Gästebereich » e ready, head coach Kevin McHa

The NBA season gets underway tonight as the defending champion San Antonio Spurs play host to their bitter rivals the Dallas Mavericks followed by a matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. You can catch all the action starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT on TSN2. Spurs vs Mavericks - 8pm ET/5pm PT The San Antonio Spurs will begin defense of their NBA title on Tuesday night when they kick off the 2014-15 campaign with a home matchup against bitter rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs will receive their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony and, for the fifth time in franchise history, San Antonio will raise a title banner. Its an unbelievable feeling, said All-Star guard Tony Parker. At the same time, its a tough night because you know youre happy and you get a ring, but you have to focus on the game. It is difficult. The Spurs are 4-0 in the previous games they received their championship rings. The Spurs cruised to a fifth title in the Tim Duncan/Gregg Popovich era in June, dismantling the Miami Heat in more ways than one. San Antonio cruised to a five-game NBA Finals victory, and LeBron James bolted South Beach, thus ending the Big Three incarnation in Miami. And, basically, the Spurs returned everyone from that title roster. Not everyone will play in the season-opener. Kawhi Leonard, the Finals MVP, will miss the game with a right eye infection, Tiago Splitter has a calf injury, and Patty Mills will miss the first few months after shoulder surgery. But Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili and Pop are back. The Spurs only additions this offseason were first-round pick Kyle Anderson and Becky Hammond, the first female assistant coach to start a season in the NBA. San Antonio, despite its great record in ring games, will need all hands on deck Tuesday night. The Spurs open with their inter-state rivals, a Mavericks team that gave them their most difficult challenge last postseason. Dallas took the Spurs to seven games, a feat the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Heat all failed to reach. San Antonio gained confidence from its thrilling first-round escape. Game 7 was definitely a big one win for us, got us focused, said Parker. Then, we started rolling after that. Theres a fine line between winning and losing. The Mavericks improved this offseason with the signings of Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson, coupled with the trade for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. Chandler returns after anchoring the defense that helped Dallas win the NBA title in 2011. However, the Mavericks are still led by Dirk Nowitzki, a 12-time All-Star. The future Hall of Famer returned to the midseason classic last season, and, while excited to have his fellow big man back in Big D, Nowitzki cautioned about returning to the past. Weve got a good and deep team now, and we just want to make our own destiny, Nowitzki said. We cant always live in 2010-11. That was a great year for us, but this is almost a completely new team. But, you know, were very deep. Weve got a lot of scorers on this team and weve got a lot of playmakers. Its fun to play that way, and offensively were just sharing the ball. Hopefully, we can keep it going. The Mavs improved, but lost several solid veterans like Shawn Marion, Vince Carter, Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert. With Nowitzki at the helm, Monta Ellis manning a wing and head coach Rick Carlisle pacing the sidelines, the Mavs should be in the thick of things come playoff time. Despite the epic seven-game Western Conference semifinal series, the Spurs have owned the Mavericks in the regular season. San Antonio has taken nine straight regular-season meetings, including seven consecutive in the AT&T Center. Lakers vs Rockets - 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT Kobe Bryant returns to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup Tuesday night as they open the season at the Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. Bryant played just six games last season after starting the campaign recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon. He then hurt his left knee and was shut down for the season. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer will begin his 19th season, all with the Lakers, with the added significance, even if Bryant wants to downplay it to some degree, of returning from injury. Its step one of a long journey, said Bryant. Im excited to get back out there and I cant say I havent missed the game. I missed it so much. Im just happy to be playing. The Lakers have to be happy as well. The team endured a 27-55 campaign, the franchises worst mark in the 82-game schedule era, and only the second season under .500 since Bryant joined the NBA. Things didnt get much better in the offseason, excluding Bryants return to the lineup. Pau Gasol left the team via free agency, deciding to sign with the Chicago Bulls. Steve Nashs tenure with the team will end with a missed season due to a back injury. Mike DAntoni resigned as head coach and the Lakers, very late in the hiring process, brought back former player, Byron Scott. Hes been very successful in stops in New Orleans and with the Nets, but his recent run with the Cleveland Cavaliers was less than memorable. Jeremy Lin was acquired from the Houston Rockets, Carlos Boozer was claimed after the Bulls amnestied him and the team selected Julius Randle with its first-round pick. Nick Young, the teams leading scorer last season, will miss time at the start of the season thanks to a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb. The Rockets are coming off an impressive 54-28 2013-14 season, but were bounced in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Portland Trail Blazers. Houston held the homecourt advantage in the series, but it didnt matter. Needing to improve, the Rockets went in the opposite direction. They lost key personnel and failed to land the big free-agent prize in the summer, despite sending rotation players packing in order to free up cap space. The Rockets shipped Lin to the Lakers and packaged Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans. These moves were done with the intention of prying Chris Bosh from the Miami Heat. Seemed like the Rockets were in a good position to do that when LeBron James left the Heat for the Cavs, but Bosh re-upped with the Heat. Then, Chandler Parsons, the teams third-leading scorer last season, signed an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks. Houston opted not to match, so Trevor Ariza was brought in as his replacement. Houston lost three key players, failed to get Bosh and has taken steps backward in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Game starts tomorrow, so were going to have to be ready, head coach Kevin McHale said Monday. Were ready to get going and find out where were at. The Rockets still have All-NBA performers in shooting guard James Harden and center Dwight Howard. McHales squad needs to improve its rebounding, especially on the defensive side, and defense in general. Ariza is a massive upgrade defensively over Parsons, point guard Patrick Beverley made the All- Defensive second team and Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year four times. The Rockets won three of four against the Lakers last season, but are 3-6 in the last nine as the visitor in this series. Cheap Miami Dolphins Gear .