Heat and Blackhawks keep streaks alive

World Baseball Classic
No games played yesterday that weren't already covered but today there is three games. Netherlands and Cuba start second round play in Tokyo at 10pm while Pool C and Pool D begin opening round play. Venezuela will be playing in memory of Hugo Chavez against star studded Dominican Repblic. In Pool D, two countries with similar flags will face-off, Italy and Mexico.
NBA Recap
There was a shitload 14 games last night so this will be quick.
Joe Johnson scored 22 points as the Nets defeated the Bobcats 99-78. I don't if the Nets should be proud of their second half comeback or they should be embarrassed that they were ever trailing against Charlotte.

Irving

The Cavaliers overcame an eight point deficit entering the fourth quarter to beat the Jazz 104-101. Kyrie Irving dropped 20 points while recording 10 assists in the win. For the Jazz, Butler alum Gordon Hayward had 25 points and 7 assists.
Jeff Green hit a layup as time expired in Indiana to give the Celtics a 83-81 win over the Pacers. Kevin Garnett was the leading performer for Boston with 18 points and 10 rebounds and David West had 11 and 16 for Indiana.
Despite a strong fourth quarter the 76ers were not able to overcome a 19 point lead entering that period. Jeff Teague and Al Horford both played strong for the Hawks in the win with Teague having 27 points and 11 assists and Horford scoring 21 and grabbing 12 boards in the 107-96 win.
Lebron James was the hero in Miami hitting a shot with only a few seconds on the clock to give the Heat a 97-96 win. He scored 26 points on the night but his performance was outmatched by Nikola Vucevic, who scored 25 points while grabbing 21 rebounds.
The Knicks and Pistons entered the forth quarter tied but the Knicks pulled away for an 87-77 win. Raymond Felton scored 26 points for the night and it was an overly unimpressive night for everyone else.
Marc Gasol's double-double (23 P, 12 R) was crucial in the Grizzlies' 91-85 defeat of the Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard scored 20 for Portland.
Kobe Bryant had a huge night dropping 42 points and dishing out 12 assists in the Lakers' 108-102 win in New Orleans. Dwight Howard also played well scoring 20 and getting 15 boards. Al-Farouq Aminu had 12 points with 16 boards for the Hornets.
Honestly nobody cared about this game; the Timberwolves defeated the Wizards 87-82 at home. Derrick Williams had 16 points and 8 rebounds for the T-Wolves while John Wall went for 19 points and 7 assists.
Dirk Nowitzki and OJ Mayo both scored 22 as the Mavericks defeated the Rockets 112-108 (Wall also had 8 assists). This game was close as hell in the second with each team scoring 27 in the third and 25 in the fourth.

Duncan

The Spurs keep proving their dominance of the NBA with 101-83 defeat of the Spurs. Tim Duncan scored 18 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and teammate Manu Ginobili also scored 18 while dishing out 9 assists coming off the bench. Marco Bleinelli scored 21 for the Bulls.
The Raptors beat the Suns 98-71 in a game between teams with a combined 25-78 record. DeMar DeRozan scored 15 for Toronto and tied for their leading rebounder with an outstanding 6.
Blake Griffin recorded a triple-double of 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in the Clippers 117-101 win over the Bucks. Monta Ellis scored 22 for Milwaukee.
In a surprisingly low game for the Warriors (especially against the sucky Kings), they beat Sacramento 87-83. Jason Thompson scored 17 in the loss for Sacramento while Klay Thompson scored 20 for Golden State.
 

All NBA 3/6/13
Pos	Player	Note
G	Jeff Teague- ATL	Scored 27 points going 10-17 from the field while contributing 11 assists.
G	Kobe Bryant- LAL *PON*	Went off last night for 42 points from 14-21 shooting from field and 11-14 from line. Also had 12 assists and 7 rebounds.
F	Blake Griffin- LAC	Got the triple double with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Shot 9-14 from field.
F	Nikola Vucevic- ORL	Scored 25 points and had 21 (or 20; depending on site) in Magic loss.
C	Al HOrford- ATL	Second Hawk on the list shot 10-17 from field for 21 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. Distributed the ball well for 6 assists.

