Victoria Azarenka in last years finale in Melbourne

Chiro Rambo Geregistreerd op: 23 Okt 2019 Berichten: 210

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis swatted away Pau Gasols shot, quickly sprinted toward the other end of the court, took a pass from Eric Gordon and rolled in a driving layup as Jodie Meeks fouled him. Cheap Vapormax 95 . Davis smiled widely and allowed himself a slight fist-pump as his momentum carried him over the baseline. He then sauntered back to free throw line and finished his game-sealing three-point play while a jubilant New Orleans Arena crowd chanted "M-V-P!" Davis finished with a career-high 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and tied a career best with six blocks, leading the New Orleans Pelicans over the Los Angeles Lakers 96-85 on Friday night. "I mean, hes the franchise. Hes that guy. Hes the go-to guy and everybody here knows it," said guard Jrue Holiday, whose 13 points and 13 assists gave him his first double-double with New Orleans. "We want him to be that guy. Its awesome to see." Gordon scored 16 for the Pelicans, who led most of the way in their second straight win. New Orleans had lost 11 regular-season games in a row to the Lakers. New Orleans broke open a tight contest with a 12-0 run in the final 3:16 that started with Davis 16-foot jumper and included his fast-break two-handed jam, his block of Gasol and his fast-break layup. "Hes a special player because hes athletic," Gasol said. "Hes able to block a shot on one end and sprint to the other end and get a layup ... so you really have to keep up with him because he creates a threat to you thats a little different than other players. "Hes got a good shooting touch. Hes got a complete package for his second year in the league," Gasol added. "Its pretty impressive." The performance forced Pelicans coach Monty Williams to abandon his usual refrain that Davis, the 2012 top overall draft choice, is only "scratching the surface" of his capabilities. "I dont know what hes scratching, but I know he works his tail off," Williams said. "Were going to enjoy seeing nights like this from him." Davis matter-of-factly said he was pleased to see results from the work he put into his game since last season ended. "I work on certain things and try to apply it during the game. Thats why you work out. Thats why you have summer sessions and work with the coaches, work with the team, trainers, whoever, to get better," Davis said. "Id be disappointed in myself if I hadnt gotten better." Chris Kaman led Los Angeles with 16 points, while Nick Young and Steve Blake each scored 13. Steve Nash was in uniform but did not play, part of what coach Mike DAntoni described as a plan to rest the 39-year-old point guard in the second of games played on back-to-back nights. The Lakers had won in Houston a night earlier and did not arrive in New Orleans until 3 a.m. Gasol had nine points and 11 rebounds, but said his team needs him to perform better than that when stars like Nash and Kobe Bryant are out. "Ive got to be sharper. Ive just got to play a little smarter," Gasol said. "I might not have all the speed and explosiveness that I used to have years ago, but I still have to use my experience and my fundamentals to be able to be effective every single night regardless of who were playing." Jordan Hill pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for the Lakers. Jason Smith scored 14 points for New Orleans. Davis asserted himself in the opening minutes by rising to tip a missed shot three times before it finally dropped in for his first points. He scored soon after by slamming home another missed shot and hitting an 18-footer. By the time the first half was over, had 15 points and 10 rebounds, helping New Orleans to a 55-48 lead. "Guys are looking for him now a consistent basis," Williams said. "When you get out and beat everybody down the floor and you get layup and dunk after dunk, he makes it easy on everybody else." NOTES: Outgoing NBA commissioner David Stern, wholl step down at the All-Star break in New Orleans in February, attended the game in what is his last planned official visit to the Big Easy in his current post. Those honouring Stern included Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. After the first quarter, Stern was presented with a framed Pelicans jersey bearing his last name and the No. 30, a nod to his three decades as commissioner. Stern was influential in securing New Orleans future as an NBA city both after Hurricane Katrina and in 2010, when the NBA made the unprecedented move of purchasing the team from then-owner George Shinn and finding a buyer committed to keeping the club in Louisiana long-term. That buyer was Tom Benson, who also owns of the NFLs Saints. After Katrina, Stern said, "We were determined to do our best to do everything possible to make sure that we would be a part of what we knew would be the growth and redemption of New Orleans. 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While this game or series isnt necessarily a referendum on the value of fourth lines, the Canadiens certainly benefitted from production lower down their forward depth chart.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Serena Williams quest for an 18th career singles Grand Slam title will have to wait a few more months. The world No. 1 will have to start a new winning streak too. Serbian Ana Ivanovic stunned Williams, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Sunday to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The 14th-seeded Ivanovic ended Williams 25-match winning streak and dealt the American a shocking fourth-round exit. Ivanovic, who was the runner-up in Melbourne in 2008 and was the French Open champion later that year, took advantage of 31 unforced errors from Williams. "Its not easy playing such a champion and Ive never beaten her before," Ivanovic said during an on-court postmatch interview. Before this match, Ivanovic had lost all four previous matchups against Williams. In fact, she hadnt taken a set against her, but that all changed at Rod Laver Arena. A five-time Australian Open champion, Williams lost for just the second time in 53 matches at the event when winning the first set. Her only previous defeat came last year in the quarterfinals to Sloane Stephens. Williams fought back from a break down to win the first set, but in the second Ivanovic broke for a 3-2 edge. She finally finished off the set on her third chance, a forehand winner. "I had some confidence coming into todays match," Ivanovic said. "I really did certain things extremely well, you know, and I kept her under pressure I felt throughout the whole match." The errors then started to pile up for Williams, as she lost the first three games of the final set. Williams held serve to get within 5-3 and saved one match point when Ivanovic sent a forehand into the net. The encounter finally ended when Williams sent a return long. "I wasnt the best, but it was all Anas day. I thought she played reeally well," said Williams, who fired 13 aces. Fake Vapormax 2020. . "I made a tremendous amount of errors. Im just not used to missing those shots." Williams has been dealing with a back injury, which she termed as not "life threatening" but said she was unable to get additional days off due to the schedule of playing essentially every other day as a Grand Slam tournament requires. She even contemplated not taking the court Sunday due to the injury, but gave Ivanovic all the credit for winning. "I think its almost good I lost today because now I know what I have to work on," added Williams, who pulled out of the doubles competition with her sister, Venus before their first-round match. That was because Venus had a lower left leg injury. Ivanovic will face either 30th seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard or Australian Casey Dellacqua in the quarterfinals. Only three players have won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era - Chris Evert (1 Cool

, Martina Navratilova (1 Cool

and Steffi Graf (22). Serenas next chance at No. 18 will come at the French Open at the end of May. Fourth seed Li Na of China bested 22nd-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2, 6-0 in 59 minutes. Li, who lost to Victoria Azarenka in last years finale in Melbourne, will face Italian Flavia Pennetta in the quarterfinals. The 28th-seeded Pennetta, who did not play the 2013 Australian Open due to a wrist injury. upended No. 9 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. This is Pennettas first quarterfinal appearance at the Aussie Open, but her second straight such showing in a Grand Slam tournament. Pennetta, who fired eight aces, was ousted by Azarenka at the 2013 US Open semifinals. Since 1999, only one German player has advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals. That was Andrea Petkovic in 2011. ' ' '