Another effort like this will seal it.

James scored 27 points and the Heat nearly matched a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game, pounding the listless and short-handed Bulls 88-65 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We worked for it,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said. “I never like to say that things are easy.”

The Heat sure made it look that way, though.

The 65 points allowed were only two more than the all-time postseason low for a Miami opponent, and it was easily the worst offensive performance by a Chicago team in the playoffs.

Never before had the Bulls scored fewer than 69 in a playoff game nor 10 or less in a quarter during the postseason, but both those marks fell on a night when they were dominated on both ends of the floor.

Miami led by 11 at the half and put this one away in the third quarter, outscoring Chicago 17-9 in the period.

Now the Heat will try to wrap up the series at home Wednesday night, taking what they hope will be the next step toward a second straight championship.

It’s hard to believe the Bulls won the series opener the way the past three games have gone.

Miami pounded Chicago in Game 2, coming away with its most lopsided playoff victory while handing the Bulls their worst ever postseason loss — and the Heat continued to roll from there.

James had his usual complete game, with eight assists and seven rebounds Monday.

Bosh finished with 14 points after scoring 20 and grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3, and the Heat won again despite another quiet night from Dwyane Wade (six points), whose right knee was bothering him again. He appeared to land hard on it taking a fallaway jumper in the third quarter but was able to return to the game after getting re-taped.

“It’s frustrating at times, but you just try to do what you can,” Wade said.

Norris Cole also struggled with seven points after back-to-back 18-point performances, but the Heat had more than enough in this one.

They shot about 49 percent while the Bulls set a franchise playoff low at 25.7 percent. Chicago was particularly bad from the outside, going 2 for 17 from 3-point range.

The Bulls again were missing ailing Luol Deng and injured Kirk Hinrich (calf), and a team that kept finding ways to win despite being short-handed all season simply appeared to run out of steam, even though coach Tom Thibodeau rejected that idea.

“No,” he said. “I think the thing is they’re [Heat] a great team. We have to come out with great intensity — but we also have to make shots.”

There’s no denying the Bulls have been in a tough spot all season with Derrick Rose recovering from knee surgery and just about every other major player sidelined at some point. They’ve been hit particularly hard in the postseason, too.

“They’re in a tough situation,” James said. “They’ve had some injuries and illnesses and whatever’s going on. They don’t have their full roster, but that’s not for us to worry about. They beat a very good Brooklyn team [in the first round] without their full roster.”

Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double in the postseason but was just 3-of-14 from the field. Jimmy Butler scored 12 and Joakim Noah grabbed nine rebounds, but it was a miserable night for Chicago — particularly Nate Robinson. With Cole and Mario Chalmers harassing him and the big men helping out, he missed all 12 of his shots and did not score.

He said he fell hard on his left shoulder on a pick-and-roll at one point, although he couldn’t remember exactly when, and had it wrapped in ice afterward. Then he took off the wrapping and threw it hard to the floor.

“Go back to the drawing board and figure it out,” he said.

Richard Hamilton scored 11 points in a rare postseason appearance, and the former All-Star guard made it clear afterward he’s not thrilled with his reduced role.

“Lot of stuff in life you don’t understand,” he said. “This [playoffs] is what I was brought here for. To not be able play and help my teammates, it’s hard, it’s rough. But I try to stay positive. I don’t try to rock the boat.”

Hamilton said he and Thibodeau have talked. Then, he reiterated, “It’s hard to understand.”

James scored 15 points and Bosh added 12 in the first half to help the Heat take a 44-33 lead at the break, but that doesn’t even come close to telling the complete story.

Consider this.

Miami shot less than 53 percent, with the Bulls at about 27 percent. Chicago was also 1 of 11 on 3-pointers, and the only conversion from long range came from Hamilton.

“We’re kind of putting screws and bandages everywhere. It’s frustrating,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. “Every night and every day.”

Game notes

The Heat and Bulls were well represented on the NBA’s all-defensive first team, with James and Noah being selected. … Thibodeau had nothing to say about the $35,000 fine from the league for comments he made about the officiating in Game 3. Asked if he was surprised by the amount, he said, “I’ve got no comment on that. We’re just getting ready for Game 4.” … Deng was listed as active after initially being ruled out for Chicago. Hinrich and Rose were inactive.

The post LeBron James, Heat stymie Bulls for 3-1 series cushion appeared first on IdealCapper.

Ruslan Fedotenko added an empty-net goal for the Flyers, who began the day in 14th in the Eastern Conference but only six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Boston, meanwhile, entered with the third-most points in the conference (46).

The trade deadline can’t arrive soon enough for the Bruins, who lost for the fifth time in seven games after an uninspired stumble through Philly, writes Joe McDonald. Story

“That was a huge two points for us and hopefully from here we can play with confidence like we did tonight and keep on the same tracks and keep going,” Read said. “It’s been kind of a tough season for us and tonight is a momentum builder. With the remaining games, if we keep playing like that, who knows? We just have to keep winning and try to make a playoff run.”

With just 14 games left, Philadelphia is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007. That made Saturday’s performance against the loaded Bruins somewhat perplexing for the Flyers.

“You feel good about it, but then you’re frustrated too because that’s an upper-echelon team in our league and you ask yourselves, ‘Why don’t you do it more often? Why doesn’t it happen more often?'” Knuble said. “You make the commitment right from the start and everybody was on board today.”

Nathan Horton scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 2-4-1 in their last seven games. They had won four in a row against the Flyers and were unbeaten in their previous 10 trips to Philadelphia (9-0-1).

“We know we have to get better,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 19 saves. “We haven’t played that bad, but it’s uncharacteristic mistakes. And it’s something we need to get rid of.

“It happens but then again … we know we need to get better in all areas. It’s weird because we’re not playing awful and we’re losing games, but we know it’s not good enough.”

Coach Claude Julien said the Bruins aren’t playing with any consistency.

“You get some spurts where you’re seeing some good things, but then the next line going up can’t follow up,” he said. “So we are not able to sustain much right now. The biggest challenge is every game we have one line that’s scoring and the other three don’t do a thing. Then it’s a different line another game and then the other three don’t do it. We can’t win hockey games with just relying on one line per night producing for us.”

The Flyers opened the scoring with their fifth consecutive successful power play, this one coming against the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit (91.2 percent). Knuble one-timed Brayden Schenn’s pass from behind the net and beat Rask low and on the glove side to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first period.

“We’ve been keeping it simple, moving the puck when we’re supposed to,” Read said of the power-play success. “It’s hard work and you have to outwork the penalty killers, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Philadelphia tacked on another goal in the second when Read scored 3:18 into the period. Jakub Voracek found a streaking Read alone between the circles. Read settled the pass, then ripped a slap shot past Rask’s glove side.

“It was one of those changeups,” Rask said. “It was rolling when he shot it. I don’t think I was perfectly positioned.”

The two-goal deficit was indicative of Boston’s recent struggles.

“We fell behind and that’s been happening to us too much lately,” Rask said. “We just can’t bear down and get that lead. … Just go out there and play our game. They were good goals but when we’re on top of our game, we don’t necessarily give up those chances. Or if we do, I save them.”

The Flyers continued to get strong goaltending from Bryzgalov in the second period. His best save came with just more than eight minutes remaining in the period when he sprawled to his left to stop Patrice Bergeron’s diving wraparound try.

Read nearly made it 3-0 about 30 seconds after Bryzgalov’s save, but his breakaway attempt caromed off the right post.

Boston cut the deficit to 2-1 on Horton’s 10th goal of the season 5 minutes into the third. Dennis Seidenberg took the initial shot from the point and it eventually bounced over to a wide-open Horton, who deposited the puck into the empty net.

“Yeah I mean there was already somebody in front that created the screen, but he jumped on that loose puck,” Julien said of Horton. “Absolutely I think we need more of that. Right now, like I said, we’re very average in all areas. Average and not even playing Bruins hockey. Like I said when you only go in spurts, you can’t expect to win.”

Boston went 0 for 2 on the power play and has scored once in its last 16 chances with the man advantage.

