76ers Ready for NBA Lottery

The Sixers are in the draft lottery today, but barely.
A thousand ping pong balls are used, each with a team's name on it. The more losses a team had this season, the more ping pong balls they have.
So, of the one thousand ping pong balls, the 76ers have just one. That's because they have the fewest losses of the eight teams in the lottery.

Cavaliers send message with big road victory over 76ers

The biggest victory of the young Cavaliers season didn't exactly go according to the franchise's script for success. Or did it?
The 123-120 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night was emotional to be sure, but it was far from the road game philosophy of grinding out a defensive win as coach Mike Brown preaches.
Yet watching the way LeBron James and Larry Hughes worked together was perhaps the beginning of those champagne wishes and salary-cap dreams hatched in the offseason.
Hughes was masterful in putting up 37 points on 12-of-24 shooting including 5-of-6 on 3-pointers along with six assists and four rebounds. Plus he was gritty on Allen Iverson on defense in the stretch run, preventing him from getting to the basket.
Then there was James, whose triple-double of 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on 14-of-24 shooting says it all.
Beyond the numbers was the demonstration of their teamwork. Hughes dominated early when he had a hot hand and a defender he knew he could have his way with in Kyle Korver. Then late, James took over at point guard when he found Andre Iguodala couldn't defend him on a pick-and-roll.
"I told Larry to just keep making shots, keep us in there," James said. "And I told him I'd join him soon."
"LeBron's a great player capable of making great plays," Hughes said. "We're confident in him but he's also confident in his teammates and he lets us make plays."
SUNDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS: Life is a lot more enjoyable for the Toronto Raptors now that they've finally won a game. "Every one likes each other again," said a chuckling Mike James after the Raptors beat the first-place Miami Heat 107-94 on Sunday to end Toronto's longest losing streak since 2003.
Chris Bosh had a season-high 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Raptors, who opened the season 0-9 - the worst start in their 11-year history. James added 25 points for Toronto.
Stephon Marbury scored a season-high 27 points Sunday to help New York give coach Larry Brown his first Knicks victory at Madison Square Garden as they beat the Trail Blazers 103-92.
Elton Brand had 32 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pacific Division-leading Clippers top the Warriors 113-101 and improve to 8-2, the best start in franchise history.
LAKERS: Forward Kwame Brown is expected to be sidelined for up to two weeks because of a strained right hamstring.
Forwards Slava Medvedenko and Luke Walton are sidelined with injuries as well, leaving the Lakers thin up front.
The Lakers took a 4-5 record into Sunday night's game against the Chicago Bulls.

Endicott plays; Gonchar on IR

Center Shane Endicott played his first game of the season -- and his first in the NHL since 2001-02 -- on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Endicott, who suffered a high ankle sprain the first week of training camp, started on the wing with Maxime Talbot in the middle and Ryan VandenBussche on the wing. Coach Eddie Olczyk said he planned to periodically move Endicott up in place of Konstantin Koltsov on a line with Mario Lemieux and John LeClair. Mario Lemieux, who missed Wednesday's game against the Flyers with a stomach virus, and Sebastien Caron, who was on injured reserve with a pulled quadriceps muscle, also returned to the lineup.
To make room for Endicott and Caron on the 23-man roster, the Penguins placed defenseman Sergei Gonchar on injured reserve with a strained groin. Caron backed up starter Jocelyn Thibault.
Umberger makes Pittsburgh debut
Plum native R.J. Umberger, who played in his first career NHL game with the Flyers on Oct. 30 against the Ottawa Senators, made his hometown debut last night. In nine games going into last night, Umberger had three assists and was averaging 11:41 per game.
Hatcher gets Jagr treatment Hatcher gets Jagr treatment
Flyers defenseman Derian Hatcher, who roughed Sidney Crosby up on Wednesday night with a couple of high sticks that chipped the rookie's teeth and split his lip, was booed by the crowd if 17,132 at Mellon Arena every time he touched the puck last night.
Franchise rivalry
Center Erik Christensen played the Flyers for just the second time in his career last night, but he's familiar of the AHL version of the rivalry after spending last year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
"We probably played the Phantoms eight times last year then met them in the playoffs in the second round and had a pretty tough loss," Christensen said. "I don't know what it is about the rivalry, but it's probably just a state thing. I'm from Edmonton, and every time the Oilers play the Flames it's a big deal, no matter what year it is or how the teams are doing. It seems like it's the same way here."
Slap shots
Center Lasse Pirjeta has cleared waivers but will stay with the Penguins for now. "That's the plan right now is that he's going to be with us," Olczyk said. "There was the strong possibility he was going to play (Saturday) just depending on how Mario was feeling." ... Pirjeta, defenseman Rob Scuderi and forward Rico Fata were scratched last night. ... Pirates star Jason Bay was at the game last night. ... The Edzo Show will return on FSN Pittsburgh beginning on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The first episode will feature Crosby.
Quotable
"Obviously, it's going to be emotional because it's Philly. But I don't think Hatcher meant to high-stick Sid. Would everyone love to see us run Hatcher? Yeah. But we have to win the game, that's the most important thing. It seems like (the media is) blowing it up a little more than it is, which is alright I guess. But we have to go out there and just battle hard."

Flyers beat Penguins 6-3

Jeff Carter and Michael Handzus scored in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers made a late lead hold up this time, beating Pittsburgh 6-3 on Saturday night in a feisty rematch of the Penguins' overtime victory four nights before.
Simon Gagne scored his NHL-leading 19th and 20th goals of the season as Philadelphia improved to a league-best 10 1-1 on the road after dropping its previous three games, including successive home overtime losses to the Penguins on Wednesday and Atlanta on Friday. Gagne also assisted on Mike Knuble's empty-net goal.
Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers. Sidney Crosby scored his 10th goal for Pittsburgh, and Erik Christensen and Ziggy Palffy added goals.
Islanders 5, Panthers 3 At Sunrise, Florida, Shawn Bates scored two goals to help New York hand Florida its 11th straight loss.
Miroslav Satan, Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish also scored for New York, and Rick DiPietro made 25 saves. The Islanders have won three of their last four games.
Kristian Huselius, Gary Roberts and Olli Jokinen scored for Florida, and Roberto Luongo stopped 23 shots.
The Panthers' 11-game losing streak is their longest since a team-record 13-game slide from Feb. 7-March 23, 1998. Florida hasn't won since Oct. 25 at Pittsburgh.
Blues 3, Red Wings 2 At Detroit, Mike Sillinger and Doug Weight scored in the third period to lead St. Louis.
Jamal Mayers also scored to help the Blues win their second straight after losing 11 in a row. Curtis Sanford made 33 saves in the victory, St. Louis' first over Detroit in nine games (0-7-1) since Oct. 29, 2003.
Mikael Samuelsson and Brendan Shanahan scored for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight.
Wild 4, Predators 2 At St. Paul, Minnesota, Kurtis Foster scored his first two NHL goals and Minnesota ended a three-game losing streak.
Foster, who led AHL defensemen in scoring with 15 points in 19 games, was recalled from Houston on Thursday.
Stephane Veilleux and Brian Rolston also scored and Mikko Koivu had three assists for Minnesota. Paul Kariya and Marek Zidlicky scored for the Predators.
Maple Leafs 5, Thrashers 1 At Toronto, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored twice and had an assist to help the Maple Leafs beat Atlanta for their season high fourth straight victory.
Bryan McCabe added a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who also beat Atlanta 9-1 in a fight filled rout on Oct. 14.
Alexander Steen and Nik Antropov also scored for Toronto, and Ed Belfour made 31 saves. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 14th goal for the Thrashers, who had won four of their previous five games.
Senators 5, Devils 4 At Ottawa, Mike Fisher scored twice and backup goalie Ray Emery made 25 saves for the Senators.
Chris Neil, Jason Spezza and Brian McGrattan also scored to help the Senators improve to 6-0 on Saturdays. Ottawa has outscored opponents 35-6 on Saturdays.
John Madden, Grant Marshall, Barry Tallackson and Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils.
Sabres 3, Bruins 2 At Boston, Henrik Tallinder scored with 4:21 left for Buffalo, firing a shot from the point that beat goalie Andrew Raycroft inside the left post.
With the victory, Buffalo won its season-high third straight game and sent the Bruins to their fifth consecutive loss.
Daniel Briere and Ales Kotalik also scored for Buffalo, and Mika Noronen made 20 saves in his first start of the season. Joe Thornton and P.J. Axelsson scored for Boston, 1-8-1 in Northeast Division games.
Rangers 4, Hurricanes 3 At New York, Michael Nylander had a goal and three assists to help the Rangers beat Carolina to split a home-and-home series.
Martin Straka, Petr Prucha and Michal Rozsival also scored and Jaromir Jagr had three assists New York, coming off a 5-1 road loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Eric Staal, Niklas Nordgren and Justin Williams scored for Carolina.
Capitals 5, Canadiens 1 At Montreal, Brian Sutherby scored twice and Olaf Kolzig made 43 saves, leading Washington past Montreal.
Sutherby, Brian Willsie, Brooks Laich and Chris Clark also scored for the Capitals. Michael Ryder scored his team-leading ninth goal for Montreal.
Blackhawks 4, Oilers 3 At Edmonton, Alberta, Edmonton native Rene Bourque scored twice and backup goalie Craig Anderson made 33 saves to help Chicago complete a two-game Alberta sweep.
Mark Bell and Martin Lapointe also scored for Chicago, which ended Calgary's eight game winning streak Friday night with a 5-2 victory. The Blackhawks, who have won five of six, have three games left on their five-game trip.
Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll and Marty Reasoner scored for the Oilers.
Coyotes 4, Sharks 3, SO At San Jose, California, Geoff Sanderson scored the deciding goal in a shootout, and Phoenix sent San Jose to its fifth straight loss.
Sanderson, the fourth Phoenix shooter, faked goalie Evgeni Nabokov and found the net. San Jose's Nils Ekman then missed on the other end.
The Sharks' five-game skid is their longest losing streak since also dropping five straight from March 14-22, 2001, part of a six-game winless stretch.
Mike Comrie, Ladislav Nagy and Dave Scatchard scored in regulation for Phoenix. Wayne Primeau, Tom Preissing and Patrick Marleau scored for San Jose.
Kings 4, Avalanche 3 At Los Angeles, Pavol Demitra scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 3:32 remaining for the Kings to complete his fourth career hat trick.
Sean Avery also scored and the Mathieu Garon made 34 saves.
Pierre Turgeon scored twice for Colorado and set up Alex Tanguay's power-play goal.

