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NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis and Brian Roberts proved a pair of second-year players can carry the young Pelicans to a victory over a veteran team with playoff aspirations. Davis had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Roberts scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, and New Orleans beat the Atlanta Hawks 105-100 on Wednesday night. "Im always telling our guys, Everybody has written you guys off, so what do you have to lose? Just go out there and play. Ive got your back either way," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. Paul Millsap had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost two in a row. DeMarre Carroll added 22 points. "Roberts made some big shots," said Hawks guard Jeff Teague, who had 11 points and 13 assists. "We just got stagnant on defence. Our intensity on defence just wasnt there. We didnt play with attention to detail in the last couple of plays." Davis and Roberts made Atlanta pay, each scoring six points in the final 3:40. Davis has been stellar all season, and his performance against Atlanta marked the 16th time hes had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in the same game. Roberts only recently moved into a starting role at point guard because of Jrue Holidays stress fracture in his right shin. Roberts made only one of five shots in the first half before turning in one of the best second halves of his young career. "Hes growing up and he understands when to make plays," Davis said. Roberts did have one glaring error when he had a turnover that led to a score during a late 7-0 Atlanta run that trimmed the Hawks 10-point deficit to three with a little less than a minute left. Roberts made up for it with a running, off-balance floater on New Orleans next possession to make it 100-95 with 20 seconds to go. "That was a tough turnover right there," Roberts said. "I just try to move on and focus on the next play. ... I was going to get it back and I was able to make that floater and finish them off." Eric Gordon added 18 points and Anthony Morrow 16 for the Pelicans, who have won six of their last nine games. Atlanta was in position to win when Mike Scotts 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run and gave the Hawks an 83-76 lead with 7:45 to play, but the Pelicans then ran off nine straight points to regain the lead. "Thats a tough loss for our group," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said, referring to his clubs blown fourth-quarter lead. "Our execution needs to improve when were in that situation." The Hawks led for the entire third quarter, taking their largest lead at 54-47 on Carrolls 3 12 seconds into the period. Scott hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for the Hawks, while Lou Williams had 11 points. The teams stayed within single digits of each other for nearly the entire game. The largest lead for either team was 10 for New Orleans after Davis free throws late in the fourth quarter. That lead lasted all of 8 seconds before Scott hit a 3. Atlanta had 14 3s on 30 attempts from deep, with Carroll hitting four. The Hawks had one stretch in which they hit nine straight 3-point attempts -- their last four of the second quarter and first five of the third. The Pelicans, however, scored 20 points on free throws, while Atlanta had only 10. New Orleans also outrebounded Atlanta 50-38. NOTES: The Pelicans have scheduled a ceremony on Thursday to rename the New Orleans Arena as the Smoothie King Center. Pelicans officials confirmed to The Associated Press and several other media outlets on Wednesday afternoon that they had reached a 10-year naming rights agreement with the Louisiana-based company. ... Davis blocked one shot, ending a streak of seven games in which hed blocked at least four. ... Atlantas Kyle Korver was 2 for 5 from 3-point range. Matt Cassel Kids . Justin Dowling, Travis Morin and Francis Wathier also scored for the Stars (22-10-5), who bypassed Abbotsford for top spot in the West Division, and Mike Hedden tacked on two assists. Defenceman John Ramage was a team-worst minus-4 for the Heat (23-13-2), who dropped their fourth game in a row. Jeff Locke Kids .Y. - Dustin Tokarski stopped all 43 shots he faced as the Hamilton Bulldogs blanked the host Syracuse Crunch 3-0 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. http://www.officialvikings.us.com/Black-Tom-Johnson-Vikings- Jersey.html . All that matters to the son of a high school coaching legend is that hes the one they selected. "Its been my life-long dream to be an NFL head coach," Pettine said Thursday, "and however that opportunity presents itself, its fine with me. Cullen Loeffler Authentic Jersey . The Olympic hockey rookies will face top-seeded and 2006 Olympic champion Sweden on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Kopitar, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings, is the only NHL player on the Slovenia squad. His father, Matjaz, is the national teams coach. Audie Cole Kids .