weight-room sessions and studying video

BOSTON -- These are not the Boston Celtics that Rajon Rondo left behind almost a year ago, a roster of All-Stars just a couple of seasons removed from their second trip to the NBA Finals in three years. His pinpoint passes went for naught. The defence that helped the franchise win it all in 2008 was missing. Needing a big play in the final seconds, the best option Rondo could come up with was himself. Rondo returned from a knee injury and missed a 3-pointer that could have sent the game into overtime, sending the Los Angeles Lakers to a 107-104 victory on Friday night. "I thought he made a lot of plays down the stretch," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after seeing his All-Star point guard in a game for the first time. "Just came up a little bit short. But I was glad he had the ball." Pau Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles, and Kendall Marshall added 19 points and 14 assists, including a 3-pointer with 69 seconds left to give the Lakers their first lead of the second half. Ryan Kelly scored 20 points and Wesley Johnson added 11 points and 11 rebounds. "It was an incredible experience for me," said Kelly, who added a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining as the Lakers snapped a six-game losing streak. "We were sliding there a little bit. We needed it and we made the plays that made the difference." Kelly Olynyk scored a career-high 25 points for Boston. Rondo, who was limited to 20 minutes in his first game since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament on Jan. 25, 2013, had eight points, four assists and two rebounds. The Celtics missed their last seven shots while giving up 11 points in a row -- including three straight 3-pointers. "We missed some shots in the fourth quarter, but weve got to do it defensively," said Rondo, who was announced as the team captain before the game. "I found out when you found out," he said. "It really didnt hit me at first. After I came back to the huddle, a couple of guys told me congrats on being named captain. Its definitely an honour." The Celtics led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter and still held a 97-94 advantage when Rondo, who played about five minutes each quarter, checked back in with 4:53 left. Olynyk soon made a jumper from the top of the key and then Rondo hit Avery Bradley for a 3-pointer on the wing to extend the lead to eight points. It was 104-96 when Johnson made a 3-pointer, and then two offensive rebounds gave the Celtics three tries to score, but they came away with nothing. Jodie Meeks made a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, and then Marshall made one to give the Lakers the lead. With Rondo bringing the ball down, the crowd rose to its feet. But the four-time All-Star back-rimmed a long shot. The Lakers were forced into a shot-clock violation, but Bradley missed a runner. Boston forced a jump ball -- and then a rejump when the tip went out of bounds -- but Johnson got it to Kelly, who was fouled. The free throws left the Celtics with a three-point deficit and less than 10 seconds. The crowd worked itself into a "Beat L.A.!" chant. Rondo dribbled the clock down and was left alone for a 3-pointer, but it missed badly, and in the scramble for the rebound the buzzer went off. "At the end we did a better job. We still have to do better," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said. "Lets not get carried away. It is one night and lets see if we can repeat it." The longstanding rivalry between Boston and Los Angeles has lost some of its lustre with the rest of Bostons New Big Three gone and Lakers star Kobe Bryant recovering from a broken bone in his left knee. In fact, the Celtics and Lakers had never been this bad when they faced each other: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, their combined winning percentage of .354 (28-51) was the lowest ever for the longtime rivals in a head-to-head matchup (after the first five games of the season). Whats worse, the Lakers had won only one game since the weekend before Christmas, and Boston had won just two. NOTES: The Celtics signed G-F Chris Johnson to a 10-day contract. He did not play. ... The game marked the arrival of Joel Anthony, who was acquired by Boston from the Miami Heat in a three-team trade on Wednesday. He did not play. ... Bryant missed his 15th consecutive game for the Lakers with a left knee fracture. He did make the trip -- and popped in on a Boston College marketing class on Thursday night. Wholesale Bulls Jerseys .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Chicago Bulls Pro Shop . -- Arizona coach Sean Miller rose from his seat every time Roberto Nelson touched the ball and yelled "Shooter!" He could have been talking about his own team, too. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . A better question yet may be this: How many times has the same player been involved in both? Morneau hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and helped the Colorado Rockies turn the third triple play in team history as they beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday. Bulls Jerseys 2019 . Make the extra pass, take care of the ball, play defence and get more out of his bench. Chicago Bulls Shirts . Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, and San Antonio rolled to a 110-82 victory over Milwaukee that kept the Bucks winless in the new year.MIAMI -- For Philadelphia, the season finale was about whats coming next year. For Miami, its about whats coming next week. And really, nothing else mattered. Thaddeus Young scored 20 points, Michael Carter-Williams had 12 in the final game of his impressive rookie campaign, and the 76ers wrapped up a dismal season by topping the Heat 100-87 on Wednesday night for their second win of the season over the two-time defending NBA champions. Brandon Davies had 11 points, while Henry Sims, James Anderson and Casper Ware each scored 10 for the 76ers (19-63). "We stuck together," Young said. "We did a very good job of staying together, playing as a cohesive unit. Sometimes the odds were stacked against us but we didnt let that get us down." Dwyane Wade scored 16 points in 23 minutes for Miami (54-28), which got 13 from Toney Douglas and 11 from Ray Allen. Shane Battier -- in his final season barring a seismic change of heart -- scored nine points and eclipsed the 30,000-minute mark in his regular-season career. "Couldnt be more proud of my guy," Battiers wife, Heidi Battier, wrote on Twitter. Her husband half-seriously talked about the milestone with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra earlier in the day. "If you had told me when I was a little boy that one day youre going to play 30,000 regular-season NBA minutes, Id have said Get out of here," Battier said. "Even at 35, 13 years in, the novelty of playing in the NBA and living my dream is still there." The Heat -- who came into the night locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs -- rested LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, Rashard Lewis and Chris Andersen, and found out before the game that their quest for a third straight NBA title opens Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Their first-round opponent: Charlotte. "That team competes very hard," Wade said. Miami went 4-0 against the Bobcats this season, though one was a one-point game and another went to overtime. And since Miami landed James and Bosh, the Heat are 15-0 against the club now owned by Michael Jordan, a guy who knows a thing or two about three-peats and whose jersey was retired long ago in MMiami as a show of respect.dddddddddddd "Theyre a worthy, worthy opponent," Spoelstra said of the Bobcats. "So weve got to get to work." The last time Miami and Charlotte met was March 3, when James scored a career-high 61 points. Wednesdays game was decided in the third, when the 76ers outscored the Heat 29-15. By then, Wade had played 23 minutes in one last tuneup, and the Heat seemed content to get the second season started. "Our record doesnt show we had a good season but the main thing is we stayed together," Carter-Williams said. Philadelphia finished with the leagues second-worst record, but has the expected rookie of the year in Carter-Williams and could have as many as seven picks -- two of them out of the lottery -- in this years draft. This year was bleak. The future shouldnt be in Philly. "The relief that the season has ended truly does not creep into my mind because its trumped by the excitement that I see going forward," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "Im so excited to watch the direction of ping-pong balls. Im so excited to watch what we do with our summer leagues. ... I see the foundation." Brown said it was a season where he wanted to emphasize fitness and start building a culture when it comes to professionalism in terms of absorbing scouting reports, weight-room sessions and studying video. He thinks that was accomplished. "At times I get excited because I think I know something others may not," Brown said. "I feel like were heading in the right direction. I hope we can get some luck with the draft and move our program forward." NOTES: It was Fan Appreciation Night in Miami, and Battier addressed the sellout crowd in a brief pregame ceremony. "Lets go Heat and lets go get this ring," said Battier, who logged nearly 40 minutes, his most since the 2011-12 season. ... Brown, who was an assistant with San Antonio before taking the 76ers job last summer, plans to fly there Thursday night to visit with Gregg Popovich and the Spurs staff. ... Greg Oden returned to the Miami lineup, his first appearance since March 26 because of back issues and more recently, a stomach virus. He had two points and five rebounds in 13 minutes. ' ' '