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MIAMI - The Miami Heat will try to take a 2-0 lead over the Charlotte Bobcats in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals when the teams meet for Game 2 Wednesday night at American Airlines Arena. wholesale jerseys . The two-time defending NBA champions took Game 1, 99-88, on Sunday. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were their future Hall of Fame selves in Game 1. The pair combined for 50 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. James made four of Miamis 11 3-pointers and finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Wade added 23 points and five assists. The duo shot 18-of-32 (56.3 percent) from the field, and Miami received key contributions off the bench from James Jones and Chris Andersen, with Jones chipping in 12 points and Andersen adding eight points and 10 rebounds while limiting Al Jefferson on the defensive side. "Besides starting off slow in the first and second quarters I thought we played a pretty good game," Wade said. "Now were going to go look at adjustments we can make and figure out how we can be better in Game 2." Jefferson has become the story of this series. He started strong on Sunday, but was hobbled after suffering a strain to his left plantar fascia in the first quarter. "When it first happened I was in a lot of pain, but as the game went on it eased up," Jefferson said, adding he received a shot at halftime but would be fine for the remainder of the playoffs. "Its just something I have to play through." And Jefferson left no doubt on Tuesday when speaking with the media. "Im suiting up," Jefferson said. "Itll take more than that to make me sit down." He still logged 18 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday ,while Kemba Walkers 20- point effort led the club. This would appear to be a one-sided matchup on paper. The Heat have won the last two titles and appeared in the Finals three seasons ago. They earned the No. 2 seed with another great regular-season run. The Bobcats are making their second playoff appearance in franchise history and entered the series having dropped 16 consecutive regular-season games to their fellow Southeast Division rivals. But Charlotte was game on Sunday. The score was even, 59-59, before James hit from behind the arc late in the third quarter, and the four-time league MVP beat the buzzer with another 3- pointer to send the Heat into the fourth with a 72-65 advantage. The Heat pulled away for good early in the final stanza, as Jones and Wade each connected from long range during a 13-1 surge that extended Miamis lead to 87-70 lead under 6 1/2 minutes to play. The closest Charlotte got down the stretch was the final score. Heat guard Mario Chalmers is questionable for Wednesday with a bruised knee. If Chalmers cant go, Norris Cole or Toney Douglas would get the start. Game 3 will be Saturday night in Charlotte. jerseys from china . Then Ryan Raburn came to the plate and did what he usually does against the Chicago White Sox. Raburn hit a tiebreaking single and David Murphy drove in four runs, leading the Indians to a 12-6 victory over the White Sox. cheap jerseys from china . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Utica Comets needed someone to step up Saturday night. Enter team captain Colin Stuart. Stuart scored twice to lead the Utica Comets to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Saturday in American Hockey League action. Stuart now has 15 goals on the year and is tied for third on the team despite scoring just twice in the previous 15 games. "We challenged our leaders to bring a better game tonight, and (Stuart) was one of the guys who stepped up," said Comets head coach Travis Green. "Hes been good for us all year. You expect your captain to make plays and step up at the right time. You need all your best players this time of the year and it was good to see him do that." The Comets had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday by the Heat, but moved to within eight points of a Western Conference playoff berth with the bounce-back victory. "I didnt like the way we skated last night and the way we competed in certain areas of the ice," said Green. "The guys responded well tonight. These are desperate times for our team and we played like it tonight." Stuart, who signed with the Comets NHL-affiliate Vancouver Canucks during the summer, played in Abbotsford during the Heats inaugural season in 2009-10. Hes now registered six points in six games against the Heat this year. "Its still neat coming here," said Stuart. "And not just the arena, but the city itself. Its interesting to see how things have changed around town. And obviously I was here in the inaugural season so it was pretty special too." Brandon DeFazio also scored for the Comets for his third goal in four games. Alex Friesen had two assists for Utica (27-27-7), while Joacim Eriksson made 38 saves in the win. "(Eriksson) was good the whole game," said Green. "I like him last night and really liked him for the last three months. Hes been real solid for us. He had a tough start to the year but hes starting to develop." Eriksson gave the Abbotsford offence fits Saturday, making several key stops. "We keyed on getting the puck to the net but obviously we didnt take away the guys eyes as well as we should have," said Heat defenceman Chad Billins. "Theyre big bodies back there and they box out very well. Weve got to get some more bodies to the front of the net. And also hhes a good goalie, so youve got to give him credit too. cheap jerseys. quot; Ben Street scored the only goal for the Heat and Olivier Roy stopped 31 shots for Abbotsford (34-21-7), which has just one win in its last nine games. The Heat actually had the best opportunities to open the scoring, getting four power plays in the first period, but had nothing to show for it, including just one shot through 10 minutes. "We had four straight power plays, and we didnt generate anything off of that," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "We didnt gain some momentum, we didnt put ourselves in a position physically or mentally to get some emotion or get some charge out of those power plays. I thought that was one of the biggest differences in the game." Stuart mirrored that idea. "We got into a little bit of penalty trouble in the first period," said Stuart. "We just kept battling back. Wed kill off a penalty and gain back a little bit more momentum and build on it. They kept coming at us and we weathered the storm when we needed to and controlled the game when we needed to as well." The Comets finally opened the scoring at 8:47 of the second period. Yann Sauves long shot was kicked out by Roy right to DeFazio down low and he made no mistake in beating Roy stick side for his 12th of the year. The Heat had some opportunities to get on the board. Corey Locke forced a turnover behind the net and centred for Max Reinhart, but Eriksson stopped him and made it look easy as well. While Locke has 14 assists with the Heat this season, he still has not scored in 18 games. "Its frustrating," said Locke. "Ive been getting looks but cant find a way to get the puck behind that goal-line. It cost a goal today. I stayed out to try and score, extending a shift, and they go back and score that second goal. Thats unacceptable." Stuart made it 2-0 at 15:25. Friesen made a perfect pass off the boards, around a Heat defender, to Stuart and he beat Roy blocker side. The Comets captain got his second of the game at 3:05 of the third. He skated to the left faceoff dot and wired a shot short side on the Heat netminder, putting the visitors up 3-0. The Heat had a two-man advantage with eight minutes to go in the third and finally beat Eriksson. Street one-timed Lockes pass from the slot, blowing it by the Swedish netminders glove for his 23rd of the year.cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
