(SportsNetwork.
Aaron Jones Super Bowl Jersey .com) - The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to move closer to the .500 mark when they host the Utah Jazz Friday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder have dropped two in a row and are 17-19 on the season. They are coming off Wednesdays 104-83 disaster against the Sacramento Kings and made only 32.6 percent from the field. Kevin Durant scored 24 points and Russell Westbrook had 10. Serge Ibaka recorded a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Reggie Jackson scored 14 points off the bench for Oklahoma City, whose current slide comes on the heels of winning four of five games. We found the good shots but couldnt hit them tonight, Durant said. When you get down 25-7 thats when you start to rush and turn the ball over. So we have to go back to the drawing board and get our next one. Dion Waiters scored four points on 1-of-9 shooting in his debut with Oklahoma City, which acquired him from the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal on Monday. The Kings snapped their 12-game slide to the Thunder. They allowed season lows in points and shooting percentage (32.6). Oklahoma City has won three in a row at home and is 10-7 as the host. Utah started a three-game road swing with a convincing 97-77 victory against the Chicago Bulls two days ago. Derrick Favors scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. Trevor Booker delivered 15 points off the bench for the Jazz, winners in seven of the last 11 games. As much as anything, weve had a better focus (of late), said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. Sometimes weve had it for a quarter and not for the next quarter. We were focused more than not tonight. The Jazz are 7-12 outside Salt Lake City and have won two straight and five of their last seven road bouts. Utah will close the trek Saturday in Houston and have split two matchups with Oklahoma City this season. The Northwest rivals will meet again March 28. The Jazz have lost seven in row and 10 of the last 12 games on the road in this series.
Montravius Adams Super Bowl Jersey . - Chelseas 1-0 win at the Etihad, spoiling Manchester Citys perfect home record continues to be the talking point of the week.
Custom Packers Super Bowl Jerseys . 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.TORONTO – Under the strain of a no. 1 gig in the NHL for the very first time, Jonathan Bernier has learned that its best to do little with off-nights from the grueling schedule, condensed as it is in an Olympic year. "I go home and watch TV and just rest," he said with a smile. "But thats what you need to do to be successful. Thats what Im going to do." And thats precisely what the Maple Leafs need him to do. Outside of the incomparable Phil Kessel, no player means more to Torontos fortunes down the stretch and into a hopeful postseason run than the 25-year-old between the pipes. Freed from the shadows of Jonathan Quick, Bernier has shined brilliantly in his first go-around as an NHL starter, minding the fort on most nights in front of a poor defensive team. The Laval, Quebec native ranks sixth in save percentage amongst goaltenders with at least 30 starts, this despite facing more shots than anyone but Mike Smith – Smith, of course, making nine more starts. Whether Bernier has the juice to maintain such a performance down the stretch could very well determine his teams fate. Though theyve scored in droves all year, the Leafs have also struggled badly to defend, requiring Bernier to fend off a barrage of 35, 40 and sometimes 50 shots against on many nights. His efforts have rarely wavered in spite of the workload. Berniers best month in terms of save percentage was October when he posted a sterling .933 mark, his worst coming more recently in January with a still respectable .916 showing. The Leafs – who allow a league-high of more than 36 shots per game – would not be on the firm ground of a playoff spot currently without such feats. "I knew my biggest challenge this year was going to be consistency," he told the Leaf Report, "to be good every night and hopefully, once in a while, be great and steal a few games for your team. Thats my main goal, to be good every night and give a chance to my team to win. But thats hard. When you havent played that much (as a starter) you feel tired a lot more than you are usually so its more like a grind mentally to push yourself to be better every day and work hard in practice. "Why (Henrik) Lundqvist is known as the best is hes going to be good every night and hes going to be great once in a while. Thats how you become the best is consistency. You can have one good year and then youre not going to be the best because youve got to prove it over and over. Thats what makes you a great player." Not since the 2009-10 season has Bernier played anywhere near thhis many games (40 starts) and that was when he was a Manchester Monarch in the AHL.
Brett Favre Super Bowl Jersey. His performance then was eye-catching. Then just 21, he posted a league-leading .936 save percentage during the regular season – Nathan Lawson was second at .922 – raising his level even higher in the playoffs with a .939 mark that again topped every one of his Calder Cup counterparts. All of which makes his performance this season if not surprising then reaffirming of the promise he showed early and often as a highly-touted prospect in the Kings organization. The question lingering now is whether he can continue to perform down the stretch or whether the strain of a sometimes painstaking load in Toronto will prove too much to bear. It will be worthwhile testing ground for the 11th pick in the 06 draft and could ultimately decide the Leafs fate this season. They remain a bad defensive team even with his heroics, ranking fifth to last in goals against. If he falters theres every chance they too falter as well (James Reimer lurks in the background in that case as a proven, if not unused, alternative). Bernier was on point in the final lead-up to the 18-day Olympic stoppage, but was scuffed up in his first two starts afterward, yielding nine goals combined in overtime losses to the Islanders and Canadiens. Off-nights like that will challenge the Leafs playoff push. Theyve required great goaltending to get to this point and will need more of the same in the final 20 games, the bulk of which Bernier is in line to start. Bernier for his part is doing what he can to remain sharp in the final leg of the regular season race. Earlier this season he noted that perhaps the greatest challenge of reassuming control of no. 1 duties is the mental focus required each and every night through an exhausting schedule, not simply the physical wear and tear associated with the job. "Its all about rest and feeling good about yourself and making sure you eat properly, you rest, you sleep good," he said. "Those are the things that are going to get you through a full season to be mentally sharp." Ambition is certainly high for Bernier. He wants to be great and the Leafs, at this stage, need him to be great, gambled when they acquired him that he could be great. "I dont want to look too far ahead," he said, "but my goal is to be the best I can be. Its going to take a few years to get that name (for myself) … but right now Im going day by day and enjoying to play games. Thats what Ive been waiting for and it feels good." ' ' '