Join us » t this stadium was the setting for the fi

NEW YORK -- LeBron James scored 25 points, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love also surpassed 20, and the Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the New York Knicks 126-94 on Wednesday night.James had nothing to say Wednesday morning about Knicks President Phil Jackson and not much more about his decision to not stay with the team in a Donald Trump-branded hotel, but he and the Cavs made a loud statement at Madison Square Garden.It was their second straight win after a three-game skid, and they handed the Knicks their worst loss of the season. Irving led Cleveland with 28 points, and Love scored 21, 16 in the first quarter.Brandon Jennings scored 16 points for the Knicks. He started for Derrick Rose, who missed his first game of the season with lower back pain.It was the first meeting since James was angered when Jackson referred to his friends and business partners as a posse last month in an ESPN interview. James refused to answer questions at the Cavs shootaround about Jackson, who watched the game from his usual seat a few rows back of center court.New York had its four-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time in 10 games.BUCKS 115, TRAIL BLAZERS 107MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo had his second triple-double of the season to lead Milwaukee past Portland.Antetokounmpo had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh career triple-double -- second-most in franchise history -- and is the only NBA player averaging at least 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals this season.Jabari Parker added 27 points for Milwaukee.Damian Lillard had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Portland.ROCKETS 134, LAKERS 95HOUSTON -- Eric Gordon made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help Houston rout Los Angeles.James Harden added 25 points in three quarters for the Rockets. They scored a season high and extended their winning streak to a season-best four games.Lou Williams led the Lakers with 24 points. They have lost four in a row, their longest skid of the season.HAWKS 103, HEAT 95ATLANTA -- Dwight Howard had 23 points and 17 rebounds, Paul Millsap added 21 points and Atlanta beat Miami to snap a seven-game losing streak.The Hawks had lost 10 of 11 and had gone 14 days without a victory.Tyler Johnson scored a career-high 27 points for Miami, and Goran Dragic added 21. The Heat have lost three straight.HORNETS 87, PISTONS 77CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kemba Walker scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Nic Batum had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte.The Hornets won for the third time in four games despite being held to 38 points in the first half on 27 percent shooting. Marvin Williams returned to Charlottes starting lineup after missing the last six games with a hyperextended knee. He had 12 points and five rebounds.Andre Drummond had 26 points and 20 rebounds for the Pistons.NETS 116, NUGGETS 111NEW YORK -- Brook Lopez scored 24 points, Sean Kilpatrick had 22 and Brooklyn held off Denver.Brooklyn led by as many as 29 points midway through the third quarter, but Denver closed to 103-99 on Kenneth Farieds layup with 4:31 left. Bojan Bogdanovic and Kilpatrick each made two foul shots in the final 13 seconds to help secure the win for the Nets.Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 27 points and 15 rebounds.CELTICS 117, MAGIC 87ORLANDO, Fla. -- Avery Bradley scored 23 points to help Boston rout Orlando.Terry Rozier added 16 points, Jae Crowder had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Amir Johnson, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each had 13 points. D.J. Augustin scored 15 points for Orlando.PACERS 109, SUNS 94PHOENIX -- Paul George had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Indiana pulled away to beat Phoenix.Myles Turner added 20 points, and Jeff Teague had 19 points and 11 assists. Indiana had a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to open a 97-87 lead.Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with 15 points. The Suns shot 40 percent from the field and made only 9 of 33 3-pointers. They have lost five of six.KINGS 120, MAVERICKS 89DALLAS -- DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Sacramento snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over last-place Dallas.Rudy Gay added 19 for the Kings. Deron Williams led Dallas with 20 points. Josh Allen Womens Jersey . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. Taven Bryan Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarspro.com/Leonard-fournette-jaguars-jersey/ . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Gardner Minshew II Womens Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Leonard Fournette Womens Jersey . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Not even a defeat could stop Daniel Hourcade from taking pleasure in his surroundings. The head coach of Argentinas rugby team expressed a good many regrets at the end of a 33-21 loss to Australia this month, from his teams failure to capitalize on key opportunities to a shortage of contested scrums. But the decision to give up home-field advantage and stage this game in England was not among them.It was a great experience. Playing here at Twickenham [Stadium] is really an honor, said Hourcade. He went on to describe the venue as the cathedral of rugby.Time will tell whether Twickenham can make a similar impression on Jeff Fisher. The Los Angeles Rams head coach could be forgiven for feeling unenthusiastic about surrendering one of his teams home games to host the New York Giants in London at a potentially pivotal moment in the NFL season.Fisher took the Rams across the pond once before, in 2012. They were shellacked 45-7 by the New England Patriots in what remains the most lopsided NFL International Series result.That game, though, was held at Wembley Stadium. Sunday will mark the NFLs first visit to Twickenham. This change of setting might not mean much to Fisher, whose only focus right now will be on picking his team up after consecutive defeats. The rest of us, though, might find intrigue in the prospect of an American football game being staged at the spiritual home of English rugby.Humble beginningsThere was a time when people might have scoffed at the suggestion that Twickenham should host any sport other than rugby. Then again, there was a time when people scoffed at the suggestion that it could host any sporting event at all.The decision by Englands fledgling Rugby Football Union to invest almost ￡5,600 on a 10?-acre parcel of land on the southwest outskirts of London back in 1907 was greeted with incredulity by the national press. For journalists who lived and worked in the city center, Twickenham might as well have been Timbuktu -- 12 or so miles from Piccadilly Circus and with poor transport links.This was not prime real estate but farming land -- previously in use as a mix of orchards and market gardens. Worse, it was located in a flood plain. The RFU had to arrange for the field to be raised using dirt excavated during the creation of the London Undergrounds Metropolitan line.The venue was quickly nicknamed Billy Williams Cabbage Patch -- a jab at the RFU committee member who had proposed the site. More pointed words were chosen by the Daily Mirror newspaper, which characterized the whole project as a costly white elephant.Twickenham would defy such dire assessments. Despite occasional flirtations with different venues, England Rugby has never left. Instead, the stadium has gradually expanded -- with stands rebuilt on the same site several times over -- from a capacity of 18,000 at its first international game through to 82,000 today (although various NFL-specific modifications will reduce this to 75,000 on Sunday).As it has grown, the stadium has been modernized. It now incorporates a fitness center and a Marriott hotel, with suites looking out over the field. But this is not a place that has lost touch with its history. The east stand is home to the World Rugby Museum, where Phil McGowan, who authored a history of the stadium in 2014, works as the interpretation and education officer. McGowan is quick to point out that at least one part of Twickenham remains forever unchanged.The pitch is still in the exact same place as it was in 1909, McGowan said. The grass itself has been relaid many times over, and in 2012, it was upgraded with a partially artificial base that helps to keep the playing surface in better condition. Otherwise, McGowan said, Its still exactly the same height. When theres a game, theyre still playing on top of the old dirt dug out from the Metropolitan line.That field has been the stage for iconic rugby games, from Englands win over Wales in Twickenhams first full international game, in 1910, right through to World Cup games in 1991, 1999 and 2015. And yet some of the most important chapters in its history have nothing to do with rugby. During World War I, Twickenham was used by the British army to graze and train horses before they were sent out to the front.Then, during the second world war, the whole stadium was given over to the war office, and it became a civil service depot, McGowan said. The West Car Park was turned into a coal dump. The fire brigade took over the south terrace and put all their vehicles underneath, which were then used during the Blitz. The west stand was turned into a medical response center, so there were lots of hospital beds put there, to be used in the event of a chemical attack in London.Only the RFU secretary remained in his office, which he kept to himself. After the war had finished, there are photos with the roofs of the stands covered in holes from shrapnel damage during the Blitz. That was the case for 20, 30 years after -- you could see these patched-up holes in the roof of the stands.Bathing in a century of historyThe Rams and Giants are not in London for a history lesson. It seems unlikely that players will use what little free time they do have to visit the World Rugby Museum. But they will get at leasst a flavor of what makes this place unique as they make their way into the stadium.ddddddddddddOn