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2B Daily News ��� Wednesday, February 13, 2013 NBA | Grizzlies 108, Kings 101 NHL Sacramento drops 1 on road Sharks fall to MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) ��� Known for his stellar defensive play, Tony Allen has been coming through offensively for the Memphis Grizzlies the past few games. Allen scored a season-high 19 points and led a key late third-quarter run in the Grizzlies��� 108-101 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night, helping Memphis beat the Kings at home for the seventh straight time. An 8.4-point scorer on the season, Allen has averaged 14.7 points in his last three games ��� all Memphis wins. ������The last few games he���s been scoring a few points and he���s made shots,������ said Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. ������He���s gotten to the basket, he���s made good decisions.������ Allen had seven points during a 138 run that gave the Grizzlies a 10-point lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He could have had two more points during the run, but his reverse layup was tipped in by Darrell Arthur. ������Tony is everywhere, he���s all over the place,������ Grizzlies center Marc Gasol. ������We need Tony to do what he did. He���s a great player.������ Gasol led the Grizzlies with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 22 points. But it was Allen���s accuracy (8-of-12 shooting) and energy that helped Memphis enter the AllStar break on a three-game winning streak. Allen���s hustle led to a late-third quarter field goal that put the Grizzlies ahead 79-71. After Jerryd Bayless missed a 3-pointer, Allen battled to gain possession of the loose ball and drove in for a layup. ������Tony has been playing outstanding,������ Hollins said. ������His defense has been outstanding. Early in the game focus was a problem. He was gambling and giving up buckets, but as the game wore on he got into it. Usually there���s one guy who���s not having a good night because of Tony Allen.������ Allen said some of his recent offensive production is a result of team���s offensive philosophy. ������We���re an inside-out team and Marc Gasol helps me get a lot of my scoring,������ Allen said. ������I can benefit from him. I can take what (defenses) give me.������ DeMarcus Cousins scored 23 points and Tyreke Evans had 20 for the Kings, who were attempting to win three straight for the first time in more than two months. Bayless made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give Memphis an 84-73 lead. The Grizzlies boosted their advantage to 13 on several occasions early in the fourth and withstood a late comeback try by the Kings, who pulled to 99-93 with 4:19 to go on a layup by Evans. Memphis recovered as Gasol and Conley combined to score the team���s final nine points. Conley made four free throws and a runner in the lane and Gasol hit a free throw and field goal. ������(Our) mistakes were higher in the third quarter and that���s where the separation of the game came from,������ Kings coach Keith Smart said. ������I thought (our) guys did everything they could to put themselves in position to win.������ NOTES: Grizzlies reserve forward Quincy Pondexter, who returned Sunday in a win over Minnesota after missing 22 games with a sprained left MCL, did not play against the Kings. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins preferred to give him additional time to recover. ������I���m just ready to get healthy so I can be able to produce for my team,������ Pondexter said. ... Since acquiring Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis in a late-January trade, the Grizzlies have become more efficient distributing the ball. The Grizzlies have assisted on more than 60 percent of their field goals (142 of 227) during the six-game stretch. Memphis ranked 25th in the league in assists-to-field goals in the 45 games before the trade. ... Sacramento is 5-22 on the road this season. ... Memphis improved to 16-0 this season when scoring 100 or more points. SACRAMENTO KINGS Pressure mounts on mayor to make offer By ANTONIO GONZALEZ AP Sports Writer The clock is ticking for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson���s efforts to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle. Speaking at his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said Tuesday that the joint committee that will decide whether the Kings leave might want to discuss his city���s proposal before the NBA Board of Governors meeting April 19. Owners can vote on the pending sale and relocation of the Kings at any time, but the annual meeting in New York is typically when decisions about moving a franchise are made. NBA Commissioner David Stern said last week he combined the two committees that oversee sales and relocations and told them, ������You guys figure it out.