FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS 1. CHRIS GRANT (Cavs): The GM gets fired on Thursday after his team won only 29 per cent of its games during his tenure. Obviously, a totally undermanned Lakers team beating them on their home floor was the final straw. Wow, what a mess it is right now. Many folks thought with the addition of Jarrett Jack, Andrew Bynum, head coach Mike Brown and first overall pick Anthony Bennett that they would be knocking on the door for a seven or eight seed in the East. No such luck. Its been dysfunctional and the idea of signing LeBron James in the summer looks like a pipe dream and the ability to hold onto Kyrie Irving (in spite of what he says) is in serious doubt. Fragile business. 2. ENES KANTER (Jazz): Have watched him twice in person and on TV a bunch of times and I gotta confess, Im more of a Derrick Favors fan. Not sure both of these guys can co-exist. Kanter is averaging 12 and 6 and when I watch him I see a guy that is a bit robotic with his game. Yes hes a bruiser but its hard to play that style unless you have great skill to go with it. Still a work in progress. 3. CHRIS PAUL (Clippers): Its a bit chilly and rain is in the forecast here for later today in L.A. Rather this than snow and freezing temperatures. News that warmed me up today was the fact that the All-Star point guard wont make his return from injury until Sunday so the Raptors catch a break not seeing him. But it will still be a very difficult game to win for Toronto here on Friday. It will be great for Paul to get on the court this weekend and play next weekend at his first professional stop (New Orleans) in the All-Star Game. Good for the sport. Terrific player and class act. 4. RAPTORS at KINGS: It was the fourth time in the last few weeks (Celtics, Lakers, Bobcats) that the Raptors played down to their competition and "Played the Record". Games like these haunt teams and cause sleepless nights for coaches. I felt for Dwane Casey on Thursday night - he tried everything to get his team going with little success. Im sorry but this team isnt good enough to overlook anyone. Totally got outplayed and didnt deserve to win. Winning teams have real good habits. This team still floats big time with its focus. Its easy to get up for the name teams but as usual guys get it backwards. Its really hard to win those games. Play really hard against the teams you can beat and youll have a really nice season and then steal the occasional game when you play a team thats in the upper class. Tough lessons to learn. Time they actually learn the lesson and do something about it. You want the third our fourth seed and home court in the first round of the Playoffs? Punch the clock, bring the lunch bucket and hard hat and compete like crazy. You do that - youll have success. Time to grow up a bit. I have no issues with losing if you lay it all on the line to the best of your ability and the other guy happens to be better that night - that happens. Shake his hand and hold your head high and get ready for the next one. Stop teasing folks. This team is good enough and has good people on it - theyll figure it out. 5. TOM THIBODEAU (Bulls): I like what he said recently about playing time. Hes the boss and he and only he will determine who gets the privilege that you have to EARN to play and finish games. Carlos Boozer is upset with his fourth quarter role of late. I have a suggestion - play really hard and well and guess what? Youll play and finish games. Coaches want to and have to win. Its your job to please your coach, not the other way around. A coachs ultimate loyalty has to be to winning and team. Nothing else comes close. Believe me you could coach a guy you completely dislike personally yet youll play him every minute if he helps you win. Don Zimmer Rays Jersey . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. Yonny Chirinos Rays Jersey . TSNs coverage of the Third Round gets underway Sunday with Game 1: Los Angeles at Chicago at 3pm et/Noon pt. TSNs broadcast schedule for the Third Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs is as follows: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings• Game 1: Los Angeles at Chicago – Sunday, May 18 at 3pm et/Noon pt• Game 2: Los Angeles at Chicago – Wednesday, May 21 at 8pm et/5pm pt• Game 4: Chicago at Los Angeles – Monday, May 26 at 9pm et/6pm pt Featured in the broadcast booth for TSN are play-by-play announcer Chris Cuthbert and game analyst Ray Ferraro, with Farhan Lalji contributing reports from rinkside. