Abstimmungen » of the load off starting goalie Ben Bishop, w

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said his team has plans in place to allow Paul Pierce to retire as a member of the Boston Celtics if Pierce elects to end his playing days this summer.During an appearance on The Vertical podcast, Rivers said he believes Pierce hasnt made up his mind about his future.If Paul decides to retire, then were going to make sure that Boston picks him up for one day and he retires a Celtic, because thats what he should retire as, Rivers said during the podcast released Thursday. So we have all that in place. We just dont know what hes going to do.Added Rivers: I think Pauls going back and forth on it, and I want to give him room. I think he deserves it. From a team perspective, you would love that he made his decision eight weeks ago. I think there are certain guys that you just have to give time to, and Pauls one of them.Pierce, 38, played for Boston for 15 seasons before spending one season apiece with the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Clippers. He was the NBA Finals MVP in 2008 and is the second-leading scorer in Celtics history, behind John Havlicek.During an appearance on ESPNs The Jump last month, Pierce admitted hes 50/50 on whether to continue playing.Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan already retired this offseason, and Pierce and Kevin Garnett remain undecided on their futures. On The Vertical podcast, Rivers said, It may go down as the greatest retirement summer in NBA history.Addressing unsubstantiated rumors that the Celtics and Clippers have talked about a deal involving Blake Griffin, Rivers smothered the suggestion.[Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] and I have talked twice this summer. One [call] was about the British Open, and one was about another golf tournament. Thats about it, Rivers, who handles personnel decisions for the Clippers, told The Vertical podcast.Added Rivers: Its funny, you dont want to go out and send out a press release every time theres a rumor about Blake. We are hoping that Blake ends his career playing for the Clippers. Period. So when teams call, we say we have no interest. First of all, no teams calling right now because teams know we dont have any interest.It just tells you the different times. Things have changed. Everyone believes that theyre media now. ... Theres so many good, credible guys. And then theres some of the guys who are bloggers who have nothing to do with the sport.I helped my young son trace where this started -- the Blake rumor, the Boston rumor -- lets go there. ... My son traced it to, I think, it was a Boston radio talk show. And the guy didnt say that we had been talking, he said Blake would be one of the guys that the Celtics should go after. That started the next step, to the next step, to the next thing you know it blew up. And that stuff is tough. Michael Brantley Astros Jersey . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Nolan Ryan Jersey .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. https://www.cheapastros.com/1903o-josh-james-jersey-astros.html . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Aledmys Diaz Astros Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Lance Mccullers Jr. Jersey . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. TAMPA, Fla. -- The San Jose Sharks are entering the third contest of a six-game road trip, and while theyre pleased to have two wins to open the trek, theres just as much urgency Saturday as they face the Tampa Bay Lightning.Its been a great start, but it starts all over again, defenseman Brent Burns said after a 4-2 win at the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Its just nice to win. It doesnt really matter (where). This league is all about just winning, getting the two points. Every night, it doesnt matter.The Lightning (8-5-1) have already had a six-game road trip this season, and they won their first two as well -- only to lose the next three en route to a split.Tampa Bay has been especially strong on its home ice with a 5-1-1 record at Amalie Arena, so the Lightning will try to make the most of their home dates before a busy road swing ahead.We had a monster six-gamer already, and after the San Jose game, we have 12 of our next 17 on the road, coach Jon Cooper said Friday. You really depend on your leaders to get you through those. Those guys have to be mentally ready for these.San Jose is 4-4-0 on the road this season, with the second-most road wins in the Western Conference. The Sharks leaned hard on goalie Martin Jones, who has a 2.30 goals-against average and stepped up as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Thursday against the Panthers.Tampa Bay has takeen some of the load off starting goalie Ben Bishop, with backup Andrei Vasilevskiy now taking one game a week, including Thursdays 4-1 win against the New York Islanders.ddddddddddddThe Lightnings strong suit has been their power play, which ranks third in the NHL with a 26.3 percent success rate. They scored twice with the man advantage Thursday and built an early 3-0 lead in the first 25 minutes against the Islanders.San Jose is well-equipped to handle that, however, with a penalty kill that is fifth in the league, stopping opposing power plays 88.6 percent of the time.The first power-play goal Thursday for the Lightning came from center Steven Stamkos, who ranks third in the NHL in points with eight goals and nine assists, just ahead of teammate Nikita Kucherov. The Sharks have gotten five goals and nine assists from center Joe Pavelski, and Burns is the top scoring defenseman in the NHL so far, with six goals and seven assists on the season.The Lightning hope to scratch out one more home win before theyre the ones starting a road trip -- their next five are all on the road, including back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday against the Islanders and Red Wings. They went 0-2-0 in their only other back-to-back so far this season. ' ' '