Game notes Taylor Swift Scotiabank Place formerly Corel Centre The Cavaliers' 29 first-

Game notes expresses The Cavaliers' indicates 29 first- half points were a season low The Rockets improved to 7- 1 at home. Hughes, a first- team all- conference selection, added 17 points but went scoreless in overtime. Ricciardi also confirmed to the newspaper that a contract had been offered. The Cavs were in control early and led by 14 in the first half when they got sloppy, turning the ball over and allowing the Sixers to go on a 14- 2 run to close within 52- 50 at half " We can' t make unforced turnovers " Brown said " Those led to easy baskets at the other end " Cleveland had 11 turnovers in the second period, which ended with Iverson biting his lip after thinking he got fouled on a drive. He' s going to make something happen no matter what " Guard Flip Murray started for Hamilton, shooting 5- for- 6 from the floor in the first half on his way to scoring 16 points. Prosecutors contend the men defrauded three Houston banks by acquiring mortgage loans far in excess of the properties' value and then diverting the money for personal use.

When the Giants practiced their running plays with Brandon Jacobs or Reuben Droughns, the officials blew the whistle before Giants defensive linemen Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka or Barry Cofield had the opportunity to make the tackle " Having been with the Giants for three years, this training camp is much different than the previous two " Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said " There is a lot less hitting and a lot less full- contact practices than there used to be " The idea of not wearing players out seems to be taking hold throughout the NFL A visit to Jets training camp provided more proof . Rosenhaus said the request to be released was made last week and that he will continue to speak with Cardinals management James has lost his starting job to rookie Tim Hightower . In the bottom of the seventh, he sent a drive to center field in spacious Petco Park that Juan Pierre caught at the fence " It felt good off the bat, but in this park you never know, so I' m sprinting all the way around until they tell me it' s a home run " said Bowen, adding that this was his first walkoff homer ever Bowen' s shot was estimated at 389 feet The teams played their second straight extra- inning game San Diego won 1- 0 in 11 innings on Friday night . LUCIE, Fla( AP- Mets right- hander Mike Pelfrey struggled against the Florida Marlins on Saturday, hurting his chance at earning a spot in the New York rotation . With a run in and one runner on in the ninth, Torre used closer Jonathan Broxton to get the final out. Towles from Triple- A Round Rock " It' s really unfortunate " Cooper said " He' s been playing terrific. Even without help from fellow backups- for- a- day Bobby Abreu and Mike Napoli, the Angels' season- high sixth straight victory sent them home for the Freeway Series with their longest winning streak of the season and the best interleague record in baseball " We' d much rather have those guys getting their five at- bats a night, but that' s a pretty good bench to put out there " Scioscia said " We beat one of the best in the game this afternoon, and we can carry a little momentum from that " Los Angeles snapped Lincecum' s six- game winning streak with its late surge, which included four consecutive hits off the NL Cy Young Award winner " It' s big, because he' s one of the best pitchers in the game right now " said Hunter, who expects to start Friday after bruising his ribs Monday " I' m pretty sure Mike had it in his mind to keep it close, and then look at that bench.

He said his recommendation was to take the plea deal rather than the life sentence four co- defendants face if convicted " We have irreconcilable differences " he said . To create room on the roster, the Giants released veteran offensive lineman Tutan Reyes and waived defensive lineman Leger Douzable . The Hurricanes were led by Diane Barnes, who scored 11 points Miami has lost three straight, all ACC contests . His emergence is one reason Chicago is fighting for the division title, and with Contreras finished for the season, they' ll need him to keep up the pace " I believe in what I can do " Floyd said " You can' t really change your attitude because of that " It was another rough outing for Buchholz, who allowed seven hits, five runs and a season- high three homers while throwing 74 pitches in three- plus inning- his shortest outing this year A J . The Phoenix Suns, a work in progress, have a knack for blowing fourth- quarter leads at home. Game notesHoward received a technical in the first quarter when he got tangled up with Gasol Houston is 0- 9 against the Southwest Division. We definitely have a challenge ahead of us " Jose Calderon had 18 points and 11 assists for Toronto, with Anthony Parker scoring 12 points, Will Solomon 11 and Jamario Moon 10.