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1066i-ya...y-rays.html.com) - Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 51 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the struggling Bucks 114-101 on Tuesday. Nick Anderson Jersey .com) - Robert Upshaw made a putback jumper to put 17th-ranked Washington ahead with 1:27 remaining in the game and the Huskies held on to beat Eastern Washington 81-77 on Sunday. Jalen Beeks Jersey . The club announced on Wednesday that Malhotra signed a 25-game professional tryout contract. The 33-year-old suffered a serious eye injury when struck by a puck during a game versus Colorado in March of 2011.The Detroit Red Wings will face yet another Original Six rival, as they shoot for a third straight win in tonights road test against the Montreal Canadiens. You can listen to the game on TSN Radio 690 Montreal, with coverage beginning at 6pm et. Four of Detroits five games this season have been against fellow Original Six clubs, with a loss on Oct. 11 against the Anaheim Ducks standing as the lone exception. After sweeping a home-and-home series against the Toronto Maple Leafs this weekend, the Red Wings improved to 3-1-1 on the season. Detroit boasts a 3-0-1 mark against the original NHL franchises, and the club will have Pavel Datsyuk in the lineup tonight to help chase another win in Montreal. Datsyuk has been sidelined since suffering a separated shoulder in an exhibition game on Sept. 22, but he could make his season debut on Tuesday. Last season, Datsyuk posted 17 goals and 20 assists despite playing in only 45 games due to various injuries. The Russian star was cleared ahead of tonights tilt, however, Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is not expected to return Tuesday after sitting out the last game with a lower-body injury. Henrik Zetterberg played a big role in the two-game sweep of the Maple Leafs. The Swedish star posted four assists in Fridays 4-1 triumph in Toronto and recorded the game-winning goal with 10 seconds left in overtime to lead his club to a 1-0 decision in the rematch. Zetterberg took a crisp cross-ice pass from Niklas Kronwall in the slot and slapped a shot off the right post past Jonathan Bernier to record the only goal in Saturdays game at Joe Louis Arena. It was a hard-fought game for both teams, said Zetterberg. Goaltending was really good on both sides. Jonas Gustavsson posted a 30-save shutout in his first start of the season in place of starter Jimmy Howard, who was unavailable due to a sore groin. Peter Mrazek served as the backup on Saturday, but Howard expects to return to the starting role tonight with Gustavsson behind him. Mrazek was reassigned to Grand Rapids of the AHL oon Monday.dddddddddddd The Canadiens also will shoot for a third straight victory tonight after downing Boston and Colorado in their most recent outings. Montreal is 5-1-0 this season after making a surprise run to the Eastern Conference finals last spring. Montreal recorded a 3-2 win over the visiting Avalanche on Saturday, as P.K. Subban scored twice and Carey Price stood tall with 32 saves. The Habs, who also received a goal from Alex Galchenyuk, improved to 2-0 at the Bell Centre this season. The Canadiens scored all three of their goals Saturday in the second period. Subban tied the game with a power-play tally at the 4:13 mark before Galchenyuk scored to make it 2-1 around the midway point of the stanza. Subbans third marker of the season came with just over two minutes left in the period and would stand as the eventual game-winner. Montreal won the final two games against the Red Wings in 2013-14 to earn a split in the season series. The Canadiens have taken three of the last five encounters overall and two of the past three meetings at the Bell Centre. Canadiens Projected Lines Forwards Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Parenteau Bourque-Eller-Weise Moen-Malhotra-Prust Defence Emelin - Subban Markov - Gilbert Tinordi - Weaver Goaltender Price Tokarski Scratches: Sekac, Bournival, Beaulieu Red Wings Projected Lines Forwards Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Sheahan - Nyquist Jurco - Helm - Nestrasil Miller - Glendening - Andersson Defence Kronwall - Ericsson Kindl - Smith Quincey - DeKeyser Goaltender Howard Gustavsson Scratches: Franzen (LBI), Weiss, Cleary, Lashoff TSN Games Notes MTL was 2-1-1 vs DET last season, winning final 2 meetings MTL has gone 2-0-2 past 4 at home vs DET MTL (5-1-0): 2-0-0 at home, 9GF, 3/6 on PP outscored 9-3 in 1st pd Galchenyuk (1G, 2A) past 2 games DET (3-1-1): won 2 straight, 1GA, 0/10 on PP 17/17 on PK this season Zetterberg (1G, 4A) past 2 games ' ' '