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BOSTON - Kevin Garnett stole the ball from his friend and put the finishing touch on an emotional night with a layup that helped him and Paul Pierce become winners in their return to Boston. It started with pregame standing ovations for the leaders of the Celtics last championship team and ended with an 85-79 win for the Brooklyn Nets after Garnett picked off Rajon Rondos turnover and dribbled in slowly for an uncontested basket with 20 seconds left Sunday night. "I knew they needed a 3 at that point and I just played the passing lane," Garnett said. "I thought I was going to get caught, but I got it." That gave Brooklyn an 82-77 lead. It was a rare highlight for the returning stars in a game in which they fought to control their emotions while still trying to contribute to their current team. "I had lumps in my throat and I tried to focus as much as I could," Pierce said. "Im happy we got it over with and I can go back to playing basketball." Pierce, the second leading scorer in Celtics history, and Garnett scored just six points each, and Pierce missed eight of his 10 shots. But they received several standing ovations on the court where they won the teams 17th championship in 2008. They also were honoured in tributes shown on the video screen early in the game six months after a blockbuster trade sent them to Brooklyn. "It was, by far, the hardest day that I had to focus," said Garnett, a 19-year veteran. "Its a good homecoming." Andray Blatche scored 17 points and Alan Anderson and Andrei Kirilenko had 11 each as the Nets won for the 10th time in 11 games. The Celtics, losing for the 17th time in 20 games, were led by Brandon Bass with 17 points. Rondo had 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists one night after having dinner with Pierce and Garnett. During the video tribute to Garnett in a timeout with 2:25 left in the first quarter, he stood near his bench with a white towel draped over his head. He smiled, pounded the left side of his chest and waved several times to the crowd. The tribute to Pierce at the end of the first quarter was longer and drew a louder ovation. He looked up at the video board above centre court with a sombre expression. The camera panned to him on the court showing him repeatedly mouthing the words, "thank you." Celtics coach Brad Stevens quickly gave his players instructions then let them watch the tributes. "It was the right thing to do," he said. "Not much in my life is bigger than the next possession, but that is." Pierce spent 15 seasons with the Celtics after they drafted him with the 10th pick in 1998. Garnett was obtained in a trade with Minnesota before the 2007-08 season and, with Pierce and Ray Allen, led Boston to their most recent championship. But the Celtics are in full rebuilding mode now and trailed 59-53 after three quarters then allowed the first six points of the fourth as the Nets led by 12. Boston cut the lead to 73-70 on a 3-pointer by Chris Johnson, playing on a 10-day contract, with 4:37 remaining. The Nets scored the next five points on a layup by Kirilenko, a free throw by Deron Williams and a jumper by Pierce. That made it 78-70. With the score 80-72, Boston cut the deficit to three on a field goal by Bass and a 3-pointer by Rondo, two of only five current Celtics who played with Pierce and Garnett last season. "We got caught up in (their return)," Bass said, "but for the most part we had a job to do." Joe Johnson then missed his shot and Rondo rebounded, giving Boston a chance to tie with a 3-pointer. He moved the ball upcourt only to lose it to Garnett, who went in for Brooklyns final field goal. "Hes done it all year for us defensively," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Hes always in the right place at the right time." Pierce scored his first two points of the game on free throws 1:08 into the third quarter then hit his first field goal, a 16-foot jumper that capped a 10-0 Nets run 2:51 into the period. "It was just a special thing for me," Pierce said, "through my bad times, through my immature times, through my growing up, becoming a man for this city and winning a championship, everybody sticking with me. I would just like to tell them, thank you. " NOTES: The crowd gave Pierce and Garnett a standing ovation when they took the court for pregame warm-ups and when they were the last two Nets starters introduced. ... Garnett won the opening tip against Bass and got the ball back to Pierce. ... The Celtics recalled centre Vitor Faverani from the Maine Red Claws of the NBDL. Tanner Vallejo Jersey .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. Jarvis Landry Jersey . Hamels threw seven sharp innings to earn his 100th career victory, Domonic Brown had a career-best five RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak. http://www.cheapbrownsjerseyssale.com/?tag=trevon-coley-jersey-sale . The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running back Darren Sproles from the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round draft pick on Tuesday. Chad Thomas Jersey .C. United have acquired midfielder Alex Caskey from the Seattle Sounders for a third-round pick in the 2016 MLS draft. Jabrill Peppers Jersey . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal.Every year you make sure to check out the players an organization sends to the Arizona Fall League. These can be players the team is fast tracking to the Bigs, players changing positions or players needing extra work while rehabbing from injuries. The Blue Jays have seven prospects playing this year with the Salt River Rafters: four pitchers, a catcher, an infielder and an outfielder. The four of most interest are all pitchers - Drew Hutchison, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and John Stillson. Hutchison, coming off of Tommy John surgery, pitched 35.1 innings this past season split among Single, Double and Triple-A. Clearly, the Jays are trying to get him more work to hasten his return to the big club. Hutchison has been pretty sharp making four starts for the Rafters, going 1-0 with a 0.57 ERA and with two walks and 14 strikeouts over 15.2 innings. As good as he looked, when you consider how few innings he pitched this past season, it would still make a lot more sense for Hutchison to spend the bulk, if not the entire coming season, in Double and Triple-A. Aaron Sanchez is two years younger than Hutchison at 21, but is regarded as the Jays top pitching prospect what with the trades of Justin Nicolino to the Miami Marlins and Noah Syndergaard to the New York Mets a year ago. The only real knock so far on Sanchez has been his control. With the Rafters, he has eight walks in 13.1 innings, but otherwise, the numbers look pretty good. In four starts hes 0-1 with 10 strikeouts and a 1.35 ERA. However, it still looks as though hes at least another year away from a shot at the Majors. The other two are puzzlers. After a year starting at Double and Triple-A, 22-year-old Marcus Stroman is only working in relief in the AFL. Hes pitched in seven games, just 7.2 innings and is 0-2 with a 4.70 ERA. Hes struck out six and walked only 3 and opponents have only hit .207 off him. Alex Anthopoulos said towards the end of this season, he might trade some of the Blue Jays bullpen depth, to fill other holes. So, perhaps, Stroman will move into the Jays pen to fill one of the created openings. The fourth pitcher is right-hander John Stillson, who greatly impressed skipper John Gibbons last spring. The 23-year-old right out of Texas A&M went 6-2 at Triple-A Buffalo out of the bullpen with four saves. He struck out 47 and walked 15. Unfortunately, he hasnt pitched well in the AFL. Hes appeared in just three games out of the pen going only two-and-a-third innings and getting hit hard.dddddddddddd Stillsons ERA is 23.14 and batters are hitting .438 against him. Yes, there is still Kyle Drabek and the impending return of Brandon Morrow from his injury and the possibility that Ricky Romero has a shocking return to form, but its still pretty clear Alex Anthopoulos is going to have to do most of his searching for pitching help outside the organization in the off-season. Monday at 5:00pm et. is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers of to their perspective free agents. The Blue Jays are not expected to tender right-hander Josh Johnson who went 2-8 in an injury plagued first campaign with the Jays. The Blue Jays were supposed to have met with their medical people over the weekend to determine if it was worth making Johnson any sort of offer at all, say in the $2-3M range for one season. Interest in Tanaka A reworked Japanese player-posting system havent been put into place yet, but the interest in Masahiro Tanaka continues to skyrocket. The 25-year-old who went 24-0 this season for the Rakuten Golden Eagles, threw 160 pitches in a complete game loss in Game 6 of the Japanese World Series to the Yomiuri Giants. The very next day, though, in Game 7, Tanaka came right back and threw 15 more pitches in the ninth to nail down the victory and give Rakuten its first league title ever. The New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs just a few of the clubs who want to get into the bidding once a new posting system is in place. Bay Area Share? There is a chance that the Oakland Athletics could be playing in the San Francisco Giants ballpark for the next two years. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, unless the As can get a two-year lease agreement in Oakland rather than the six-to-eight-year deal the O.co Coliseum people want, they will be playing out of AT&T Park as soon as this spring. The As want to maintain their flexibility so they can move someplace else if a new facility isnt built in Oakland. A few scheduling details would have to be worked out, since, right now, the As and Giants are both scheduled to play eight games at home on the same days. End of the Astrodome? The fate of the sports first indoor facility, the Houston Astrodome, could well be decided shortly. There is a vote being taken on Tuesday on a $217M bond issue on whether to transform the Astrodome into a convention and exhibition centre. If the nays carry the vote, the Astrodome, which opened in 1965, will be leveled. 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