MANCHESTER, England -- A superstar in the United States, Kevin Durant has enjoyed being just a "regular person" during his time in Britain this week. Tim Masthay Packers Jersey . On Tuesday, Durant was back to being the centre of attention. The Oklahoma City Thunder was behind 51-48 at halftime against Philadelphia 76ers in an NBA pre-season match in Manchester when Durant came alive, scoring 14 points in the third quarter to turn the game on its head and put his team 83-74 up. Durant stayed on the bench for the final quarter, giving him 21 points for the match, and although the Sixers pulled level at 85-85 with 8.43 minutes left, guard Reggie Jackson (29 points) led the Thunder home to a 103-99 victory. "I like what he has been doing in pre-season," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of a player who has led the NBA in scoring in three separate seasons. "He has come back even better." Durant scored a game-high 24 points in the Thunders 95-82 victory over Fenerbahce Ulker of Turkey on Saturday but started slowly three days later, making just 3 from 10 from the field before halftime. If the Sixers thought he was off colour at that stage, they were to be mistaken. It wasnt just Durants third-quarter scoring, it was also his quick passing, his leadership. Barking orders from the bench during the fourth quarter, he could easily have been the Oklahoma City coach. "We demand a level of play and he is as coachable as any player I have seen in this league," Brooks said. "He is going to continue to get better. He has the talent, the skill, the body, the touch, the gifted game. But he also has an unmatched work ethic." Manchester can hardly be called the hotbed of basketball in Britain -- there were plenty of empty seats in the 21,000-capacity Phones 4u Arena -- but a sign of the sports growing appeal in the country is the staging of a regular-season NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks in London in January. And a slew of Premier League footballers, including Manchester United players Rio Ferdinand and David de Gea, were courtside to see the Thunder and the Sixers step up their preparations for the new NBA season. After missing out on the playoffs last season, the Sixers are in a rebuilding phase under new coach Brett Brown and have lost All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, who was traded to New Orleans on draft night. However, they held their own against one of the NBAs standout team for three quarters. It was Durants brilliance in the third quarter, which the Thunder won 35-23, that was the difference, along with 20 turnovers. "I am really proud of our guys," said Brown, who had 20 points from Tony Wroten. "I see carry-over (from training)," he added. "Thats the Holy Grail." Like the Thunder, Philadelphia has been on a week-long tour of Europe as the NBA looks to promote the sport around the world, and beat Bilbao Basket 106-104 in Spain on Sunday. The NBA season starts in three weeks time, but the league hasnt seen the back of Britain. "Its a great atmosphere here, the fans are unbelievable," said Durant, who won gold with the U.S. team at last years London Olympics. "I think they deserve basketball, especially regular-season basketball. Im sure well see that in the future." Jamari Lattimore Packers Jersey .4 million contract extension. Garbutt has a career-high 18 points with 10 goals and eight assists in 46 games this season. John Kuhn Packers Jersey . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs.CHICAGO -- Anthony Rizzo wasted little time in getting to Adam Wainwright. Rizzo hit a two-run single in the first that ended Wainwrights scoreless streak at 25 innings, and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 Friday for their third win in four games. "Im not trying to do too much," Rizzo said. "See the ball and hit it, really try to swing at the pitches I want to hit, not pitchers pitches. Especially with Wainwright, his stuff is so good hes going to eat you alive." Wainwright (5-2) had allowed six runs in 45 innings coming in, but the Cubs matched the runs total in just five innings against the St. Louis ace, who gave up 10 hits. His ERA rose from 1.20 to 2.16. "They did a nice job of spoiling some pitches," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said of his batters. "Youve got to give them all the credit. They grinded out some at-bats today and reaped some benefits." Wainwright had been 6-0 in 12 previous starts and five relief appearances at Wrigley Field. "There were certain pitches today I didnt have good command over," he said. "My curveball was kind of sporadic in the zone and out of the zone, which is pretty rare for me. Its a funny game. Today was not my day. I accept that and take responsibility for today and move on." The scoreless streak was one inning shy of the career high for Wainwright, who had not allowed an extra-base hit since April 12 against the Cubs in St. Louis. "Hes been incredibly consistent through this season so far. ... You can see pitches were just on the edge and not where he wanted them or werent getting called," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Its a frustrating day when he knows our guys put some offence up for him and we just cant stop them. He limited the damage and figured out ways to keep us in it. We had some chances." Rizzo added a leadoff home run in thee fifth that put Chicago ahead 6-3. Casey Hayward Packers Jersey. . Welington Castillo had three doubles for Chicago, which sent the skidding Cardinals to their 10th loss in 16 games. Travis Wood (2-3) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in seven innings but allowed just one runner in his final three innings. Justin Grimm gave up Jhonny Peraltas two-run homer in the eighth, Hector Rondon pitched a perfect ninth for his second save. Cubs centerfielder Ryan Sweeney made a catch on the run in the eighth on a drive to right-centre by Allen Craig. Sweeney injured his right hamstring and was replaced by Emilio Bonifacio, who moved from second. "It was great determination," Renteria said. "Hammys hurt." St. Louis overcame its early deficit, tying the game in the third when Matt Carpenter singled in a run and scored on Peraltas double. Chicago loaded the bases in the bottom half on a pair of walks around Starlin Castros single. Ryan Sweeney drove in the go-ahead run with a weak grounder to second that allowed Rizzo to score from third, and Castillo followed with a two-out, two-run double. Castros throwing error from shortstop on Randal Grichuks grounder allowed Yadier Molina to score from third and cut the deficit to 5-3 in the fourth. NOTES: Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said RHP Jose Veras (left oblique strain) will begin his rehab assignment at Double-A Tennessee and pitch at some point in the next few days, depending on how he feels. ... Cubs prospect OF Jorge Soler (hamstring) is progressing at the teams facility in Mesa, Arizona. Hoyer said "the reports have been good" and he hopes Soler will join Tennessee soon. ... RHP Jack Arrieta is to make his big league season debut for the Cubs when he starts Saturday. RHP Michael Wacha (2-2) is slated to slart for St. Louis. 19:27ET 02-05-14 wholesale nfl jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' '
