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Vance Worley has just one win in his l
Topic Started: Dec 6 2012, 07:17 AM (69 Views)
lingzi

OAKLAND, Calif. -- For the second straight night, Patty Mills showed San Antonio hes capable of scoring in bunches. The timing is good, too, with the Spurs racing into the post-season as the top seed in the West -- even though Mills will be back in a reserve role. On a night San Antonio played without its top three players and coach Gregg Popovich, Mills looked a lot like the player many have compared to Spurs teammate Tony Parker. While Parker joined Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili back in San Antonio to rest for the playoffs, Mills had career highs of 34 points and 12 assists to help the short-handed Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 107-101 on Thursday night. "Chances dont come up very often where you send your three big dogs back to San Antonio," Mills said. "I was very pumped to have this opportunity. I felt very comfortable to just slide in there and take it on with both hands." DeJuan Blair had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and James Anderson added 19 points for San Antonio (50-16), which finished with the best record in the Western Conference despite having one of the leagues oldest rosters. The Spurs host Utah in the first round of the playoffs beginning Sunday and head into the post-season on quite a roll. Theyve won 10 straight and 21 of 23 overall, even though Popovich has been resting his starters for much of the past two weeks. Popovich wasnt at the game in Golden State but had to have liked what he saw from Mills. Mills scored 14 points in the first quarter, then made three key baskets in the final four minutes, including a clinching 19-foot fadeaway jumper with 14 seconds left to help San Antonio sweep the three-game series. Mills big night came 24 hours after he set his previous career high of 27 points in the Spurs 110-106 win over Phoenix. "For some of us, we werent as familiar with him," said San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer, who coached in place of Popovich. "To see it firsthand, hes been pretty impressive. Hes helped us down the stretch for the last two or three weeks." Now the Spurs can turn their attention to the post-season and a march toward a fifth NBA title. Golden State, on the other hand, is focused on the draft lottery. The Warriors (23-43) tied New Jersey for the seventh-worst record in the NBA. A draw will be held Friday to determine which team gets the higher seeding. In Golden States case, it could mean the difference between retaining its first-round pick in the draft or losing it to the Utah Jazz. "Now that its over, youve got to look at it that way," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. "But in the middle of it we were trying to win. The process is now over and were pulling for a high pick." The Warriors, decimated by injuries, were also short-handed and became the first NBA team in modern history to start five rookies in one game. Already missing point guard Stephen Curry (ankle surgery), forward David Lee (abdominal surgery) and centre Andrew Bogut (ankle), Golden State also held out forward Dorell Wright (right ankle sprain), centre Andris Biedrins (mild concussion) and guard Nate Robinson (hamstring) in the finale. Jackson, who played 17 seasons in the NBA, might have been tempted to suit up, so thin was the Warriors roster. Instead, he fielded a unit of guards Klay Thompson and Charles Jenkins, forwards Chris Wright and Jeremy Tyler, and Mickell Gladness at centre. Thompson, Jenkins and Tyler are all Warriors draft picks, while Wright was a training camp invitee and Gladness joined the team after signing a 10-day contract earlier this month. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, which has been tracking the stat since the 1970-71 season, its the first time an NBA team has started five rookies in a game. Chris Wright led Golden State with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Thompson scored 17 points. With all of the inexperience on the court -- San Antonio started four players with two years or less in the NBA -- the game got sloppy at times. The lack of experience didnt bother Golden States youngsters early on. All five rookies played the entire first quarter and helped the Warriors overcome an early seven-point deficit to take a 29-27 lead. "Us rookies, its going to pay dividends for how much we played throughout the season," Thompson said. "Chris Wright got his opportunity tonight and ran with it." Thompson made a 3-pointer that put Golden State up 44-41 midway through the second, then Gladness later hit a one-handed runner in the lane to make it 52-47. Mills, who had 14 points in the opening period, pulled the Spurs within 54-53 at halftime after making a 20-foot jumper at the buzzer. San Antonio came back behind Mills and led for most of the third quarter but couldnt shake the Warriors until late in the fourth quarter. Notes: Lee underwent successful surgery earlier Thursday in Philadelphia to repair torn abdominal and abductor muscles. The injury sidelined Lee for the Warriors final eight games. He will be restricted from on-court activities for 4-6 weeks. ... Despite its troubles on the court, Golden State finished with the third-highest average attendance in franchise history (18,858). ... A Warrior fan was given the opportunity to win $1 million at the end of the third quarter but the man, an Oakland citizen, missed the shot from three-quarters court. PHILADELPHIA -- Juan Pierre took an Olympic-sized dose of inspiration watching Usain Bolt sprint to gold. He took off on a 90-foot dash to his own finish line at first base. No medals, just a needed victory for the Phillies. Pierre beat out a run-scoring infield single in the 11th inning, lifting Phillies to an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. "Once I hit it, I was like, Get to the bag," Pierre said. Pierre hit a ball deep into the hole that shortstop Rafael Furcal made a great stab at and fired to first. Pierre, who enjoyed watching Bolt compete, just beat the throw to score Jimmy Rollins and help the Phillies win two of three against the Cardinals. "I played with Furcal so I knew what kind of arm he had," Pierre said. "Guys are saying he slipped a little bit and couldnt get that much on the throw. He still got a lot on it, but not enough, and it happened to work out. Rollins reached against Barret Browning (0-2) on a fielders choice. He advanced to second base on a grounder and then stole third. Without that stolen base, the game was going to the 12th. Without Erik Kratz, the Phillies were going home losers. Kratz delivered again in the clutch for the Phillies with a three-run homer off Mitchell Boggs in the eighth that tied the game 7-all. He continued his role as unlikely star for the Phillies and delivered one of his biggest hits yet. Chase Utley and Howard walked against Marc Rzepczynski to lead off the eighth. Kratz then connected for the tying homer, his fifth, to left that sent the crowd into a frenzy. The 32-year-old Kratz was a minor league journeyman pressed into the big leagues when reserve catcher Brian Schneider was injured. Kratz has become a fan favourite because of his instant production (9 of first 13 hits for extra bases) and feel-good story. "You want to be the guy that gets called up," Kratz said. "Youre not going to sit there and just stay complacent. Youre going to give everything you have and want to get your uniform dirty to win the game. You want to be asked to be put in that spot." So close to victory, the Cardinals head home with a tough loss to deal with as they try and make ground in their playoff push. "Pierre showed his speed. I thought he would be out," Browning said. "All losses are tough, but this one hurts a little more." Ryan Howarrd also homered for the Phillies.dddddddddddd Matt Carpenter had three RBIs for the Cardinals. Jeremy Horst (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings for his first major league victory in a game that lasted 3 hours, 53 minutes. Kratzs tying shot was the breakthrough the Phillies needed against a tough Cardinals bullpen. Jon Jay hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning and Carpenter followed with an RBI single to make it 7-4. Cardinals relievers had held the Phillies scoreless until the eighth after they scored four runs against starter Lance Lynn. Howard, who missed 84 games after rupturing his left Achilles tendon while making the final out of the NL division series last October, had little to worry about on his home run trot. His solo shot to left-centre, his seventh, tied the game at 4 in the fourth inning. The game appeared headed toward a back-and-forth high scoring game -- and returned to that flavour over the final three innings. Lynn entered leading the National League with a 6.77 run support average and his 23rd start of the season was trending that way. The Phillies roughed up Lynn with a three-run first. Utleys two-RBI triple made it 2-1 and Howard followed with a shot off second baseman Daniel Descalsos glove for a run-scoring single. Lynn, a 13-game winner, allowed four runs in five innings and is winless in his last three starts. "Weve had series like this all season and they are tough losses," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. The Cardinals did what they could to put Lynn in position for win No. 14. Carlos Beltran doubled to right for his NL-best 83rd RBI in the third to cut it to 3-2. The Cardinals scored the tying run in the fourth on a throwing error by Kratz and went up 4-3 on Carpenters RBI single to centre. Carpenter wasted little time putting the Cardinals up 1-0 in the first when he ripped one into the right-centre gap for an RBI double. Vance Worley has just one win in his last five starts and had another rough outing Sunday. He allowed nine hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings -- one start after he was chased by Atlanta in the fourth inning. Hes battled bone chips that caused a stint on the DL and a string of mediocre starts. NOTES: The Phillies finished 5-4 on their homestand. ... The Cardinals head to St. Louis to open a nine-game game homestand. ... The Phillies are 5-9 in extra innings; the Cardinals 3-8. ' ' '
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