the drive in, team buses are routed through the West Car Park. This is the spot where fans gather before games to eat and drink before kickoff.If that sounds like a familiar ritual to any NFL fan, then the devil is in the detail. Rugby union, in part because of its long-standing commitment to amateurism that lasted right up until the mid-1990s -- with the effect that only those with money could afford to give up the time required to compete at a high level -- has historically drawn a well-heeled crowd. Instead of beer and brats, the West Car Park was famous for champagne and caviar.I mean, its tailgating in the States, isnt it? Martin Johnson, a former World Cup-winning captain for England, said with a chuckle. But its having a spot of lunch in the West Car Park at Twickenham.The scene has become less genteel in recent years, with food concessions and beer tents encroaching into areas where parking is no longer permitted. It might look different this Sunday, in any case, with the NFL using that area for its own official tailgate.Once inside the stadium, though, players will walk down a tunnel adorned with great names and games from English rugby history. Inside the home locker room, cubicles are adorned with the names of the countrys most capped players at each position. An adjoining corridor carries the list of every player who ever represented England.More vivid than any of these things might be the two standalone iron baths positioned beside the new hydrotherapy baths in the home locker room. First purchased back as part of a set of six in 1931, these were for many decades the primary means of players getting clean after a game. They would be half-filled with cold water before kickoff, then topped up with hot at full-time.For a lot of the boys, that used to be part of the fun after a game, Johnson said. Just to sit in there and soak it all up. When they rebuilt the west stand in the 1990s, we didnt know if they would keep them. While they were doing it, [then England prop] Jason Leonard tried to walk off with one. He drove up with his van and tried to take one away. But they caught him in the act.Anyway, when they rebuilt the stand, they did put a couple of them back in there. But now theyve started filling the baths with ice instead of warm water, so its not quite so good!A surprising hymnSundays game will be preceded, as with every other NFL International Series game in London, with the singing of both the American and British national anthems. But perhaps the most fascinating question before this game at Twickenham is whether there will be enough rugby fans in the crowd to follow that up with another song that has become a part of the lore of this place.A rendition of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,?the spiritual originally sung by slaves in the U.S. in the 19th century,?became the unofficial anthem of English rugby more than a century later.Precisely how that happened is a matter of dispute. The most popular story has it that the song was first introduced to Twickenham by a group of schoolboys celebrating a virtuoso performance by Chris Oti, Englands first black player in more than 80 years, against Ireland in 1988.Whatever the truth of that account, however, it is known that Swing Low, Sweet Chariot had been sung in English rugby clubhouses for years before it became associated with the national team. Johnson recalls it being popular when he was playing as teenager in the 1980s.Ill be frank, when most teams used to do it, that used to involve taking their clothes off, as well, he said. That was part of it. It was with a few pints, and half the time half the team would be naked by the end.Stripping in the stands at Twickenham is generally frowned upon -- even if one exhibit in the World Rugby Museum does claim that this stadium was the setting for the first streaker at a professional sporting event. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, however, has persisted to this day.Ive been lucky enough to play for England against New Zealand at Twickenham, said Northampton back Ben Foden. Obviously, they have the Haka [New Zealands pregame war dance], which is something thats steeped in tradition, as well. But when they do that at Twickenham, our fans always sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot at the top of their lungs to drown it out. Its pretty special. You really notice the crowd and the impact they can have on a game.When planning out Twickenhams latest major redesign, in 1988, architect Terry Ward stated his intention to create a stadium for England that would give them a five-point advantage in every home game. Whether he succeeded on that front is difficult to quantify, but certainly he created a venue that can get deafeningly loud at times.That much will be nothing new to NFL players. But a round of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot would certainly feel unique. English fans serenaded Argentina and Australia with the song during that game earlier this month at Twickenham. What sort of cathedral, after all, would let a new congregation leave without hearing its most stirring hymn? ' ' '