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fearing that the school would face sanctions


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ruogu1234
Date Jan. 15th 12:19 PM Icon 410 Date 0

 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando Magic have seen much more misery than celebration this season. But with one of the NBAs best teams and its top scorer in town, the Magic made the most of a rare opportunity to enjoy the latter. Tobias Harris slammed home a fast-break pass from Maurice Harkless at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic a 103-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. With the Thunder leading 102-101 in the closing seconds, Kevin Durant missed a jumper to set up the last-second play, which was reviewed by officials and upheld. Rookie Victor Oladipo, who had grabbed the rebound on Durants miss with 2.9 seconds left and passed ahead to Harkless to start the break, pounded his chest after the play and screamed "This is our floor!" as the crowd roared. "I saw Victor get the (rebound) and I just wanted to be down there, whether or not he shot a layup or if he made it, congratulate him, to get a tip-in -- anything," Harris said. "But he kicked it to Mo and I just kept running. Mo saw me and my whole momentum was just to get it in the rim." Harris led the Magic with 18 points, followed by Arron Afflalo with 16. Orlandos bench outscored the Oklahoma Citys 36-23. The win gives the Magic their first four-game home winning streak in two years. It also snaps the Thunders five-game winning streak in the series. "I was drawing up our defensive strategy unless they had point-something left on the clock," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "But well take it." Durant led the Thunder with 29 points and 12 assists. Serge Ibaka added 26 points. The loss was just the second in 14 games for Oklahoma City. Durants points and assists accounted for half of his teams points in the first half. But he scored just 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting in the second half. He was 1 for 7 in the fourth. "We couldnt do anything (in the second half). We were just a step slow," Durant said. "We kept running the same plays. We didnt help on the back side. We let guys cut to basket. ... There were just mental breakdowns." The Magic made eight of their first 11 shots to start the third quarter and trailed by eight entering the fourth. Vaughn said before the game that the matchup would turn on whether the Magics second unit could outplay the Thunders bench. His prediction came true. Without their starters on the floor, the Magic kept their third-quarter momentum going by scoring the first eight points of the final period to cut the Thunders lead and tie it at 88-all with just over 9 minutes to play. Durant was re-inserted into the game and promptly put his team back in front with a jumper from the wing. The Magic kept coming, though, and took their first lead, 91-90, on a pair of free throws by Harris at the 7:59 mark. The game stayed tight and was tied at 99 when Durant came down on the break and found Thabo Sefolosha in the corner for a 3-pointer with 1:56 left. Glen Davis drew an offensive foul and on the ensuing possession Afflalo was fouled on a 3-point attempt with less than a minute to play. He hit two of his three attempts to trim the gap to 102-101 and set up the final sequence. The Thunder hovered above 70 per cent shooting early on and led by as many as 17 points in the first half. The Magic hung around, shooting 52 per cent themselves for the half. But they couldnt match Oklahoma Citys 8-for-12 shooting from 3. The Thunder also had 17 assists. But the Magic held them to just 37 points in the second half. "We came in at halftime and watched the film and talked about how we could help ourselves," Vaughn said. "There were numerous possessions in the first half where we could have been in better places ... and we did that in the second half and that was the difference." NOTES: The Magic honoured former players Sam Vincent and Jeff Turner, along with former team executive John Gabriel as part of their 25th anniversary season celebration. ... Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis sat courtside Friday. Model Kate Upton also was in attendance, sitting on the baseline alongside Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. ... A Magic season-ticket holder won $10,000 during a timeout promotion by hitting a free throw, layup and 3-pointer within 24 seconds. [url=www.cheaprocketsonline.com]Nene Jersey[/url] . - The Detroit Lions have placed tight end Brandon Pettigrew on injured reserve, ending his season. [url=www.cheaprocketsonline.com]Yao Ming Jersey[/url] . The 27-year-old hit .209 in 86 at-bats last year after missing the 2010 season following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. [url=www.cheaprocketsonline.com]www.cheaprocketsonline.com[/url] . Basketball fans around the globe will be watching as Kobe Bryant makes his season debut - 240 days after tearing his left Achilles - against Toronto, a team he has used as his own personal punching bag. [url=www.cheaprocketsonline.com]Gary Clark Jersey[/url] .The third-seeded Murray, who won here in 2009, will face seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa next on the indoor hard court. [url=www.cheaprocketsonline.com]Ralph Sampson Jersey[/url] . -- Kenneth Faried made a turnaround hook shot over Draymond Green with a half-second remaining, and the Denver Nuggets made Golden State wait at least one more game to secure a playoff berth with a stunning 100-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday night.Baseballs most prominent agent, Scott Boras, openly criticized the Toronto Blue Jays stagnant offseason on Sunday, likening the team to a "car with a huge engine that is impeded by a big corporate stop sign." Speaking to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Boras, the man who represents the likes of Texas Rangers slugger Prince Fielder, 2013 AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper, places the blame on general manager Alex Anthopouloss failure to dip into the free agent market on the shoulders of Jays ownership, a group Boras deems "a successful and committed ownership that needs to give their baseball people financial flexibility." "There is no one who has the asset base of Rogers," Boras said to Rosenthal. "[Torontos] a premium city. Its a premium owner with equity. And its a very, very good team that with additional premium talent could become a contending team." Outside of catcher Dioner Navarro, the Jays, tipped to be after free agent pitching and a second baseman, have remained entirely inactive while the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez, A.J. Burnett and Masahiro Tanaka found new clubs. Because the team has two protected first-round picks, the Jays seemingly would have leverage when it comes to compensation-eligible free agents. Anthopoulos, for his part, defended ownership on being informed of Borass remarks. "Our ownership has been outstanding and given us all the resources we need," said Anthopoulos. The Blue Jays and Boras have traditionally had a frosty relationship. Borass very first major contract showdown was between the Jays and reliever Bill Caudill in 1984. After acquiring the pitcher from the Oakland As, Boras negotiated a five-year extension for his client at $1.5 million a season that made him the highest paid player on the team. Caudill flamed out due to injury and was released in 1986 after pitching only jjust over 105 innings for the team.dddddddddddd The acrimony from the deal lingered. In 2009, the Jays drafted lefty starter James Paxton of Ladner, BC. The Jays could not come to an agreement with Paxton, who was being advised by Boras at the time, and he chose to head back to the University of Kentucky to play for its baseball team. Blue Jays president Paul Beeston called into question the actual nature of Paxtons relationship with Boras. "Because it was Scott, the way you deal, you deal through him," Beeston told the Globe and Mail at the time. "You dont deal through the family." The NCAA allows its athletes to have "family advisers," but forbids them from having agents, as it would compromise their amateur status. Due to Beestons comments, the NCAA launched an investigation into Paxtons arrangement with Boras. Paxton did not participate with the investigation out of fear of being suspended by the school. Kentucky, fearing that the school would face sanctions if it allowed Paxton to play whilst under investigation, filed a motion that allowed Paxton to keep his scholarship and remain part of the team, but did not let him actually play in any games. Part of that filing included the suggestion that Paxton breached the "no agent" rule. Paxton, now a member of the Seattle Mariners, was eventually declared ineligible and left the school for a Texas team in the independent league. Boras currently represents two of the last three compensation free agents on the market (with starter Ervin Santana the other) in Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales. The Jays dont appear to have any interest in Morales, but could explore the possibility of slotting Drew in at second base. The 30-year-old former Red Sox shortstop has never played a game at second in his career. The Blue Jays open their exhibition schedule on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Phillies in Dunedin, Florida. ' ' '


 
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