The Athenaeum Forum

PHOENIX -- Gerald Green was in a generous mood after his best game of the season. Green had a strong second half to finish with a season-high 28 points and lead the Phoenix Suns in a 121-114 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Green then pledged to pay any fine the NBA might hand down to rookie teammate Alex Len, who was ejected after a flagrant foul following an altercation involving the Lakers Nick Young in the second quarter. "Hope the NBA doesnt do anything, but if it does, Ill take care of it," Green said. Green was careful with his shooting, shying away for 3-point attempts and finishing 12 for 18 from the field. "I felt like I wasnt settling for my jumper," Green said. "Coach is still telling to shoot the ball so Im going to continue to do that. I just tried not to take as many 3s as I normally do." Channing Frye had 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Markieff Morris scored 17 of his 24 in the first half to help the Suns snap a three-game skid. Goran Dragic added 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Pau Gasol scored 24 points to lead the Lakers and Wesley Johnson had 22 against his former team. Los Angeles, already short-handed with five players -- including star Kobe Bryant -- out with injuries, lost leading-scorer Young midway through the second quarter when he was ejected for throwing a punch at Dragic. After being hit in the face by Len going up for a layup, Young retaliated by shoving Len and then swinging at Dragics face while being pushed away from the fray. Len was tossed and the Suns Marcus Morris was issued a technical foul for his role in the fracas. Young, who had nine points at the time, took off his jersey and tossed his undershirt into the crowd on his way to the locker room. "I just reacted and got caught up in the moment. Like anyone would have," Young said. "It was a tough foul." Young expressed his displeasure with his teammates for not coming to his defence after the Lakers lost for the sixth straight time. Young could face a suspension for his actions and leave the Lakers in more dire straits. "What Im mad about is it was 1-on-5," Young said. "I felt like if someone would have gotten in the middle of everything it wouldnt have escalated as much. I felt bad for Dragic. He was right there. I didnt throw (a) punch. I was trying to shove people out of my way. I was getting pushed further back. It was more trying to get out." The Lakers led by 13 points in the second quarter after Youngs ejection. A 3-pointer from the top of the key by Kendall Marshall gave the Lakers a 56-43 lead. The Suns finished the quarter on an 11-2 run, topped off by P.J. Tuckers layup at the halftime buzzer to cut the Lakers lead to 58-54. The Suns led by eight in the first quarter, but the Lakers scored the last nine points of the period to take a 27-26 lead into the second. Back-to-back baskets by Chris Kaman put Los Angeles ahead. Green scored 16 of his points in the third quarter, and his block of Gasols layup attempt started a fast-break resulted in a basket by Dragic that put the Suns ahead 72-70. Greens step-back 20-foot jumper gave the Suns a 79-74 lead with 4:09 left in the third. His chest-pass assist for Fryes dunk made it 86-79 for Phoenix with 55 seconds left. "We started attacking the rim," Frye said. "We need to be aggressive, take advantage of mismatches and get out and run." The Lakers tied the score at 91 with Johnsons 3-pointer at the 9:53 mark of the fourth quarter. But back-to-back layups from Suns reserve Ish Smith made it 102-93, and the Suns were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. "Were not winning and again, we gave up 30-some (37) in transition and about 60 or 70 (64) in the paint, and thats where its been the last five or six games," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said. "Weve got to be able to solve that problem somehow." NOTES: The Suns are a win away from their first regular season sweep of the Lakers since the 2004-2005 season. ... Suns G Leandro Barbosa hurt his right shoulder late in the loss at New York on Monday, according to Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek. Barbosa did not play Wednesday but Hornacek hopes to have him available Friday against Dallas. ... Hornacek was issued a technical foul in the second quarter after arguing a non-call. ... With three point guards out, the Lakers went with former Suns first-round draft pick Marshall as the starter. Marshall, the 13th overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft for Phoenix, finished with 10 points and 13 assists. Paul Worrilow Jersey . MacIntyre stopped 49 shots and the Marlies defeated the Texas Stars 5-1 in Game 1 of the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I felt in control, so that was nice," MacIntyre said. Jarrad Davis Jersey . Pospisil, the seventh seed, saved match points in each of the last two sets before falling to the unseeded Dutchman. "I wasnt very happy with the way I was playing,"said Pospisil. http://www.lionsfanspro.com/Black-Quand ... ml?cat=912. -- With Tony Allen back, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to turn up their defence pressure and hold off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch. Theo Riddick Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Nashville Predators goaltender highlighted Mondays waiver transactions, with Calgarys Chuck Kobasew and Edmontons Philip Larsen also being placed on waivers. T.J. Lang Jersey .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - And then there were five. Five spots, that is, still up for grabs in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Among those jockeying for one of the coveted berths is Martin Truex Jr., who gamely finished third Sunday night at Atlanta while driving with a broken right wrist. Truex had to drive through the field from 18th after an unscheduled pit stop with just more than 100 laps remaining to check on a potential loose wheel. Most impressive was this: Truexs cast appeared to be melting late in the race. "The cast just inside my hand here got all soft," he said. "You can see it moves real soft like theres nothing there and its kind of broke right here between my thumb. It hurts like hell when youre in there just steering the car. "When youre steering back and forth here and youre out of control and youre holding on and youre sawing on the wheel and all the tires, it felt like every time I moved it, somebody was hitting it with a hammer." But Truex, with one win on the season and 13th in points, is in decent shape headed into Richmond, where the Chase field will be decided Saturday night. Hes holding down the second wild card, while Kasey Kahne has clinched at least the first wild card because hes got two wins. Not in as a great a position is four-time Jeff Gordon, who is winless on the year and still trying to sneak inside the top 10 in the standings. He moved a notch closer Sunday with a sixth-place finish, but trails Kurt Busch by six points for the 10th and final spot. Based on the aggression Gordon showed early and often Sunday at Atlanta, hell be charging hard at Richmond after a spot in the Chase. There was some post-race tension between Gordon and Carl Edwards that apparently began when Gordon slid in front of Edwards early in the race to claim position. It triggered hard racing between them for the remainder of the race that Gordon ttried to discuss with Edwards after in two different conversations.dddddddddddd "I have a problem with a guy when I apologize for sliding him and he proceeds to tell me all the things that I did wrong in the race," Gordon said after the first conversation with Edwards. "I didnt hear him apologizing for any of the things that he did. I tried to have a regular conversation and that didnt seem to be possible with him." Edwards was angry that Gordon cut him off early in the race. "We dont agree on what happened and finally he got frustrated enough with the conversation that he just walked away, which might be smart," Edwards said. "He just slide-jobbed me and I thought it was really out of character for him and I didnt understand what was going on there. I did everything I could not to wreck us both." The two had a second conversation in the motorhome that seemed to satisfy both on how theyll race each other at Richmond. Edwards is already locked into the Chase field but every position will count for Gordon, who will be battling with such winless drivers as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch, and defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski for a spot in the Chase. None is in as much trouble as Keselowski, who is poised to become the first defending champion since Tony Stewart in 2006 to fail to make the Chase the year after winning the title. Keselowski, who was already on dangerous ground, dropped to 15th in the standings Sunday night when his engine failed 18 laps from the finish. Hes now 28 points out of 10th, winless on the year, and could miss the Chase even if he wins Saturday night at Richmond. "We dont dictate our own fate, which is never good," Keselowski said. "Obviously, we have the speed and performance to get there, but we havent put together the execution or the luck. Theres only so much you can control." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '