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PHILADELPHIA -- Rajon Rondo is starting to feel like his old self -- and the Boston Celtics are starting to win again. Rondo had eight points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in his eighth game back from a serious knee injury, and Jeff Green scored 17 of his 36 points in the third quarter in the Celtics 114-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "Its only a matter of time before we got on the same page," Green said about Rondo. "He puts me in my spots, gets it to me in the open floor. He sees the floor very well. Hes helping me get into a good rhythm. I have to continue to make sure I get open for him." Jared Sullinger had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Boston. The Celtics improved to 17-33, winning their second straight game after losing 19 of 22. Rondo had 19 points and 10 assists in Bostons win over Orlando on Sunday. "Im getting back to my old self," Rondo said. "Im not there yet but Ill take the progress." Brandon Bass had 18 points for the Celtics, 2-6 since Rondos return. Thaddeus Young had 20 points, and Tony Wroten added 18 for Philadelphia. The 76ers (15-35) have lost four straight and 14 of their last 17 games. They also have lost six in a row at home for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Spencer Hawes added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia and Lavoy Allen had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sixers coach Brett Brown noticed the difference in the Celtics with an effective Rondo. "Hes their compass," Brown said. "Hes a great point guard and a leader." Green scored 13 straight points during a 2-minute stretch in the third quarter, capped by a 3-pointer that gave the Celtics their biggest lead to that point, 83-71 with 3:44 left. Boston coach Brad Stevens credited Rondo for helping Green succeed. "He made a lot of shots and Rondo found him a couple of times early," Stevens said. "His job is simplified with Rajon out there. He pushed the tempo better than Ive seen him in the first eight games. He got us a lot of good looks. His greatest strength is he makes everyone else better and thats really shown true the last two games." Said Rondo: "Everybody needs easy buckets, especially a guy (Green) whos that talented and athletic. All he needs to do is see it go through a couple of times, get to the free-throw line. He gets hot quick." Wroten made a 58-footer at the buzzer to cut it to 88-82 entering the fourth. Philadelphia got as close as three points in the final quarter on Wrotens two free throws with 8:35 left but never got closer. The Sixers had a chance to get it to two points, but Evan Turner missed a baseline jumper with 1:13 left, and Sullinger converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession off an assist from Rondo with 59.4 seconds left to give Boston a 112-105 advantage. "He made a ton of good decisions and some huge plays late," Stevens said about Rondo. The Boston point guard, who is still getting into game shape, also got some help from his teammates. After going down at one point, Bass resuscitated a winded Rondo. "Nothing was wrong," Rondo said. "I was winded. He brought me back to life a little bit. Those guys pick me up. Whoever hits the floor helps each other up. Were a team and thats what they did on that particular play." The Sixers havent won since last Wednesdays buzzer-beating 95-94 win at Boston. Notes: Philadelphia guard Michael Carter-Williams was selected the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January. It was the second honour for Carter-Williams, who also was recognized in November to join Allen Iverson as the only Sixers to earn the award multiple times. Carter-Williams averaged 16.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists last month. ... Sixers guard James Anderson (back contusion) left in the first half but returned after halftime. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games. MLB Jerseys For Sale .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. http://www.chinajerseysmlb.com/ . - The New York Rangers have momentum, a unified locker room and Henrik Lundqvist. Cheap Baseball Jerseys Online . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Cheap Nike Baseball Jerseys . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years.TORONTO - Its been just over two months since Masai Ujiri aggressively opened trade season in the NBA, pulling off a blockbuster seven-player deal with Sacramento, but the Raptors general manager opted to employ a different tactic Thursday afternoon, as the deadline came and went without much noise. "Its weird with the trade deadline," Ujiri said, shortly after 4pm et, one hour removed from the deadline itself. "We all get caught up in it, were working the phones and doing all kinds of stuff." "Nothing really significant got done but its always a tedious time because youre always trying to see what makes sense for your team, now and in the future." It wasnt for a lack of effort - Ujiri and company had contemplated a number of larger scale trade scenarios - but ultimately the Raptors core was left untouched, their roster kept intact, apart from a last minute tinker to the back end of the bench. "For us in our positions, its always tough to stand pat," the Raptors GM admitted. "There are things that are tempting and you do the exercise in your mind, on paper, you try to picture it [but] you dont know until its actually put in there and they begin to play." For Ujiri, the evaluation process has been muddled by his teams unexpected success since the Rudy Gay trade in December and the porous Eastern Conference in which theyve experienced said success. The result of that appraisal was somewhat inconclusive. Ujiri is still unsure what he has in the Easts surprising third seed but their recent play - and most importantly the chemistry theyve developed - has piqued his interest enough to buy them more time. "You pray and you hope for chemistry and I think we found it a little bit," he stressed. "We said we were going to give these players a platform and they would dictate where we go and to be fair, I think weve also tried to live up to our part of the bargain here and they have, too." Simply put, the right deal wasnt out there, not one that would satisfy Ujiris long-term goals while also maintaining what they have in place now. Ujiri is confident most of the discussion that has taken place over the last week can be revisited over the summer, if need be. At that point, he should have a greater idea of whats available but also how much his own assets are worth. One of those players, soon-to-be free agent point guard Kyle Lowry, has been the focus of trade speculation and will headline Ujiris offseason decision-making process. "Obviously, we didnt do anything with Kyle because we view him highly in this organization," Ujiri said of Lowry, who is averaging career-bests in points and assists this year. In Wednesday nights loss to the Bulls, Lowry knnocked down his 129th three-pointer of the campaign, matching his career-high for threes made in a single season, with 28 games still left to play.dddddddddddd Ujiri met with Lowrys agent, Andy Miller, on Wednesday, the eve of the deadline. Overall, the Raptors GM has been content with the communication on both sides and seemed enthusiastic about Lowrys progress and his future with the team. "We set some good [goals] and had good talks with him," said Ujiri. "He was upfront with us, we were upfront with him in the beginning of the season and hes living up to his part and I think weve lived up our part, too. I think thats how you build partnerships. Well see how he grows." It was a relatively quiet day league-wide. The most notable deal was leaked by Yahoo Sports shortly after the 3pm et deadline had passed with Indiana, the Easts best team, shipping often-injured former all-star Danny Granger to the rebuilding 76ers for a package that included breakout forward Evan Turner. The Raptors also made a late, albeit inconsequential move, trading seldom-used forward Austin Daye to San Antonio in exchange for French combo guard Nando De Colo. De Colo - averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26 games for the Spurs this season, his second in the NBA - is due to become a free agent this summer and doesnt figure to factor into Caseys rotation as long as his regulars stay healthy. Daye has appeared in just eight games for Toronto after signing with Raptors for the league minimum in the offseason. Often at the end of the bench, or one of Caseys inactives, Daye hasnt logged more than three minutes in a game since early December, coincidentally against the Spurs. "You never know when an opportunity will come," Daye said in conversation with TSN.ca last month. "I know I can play in this league. Its just a matter of a numbers game right now." "Its tough when you feel like theres no hope," he continued, "but you have to also look at it this way, you may not be playing, then youre thrown in a trade and then youre needed to play." With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror and the uncertainty of Lowrys immediate future put behind them for the time being, the Raptors can focus all their attention on the stretch run. "[The deadline] does weigh on you, it weighs on everybody," Ujiri admitted. "Theres anxiety, people are wondering whats going to happen. Its gone, its gone and now everybody plays a little more free and they kind of figure at least were here for another few months or for the future. As tough as we all try to be, me included, the trade deadline is a date, I think, thats significant for everybody." ' ' '
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