Flyers must turn on afterburners to defeat Penguins

Jeff Carter and Michael Handzus scored in opening minutes of the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers made a late lead hold up this time, beating Pittsburgh 6-3 on Saturday night in a feisty rematch of the Penguins' overtime victory four nights before.
Simon Gagne scored his NHL-leading 19th and 20th goals of the season as Philadelphia improved to a league-best 10-1-1 on the road after dropping its previous three games, including successive home overtime losses to the Penguins on Wednesday and Atlanta on Friday. Gagne also assisted on Mike Knuble's empty-net goal.
Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers. Sidney Crosby scored his 10th goal for Pittsburgh, and Erik Christensen and Ziggy Palffy added goals.
Blues 3, Red Wings 2
At Detroit, Mike Sillinger and Doug Weight scored in the third period to lead St. Louis.
Jamal Mayers also scored to help the Blues win their second straight after losing 11 in a row. Curtis Sanford made 33 saves in the victory, St. Louis' first over Detroit in nine games (0-7-1) since Oct. 29, 2003.
Mikael Samuelsson and Brendan Shanahan scored for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight.
Maple Leafs 5, Thrashers 1
At Toronto, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored twice and had an assist to help the Maple Leafs beat Atlanta for their season-high fourth straight victory.
Bryan McCabe added a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who also beat Atlanta 9-1 in a fight-filled rout on Oct. 14.
Alexander Steen and Nik Antropov also scored for Toronto, and Ed Belfour made 31 saves. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 14th goal for the Thrashers.
Senators 5, Devils 4
At Ottawa, Mike Fisher scored twice and backup goalie Ray Emery made 25 saves for the Senators.
Chris Neil, Jason Spezza and Brian McGrattan also scored.
John Madden, Grant Marshall, Barry Tallackson and Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils.
Sabres 3, Bruins 2
At Boston, Henrik Tallinder scored with 4:21 left for Buffalo, firing a shot from the point that beat goalie Andrew Raycroft inside the left post.
With the victory, Buffalo won its season-high third straight game and sent the Bruins to their fifth consecutive loss.
Daniel Briere and Ales Kotalik also scored for Buffalo, and Mika Noronen made 20 saves in his first start of the season. Joe Thornton and P.J. Axelsson scored for Boston, 1-8-1 in Northeast Division games.
Rangers 4, Hurricanes 3
At New York, Michael Nylander had a goal and three assists to help the Rangers beat Carolina to split a home-and-home series.
Martin Straka, Petr Prucha and Michal Rozsival also scored and Jaromir Jagr had three assists New York, coming off a 5-1 road loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Eric Staal, Niklas Nordgren and Justin Williams scored for Carolina.
Capitals 5, Canadiens 1
At Montreal, Brian Sutherby scored twice and Olaf Kolzig made 43 saves, leading Washington past Montreal.
Sutherby, Brian Willsie, Brooks Laich and Chris Clark also scored for the Capitals. Michael Ryder scored his team-leading ninth goal for Montreal.
Blackhawks 4, Oilers 3
In Alberta, Edmonton native Rene Bourque scored twice and backup goalie Craig Anderson made 33 saves to help Chicago complete a two-game Alberta sweep.
Mark Bell and Martin Lapointe also scored for Chicago, which ended Calgary's eight-game winning streak Friday night with a 5-2 victory.
The surging Blackhawks squad have won five of six on their road trip.
Ales Hemsky, Jarret Stoll and Marty Reasoner scored for the Oilers. This story has been viewed 88 times.