Jederman-Forum » t a bounce, said Mike Smith, who made 24 saves

SAN ANTONIO -- Fans screamed "Go Spurs Go!" in unison at the slightest glimpse of a San Antonio Spurs player or coach floating down the River Walk. It was reminiscent of last season when the Spurs walked off their team charter to those chants, except the tone Wednesday night was much sweeter. The victory parade for Spurs fifth NBA title was part celebration and part exorcism. "It is soaking in, but Im still going to live it up for about the whole summer," NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard said. "(I havent slept) very much. Ive been trying to live the moment. Its been hard to sleep still. Thought I would get some sleep after we won the finals, but Im still celebrating. Go Spurs Go! San Antonio!" After falling 25 seconds shy of capturing the title last season only to fall in seven games to the Miami Heat, the Spurs made another run to the NBA Finals. Except this time, they closed out the Heat in five games for the teams first title since 2007. "I cried (last year). I think the rest of the city cried, too," Spurs fan Rosalinda Gonzalez said. "How they lost, that was bad. It made this years victory even more sweet, sweet. (And) the way we did it. All the games that we won were by a billion points. It was awesome. Great comeback." Given a chance to celebrate what they couldnt last year, Spurs fans endured 90-degree heat to line the River Walk and stand outside of the Alamodome up to five hours before the festivities began. The City of San Antonio estimated about 100,000 people attended the River Walk parade and 75,000 were at the Alamodome. "Weve got to thank the people of San Antonio," said Spurs guard Patty Mills, who served as the events master of ceremonies. "You really make this way more special than it already is. You guys are so genuine and really care about us. Youve embraced all of us as a family." And the fans soaked up the moment as if it was the citys first championship. Even usually cantankerous Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fully embraced the moment, smiling and waving at the crowd as the barge he rode on floated along the River Walk. Popovich raised one finger with a puzzled look before counting off two, three, four and nodding his head when he reached five, raising an outstretched hand to symbolize how many titles the franchise has won. It was Popovich who admitted the Spurs were "hurting" after losing last seasons finals. Still, the team was greeted by thousands of cheering fans upon its arrival home following the Game 7 loss to the Heat. "Ill be honest with you, when you saw the crowd the first feeling I had was embarrassment," Popovich said last year. "Was just embarrassed that we didnt get it done and then as you look at them all and they just keep cheering you realize, my gosh, you really felt the love and the way they care for these guys and their team and then it did make it easier." It also was Popovich who implored the team to face the defeat head on and learn from it, and the Spurs certainly did that. The Spurs Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili guided the team to the leagues best regular-season record and to a dominant post-season run after escaping a seven-game series with the Dallas Mavericks. San Antonios combined 70-point winning margin over Miami was the largest in NBA Finals history. "We owe it all to Pop," Ginobili said as his barge made a stop. "He had us playing great basketball at the right time." The Big Three twice received standing ovations from the capacity crowd inside the Alamodome as Duncan celebrated his fifth title and Parker and Ginobili their fourth. "Thats the best thing about them, you can hang with them, you can have jokes with them," Mills said about the Big Three. "They are better people than they are basketballers." Aside from the Big Three, the loudest ovations were for Leonard, who Popovich has called the future face of the Spurs since his arrival via a draft day trade with the Indiana Pacers in 2011. On the Alamodome stage, Mills shared a story of how he asked Leonard which superhero he was going to be for Parkers annual Halloween party. The quiet 22-year-old responded with, "Kawhi Leonard superhero." And Leonard was that in the finals. Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the series-ending victory Sunday night, becoming the youngest finals MVP since Duncan received the honour at the same age in 1999. The Spurs face an uncertain off-season with up to six possible free agents, but that wasnt even a consideration for the players or the fans Wednesday. After waiting a year, they all got to exhale and celebrate another title. Rick Porcello Jersey . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Xander Bogaerts Jersey . And fellow Leaf, Jake Gardiner, hiking in Whistler. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/au...red-sox-jersey/. On Friday night, after a long rain delay, he was scratched from his scheduled start. Bobby Doerr Jersey . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Wade Boggs Jersey . Bradley is one of eight players selected to the team who also played in this years World Cup in Brazil. The MLS all-stars will compete against German giants Bayern Munich in Portland on Aug.The Ottawa Senators are hoping for some deja-vu against the Arizona Coyotes after an emotional loss to former captain Jason Spezza and the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Viewers in the Senators region can watch the game on TSN5 at 3pm et/4pm at. Since a 5-1 win over the Coyotes on Jan. 10 the Senators fell to 2-3-1 with the loss to Dallas. Though they shut out Spezza in his return to Ottawa, the Senators allowed the Stars to score the first three and last three goals of the game. Theres no excuses, we shouldnt be that slow to start, coach Dave Cameron said. I thought our whole game was slow, sloppy. It was one of those games we got back into it, but we still didnt have the jump. With starter Craig Anderson bothered by a hand injury he suffered while making 37 saves during a 4-3 win over Toronto on Jan. 21, backup Robin Lehner could make a second straight start after stopping 35 shots Thursday. Lehner, who has never faced Arizona, is 0-4-1 with a 4.12 GAA over his last six games. The last few games Ive played, I work hard and Im trying to get better and I feel good, but bar in, post in, it hits someone, Lehner said. Its just not going my way. Obviously, Ive got to go back and try to get even better. Ive got to find a way. Teammate Bobby Ryan, meanwhile, has two goals with seven assists in eight games after recording one of each Thursday. He had an assist at Arizona three weeks ago, andd one during last seasons 4-3 overtime home loss to the Coyotes.dddddddddddd Tied for the Coyotes lead with 31 points, Antoine Vermette recorded a hat trick in last seasons road victory that helped Arizona snap a six-game losing streak at Ottawa. All-Star defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson recorded a short-handed goal off the opening faceoff of the third period and Arizona (17-25-6) scored twice more to snap an 0-5-2 skid with Thursdays 3-1 victory at Toronto. Martin Hanzal banked a puck in off the back of Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier and Sam Gagner added the Coyotes first power-play goal in three games on a deflection. Its about time we got a bounce, said Mike Smith, who made 24 saves to snap a six-game losing streak during which he posted a 3.57 goals-against average. I thought we did a lot of good things and got rewarded for it. Though the Coyotes 40 points are the second-fewest in the Western Conference, theyve worked hard while scoring three goals in three of their last four contests after being held to a combined five over the previous four. Gagner added an assist against Toronto to match his point total over the previous nine contests and will now try to help Arizona win two straight for the first time since a three-game run Dec. 23-29. Winning is fun, so we have to keep building on this win, said Ekman-Larsson, who leads all NHL defenseman with 13 goals. ' ' '