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(SportsNetwork.com) - The defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs will play their next two games outside the Alamo City, starting with Sundays showdown with the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Spurs have a trip to Portland slated for Monday and are 8-5 on the road. San Antonio had won three of four games until Fridays overtime loss to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers reserve Nick Young, not Bryant, took the final shot and hit a 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds left for a 112-110 win. Spurs future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who needed 15 points to pass Jerry West for 18th on the all-time scoring list, paced his team with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Manu Ginobili and Corey Joseph had 18 and 16 points, respectively, for San Antonio, which shot 46.7 percent and had 19 turnovers for 25 LA points. Joseph played the entire fourth quarter and overtime in place of Tony Parker, who returned to the lineup after a three-game absence due to a hamstring injury. Parker was limited to five points and two assists in 17 minutes. The more experience I get, the more confident I get, Joseph said. Im just confident out there doing me. Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard has missed back-to-back games with a hand bruise and is questionable Sunday. He is averaging 14.8 points per game. The Nuggets have lost five of their last six games and will play four straight and seven of the next nine at home. In Saturdays 108-96 setback to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center, Dwight Howard returned from injury to post 26 points and 13 rebounds in leading the hosts to victory. NBA leading scorer James Harden (26.3 ppg) posted a triple-double of 24 points, 10 boards and 10 assists. Donatas Motiejunas had 25 points for Houston. Denver was led by Ty Lawsons 19 points and 12 assists, and Darrell Arthur scored a team-high 20 points off the bench. J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Nuggets shot 37.5 percent with 16 turnovers. We got dominated by their big guys inside, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. The Nuggets have a 6-4 home record and look to make up some ground in the Rockies over the next few days. Sundays matchup wont be easy, but the Nuggets (103.1 ppg) are scoring more than San Antonio (101.7 ppg). Denver, though, is allowing 104.8 points this season, 27th in the NBA. The Spurs are second in opponents scoring at 95.1 ppg. The Nuggets and Spurs will play the first of four meetings this season, and Denver lost all three matchups in 2013-14. Duncan averaged 22.0 points and nine rebounds in three games against Denver last season, while Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried recorded 19.0 points and 10.3 boards. NHL Jerseys Outlet . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team. NHL Jerseys Sale . - Aroldis Chapman, with two black eyes, has returned to the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse four days after being hit in the face by a line drive. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Discount NHL Jerseys . Jurrjens signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati in May, and was 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA at Triple-A Louisville. He has a 53-37 record with a 3.63 ERA in seven major league seasons, including five with Atlanta. Wholesale NHL Jerseys China .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record.BOSTON – This trade wont knock your socks off, but its the type of deal that fits the cash-strapped Blue Jays mold at the moment. Just prior to Monday nights series opener against the Red Sox at Fenway, general manager Alex Anthopoulos acquired infielder Danny Valencia from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for pitcher Liam Hendriks and catcher Erik Kratz. The move works for both clubs, which makes it a good trade. “We definitely have a lot of left-handed bats on the roster right now and we certainly could use some help from the right side,” said Anthopoulos. “Weve actually inquired about him in the past; just havent been able to get anything done. Weve been really trying to find [a similar player] all year and also weve definitely given guys some opportunities from the minor leagues looking for that right-handed bat and the fact that hes had success at the big league level doing that and doing it well, its a good fit for us.” Valencia, who turns 30 on September 19, is a right-handed hitting infielder who predominantly plays third base. He has a career .879 on-base plus slugging percentage against left-handed pitching with 14 home runs. Thats in 498 plate appearances, a large enough sample size to state with certainty that Valencia is an immediate enhancement to the line-up. Hell help to cover for the remainder of Brett Lawries absence. Lawries out with a fractured right index finger and, given that second base isnt completely foreign to Valencia, he could see time there when Lawrie returns. With 21 career home runs and a .620 OPS against right-handed pitching, Valencia isnt totally a lost cause, but would be better suited to a platoon situation. Anthopoulos cautioned not to read too much into how the acquisition of Valencia could affect Lawrie and where hell play. Lawrie wants to play third base, but didnt complain when he was asked to assume a platoon role, splitting time between third and second base earlier this season. Judging by what the general manager had to say, its easy to envision Lawrie seeing plenty more time at second. “Well just see,” said Anthopoulos. “I know (manager John Gibbons) is going to mix and match. When Juans been playing, hes been playing well, hes got tremendous numbers versus right-handers, [but] obviously has not had success versus left-handers and Danny can certainly be that platoon partner for him. “With respect to Brett, sure, youd like to have any player be at one position the entire time, but, like weve done a lot of the year, wed like to have had Bautista play one position the entire time, the one thing thats been great to see is all of our players want to win and are willing to play anywhere on the diamond.” From a business perspective, and dont discount the importance of this for a second, Valencias spent enough time in pro ball (nine seasons) the big leagues (parts oof five seasons) to be considered a veteran with useful experience, but hes accrued so little major league service time (two years, 118 days) that he remains under club control for the considerable future.ddddddddddddThis is something Anthopoulos greatly values. Valencia is first-year arbitration eligible this coming off-season and cant become a free agent until, at the earliest, after the 2017 season. Remember, the Blue Jays are essentially bereft of positional prospect talent at Double-A or higher. The addition of Valencia is as useful for 2015 as it is in the immediate. Out the door go two extraneous pieces. While a compelling argument could be made that Kratz should have made the club out of spring training and served as Dioner Navarros back-up, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is more comfortable with his longtime battery mate, Josh Thole. As a result, Kratz spent his second stint in the organization in three places: Toronto, Buffalo and on the QEW shuttling from one city to the other. Kratz hit .198/.226/.346 in 34 games with the Blue Jays. He showed a touch of his valued power, hitting three home runs in 81 at-bats. Hendriks, 25, is still young but didnt figure into the Blue Jays plans. He won a game in three starts with Toronto, posting a 6.08 ERA, but on a number of occasions he needed every inch of Rogers Centres dimensions to keep the ball in the park in two home starts. He was hit hard on June 20 in Cincinnati, his last start in the big leagues, in a game that will best be remembered for the Blue Jays overcoming a nine-run deficit to beat the Reds 14-9. INJURY UPDATES Anthopoulos provided updates on the status of two injured players, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind. As for the respective timetables for their returns: “You know, we really dont know," he said. "Theyre definitely moving in the right direction.” On Encarnacion (strained right quadriceps): “I know we mentioned with Encarnacion he had a bit of a setback; setback in a way that hed been improving so fast and it got slowed up. I guess the one thing to clarify on that is, yes, the way he was progressing and how fast he was progressing, all of a sudden that certainly slowed down because he had a little renewed pain when he was swinging again so we just decided to not take any chances and slow him up.” On Lind (fractured right foot): “He doesnt feel anything when he swings. He does feel it a little bit when he runs, when he has to run the bases and change directions and that can impact him when hes in the field. In terms of strictly in the box and swinging he doesnt feel it. Its going to come down to when that pain is gone when he has to run the bases and change direction and things like that. We dont know exactly when thats going to come but in the meantime at least were able to have him hit, swing and let him try to get his timing back.” ' ' '