OKLAHOMA CITY -- Serge Ibaka walked slowly and carefully, but without a limp, before facing reporters Saturday afternoon. Much has been made of the Oklahoma City defensive stars absence in the first two games of the Western Conference finals series against the San Antonio Spurs. The 6-foot-10 power forward strained his left calf in the previous playoff series, and the Thunder said they expected him to be out for the playoffs. The team changed course Friday and declared him day-to-day. He worked out Saturday, but he didnt practice before addressing the media for the first time since his outlook changed. With Ibaka, the leagues leading shot blocker, the Thunder were one of the best defensive teams the NBA. Without him, the Spurs shot at least 50 per cent in the first two games of the Western Conference Finals and won them by a combined 52 points. As he stood for the five-minute session wearing a black compression sock over the calf, he deflected claims that he could be a saviour heading into Game 3 on Sunday. "Ive been hearing a lot of people saying my team lost two games because I was out," he said. "Thats not true. I believe in my guys. I believe in my teammates. They can be better with me or without me. Its no excuse because Serge Ibaka was not there. Just San Antonio, the first two games, they played better basketball." Ibaka said he sometimes screamed at his television set when he watched scenarios in which he could have made plays during the losses. He is not sure if he will play in Game 3 -- he said it is up to doctors, and much will depend on how he feels in the morning. For now, he will depend largely on rest, ice and luck. His presence is needed, even if he is less than fully healthy. Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison and Perry Jones have struggled against the Spurs big men. Kevin Durant, normally a small forward, has played some power forward in the series because of Ibakas absence, and his relative lack of physical strength and unfamiliarity with playing post defence has been exploited. The Spurs prepared all along as though he would return. "It gives them another hell of a player," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, "but we are who we are and weve got to be who we are. We cant change what we do." Even if Ibaka returns, it will not fully solve Oklahoma Citys problems defending the perimeter. San Antonio has made 18 of 40 3-pointers in the series and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are slashing into the paint with stunning frequency, often scoring or finding their teammates for open shots. The Thunder say it starts with basics. "Its just an individual effort," Perkins said. "Got to put it in your mind that you want to stop the guy in front of you, and thats it. Backside got to be ready. But the thing is when they penetrate, thats what opens those threes. Well do a better job of keeping the ball in front of us, but weve just got to be individual and youve got to want the match up." To be fair, San Antonio shares the ball like no one else. The Spurs led the league with 25.4 assists per game during the regular season. That average is up to 27.5 against Oklahoma City. Parker and Ginobili generate many of the assists, but many others come from simple ball movement. "We dont have a Durant," Ginobili said. "We dont have a Kobe (Bryant) or LeBron (James) that can go one against one and finish every single time. We need to pass the ball to find open teammates, and thats what we do, and thats what weve been doing. We all feel proud about it. We know when we have 25 assists or 30, we are much better and we try to do that every time." Because the Spurs generally have five capable scorers on the floor at a time, it forces opponents to have a greater attention to detail than usual. "Theyve got threats," Durant said. "Everybody on their team is a threat because of their offence. They move the ball. Theyve got 3-point shooters. You take away 3-point shooters, they get the role guys and they get the paint points. You take away that and they start hitting the threes. So we have to do both. We have to be able to close the paint up and get out to shooters. Easier said than done, but we can do it." The Spurs are off to a good start, but experience tells them they wont have as easy a time in Oklahoma City. And in 2012, Oklahoma City fell behind San Antonio 2-0 in the Western Conference finals before winning the series 4-2. "Weve got to know that in their arena its going to be different," Ginobili said. "Theyre going to be way more aggressive, theyre going to be pushed by their fans. We just won two games. They are going to make more shots, they are going to attack harder, they are going to go to the free-throw line more.So, there are a lot of things that they can do much better and were not going to make as many shots." Wholesale Air Jordan . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. Cheap Air Jordan Online .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to complete a sweep of the Washington Capitals when the clubs cap a quick home-and-home series Tuesday night in the Steel City. https://www.fakejordanwholesale.com/. But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday. Clearance Air Jordan . A better question yet may be this: How many times has the same player been involved in both? Morneau hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and helped the Colorado Rockies turn the third triple play in team history as they beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday. Fake Retro Air Jordan . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. BOSTON -- When shots werent falling for Atlanta during a woeful start to the second quarter, the Hawks started going inside to Paul Millsap and never stopped. Millsap had season highs with 34 points and 15 rebounds as the Hawks rallied from an 18-point deficit for a 92-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday afternoon. Jeff Teague scored 16 points and Kyle Korver added 14 for Atlanta. "At the beginning of the game it wasnt really what they were doing. Its what we didnt do. We didnt execute well. We didnt share the basketball like we normally do," said Millsap, who had his best game for the Hawks since signing as a free agent in the off-season. "When we settled down, got stops and moved the basketball around, everybody got in a groove." The Hawks barely made one third of their shots, going 33 for 91, but Millsap was nearly unstoppable inside. He was 12 for 14 from the field and forced his way to the foul line, where he made 10 of 14 free throws. "We were able to find a way to win a game where we werent able to shoot well from the perimeter, from the basket, really from anywhere except for Paul Millsap," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. Boston pulled away on a 19-4 run to start the second quarter, but Atlanta closed the period on a 15-0 run and set up a back-and-forth finish. "We started off the game so terribly. We just couldnt find any kind of rhythm and they had us totally out of synch," said Korver, who extended his NBA record streak of games with a 3-pointer to 101. "We were dead in the water there for a little while. We just felt like we couldnt get anything going. We got a little momentum and were able to carry that over to the second half." Boston had two shots to win after Shelvin Mack missed a layup in the final minute, but couldnt convert. Jordan Crawford missed with about eight seconds remaining and Boston ended up with the rebound and called time out. Crawford tried again at the buzzer but his shot bounced off the backboard. "I fellt like it was a good opportunity.dddddddddddd Jordan lives for that," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "I think hell probably beat himself up over it, but thats OK. We play again on Thursday." Kelly Olynyk scored a career-high 21 points and Kris Humphries had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Bostons reserves scored 56 -- more than half of the teams total. None of Bostons starters scored in double figures. Brandon Bass was closest with nine points and Jared Sullinger pulled down 10 rebounds. The lead went back-and-forth down the stretch until Atlanta clinched it in the final minutes. After Millsap put the Hawks up 90-89, Crawford answered with a long jumper that beat the shot clock and put Boston back up 91-90 with 1:36 left. It was the last field goal of the game. Teague drew a foul with 1:30 left and made both shots and the Hawks held on for the win. The Celtics led 23-20 after the first and opened second on a 19-4 run for a 42-24 lead. Atlanta responded by scoring the last 15 points of the period and then opened the third quarter with a 10-4 run and took a 54-48 lead on a layup by Teague. Olynyk started Boston on a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer, then Crawford converted a three-point play and added a 3-pointer to put the Celtics up 57-54. Korvers streak appeared to be in jeopardy through the third period after he missed his first five attempts from beyond-the-arc. His sixth was good, though, and he drew a foul for a four-point play that pulled the Hawks within 83-76 with 6:10 remaining. "The whole section up there was reminding me I hadnt hit one," Korver said. "I was trying to make shots to make shots, not just to keep the streak going." Notes: The Hawks streak of nine straight games scoring more than 100 points ended. ... Atlanta centre Al Horford was scheduled for surgery Tuesday to repair his torn right pectoral muscle. The Hawks announced Monday that Horford, the Hawks leading scorer and rebounder, was out for the season. ... The Celtics closed December at 6-6. ' ' '