������ ������I���m under the assumption that the joint committee may want to hear from us sooner,������ Johnson said. ������We���re going to have all the agreements and all the actions and all the documents squared by March 1, as well as if there���s an GAMES (Continued from page 1B) pair of London Games gold medalists in Jordan Burroughs ��� possibly the best wrestler in the world ��� and Jake Varner. ������I do think wrestling people are the strongest in the world, and they���re resilient. And we���ll come out of whatever happens. But short term, yeah, it���s sad,������ 2004 Olympic gold medalist and Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. ������I just think of the kids in our program that dream of being Olympic champions. And to think that now that���s no longer an opportunity just so the IOC stay fresh and continue to rotate sports and whatever their plan is ��� it���s tough to think about.������ Wrestling is also one of the most popular youth sports in the U.S. The National Federation of State High School Associations reports that the sport was sixth among prep boys with nearly 275,000 competing in 2010-11. ������Wrestling is the Olympics. It���s the toughest, most grueling, most demanding and most humbling sport there is. opportunity to present to the joint committee prior to mid-April, then I feel very confident. We���re going to have all our ducks in order. We���re going to be ready before mid-April if that���s what it takes.������ Johnson plans to be in Houston this weekend during All-Star festivities to lobby league owners and update Stern on Sacramento���s latest efforts. The Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, which has a pending purchase agreement for the Kings, already has filed for relocation. The relocation of a franchise requires a majority approval of the Board of Governors ��� which consists of league owners ��� and the sale of the franchise would require a three-fourths majority. Stern appointed the joint committee to work through the complex deal. Johnson, a former NBA All-Star, has been promised a chance to present a bid to NBA owners to keep the team in California���s capital city ��� with a plan to help finance a new downtown arena. The mayor has introduced more than 20 local investors who have pledged at least $1 million each to be minority owners in the team, but he has yet to announce the major equity partners he hopes will anchor a ������fair and competitive offer������ to present to the league. Billionaire Ron Burkle, co-owner of the NHL���s Pittsburgh Penguins, and 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov are among those who have had serious discussions with the mayor. Burkle also met with Stern at league headquarters last month. In the days left before traveling to Houston, Johnson plans to talk with Sacramento���s corporate community about pledging sponsorship and season-tickets sales to show ������the viability of the market.������ That includes working with the grass-roots effort ������Here We Buy,������ which helped boost attendance to 16,193 in Sacramento���s win over Utah on Saturday night. ������You just cannot tell me that when Sacramento presents a comparable, fair, competitive deal to what Seattle���s done and makes good on this arena that this team is going to be plopped and relocated somewhere else,������ Johnson said. ������At the end of the day, you just can���t tell me that���s going to happen.������ If nothing else, All-Star weekend has produced major developments about the Kings��� future the past two years. In 2011, Stern said in Los Angeles that that the Kings were exploring a move to Anaheim. Johnson ultimately convinced owners at their April meeting to give his city a chance to help finance a new arena. In 2012, Johnson traveled to Orlando, Fla., where he reached a tentative agreement ��� signed off on by Stern ��� for a new downtown Sacramento arena with Kings owners Joe, Gavin and George Maloof. That agreement collapsed a few weeks later when the Maloofs said the deal didn���t make financial sense for the franchise. ������2013 is kind of the final act,������ Johnson said. ������It���s act three. So we���re going to Houston knowing what���s at stake. The Seattle people would like you to believe that the deal is done. And the deal is not done in Seattle. We���re going to make sure we get that message out loud and clear.������ It teaches you so many life lessons,������ said Jake Herbert, who wrestled for the U.S. in the London Games. Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020. USA Wrestling executive director Richard Bender calls his sport ������one of the most diverse,������ with nearly 200 nations from all continents participating. ������It is an inclusive sport which provides opportunities worldwide, regardless of geography, race, gender or physical characteristics,������ he said. ������We look forward to telling the story about wrestling to the International Committee leadership and the entire world about our great sport and why it should be part of the Olympic movement forever.������ The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020. The final vote will be in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ������Given the history and tradition of wrestling, and its popularity and universality, we were surprised when the decision was announced,������ U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said. ������It is important to remember that today���s action is a recommendation, and we hope that there will be a meaningful opportunity to discuss the important role that wrestling plays in the sports landscape both in the United States and around the world.������ Rejoining the Olympic roster for 2020 seems unlikely. Still, former Olympic champion and current Iowa coach Tom Brands said the international wrestling community needs to fight this ouster. ������It���s one of those things where your first thoughts are pretty bad,������ Brands said. ������There���s nothing more sacred to living than learning to overcome struggle. Wrestling is that equivalent, more than any other form of sport, recreation or entertainment. It���s worse than death because you can���t control death, and this is something that maybe we can control or could have controlled. We need to look forward to May and the process in September.������ Reaction to the move was swift on social media. A Facebook page titled ������Save Olympic Wrestling������ was started Tuesday morning and had nearly 5,000 members by noon. A number of fellow Olympians also displayed their displeasure over the decision on Twitter by using the hashtag (hash)SaveOlympicWrestling. Wrestling can be tough for the average Olympics fan to follow, which is why it rarely earns a TV slot in prime time. Its scoring system can seem complicated and arcane to newcomers. The medal stand is often dominated by athletes who aren���t nearly as marketable as gymnasts and swimmers. Still, it produces memorable characters like Karelin, the prolifically strong three-time Olympic champion and hero in his native Russia. There are also American icons like Sanderson and Gardner, who beat Karelin and later survived both a plane crash and frostbite. ������It just seems like wrestling, if we don���t fight we���re going to die,������ Gardner said. ������At this point, it���s time for everybody to man up and support the program.������ Predators 1-0 in overtime NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ��� The Nashville Predators are sure lucky to have Pekka Rinne. Without their star goaltender, the Predators would have never even gotten to overtime against San Jose. Colin Wilson scored at 2:08 of overtime, and Nashville beat the Sharks 1-0 Tuesday night to snap a two-game skid. Rinne made 13 of his 25 saves in the first period for his second shutout this season in a game in which Nashville set a franchise mark for offensive futility before Wilson scored. The goal ended the drought at 176 minutes, 18 seconds over a three-game span. ������We weren���t even in that game without Pekka Rinne in that first period,������ Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. ������Pekka also had a huge save in the overtime. Just as the game always seems to happen, we had a huge save and were able to come down the other way and score shortly after.������ San Jose has lost six straight after opening the season with seven consecutive wins, a streak ended in a 2-1 shootout loss to Nashville on Feb. 2. The Sharks do at least have a point in three of the losses. ������We have to find a way to get over the hump, get one by some goaltenders and find some wins here,������ San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. Six of the past eight games between these teams have gone past regulation, though Nashville now has gone to at least overtime in seven of 13 games this season. So the Sharks took their timeout with 32.8 seconds left in regulation, and Antti Niemi gloved a shot from Gabriel Bourque with 4.7 seconds remaining. Nashville got a bit of luck nearly a minute into overtime. Rinne made a save first on Joe Pavelski, then on Patrick Marleau that had him sprawled on his belly when the puck dribbled just pass his outstretched skate behind him in the crease toward the goal line. Bourque swooped in to clear the puck, giving the Predators a chance at the win. ������I didn���t really know where the puck was,������ Rinne said. Wilson got the winner for Nashville when he tipped defenseman Ryan Ellis��� shot from the high slot past Niemi. ������I saw Ellis had it, so I drove the middle and he took a shot and (I) got the tip on it,������ Wilson said. ������I just kind of squeaked behind him (Niemi), and I got a piece of it again and it just kind of trickled in.