weekend of finals, and the quality of the four contests

OKLAHOMA CITY -- For more than 47 minutes, Russell Westbrook could barely hit a shot.For the next 5-plus minutes, he rarely missed.Oklahoma Citys fearless star was 7 for 28 from the field before he drained a 3-pointer late in regulation that forced overtime. He followed that by scoring 14 of his 35 points in the extra period to help the Thunder defeat the Washington Wizards 126-115 on Wednesday night.Never stop believing in yourself and your capabilities of doing what youre able to do on the basketball floor, Westbrook said.Bradley Beal, who led the Wizards with 31 points, couldnt believe Westbrook hit the shot with 8.5 seconds remaining. It was the only 3-pointer he made in six tries.I felt like I did a great job of cutting him off to the basket, Beal said. He wasnt making any jumpers all game. The only 3 he makes is the one to go into overtime.Westbrook was 4 of 6 from the field and 6 for 6 on free throws in the extra period. He finished with 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his fourth straight triple-double, his ninth this season and the 46th of his career. The Thunder have won all four games during his triple-double streak, and he heads into December averaging a triple-double through 20 games this season.Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks returned as Washingtons coach, and the Oklahoma City crowd greeted him warmly. Brooks coached the Thunder for seven years and led them to the Western Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals once.Im humbled that they did that for me, and I appreciate it, Brooks said. Im glad they came out and supported their team and showed kind of what we did throughout the years.John Wall had 15 points and 15 assists and Marcin Gortat added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who had won three of four.The Thunder led by 16 early in the second quarter and were up 60-53 at halftime. A block by Domantas Sabonis led to a fast-break dunk by Steven Adams that put the Thunder up 74-62 in the third quarter and prompted Brooks to call a timeout. The Wizards closed the quarter strong and tied the score at 84 heading into the fourth.The Wizards took control before the Thunder rallied. A 3-pointer and a dunk by Victor Oladipo cut Washingtons lead to one, and the assist on the dunk gave Westbrook his triple-double.Washingtons Otto Porter missed a short fadeaway at the end of regulation that would have won the game, and then Westbrook took over.I thought we did a good job until overtime on Westbrook, Brooks said. Hes hard to stop. Hes a terrific basketball player playing at a high level -- another triple-double -- but I thought we did a pretty good job of containing him most of the night.TIP-INSWizards: C Ian Mahinmi sat out with a sore right knee. ... Washington missed five of its first seven free throws and made 17 of 26 for the game. ... Markieff Morris was issued a technical foul in the third quarter.Thunder: Oladipo scored 25 points. He hit a long 2-point jumper as time expired in the first quarter to give Oklahoma City a 32-19 lead. ... Westbrook was called for a technical foul with 6:09 to play. ... Adams left the game briefly in the first half after taking an elbow to the face.STAT LINESThe Thunder are 7-2 this season when Westbrook gets a triple-double. They have won 25 of their last 27 games over the past two seasons when he accomplishes the feat.QUOTABLEBrooks, on what he told Westbrook before the game: I told him, `My daughter still loves you. Lexi had a crush on him and was disappointed that he married Nina, but were happy for him. Thats the truth.UP NEXTThe Wizards visit the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.The Thunder host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP. Kahale Warring Youth Jersey . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. Andre Johnson Texans Jersey . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. http://www.officialhoustontexanspro.com/Customized/ . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Lonnie Johnson Womens Jersey . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. DOnta Foreman Womens Jersey . Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. BOSTON -- A man who survived a deadly 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston identified former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez in court on Tuesday as the one who pulled the trigger.The judge presiding over the upcoming murder trial also denied a bid by Hernandezs lawyer to push back the February start.Prosecutors asked Raychides Sanches during Tuesdays pretrial hearing to describe the chaotic scene the night of July 16, 2012.Sanches said he had been a passenger in a car stopped at a light in the citys South End when an SUV pulled up. He said someone from the SUV said Whats up, negroes? and then gunfire erupted.Sanches said bullets struck 29-year-old Daniel de Abreu and 28-year-old Safiro Furtado.When asked who the shooter was, Sanches nodded