Game notes

Before the game, the Flyers acquired defenseman Kent Huskins from Detroit for a conditional 2014 draft pick. Huskins, in his seventh NHL season, was scoreless in 11 games for the Red Wings this season. … Philadelphia defenseman Oliver Lauridsen made his NHL debut. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder has appeared in 59 games for the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL this season, with a goal, five assists and 77 penalty minutes. … Before the game, Philadelphia unveiled a statue of Flyers greats Bob Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the Stanley Cup to commemorate the club’s back-to-back championships in 1974-75.

The post Flyers roll by slumping Bruins to snap 4-game slide appeared first on IdealCapper.

Parker had 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence, Tim Duncan added 19 points and 16 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 104-97 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Amid cries of “MVP,” Parker capped the scoring with a pair of free throws with 17.2 seconds left in overtime. He went 8 for 13 from the field and had five assists after missing eight games with a sprained left ankle. The Spurs were 6-2 in his absence, but struggled offensively.

“Tony was a little bit shy in the first half; he was just trying to feel his way a little bit,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The game got tight at the end in regulation and then in overtime, and he was Tony Parker. Like I said, up until the time he got hurt, there wasn’t a point guard in the league playing better than Tony Parker.”

Parker had six points and two assists in overtime, including a cross-court pass to Kawhi Leonard for a 3-pointer to open overtime.

Leonard finished with 21 points, including five in overtime, and Danny Green had 15 points for San Antonio (53-16), which remains 2 1/2 games ahead of Oklahoma City in the West.

Mo Williams scored 23 points, Al Jefferson had 18 and Alec Burks 14 for Utah (34-35), which has lost three straight and dropped two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the West’s final playoff berth.

“I can live with this,” Jefferson said. “It is the end of the season and we cannot afford to lose one game. We played a tough team on their home floor and had a chance to win for the first time in a long time. The energy and the effort was there for all 48 minutes plus. If we continue to play the way we did tonight for the rest of these 12 games, we have a great chance.”

Utah almost ruined what became a historic night for Duncan and Popovich.

Duncan’s 29th double-double of the season gives him 13,113 career rebounds, moving him past Shaquille O’Neal (13,099) for 13th on the all-time list.

Popovich recorded his 900th career victory, becoming the 12th coach in NBA history to accomplish the feat and joining former Utah coach Jerry Sloan as the only coaches to do so with one team.

“(The ankle) feels good; it’s more my cardio, my wind,” Parker said. “I’m definitely (tired). It was a hard game; playoff intensity. Utah is definitely fighting hard to get that eight spot.

“It was big win for a lot of reasons. For Pop, No. 900; for Timmy passing Shaq; and me, I’m just happy to be back and hopefully we can keep it going now.”

While Parker’s return helped settle San Antonio late on offense, it was the team’s defense that sealed the win.

The Spurs held the Jazz to 2-for-8 shooting in overtime after Marvin Williams’ 3 at the buzzer tied the game at 90, drawing a heated tirade from Popovich for the defensive lapse. In the end, however, Popovich was happy with the outcome.

“I thought it was a great game,” he said. “The guys fought hard. Utah’s a team trying to stay in the playoffs and really highly motivated. We ground it out. We just ground it out and found some combinations that work well. A lot of people contributed to that. It was a hell of a win. It’s one of our better wins this year for a lot of reasons.”

Parker made his first attempt, drawing huge applause after hitting a 15-foot jumper 2 minutes into the game. He had only six points in the first half, going 3 for 6 from the field in 17 minutes.

“It’s always tough, because you don’t want to mess with the chemistry,” Parker said. “They’ve been playing very good basketball at home. I was just trying to fit in. In the second half, Pop was calling plays for me. And being aggressive in the fourth quarter, so it came naturally.”

The Spurs had a 12-0 run to take a 16-4 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter. Tiago Splitter capped the run by tossing in a hook shot after missing an open layup off a bullet pass from Parker.

Parker sat shortly after that pass, sparking a 17-2 run by Utah to close the quarter. San Antonio went scoreless for almost 5 minutes bridging the first and second quarters.

Leonard also had six points in the first half before going 6 for 8 from the field in the second half and overtime, including 3 for 3 on 3s.

“Kawhi’s a stud, he’s not afraid to shoot the ball,” Popovich said. “He knows that he’s got license to play; we went to him a couple of times down the stretch in regulation and he came through.”

Game notes

San Antonio’s victory was its first in overtime against Utah after losing the previous three in series history. . Parker is the only player averaging at least 20 points and seven assists while shooting over 50 percent from the field and 80 percent on free throws. … Popovich trails Don Nelson (1,335), Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Sloan (1,221), Pat Riley (1,210), Phil Jackson (1,155), George Karl (1,122), Larry Brown (1,098), Rich Adelman (994), Bill Fitch (944), Red Auerbach (938) and Dick Motta (935) in career victories. “It’s funny, I played for Don Nelson when he broke the record and now I’m back with Pop,” Stephen Jackson said. “I’m happy for Pop, he deserves it. I’m sure he’s got plenty more to come. He pushed the (postgame celebration) cake in my face and it should have been his face. But I’m happy for him; I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to say that I was able to be coached and play for coach Popovich.” . Parker is the only active player averaging at least 15 points, five assists while shooting over 49 percent from the field for his career. The only other players to do that are Walt Frazier, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Kevin Johnson. … With its victory Friday, San Antonio joins Miami (31) and Oklahoma City (30) as the only teams with 30 wins at home this season.

The post Tony Parker scores 22 in return as Spurs top Jazz in OT appeared first on IdealCapper.

The pained expression and the negative body language were the result of another Bulls loss, this one in embarrassing fashion.

Tyreke Evans had 26 points and seven assists in the Sacramento Kings’ most lopsided victory of the season, a 121-79 rout of the Bulls on Wednesday night.

The Kings opened the second quarter with a 26-4 run against the lethargic Bulls to hike their lead to 34 points. It was an almost error-free first half for the Kings, who committed just one turnover and took a 65-36 lead into intermission.

The Bulls have dropped a season-high five straight road games and have a 7-12 record since beating Milwaukee on Jan. 30. It was the most one-sided loss all season for Chicago and Sacramento’s largest margin of victory ever against the Bulls.

“It was embarrassing, man. It’s hard to put into words,” Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said.

Boozer will get no argument from Thibodeau. The Bulls shot 38 percent, missed 19 of 21 3-point attempts, and committed 17 turnovers.

However, what was not in the stat sheet afterward was effort. The Bulls were lacking in that department as well.

“Our level of intensity was very poor. Our readiness to play was very poor,” Thibodeau said. “But I’m probably most disappointed in me. It’s my job to have them ready. We can’t come out like that, that’s on me. I have to drive (them) harder and I will.”

Boozer scored 21 points and Nate Robinson had 19 for the slumping Bulls, who lost their second straight and fourth in five games.

Short-handed Chicago played without injured forward Taj Gibson (knee) and veteran guards Richard Hamilton (back) and Kirk Hinrich (foot), who are all out indefinitely.

“We’re not playing well offensively or defensively,” said Joakim Noah, who had six points and nine rebounds. “It’s no time to make excuses (about injuries). We need to find a way to bounce back. We just have to move on fast and get ready for Golden State (on Friday). They are a lot better team than this team (the Kings).”

The Kings shot 54 percent, had a season-low five turnovers and scored 27 fast-break points. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the Kings’ largest margin of victory since Jan. 2, 1993, when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 154-98.

Making his first start of the season, Patrick Patterson had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Thompson had 12 points for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak against Chicago.

“I was just picking and popping and my teammates were finding opportunities for me,” said Patterson, who came to the Kings in a February trade with Houston. “I was just being in the right place at the right time.”

At least for one game, it mattered very little that Sacramento played without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings’ leading scorer and rebounder. He missed the game due to a sore left knee.

Cousins picked up his 12th technical foul of the season and was ejected from Sunday’s game against Milwaukee after picking up a Flagrant 2 for elbowing Mike Dunleavy in the head.

Though there was speculation Cousins would be suspended by the NBA and miss the game, the volatile center was spared of his third league suspension this season.

“We just opened the court up a little more (with Cousins out) and had our guards attack,” guard Isaiah Thomas said. “We were in attack mode from the jump. We know they’re a great defensive team and we wanted to just stay back in attack mode. I think Tyreke started it off and that got me going a little bit, then other people got going.”

There was no letting up in the third quarter for the Kings, who didn’t allow the Bulls to cut into their 29-point deficit. Thomas had 11 points and continued to push the tempo for Sacramento, which took a 93-60 lead into the fourth.

Evans had 18 points in the first half, when the Kings shot 58 percent. Sacramento began the second quarter with an 11-2 run and the lead remained in double figures the remainder of the game.

“It’s not so much the winning or losing right now, it’s the way we’re playing,” Noah said. “Is it the readiness? I wish I knew.”

It was a horrible first half at both ends of the court for the Bulls, who shot 35 percent, committed eight turnovers, and allowed 15 fast-break points. Boozer was the only bright spot for Chicago with 16 points.

Patterson helped get the Kings off to a fast start, making all five shots and scoring 11 first-quarter points. Sacramento shot 65 percent in the opening quarter and led 34-20.

“We need to get our swag back; get our confidence back,” Boozer said. “The only people that can fix it are in this room. (Maybe) we need a game like this to wake us up. The playoffs will be here in the blink of an eye.”

Game notes

Former league MVP Derrick Rose worked out before the game. Rose, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last April, is still contemplating a return to the Bulls this season. . Evans has averaged 23.7 points in his last three games. . Kings reserve forward James Johnson missed his second straight game due to personal reasons. . Attendance was 14,426. … Marco Belinelli missed all nine shots for the Bulls, including five 3-point attempts.

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For a .500 team, the Lakers are looking pretty good lately. Bryant is the biggest reason why.

Bryant scored 11 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and hit the go-ahead layup with 9 seconds left, leading the Lakers back to .500 for the first time in more than two months with a 99-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

Steve Blake stole Smith’s final pass in the waning seconds for the Lakers (30-30), who blew a 16-point lead in the second half before Bryant scored their last six points.

After Bryant scored the Lakers’ final basket while driving directly at Smith, Blake swiped Smith’s desperation pass from underneath Los Angeles’ basket. Bryant threw the ball high in the air to run out the clock on Los Angeles’ seventh straight home victory over the Hawks since 2006.

“I just had to attack,” Bryant said. “I wanted to attack and just go right at them. Take the game to them. Be aggressive. Be physical. And it worked out.”

Steve Nash had 15 points and 10 assists, while Dwight Howard added 11 points and 15 rebounds in the Lakers’ 13th win in 18 games. Los Angeles hung on for a quality win over the Hawks, a near-certain playoff team with ample motivation to knock off the high-profile Lakers.

Kobe wouldn’t allow it, making one big play after another down the stretch. Afterward, he repeatedly compared himself to a fine wine — only getting better with age.

“It was more of a message to my team here, to kind of have that will, that hunger, to push through it by any means necessary,” he said. “It’s just a challenge. I wouldn’t even really categorize it as fun. The fun comes in the challenge, and we’re up for it.”

The Lakers hadn’t been at .500 since Dec. 28, when they followed a win over Portland with six consecutive losses. They’ve spent the past six weeks digging themselves out of the latest hole in their rut-filled season, culminating in a lengthy stretch of recent solid play despite the absence of injured 7-footer Pau Gasol.

If the Lakers manage to upset Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, they would have their first winning record since Nov. 20, when they beat Brooklyn in coach Mike D’Antoni’s debut to go 6-5.

Al Horford scored 24 points and Smith had 19 for the Hawks, who had won four straight before consecutive road losses to the Suns and Lakers. Atlanta hasn’t beaten the Lakers anywhere since March 31, 2010.

Smith relished his matchup with Bryant, even if he got the short end of it.

“He’s been doing it for a long time, so you have to respect what he brings to the table,” Smith said. “He’s an assassin. He wants that moment. But from a defensive standpoint, I love taking a challenge like that and try to step up and try to make it tough for him. It was kind of like a tug-of-war match. We were going back and forth, and they made one more play than we did to win the game. I live for moments like this.”