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres are shuffling their roster by promoting forward Phil Varone from their AHL affiliate in Rochester.LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Every shot Kansas put up seemed to clank off the rim. Every one that San Diego State missed seemed to end up back in its hands, there for an easy layup or wide open dunk. You would have thought it was the Jayhawks who were playing on the road. Instead, the 21st-ranked Aztecs persevered down the stretch behind 16 points from Xavier Thames, whose four free throws in the closing seconds Sunday sealed a 61-57 victory over No. 16 Kansas, ending the Jayhawks 68-game non-conference winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse. "The way I see it, we got exactly what we deserved. They were better than us," said Kansas coach Bill Self, who had more Big 12 titles (nine straight) on his resume coming into the game than he had losses (eight overall) at the Jayhawks venerable on-campus arena. "This is a hard place to win," Self said. "They made us play poorly." Still, Kansas (9-4) had a chance to tie the game when Perry Ellis went to the free throw line with 11.9 seconds left. He made his first free throw but, after San Diego State (12-1) called time out to ice him, Ellis missed the second and the Jayhawks were forced to foul. Thames made both free throws to give San Diego State a three-point lead, and the Aztecs fouled rather than allow Kansas to attempt a tying 3. Frank Mason missed the first and made the second, and Thames made two more free throws with 4.6 seconds left to seal the win. "We all missed shots we usually make," said freshman Andrew Wiggins, who had 14 points for the Jayhawks, "and thats going to happen from time to time with a young team." Mason also finished with 14 points, and Joel Embiid had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Kansas, which had won 112 of its last 114 games at Allen Fieldhouse. "Every play we made, it seemed like they came down, they got something positive out of the next possession," Mason said. "We just couldnt get the stops we needed." Skylar Spencer finished with 13 points and Josh Davis had 10 for the Aztecs, who have won 11 straight since losing to No. 1 Arizona on Nov. 14. That streak is tied for the second-best in school history and traiils only the 20-0 start of the 2010-11 team.dddddddddddd The Jayhawks struggled against the long, lanky Aztecs right from the start, missing eight of their first nine shots and allowing San Diego State to dictate the tempo. After a 3-pointer by Naadir Tharpe gave Kansas a 9-8 lead, the Jayhawks had just one more field goal over the next 8-plus minutes. Thames and Davis had no such trouble for San Diego State, hitting a series of jumpers and contested layups as the Aztecs built a 29-23 halftime lead. Kansas wound up shooting 20.7 per cent (6 of 29) in the first half. "They missed some shots," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said, "but we didnt give them a lot of shots from the sweet spots, where they wanted them." The Aztecs kept up the intensity in the second half, forcing the Jayhawks to misfire on eight of their first 10 shots with their in-your-face, man-to-man defence. The lead slowly grew to 44-33 when JJ OBrien converted after two misses, once more silencing a packed crowd at the Phog. The Jayhawks finally started to build some momentum midway through the second half, closing within 58-56 on a basket by Wiggins and 50-48 on Tharpes scooping layup. It seemed as if every time Kansas went on a run, though, the Aztecs had an answer. Spencer scored after Tharpes basket, and Thames curled in a 3-pointer to give San Diego State a 55-48 lead with 3 minutes to play. Kansas made one more salvo, getting within 57-55 on a 3-pointer by Mason and seemingly getting the ball back after OBrien missed a free throw. During a stoppage in play, the officials determined that the ball went off Kansas with 44.8 seconds left. And even though the Jayhawks got a stop, it cost them precious time. Self called a timeout with 20 seconds left and decided to go with Ellis, the sure-handed sophomore. He drove to the basket and was fouled, but the 72 per cent free throw shooter could only make the first of his two attempts, and San Diego State eventually held on to win. "This is a great win for us," Thames said. "A lot of teams dont come in here and get victories. Im just blessed to be a part of this one." ' ' '
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