in the direction of Hernandez in Suffolk Superior Court, the Boston Herald reported.Looked like him, he said. Hernandez.Another survivor of the shooting, Aquilino Freire, told the court he was shot twice and described the shooter as light skinned, with no beard but tattoos.Hernanddez faces two counts of murder in the deaths of Furtado and de Abreu.ddddddddddddrosecutors say he gunned down the two men after one of them bumped into him at a Boston nightclub earlier that night. The former tight end has pleaded not guilty.Hernandez already is serving a life sentence without the possibiliNEW YORK -- While Doc Rivers demonstrative ejection will draw plenty of attention, DeAndre Jordan believes the Los Angeles Clippers sudden swoon has more to do with them feeling their early season success a tad too much.Rivers had to be held back by players and assistant coaches after he was ejected in the first of two overtimes during the teams 127-122 loss to the Brooklyn Nets?on Tuesday.With 18.6 seconds left in the first overtime and the Clippers trailing 117-115, Rivers walked past midcourt, almost to the Nets bench, to argue a foul called by official Lauren Holtkamp.Rivers was whistled for a technical foul and then handed a second technical and an automatic ejection by lead official Ken Mauer, which set Rivers off.I thought it was an awful tech, Rivers said after the Clippers lost for a third straight time on the road.Honestly, I think you guys know why the tech was called, Rivers continued. The official who had nothing to do with the play thought I was yelling at Lauren, and I wasnt. Actually, she said, Doc, youre right, or whatever, Lets walk back. We were walking. We werent even arguing. So it was the damnedest tech to give at that time.What the league is going to do, theyre going to fall back on, He crossed half court. Youll see tomorrow, thats what theyre going to say. And were going to all know thats not the real reason. I dont think an official that has nothing to do with the play should be giving someone a tech. Thats my thing. Thats why I got upset. He didnt even know what we were talking about. It wasnt even an argument. But listen, that had nothing to do with the game, and thats not why we lost the game.Mauer explained to a pool reporter that Rivers earned the first technical foul for crossing over midcourt. Thats automatic. Mauer then said the second technical came because of Rivers behavior.Do I need to explain it to you? Mauer said. Watch the tape. Behavior, language warrants a second technical foul. Warranted an ejection after getting a first technical foul.The Clippers and Holtkamp have some history. In February 2015, Holtkamp hit Chris Paul with a technical foul following an exchange on an inbounds pass, and Paul ripped the call postgame, calling it terrible and saying that officiating might not be for her. The NBA fined Paul $25,000 for his comments.Holtkamp also assessed Paul a technical foul this past February for an overt clap in her direction.Although the Clippers (14-5) still managed to force a second overtime without Blake Griffin, who sat out the game to rest, L.A.s third straight road loss led Jordan to bluntly assess the team.I think we are smelling ourselves a little bit, said Jordan, who had 21 points and 23 rebounds. We havent done s---. Nothing. We were No. 1 in the West for a couple of weeks? That dont mean nothing. At all.I feel like we took that for granted. We thought we were a lot better than we really are. We got to continue to get better and have respect for the game.Rivers felt that Tuesday was the first time this season the Clippers went into a game with the wrong attitude and mentality.We just hadnt played well the other two [losses] but we came in the game with the right attitude, Rivers said. Tonight, we got good all of the sudden. We were walking around like we done something. And that bothers me. Because weve done crap. We havent done crap.And for us to walk around against a team -- to me, that is playing their hearts out every night to just win one game -- for us to walk around like we have done something, it bothers me on a basketball level. I didnt like it. Chris Archer Pirates Jersey . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Chad Kuhl Pirates Jersey . 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Shorter matches and less players?A former chairman of the AFL Rules Committee has endorsed a dramatic cut in game time and slashing of on-field player numbers to ease the biggest blight in footy - congestion.Adrian Anderson, formerly the AFLs football operations boss for nine years, said he supported a push to make matches shorter by 25 per cent and reducing player numbers from 18 to 16, suggestions made recently by both Chris Judd and Geelong coach Chris Scott.During Andersons tenure, he led the Rules Committee in its boldest assault on congestion, but fears it continues to affect the aesthetics of the game.Congestion is something that really needs to be a continual focus. Its the biggest blight on our game, Anderson