NHL Recap
The Maple Leafs got off to a fast start leading off with 3 unanswered goals against the Senators (JVR had one of those goals plus an assist). Things changed when Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators in the second to make it 3-1. Zack Smth then scored for Ottawa to begin the third before Toronto scored two to pretty much put things out of reach at 5-2 with 10 minutes left. Ottawa came close to tying it up though scoring twice in the waning moments. James Reimer made 39 saves on a whopping 43 shots to get the 5-4 win.

Carcillo

The Avalanche had a chance to end the Blackhawks point streak when Matt Duchene scored 13 minutes into the second to break a 1-1 tie. Jonathan Toews tied things up when he scored on Semyon Varlamov in the third. Dan Carcillo (a douche from the Flyers) scored with just 50 seconds left (somehow, he really wasn't too impressive in Philly) to give Chicago a 3-2 win.
Roman Cervenka scored for Calgary in the first and Joe Thornton scored for San Jose in the second to set up a third that would (hopefully) decide everything. Calgary made easy work of the third scoring three goals by Blake Comeau, Jarome Iginla, and Curtis Glencross. Mikka Kiprusoff played great saving  32 of 33 shots in the 4-1 win.
Jonas Hiller recorded the shutout stopping every single one of the 18(pathetic for Phoenx) shots that he faced last night. Corey Perry scored the opening goal and Ryan Getzlaf got an empty netter with 20 seconds left to make it 2-0. Getzlaf had assisted earlier on Hiller's goal.

All-NHL 3/6/13
Pos	Player	Injury Note
F	Ryan Getzlaf- ANA	Grabbed a goal and an assist for a two point night as well as finishing at +2. Also had 3 hits, a block, and a takeaway.
F	Leo Komarov- TOR	Didn't get a goal but he used the body for 6 hits and two blocked shots.
F	Bobby Ryan- ANA	Had an assist but played better defense with 4 hits and two takeaways.
F	Colin Greening- OTT	Scored one goal and finished at +1. On defense he had 4 hits, a block, and a takeaway.
D	Chris Phillips- OTT	Finished at +1 despite his team's loss. Had an assist and 6 hits.
D	Brent Seabrook- CHI	Had an assist while blocking three shots. Also hit 5 guys and forced a turnover.
D	Ryan O'Byrne-COL	Played real physical hitting 6 guys and blocking a shot. Finished at +1.
G	Mikka Kiprusoff- CGY	Stopped 32 of 33 shots to finish with a .970 SV%.
G	James Reimer- TOR	Faced a shitload of shots (43) but kept his cool stopping 39 and his offense did enough for the win.

Top Links
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Flyers Comeback; Horford Game-Winner

Winnipeg Jets at Philadelphia Flyers
Feb 22, 2013 1 2 3 F WPG (7-9-1 15P) 1 2 0 3 PHI (9-10-1 19P) 1 1 3 5 Three Stars Brayden Schenn-{PHI-C) 2 Goals, 1 Assists Jakub Voracek- (PHI- RW) 3 Assists Wayne Simmonds (PHI- RW) 1 Goals, 1 Assists	Team Stats Comparison WPG PHI Shots on Goal 37 39 Hits 33 40 Faceoffs Won-Lost 37-63 26-63 Penalty Minutes 26 22 Power Plays Converted 0 3 Power Play Opportunities 4 6
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD WPG 4:48 Evander Kane (6) Assists: Nik Antropov, Dustin Byfuglien PHI 15:18 Brayden Schenn (5) Assists: Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds SECOND PERIOD WPG 2:34 Olli Jokinen (3) Assists: Blake Wheeler WPG 11:13 Alex Burmistrov (3) Assists: Grant Clitsome, Dustin Byfuglien PHI 14:24 Claude Giroux (6) (Powerplay) Assists: Kimmo Timonen, Jakub Voracek THIRD PERIOD PHI 6:18 Brayden Schenn (6) (Powerplay) Assists: Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux PHI 8:57 Wayne Simmonds (7) (Powerplay) Assists: Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek PHI 19:59 Zac Rinaldo (2) (Empty Net; Douche Bag) Assist: Kimmo Timonen

Brayden Schenn had the game of his career yesterday scoring two goals and assisting on another during the Flyers 5-3 win. This game was odd for the fact that both teams were nailed for Too Many Men on the Ice penalties about 30 seconds apart from each other in the second period. The Jets got off to a quick start when Evander Kane scored 5 minutes into the game but "little Schenn" scored with 5 left in the first with help from Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds to send the game 1-1 into the second period. The Second period started off rough for the Flyers as Olli Jokinen and Alex Burmistrov scored unanswered to give the Jets  a 3-1 win. Dustin Byfuglein's assist on Burmistrov's goal was his second of the game (also assisted on Kane's goal). Claude Giroux then scored his 6th goal of the year to cut the deficit down to one entering the third period. It took six minutes for anything to happen in the third period when Brayden Schenn scored assisted by Jakub Voracek and Claudge Giroux to tie the game 3-3. Schenn and Voracek got their name on the boxscore 2 and a half minutes later when they assited on Wayne Simmonds' 7th goal of the year as the Flyers broke into the lead. With one second left in the game Zac Rinaldo proved how cheap he is by netting an empty-net goal. Danny Briere got the most out of his 9 minutes of ice time getting an assist and firing 3 shots on goal. Braydon Coburn did not have any turnovers (somehow) but did finish with a disappointing -2 while Luke Schenn played one hell of a game beating Evander Kane in a fight and hitting 5 Jets. Scott Hartnell also returned from injury playing 15 minutes. 

NBA Recap

Monta Ellis though he was the hero last night scoring with 10 seconds to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 101-100 lead over the Hawks but it wasn't that simple. Al Horford responded on the next possession with a field goal of his own and the Hawks all of a sudden had their own one point lead. Monta Ellis then had another opportunity to be the savior but his midrange jumper just didn't go into the net as the Hawks won 103-102. Al Horford and Jeff Teague had 23 a piece for the Hawks (with Horford also grabbing 11 boards) and Milwaukee was led by Ersan Ilyasova who had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Larry Sanders had an incredible 19 rebounds.

Emeka Okafor's free throw with 5 seconds left was the deciding factor in the 105-103 Wizards' win over the Houston Rockets. The Wizards had trailed by 11 at halftime and as high as 17 during the game but came back for the win. Bradley Beal had 21 points for the Wizards and James Harden had 27 points and 6 assists. 

Javale McGee dominated the paint going 8-10 with 7 dunks in the Nuggets' 113-99 win over Charlotte. Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 20 points while Andre Iguodala had 13 points and a game high 10 assists.

The Cavaliers absolutely destroyed the Magic 118-94 in Orlando thanks to Marrreese Speights' 18 points and 8 rebounds. 

The 76ers were able to stick with the Heat for the first half but Miami pulled away thanks to a huge night by Dwayne Wade featuring 33 points and 6 rebounds. Lebron recorded the triple double with 16 points and 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 21 points and dished out 6 assists in the 114-90 loss.

The Pistons were held 9 points in the first point and were held to 72 overall as the Pacers cruised to a 90-72 victory. Paul George led the Pistons with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. No one from the Pistons deserves to be mentioned. 

The Clippers had a strong third quarter which they beat the Jazz 36-20 to finish with a 107-94 victory. Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 23 points while Caron Butler scored 21 for the Clips.

February 23, 2012
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Lebron James	SF	MIA- 7-12 FG, 16 P, 11 A, 10 R
Defensive Player of the Night	Emeka Okafor	C	3 Blocks, 2 Steals
All-NBA 1st Team
All-NBA 1st Team	Dwayne Wade	SG	MIA- 14-18 FG, 33 P, 5 R, 2 Steals
	Andre Iguodala	SG/SF	DEN- 5-7 FG, 13 P, 10 A, 2 Blocks, 2 Steals
	Trevor Ariza	SG/SF	WAS- 8-12 FG, 18 P, 6 A, 4 Steals
	Chandler Parsons	SF	HOU- 9-15 FG, 5-9 3PT, 24 P, 7 R
	Lebron James	SF	MIA- 16 P, 11 A, 10 R

NHL Recap

Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk both scored in the second period to set up a very important huge third period. Ovechkin broke the tie himself a minute into the third period and then completed the hat trick with 5 minutes left. Troy Brouwer scored his 8th goal of the year with 3 minutes left to seal the 5-1 win. 

Edmonton pulled out great comeback to down the Coyotes 3-2 in a shootout. Kyle Chipchura and Matthew Lombardi scored the first tow goals of the game as the Coyotes took a 2-0 lead. The Oilers did not score until four minutes left in the second period when Jordan Eberle scored his sixth goal of the year assisted by Nail Yakupov and Sam Gagner. The Coyotes held onto the lead for the rest of the second but Teemu Hartikainen scored on the powerplay for his first goal of the game. From there the game went to a shootout where Sam Gagner scored on the first attempt of the shootout followed by Mikkel Boedker failed attempt for the Coyotes. On the Oilers' second attempt, Jordan Eberle slid the puck pat Mike Smith. The game was then put on the shoulders of David Rundblad who failed to score on the last attempt of the shootout.

 Dustin Brown got the Kings off to a quick start with a goal less than a minute into the game. Jeff Carter then followed up about 15 minutes later with an assist from his former Flyer teammate Mike Richards to increase the lead to 2-0. Milan Hedjuk put a little bit of a break in the Kings' domination with a goal at the beginning of the second period. It wasn't enough however as Trevor Lewis scored a shorthanded goal a minute later. Anze Kopitar put the game out of reach at the end of the second at a score of 4-1.

The Red Wings made Pekka Rinne look life a living hell yesterday pouring in 4 goals. Jimmy Howard played a great game blocking 33 shots to help the Wings blank the Predators 4-0. The Red Wings got off to a fast start with Drew Miller's goal 5 minutes into it. The Pred's offense outshot the Wings' by 6 but they were not able to take care of the puck committing 7 giveaways.
In Carolina, the Lightning returned to their high scoring ways after a recent scoring drought with a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes. Steven Stamkos netted his 12th goal of the year last night.
The Rangers and Canadiens played a game at almost snails pace with only 35 shots between the teams. The sloppy play included a total 25 shots and the Canadiens beat the Rangers by 1 in each category. The Canadiens won the game 3-0 with all goals coming in the third period.
In an all-Ontario Matchup the Senators and Maple Leafs played a game that went down right to the wire. The game was tied 2-2 with only 40 seconds left on the clock when Colin Greening  scored on Ben Scrivens to give the Senators a 3-2 win.
In St. Louis, Chris Stewart of the Blues scored in the first and Matt Calvert scored in the second to set up an interesting third period. Things seemed to be heading towards overtime but David Perron's goal halfway through the final frame gave the Blues a 2-1 win. P.S. This is great there is a game between the BLUES and BLUE Jackets, that is all.

Matt Stajan

The Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in a game that was closer than the score. The Sharks out shot the Stars and also did a better job controlling the puck limiting themselves to 5 turnovers and winning 34 of 67 faceoff draws.
In the last game of the night the Flames rode Matt Stajan's two third period goals to a 3-1 victory over the Wild. Alex Tanguay opened up the scoring two minutes into the game to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. Charlie Coyle scored his first goal of the year and the Wild's only of the night to tie it up in the second.

