efore play resumed following a Canu

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BOSTON - Its no secret that the Chicago Bulls are a much better team with a healthy Derrick Rose.He showed that again on Friday afternoon when the Bulls were struggling to get consistent offence.Rose scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half — 12 coming early in the third quarter — to help the Bulls pull away for a 109-102 win over the Boston Celtics.When he plays like that, its huge for our team, Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. When you look at his plus-minus when hes on the floor for our team this year, its off the charts. When hes on the floor it makes a big difference for our team. I think we all know that.Rose missed large portions of the past two seasons with serious knee injuries. Hes been struggling to stay in the lineup this year due to ankle and hamstring injuries.The confidence is through the roof, he said. I dont need more confidence. I just need to play. I know how good I am and how good I can be. Its just I need to be out there playing.Jimmy Butler hit four free throws late in the game and finished with 22 points for Chicago, which had lost four of its previous six games.Pau Gasol had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Joakim Noah added 15 points and 14 boards for the Bulls.Every time hes on the court he makes our team better, Noah said of Rose. Any time hes on the court it just makes us that much more dangerous.Rose was held to seven points in the opening half before the 2010-11 MVP scored the 12 in the opening 4 minutes of the second half. After he went to the bench with 4:52 left in the third, he didnt return until 7:02 remained in the game.Jared Sullinger led Boston with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Avery Bradley had 18 points and Brandon Bass 16 with nine boards. Rajon Rondo had eight points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Celtics, who have lost six of seven.Boston shot 19.2 per cent (5 of 26) in the final quarter.Im not going to lose any sleep over the ball not going into the basket, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Weve got to finish. Thats the bottom line.With the score tied at 100, Jeff Greens driving basket put the Celtics ahead with 2 1/2 minutes left. After each team failed to score on a couple of possessions, Butlers two free throws tied it with 80 seconds to play.Rondo missed two free throws and Sullinger front-rimmed an attempted 3 before Butlers two free throws moved the Bulls ahead for good, 104-102, with 51 seconds left. Noah then nailed a short jumper on their next possession.We had a lot of open shots that didnt fall in the fourth, Sullinger said.Boston missed 17 of its first 20 shots in the final quarter before Sullingers conventional 3-point play tied it at 100 with 3 minutes to play. He was fouled driving down the lane by Noah, who was attempting to draw a charge.The Celtics held a 91-85 edge after three periods when Sullinger made a 3 with four-tenths of a second left in the quarter.___NOT GOOD FROM THE LINERondo is shooting just 32 per cent (9 of 28) from the foul line this season.PROTECTING THE PAINTNoah returned after missing the last game with eye abrasion, collecting six of Chicagos 13 blocked shots.NEW LOOKThe Celtics wore their alternate grey home uniforms — with sleeves — for the first of six times this season.TIP-INSBulls: Rose played his third straight game after missing four with a strained left hamstring. Thibodeau said recent criticism is fair of Roses decision to miss games with injuries. Yes. Because its really not that important and Ive told him this: Whether its praise or criticism, its all the same. Its really what he thinks. he said. Only he knows if hes putting everything he has into each and every day. Once he know hes done all you can do, you should feel good about it. Ive told him this many times, If hes injured, I dont want him out there, and if hes healthy, I want him to go. Hopefully were moving forward.Celtics: G Marcus Smart missed his eighth straight game with a sprained left ankle. He pulled himself out (of practice) after a few minutes on Wednesday, coach Stevens said. The ankle was still tender.UP NEXTBulls: At Brooklyn on Sunday.Celtics: Host San Antonio on Sunday. Dan Majerle Jersey . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. Grant Hill Jersey . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. http://www.sunsofficialshop.us/penny-ha ... -jersey/.J. - Several people have collapsed in an overcrowded New Jersey train station while waiting in long lines to get to the Super Bowl. Josh Jackson Jersey . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Devin Booker Jersey . The underachieving franchise finished 17th in the 19-team league with a 6-17-11 record this season. "Our soccer team is absolutely in complete disarray," said Leiweke, drawing laughs during an Empire Club luncheon speech about the future of MLSE teams and plans to improve them.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, Everyone does it, everyone knows it happens but what can referees to stop the delaying tactics used by teams after an icing call? In the first period between Vancouver and Buffalo on Sunday, Buffalo iced the puck and suddenly Zenon Konopka needed a new stick. However, it took the equipment manager about 30-40 seconds trying to find one and gave the team a quick rest. When he finally got near the faceoff dot, the linesman did a quick drop of the puck and the Canucks eventually scored off the resulting play. I know the Canucks sometimes will send in a winger to purposely get waved out to get a breather, but how long do referees give a team before they are able to give a delay of game penalty? Do they have to warn the team first? Gareth Gareth: Even though it is within the referees authority to assess a minor penalty once a player or team deliberately delays the game following an icing, I can think of far more appropriate situations for a referee to flex his muscles and assess a penalty. As you admit Gareth, everyone does it and everyone knows it happens. A warning would typically have to be issued before a delay of game penalty would be assessed in this situation. When Zenon Konopka felt it necessary to change his stick (for whatever reason) following the Sabres icing infraction the referee was caught between a rock and a hard place and must allow the player to obtain a replacement. Can you imagine the nuclear fallout for the ref, following the Canuck goal, if Konopka had been denied the change and his stick had broken on the ensuing face-off? Forcing Knopka to grab any old replacement off the bench other than his own pattern could also set the ref up for some abuse. In the course of a game there are times when a referee must dig his skates in and take a hard-line position but I believe a ref should pick his battles wisely and with good purpose. In my opinion, a slow face-off following an icing isnt typically worth throwing the gauntlet down. That being said, one thing that any referee has little tolerance for is to be publicly embarrassed and played for a fool. What I didnt much care for, as I watched this apparent "sheell game" being play out at the Buffalo bench, were the snickers and laughter that took place at the referees expense.dddddddddddd The equipment managers and training staff for the Buffalo Sabres are very professional in their duties; as are all NHL team equipment personnel. To believe that a players stick wasnt available in the rack just isnt within the realm of possibility. Gareth, let me suggest one possible way to deter a team from abusing rule 81.4—line changes on icing. My approach would have to laugh right along with them right up to the end of the little charade when Zenon Konopka was finally handed his replacement stick and before he sprinted to the face-off dot with a grin. At that point I would issue Coach Ted Nolan an "official warning" that any undue delay by him or his players on a future icing would result in bench minor penalty. I would be sure to say it with a smile on my face but there would be little doubt that the gauntlet had been dropped! You might also be curious Gareth (like me) as to why a lengthy rest delay was even required by the Sabres fourth line on just their fourth shift of the game; if in fact that was the intention of Zenon Konopka and the Sabres bench staff. Heres the interesting breakdown for you. The Sabres fourth line, comprised of Zenon Konopka, John Scott and Nicolas Deslauriers, had played a total of one minute and seventeen seconds (1:17) in three well spaced shifts prior to their fourth shift when the icing infraction was called. Their third shift lasted only 20 seconds and was followed by over two minutes of rest on the bench. The fouth line then changed on the fly and skated for 21 seconds prior to a 25 second breather before play resumed following a Canuck end zone face-off. Once the puck was dropped, they skated for another 13 seconds before the whistle blew for the icing call. I dont think these finely tuned athletes would have been all that fatigued considering my unofficial ice-tracker stats. If locating a missing stick at the Sabres bench is truly a ploy to slow things down after an icing, perhaps they should pick their spot more wisely and utilize it when players really are fatigued. In any event, this play should now be "one and done!" The gauntlet has been dropped I hope. NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale White NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '