114 Dallas 105Miami

[vv1122365]

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - In less than a week, Grand Slam tennis will be on the menu once again for the first time in four months. Stan Wawrinka will return as the defending mens champion, but he certainly wont be the favorite heading into the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic failed in his bid to capture a fourth straight and fifth overall title in Oz a year ago, but many expect him to return to the winners circle this time around. Djokovics 2015 season got off to a rough start with a loss at the hands of 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic in a quarterfinal in Doha last week, but rest assured, hell be ready to go for another run at his best Grand Slam event. The top-ranked Serb has won four of the last seven championships in Oz and is 4-0 when reaching the final round at Melbourne Park. Last years Wimbledon champ and French Open runner-up probably figures his stiffest competition will come from last weeks season-opening Brisbane champion, Roger Federer, who claimed his 1,000th career match win with the victory in Brisbane, joining Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) on that exclusive short list. The 17-time Grand Slam king is a four-time Aussie champ and former runner-up who hasnt run the Down Under table since 2010. The former world No. 1 Federer was last years Wimbledon runner-up to Djokovic and hasnt captured a major title since the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Note: If Djokovic or Federer capture this years Aussie, that future Hall of Famer would set the Open Era record with five such championships. Then theres the great Rafael Nadal. The Spanish bull has been sidelined since October before returning to action in Doha just last week only to suffer a first-round setback against German fellow left-hander Michael Berrer. Rafa was rusty and it showed. Can he shake off the rust in time to make a big run in Melbourne? The former No. 1 star captured his lone Aussie title six years ago and is a two-time runner-up Down Under, including last year when he was shocked by Wawrinka in four sets in the final. Rafa was slowed mightily by a back injury in the title match and that back problem plagued him for much of the 2014 campaign, as did a wrist injury and a bout with appendicitis, which led to a season-ending appendectomy. Sure, Rafa captured yet another French Open title last year, but 2014 was basically a lost season for the 14-time Grand Slam champ, as he battled that bevy of physical ailments. Having said all that, I would still expect Rafa to be in the mix in Melbourne. The current world No. 4 Wawrinka broke through for his first-ever major title at the 14 Aussie, but he certainly benefited from that Nadal back injury, as the Spanish great was running at less than half speed in that particular final. Dont get me wrong, Stan played great at last years Aussie, but Im not expecting a repeat performance. He also had that tremendous gutsy victory over Djokovic in the quarterfinals, as Wawrinka prevailed in arguably the match of the year by outlasting the then-reigning champ in five sets, including a dramatic 9-7 fifth set. The Swiss slugger opened his latest campaign with a title in India last week. Note: Djokovic, Federer and Nadal had combined to win the previous eight Aussie Opens before Stan the Man broke through last year; and Federer, Nadal and Murray have combined to produce the last six runners-up at the physically demanding major. Kei Nishikori will look to become the first-ever Asian mens champion in Melbourne ... or at any major for that matter. The world No. 5 was last years surprise U.S. Open runner-up and just might have enough game to challenge the big boys this month. He reached the fourth round in Melbourne in each of the last two years and was a quarterfinalist there back in 2012. How bout Andy Murray? Is he all the way back from that back injury? Murray hasnt reached a major final since winning it all at Wimbledon in 2013. The athletic Brit is a three-time Aussie Open runner-up and has reached at least the quarterfinals there every year since 2010. He crashed out in the quarters a year ago while still on the mend from back surgery, but I think hes primed for another big run in the Bourne. Murray is a two-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist who hasnt missed a major quarterfinal (when competing) since the 2010 U.S. Open. The mens Top 10 is rounded out by last weeks Doha runner-up and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, rising Canadian Milos Raonic, U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, and last weeks Doha champ David Ferrer. Cilic has already announced he will skip the 2015 Aussie due to a right shoulder injury, which will make world No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov a Top 10 seed in Oz. My favorites out of this lot of players to make a run are Raonic and Dimitrov. Raonic, who was last weeks Brisbane runner-up to the great Federer, possesses perhaps the best service game on the planet right now and is in the best shape of his young career, while Maria Sharapovas beau, Dimitrov, is a Grand Slam ace in the making, with his all-around game and fluid style that has forced the comparisons to Federer, thus prompting the nickname Baby Fed. Dimitrov reached the Aussie quarters a year ago. On the comeback front, former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro returned to action this week in Sydney, this after being out of commission since last February with a wrist injury. I dont expect too much from Delpo right now. FYI: The last American man to capture the Aussie was Andre Agassi back in 2003. An American will not win it again this time around. The easy pick here would be Djokovic ... and thats exactly who Im goin with. Authentic Willis Reed Jersey .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. Authentic Carmelo Anthony Jersey . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. http://www.cheapknicksjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-walt-frazier-jersey .Y. Islanders 4Winnipeg 5 Dallas 2Nashville 3 Colorado 0San Jose 5 Edmonton 2---AHLProvidence 5 St. Johns 4 (OT)Chicago 6 San Antonio 2---NBACleveland 105 Toronto 101Portland 98 Detroit 86New Orleans 104 New York 93Oklahoma City 114 Milwaukee 101Memphis 114 Dallas 105Miami 103 Phoenix 97Utah 100 San Antonio 96L. Authentic Mitchell Robinson Jersey .J. -- The New Jersey Devils are so bad in shootouts, coach Pete DeBoer doesnt mind seeing his team take chances in the five-minute overtime. Authentic Phil Jackson Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team.Kansas Jayhawks centre Joel Embiids return from a spinal injury has been delayed. The freshman has been declared unavilable for this weeks Big 12 conference tournament and will likely be out for at least the first weekend of the NCAA tournament after meeting with a spinal specialist on Monday in Los Angeles. "Based on that, this weekend (in the Big 12 Championship) is out," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "Next weekend, we feel like is a longshot, but the doctors are hopeful that if Joel works hard in rehab and progresses that it is possible that he could play in the later rounds of the NCAA Tournament if our team is fortunate enough to advance." A native of Cameroon, Embiid was named the 2014 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. "Were all very disappointed for Joel," Self said. "Hes worked so hard and improved so much. Hes been one of the most improved players in the country in such a short amount of time. The most important thing is for Joel to get healthyy.dddddddddddd We were hopeful, Joel was hopeful, the doctors were hopeful that his body would respond more rapidly to rehab and that has not been the case." The 19-year-old seven-footer set the Kansas freshman record for blocked shots with 72 and he leads the team in rebounds with 8.1 per game. "Everyone is 100 per cent confident that Joel will heal and be back to normal soon, but the most important thing is that he gets well," Self said. "Were certainly not going to put him out there unless the doctors, his family and Joel are ready for him to go. I know how bad he wants it, and that he will work his butt off to put him in a position where if our team is successful and fortunate enough to advance, he could return in later rounds." The Jayhawks, the top seed in the Big 12 tournament, will first see action on Thursday when they play the winner of Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Competitors for this months NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '