So much for Bostons grim outlook once Rajon Rondo was lost for the season.

PHILADELPHIA -- So much for Bostons grim outlook once Rajon Rondo was lost for the season. Nike Free Laufschuhe Damen. Avery Bradley has followed the trusted blueprint of dogged defence and impact scoring to help push the Celtics up the standings. Bradley scored a season-high 22 points, and Paul Pierce had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 109-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. Kevin Garnett scored 18 points to help the Celtics improve to 12-4 since Rondo was lost with a torn knee ligament. The Celtics entered in seventh place, but were no more than two games behind the next three teams ahead in the standings. Bradley was 10 of 15 and chipped in seven rebounds and five assists, the kind of numbers needed for the Celtics to slip into a coveted top-four spot for the playoffs. "My teammates have confidence in me and I have confidence in myself," Bradley said. "When I have an open shot, I have to take it. Thats how we play on this team. It helps us when I do that." Led by Pierce, the Celtics controlled the game and used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to seal the win. Last May, these two teams went to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. On Wednesday, the Sixers lost for the ninth time in 10 games and are well out of the playoff race. Jrue Holiday had 18 points and 10 assists for the Sixers, and Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Evan Turner scored 18 points. "We kept competing, trying to bring effort," Turner said. "But its rough. They hit 3s and made some tough shots." The Sixers beat the Celtics twice this season after stretching the Celtics to seven games in last years playoff series. But the Sixers are a team in free-fall because of injuries and a roster ill-equipped to handle the losses of post-season standouts Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams. There was some mild concern late in the fourth period when Holiday, their All-Star point guard, was hurt. Holiday grabbed his right ankle and hobbled back on defence after an awkward drive. He hopped on one foot after a steal attempt went nowhere, but did stay in the game. Nothing much went right for the Sixers. "We just missed too many easy shots," said Royal Ivey, who scored 10 points. Like so many teams over the last 15 years, the Sixers had no real answer for Pierce. He hit his first four 3-point attempts, each one more crushing than the last. When the Sixers went on a mini-run to close within eight, Pierce and Jason Terry connected on consecutive 3s to build a comfortable lead. Pierce had averaged 21.8 points over 54 career games against the 76ers. At one point in the first half, both teams were 15 of 32 from the field. The Celtics found other ways to separate themselves from the Sixers: Boston went to the free-throw line and made 3s. The Sixers missed 9 of 11 3-point attempts in the first half and were 0 for 3 from the free-throw line. The Sixers finished 5 of 21 on 3s and 14 of 18 on foul shots They did score 64 points in the paint. But they only made 41 of a whopping 100 shots from the floor. The Celtics shot a solid 5 per cent in the third (11 of 20) and 53 per cent (10 of 19) in the fourth to methodically build to a 15-point lead. "It was who could score the most. Thats not the way we want to play the game," Garnett said. Boston got sloppy at the end of the third quarter and had three turnovers in the final 90 seconds. That helped the Sixers score six straight points and slice the lead to five. Jordan Crawford opened the fourth period with a pair of 3-pointers that made it 91-76 and the Celtics never let up from there. Crawfords points and production off the bench were needed for a veteran team with another game Wednesday night at Indiana. He scored 12 points and fellow reserve Jeff Green added 16. Pierces perfection helped the Celtics go 11 of 19 from 3-point range. "Thats the new us in a lot of ways, the ball finds the open guy," coach Doc Rivers said. "Its simple, but its hard to do unless you buy in. Everyone has bought in." NOTES: Injured 76ers C Andrew Bynum (knees) was re-examined in New York on Tuesday by Dr. David Altchek. GM Tony DiLeo said surgery remained an option. ... Sixers G Nick Young (sprained left ankle) did not play. ... The 76ers will play two preseason games in Europe. Theyll play Uxue Bilbao on Oct. 6 in Bilbao, Spain, and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 8 in Manchester, England. Nike Free Kaufen Günstig.C. -- Zac Dalpe had two short-handed goals and two assists as the Charlotte Checkers defeated the Abbotsford Heat 5-1 in American Hockey League action Friday. Nike Free.A. Dickey, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The deal remains contingent on the Jays ability to sign Dickey to an extension within a 72-hour negotiating window which expires Tuesday at 2pm et. http://www.nikefreeschuheshop.de/. -- Graham Zusi scored two goals, and Sporting Kansas City clinched a playoff spot with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire on Friday night. Nike Free Run Damen Lila. Kafka was released Friday afternoon, leaving Edwards and rookie Nick Foles behind Michael Vick on the depth chart. Nike Free Run Günstig. The San Diego Padres havent found the right formula. Cole Hamels tossed eight dominant innings and the Phillies beat the Padres for the eighth straight time, 3-1 on Friday night. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Tennessee Titans strategy was simple -- put on spy on Cam Newton and try to confuse him. It worked to perfection. Tennessees defence left the rookie shaking his head in disbelief after its 30-3 rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The Titans (5-4) sacked Newton five times, intercepted him once and took away Carolinas downfield passing game. Carolina came in ranked fifth in the league on offence and first in plays of 20-plus yards, but the Titans limited Newton to 209 yards passing and held Steve Smiths, the NFCs leading receiver, to 33 yards. Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 130 yards and scored a touchdown, most of his yards coming in the second half after the Tennessee defence had set the tone. The Titans sacked Newton four times on first down and put the Panthers in several third-and-long situations. "(Newton) holds the ball," said defensive tackle Jurrell Casey. "If a quarterback is going to hold onto the ball like that, were going to get to him. We kept him in the pocket. He couldnt do anything but sit there. Having the spy on him meant he couldnt run, and our guys got to him." After the game, Newton still seemed confused over what the Titans did exactly to disrupt what had been a potent offence throughout the first half of the season. Newton said he couldnt remember playing quarterback in a game in which his team didnt score a touchdown. "Never, ever, ever," Newton said. Newtons longest completion was 19 yards, and the Panthers failed to pick up a first down on seven of their 13 possessions. "This is embarrassing, man," Newton repeated three times while shaking his head. "This is as poor of a performance as a team as Ive ever seen. Poor performance by myself. Theres no pointing fingers without looking at yourself and asking yourself what you could have done better. I know I could have done a lot of things better. Its a reality check, thats what it is. " The Panthers (2-7) came in averaging 415 yards and more than 23 points per game behind a big-play offence, but Tennessees defence completely took away their downfield passing game -- and just about everything else. At times Newton rolled out in the pocket and couldnt find anyone to throw the ball to. "The thing is, Cam has the ability to extend plays, then slingshot one down the field 50 or 60 yards," said Titans safety Jordan Babineaux. "We knew coming into the game they had some down-the-field threats, and we couldnt let No. 1 get comfortable. We did a good job of harassing him and making sure he didnt have time to get back on his feet and make accurate throws." The Titans finally got Johnson involved in the offence. He came in with only 366 yards rushing, but had 174 yards from scrimmage and eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time since Oct. 2. Johnson had 104 yards rushing in the secoond half and scored his second touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Nike Free Run Damen Johnsons touchdown was set up by Matt Hasselbeck, who scampered 21 yards on a quarterback bootleg before getting knocked out of bounds at the Carolina 1 without much of an effort from the veteran to score. As Johnson entered the media room, Hasselbeck walked out and yelled, "Fantasy points!" "Matt told me I was on his fantasy team, and that he stepped out at the 1 to help me get in the end zone," Johnson said with a laugh. "So everyone has to thank Matt and all the fantasy owners." Said Titans coach Mike Munchak: "We finally gave him carries. This was one of those games we have been waiting for." The Titans piled up 172 yards on the ground. "We were on the same page as an offence, executing plays," Johnson said. "Some of the plays we ran in the second half, wed run in the first half and didnt have a lot of success. There are those situations as an offensive line and as a running back to get more of those opportunities to run the same plays, and eventually, it will work out." The Panthers appeared to be sleepwalking early on after coming off a bye week. After Carolina went three-and-out on its first possession, Marc Mariani returned Jason Bakers punt 79 yards for a 7-0 lead. It was the third long punt return for a touchdown allowed by the Panthers this season and the 11th against Baker, the most of any active punter in the NFL. Tennessee quickly made it 14-0 on its first possession when Damian Williams turned a short pass from Hasselbeck into a 43-yard scoring play after defensive backs Sherrod Martin and Darius Butler missed tackles. Williams finished with 107 yards receiving. Hasselbeck was 15 of 27 for 219 yards with his only mistake, a third-quarter interception, leading to a Carolina field goal. Even then, the Tennessee defence held after the Panthers took over deep in Titans territory. Five of Carolinas eight first-half drives ended in three-and-outs and two others were halted by costly mistakes by tight end Greg Olsen. Olsen fumbled in the red zone early on then dropped an easy 16-yard reception late in the first half that would have made for a short field goal attempt by Olindo Mare. Instead, Mare missed the ensuing 50-yard kick on the final play of the first half, and the Titans took a 17-0 lead into the locker room. "We didnt do anything right," Olsen said. "There isnt one thing that we can hang our hat on. It was just an overall pathetic effort by us." NOTES: Rob Bironas 38-yard field goal in the second quarter was the 200th of his career. ... Chris Gambles third-quarter interception was the 26th of his career, giving him the Panthers all-time franchise record... The Panthers are 4-21 over their last 25 games. ' ' '

Posted by iertioy on Tue, 07/02/2013 - 11:36pm