Inland Waterways » We smashed them in

NEW YORK -- Jason Collins started walking from the bench to the scorers table, fans rising out of their seats all around Barclays Center. He committed a foul five seconds after entering. His only shot barely hit the rim. Collins performance may not have been pretty, but everything else was great. Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with the Brooklyn Nets, who cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 96-80 victory Monday night. "It was cool. It was a lot of fun to go into the game," Collins said. "The most important thing was that we got the win. Chicagos been playing really well as of late and for us to come out and really be -- I think we played more physical than they did tonight." Finally playing at home more than a week after returning to the NBA as the leagues first openly gay player, Collins checked in to a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 17,732 that included former NBA Commissioner David Stern with 2:41 remaining. He grabbed a rebound and had one of the Nets NBA season high-tying 19 steals in their third straight victory. Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson had 19 for the Nets (29-29), who got back to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2 after beating Utah on Nov. 5. D.J. Augustin scored 16 points off the bench for the sloppy Bulls, who turned it over 28 times, leading to 30 Nets points, and had their four-game winning streak snapped. The Bulls had a franchise-low three turnovers in their 109-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday and had won nine of 10. But the Nets were too good in this one, building a series of comfortable leads and making the only intrigue down the stretch whether Collins would get in during his first home appearance for the Nets since Jan. 29, 2008, against Milwaukee in East Rutherford, N.J. A chant of "Jason Collins! Jason Collins!" broke out while Williams was shooting a free throw with the Nets leading 90-73 with 3:27 remaining. Fans finally got their wish less than a minute later -- though not because coach Jason Kidd was listening to them. "No, the game was out of hand, so I wanted to get those guys some rest," he said. "D-Will was shooting free throws. Couldnt put Twin in at that time, so I told him after the free throws that he would come in." Collins original 10-day contract will expire Tuesday and the Nets plan to sign him to a second deal on Wednesday. A Nets player from 2001-08, he has appeared in all five games since he signed on Feb. 23. Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston each scored 14 points for the Nets, who were without starting centre Kevin Garnett for a second straight game because of back spasms. "Mentally, the Bulls have really had our numbers," Pierce said. "To be honest, if I was them Id feel like when they come play the Nets, they feel like they could beat us every time. I think the guys really had pride tonight to say, You know were tired of getting pushed around by the Bulls." Joakim Noah managed just 10 points, six rebounds and one assist for the Bulls, a day after finishing with 13 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his fifth career triple-double. The All-Star centre rolled his right ankle early in the second half of that game and said it hurt after the game, but he was determined to play Monday in his hometown. The Bulls had dominated the first two meetings and beaten the Nets four straight times, but Brooklyn controlled this one most of the way in improving to 12-2 at home since Chicagos rout here on Christmas Day. "We smashed them in the mouth twice, its never going to be easy to come in to tough-minded team and do it again," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. The Nets scored the first eight points, the last one on Williams free throw after Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau screamed his way to a technical foul after calling time. Their lead grew to 15, but the Bulls trimmed it to 27-18 by the end of the first quarter. Brooklyn led 50-42 at halftime, and Chicago started the second half just as bad as the first. The Nets scored the first seven to take a 57-42 lead when Williams set up Mason Plumlee for a dunk. "I think we had all intentions to play hard, but like I say, it didnt show," Augustin said. "Being down early, you cant come start the game down, you cant start the second half down, so that was our big mistakes, and then the turnovers killed us." NOTES: The Nets 19 steals were their most since finishing with 20 against Indiana on March 21, 1989. ... Brooklyn hadnt scored more than 23 points in a period against Chicago this season and surpassed that in both the first (27) and third (26). Vinny Curry Jersey . Rasmussen didnt have a decision during his four appearances in May, when he gave up two hits and no runs in two innings. Toronto used five relievers while pulling off the second-biggest comeback in franchise history on Friday night, rallying from an 8-0 deficit to a 14-9 win. Caleb Benenoch Jersey . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseyssale.com/ . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said. Peyton Barber Jersey . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Jack Cichy Jersey . New York City FC introduced Frank Lampard in Brooklyn on Thursday after signing the 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder to a two-year contract.TORONTO - Former title contender Chael Sonnen has been dumped from his UFC broadcasting duties after failing a second drug test as a fighter. The outspoken 37-year-old announced his retirement from the cage on June 11 after the first positive test, which resulted in his removal from a proposed UFC 175 bout against Vitor Belfort. Sonnen, who fought unsuccessfully for both the UFC light-heavyweight (twice) and middleweight titles during a 9-8 UFC career, lost his TV analyst gig after the second positive drug test. "The UFC and Fox Sports organizations announced today the termination of their respective broadcasting services agreements with analyst Chael Sonnen," a joint statement released Moonday said.dddddddddddd "This decision comes in light of Sonnen failing a second test conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission for banned substances in June. Sonnen was previously under temporary suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission for failing an initial test conducted in May." Sonnen previously had a therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy, which the Nevada Commission banned earlier this year. Sonnen, after the first positive test result, said on the "UFC Tonight" show he co-hosted on Fox Sports 1 that the medical condition that necessitated his use of TRT had prompted him to turn to other medications in the transition from TRT. 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