Narrenpost-Kasten » port and onto the plane is always quite amusing

MINNEAPOLIS -- With bags under their eyes as big as the ones they had to pack for a rugged five-game road trip, the weary Memphis Grizzlies trudged into Target Center knowing they had one more fight before they could get back to the comforts of home. The Minnesota Timberwolves gave them all of that and more and sent the Grizzlies packing with a costly defeat. Kevin Love had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for his third career triple-double in Minnesotas 102-88 victory over Memphis on Wednesday night. "A lot of time zones. A lot of travelling. A lot of battles," said Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley, who had just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting. Ricky Rubio had 14 points, seven assists and three steals and Kevin Martin scored 21 points for the Timberwolves, who are trying to play spoiler down the stretch of what has been a disappointing season. "We wanted to find some sense of motivation and thats what we found tonight," Love said. "We just wanted to knock off a team that is fighting right now." Marc Gasol had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Grizzlies. But Zach Randolph had just four points on 1-for-8 shooting and Memphis dropped a game that coach Dave Joerger called a must-win before tipoff. The Grizzlies (44-31) entered in seventh place in the jam-packed Western Conference, but with Phoenix (44-30) and Dallas (44-31) all in the mix for the last two spots. ""We were just kind of running in mud the whole night," Joerger said. "Youre going to have games like that, where youre very heavy-legged. Weve been playing with a playoff focus. Each game has meant so much since like Christmas. Youre starting to see the effects of it now." Ronny Turiaf had 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his first game since Feb. 19 and the Timberwolves shot 53 per cent despite missing Nikola Pekovic with a sore right ankle. The Grizzlies were a tired bunch when they arrived in Minnesota after splitting the first four games of the road trip. With three teams essentially fighting for two spots, they just dont have time to be tired right now. The Wolves led by seven at halftime, and Rubio attacked Memphis right out of the second-half gates. He had six points, a steal and an assist in the first 4 minutes and kept the pressure coming. He drew three fouls on Conley to force him to the bench midway through the period, hit a 3-pointer and fired a 50-foot outlet pass to Kevin Martin for a layup during a flurry that helped build an 18-point lead. Rubio left the game briefly with a sprained left ankle after a spill under the basket, but the damage was already done. A 12-2 run in the fourth pushed Minnesotas lead to 100-80 with 3 minutes to go. "Everybody else has something on the line," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "So we want to go out and play as well as we can and spoil it for them and see if we cant be a factor in it." Randolph, Conley and Tayshaun Prince combined to shoot 7 for 32 and the Grizzlies gave in to a team that appeared to have given up on this season after falling out of contention in the hyper competitive West. Randolph finished with single digits in scoring for just the fourth time this season and first since Jan. 15. The Grizzlies now return home to face the Nuggets before going to San Antonio and hosting Miami in a tough three-game stretch. The Suns get the Clippers, Trail Blazers and Thunder this week while the Mavericks start a four-game road trip. "Youve got to put this one behind us," Randolph said. "Weve just got to forget about it. We know this aint us. We know we can play better." NOTES: Wolves C Gorgui Dieng had eight points and nine rebounds and received a big ovation before the game when it was announced that he was named Western Conference rookie of the month. ... Memphis F Jon Leuer, a Minnesota native, finished with four points in 3 minutes. ... The Grizzlies only turned the ball over 11 times, but it led to 19 points for Minnesota. Air Max 270 Cheap Online . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Cheap Air Max 270 .3 seconds remaining, and No. 7 North Carolina held off a resilient No. 25 Virginia team, 54-51, on Saturday. John Henson contributed a double-double with 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2 ACC), who have won five straight and 10 of 11. http://www.wholesaleairmax270.com/ . -- Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh says he isnt going to change what he does on the field. Air Max 270 Online Shop . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Discount Air Max 270 . 17.A string of English Premier League teams, most in the lower end of the standings, has been linked to the 32-year-old forward but most have seemingly balked at the cost given his wages and transfer fee.It was an early start this morning, travel days are always the worst! We meet at our training base in Guildford before heading off to the airport for the fourth leg on our World Rugby HSBC Women’s Sevens Series, this time in Atlanta. Travelling as part of a national team is not like any other travel; you generally have no idea what time you actually fly, which terminal you are flying out of, or indeed even which airport. The logistics are all handled, all you have to do is pack… Katy McLean the organised packer My two housemates (Natasha Mo Hunt and Katy McLean) and I have been involved within England squads for on average about eight years; so you would think this would mean we are well versed at the obligatory packing process. But if you had entered any of our three rooms last night you would have thought we had either been burgled or someone had played a practical joke and removed all our clothes and scattered them on the bed. Mo Hunt trying to pack Katy went for the mini pile approach, and spent over an hour arranging her things into bitesize collections and then proceeded to place them into numerous mini bags within her big bag.Mo organised her toiletries in a military size descending line across her chest of drawers for absolutely no purpose whatsoever. She is also hopeless at making any form of decision for herself and so would appear at your doorway every five minutes and slope in to see how much of everything you have packed… Shes 27!!I, however was in the biggest predicament, and gathered the others for a house decision… which trainers should I take with me? Emily Scarratts shoe selection Arriving at the airport is where the real fun starts. Firstly we travel with an unreal amount of additional bags; kit, medical stuff, cameras, food, aand what seems like the kitchen sink! Theres always a few that have over packed and try and sneak a few of their personal things into the team bags, fair game unless our manager catches you! Check-in this trip was a good one…Claire Allan, team joker and normally one of the most organised had had a mare [see pic]! To travel into America you have to apply for an ESTA, essentially a Visa that approves your travel.dddddddddddd So we had been given weeks to either update our existing one or apply for one, and Claire decided so leave it until last night!This is normally no trouble at all, unless you put all of your details (including your card) into a fake ESTA site. Former police officer Claire and our manager Zoe Eaton were then holding up the check-in queue, finding the correct website, cancelling cards and actually getting a legitimate ESTA. Needless to say we cut her loose at check in, for rugby players breakfast and food often out prioritise all else! Look closely to see Claire Allen at check-in Walking through the airport and onto the plane is always quite amusing. When we board, most people are sat down and they cannot help but gawp and whisper to one another as were all in matching kit slowly making our way to our seats at the back. You can tell that people want to ask, but often wait to pick us off when were alone stretching at the back, waiting for the toilet or some will just lean right into your seat and ask so what team are you then?.There begins the conversation; where were playing, who were playing, will we win, etc, etc. The length of the conversation is often dictated by which member of the squad has been asked and how much sleep theyve had.As I finish writing this the team is spread about the plane watching films, doing analysis, stretching or trying to avoid our physio and catch a quick nap. A subdued travel mood currently but one that will build all week through training and hopefully hit the ground running come Friday and our first game against current series leaders Australia. Also See: SportsWomen Latest Show News Latest News SportsWomen Video ' ' '