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2B Daily News ��� Thursday, February 14, 2013 Plumlee leads Raiders want to see what they have in Pryor No. 2 Duke past ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) ��� After watching the success athletic quarterbacks had this past season in the NFL, new Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson wants to see if he has one of those dual-threat runnerpassers on his roster. Olson said Wednesday it will be important to see what Terrelle Pryor can do for the Raiders during offseason workouts and minicamps to get a better sense of what the Raiders have at quarterback. While starter Carson Palmer is a known entity with more than 120 games and nearly 30,000 yards passing to his credit, Pryor is more of an unknown who showed positive signs in his one start in the season finale in December. Now the Raiders want to know whether Pryor can do for Oakland what Colin Kaepernick did for San Francisco across the bay for the 49ers. ������If you have a guy that can stay there and play 65 plays a game and do those things and also be able to throw the ball from point A to point B accurately, if he possesses those skills as well, then you certainly have something,������ Olson said. ������So that���s what we���ll have to find out with Terrelle Pryor. We know what kind of an athlete he is. We need to find out what kind of decision maker he is, and we need to find out if he���s a guy that can also sit in the pocket and deliver the ball from point A to point B accurately and on time KINGS (Continued from page 1B) 11 run over the final five minutes of the third quarter for a 92-77 lead. The Kings, playing their fourth game in five nights before the AllStar break, didn���t get closer than 17 in the fourth quarter. Cousins, who had 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, stayed out of trouble for Sacramento after his previous two meetings with Dallas were marred by incidents. He was suspended for a game in December for hitting O.J. Mayo in the groin area during a game in Dallas, and was ejected for a flagrant foul after elbowing Carter last month in CARDS (Continued from page 1B) Llamas said the Vikings��� play style didn���t jibe with the Cards��� at the time. PV played cautiously and waited for opportunities, which stifled Corning���s free-flowing offense. But that loss, Llamas and making the right decisions.������ Running quarterbacks have been all the rage in the NFL the past two seasons with Kaepernick leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson also having success mixing drop-back passing with a read-option running game that puts stress on opposing defenses. The Raiders spent most of last season with a more traditional offense with Palmer under center. Pryor got into for a few plays late in the season before finally getting the chance to start in the final game at San Diego with Palmer sidelined by cracked ribs and a bruised lung. Pryor went 13 for 28 for 150 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 24-21 loss to the Chargers. He also ran for 49 yards and a score and looked more than capable running the offense. ������I like the ceiling of Terrelle Pryor and where we think he can get to, but his skill set is completely different than Carson���s, so we go forward with the idea, we know what Carson Palmer is. He���s played in the league a number of years. We know what he can do,������ Olson said. ������We don���t really know quite yet what Terrelle Pryor can do at this level but we have a good feel for what he is athletically, so there will be packages for both of them to allow them to compete and we���ll just be ready in either direction.������ Factoring into any decision is Palmer���s $13 million base salary for 2013. The Raiders might look for him to renegotiate that deal to make it more salary cap friendly. Assuming Palmer remains the starter, the biggest change on offense will be at coordinator where Olson takes over for Greg Knapp, who was fired after only one season after Oakland���s scoring average dropped by four points a game and the team finished 4-12. Knapp brought in a zoneblocking system and a version of the West Coast offense that proved not to be well-suited to the players on the roster, especially running back Darren McFadden. After averaging more than 5 yards per carry in each of the past two seasons in a power-running system under Hue Jackson, McFadden averaged just 3.3 yards per carry last season ��� the lowest ever for a Raiders back with at least 150 carries in a season. Olson said he will bring back the power and gap running plays that McFadden excelled in in the past and let Palmer throw deep off play-action. ������You���ve got to be able to be flexible and adapt your system to the players that you have at any given year,������ Olson said. ������So, our job as a coaching staff will be to identify the skill set of the players, who are our best players, what do they do best, and how can we put them in position to be successful and do what they do best.������ Sacramento. The foul helped the Mavericks clinch the overtime win. Cousins, who insisted the contact was incidental both times, exchanged handshakes and hugs with Mayo and Carter after the game. Neither team led by more than six before the Mavericks went on an 18-4 run for a 57-40 lead late in the first half. Darren Collison, who finished with 18 points, had eight, including a three-point play when he took a feed from Shawn Marion for a layup after Marion jumped over diminutive Sacramento guard Isaiah Thomas to catch an entry pass from Nowitzki. The Dallas spurt included the first points from Mayo, whose dunk on an assist from Collison ended an 0-for-4 shooting start for the Mavericks��� leading scorer. It was an efficient first half for the Mavericks, who had 15 assists and just two turnovers while shooting 49 percent and taking a 59-44 lead. The Kings, who were playing their fourth game in five nights before the All-Star break, shot 38 percent in the first half and were 1 of 7 from the field with three turnovers during the run that gave Dallas a comfortable lead. NOTES: Mavericks C Chris Kaman missed his eighth straight game with a concussion sustained in practice Jan. 28. He has passed the league-mandated concussion test but is still experiencing headaches. ... Kings G Marcus Thornton missed the game with a bruised right hand. He sustained the injury against Memphis. ... Sacramento was the first team to score 100 points at Memphis in Tuesday���s 108-101 loss to the Grizzlies. ... Eight different Mavericks scored in a 30-point first quarter. Nowitzki and Marion led with six apiece. ... Kings G Isaiah Thomas, who is headed to Houston for the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend, extended his free throw streak to 35 over seven games. He was 3 of 3. said, is an advantage in Corning���s view. Llamas expects his team to adapt and play at a slower pace, which won���t leave his experienced defense as vulnerable. The Cards��� defense, which features one of the team���s captains in junior Mario Campos, will need to be sharp during the road playoff game. But despite Corning���s dominance in the last five years, Llamas admitted that he���d be more confident facing the familiar playoff teams of the past. This year���s D-I bracket poses some questions. Should the Cards earn a win today, they next would face No. 1 seeded Shasta (14-1-2). Llamas said he knows little of the team. But it���s first things first for Corning, which hopes to leave Chico with a ���W.��� ��������� Sports Editor Andre Byik can be reached at 5272151, ext. 111 or at sports@redbluffdailynews.c om. Follow him on Twitter: @TehamaSports UNC, 73-68 DURHAM, N.C. (AP) ��� Mason Plumlee had 18 points and 11 rebounds and No. 2 Duke beat North Carolina 73-68 on Wednesday night. Quinn Cook scored 18 points and Rasheed Sulaimon finished with 13 for the Blue Devils (22-2, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). They shot 44 percent ��� 52 percent after halftime ��� and used a big run in the second half to erase a slow start and win their sixth straight this season and sixth in eight meetings in college basketball���s fiercest rivalry. P.J. Hairston scored 20 points and Reggie Bullock had 15 points with four 3-pointers for North Carolina (16-8, 65), which led for the first 26 minutes but went on to lose its second straight. The Tar Heels were 13 of 23 from the free-throw line and missed 7 of 10 during a critical late stretch while falling to 1-4 this season against ranked opponents. Still, they trailed just 65-61 in the final minute and appeared to have gotten a stop by forcing Tyler Thornton to miss a long 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. But Bullock fouled Sulaimon on the rebound, and the freshman hit both free throws with 37.5 seconds left. Hairston hit a free throw on North Carolina���s next possession to cut it to 67-62, but Plumlee countered with two free throws with 30.3 seconds left to make it a three-possession game. Seth Curry scored 11 points in his sixth straight doublefigure performance against North Carolina while Thornton ��� who had nine points in his previous three games combined ��� finished this one with nine points and hit three of Duke���s six 3-pointers, each of them important. The win was a nice present for coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was celebrating his 66th birthday. And an unorthodox move ��� putting one of the best big men in the nation on the bench, however briefly ��� wound up putting Duke ahead for the first time in this one. Plumlee picked up his third foul 31 seconds into the second half and uncorked an untimely 20-foot jumper a few minutes later, prompting Krzyzewski to burn a timeout. He went to a smaller lineup, sitting Plumlee in favor of two power forwards, Amile Jefferson and Josh Hairston. The move freed up some space for the Duke guards and immediately led to six quick points to start the 19-7 run that put the Blue Devils ahead to stay. Duke outscored North Carolina 11-3 during the 4minute stretch with Plumlee on the bench and took their first lead when Curry swished a 3 from in front of the bench to make it 42-41 with 14 minutes left. Thornton ��� who had missed 12 of 14 3-pointers during his previous eight games ��� hit two of them from the same spot in the right corner, capping the spurt with his second that made it 50-45 with 12 1/2 minutes to go. Curry eventually stretched the lead to 59-51 with another 3 with 5 minutes left. Dexter Strickland added 14 points but James Michael McAdoo was held to nine on 4-of-12 shooting for North Carolina, which came in as a written-off, double-digit underdog after a 26-point loss at No. 3 Miami that marked its worst loss of the season. But the Tar Heels were aggressive early and methodically built a double-figure lead, the third straight year they came into Cameron and went up by 10. Bullock���s third 3 of the half with about 6:45 left put North Carolina up 2818. Meanwhile, Duke got off to a rather un-Duke-like start. The Blue Devils had 11 turnovers ��� Cook and Plumlee had four apiece ��� and just three assists during the opening 20 minutes and were just 1 of 4 from 3-point range. Curry, who entered averaging 16 points in North Carolina games, was 1 of 6 for two points in the half while being guarded by Bullock, who at 6-foot-7 had a 5-inch advantage. NHL NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE 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 ZITO (Continued from page 1B) before his impressive playoffs. And this is the same guy who was left off the