Bryant put the Lakers up 96-95 with 2:18 to play on that ferocious dunk. After turnovers by both teams, Jeff Teague reclaimed the lead for Atlanta with 45 seconds left on a floating layup in traffic.

After Bryant hit two free throws, Horford put the Hawks back ahead with a dunk on a backdoor pass from Smith with 26.7 seconds left. But Bryant drove around Horford and right into Smith at the rim, willing the ball over his defense.

“There’s a reason why he’s the best player in the game,” Horford said of Bryant. “He did what he usually does, and we didn’t do a good enough job on him. It’s disappointing. We thought we worked hard and put ourselves in a position to win. We just had too many mistakes down the stretch.”

Devin Harris scored 12 of his 16 points in a three-minute spree late in the third quarter while Atlanta erased Los Angeles’ big lead.

Game notes

The Hawks finish their trip Monday night in Denver. … Atlanta coach Larry Drew was able to attend his son’s final UCLA home game on Saturday thanks to the fortunate coincidence in the Hawks’ schedule. Drew considers Los Angeles home after playing for the Clippers and Lakers, followed by a lengthy stint as a Lakers assistant coach in the 1990s prior to Phil Jackson’s arrival. … Novak Djokovic visited the Lakers’ locker room with fellow tennis player Justin Gimelstob before the game. One day after winning the Dubai Championships halfway around the globe, Djokovic spoke at length with Howard, who claims he won a school tennis tournament as a kid.

The post Kobe Bryant scores 34 points as Lakers reach .500 mark appeared first on IdealCapper.

Totti struck an unstoppable winner in the 58th minute as Roma edged up to within six points of the top five while Juve’s five-point advantage at the top of Serie A could be cut by Napoli on Sunday.

Lazio will also take joy in Roma’s win as it can get back into the hunt with a victory at Siena on Monday night.

There were plenty of smiles and hugs as captains Totti and Buffon exchanged pennants before the coin toss, but as has been the case nine times in the past already, Totti ultimately wiped the smile off Buffon’s face.

His goal in the 58th minute was worthy of winning any match, and it left Buffon with no chance.

Miralem Pjanic’s direct free kick attempt was blocked by a Juve defender and the ball fell to Totti 25 yards from goal.

He did not think twice as he made perfect contact with the ball, rendering Buffon’s dive unnecessary as the net was already rippling before the Italy number one even got near it.

Totti’s strike was no more than the Giallorossi deserved after dominating the first hour against the champions.

Pablo Osvaldo had already wasted a hat trick of chances, the best of which a header straight at Buffon in the 57th minute, while the closest Juve had come was early in the second half when former Roma striker Mirko Vucinic volleyed wide.

Andrea Pirlo, who suffered an early scare after a clash of knees with a concerned Totti, had also brought a fine save out of Maarten Stekelenburg with a curling free kick, but Juve was lacking its usual bite.

Roma, on the other hand, continued to cause the Juve defence concern with Erik Lamela dancing his way through, but overdoing it a little in the 70th minute as his last stepover let him down.

Nicolas Anelka was sent on by Juve coach Antonio Conte to add further weight to his attack but although he set up fellow substitute Sebastian Giovinco for a chance late on, he could not alter the course of the game as Roma picked up a morale-boosting victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

In Saturday’s other game in the Italian top flight, Palermo moved off the foot of the table thanks to a 1-1 draw at Chievo in a game of two contrasting halves at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.

The Rosaneri took the lead in the fifth minute through Mauro Formica and it was a one-sided opening 45 minutes in which Palermo failed only to add a second goal.

Chievo responded well in the second half, though, and equalized through Cyril Thereau’s penalty.

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Kiprusoff, who left Tuesday’s game after the second period, is listed as day to day.

“In the second period I felt some discomfort in the lower body area,” Kiprusoff said in a statement. “During the intermission, it was decided that I not return to play. I really believe that this is a short-term injury and over the next days, I’ll work toward being ready as soon as possible.”

