feet gave the Spurs its largest lead of that half at 54-45

PHILADELPHIA -- The Montreal Canadiens got bigger in Saturdays NHL draft but couldnt resist the allure of five-foot-eight Sherbrooke centre Daniel Audette. Its other five picks were all six foot or better, with three at 6-1 or above. Third-round pick Brett Lernout stands six foot four and weighs 206 pounds. "Hes a big strong strapping defenceman," Trevor Timmins, Montreals director of amateur scouting, said of Lernout. "Hes tough as nails and has a heavy shot." Timmins had talked prior to the draft about the Habs wanting to "get bigger, stronger, faster." "But at the same time if theres a player thats undersized there and hes a good hockey player, then hes hard to pass. Thats the situation here with Daniel -- similar to a Brendan Gallagher in his draft year. You simply cant go by a player with that much ability." Gallagher is five foot nine and 180 pounds but plays much larger. The 175-pound Audette had 21 goals and 55 assists in 68 games last season. Audette, the son of Habs amateur scout and former NHLer Donald Audette, went in the fifth round. Timmins said Audette Sr. had not been involved in any of the pre-draft discussion on his son. In fact, Donald was told to spend the afternoon in the stands with his wife and son until Daniel got drafted. Donald collected 260 goals and 249 assists 735 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Stars, Montreal and Florida Panthers. The Canadiens traded up to get Lernout, a Swift Current defenceman. They gave up their third-round pick (87th overall) and fourth-round pick (117th overall) to get Arizonas third-rounder (73rd overall). "I looked at the team picking in front of us and I thought there was a good chance that he wouldnt be there (by Montreals pick) ... We wanted to add some size on defence and he was a good fit for us there," said Timmins. Montreal took AJHL defenceman Nikolas Koberstein (125th overall) and Audette (147th overall) in the fifth round, USHL goalie Hayden Hawkey (177th overall) in the sixth round and Ontario Junior Hockey League forward Jake Evans (207th overall) in the seventh round. Montreal used its first-round pick Friday to take Russian forward Nikita Scherbak of the Saskatoon Blades 26th overall. Thanks to reaching the Eastern Conference final, the Canadiens draft position was well down this year. "If you take a look at our picks in every round, theyre pretty late. So the asset value of the picks we had wasnt near as high as last year or the year before," Timmins said. "Thats why we had to make that trade in the third (round) to move up. "We had to wait out turn pretty long in each round. Ill tell you (how we did) a few years down the road. But were happy with the guys we got. Theyre the guys we targeted and we still had guys left on the list that we wanted to draft." The Habs went "under the radar" on Koberstein, according to their scouting director. "I think this guy has good upside and long-range projection," he said. "Hes a great kid and has tons of character but hes a good hockey player too." Koberstein is committed to play at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks after one more year with the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Timmins sees him as a five-year player, meaning he has one year at Junior A and four at college. Hawkey, USHL goalie of the year, is committed to play collegiate hockey at Providence. "Hes like money in the bank," said Timmins. Evans is headed to Notre Dame. "Hes a skilled centre with great playmaking ability," said Timmins. Wholesale Jordan Shoes . The 10-year deal the league and players agreed to that ended the 2011 lockout gave either side the right to opt out after six years. With the league projecting financial growth, there has been speculation that players will take that option in three years, especially since a new national TV contract will be in place by then. Jordan Shoes Australia Online .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference. http://www.australiaairjordancheap.com/ .C. - The housecleaning continues for the B. Cheap Jordans Shoes Wholesale . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. Cheap Jordan Shoes Free Shipping . "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time.SAN ANTONIO -- Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs put together a dominant offensive performance on Sunday night. The final result was a 10-game winning streak and another year with 50 victories. Ginobili scored 21 points and Tony Parker had 18, leading the Spurs to a 122-104 victory over the Utah Jazz. San Antonio (50-16) became the first NBA team to reach 50 wins, extending its league record of consecutive seasons with at least that many victories to 15. Not that it means all that much to the veteran Spurs, who are focused on winning another title. "I dont really care," coach Gregg Popovich said. "You all have to have things to write about, I guess. Its better than losing 50, I guess. Were thinking about other things and weve just had a great group of guys for a long time. Thats reason weve been able to win. Records and that sort of thing, streaks arent really on anybodys mind." The Spurs (50-16) shot a season-high 62.8 per cent from the field while improving to 4-0 against the last-place Jazz (22-45) this season. "You give them the credit," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They are a great ballclub. They know who they are. They take the right shots. They had 31 assists, so the ball moved around very well. The guys who came off (the bench), they made tough shots. Our guys competed, they are just better at what they do at this stage. You just have to give them a lot of credit." Derrick Favors had a career-high 28 points for the Jazz, who have lost four straight. Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Trey Burke had 13 points. Parker also had seven assists and Tim Duncan added 16 points and six rebounds for the Spurs. Along with Ginobili, the teams Big Three combined to shoot 22 for 32. "Were getting our rhythm," Parker said. "Manu looks good, he looks healthy. Timmy, his outside shot is coming around. Were all doing little stuff. Now we all just to have to stay healthy." Its the second double-digit winning streak of the Spurs, who won 11 in a row in November. "Were in a great situation and its great to win (50 games), but the main goal is to win a championship," Parker said. The Spurs featured their inside game early on, and then went to their sharp outside shooting. Tiago Splitter had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 and Kawhi Leonard had 11 points. San Antonio was shooting 65 per cent from the field with 6 minutes left, holding a 108-90 lead following dunks by Splitter and Belinelli and jumpers from Leonard and Duncan.dddddddddddd. "Regardless of personnel, they all pass the basketball, the ball never stops," Hayward said. "They hit the open man and defensively theyre all where theyre supposed to be at." San Antonios initial 12 points came in the paint, as well as 14 of its first 15. It finished with 56 points in the paint, compared to 52 for Utah. The Spurs had assists on five of their first six baskets, punctuated by a running dunk by Leonard off a feed from Danny Green for a 12-6 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. "Offensively we were sharp today as we were in the last few games," Ginobili said. "We were not as good defensively today. We made too many mistakes. We let them score a lot of points in the paint. We knew they were going to do that. But overall, I think we cant complain. It was a good game." After falling behind 15-8, the front court of Favours, Richard Jefferson and Marvin Williams rallied Utah for its only lead of the game. The trio scored nine points in a 13-4 run, capped by a 13-foot turnaround jumper by Favours that put the Jazz ahead 21-19 with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. "This was a great night for me," Favors said. "My teammates did a good job of finding me in the post and in my spots, and I was hitting shots. Just one of those nights for me." After finding so much inside the paint early, the Spurs turned to their long-range shooting in the second quarter. San Antonio had five different players make a 3 while making all of their long-distance attempts in the second. Greens 3 from 26 feet gave the Spurs its largest lead of that half at 54-45 with 2 minutes remaining. "The first half we did a relatively good job up until the last four or five minutes of the half of keep them off the 3-point line," Corbin said. "But they had 30 points or so in the paint. So, we wanted to make an effort to try and keep them out of the paint, and we gave up 3-point shots. They made five right there and they just took off from there." NOTES: San Antonios previous shooting high was 57.5 per cent in a 126-96 victory over Cleveland on Nov. 23. ... The Spurs won 11 straight from Nov. 5 through Nov. 25, giving them a 13-1 record to open the season. ... Jazz G John Lucas III (sprained right ankle) was in uniform, but did not play after being listed as a game-time decision. ... Jefferson, a former Spurs player, was resoundingly booed during pregame introductions. ' ' '