2/23/2013 All-NHLs
Pos	1st Team	Pos	2nd Team
LW	WAS- Alex Ovechkin- 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, 5 Hits	C	CGY- Matt Stajan- 2 G (game winner), +2
C	PHI- Zac Rinaldo (douche)- 1 G, 12 hits	C	OTT- Mika Zibanejad0 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, 5 Hits
C	EDM- Sam Gagner- 1 A, 6 SOG, 1 Hit, 1 TA	C	WPG- Alexander Burmistrov- 1 G, 4 Hits
D	DET- Niklas Kronwall- 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, +2, 3 Blocks	D	WPG- Dustin Byfuglien- 2 A, 2 Hits
D	TB- Eric Brewer- 1 A, 3 Blocks, 1 TA	D	PHI- Luke Schenn- Fight win, 5 H, 2 Blocks
G	NYI- Evgeni Nabokov- W, 35/35	G	DET- Jimmy Howard- W, 33/33

NBA Power Rankings

So here are some things that may surprise you:The Nets are ranked very low and that is due to their tendency to play close games and their above average turnovers. Chicago is rather low because while they play good defense their offense is on the downside. San Antonio is the top team despite only winning 49% of rebounds.

Flyers Get crushed

NBA Recap
The Heat defeated the Bulls in Chicago 86-67. The Heat were able to dominate when endurance and depth meant most, the last quarter of each half. In those quarters the Heat had an aggregate advantage of 44-26. Lebron James led the Heat in points (26), rebounds (12), and assists (7). This loss puts the Bulls two games behind Indiana in the central division.
In a battle of two first place teams the Spurs handed the Clippers a whooping. Tony Parker was the games leading scorer with 31 points (his second in a row with 30+) and he also had 7 rebounds. Tim Duncan only played 16 minutes but was the Spurs' leading rebounder in the 116-90 win.
All NBA
Guard- Tony Parker- San Antonio Had the best shooting performance in the league last night with a 12-16 mark from the field while going 7-7 from the line. His 31 points were complemented well by his 7 assists; made even better by the fact that he did not commit one turnover.

Lebron James

Guard- Dwayne Wade- Miami He's getting a little older and we have not seen him on this list too often. Wade only scored 17 points on a 8-15 shooting performance but grabbed 8 boards (impressive for a little guy), had two steals, and two blocks. His role as a distributor wasn't too great as his 5 assists were matched by his 5 turnovers.
Forward- Danny Green- San Antonio Shot 3-6 from behind the arc on his way to 15 points. He also dished out 7 assists and also played good defense blocking 2 shots and getting 2 steals.
Forward- Lebron James- Miami *Player of the Night* Shot almost as well as Parker from the field going 11-15  for 26 points but made up for it when he did not have the ball. He grabbed 12 rebounds and also helped his teammates out with 7 assists.
Center- Joakim Noah- Chicago The bigman played the usual "Noah" basketball scoring under 15 points but getting rebounds. He only had 8 last night and probably wouldn't be on this list if their would have been more than 2 games. He scored 11 points on the night and dished out 8 assists. He also had 3 steals and 2 blocks.

NHL Recap
Despite the Flyers getting killed by the Panthers last night 5-2, the game left me feeling pretty good. I said yesterday that the Flyers should give someone other than Bryzgalov or Boucher a chance. While that didn't happen, neither of them really performed that well. Bryzgalov started the game and it was ugly. I'll give him some credit that Jonathan Huberdeau's goal in the first was on a penalty shot but the first two were within 30 seconds of this. Boucher came in just about halfway through the game and was able to stop 10 of 11 shots for a good/mediocre performance. Maybe if he was tested a little more he could have done worse or better... who knows? So the Panthers had a 3-0 lead after the first period and then Huberdeau scored again in the second to make it 4-0, that was the point where Ilya was pulled. Luke Schenn then scored with 7 minutes left to make the game 4-1 but about a minute later Peter Mueller ended all chances of a comeback with a goal of his own. Jakub Voracek then scored his 7th goal of the year about a minute later, too bad it was worth nothing for the Flyers. The really troubling part about this game is that the Flyers held the advantage in a lot of areas. They won the faceoff battle (by 1, but still) and they also produced 8 more shots and even had more takeaways. In addition to those numbers, they were a more physical team hitting 32 Panthers compared to being hit only 24 times. The number that didn't go their way however, giveaways. This has been a problem for the Flyers all year (especially Schenn (who had one last night), and Coburn (none). Grossmann has been kind of rough all year and he had two last night and even Voracek had one. The thing is that Voracek losing a puck in the offensive zone is a lot less worse than Gorssmann, Timonen, and Gervais giving it up in front of the net. The Flyers may have had more shots, but when you give the puck away (especially when your defense does it), you are going to give up high percentage shots, and that's what is killing the Flyers. To give two Panthers credit, Mike Weaver and Drew Shore each had two assist on the night. It has also been confirmed that Matt Read will be out for 6 weeks.

JVR

The Sabres got off to a quick lead in Toronto but James van Riemsdyk broke the tie with two minutes left in the second. He then scored again in the third to give them a 3-1 victory. Phil Kessel had two assists on the night.
The Devils entered the third period down 2-1 but Andrei Loktionov broke the tied it up 9 minutes into the period and then Ilya Kovalchuk scored on the powerplay two minutes later to give the Devils' a 3-2 lead. Martin Brodeur only had to make 17 saves in the win while Braden Holtby made 34.
A whole bunch of close games last night as the Jets beat the Hurricanes 4-3 despite being outshot 30-23. The game was tied going into the third and after each team scored twice, it was Blake Wheeler's second goal of the game with 5 minutes left that put the Jets into the lead and they held on for a 4-3 victory.
The Islanders defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime thanks to Thomas Hickey's goal with just under two minutes left in sudden death. Frans Nielsen scored with 10 minutes left in the third to tie the game up. Matt Moulson of the Islanders and Max Pacioretty of the Canadiens both scored twice.
Craig Anderson was injured 40 minutes into the Senators-Rangers game last night (which fucks my fantasy team so hard) but Ben Bishop came in and got the job done (really ugly though). The Senators had been up 1-0 until Anderson decided to get hurt and then the Rangers cored two goals within a minute of each other to give themselves a 2-1 lead. But Mika Zibanejad (what the hell is that name) decided he was not gonna let Bishop go down in infamy and netted a goal with 7 minutes left. Bishop then only let up one goal in the shootout while Lundqvist let in dos, so the Senators won 3-2 shootout style.
Nathan Horton scored tow goals in a 4-2 victory over the Lightning. Tuukka Rask made 24 saves in the win.
The Blue Jackets scored twice in the third to overcome a 2-1 deficit entering the period. Derek Dorsett scored to tie and then Vinny Prospal scored with 25 seconds left to give them the win. Prospal was not the only former flyer to score as R.J. Umberger netted one himself.
The Canucks defeated the Stars 4-3 and amazingly did it with Cory Schneider in net. They did have to come from behind though with Kevin Bieksa tying it up in the second and Jason Garrison giving them the lead in the third. Henrik Sedin then scored to increase their margin to two which helped because Brenden Morrow scored for the Stars but it was not enough in the end.
This game wasn't an easy one to follow either as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Oilers 3-1 thanks to third period goals by Devin Setoguchi and Matt Cullen. Cullen also scored in the first period. There was also this douche bag hit.

All NHL
Forward- Steve Ott- Buffalo Here for pretty much one reason, he had 9 hits on the night, which pretty much means that he is a gladiator.
Forward- Matt Cullen- Minnesota Edward's Brother  scored 2 goals and also added in an assist as he was a part of every single one of the Wild's goals lat night. Finished the game with a +2 only cause he was also out there for a Wild goal.
Forward- Jonthan Huberdeau- Florida So he kicked the shit out of the Flyers last night with 2 goals and 2 assists for a +3 rating. Also blocked a shot.
Defense- Ryan McDonagh- NY Rangers Scored a powerplay goal and also had 4 hits and forced a giveaway.
Defense- Mike Weaver- Florida Had two assists on the night while blocking 4 shots.
Goalie- Evgeni Nabokov- NY Islanders Stopped 30 of 33 shots in the win while also contributing an assist.
I might have NBA Power Rankings up later. So will pictures.