Backup Leland Irving stopped all six shots he faced in the third period against the Red Wings. Calgary (2-3-2) is last in the Western Conference with six points entering Wednesday.

Kiprusoff, who has played in all seven games this season, has a .870 save percentage and 3.24 goals-against average. He has played in more than 70 games in each of the past seven seasons for the Flames.

Taylor’s deal is worth $525,000. He has spent the past two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Heat.

The post Flames sign goalie Danny Taylor appeared first on IdealCapper.

to be out, but we’ve still got to get the job done regardless of who is out there.”

Splitter re-energized the Spurs, scoring on a dunk and a reverse layup to make it 77-67 with 7:28 left. Splitter had six points and two rebounds in the final quarter and Parker added five points and three assists.

“In the second half, we lost our focus and the defense dissipated and that let them get back in the game,” Popovich said. “Once again, Tony and Tiago were great. They were steady the entire night. We got it done.”

Game notes
Spurs G Manu Ginobili was sidelined by left hamstring tightness. … Washington F Trevor Booker (sore left wrist) was a late scratch. … The Wizards have had nine different leading scorers for an individual game, with six in the last 10 games. … Washington’s last win in San Antonio was 99-89 on Dec. 11, 1999. … Wall was averaging 13.7 points, 6.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds since returning from injury. … San Antonio was playing its final home game before its annual “Rodeo Road Trip.” The Spurs will play nine straight road games while the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo is held at the AT&T Center.

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Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 20 rebounds, and Joakim Noah added 14 points and 13 boards as the Bulls won their 14th straight road game on a Friday. They haven’t lost since April 2011.

Rajon Rondo scored a season-high 30 points for Boston before fouling out with 1:16 to play in overtime.

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and Paul Pierce passed former Celtics star Robert Parish for 22nd on the NBA’s career scoring list by chipping in 13 points. Pierce has 23,342 points and Parish 23,334.

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Reserve forward Mike Scott scored 10 points to lead Atlanta as none of the starters reached double figures. Josh Smith and Kyle Korver had nine points each.

Jeff Teague had a layup with 7.9 seconds left to prevent the Hawks’ lowest scoring total in franchise history.

Atlanta has lost five straight on the road and six of seven overall.

The Bulls held the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter and led 48-20 at the break. Ivan Johnson had a basket for the Hawks with 2:54 left in the first quarter, and Atlanta did not score again until Al Horford’s tip with 5:15 left in the second. The Hawks missed 17 consecutive shots during the drought while getting outscored 14-0.

They finished the 2 for 21 from the field in the second quarter, with Smith making a free throw and a jumper for Atlanta’s other points. The Hawks shot 20.5 percent on 8-of-39 shooting in the first half. Josh Smith was 3 for 10 Horford 2 for 8 in the opening two periods.

Boozer had 14 points and Deng eight to help the Bulls to their halftime lead. Noah had 12 rebounds in the half and finished with 16 and nine points.

The Bulls set a record for the fewest points allowed, eclipsing the previous mark of 59 by Orlando last March 19. Atlanta’s 20 points in the first half also set a Chicago record for the fewest allowed in a half, bettering the 22 scored by the Knicks in 1999. The Bulls also limited New York to five points in the second quarter of that game.

The Hawks’ previous scoring lows were six points in a quarter (at Minnesota) in 1994, 25 in a half — accomplished three times, most recently against New Orleans in 2011.

Tensions heated up in the third quarter. After Hamilton was called for an offensive foul on Devin Harris, Harris pushed Hinrich hard to the floor as he was attempting a layup. Hinrich had to be restrained by teammates after he rushed toward Harris, who was called for a flagrant one. In seperate incidents, Teague and Smith were called for technicals in the third quarter.

Taj Gibson, who had five blocks, got fans on their feet with a thunderous dunk over Anthony Tolliver to put the Bulls up 79-47 with 7:13 left.

Game notes

The Bulls’ biggest lead was 44 points. … In the teams’ last meeting, the Hawks beat the Bulls 92-75 in Atlanta on Dec. 22. … Hawks G Anthony Morrow missed the game with a lower back injury.

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