Subject :CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers best performance of the season brought an end
CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers best performance of the season brought an end to the Denver Nuggets seven-game winning streak. Adam Shaheen Youth Jersey . Irving scored 23 points and the Cavaliers won back-to-back games for the first time this season with a 98-88 victory over Denver Wednesday night. Tristan Thompson had a career-high 21 rebounds and 17 points for Cleveland, which handed Denver its first loss since Nov. 18. The Nuggets played the third game of a six-game road trip, which began with a 14-point win in Toronto on Sunday and a 24-point victory in Brooklyn on Tuesday. "They just whupped us tonight," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. "They looked like the fresher team and they were quicker to the punch." Randy Foye led Denver with 16 points, while J.J. Hickson had 15 points and 11 rebounds, but the Nuggets couldnt contend with Clevelands balanced attack. Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 18 points and had 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who recorded their largest margin of victory this season. While the Nuggets have been one the leagues hottest teams, the Cavaliers have struggled to adjust to new coach Mike Browns system. Cleveland already has lost seven games by double figures, but a win over Chicago on Saturday and its latest victory produced some confidence. "Winning is the thing that cures everything," Brown said. "We came out aggressive on both ends of the floor and thats what coach Brown has been preaching," Irving said. "Its paying dividends. It starts with the way we practice and carries over into games." Denver trailed by 12 points in the second quarter, but finished the first half on a 10-2 run and cut the lead to two early in the third period. The Nuggets got no closer, however, as the Cavaliers stretched the lead to double figures. The margin reached 13 early in the fourth. Andrew Bynum, coming off his best game of the season, had 14 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. The 7-footer had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots Saturday against the Bulls in a 97-93 win. Bynum, Thompson and Varejao combined for 41 of Clevelands 58 rebounds. "They were monsters in the pick-and-roll," Brown said. "They were monsters on the glass. They were monsters around the rim. It was awesome to watch." Thompson had nine rebounds in nine minutes in the first quarter. He had 11 points and 13 rebounds in the first half. "Tristan Thompson had his season averages at halftime," Shaw said. "This was a good lesson for our bigs. When youre playing against bigger guys like him and Bynum, youve got to put a body on them." Despite being 6-12, the Cavaliers havent fallen too far from the pack in the Eastern Conference, where only Indiana and Miami are over .500. "Thats the good thing about being in the East right now and Im sure every other team feels the same, but we truly believe we havent played our best basketball," Brown said. "Contrary to what anybody believes I do feel like were getting better." Nate Robinson scored 14 points and Wilson Chandler added 13 for the Nuggets. Denver got off to a slow start playing its third game in four nights. The Cavaliers led by seven points on several occasions in the first quarter and stretched the lead to 12 in the second. Cleveland led 54-42 with 1:51 remaining in the second, but Denver scored 10 of the halfs final 12 points, highlighted by Lawsons three-point play, a 3-pointer by Foye and four points by Darrell Arthur. Lawsons basket accounted for his first points of the game. He came into Wednesday averaging a team-high 20.2 points, but finished with four points on 1-of-13 shooting. "I feel like I missed all easy shots," said Lawson, who had 11 assists. "I aint never shot 1 for 13 before in my life." Bynum was given a flagrant foul for hitting Hickson in the shoulder in the third quarter while the Denver forward was driving to the basket. The Nuggets had won six of the previous seven meetings with the Cavaliers and three straight on the road. Denver reserve centre Timofey Mozgov had eight points and three rebounds in 17 minutes one night after grabbing a career-high 20 rebounds to go with 17 points against the Nets. He totalled 33 points and 35 rebounds against Brooklyn and Toronto. NOTES: Robinson played despite re-injuring his right wrist Tuesday. X-rays after the game were negative. Robinson shot a free throw left-handed against the Nets. ... Robinson was given a technical in the second quarter after a foul wasnt called when he was knocked to the floor while taking a shot. ... Nuggets G Andre Miller was hit with a technical in the third quarter. ... Cleveland G Dion Waiters, who had scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games, had five points and six assists. ... Denvers road trip continues against Boston on Friday. Mitchell Trubisky Youth Jersey . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. Tarik Cohen Bears Jersey . Chile applied pressure in midfield right from the beginning, challenging aggressively and continually surging forward. Eduardo Vargas beat the offside trap and fired home a stinging shot for Chiles opening goal in the fifth minute. SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks acquired pending restricted free agent forward Tyler Kennedy from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-round pick in Sundays draft. The trade gives the Sharks depth up front that they were seeking and gives the Penguins a needed high pick after trading their first and second-rounders before the deadline for forward Jarome Iginla and defenceman Douglas Murray. General manager Doug Wilson said he had been targeting Kennedy for about a year and said he will be an important piece in the present and future for the team. "Hes a guy that for us fits perfectly with how we want to play and the type of ingredients that he brings filling out our top nine," Wilson said. "He can go up and down, he plays with an edge, he can score some goals. Thats the type of player weve been looking for. Not only additional scoring but maintain the identity that we tried to build with our team the last year in particular." Pittsburgh acquired San Joses pick, 50th overall, in the second round. The Penguins had been slated to make their first pick at No. 77. The Sharks later traded up two spots in the first round with Detroit to select Swiss defenceman Mirco Mueller 18th overall. San Jose gave up the 20th pick and Pittsburghs second-rounder, 58th overall, to get Mueller, who played last season for Everett of the Western Hockey League. "He can play all over the rink," Sharks scouting director Tim Burke said. "He gets the play started and he kills a lot of plays. We got a lot of good reports on him." The Sharks acquired the pick from the Penguins from an in-season deal that sent defenceman Douglas Murray to Pittsburgh. San Jose also will get a 2014 second-rounder from Pittsburgh in the Murray deal. The Sharks still had one second-round pick from the deal that sent Ryane Clowe to the New York Rangers and took forward Gabryel Boudreau 49th overall. Boudreau had 22 goals and 41 assists in 67 games with Baie-Comeau in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Mueller had six goals and 25 assists in 63 games this season. The 6-foot-3, 176-pound Mueller is considered a mobile defenceman with the ability to create offence. He was ranked as the ninth best North American skater and third best defenceman heading into the draft by NHL Central Scouting. "Its a great day for me," Mueller said. "I play a simple game, a puck-moving defenceman. I try to make plays from my own end and try to get it forward." Kennedy had six goals and five assists in 46 games last season and adds needed depth to the Sharks forward contingent. Tarik Cohen Womens Jersey. He also had two goals and three assists in nine playoff games. But Kennedy was often a healthy scratch as the Penguins made it to the Eastern Conference final before being swept by Boston and got the sense from general manager Ray Shero after the season that he wasnt in Pittsburghs plans. "I thought I had a great playoff," Kennedy said. "Im kind of stumped. Im really kind of lost why they didnt want me more. I think Im a great player." Kennedy has 76 goals and 92 assists in 372 career games with Pittsburgh. He also has 12 goals and 15 assists in 76 career playoff games, helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009. "I think Im an energy guy," Kennedy said. "I think I bring a lot of energy to the ice and I think I have a good skill set. I try to finish my checks when I can." Kennedy is one of two pending restricted free agent forwards on the Sharks, joining TJ Galiardi. San Jose has to decide whether to tender qualifying offers to both players by Tuesday. The free agency period starts Friday and the Sharks have about $3.6 million of salary cap space with 19 players under contract, according to CapGeek.com. But forward Marty Havlat could provide cap relief if he begins the season on long-term injured reserve following off-season surgery. Kennedy said he would like to sign with San Jose. The Sharks have been busy already this off-season, signing potential unrestricted free agent Raffi Torres to a $6 million, three-year deal, and agreeing to a five-year extension with star centre Logan Couture that keeps him off the free agent market next summer. San Jose has also signed potential restricted free agent forwards Andrew Desjardins and James Sheppard and defenceman Jason Demers to contracts. San Jose also made a trade with Chicago to move down six spots in the fourth round and selected Swedish goalie Fredrik Bergvik. San Jose got a fifth-rounder in the deal and sent the Blackhawks a 2015 fifth-round pick. That gave the Sharks two fifth-round picks this year and they took defenceman Michael Brodzinski from Muskegon of the USHL with their own pick and defenceman Gage Ausmus, who is planning to play at the University of Denver, with Chicagos. San Jose finished the draft by taking Minnesota centre Jacob Jackson of Tartan High School in Oakdale, Minn., and Russian left wing Emil Galimov in the seventh round. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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