avent yet been fired for the first time--the best is yet to co

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Andre Drummond turned defense into offense for the Detroit Pistons, who tied a franchise record with their seventh consecutive road victory. Drummond took a charge from Roy Hibbert with 23.9 seconds left and then tipped in the winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining in a 98-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Its been a dramatic turnaround for the Pistons since they waived Josh Smith on Dec. 22. Theyve won 10 of their last 12 games. The seven-game road win streak equals the mark set Jan. 18 - Feb. 22, 2002. Brandon Jennings led the way with a season-high 37 points for Detroit. He went 8-of-13 from 3-point range and made all nine of his foul shots. Drummond had 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Greg Monroe scored 11 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 10. Hibbert had 14 points, while David West and Damjan Rudez each scored 13 for the Pacers, who have lost three in a row. West converted 1-of-2 free throws with 54.2 seconds left to tie the game, and then Jennings missed a pull-up jumper. Hibbert lowered his shoulder into Drummond, who drew the charge. Then, Jennings drove to the left of the lane and missed as his shot was altered by a leaping Hibbert. Drummond, though, converted the tip-in. My main thing was to take it to the rim, 23 seconds left, definitely get the last shot, Jennings said. If anything, get a high floater and if I missed it I know Dre or somebody could be there to tip it in. Thats just a play that me and Dre have in our heads. Indianas last gasp for a tie was thwarted when the ball was knocked away near the basket. Monroe scored nine points in the first quarter to help the visitors to a 23-19 lead. Detroit closed a 10-point deficit in the second to 51-49 at the half. The Pistons held a 79-76 edge going to the fourth. It was definitely a difficult game. It was in our favor. We just have to learn to put games away, Indiana forward Solomon Hill said. Game Notes It was just the second victory in the last 12 regular season visits by Detroit to Indiana dating back to the 2008-09 season ... The Pacers scored 23 points off 18 Detroit turnovers ... The Pistons were 13-of-31 from 3-point range ... Detroits last road loss was Dec. 21 at Brooklyn. Kevin Faulk Youth Jersey . The top-ranked Djokovic also beat Gael Monfils and then routed Roger Federer en route to his first Abu Dhabi title. "Its always great to win a title. This is the best way to start the 2012 season," Djokovic said. Kevin Faulk Patriots Jersey . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/Julian-Edelman-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ . Van Slyke drove in a career-high four runs with two homers off struggling left-hander Tony Cingrani, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled away to a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, a rare comfortable win in their pitching-dominated series. New England Patriots Jerseys . -- Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle. Stephon Gilmore Jersey . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City.My thumb is up to the next NHL coach to be fired, especially if he has never been fired before. Let me explain. The best hockey coaches get fired. Thats how they improve. 18 current NHL coaches have been fired a total of 32 times. Two leading contenders for the Jack Adams Award are Nashvilles Peter Laviolette and Winnipegs Paul Maurice, fired three times each. It seems easy to conclude that they are better at their current jobs for the fact theyve had a few others. LAs Darryl Sutter has won two Stanley Cups after being fired three times. Joel Quenneville has two Stanley Cups in Chicago that followed two less successful stints in Colorado and St. Louis. Claude Julien, Mike Babcock, and Laviolette also celebrated championships with teams that didnt bring them into the NHL. So when you hear that Mike Yeo or Craig Berube might not make it to the end of this season, feel good for them and the nine other coaches who havent yet been fired for the first time--the best is yet to come. -- My thumb is down to the potential that exists for a complete lack of latee-season excitement in the NHLs Eastern Conference, the kind of excitement that comes with a close and hectic playoff race.dddddddddddd With 16 teams in the East as opposed to 14 teams in the West, it figures that more teams will remain alive longer in the larger conference. Obviously not, because If youre hoping for a compelling stretch run in the East, youre basically pinning that hope on…..wait for it… Florida and Toronto. The Panthers are currently four points out of the eighth and last playoff spot, and the Leafs are another three points back, so never mind the idea that things might not be too interesting in early April, the eight playoff teams in the East could be decided well before that. The Western Conference promises to be tighter, especially because the Pacific Division is so bunched behind front-running Anaheim. I know its supposed to matter how the playoff teams line up and what the first-round match ups will be, but the LA Kings two Stanley Cup runs have shown that it really doesnt matter. Making or missing the playoffs does. ' ' '