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LOS ANGELES -- The Milwaukee Bucks caught the Los Angeles Lakers in one of their worst ruts in decades, and Brandon Knight was able to take full advantage. Knight scored 18 of his career-high 37 points in the third quarter, and the team with the NBAs worst record beat the injury-jinxed Lakers 94-79 on Tuesday night. "My teammates did a great job of running the floor and running the lanes and creating plays for one another, and I think that opened it up for me and a lot of other guys," Knight said. "But it started with our defence. We got after it. Part of that was them missing shots, but I want to give credit to our guys for contesting those shots." The Lakers ended the year the same way they began it -- with six straight losses. They had never ended a calendar year with more than three consecutive defeats in any of the franchises 65 previous seasons. Los Angeles will begin the new year 13-19 -- the teams first losing record since the 2002-03 season, when they also started out 13-19 following their third straight championship. The year was a distinctly sobering one for the Lakers, who mourned the passing of flamboyant owner Jerry Buss, longtime executive Bill Sharman and Vern Mikkelsen, who helped the team win four NBA titles in Minneapolis. They also got swept in the first round of the playoffs and had star-crossed Kobe Bryant in the lineup for only six games so far this season. Adding insult to Bryants injuries was the end of a 320-game home sellout streak last month. "I know an historic franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers will be fine," said Bucks forward Caron Butler, who spent the 2004-05 season with the Lakers. "Not having Jerry Buss at the helm anymore is a significant loss, but Jeanie and Jim and the rest of the Buss family know the business of basketball. They know the legacy of their father, and to restore that would be a wonderful feeling." Pau Gasol and Nick Young scored 25 points each for the Lakers, who shot 35.8 per cent from the field. Young, who led the team in scoring in each of the previous six games as a reserve, made his seventh start of the season. Gasol, who had missed three straight games and four of the previous six because of a sinus infection and bronchitis, returned to a talent-starved Lakers lineup already missing Bryant, Steve Nash and Steve Blake. Point guard Jordan Farmar played 21 scoreless minutes in his fourth game since returning from a torn hamstring, and sat out the fourth quarter after the hamstring tightened up. "We are down at the bottom," said coach Mike DAntoni, who used his eighth different starting lineup in as many games and 17th in 32 contests. "The injuries have torn everybody up, but we have to band together and figure it out. I thought Pau played hard, though he was rusty at first. He didnt look good in the first quarter, but then he picked it up." Trailing by 20 points with 9:43 remaining, the Lakers closed to 86-79 with a 26-4 run capped by Kendall Marshalls 3-pointer with 3:21 to play. But the determined Bucks were able to close it out for their second victory in 10 games. The Lakers were coming off narrow losses to Utah and Philadelphia, who entered Tuesday a combined 19-45 and last in their respective divisions when they faced them. DAntonis undermanned squad was even worse against a Milwaukee lineup that came in 6-24. But the Bucks beat them for the fourth time in five meetings, after winning only five of the previous 30. The Lakers missed their first 11 shots while the Bucks opened the game with a 14-0 run. Los Angeles didnt get its first field goal until Gasol hit a 14-footer from the lane with 5:08 left in the first quarter, but Milwaukee extended its margin to 21-4 on Ersan Ilyasovas 19-footer about 2 minutes later. Luke Ridnour made his fourth start of the season for Milwaukee and scored 11 points in 36 minutes. Frontcourt swingman John Henson missed his second straight game because of a high left ankle sprain that occurred on Dec. 20, and is expected to be sidelined for at least two more contests. NOTES: The Bucks, who entered the NBA in 1968-69, are 2-6 on New Years Eve. The only other victory came on the final day of 1969, when they beat the San Diego Rockets 143-126 in regulation with 35 points from future Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ... The Lakers are 8-4 on New Years Eve and 4-2 since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. ... Lakers reserve G Xavier Henry was sidelined for the first time this season because of a bone bruise and cartilage abnormality in his right knee, and F Wesley Johnson didnt play because of gastroenteritis. Adidas Springblade China . Hes still nowhere close to throwing yet. The four-time MVP was in good spirits when he made his first public appearance on the field since having neck surgery Sept. Yeezy Boost 350 Deals .Mateo Kovacic and Andrea Ranocchia scored for Inter, which had goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to thank for several crucial saves.Its an important victory against a Chievo side which plays well, Mancini said. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/ .Y. -- Cory Schneider has to make the most of his opportunities to guard the New Jersey Devils net to earn more playing time. Cheap Adidas Springblade . -- Kole Calhoun homered and drove in three runs, Albert Pujols also went deep and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Friday night. Cheap Adidas Nmd r1 . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.I was asked this question a few weeks ago, and this person was talking about the absence of a running back having dominated the league in rushing yards. This became very apparent when Jon Cornish missed at least six games and is still within 200 yards of the rushing leader with his 587 yards to date. Lets talk about some of the factors involved and what has changed. I believe there are three reasons for the change; four designated imports on the roster, talented non-import running backs and running QBs. Lets state the obvious, in every level of football, you must be able to run the football to have a balanced, efficient offense that can handle all the situations that you face throughout the football season. I have coached or coordinated four rushing leaders in the CFL and I believe in running the football. Michael Jenkins (2001), Charles Roberts (2003), Troy Davis (2004) and Fred Reid (2011) all were talented backs who were able to make the most of their opportunities. As the league evolves, you can see one-tailback offenses start to evolve also to spread the wealth, per se. Obviously, injuries can be a factor for a lack of productivity in running backs as they tend to have injuries at times and will have to miss games. As noted earlier, Jon Cornish has missed a great deal of this season and it has affected his rushing totals. But the biggest reason that I believe rushing numbers are down for the backs are the roster and specifically, how many designated imports are on rosters this year. A Designated Import is an International (Import) that can play freely on all special teams and can replace only another International (Import). Long story short is that for teams starting seven Non Imports, the DIs can replace another import but not a non-import. This year, the DIs has increased by one for a total of four on the roster. So you have four players that can play all special teams and also replace other Imports that are on the roster. When I first came into the League in the early 2000s, there was only one DI. It eventually went to a second and finally up to a third until the fourth DI this season. When you had only two DIs, one was usually a kick returner and one was a defensive player. It was difficult to carry a backup running back that was an import unless he was the returner. That is how many running backs earned their roster spots originally. In 2001, Hall of Famer Charles Roberts was on the roster as a DI who returned kick-offs and punts and spelled the starter Eric Blount. The rosters did not allow for a very talented import running back to be on the roster just as a backup. Cut to this year, where with four DIs, you can have two back-ups on offence and defence. One of those usually is also a returner and backup as in Brandon Banks in Hamilton, and the other three can be utilized on the roster as a backup and in situational packages. One of the most important things to understand with this roster size now is that you have the ability to plan and practice expecting to have the DI available to you if you are a coordinator because of the four spots. In previous years with less DIs, often the DI would be decided depending on the health status of your roster. For example, you may have to dress an Import DI receiver because one of your starting import receivers is banged up and may not play the whole game. If you normally used a DI running back, you would have to make the switch and take the DI running back off the roster and reeplace him with DI wide receiver.dddddddddddd Nowadays, you can have both on the roster and still be able to gameplan for the roster spot as a DI running back. So how does all that relate to running back rushing yards? Teams are allowed to break up the rushing job to more than one back and are able to build packages with two tailbacks in the game at the same time. Edmonton has utilized this by having Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas on the roster. They can split carries as well as be in the game at the same time and have plays designed for each other. Lawrence is 11th in rushing and Thomas is 16th. Add their rushing yards together and they would lead the CFL in rushing. Edmonton also has Jon White, who has also rushed for 334 yards this season but is on the six-game injured list. Saskatchewan also has had success with using multiple import running backs on the roster. Anthony Allen leads the Riders with 593 yards which puts him third in rushing in the CFL. Will Ford is sixth in rushing with 425 yards and is able to be part of a 1-2 punch that the Riders rushing attack will hit defences with. Toronto has utilized several different backfield combinations this season but normally carry two import running backs. Curtis Steele is eighth in rushing with 437 yards and a healthy Steve Slaton is starting to come on with 224 yards so far. Montreal is fun to watch with Brandon Whitaker, who leads the CFL with 695 yards and they can also line up with Tyrell Sutton in the backfield. Sutton gets the opportunity to prove his worth and not have to wait for an injury to the starter to be on the roster. Talented non-imports are another reason for individual rushing numbers being down. I dont care what nationality you are, if you are talented, you will touch the football. Jerome Messam is part of the three-headed monster of the Riders run game and he has 326 yards this season. He is a bruising runner and a great change up for the Riders. Matt Walter has had some opportunities to play this year, allowing Calgary not to have to disrupt their roster when Cornish was hurt. Andrew Harris status as a non-import starter allows depth at other spots and can allow for a running back to be an import on the roster. Rushing QBs and packages designed for the QB as a running back have emerged the past few seasons to create extra packages and schemes that the defence must work on. Pat White in Edmonton has 26 rushes for 113 yards and his offensive package forces defences to take valuable time from practice to prepare for his package. Hamilton also has utilized a package for QB Dan Lefevour the past two seasons. These QB packages create problems for defences as the quarterback is the ball carrier and the defences are not used to the quarterback being a ball carrier and also there is a numbers advantage when the QB is the primary ball carrier. It is important that these QB packages have throws built in to make sure it is not 100 per cent run or else the defence will load the box to stop the run. The QB running game packages will take away reps for the starting tailback because many times the QB carries the ball in these packages. Although rushing numbers may be down, it is a great thing to be able to have more players on the roster to create excitement and be able to have multiple rushing football players. The years of the 2,000-yard backs may be over, but the ability to keep more players involved is certainly fun to watch. ' ' '