Empfehlungen, Tipps und Strecken » ankle injury. Now Holloway is back, b

SALT LAKE CITY -- To say Rodney Hood was eager to return to the court after a hamstring injury sidelined him for three games might be an understatement.The third-year guard knocked down basket after basket from the opening tip and finished with 25 points as the Utah Jazz defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-89 on Wednesday night to break a tie between the teams atop the Northwest Division.These last few games have been so tough to watch, Hood said. My teammates have been out there just battling and playing and you cant do nothing but watch. It was good to be back out there.Utah led from start to finish behind 58.3 percent shooting and showed why its one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, holding the Thunder to 36.6 percent from the field.Gordon Hayward scored 17 for the Jazz, who have won nine of 11. Rudy Gobert added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.Russell Westbrook paced the Thunder with 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. He shot 7 for 25 from the floor.When he has an off shooting night, you dont take credit for it with your defense, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. You just try to make sure you do as good of a job as you can, not giving up offensive rebounds when he drives and try not to give him layups. Sometimes thats hard to do.The guys that were guarding him worked hard. And thats really all you can ask.Enes Kanter scored 19 for Oklahoma City against his former team.The Jazz took a 55-41 lead into halftime thanks to a 15-6 run in the second quarter. Hood sank a pair of 3-pointers to highlight the stretch.The Thunder shot just 32.5 percent in the first half and had little offense outside of Westbrooks 14 points on 3-for-11 shooting.I know Gobert is a great rim protector, but I thought we had some shots around the basket that we normally could have made, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. I thought that bled into our struggles scoring.TIP-INSThunder: Victor Oladipo missed his second consecutive game with a right wrist sprain. Jerami Grant started in place of Oladipo for the second straight night. The Thunder had the same starting lineup for the first 24 games of the season.Jazz: George Hill missed his sixth straight game with a sprained left big toe, but is no longer in a walking boot. ... Utah is 15-2 when leading at halftime.A LITTLE RESTThe Jazz played their first game in four days after a stretch of eight games in 13 days. The injury-ravaged roster got Derrick Favors (knee) back after a 13-game absence, and Hood (hamstring) returned after missing three games. Snyder said the injuries didnt allow the team to practice much, but the Jazz tried to be smart and efficient in the things they could do. They also tried to get some rest and get healthy.Theres always a fine line between, you want to rejuvenate and recharge, but then you also dont want to lose timing and things like that, Snyder said.OVER ITWestbrook failed to get a triple-double for the third consecutive game and is starting to get annoyed with all the talk about him averaging a triple-double for the entire season.Honestly, people with this triple-double thing, is kind of getting on my nerves, he said. People think if I dont get it, its like a big thing. When I do get it, its a thing.If I get it, I get it. If I dont, I dont. It is what it is. I really dont care, not for the hundredth time. I dont care. All I care about is winning.UP NEXTThunder: Oklahoma City hosts Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.Jazz: Utah hosts a Mavericks team Friday that has lost 11 of 12 games on the road. Sam Mills Panthers Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Luke Kuechly Panthers Jersey . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. http://www.thepanthersofficialstore.com/authentic-will-grier-panthers-jersey/ . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Donte Jackson Youth Jersey . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Cam Newton Panthers Jersey . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. The past two weekends of Mississippi States football season have been a dramatic roller coaster ride: ascending to a euphoric high and dropping to a sobering low.First, there was a stunning 35-28 win over then-No. 4 Texas A&M on Nov. 5 that shook up the national playoff picture. Then last weekend, the Bulldogs were totally dominated in a 51-3 loss to No. 1 Alabama.Theres certainly no shame in losing to the Crimson Tide, but the fact that the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) werent competitive was frustrating for the program. Now Mississippi State must win its final two games, starting with a home game against Arkansas (6-4, 2-4) on Saturday, to become bowl eligible for a seventh straight season.We just have our backs in a corner and we have to find a way to win, Mullen said.Mullen didnt seem concerned that the lopsided Alabama loss blunted momentum from the Texas A&M win. Sometimes, he said, you just have to acknowledge a tough game and move on.I think Alabama has done a great job of separating themselves a little bit, Mullen said. But I think when you watch every other game, I dont know if there is a result with any two teams that would shock anyone within the SEC West.With that in mind, the Arkansas-Mississippi State matchup appears to be much more fair fight.Mississippi State has a fairly balanced offensive attack, but leans toward the run game. Sophomore quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is tied for seventh in the SEC with 854 yards rushing and eeight touchdowns.dddddddddddd He often teams with running back Aeris Williams, who has improved as the seasons progressed, to form a potent combo when running the Bulldogs read-option offense.Williams, a 6-foot-1, 217-pound sophomore, became a bigger part of the offense when starter Brandon Holloway missed a few games with an ankle injury. Now Holloway is back, but Williams is still getting plenty of playing time.He was given that opportunity and certainly made the most of it, Mullen said.Arkansas has struggled to stop the run. The Razorbacks are giving up 217.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranks 12th out of 14 league teams.Mississippi States current predicament is similar to 2013, when the Bulldogs were 4-6 in November and had a young team, but rallied to beat Arkansas and Ole Miss in the final two weeks to make the postseason.Mullen hopes the current young nucleus that includes Fitzgerald, Williams, freshman defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons and linebacker Leo Lewis can pull off a similar feat.There are a lot of similarities, Mullen said. Both teams were very young we suffered a lot of injuries that year. We had some tough games and there we are with two games left having to go battle and fight.-----Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP . AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org . ' ' '