The Athenaeum Forum

MIAMI - Pat Riley stood along a wall in what the Miami Heat call Championship Alley, the hallway that links the teams locker room and the court inside AmericanAirlines Arena.The corridor is lined with photos of great moments from Miamis three championship runs since 2006. Updating some of those photos has seemed like a rite of summer in recent years, with the Heat making five trips to the NBA Finals in the past nine seasons.Needing new images this summer seems highly unlikely.Riley, the Heat president whose media sessions occur only a handful of times each year, spoke out Thursday about Miamis struggles this season, with the franchise falling from the highest rungs of the NBA to a level where its simply fighting to grab a playoff spot.Its just been very, very frustrating that we havent been able to overcome the adversities that we have faced, Riley said. And they are not excuses — they are adversity. ... Were in the fight. Were not in the fight like we were before for the top of the conference, OK? We are in the fight for five or six other teams for, probably, the playoffs, spots six, seven and eight.So get real about it. Dont feel sorry about it. And get after it.The Heat (18-24) play host to Indiana (15-29) on Friday night, a matchup of the two teams that met in last seasons Eastern Conference finals and are now fighting for mere playoff spots.For the first time since 2004, the Heat has no one selected as an All-Star starter. Miami is 16 1/2 games behind sizzling Atlanta in the Southeast Division and enters Friday holding down the No. 7 spot in the East — with the next four teams in the conference standings all within three games of the Heat.Have we relegated ourselves to the thinking of were just a playoff team? No, Riley said.Riley and the Heat have engaged in some conversations about trades, though they seem largely initiated by other clubs. Riley said the team has not made any trade offers to anyone and said any deals the team makes before next months trade deadline would be with the intent of improving this year.He insists that Miamis current roster, even with injury issues, is enough to make the playoffs.Im not going to move chairs, Riley said. If theres something that makes sense that we could do that could really help us then we would consider it. But were not about to give up assets that we dont have, that we need, to make a lateral move out of desperation.Riley coached the Heat to their first title in 2006, then engineered one of the best coups in league history when he found a way in 2010 to bring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to Miami and play alongside Dwyane Wade. In four seasons together, that group went to the NBA Finals every year.James left to go back to Cleveland last summer, and the Heat are widely expected to be major free-agent players again in 2016. That doesnt mean Riley is sitting around idly for the next 18 months, however.Im not so sure that what we did in 2010 is anywhere close to what you can do in 2016, Riley said. The rules have changed. Players can force you into sign-and-trades. We were forced into a sign-and-trade in 2010 and we would gladly do it again, and it cost us four first-round picks.Miami has dealt with a constant stream of injuries all season, and Riley said its paramount that coach Erik Spoelstra has some sort of lineup consistency — in terms of player availability — over the final 40 games. Wade and Bosh have both been out, Josh McRoberts season is over because of knee surgery and the Heat have already had 10 players miss some time with injuries.The overall health, and just getting mentally tough to the challenge of what were playing for, Riley said, when asked what the biggest keys to turning the season around now are. And what were playing for is a playoff spot. 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By releasing Bailey, the Broncos would open up cap space with the 12-time Pro Bowl player scheduled to make around $10 million next season.LOS ANGELES, Calif. - With his backcourt mate out of the picture for the final three quarters and Memphis big men losing some steam down the stretch, Mike Conley went to work and carried the Grizzlies to a gritty win that put them over .500 for the first time this season. Conley scored eight of his 15 points during a 4-minute span in the fourth quarter, Zach Randolph had 26 points and 15 rebounds against his former team, and the Grizzlies overcame the first-quarter ejection of shooting guard Tony Allen to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 106-102 on Monday night in a rematch of their first-round playoff series. "It was real big, doing what we did and not having Tony," Randolph said. "Guys stepped it up and our bench came in and did a good job. Thats what we need." Marc Gasol had 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to help end the Clippers four-game winning streak and send them to their first home loss. Blake Griffin had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles. Chris Paul added 18 points and 11 assists for his 11th straight double-double, the most by any player to start a season since Magic Johnson also had 11 in 1990-91. Allen was charged with a flagrant-2 foul with 1:51 left in the opening quarter after he lifted his left leg in a vain attempt to impede Pauls drive to the basket and kicked him in the face. Allen walked over to Paul at the foul line to apologize while referees Bill Kennedy, Mark Ayotte and John Goble watched the replay at the scorers table to determine the severity of the foul. "I was just trying to make a play — leaving a great shooter like Jamal Crawford in the corner, knowing Chris Pauls tendencies," Allen explained. "Chris sees everybody thats open, and I accidentally kicked him. But Im pretty sure he knows that it was accidental. That aint my style of play. "I had to let him know that it wasnt intentional. He understood that and he told me he knew it wasnt. But the refs reviewed it, and it was a blow to the head. So that was the result — me getting kicked out. It was just unfortunate that I couldnt help my team throughout the game. But they had my back and played hard throughout the game." Paul got out of it with just a few loose teeth. It could have been much worse had he not been wearing a mouthpiece. "I know Tony didnt do it on purpose," Paul said. "I went mute for a while, just because I hate being hit on the lip more than anything. I just hate having a busted lip. But I know it wasnt intentional, and I didnt expect him to get ejected. I think he thought I was about to throw the ball to the corner, so thats a natural instinct." Playing in front of their 100th consecutive sellout crowd, including the post-season, the Clippers trailedd 90-83 with 8:20 remaining after Memphis opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run.ddddddddddddThey got as close as 90-88 on a 16-footer by Paul, but the Grizzlies extended the margin to 101-91 with an 11-3 run capped by Conleys jumper with 1:51 to play. "I was on the bench for a little bit there with foul trouble, and we were wearing out our big guys," Conley said. "They were getting tired, so I knew it was time for me to be a little more aggressive, look for my shot and try to get into the paint. I was able to do that and make some shots." Randolph paced Memphis to a 52-51 halftime lead with 16 points and eight rebounds. The Clippers, who trailed 25-13 at the time of Allens ejection, closed to 39-35 midway through the second period with a 9-2 spurt before reserve forward Matt Barnes was scratched near his left eye by Randolph as the Grizzlies forward was being double-teamed by Barnes and Griffin down on the block. Barnes was charged with a foul before going to the dressing room, and didnt report back in until 3:25 remained in the third quarter with the Clippers down 74-71. His two free throws put them ahead 78-76 with 1:14 left in the period, and the Grizzlies responded with a 19-footer by Randolph and a 3-pointer by Mike Miller before Clippers guard Darren Collison beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer of his own to tie it at 81. The Grizzlies won the final four games of their first-round playoff series against the Clippers last spring after dropping the first two at Los Angeles, then got swept by San Antonio in the Western Conference finals. The previous season, the Clippers beat Memphis in seven games during the opening round, winning the deciding game on the road before getting swept by the Spurs in the conference semifinals. "Every year we find ourselves back in L.A.," Conley said. "Theyre a very good team, very physical, and its a great rivalry right now." NOTES: The Grizzlies are 5-0 when Randolph leads them in scoring. ... Pauls longest overall double-double streak in the NBA is 12 games. ... The Clippers have used the same starting lineup through the first 11 games of a season for the first time since 2004-05, when coach Mike Dunleavy kept his starting five of Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Marko Jaric, Bobby Simmons and Chris Wilcox intact for the first 13 games. ... Griffin, who had a season-high 30 points on Saturday against the Nets, was selected Western Conference player of the week for the second time in his career. He averaged 25.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists, helping the Clippers go 3-0. ... It was Griffins 98th game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since the start of the 2010-11 season, tying Minnesotas Kevin Love for the most during that stretch. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '