Funkerstation » A+.Newcastle - AA great result for Newcastle at home to W

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Paul Millsap took advantage of a chance to show off his rare versatility.Atlantas 6-foot-8 forward shifted to center because Dwight Howard was out and scored a season-high 30 points, including the go-ahead 10-footer with 12.7 seconds left. He helped the Hawks overcome Russell Westbrooks 46 points and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-108 on Monday night.It took everything we had, Millsap said. It took everybody stepping up to get this win tonight.After Millsaps late shot, Thunder center Steven Adams rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Westbrook and dunked it, but a review determined that the basket came just after time expired.Westbrook entered the game as the NBAs leading scorer with more than 30 points per game.If he gets his points -- hes going to get that regardless, Millsap said. The game plan was try to take everybody else out of it.Westbrook, who made 16 of 33 shots and had 11 rebounds and seven assists, was unimpressed with his effort.No, we dont have any moral victories around here, buddy, he said.Dennis Schroder scored 31 points and made 10 of 16 shots for the Hawks, who have won four of six after a six-game losing streak.Pretty special effort by the guys tonight, to come in here down Dwight, without him, and to find a way to compete against a great rebounding team and an individual player thats playing just lights-out basketball, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. I was very proud of our players.Jerami Grant scored a season-high 15 points, and Andre Roberson matched a season high with 14 points for the Thunder.Westbrook scored 18 points in the second quarter to help the Thunder take a 53-48 lead. The Hawks shot 50 percent in the first half, but without Howard, they were outrebounded 27-14, and the Thunder outscored them 10-0 on second-chance points. Schroder scored 18 points in the first half, and Millsap added 16.The Hawks closed the third quarter well to take an 81-78 lead into the fourth, then Atlanta held on.They made some tough plays toward the end of the game, Thunder guard Semaj Christon said. We can do better on defense keeping the guys in front of us without fouling.---TIP INSHawks: F/C Mike Muscala tipped the ball into his own basket while trying to grab a rebound in the first quarter. The basket was credited to Oklahoma Citys Enes Kanter. ... F Thabo Sefolosha, a former Thunder player, scored 15 points.Thunder: Shot just 27.3 percent in the first quarter. ... Made 3 of 19 3-pointers in the first half. ... G Victor Oladipo missed his fourth straight game with a bruised right wrist. ... Adams streak of six straight games with double figures points ended. He finished with six points. ... Oklahomas Citys four starters other than Westbrook made 7 of 26 shots and scored 24 points.STAT LINESRoberson scored his 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting. He took five more shots than he had ever taken in a regular-season game.Im just letting it fly, to be honest with you, he said. It wasnt falling for me early, but I stuck with it, and the team needed me to keep shooting, so thats what I was doing. I just go out there and do anything I can.QUOTABLEKyle Korver, on Millsap: Hes just so tough. Hes tough mentally, hes tough physically, and he has been doing that for this team for a lot of years.UP NEXTHawks: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.Thunder: Play at the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP . Cheap Air Jordan . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Cheap Air Jordan From China . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. http://www.wholesaleairjordan.com/ . Malkin got tangled up with Detroits Luke Glendening early in the third period and his left skate took the brunt of collision with the boards behind Pittsburghs net. Cheap Air Jordan For Sale .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Authentic Air Jordan Outlet . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level.Did your Premier League team live up to expectations at the weekend? We asked former Liverpool and Manchester United midfielder and Sky Sports Now guest Paul Ince to grade each side based on their 90-minute performance on Saturday or Sunday.So how did your team fare? Did they get an A or an F, or somewhere in between? Read on to see how each top-flight side has been ranked... Premier League weekend results Tottenham 4-1 Sunderland Newcastle 2-1 West Ham Chelsea 3-3 Everton Man City 4-0 Crystal Palace Bournemouth 3-0 Norwich Southampton 3-0 West Brom Aston Villa 1-1 Leicester Liverpool 0-1 Man Utd Stoke 0-0 Arsenal Bournemouth - A+They were fantastic against Norwich. They are flying now and its great business for Benik Afobe too - hes a very good player. They play the right football and have been fearless since coming into the Premier League, and going against a team they came up with last year and winning convincingly, you have to say thats an A+.Newcastle - AA great result for Newcastle at home to West Ham. They are now playing much better football and starting to score more goals, which you expect under a team managed by Steve McClaren. The fans seem to be back onside, and theyre going the right way. Georginio Wijnaldum put Newcastle two goals in front after 15 minutes at St James Park Southampton - AAn impressive performance from the Saints, especially considering West Brom were coming off a good display at Stamford Bridge. The early goal from James Ward-Prowse helped because Southampton have not been playing the way they were last season. The win over Watford was massive because it calmed everybody down, and this was another much-needed win, and a convincing one too. James Ward-Prowse scored a free-kick and penalty inside the opening 35 minutes Aston Villa - AEverybody focuses on the results, but Villa performed well on Saturday. They performed much better than they had been, and you can see signs of improvement and opportunities for them to start picking up wins. Its just a case of whether its too late, but Villa were up for it against Leicester and the fans were too.Leicester - AClaudio Ranieris side always perform well, and they seem to do it consistently home and away. Theyll be disappointed with the result, especially with the Riyad Mahrez missed penalty, but they are still in the mix. Shinji Okazaki put Leicester in front at Villa Park, but the Foxes were pegged back Liverpool - AThey were absolutely fantastic in the first half. The way they pressed Man Utd was superb and they had numerous chances but just couldnt take any of them. Jurgen Klopp clearly has them at it and playing the right way, but the only negative for them regarding the performance was the wasted chances.Arsenal - A Jack Butland saves from Olivier Giroud on Super Sunday Arsene Wenger might look back at the end of the season and think this was a great point at the Britannia. Theyve left with nothing on their last few trips, but this year they really dug in and had to throw tackles in, block shots, and thats something you dont always see with Arsenal. Its a very good sign for them. Stoke - AI love the way Sparky has his team playing. They have gone from a longer style to their current play, and Sparky has brought in some great players. They are playing a brand of football the manager has always been associated with, and theyre good to watch. They excited me against Arsenal, even if they couldnt find the breakthrough. Jack Butland was brilliant again, but Petr Cech made some big saves too.Manchester City - A-They were due a performance, and City were fantastic. With everyone talking about Vincent Kompanyy being out, now youre starting to see Sergio Aguero and David Silva getting back to full fitness.dddddddddddd Manuel Pellegrini needs these players if hes going to win trophies. They got a lucky goal first with Wayne Hennessey letting it under his body, but City were outstanding all afternoon. Fabian Delphs low shot squirted under the body of Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey Tottenham - B+It was a slow start by Spurs, and the fact theyre now contenders for the title means theres pressure on them and you saw that. But when youve got the likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen it helps. They played with freedom, Spurs played very well and theyre scoring plenty of goals. West Ham - B Theyre having a brilliant season, Id give them an A+ so far, but in the game they had chances in the second half to get back into it and didnt. Newcastle did too, and West Ham are always a tough team to play, but the Hammers just couldnt quite overcome a poor opening 15 minutes.Everton - B Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon, Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley celebrate their teams second goal at Stamford Bridge They are lower in the table than I expect them to be, and to go to Stamford Bridge and be 2-0 up, you need to start thinking about seeing out the game. When they then went 3-2 ahead in the 90th minute, you definitely need to see it out. As players you need to manage the game, and thats something that Roberto Martinez will find really disappointing. If you go to Chelsea and score three times, you expect to win. Manchester United - BThey had one shot on target in the whole game and scored. They got the three points, and some people will say its a smash and grab, and looking at the overall performance they didnt create enough chances. They are still a major work in progress, and they need to improve in attack. If you just looked at the result, I would say A+, but its not just about the result, its the performance and that wasnt an A+.Chelsea - B-Weve seen a bit of an uplift in the way they play, but they went two goals down and that shouldnt be happening at Stamford Bridge. On that basis, Ill give them a B- because to their credit they did battle back into it twice, even if they were slightly fortunate because John Terrys goal was offside. Chelseas John Terry celebrates scoring his late equaliser at home to Everton Sunderland - B-In Sam Allardyce, theyve got the right manager. Ive seen an improvement in Sunderland since he took charge and the gameplan worked well at Tottenham initially. They got the goal, and they just needed to keep that into the second half. But a lack of concentration allowed the equaliser, and once Spurs got level, it was always going to be difficult. The first half was A+, the second half a C-.West Brom - CIts hard because you set your team up not to concede, and then youre one-down after five minutes. That changed the game at Southampton and changed how Tony Pulis was approaching it, and they had to open up.Norwich - C- Gosling heads home against the Canaries Norwich are inconsistent, and thats what you would expect because the Premier League is a very tough division. But on the day, its a six-pointer and you know all about Bournemouth from the Championship, and to go there and not compete will disappoint Alex Neil. It was one-way traffic at times.Crystal Palace - C-I expected more from Palace. The last two years theyve been to the Etihad Stadium, theyve done very well. They are missing Yannick Bolasie, and when you to places like City, you cant afford to give silly goals away, and thats what they did. If it was a Pulis team, it might have been 1-0 to City, but the way Alan Pardew is doing it, and hes doing a fantastic job, he went and had a go at them. Its not the be-all and end-all, though. If you go to City and get something, thats great. If not, its on to the next one. Also See: Wenger slams Ramsey chants Best signing of the season? Liv-Man Utd talking points Rodgers highs and lows ' ' '