MINNEAPOLIS -- D. Bryan Rust Penguins Jersey .J. Augustins career was swirling down the drain when the Toronto Raptors waived him in December, and the former No. 9 overall pick seemed destined to join the long list of promising prospects that just never made it in the NBA. Four days later, the Chicago Bulls signed him in an attempt to add some scoring punch to a defence-first team. Augustin has flourished in Chicago, one of the big reasons the surprising Bulls have been able to weather Derrick Roses injury and the trade of Luol Deng to stay in the hunt in the Eastern Conference. "We needed him," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "and he needed us." Augustin had another big game Wednesday night, scoring 21 points to lead Chicago to a 102-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joakim Noah added 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double, moving into a tie with Indianas Lance Stephenson for the most in the NBA this season. Kirk Hinrich scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and the Bulls hit 11 of 21 3-pointers to stay right on Torontos heels for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. "We wouldnt be in this position without D.J.," Noah said. "His passing ability, his scoring ability, just the way he plays the game. ... I feel like I have really good chemistry with him and I think the rest of this team feels that way, too. Were going to need him down the stretch." Kevin Love had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves. But he hyperextended his right elbow in the first half and only made 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 8 3-pointers. Ricky Rubio added 15 points and six assists, but the Wolves were just 4 for 17 from long distance. "I shouldve made a lot of those open shots that I missed," said Love, who also had a large bloody scratch on his chest after getting tied up with Carlos Boozer. "Yeah it was bothering me a little bit. But thats no excuse for the poor shooting." The Bulls entered the night with the same record as Toronto, with the tiebreaker going to the Raptors and only five games to play before the playoffs begin. The schedule certainly favours the Raptors, who beat the 76ers on Wednesday night and finish the season with two games against the Knicks and one each against the Pistons and Bucks. Thanks to the raggedy East, the Bulls dont have it much tougher with the Pistons, Knicks and Magic coming up before the season finale at playoff-bound Charlotte. That made this game against short-handed Timberwolves a crucial one. The Timberwolves played without Nikola Pekovic (right foot), Chase Budinger (right ankle), Kevin Martin (right heel), Shabazz Muhammad (right knee) and J.J. Barea (back and neck), leaving them with only 10 healthy players, and without three of their better offensive players to go at the tenacious Bulls defence. But even though the Wolves have been eliminated from playoff contention, theyve put up quite a fight against some of the best teams in the league down the stretch. Last week Minnesota beat Memphis at home and won at Miami. The Wolves then throttled the Spurs at Target Center on Tuesday night and shot 52.6 per cent to take a 53-48 lead over the Bulls at halftime. Eventually that Bulls defence started squeezing the Wolves and grinding the game down. The Wolves missed eight of their first 10 shots of the second half and scored only 17 points in the third quarter. They shot 33 per cent and managed just 34 points in the second half. "It looked like we ran out of gas in the second half," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. On the other end, the 3s kept falling. Mike Dunleavy, who had 15 points, hit one to give the Bulls a 65-62 lead they would never relinquish. Augustin hit two more in the fourth to help the Bulls pull away. Even bigger were his 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, when the Bulls were struggling to get their offence going. "Im just getting a chance to play, period," Augustin said. "Just getting an opportunity and trying to make the best of it." NOTES: Bulls F Taj Gibson finished with 13 points and five rebounds. He picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter for gesturing angrily after not getting a foul call under the basket. ... Little-used PG Alexey Shved had nine points and a season-high five assists in 16 minutes for Minnesota. ... The Wolves host their former coach and GM Kevin McHale and the Houston Rockets on Friday night in their third home game of the week. Patric Hornqvist Penguins Jersey .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Jaromir Jagr Penguins Jersey . An offseason trade acquisition from Kansas City, Greinkes National League debut was delayed by a non-baseball injury in the spring, and he was 0-1 after dropping an 8-0 decision at Atlanta in his initial appearance with the Brewers on May 4. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com/chad-ruhwedel-jersey/ . And once again, Team Homan emerged as the victor with the reigning national champions defeating Team Sweeting at the Pintys All-Star Curling Skins Game Friday night in the tournaments opening draw at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in beautiful Banff National Park. MIAMI -- Ray Allen was somewhat surprised to see how open he was. So was Dwyane Wade, who even took an extra dribble before believing his eyes and sending a 50-foot pass to the best 3-point shooter in NBA history. Moments later, the Miami Heat were back on track. Allen scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter on a milestone day for the veteran, Wade and LeBron James each added 24 points and the Heat closed with a flourish to beat the Houston Rockets 113-104 on Sunday and snap their worst stretch of results since 2011. "When Ray gets into a rhythm, hes the best 3-point shooter of all-time," said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who scored 18 points to help Miami win for just the second time in its last seven games. Miami trailed 97-92 following a 3-pointer by James Harden midway through the fourth, then finished the game on a 21-7 run. Allen had 11 points during that late stretch, including a 3-pointer that allowed him to pass Allen Iverson for 21st on the NBAs scoring list. It was also the 750th regular-season win that Allen was a part of in his career. "I dont know how I get open," said Allen, who took about 1,000 shots on a practice day Saturday by Heat coach Erik Spoelstras estimate. "When I am, I have to be ready to shoot it." Harden finished with 30 points for Houston, which got 21 points and 14 rebounds from Dwight Howard. Patrick Beverley added 15 points and Terrence Jones scored 12 for the Rockets, whove dropped three straight. "We just didnt play well down the stretch," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. And that all started when no one seemed to want to guard Allen. Houston led by five when Wade sparked the late run with a 50-foot assist after a timeout that set up a 3-pointer from the left corner by Allen. "A critical possession," Wade said. Allen also made three technical-foul free throws to help his late rhythm. One came after a defensive three-second violation, another following Houstons second delay-of-game whistle on the afternoon, and the third when Beverley was hit with a technical in the final minute. James hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconnds left for his first points of the final quarter, and that sealed it for Miami, which moved back within three games of Indiana for the No. Matt Hunwick Penguins Jersey. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference. Allen now has 24,370 points, two more than Iverson. Afterward, he was all about the win. "Tonight we came out and finished the game," Allen said, "as opposed to letting it slip away from us." The first surprise of the day came about 20 minutes before tip-off, when the Heat announced Greg Oden -- who appeared in his 100th career game, nearly seven years after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft -- would be starting at centre. It was the second start of the season for Oden, who also opened a game against Chicago last month in part because James was unavailable while dealing with a broken nose. Oden had three rebounds in the games first three minutes, and the Heat never trailed in the first half, going into the break with a 57-54 lead. Harden and Howard combined for 15 in the third, and Houston led 81-79 entering the final 12 minutes. "It was a couple of mental mistakes for us down the stretch and they had a couple of calls go their way," Harden said. "Its tough. Clearly, it was a win Miami needed. Wades fiancee, Gabrielle Union, was on her feet to yell and cheer midway through the fourth, and James wife, Savannah, was nearby doing the same thing, almost as if it was a playoff game. Like all other Heat fans, they finally left a game happy. "They see the way weve been acting at home in between games," James said of his wife and Wades fiancee. "We came in with a mindset that we wanted to get this win. It was good to see us have to gut one out." NOTES: Allen appeared in his 1,287th game, breaking a tie with Sam Perkins for 15th on the career list. He could pass Mark Jackson (1,296) and Elvin Hayes (1,303) later this season. ... Houstons Chandler Parsons became the 15th player to log at least 5,000 minutes over the last two seasons. ... Jeremy Lin has been on teams that have played at Miami eight times; theyre 0-8 in those games, though hes appeared in only three of those contests. NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap Jerseys From China Discount NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Black Jerseys ' ' '