Reiseplan » should have won that game, anyway. No e

Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Wednesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- TORONTO -- The Cleveland Indians try again to wrap up their first pennant since 1997 when they send Ryan Merritt to the mound in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Blue Jays. Down 3-1, Toronto starts Marco Estrada. Game starts 4 p.m.- LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Julio Urias takes the mound for the Dodgers against John Lackey and the offense-starved Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series. Los Angeles leads 2-1. Game starts 8 p.m.- HOUSTON -- The lobbying skills of Raiders owner Mark Davis will be on display at the NFL fall meetings as he tries to convince the other owners that Las Vegas should be in his and their future.- EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings could not have expected a better return from the trade they made with Philadelphia for quarterback Sam Bradford, and this week Bradford and the Vikings will have the opportunity to prove as much to the Eagles.- The SEC West race could all but sort itself out Saturday, with No. 1 Alabama hosting No. 6 Texas A&M and two other ranked matchups on tap in the division.- Now that the Big 12 has decided to stay at 10 schools, its time to figure out whether to split up -- into football divisions. If so, how will the teams be divided? The league, which will keep its round-robin schedule, has to determine who will play in its championship game that returns next season.- BOSTON -- At Syracuse, Dino Babers is rocking the locker room speech after beating Virginia Tech and knocking the Hokies out of the Top 25. At Boston College, Steve Addazio is still trying to earn his first Atlantic Coast Conference win in more than a year. Heres a look at some of the leagues new coaches are doing in their first year and how some of the holdovers are doing so that it isnt their last.- COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Top heavy and offensively challenged, aging and ripe to be passed, the Southeastern Conference looked to many as all those things this fall. Halfway through the season, though, the SEC holds a familiar position -- the deepest league in college football.- MINNEAPOLIS -- A hotly contested WNBA Finals gets what it deserves -- a deciding Game 5. The Minnesota Lynx are going for their fourth championship on Thursday and the Los Angeles Sparks need one more win to break up the dynasty.- AUSTIN, Texas -- With the promise of blue skies and some sizzling pop from Taylor Swift, the U.S. Grand Prix is indeed back after all those worries about its potential demise. Theres even a title chase on the track at the Circuit of the Americas.- TOKYO -- IOC President Thomas Bach meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and suggests staging some events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the northeastern region of Japan hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Stitched Giants Jerseys . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. San Francisco Giants Store . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Cheap Giants Jerseys . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Wholesale Giants Jerseys . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics took their defense from solid in the first half to stifling in the second.Isaiah Thomas scored 16 of his 26 points after halftime and Al Horford had 18 points and five blocked shots as Boston beat the Charlotte Hornets 96-88 on Friday night to stop a three-game slide.Coach just told us we needed to step up our level of energy a little more on the defensive end, Horford said. We did that and that was the big difference.Getting Thomas back after he missed four straight games with a groin strain didnt hurt, either.Thomas scored nine in the third quarter as the Celtics fought back from a 12-point deficit. He added seven in the fourth to help Boston put away the Hornets.We got stops and got running, Thomas said. The one thing we did in the fourth quarter is we just spaced the floor and made plays for each other. Guys hit big shots.Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder added 12 points apiece for the Celtics, who held the Hornets to 13 field goals in the second half.Charlotte played without leading scorer Kemba Walker, who did not travel with the team due to personal reasons, and lost its fourth straight.Although the Hornets outrebounded Boston 54-46, the Celtics outscored them 38-30 in the paint as Charlotte had trouble converting inside.We have to finish some of these plays, coach Steve Clifford said. You get these point-blank ones and you dont have the floor balance in there back the other way. There were two or three of those that were huge plays.Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.Ramon Sessions had 13 points and six assists, Marco Belinelli scored 11 and Jeremy Lamb added 10 points for the Hornets.Crowder hit a 3 with 6:11 left to put Boston up 80-79 after Charlotte scored seven straight points. Thomas drew a flagrant foul by Belinelli and hit both free throws. Boston retained possession because of the flagrant, and Crowder drew another foul and added two more free throws to put Boston ahead 84-79.Cody Zeller missed from inside for Charlotte, and Thomas came back with a 3-pointer to make it 87-79 with 4:52 left. Charlotte turned it over right awayy after the inbounds play and Bradley added another 3 that gave Boston a 90-79 cushion with 4:24 to go.ddddddddddddAfter a basket by Belinelli with 6:32 left completed their 7-0 run, the Hornets went scoreless until his layup with 2:20 remaining cut it to 92-81.Boston held Charlotte to five field goals in the third quarter, when the Hornets were 5 of 23.Charlotte closed the second on a 14-4 run and took a 50-41 lead into halftime. The Hornets led 60-48 early in the third when the Celtics started their surge. Kelly Olynyk hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 62 with 3:57 left, and it was tied 69-all at the end of the third.MISSING KEMBASessions started for Walker and had six assists, but the Hornets offense appeared lost without Walker.Hes one of the best in the league, so we missed him a lot tonight, Batum said. We played better tonight overall. But we should have won that game, anyway. No excuses.COLD OUTSIDEAfter shooting 2 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Celtics started hitting from outside in the third period. They went 7 of 14 on 3-pointers in the second half and held Charlotte to 19 points in each of the final two quarters.WELCOME BACKThomas hadnt played since scoring 20 points against Houston on Dec. 5. The Celtics went 1/3 in the games he missed and were happy to have him leading the offense once again.It helps all of us just because it opens the floor even more. Teams have to play us a little more honest, said Horford, who also had eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Its just good to have him back.TIP-INSHornets: Walker is averaging 22.6 points per game. He missed his first game this season, but was expected to return when the Hornets visit Atlanta on Saturday night. Walkers absence made Belinelli and Sessions the only Charlotte players to appear in all 27 games this season.Celtics: Jonas Jerebko scored nine points to lead Bostons reserves.UP NEXTHornets: At the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Celtics: At the Miami Heat on Sunday night. ' ' '