Hes calm, cool, but if we start getting bodies in front we dont know how hes going to react." Los Angeles had 25 shots blocked on Saturday and missed on 18 other attempts. "Most of the goalies in the league are pretty much the same," said defenceman Drew Doughty. "We have a little sheet that we [get] before the game and its pretty much the same things: whether he handles the puck well, hes usually not good in traffic like any goalie, not good with screens, tips, so thats exactly what we have to do. We have to get the ssecond opportunities and put them in. Fake Sabres Jerseys. We just got to bear down and get more goals. "It shouldnt matter whos in net." Thats basically the exact same message players on the Ducks were telling anyone who would listen after they dropped the first two games at home despite outshooting the Kings and controlling the lions share of possession. Now the shoe is very much on the other foot. "The playoffs, really, is about scoring big goals and we were doing that early in the series and winning games that way and theyre doing that now," Doughty said. "We want to have possession of the puck and take control of the game like we did in the last two periods last night, but we got to score big goals." Considering the Kings track record and championship pedigree they are far from flustered. After staring into the abyss of an 0-3 deficit in the last round against the San Jose Sharks they arent about to let a rookie goalie get in their heads. So there was no cram session on Sunday featuring video of Gibson. After all, Gibson isnt the issue. "I dont think weve played poorly," said Richards, "but we just havent gotten to that desperation level that we had in San Jose where youre just fighting for every inch on the ice, and I think thats that mentality that we have to get back to." The Kings will get a chance to up their intensity level on Monday night at the Honda Center when the series resumes. But Sunday was all about mothers. And Sutter had already placed a call to his mom before meeting with the media. "Yeah, I did," he acknowledged. "But she was in church. I shouldve known to call later. Thats the last thing I told the players. Make sure they talk to their moms or a mother in their life today." Stoll wont have to make a call. His mom, Sherri, is in town and he planned on spending the day with her. "She loved the cowbell," said Stoll, a Saskatchewan native, when asked about his favourite hockey-mom memory. "We had a group of parents who were the loudest group of parents who followed their sons around and my mom had the big cowbell that shed hammer on and Im sure it was pretty annoying for some people and you look up in the stands and Im like, Thats my mom." As for Sutter, he was asked if had any special plans for Mothers Day. "Oh no," he said sarcastically. "Im going to go watch some video on Gibson." ' ' '