miaowang123: their NL west compatriots, as t
their NL west compatriots, as t
CLEVELAND -- The Los Angeles Lakers left Canadian Robert Sacre on the court after he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Dwight Smith Jr. Jersey . Coach Mike DAntoni felt it was the best move for his depleted team. Its been that kind of year for the short-handed Lakers. Los Angeles lost two more players to injuries on Wednesday night and had to go to a little-known NBA rule to hold on for a 119-108 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. "That was, by far, one of the strangest games Ive ever seen," DAntoni said. Rookie Ryan Kelly scored a career-high 26 points and Steve Blake had his first career triple-double for Los Angeles, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Lakers set a franchise record for 3-pointers, going 18 for 37 from long range. But Los Angeles first win in two weeks was overshadowed by a bizarre ending. The Lakers had eight available players coming into the game. Then Nick Young twisted his left knee in the first half and Chris Kaman fouled out early in the fourth quarter. When Jordan Farmar left with leg cramps in the final period, that put Los Angeles at five players. Sacre committed his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining, but the North Vancouver, B.C., native stayed in the game because DAntoni was out of healthy bodies. The Lakers were assessed a technical foul. "That was just crazy," Sacre said. "When I got my sixth foul, I was just like, Oh, dang! Then I got to come back in, so I thought it was something special. I didnt know what was going on." Each side has to have five players on the court at all times during an NBA game. With the Lakers down to five healthy players, DAntoni was informed by the officials that he could leave Sacre on the floor and any addition foul on the centre would also result in a technical. "I didnt know about that rule, but its a nice rule," DAntoni said with a chuckle. The Lakers were without Steve Nash (rest), Jodie Meeks (sprained ankle) and Jordan Hill (strained neck). Pau Gasol (groin) and Kobe Bryant (knee) remained in Los Angeles for the three-game road trip. The situation was so unusual that Nash, who was in street clothes, went to the locker room and put on his uniform late in the game, but DAntoni said he had no intention of putting the point guard into the game. "I was not going to go to Nash -- it was not an option to us -- but the other thing we talked about was having Jordan go out there and just stand in the corner," DAntoni said. "When the officials came over to explain the options to me, we decided to keep Robert out there. I knew he would be smart and not commit too many more fouls." Nash played for the first time since Nov. 10 on Tuesday night after being out because of a nerve problem in his back. Meeks sprained his right ankle about a minute into Tuesdays game and Hill was elbowed in the head by Kaman. Farmar scored 21 points and Wesley Johnson added 20 for the Lakers, who shot 53 per cent from the field. Blake had 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. C.J. Miles led Cleveland with 27 points. All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was taken out with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter and finished with 11 points as the Cavaliers lost their sixth consecutive game, tying their longest losing streak of the season. Anderson Varejao was the only starter to play in the fourth quarter as Miles, Anthony Bennett of Brampton, Ont., Matthew Dellavedova and Dion Waiters got the Cavaliers back in the game. "They definitely deserved to be on the floor," Irving said. "That second group did a heck of a job. You have to give a whole bunch of credit to them. If I were the coach, I would have played that second group as long as he did." "Maybe we can learn something from what that group did on the floor," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "They played the right way." The Lakers built a 29-point lead in the second quarter and led 96-68 late in the third period before the Cavaliers rallied. Cleveland cut the lead to 100-90 early in the fourth and got to 114-108 before Blakes 3-pointer with 56.9 seconds left finally sealed the win. While the Cavaliers were off Tuesday, the Lakers lost in Minnesota and flew through a snowstorm to arrive in Cleveland around 2 a.m. Wednesday. While Los Angeles had 22 assists on 25 field goals while building a 70-49 halftime lead, Clevelands offence was stagnant. The Cavaliers shot 37 per cent from the field and were 1 of 18 on 3-pointers. NOTES: The Cavaliers hung a new banner of Austin Carrs retired No. 34 jersey from the rafters at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday. The original banner vanished last week and is still missing. Carr was the first player drafted by the franchise in 1971 and currently works as a TV colour analyst for the team. ... Nash is expected to play Friday night in Philadelphia. ... Lakers G Manny Harris second 10-day contract expired and the team chose not to re-sign him for the rest of the season. Harris went out on a high note with 18 points against Minnesota. Austin Wynns Jersey . - Leon Draisaitl scored a hat trick as the Prince Albert Raiders stormed past the Swift Current Broncos 5-2 in Western Hockey League action Tuesday. Mike Mussina Jersey . 98 jersey in a game yet, and already its a big seller.Despite losing six of their last eight games, the St. Louis Cardinals are clinging to top spot in the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, just ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals were ripe to be overtaken, but two of their closest challengers from the last weeks rankings, the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds, ran into their own troubles. Detroit lost six of their last seven games, falling from second to seventh, while Cincinnati lost seven of nine and starting pitcher Johnny Cueto was put back on the DL, so they dropped from third to eighth. Moving up this week, the Tampa Bay Rays are 8-4 in their last dozen games, thanks in part to a strong bullpen, and they climb from 16th to 12th. The Cleveland Indians had the biggest move up, seven spots from 20th to 13th, as they moved into the AL Central lead and got shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera back from injury. Having baseballs hottest hitter, secoond baseman Jason Kipnis, doesnt hurt their case either. Jim Gentile Jersey. Its been a good time for baseball in Los Angeles, over the last week. The Dodgers, who have been a mess for most of the season, have won eight of nine and moved from 22nd to 16th in the rankings, while the Angels have been even worse, yet six straight wins moved them up to 22nd from 27th. The Dodgers gain stands in contrast to much of their NL west compatriots, as the Rockies (11th to 15th), Giants (12th to 19th) and Padres (14th to 21st) all tumbled. Finally looking like a competitive team, the Toronto Blue Jays are 3-5 since their 11-game winning streak, but moved up from 15th to 14th, due largely to getting shortstop Jose Reyes back from the disabled list. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
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