������ The Predators topped the 166:44 scoreless skid, that had been the longest in franchise history, set between Dec. 4-10, 2000. They lost 2-1 in overtime in Minnesota on Saturday before being shut out by Chicago on Sunday and added another 60 scoreless minutes against San Jose, finishing regulation with the drought at 174:10. The Sharks had the quick turnaround after losing their fifth straight at Columbus 6-2 on Monday night. ������Besides the Columbus game, we���ve been right there,������ ���Pavelski said. ������We just have to find ways to get one or two or three. With the numbers we are pitching and the ways our goalies are playing, we can win with those numbers.������ Trotz gave the Predators the day off Monday after backto-back games over the weekend. The rest didn���t help Nashville���s offense. The Predators are last in the NHL, averaging 21.1 shots per game with less than 20 in four of the past six games. San Jose came out shooting and had a 13-3 edge after the first period. The offense dwindled in the second as the Sharks went 0-for-6 on the power play. Rinne kept the game scoreless after Predators forward Martin Erat matched his career high with eight penalty minutes, all in the second period. He was given a double minor for high-sticking less than 2 minutes into the period, took another penalty for holding a stick, and negated a Nashville power play when he was called NHL NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Pacific GP W L Anaheim 12 9 2 OT Pts GF GA 1 19 42 33 San Jose 13 7 3 3 17 36 29 Dallas 13 7 5 1 15 30 29 Phoenix 13 6 5 2 14 35 35 Los Angeles11 4 5 2 10 26 32 L.A. Clippers Golden State L.A. Lakers Sacramento Phoenix Southwest Northwest GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 11 7 2 2 16 33 24 Edmonton 13 5 5 3 13 29 34 Minnesota 12 6 5 1 13 26 30 Calgary 10 3 4 3 9 26 35 Colorado 11 4 6 1 9 23 29 GP W L San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans Northwest Central OT Pts GF GA Chicago 13 10 0 3 23 44 28 Nashville 13 6 4 16 25 26 3 Detroit 12 7 4 1 15 33 32 St. Louis 12 6 5 1 13 13 4 7 2 10 30 41 L 17 21 28 34 35 Pct GB .685 ��� .588 5.5 .462 12 .358 17.5 .327 19 W 41 33 28 22 18 L 12 18 25 29 34 Pct GB .774 ��� .647 7 .528 13 .431 18 .346 22.5 W 39 33 29 25 19 L 13 20 24 27 30 Pct GB .750 ��� .623 6.5 .547 10.5 .481 14 .388 18.5 39 40 Columbus Oklahoma City Denver Utah Portland Minnesota W 37 30 24 19 17 EASTERN CONFERENCE EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Atlantic New York Brooklyn Boston Philadelphia Toronto Central GP W L New Jersey 13 8 2 OT Pts GF GA 3 19 35 28 Pittsburgh 13 8 5 0 16 41 32 Rangers 33 30 12 7 5 0 14 Philadelphia14 6 7 1 13 34 40 Islanders 7 1 9 36 43 12 4 Northeast GP W L Boston 11 8 1 OT Pts GF GA 2 18 Ottawa 13 7 4 2 16 33 23 Toronto 13 8 5 0 16 39 33 Montreal 12 7 4 1 15 35 33 Buffalo 14 5 8 1 11 39 48 32 25 Southeast GP W L 12 7 4 1 15 Tampa Bay 12 6 5 1 13 46 36 Winnipeg 12 5 6 1 11 32 40 Florida 12 4 6 2 10 30 46 Washington 13 4 8 1 9 36 46 Carolina OT Pts GF GA 38 36 ������������������������������������������������������ Tuesday���s Results N.Y. Rangers 4, Boston 3, SO Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 3, SO Anaheim 3, Chicago 2, SO Carolina 4, New Jersey 2 Ottawa 2, Buffalo 0 Washington 6, Florida 5, OT Philadelphia 3, Winnipeg 2 Nashville 1, San Jose 0, OT Dallas 4, Edmonton 1 Minnesota at Vancouver, LATE Today���s Games Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. St. Louis at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Southeast W 32 30 27 22 20 L 17 22 24 28 32 Pct GB .653 ��� .577 3.5 .529 6 .440 10.5 .385 13.5 W 31 30 25 20 16 L 21 21 25 33 36 Pct GB .596 ��� .588 .5 .500 5 .377 11.5 .308 15 W L Pct GB Miami 35 14 .714 ��� Atlanta 28 22 .560 7.5 Washington 15 35 .300 20.5 Orlando 15 36 .294 21 Charlotte 12 39 .235 24 ������������������������������������������������������ Tuesday���s Results Houston at Golden State, LATE Toronto 109, Denver 108 Miami 117, Portland 104 Memphis 108, Sacramento 101 Utah 109, Oklahoma City 94 Phoenix at L.A. Lakers, late Today���s Games San Antonio at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Charlotte at Indiana, 4 p.m. Atlanta at Orlando, 4 p.m. Chicago at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Toronto at New York, 4:30 p.m. Denver at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Utah at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Portland at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Sacramento at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Houston at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m.