f the UAE defence for offside.At Sydney, Say

[lw789]

NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans looks so comfortable coming off the bench that Pelicans coach Monty Williams chose not to start him when Eric Gordon was unable to play because of his injured right hip. Williams got the result he wanted. Evans had 19 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and New Orleans handed the Denver Nuggets their fifth straight loss, 105-89 on Friday night. It was the second straight double-double for Evans, who led the Pelicans to a victory Monday night in Sacramento with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He appreciates the significance of providing scoring off the bench. "Its important," Evans said. "When we come in like that and play together, find each other, move the ball ... I think thats when were at our best." Jrue Holiday had 17 points and four steals, causing two turnovers that led to late fast-break points as the Pelicans slammed the door on Denvers comeback bid. "I just love the way he defends and the way he competes," Williams said. "Its contagious." Anthony Davis added 17 points and four blocked shots despite playing sparingly in the first half because of three early fouls. Wilson Chandler scored 22 points and J.J. Hickson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who trailed by 18 in the second quarter but were as close as 93-87 on Quincy Millers 3-pointer with 2:55 to go. Thats when Holiday found Davis for an alley-oop tip and again for a fast-break basket. Holiday followed that up with a short floater and a steal to set up Evans fast-break layup, and New Orleans easily held on from there for its second consecutive victory. A few minutes earlier, Davis briefly prevented Denver from pulling within seven points when he blocked three shots on one possession, the first two by Chandler and a third layup attempt by Andre Miller. "When hes talking on defence and rotating properly, were pretty tough," Williams said. "Our defence is pretty sound." New Orleans blocked eight shots in all and outrebounded Denver 53-42. The Pelicans outscored the Nuggets 48-36 in the paint and outshot them 47.2 per cent to 40.2 per cent. Denver was without starter Kenneth Faried for a second straight game because of his left ankle sprain. That led to a lineup shuffle in which Timofey Mozgov made his second start of the season at centre and Jordan Hamilton started his eighth game at guard in place of a healthy Randy Foye. "We talked about just trying to stay together and pulling for each other," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. "This is our team and we have to play with the guys that we have, regardless of whos out, regardless of the fact that it is a tough stretch for us, losing five in a row. "The same way we were feeling about each other when we won seven games in a row, we have to find and generate the kind of energy and effort that we need to correct what were doing right now thats allowing us to lose all these games in a row," he added. "We talk about changing behaviour in order to change results. We have to do that, and that means even if youre not in there, pulling for the guy thats in there in front of you." Ty Lawson had 14 points and 12 assists for Denver. Hamilton added 12 points. Despite a lethargic first half, Denver cut New Orleans lead to 70-64 in the third quarter after an 8-2 spurt that started with Hamiltons 3 and ended with Chandlers 3. Williams called timeout, and New Orleans responded. Al-Farouq Aminus steal led to Holidays 15-foot jumper, then Holiday stole the ball from Lawson and hit a breakaway layup. That sparked an 11-0 run that included Davis alley-oop layup off Evans lob, Aminus jumper and Evans 3. The Pelicans never trailed, thanks to sharp early shooting. New Orleans shot 52 per cent in the first quarter, building a 34-29 lead when Darius Miller hit a 3 as he was fouled and sank the free throw for a four-point play. The second quarter wasnt quite as crisp for New Orleans, and Davis spent much of the period on the bench with three fouls -- but Denver only fell further behind. Ryan Andersons third 3 of the half put the Pelicans ahead 49-31. Lawson had 10 first-half points for Denver, and his four straight to close out the second quarter pulled the Nuggets to 58-45 at halftime. NOTES: New Orleans (13-14) earned its first victory against an opponent that entered with a winning record. ... Anthony Morrow wound up starting for Gordon, who averages 15.4 points. Morrow had eight points. ... Mozgov finished with eight points and nine rebounds. ... Jason Smith missed his third straight game with a bruised right knee. Anderson started for him. ... The Pelicans play five of their next six games on the road, where they are 5-9 this season. ... The Nuggets finish a two-game road swing in Memphis on Saturday night. . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. . Dwyane Wade followed a few days later. http://www.authenticnfljerseyscheap.us.com/. In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil. .com) - Charlie Davies netted a pair of goals, including the series-winner on Saturday, as the New England Revolution battled the New York Red Bulls to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship at Gillette Stadium and advanced to MLS Cup final via a thrilling 4-3 aggregate victory. . Bjoerndalen broke the record he shared with cross-country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, also matching his fellow Norwegians record of eight gold medals. Bjoerndalen earlier won gold in Sochi in the mens sprint biathlon.Substitute Reza Ghoochannejhad scored an injury-time goal to lift Iran to a 1-0 win over UAE and top spot in Group C at the Asian Cup on Monday.Despite a free-flowing game, and a virtuoso performance by UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, neither side could find a breakthrough until Ghoochannejhads late strike helped Asias top-ranked team avoid a likely quarterfinal showdown with Japan.UAE appealed for offside when Ghoochannejhad pounced on a ball that had ricocheted off teammate Andranik Teymourian and directed his header into the top corner from close range. However, television replays indicated the striker had just stayed onside.The spirit is great in our team, (the) chemistry is amazing, said Ghoochannejhad. Right now everybody is happy but we have to focus on our upcoming games.Iran will now face the runners-up of Group D, likely to be Iraq or Jordan, in the quarterfinal at Canberra on Friday, while the UAE will likely face Japan in Sydney.UAE had already secured its quarterfinal place with wins over Qatar and Bahrain in its first two games, and was unlucky to not get the draw it needed to top the group from Iran on goal difference.Sometimes you play good and you lose, but sometimes also you dont play good and you win, said UAE coach Madhi Ali. We have to forget this game. We lost, but we did not lose the qualification, and now we have to concentrate on our game against Japan.We dont have any problem playing with Japan or any other team.UAEs chief playmaker Abdulrahman created several chances in the best individual performance of the tournament so far as he frequently skipped past bemused Iranian defenders and picked out teammates with his wide range of passing.Both teams played with little caution as they looked for the crucial opening goal and UAEs Khamis Esmaeel almost delivered it with a powerful long-range strike that went just past the post with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi beaten in the fifth minute.Iran quickly recovered from UAEs bright sttart and had a chance to take the lead in the 17th minute but defender Morteza Pouraliganji missed with his headed shot when it seemed easier to score.ddddddddddddAbdulrahman then produced a teasing run from the edge of the box and beat four Iranian defenders before the diminutive midfielder was tackled by Vahid Amiri as he honed in on goal.Just before half-time Irans Azmoun Sardar raced to the backpost to meet a corner kick, which had been flicked on by Teymourian, and his goal-bound header hit the chest of a UAE defender and deflected wide.The game stretched further in the second half with UAEs Ali Mabkhout missing a couple of good chances to add to his three tournament goals so far, including one in 14 seconds against Bahrain.Iran grew increasingly desperate and coach Carlos Quieroz introduced stars Ashkan Dejagah and Ghoochannejhad late in the second half in search of a breakthrough.With full time closing in former Charlton Athletic striker Ghoochannejhad popped up to clinch the win for Iran, despite the pleas of the UAE defence for offside.At Sydney, Sayed Jafaar produced a stunning long-range strike in the 82nd minute to lift Bahrain to a 2-1 victory over Qatar for its first win of the tournament.Earlier, Sayed Shubber had produced a smart turn and finish past a host of Qatari defenders to score in the 35th minute, before Hasan Al Haydos equalized for Qatar from a free kick in the second half.It ended a disappointing tournament for 2014 Gulf Cup champions Qatar, which lost all three games to finish bottom of the group.When you miss chances, it is due to many things, said Qatar coach Djamal Belmadi. It is partly luck, concentration and quality of the player.From my experiences as a player, when you create a lot of chances and do not score, you usually lose the game.On Tuesday, Japan will top Group D if it avoids defeat against Jordan at Melbourne, while Iraq plays Palestine at Canberra also looking to confirm its quarterfinal spot. ' ' '