told ESPN.You could reduce game time if you were going to reduce numbers on the field because it would also have the effect of making the players more tired and the game would open up.Theyre two suggestions that work alongside each other.I just have a feeling the games becoming more and more congested and thats something the AFL will want to keep a close eye on.Anderson, now a barrister, says the NAB Cup was the perfect platform to trial rule changes that could be adopted in the regular season.As the AFL looks to expand internationally, Anderson says a modified version of the game that could be played in confined public spaces was integral to the codes plans to go global.If you want the game to expand internationally, its very hard to do it in the traditional format of the game because not many countries have got the space to have football grounds, he said.You really need to have a version of the game to fit within the confines of a soccer or cricket field. The Hawthorn supporter doesnt think the Hawks can replicate last years premiership heroics after losing the qualifying final.Anderson feels the luck of his under-sized team may have run out.I think theyve got their work cut out from here, he said. Ive got three disappointed little boys from the age of 10 who were willing Isaacs (Smith) kick through.You cant count them out, but I think the odds are against them, particularly given theyre a small team against their opponents without Roughead, Hale and Lake.Players on the moveThe Western Bulldogs out-of-contract big man, Tom Campbell, shapes as a mouth-watering prospect for the West Coast Eagles as the club tries to bolster its injury-ravaged ruck stocks.Campbell, regarded as the Western Bulldogs premier ruckman earlier this year, is believed to be unsure of his playing future at the kennel, as he spent a lengthy stint on the sidelines this year and watched as the partnership of Jordan Roughead and Tom Boyd flourished.Campbell played nine games before a foot injury derailed what was becoming a career-best season. The 24-year-old is currently playing with the clubs VFL affiliate Footscray, which will play ladder leaders Collingwood in this weeks preliminary final.Campbell has been offered a deal to remain at Whitten Oval but is noncommittal, due to insecurity of his position in the side.The Eagles will be without premier tall Nic Naitanui for much of next season as he recovers from a knee reconstruction. Back-up ruckman Scott Lycett could also miss the bulk of 2017 after aggravating a knee injury against the Bulldogs.Campbell, plucked as a mature-age recruit in the 2011 rookie draft, would joust with either Lycett or Jonathan Giles for the Eagles ruck mantle.Also, retired North Melbourne ruckman Drew Petrie could be lured to the Eagles due to his close relationship with former teammate and coach Adam Simpson.ESPN understands the Eagles spoke to the 33-year-old before the Kangaroos 62-point loss to Adelaide.Petrie, like games record holder Brent Harvey, is weighing up his playing future and the prospect of squeezing another season out of his ageing body.Brad Scott to follow in Voss and Leppitschs footstepsNorth Melbourne coach Brad Scott is being tempted to return to Brisbane to help resurrect his old club.ESPN understands the Lions are making a play for Scott to coach the besieged club, despite still under contract at the Kangaroos.Should a deal be brokered, Scott will be the third consecutive former player of the Lions glory era to take charge.Scott, who played 146 games for the Lions, was a fearless leader in defence and played in the clubs 2001 and 2002 premiership teams.But injury derailed his ambitions of taking part in the historic 2003 side.Scott signed a contract extension with the Kangaroos last year, tying him to the club until the end of 2018.Will Dal Santo play on?One of Scotts out-of-favour veterans, Nick Dal Santo, has been offered an AFL lifeline but the 32-year-old ball-winning midfield is undecided whether he should continue his career at a third club.ESPN has been told a player approached Dal Santo at the end of the Kangaroos-Adelaide final and asked: Should I be congratulating you on a wonderful career or should I be calling you John Farnham?Dal Santo responded by saying he had been offered a deal, but is yet to decide to play a 16th season.Dal Santo, who has played 322 games at St Kilda and the Roos, was one of four North Melbourrne veterans to be sensationally delisted in a radical player overhaul of the clubs ageing list.ddddddddddddPatrick Dangerfield: The clanger kingAfter his stellar debut season in the blue-and-white hoops, which culminated on Tuesday with his runaway win in the AFLPAs Most Valuable Player Award, Geelongs Paddy Dangerfield only has to go near the ball these days before commentators start drooling and tripping over themselves in search of new superlatives.Dangerfield had a good match against Hawthorn last Friday night but he was far from his best, racking up six clangers, including a couple of kicks that sailed into the crowd, and a disposal efficiency rating that hovered somewhere around 40%.Yet some pundits, including the FoxSports team and the Herald Suns Sam Landsberger, somehow judged him best afield.As we say, hes in that rarefied space now where he doesnt have to do an awful lot in a match before people fall in a swoon, positively dazzled by his magnificence.The two coaches in that qualifying final, Alastair Clarkson and Chris Scott, were less starstruck when awarding their votes for the inaugural Gary Ayres Medal for best player in the finals. They felt Joel Selwood was best on the ground, awarding him eight of a possible 10 votes. Dangerfield scored a lone vote, presumably from Scott.Not that this will worry Dangerfield one jot. Hell now just have to content himself with the AFLPA Award (which he won by the length of a Ben Graham torpedo), quite possibly the Brownlow Medal and perhaps also the Norm Smith Medal for grand final best afield.Oddly, the great Danger lies in fifth place in the Clanger category this season (with 87), some way behind Clanger King, Richmonds Dustin Martin, on 113.Just imagine if he could kick straight ....Time for some rules to be reviewedStand by for a raft of rule reviews in the off-season, as small trends which have crept into the game in recent seasons threaten to become major issues.The deliberate out-of-bounds rule is set to be looked at and tightened up because it has confused players, coaches, fans and commentators alike. No rule has such a large grey area and asking umpires to adjudicate on whether players mean to deliberately take the ball out of play has proved a ridiculously big ask. Impossible even.Another one to be reviewed is an Alastair Clarkson favourite: shepherding on the mark. That is, a player from Team A will stand next to a player from Team B who is on the mark and prevent him from intercepting a second Team A player about to play on from a free kick or mark.Its not a good look - too many players are getting taken out when they dont expect it - so the practice will be reviewed.The 10-metre exclusion zone around players who have taken a mark or won a free kick will be fine-tuned because too many innocent bystanders, who were not affecting play in any way, were getting slugged by umpires with 50-metre penalties.And stomach punches, of the sort which Luke Hodge (among others) has become so adept, will also be looked at. What was an occasional incident a few years ago has become a blight on the game - so much so that, anecdotally, it is creeping into junior footy.Which is hardly surprising: if under-age footballers see Hodge, Firrito, Lewis, and co get away unpunished with these sly punches, why wouldnt they adopt the same niggle?So the Rules of the Game committee will examine ways to clamp down hard on this growing trend.Is the pre-finals bye needed?There is still much conjecture about the merits of a pre-finals bye.Some pundits, such as The Ages Caroline Wilson, remain staunch opponents of the innovation, saying it kills off momentum after the final home-and-away round, and gives codes such as the NRL a major free-kick in September. But others, such as FoxFootys Gerard Whateley, is a convert - having earlier expressed his doubts about the value of such a move.Whateley said he was forced to change his mind after witnessing the first weekend of finals, and the quality of the four contests on show.But if the bye does remain in place in 2017, expect the week to be spiced up with the addition of a major footy event, such as the Brownlow Medal, which has traditionally been a fixture on the Monday night of Grand Final week.Random stats of the week:1345 - Total number of games played by Kangaroos quartet Brent Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Drew Petrie and Michael Firrito - the most by four teammates in the same game (vs Adelaide last week). Which presents quite a sizeable hole for North Melbourne to fill next season.21 - Shaun Burgoyne can draw level with Martin Pike in second place in VFL/AFL history for most finals wins as a player if Hawthorn prevail over the Bulldogs on Friday. (Top of the list is Michael Tuck (26, Haw), then Martin Pike (21, Melb, Nth Melb and Brisbane), Kevin Bartlett (20, Rich), and Burgoyne (20, Pt Adel, Haw).0 - Buddy Franklin was held goalless on Saturday by Phil Davis and GWS for first time ever in a final - having previously kicked goals in each of his first 18 finals. ' ' 'ty of parole for the 2013 shooting death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd.Tuesdays hearing focused on a number of pre-trial issues as jury selection is slated to begin Feb. 13.Prosecutors are asking the judge to allow Sanches and Freire to give a general description of the shooter during trial.Defense lawyers argued that attorney-client privilege may have been violated because prison officials have acknowledged Hernandezs jailhouse calls were accessed by unauthorized people while he was awaiting his first murder trial.Hernandez is due back in court for another hearing Dec. 27. ' ' '