roster for all three rounds during the club���s 2010 run to a World Series title. The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner with Oakland, he has an $18 million option for 2014 with a $7 million buyout. ������He���s done a lot for the organization and especially if you���re talking about the young pitchers in this organization,������ Sabean said. ������Especially in the rotation through the years, with the teammate he is, how up front he is, the work ethic. His coming out party, or his chance to shine, certainly was not only needed but was well deserved. And we need him. We need everybody that���s in this rotation to give us 180, 200 innings. If they do that, the bullpen won���t be taxed, and they���ll sive things I���ve seen in this game. Going back to the first start of the season, when we didn���t know what we would get. With the terrible spring that he had, he goes out there and throws a shutout at Colorado, and of course what he did down the stretch and in the postseason there���s no reason why he wouldn���t carry this into this year.������ Zito has trained himself to stay even keel through the many trials since joining the Giants before the 2007 season on a $126 million, seven-year contract. Still, the boos in his own ballpark during the down times did hurt. ������I mean I���m human, so there���s always that factor,������ Zito said. ������It���s just trying to make sure I keep my priorities straight and remember what���s important.������ While Zito will throw his first bullpen session Thursday, Tim Lincecum hopped on the last available mound Wednesday morning and let it fly to reigning NL MVP and batting champion Buster Posey. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner has changed his approach, his preparation and even his look entering 2013 as he tries to re-establish himself as an elite starter after last season���s struggles. He said all went well Wednesday. Zito has played a big part in that process for Lincecum, as a mentor, teammate and friend. And Lincecum was among the players most happy to watch Zito���s resurgence. ������I feel like it���s hard not to be inspired by him and what he���s been through here in general,������ Lincecum said. ������Coming from a really good career over there in Oakland and not coming up to the expectations he probably felt like he should have, but taking it in stride and coming out on top and not letting people take him down.������ L.A. Clippers Golden State L.A. Lakers Sacramento Phoenix Southwest Northwest GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 12 8 2 2 18 35 25 Edmonton 13 5 5 3 13 29 34 Minnesota 13 6 6 1 13 27 32 Calgary win their share of games and the rest will be history.������ There has been scrutiny from every angle, on every high-priced pitch he throws. ������I don���t think I���m ever past that,������ Zito said. ������As a professional athlete, as somebody that has been in the game for a long time, there���s always going to be expectations, there���s always going to be naysayers, all that stuff. The factor for me is how much credence I give that stuff, and how much do I let it affect me personally and on the field.������ He sure turned things around in a hurry early last season. It surprised Bochy and the rest of the San Francisco brass. ������This guy really had so much confidence last year and really believed that he could get back on track, which he did,������ Bochy said. ������I go back to last spring, and it was awful. He���ll tell you that. The way that he figured it out is one of the more impres- WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Pacific 10 3 4 3 9 26 35 Colorado 11 4 6 1 9 23 29 GP W L Central OT Pts GF GA Chicago 13 10 0 3 23 44 28 Detroit 13 7 4 2 16 36 36 Nashville 13 6 3 4 16 25 26 St. Louis 13 7 5 1 15 13 4 7 2 10 30 41 Oklahoma City Denver Utah Portland Minnesota L 17 22 28 35 36 Pct GB .685 ��� .577 6 .472 11.5 .352 18 .321 19.5 W 42 33 29 23 19 L 12 18 25 29 34 Pct GB .778 ��� .647 7.5 .537 13 .442 18 .358 22.5 W 39 33 30 25 19 L 13 21 24 28 31 Pct GB .750 ��� .611 7 .556 10 .472 14.5 .380 19 43 43 Columbus San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans Northwest W 37 30 25 19 17 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic GP W L New Jersey 13 8 2 OT Pts GF GA 3 19 35 28 Pittsburgh 14 9 5 0 18 45 34 Rangers 12 7 5 0 14 33 30 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 14 7 5 2 16 35 27 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 ������������������������������������������������������ Wednesday���s Results Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 2 St. Louis 4, Detroit 3, OT Dallas at Calgary, late Today���s Games N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Toronto at Carolina, 4 p.m. Washington at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Phoenix at Nashville, 5 p.m. Colorado at Minnesota, 5 p.m. EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic New York Brooklyn Boston Philadelphia Toronto Central Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Southeast W 32 31 28 22 21 L 18 22 24 29 32 Pct GB .640 ��� .585 2.5 .538 5 .431 10.5 .396 12.5 W 32 30 26 21 16 L 21 22 25 33 37 Pct GB .604 ��� .577 1.5 .510 5 .389 11.5 .302 16 W L Pct GB Miami 35 14 .714 ��� Atlanta 29 22 .569 7 Washington 15 36 .294 21 Orlando 15 37 .288 21.5 Charlotte 12 40 .231 24.5 ������������������������������������������������������ Wednesday���s Results San Antonio 96, Cleveland 95 Indiana 101, Charlotte 77 Atlanta 108, Orlando 76 Boston 71, Chicago 69 Toronto 92, New York 88 Brooklyn 119, Denver 108 Detroit 96, Washington 85 Utah 97, Minnesota 93 New Orleans 99, Portland 63 Milwaukee 94, Philadelphia 92 Dallas 123, Sacramento 100 Houston at L.A. Clippers, late Today���s Games Miami at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.