McCray had seven points inside after Georgia' s 6- foot- 5 Angel Robinson fouled out with 6: 36 to play . Bonner, a skinny 6- foot- 4 forward, had 10 points in the run that Boddie ignited with a shot in the lane . 16 and the most hits he has allowed since he surrendered 10 in four innings at Atlanta on July 30 . Instead, Prado' s accurate throw beat Wells by one- half step " I just reacted to the groundball " said Prado, the fill- in starter for Chipper Jones, who was held out with a sore toe " With that guy Vernon Wells running down the line, I didn' t want to stay back . That' s just the way it goes " Maholm went seven innings and allowed only one earned run in losing to the Astros just a week ago in Pittsburgh " He threw the ball well after a little bit of a shaky start tonight " Pirates manager John Russell said " I think he got stronger as the game went on. Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer off Jose Capellan to lead off the bottom of the eighth and tie it at 4 Phil Nevin walked and was replaced by Matt Murton.

Florida won two of three games from the NL East- leading Mets " If we can win every series, that' s big . Zambrano also delivered a pair of singles as the Cubs overcame Prince Fielder' s 21st home run . The Rays are 14- 8 in the first game of a series, and have won nine of their last 11 series openers . whipping " He guaranteed a competitive atmosphere, then went out and was the best player on the floor . Seven players scored in double figures for Phoenix, which finished with the most points in the seven- year history of the Air Canada Centre. After the Knicks traded Jamal Crawford to Golden State for Al Harrington, and sent Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Los Angeles Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, the bench was depleted.

Curry was an assistant to Flip Saunders for just one season before he was hired to replace Saunders, but gradually lost support from Detroit' s veterans- most notably popular shooting guard Hamilton- after he elected to move Hamilton to the bench to accommodate November trade acquisition Allen Iverson . Cain ended a four- start winless stretch that featured a loss followed by three straight no- decisions since he won five straight . The Sonics were without Rashard Lewis, their second- leading scorer, who sat out with a right foot injury, and reserve forward Danny Fortson, who is recovering from a left ankle sprain " We won a game that a lot of people didn' t think we could win " said Seattle coach Nate McMillan, whose team leads the Northwest Division by 10# 189; games over Denver . In his first two games with the Red Sox, he went 7- for- 9 with two homers, seven RBI, two doubles and four runs His best season was 2000, when he hit 302 in 116 games with Texas Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press . He has played in 10 exhibition games, eight of them in the minors, since his appendix was removed Feb 26 " He' s ready to go " Torre said. The Twins won for only the second time in their last 12 games at U S Cellular Game notes Mauer has a 14- game hitting streak.

Vazquez( 3- 3) allowed two runs and four hits, striking out seven in 7 2/ 3 innings . Fast Facts# 8226& nbsp; The Rangers improved to 9- 2 in their last 11 home games and 11- 3 in their last 14 overall as Scott Feldman( 7 IP, 2 ER) turned in his seventh quality start in his last eight games# 8226& nbsp; Michael Young( 17) homered for the fifth time in his last nine games, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia( 9) and David Murphy( 9) also homered for Texas# 8226& nbsp; For the Mariners, Ian Snell( 6 IP, 2 ER) made his first start for Seattle and his first MLB start since June 23; he now has a 1 . He' s been driving, rebounding, just playing good defense " Barry scored 16 points, which matched his season high recorded four days earlier against the Lakers Tony Parker scored 20 points and had 11 assists . We always look for that challenge " Billups said " When we are challenged, we always step up to the plate . With McGrady and Yao sidelined in the third, McDyess and Hamilton took over the game. 4 seconds on the clock is irresponsible " A much mellower Brown said before Wednesday night' s game against Phoenix that he has not yet been punished and that he has no regrets about voicing his opinion " I said what I had to say and the NBA needs to do what it needs to do " Brown said " I just said what I said and saw what I saw " Last week, the league docked Boston coach Doc Rivers$ 15, 000 for criticizing the officiating in the Celtics' overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Anaheim' s leading scorer, Teemu Selanne joked after the game that he looked like " Rocky " He was struck with a puck that opened a gash above his right eye during the pregame warmups, and got hit in the face with a stick that opened another cut above his left eye during the game . In this variety, the ball is thrown not kicked, a goal is worth three points not one, and the Malcolm Glazer family cheers on the Buccaneers team it owns- not the Manchester United club it controls . Updated: April 2, 2009, 9: 04 AM ET Witten denies wanting T O . Young hit a run- scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Rangers over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6- 5 on Saturday night . After signing with the Cubs as a free agent, Rusch was called up from Triple- A Iowa on April 30 He went 4- 2 as a starter with a 3 50 ERA He limited left- handed hitters to a 225 average. Anderson is 12- for- 25 since the Astros recalled him from the minors on Sept 1.

The Devil Rays( 57- 82) are four games behind Baltimore( 60- 77) for fourth place . After the game, hints that Garcia should be benched# 8226; Sept . He has said a lifetime ban remains a possibility " If he can deal with whatever issues he may have, handle his responsibilities, make good decisions, then he may have an opportunity to play again in the league " Goodell said " I' m frankly tired of talking about it right now " Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press . Garciaparra went 1- for- 4 with a single and a run scored while improving his average with runners in scoring position to 476 . Nets coach Byron Scott likes what he has seen from Mourning, a four- time All- Star who sat out all of last season and large portions of two of the last three years with a kidney disease " He' s already way ahead of schedule at this point " Scott said " He has a good idea about 75 percent of what we' re running on offense. After the game the Nationals announced they had signed veteran right- hander Livan Hernandez He will start Wednesday night' s game.

The Hornets are without three of their top four scorers- David West( forearm, Peja Stojakovic( back) and sixth man Bobby Jackson( ribs- and have dropped to last in the NBA in scoring " I think we showed a lot of fight in us, but at the end of the game we still didn' t get the win " Paul said " It' s all about wins and losses " The Bulls surged into the lead with eight straight points late in the first quarter and were ahead 45- 31 after a 10- 0 second- quarter run that included seven straight points by Gordon . The Celtics terminated Baker' s contract in February with 2# 189; years and$ 35 million remaining . He didn' t get much help from his teammates, who were stymied by Blackburn' s smooth mix of curveballs and well- placed fastballs " We load the bases and weren' t able to capitalize " Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said " Then they came right back the next inning " That' s been the story of this massively disappointing year for the Indians, who have lost seven of their last nine to fall 14 games behind the White Sox . The first$ 200, 000 of his deal will go to help pay a$ 700, 000 buyout of his contract with Real Madrid, with the rest paid by the Sonics . Navarro made 156 3- pointers during the season, two short of equaling the NBA record for a rookie. Charlotte has not led after the first quarter in any game during its current losing streak " We' re digging ourselves into the Grand Canyon right now and it' s too much to come back " Wallace said.

43 ERA in 67 relief appearances for Colorado last season, his eighth in the majors, while Simontacchi last pitched in the big leagues in 2004, when he had shoulder surgery Both relievers will be 33 on opening day Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press . Perez and Manuel spoke in a closed- door meeting before Sunday' s game against the Phillies was rained out . Gerald Fitch was with the Rockets on Friday but was inactive, a day after being traded from the Miami Heat for Derek Anderson . We' ve won some games without him, but we kind of need him We know we need him for the stretch . The Timberwolves had never before lost successive home games by 20 or more points until this week Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Updated: October 1, 2003, 1: 49 PM ET Lame- duck Detroit goalie skates for first time in weeks Email Print Share Associated Press DETROIT- Curtis Joseph skated for the first time in six weeks Tuesday and drew intense focus during the Detroit Red Wings' awkward morning skate. It was a bit of a surprise to see that the Bears didn' t adjust with more maximum protections or at least chip on DE Jared Allen, who had three sacks.

Brewers 3, Nationals 0MILWAUKEE( AP- Chris Capuano showcased a nasty changeup against the Washington Nationals on Monday night, and the Milwaukee Brewers won for the eighth time in nine games because of it . He' s made the difference in a lot of games throughout his career and he made the difference tonight " Jason Jennings( 2- 6, who had lost his previous five starts, allowed three runs and three hits in six innings to win for the first time since June 19 at the Los Angeles Angels " He had that rough inning, but then he settled down after that and started making better pitches " Garner said " He forced himself to get the ball down in the zone after that " Jennings had been on the longest losing streak of his big league career and had just one win in his previous seven starts against the Dodgers " I' m making good strides " he said " I gave up three runs early, but I kept us close . It is not statistically possible " he said " What they are doing is a good example of lying with statistics " In addition to the publication of their findings Sunday, the Penn professors plan to release a 15- page report that will be available in a few days and will be published in an academic journal on statistics . said Myers has a torn labrum and no date has been set for surgery Myers was examined by Dr . Updated: December 16, 2008, 10: 54 AM ET Report: Pats' Light has slight shoulder separation, but unlikely to sideline him Comment Email Print Share ESPN news services New England Patriots tackle Matt Light slightly separated his shoulder against the Raiders but could still play this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Boston Herald. Updated: January 15, 2009, 4: 27 PM ET Saints name Williams D- coordinator Comment Email Print Share Associated Press NEW ORLEANS- The New Orleans Saints hired Gregg Williams to fill their vacant defensive coordinator' s post, hoping he' ll shape up a unit that allowed 339 5 yards per game. In addition to the largest payroll, the Yankees have the highest revenue in the majors.