Diskussionsbereich » Abraham last March proved to be a bad decision

NEW ORLEANS -- Gerald Green scored 21 points, and the Phoenix Suns won their third straight game, 94-88 over New Orleans on Wednesday night. Goran Dragic had 20 points and nine assists for the Suns, who are clinging to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Eric Bledsoe added 16 points and P.J. Tucker 15 for the Suns, who handed the Pelicans their sixth straight loss. Rookie centre Jeff Withey had a career-high 17 points for the Pelicans, who were without Anthony Davis because of the All-Star forwards sore back. Anthony Morrow and Darius Miller each scored 14 for New Orleans, which turned a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit into a brief three-point lead before consecutive jumpers by Bledsoe and Markieff Morris with less than two minutes remaining gave Phoenix the lead for good. The game was close for most of the third quarter and New Orleans led 55-54 after Witheys three-point play on a layup as he was fouled. But Bledsoes pull-up jumper, driving layup and 3-pointer helped fuel a 13-2 run that put the Suns up 67-57. Greens second 3 of the game gave Phoenix a 71-64 lead to end the third quarter, and Greens third 3 made it 74-64 early in the fourth. The Pelicans put together a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to surge into the lead. Morrow capped the spurt with a transition 3 and a technical free throw after Green argued with officials over a foul call. New Orleans still led by a basket and was looking for more in transition when Beldsoe hustled back on defence, sneaking in from behind to intercept Austin Rivers cross-court pass. Beldsoe then turned and dribbled back across halfcourt before lobbing a long pass to Dragic for a short baseline jumper that tied it at 87 with 2:38 to go. New Orleans had one more brief lead on Tyreke Evans free throw before the Suns surged in front for good. Phoenix scored the first eight points of the game and took its first double-digit lead in the opening period when Tuckers short turnaround jumper made it 19-8. New Orleans responded by scoring the first eight points of the second quarter -- four each by Withey and Rivers -- to pull to 23-22. Withey and Miller each ended up with 10 first-half points apiece for the Pelicans, and Miller briefly gave New Orleans the lead on a 14-foot step-back jumper that made it 42-40. Soon after, however, Green dunked and hit a 3, helping the Suns take a 47-46 lead into halftime. Notes: Luke Babbitt had a season-high 12 points for New Orleans. ... Phoenix won all four meetings with the Pelicans this season. ... The Suns have won eight of their past 10 against New Orleans. NFL Jerseys Sale . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Austin Watson, Scott Ford, Filip Forsberg and Mark Van Guilder had the other goals for the Admirals (30-21-12). Scott Darling made 30 saves for his 10th win of the season. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/. Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes. Wholesale NFL Jerseys USA .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Cheap Football Jerseys . The 25-year-old McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, was eligible to play for either Ireland or Team GB when golf makes its return to the Olympics in Brazil for the first time since 1904.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Coach Mike Smith took his first steps to help the Atlanta Falcons return to NFL relevance, firing defensive line coach Ray Hamilton and offensive line coaches Pat Hill and Paul Dunn on Monday night. One day after ending a 4-12 season, Smith said the team must get tougher to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the line. Smith said that defensive co-ordinator Mike Nolan, offensive co-ordinator Dirk Koetter and special teams co-ordinator Keith Armstrong will return next season. The firings of Hamilton, Hill and Dunn were hardly surprising as Atlantas offensive and defensive lines rarely won game-long battles on the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked a career-high 44 times. Poor play on the defensive line led to Atlanta entering Week 17 ranked last in third-down efficiency, 29th in scoring and 28th in total yards. General manager Thomas Dimitroff lamented "missed assessments" on acquiring some players and letting others go and how those moves affected the entire team. When training camp started, neither Smith nor Dimitroff envisioned holding a news conference to discuss anything worse than a loss in the Super Bowl after the Falcons narrowly lost the NFC title game last season. But injuries to star wideout Julio Jones, left tackle Sam Baker and defensive end Kroy Biermann were too much to overcome. Sean Weatherspoon, supposed to be Atlantas only every-down linebacker, was hurt and limited to just seven games. Receiver Roddy White and running back Steven Jackson played injured most of the season. "We believe we have a talented football team here and that we need to make adjustments," Dimitroff said, ";but I really, truly believe we have the nucleus and the coach and the leadership to turn this around quickly within our off-season.dddddddddddd Though Smith and Dimitroff wouldnt cite specific players, they didnt dispute that the offensive line was a disaster. Peter Konz was overmatched as a starting centre and starting right guard. The right tackle position remained in flux all season, and Lamar Holmes was inconsistent at left tackle. No discrepancy was worse than in the 21-20 season-ending home loss to Carolina. Ryan was sacked nine times and hit 14 others. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was sacked once and hit once. Ryan, as hes done throughout his six-year career, refused to blame his teammates for the poor protection. The two-time Pro Bowl QB, who signed a new five-year, $103.75 million contract last summer that guarantees $59 million, was more disturbed about his interception that Panthers cornerback Melvin White returned for a 3-yard touchdown. "Its the end of the season, and Im healthy, but we all have to improve," Ryan said. "I have to play better. We have to play better up front. We have to play better on the outside. Collectively, we didnt play good enough to win." Atlantas defensive line wasnt much better. Releasing veteran end John Abraham last March proved to be a bad decision after he put up big numbers for Arizona. His replacement, free agent acquisition Osi Umenyiora, was unable to hold onto the role he wanted as an every-down end. But Smith and Dimitroff were proud of the performances of rookie cornerback Desmond Trufant, a first-round draft pick, and rookie linebacker Paul Worrilow, an undrafted free agent. ' ' '