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. Custom Dolphins Jerseys .Kraft says Goodell realized before seeing a video showing Baltimore running back Ray Rice striking his then fiance that domestic violence was very serious for society in general. http://www.cheapdolphins.com/ . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight. Miami Dolphins Jerseys China . The football club recently announced an increase in season ticket prices in five of the seven categories at Investors Group Field for 2014. While most increases are in the two to three per cent range, the clubs most affordable season tickets will jump from $199 to $250 — a 26 per cent leap. Discount Miami Dolphins Jerseys . The stakes were higher, the competition more fierce and the atmosphere was that of a playoff game - something the young, upstart Raptors have five weeks to better prepare themselves for or the result will be eerily similar.AUGUSTA, Ga. - One of golfs most exciting players squeezed most of the drama out of the Masters on Sunday. Thats just fine with Bubba Watson. All he cared about was slipping into that green jacket. Instead of hitting a 40-yard hook out of a forest of Georgia pines — the signature shot in his playoff victory two years ago — the final act Sunday at Augusta National took place on the 18th green. Watson had a three-shot lead and consulted with his caddie on a 15-foot birdie putt. "I went over to him and I said, Im not very good at math, but weve got four putts, right?" Watson said. This was more about great golf than Bubba golf. Watson kept his poise during an early burst of birdies from 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, turned the tournament in his favour with consecutive two-shot swings to close out the front nine, and coasted to a 3-under 69 to win the Masters by three shots over Spieth and Jonas Blixt of Sweden. "Small-town guy named Bubba now has two green jackets," Watson said. "Its pretty wild." Watson made it look routine over the final hour. On a Sunday when Spieth was trying to become the youngest winner in Masters history and 50-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez had a chance to become the oldest major champion, Watson turned in another masterpiece and joined an elite group as the 17th player to win multiple Masters. Surprisingly for Augusta, the most compelling action was on the front nine. His only nervous moment was a drive so mammoth around the corner on the 13th hole that it clipped a few trees and still went some 360 yards, leaving just a sand wedge into the par 5. That was his lone birdie on the back nine. No one got closer than three shots the rest of the way. "The shot out of the woods made me famous," Watson said. "But this one was a lot better for me and my nerves." This was nothing like the Masters he won two years ago, especially when it was over. His wife and newly adopted son were home in Florida in 2012 when Watson made four straight birdies on the back nine and won on the second playoff hole with his great escape out of the trees. When he tapped in for par on 18, there was 2-year-old Caleb — decked out in a green-and-white striped Masters shirt and green tennis shoes — walking toward him. Watson had tears streaming down his face when he scooped him up, a prize as great as the green jacket. "Seeing him back there ... what an amazing feeling as a parent," he said. "And then throw on the green jacket on top of it just changes everything." After high-fiving the crowd on his way to sign his card, Watson returned to Butler Cabin to take back that green jacket after slipping itt on Adam Scott a year ago.dddddddddddd "After giving it away last year, I wanted it back," Watson said. "I told Adam we could just swap it back and forth every year." Spieth could only watch from the side of the green. He dazzled the massive crowd early by holing out for birdie from the front bunker on No. 4, and making back-to-back birdies to build a two-shot lead through seven holes. Bidding to become the first player in 35 years to win a green jacket in his first try, Spieth looked to be well on his way. But he three-putted for bogey on No. 8 — the first 6 on his card all week — as Watson got up-and-down for birdie to tie for the lead. Spieth then made a rookie mistake, leaving his approach below the flagstick on No. 9 and watching it roll back into the fairway, setting up another bogey and two-shot swing. Whatever prayer he had might have ended at Amen Corner. His tee shot on No. 12 found Raes Creek. He missed a short birdie attempt on the 13th. Watson was too powerful, too experienced, too tough to beat. Spieth closed with six pars for a 72 and tied for second with Blixt, who never went away but never really threatened. Blixt shot a 71. "Obviously, Ive worked my whole life to lead Augusta on Sunday. And although I feel like its very early in my career, and Ill have more chances, its a stinger," Spieth said. Watson finished at 8-under 280 and goes to a career-best No. 4 in the world. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a final-round 73 and finished 9 over in a tie for 44th. Jimenez, the ageless wonder from Spain, shot 71 and finished alone in fourth. Matt Kuchar lost a share of the lead with a four-putt double bogey on the fourth hole and never challenged again. He closed with a 74 and tied for fifth with Rickie Fowler (73). Nine players were separated by three shots at the start of the final round only for this to turn into a two-man show. For the opening two hours, it was anything but dull. After trading pars on the opening hole, either Watson or Spieth — sometimes both — made birdie or bogey over the next nine holes. Spieth holed out from a bunker for birdie on the tough par-3 fourth. He made back-to-back birdies with a 12-foot putt on the seventh for a two-shot lead. Two holes to close out the back nine changed everything. Amen Corner swung the Masters in Watsons favour for good. Watson won for the second time this year, and his second major puts him at the top of the Ryder Cup standings. He was guided all week by a simple game plan of hitting fairways and greens, and he was calmed by knowing that regardless of how it turned out, he still had a green jacket. Now he has two of them. 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