Off Topic » Neal scored empty-net goals in the closing minutes for the P

CLEVELAND -- Their playoff chase, which somehow lasted longer that it probably should have, is officially over. The Cavaliers came up short. On a night when they finally put it all together, their hopes crumbled. Dion Waiters scored 22 points and the Cavs played one of their best games this season, routing the Detroit Pistons 122-100 on Wednesday before being eliminated from the playoff race. Tyler Zeller scored 18 and rookie Matthew Dellavedova had 14 points and 12 assists for Cleveland, which had its slim playoff hopes ended when Atlanta defeated Boston 105-97. "Its an empty feeling now that your chances are done," said All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who has missed the post-season in each of his three years in the NBA. "You think about things you could have done, you should have done. Its inevitable, especially as big a competitor as I am. Its definitely going to be on my mind. "You always want to compete for something as special as the playoffs, but our chances were snapped tonight. Its disappointing." As the Hawks were rallying to take down the Celtics, the Cavs played with passion and purpose -- two things missing too often earlier this season. Spencer Hawes added 15 points for the Cavs, who led by 32 at half and rolled to one of their best all-around performances in what has been an otherwise disappointing season. Cleveland set a team record with 26 assists in the first half and finished with a season-high 41. But the Cavs will watch the playoffs, and spend the months ahead thinking about games they let slip away, losses that came back to haunt them. "We put ourselves in this hole," said coach Mike Brown, who returned for a second stint with the club after being fired in 2010. "I wish we could have a couple of those games back from early on. I cant fault anybody but ourselves." Brandon Jennings scored 17 after missing his first 10 shots for the Pistons, who played their second game in a row without forward Josh Smith, sidelined with knee tendinitis. Jonas Jerebko added 17 points for Detroit, which was coming off a surprising win in Atlanta. "They outplayed us and outworked us," Pistons interim coach John Loyer said of the Cavs. "We were embarrassed in the first half. This is an unforgiving league, and they didnt care that we beat Atlanta last night." Clevelands unexpected blowout win capped a turbulent few days. Earlier this week, Irving got into a public spat with Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon, an embarrassing squabble between two of the citys biggest sports stars. Irving had told Gordon "to mind his own business" about commenting on his supposed rift with Waiters. Following practice on Monday, Irving and Waiters presented a united front and said they worked through any differences and were only focused on winning. Maybe the backcourt mates patching up their differences rubbed off on the rest of the Cavs, as Brown spent most of the game sitting as opposed to standing and yelling. The Cavs had 14 assists on 14 field goals in the first quarter, which ended with them up 31-18. They were nearly as efficient in the second quarter, outscoring the Pistons 38-19 on the way to a 69-37 halftime lead. "This is the way we want to play most of the time," said Brown, who tied Bill Fitch for the second-most wins in franchise history. "It felt pretty good." Following the game, Atlantas game was on the locker room TV as Irving waited to speak with reporters. The season didnt go as planned, but theres nothing more he can do. "As a man and as a competitor, youve got to suck it up," he said. "This is my third year. Obviously, things didnt go in a perfect way. But theres no perfect season. For me, its just about continuing to grow and finish the season strong." NOTES: Brown and Fitch have 304 wins, 12 behind Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens. ... Irving is "proud" of friend and former high school teammate Derrick Gordon for coming "out" as the first openly gay player in Division I. "Hes a strong person. I think the way he did it is a true test of his character and its big time," Irving said. "Im happy for him." Irving said he would not have any issue with a gay teammate. "To see guys in sports coming out now is part of life," he said. "Im not a judgmental guy, not one bit. But Im proud of Derrick and Im proud of Jason Collins. Its a big step for everybody and every generation." ... Detroit has come to Cleveland with a different coach in each of its past three visits: Lawrence Frank last year, Maurice Cheeks earlier this season and now Loyer. Robert Woods Jersey . Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting. Nolan Cromwell Jersey . The (35-35-10) Jets have 80 points and are also playing .500 hockey on home ice this season with a 17-17-6 record. Michael Hutchinson will start his second straight game in goal. http://www.officiallosangelesramsfootball.com/authentic-tyler-higbee-jersey-womens . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. Aaron Donald Jersey . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. Greg Zuerlein Jersey . DArnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catchers seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth. The 41-year-old Colon (10-8) retired the first 20 batters in his last outing Wednesday against Seattle, eventually allowing two runs on three hits in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 win.DENVER - Filip Forsberg showed again why he is an early contender to be the NHLs rookie of the year.His Nashville Predators teammate Pekka Rinne is making a case to be the leagues best goalie, too.Forsberg scored on 2:23 in and added a late assist, and Rinne earned his third shutout of the season as the Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Tuesday night.Gabriel Bourque and James Neal scored empty-net goals in the closing minutes for the Predators, who avoided their first two-game losing streak of the season.Forsberg scored his 12th goal before the crowd had completely filed into the arena. Bourque sent a pass through the sticks of two Avalanche players, and the 20-year-old Swede broke into the open ice and flipped the puck over goalie Calvin Pickards left shoulder.I was trying to get it as high as possible, said Forsberg, who had success against Pickard in the minors last season. I was coming pretty close and got cut off by the back-checker. So I was trying to go high, and I was fortunate on that one.Rinne did the rest for the Predators. He stopped 26 shots and halted the Avs resurgent attack in the second period. He has won eight of his past 10 starts, limiting opponents to two goals or fewer in those games.He was great, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. In the second period we were a little loose with what we were doing, but he made some big saves for us.He was just consistent through the night, and I thought our guys did a pretty good job defensively in front of him.Pickard was nearly as good. He made 33 saves in place of Semyon Varlamov, who missed his 10th game of the season after aggravating a groin injury during practice on Monday.Despite his efforts, thhe Avalanche fell to 0-3-1 in December after winning five of their last seven games in November.dddddddddddd(Pickard) played unbelievable. Hes been playing so good since he has been up for us, Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon said. Its very unfortunate what happened to Varly, you know, re-injuring his groin, but with Pick playing like that, he gave us a chance to win.Forsberg, who leads NHL rookies with 12 goals and 15 assists, came up empty on his second breakaway chance in the first period after he was hooked by Alex Tanguay. Olli Jokinen was robbed by Pickards glove in the closing minutes.The Predators went 0 for 6 on the power play.It didnt matter, though, because Rinne — with some help — was perfect at the other end.Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog missed an open net, and was the second Avs player to hit the post in the second period. The Avalanche were shut out for the fourth time this season.You know (Rinne) isnt going to allow a whole bunch of goals. They have a good team over there, Pickard said. Theyve had a lot of success early on. We were a post away from tying that game.Bourque scored an empty-net goal with 1:50 remaining — nine seconds after Pickard went to the bench. Neal added another with 58 seconds to go.NOTES: Predators centre Paul Gaustad, who missed Saturdays game with a lower-body injury, left with the same injury and didnt return. ... Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said Varlamov would miss a couple weeks. ... The injury-ravaged Avalanche recalled Paul Carey and Borna Rendulic from Lake Erie of the AHL. Rendulic became the first Croatian-born player to play in the NHL. He nearly scored, too, but his drive hit the post early in the second period. 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