FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS: 1. THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all. These teams will continue to come up short if they dont add depth and scoring punch to their second units. You spend a fortune on your starters in the league, yet your scouting, evaluation and development of spots numbers 6-15 are vital. You must find those gems that help get you over the hump. 2. HEAT & SPURS: The common thread when I watch both of these squads is team and they truly value the importance of the pass. The best two teams are where they belong in the NBA Finals. Lots of good things happen when you share. 3. BORIS DIAW (Spurs): Hes always been a wonderful talent, but conditioning has been an issue over the years. Hes in much better shape now and, boy, did he ever showcase his vast skill set in Game 6 against the Thunder. His game fits the Spurs system and it fits him for a perfect match. He might be slow and methodical, but hes really effective. 4. CHRIS BOSH (Heat): He really picked his game back up late in the series against the Pacers. He will be a crucial guy for Miami in the Finals. His perimeter versatility and rebounding will be huge for the Heat. Sometimes hes comfortable being that complimentary piece, but he cant do that here. He must exert his will and talents on the series. When hes really right, the Heat are a very difficult team to match up against. 5. COACHING VACANCIES: The Lakers, Knicks, Timberwolves, Cavs and Jazz all still have openings. Rumours fly all over the place and many are planted by agents to boost the profile of the candidates. The big decision for the GM is to make sure they get a coach who can develop young talent, adapt to the talent at his disposal and work on the same page with the front office. Are they out there? Oh, yeah. You just have to select the right fit for your franchise. Its not about "winning the press conference," its about tuning out the noise. For example, Jeff Hornacek and Steve Clifford worked out just fine this past season. There are lots of very good coaches out there. Take your time and do it right. These guys really define the direction you take. With the wrong hire, it can really set you back. Know what you need and dont play the "name game." Wholesale NFL Jerseys China .com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . Williams withdrawal came less than 24 hours after losing in the final Auckland WTA tournament final. "I dont believe she has an injury," Hobart tournament director Mark Handley said. http://www.cheapjerseysbaseball.com/ .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . -- What Anthony Jennings lacked in experience, LSU more than compensated for with a talented supporting cast in the Outback Bowl. Cheap MLB Jerseys . But its also a smart game. Theres more to the Kings than banging bodies. They take a toll mentally on their opponents. VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks season-long six-game homestand started with a gut-punching overtime loss. It ended the exact same way. Mike Richards scored late in regulation before Anze Kopitar buried the winner 48 seconds into the extra period Monday as the Los Angeles Kings came back to stun the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. The Canucks gave up a late goal in regulation in losing to 2-1 to the San Jose Sharks to kick off their homestand on Nov. 17, and a similar script played out against Los Angeles (16-6-3), with Richards scoring with 2:56 left to force OT. "A couple mistakes are costing us," said Canucks captain Henrik Sedin, who gave his team a 2-1 lead in the third period before the wheels fell off. "Were playing so well defensively throughout the game and it seems like every time something late in games is costing us goals. Its extremely tough to take." The Canucks have lost seven of their last eight, scoring just nine goals total in those defeats. They finished their homestand with an ugly 1-2-3 record, with the only victory coming in a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. "Were really sticking together as a group and thats all you can ask for," said Sedin. "We should have had two points, but again were standing here talking about a loss." Vancouver (12-9-5) is now 0-9-4 when scoring two goals or less and fell to 1-4-3 versus Pacific Division rivals this season. After Richards took a feed from Jeff Carter to tie the score with his sixth of the season, Kopitar beat Luongo upstairs for his seventh of the campaign as the Kings picked up at least a point for a 10th straight game (7-0-3). "Weve just gotta scrape and claw for points, and thats what we did tonight," said Richards. "It wasnt the prettiest on our part. We took too many penalties, and we turned some pucks over, but two points is what we wanted." Kyle Clifford also scored for Los Angeles, which got 37 saves from Ben Scrivens. "Its a big goal to force it to overtime, and any time you can take it to overtime you give yourself a chance," said Scrivens. "Well take the two points." Chris Tanev had the other goal for Vancouver, which dominated the Northwest Division for years but is finding re-aligment to be a much tougher test. "Its a 60-minute game," said Luongo, who finished with 19 saves. "We did some good things, especially in the second half of that game, but obviously we fell short again." Despite the loss, Canucks head coach John Tortorella continued to stress the positives as his team continues to struggle to get results under his new puck-pressure system. "Im very excited about some of the things that happened tonight. You may call me crazy, but I am," said Tortorella. "Weve just got to keep banging away and work on some details of the game, understand situational play and keep working at this." Vancouvers 28th-ranked power plaay was a miserable 0 for 7 on the night before Sedin beat Scrivens with a quick shot on the Canucks eighth man advantage to snap a 1-1 tie at 6:59.dddddddddddd Down 1-0 after the first period, Vancouver found some life after Sedin took a big hit from Jordan Nolan midway through the second. Sedin stayed down for a moment but didnt miss a shift. The play woke the Canucks up and they started to take the body more, with Ryan Stanton eventually dropping the gloves with Nolan. "I thought we took the game over after the hit with Henrik," said Tortorella. "I thought we were acting properly as a team and took the game over, scored on a power play, did all the right things. "We didnt finish the game. Need to finish the game." After Vancouver killed off a penalty from the scrum that accompanied that fight, Tanev fired a harmless looking shot from the point that Scrivens could only get a piece of to tie the score with his first of the season at 17:04. The Canucks had plenty of opportunities with the man advantage earlier in the period -- including a 5-on-3 and two short 4-on-3s -- but the disjointed unit continued to struggle. Another Kings penalty late in the period gave the Canucks another chance. But Scrivens, who has been stellar in place of injured Kings starter Jonathan Quick, was there to shut the door when called upon as Vancouver outshot L.A. 13-2. After the Canucks gave up a number of odd-man rushes in Saturdays 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, including Marcus Krugers winner in the third period, the Kings opened the scoring Monday on their third 2-on-1 of the night at 13:50 of the first period. With both fourth lines on the ice, feathered a pass to Clifford, who made a nice backhand move to beat a sprawling Luongo for his second goal of the season. The Canucks now hit the road for four games, starting with a game against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. "Part of my job is to make sure that the psyche of the hockey club, in these types situations, stays solid," said Tortorella. "I trust the group. I do. I think the players understand how we want to play, our concept. "Weve gone through a lot crap here, as far as things going wrong at certain times but I think theyve handled themselves well and were just going to stay with them and keep on working at it." Notes: Vancouvers Daniel Sedin lost a tooth to a high stick early in the second period. ... Tanev now has three goals in 118 career games. ... Quick injured his groin on Nov. 12 and is expected to be out until late December. ... Carter returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a foot injury. ... Canucks forward David Booth returned to the lineup after sitting out the last three games as a healthy scratch. ... Monday was the second of five meetings between the two teams this season. The Kings down the Canucks 5-1 at Staples Center on Nov. 9. ... The Kings visit the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. ' ' '