Tuesdays game on a four-game losing streak after fallin

SPARTA, Ky. -- Matt Kenseths fuel-only pit stop gamble helped him beat Jimmie Johnson late and win Sundays rescheduled 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. A race that was Johnsons to lose ultimately became Kenseths series-high fourth victory of the season after crew chief Jason Ratcliff passed on putting new tires on the No. 20 Toyota following the races ninth caution. "I thought he was slightly crazy when that happened," said Kenseth, who widened his lead when the field went four-wide after the restart on lap 246 and saw Johnsons No. 48 Chevy spin from second place on a dominant day he led three times for 182 of 267 laps. "I didnt think there was any way that we were going to hold on for that win. He made the right call at the right time and those guys got it done." Kenseth led twice for 38 laps, including the final 23. Johnson, the five-time champion and current series points leader, finished ninth and leads Carl Edwards by 38. The restart bothered Johnson, who accused Kenseth of breaking the pace car speed. But he took solace in salvaging his 11th top-10 despite between sandwiched in the logjam that could have been worse. "We were kind of in an awkward situation in that restart there," he said. "We were like three- and four-wide going in the corner, then something happened with the air and just kind of turned me around. Unfortunate, but at least we rallied back for a good finish." Second was Jamie McMurray in a Chevy, followed by Clint Bowyer (Toyota), Joey Logano (Ford) and Kyle Busch (Toyota). Rain on Saturday forced NASCAR officials to postpone the race to a daytime start. The event was red-flagged for 18 minutes following a seven-car wreck involving defending race and Sprint Cup winner Brad Keselowski, who returned to finish 33rd. It was the biggest incident of 10 cautions for 42 laps, but things were clean after Johnson brought out the final yellow flag. The checkered flag crowned Kentuckys third different champion in as many events though Kenseth, like Johnson, was due for a breakthrough on the 1.5-mile oval. He finished seventh here last year and sixth in the 2011 inaugural race. However, victory didnt seem likely for the 2003 Cup champion after qualifying 16th and running outside the top 20 during the first quarter of the event. "I thought our first run, we were all right and I guess probably after the second run, we were able to move forward pretty good," Kenseth said. "I felt pretty good about what we had. I thought we need to get it better." From then on, the first-year Joe Gibbs Racing driver was a perennial top-five contender. Trouble was, he and other hopefuls seemed to need Johnson to suffer misfortune to have any shot of catching him. The way he was running, that appeared unlikely. Turns out, Kenseth needed to rely on the left-side tires Ratcliff ordered the previous stop. Taking fuel only the final time allowed him to gain the lead coming off pit road, and the rubber held up on the rough, bumpy track, both on the restart and through the final laps. Ratcliff was shocked that more teams didnt follow suit with that strategy. "I felt like more guys would make that call, and so I thought it was worth a shot to get out there," the crew chief said. "When we rolled off pit road and saw what everybody did, I looked to the guy beside me and Im like, I cant believe we are the only ones that did that." The decision led to a surprising late turn of events, and the tense finish in which McMurray and Bowyer took turns trying to chase down Kenseth provided a nice makeup after Saturday nights washout. In a season of struggles, McMurray was just happy with his first top-five. "Every week its been something," he said, "so its nice to have some good luck." Bowyer remained third in points and gave Michael Waltrip Racing its second straight top-two run following teammate Martin Truexs road win last week in Sonoma, Calif. Kenseths victory meanwhile typified a weekend where a number of drivers were projected to win at Kentucky. Fridays pole qualifying generated enough excitement for the series third visit, with eight drivers breaking Johnsons year-old track record of 181.818 mph. The group included the five-time champion, who shattered his own mark at 183.144 mph before Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.s 183.636 mph speed in the No. 88 Chevy snatched the record and the pole, leaving Johnson to settle for the third spot. Earnhardts objective was ending a 37-race drought and improving his seventh-place points standing coming in. Earnhardt succeeded with the latter, finishing 12th to gain a spot with nine races remaining in NASCARs regular season. Johnson eventually picked up where he left off in practice and qualifying, becoming the story on Sunday with the best car after several early lead changes. Edwards quickly got past Earnhardt after the green flag and led the first 32 laps, although a competition caution allowed Earnhardt to reclaim the lead with a two-tire stop, a strategy followed by the top 10. Denny Hamlin was one of those and restarted sixth on lap 36, but he quickly had to return to the pits when his right front tire went down. Hamlins misfortune quickly created concern for Earnhardt and Johnson when the rubber slid off the tire rim during his exit and flew back on to the track. Earnhardt ran over it, bending his splitters right side, before the tire flew off and bounced off Johnsons hood to bring out the races second caution on lap 39. A hard wreck later sent Hamlin to the infield care centre and left him 35th. "I had to take a moment when I got out of the car to kind of gather my thoughts because obviously I didnt feel that great," Hamlin said. The biggest incident came on lap 49 when Kurt Busch spun out Keselowski near turn 1, triggering an accident that red-flagged the race. Greg Biffle slammed into Keselowski, lifting his car off the asphalt and leaving both Fords mangled. Somehow, both returned to finish 33rd and 34th respectively. But at the time of the wreck Johnson had already taken his first lead of the race and appeared headed to a walkover victory before Ratcliffs risk resulted in Kenseths reward. Wholesale Nike Air Max From China . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/cheap-air-max-270/ . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Nike Air Max Sale . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Fake Nike Air Max Replica . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. PORTLAND, Ore. -- Russell Westbrooks seven-game streak of triple-doubles ended Sunday night in a 99-96 victory over the Boston Celtics.Its not as if a 37-point, 12-rebound, six-assist game is a disappointment. But Oklahoma Citys All-Star guard was closer to mortal against the Celtics.I know everybody likes to talk about the triple-doubles, OKC coach Billy Donovan told the media afterward. What hes done has been remarkable, but what he did (Sunday) wasnt any less remarkable, just because he didnt have a few more assists.Westbrook can try to start a new streak Tuesday night when the Thunder (15-9) visit the Portland Trail Blazers (12-14) at Moda Center. He may be without his backcourt mate, however.Victor Oladipo missed Mondays practice with a wrist sprained in a hard fall during the first quarter against Boston. Donovan said Oladipo, who is averaging 16.1 points and shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range, is questionable for the matchup with the Blazers.Westbrook says hes not concerned about his triple-double streak ending.A winning streak is more important to me, he said. I dont care about the (triple-double) streak. Thats a small part of my game. Whats important is trying to get a win.Oklahoma Citys winning streak is at just one game, but the Thunder have won seven of the last 10, thanks in no small part to center Steven Adams recent upsurge in offensive firepower. Adams scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting against the Celtics, two days after tallying 24 points while hitting 8 of 9 shots against Houston.ddddddddddddPortland (12-14) comes into Tuesdays game on a four-game losing streak after falling 121-120 to the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on Monday night. The Blazers opened a five-game trip with a 112-110 win at Chicago, then dropped four in a row.The Blazers have played plenty of good offense, and they did again against the Clippers, who have now beaten them three straight times this season. Damian Lillard had 24 points, eight assists and five rebounds; CJ McCollum contributed 25 points, five rebounds and three assists; and center Mason Plumlee collected 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots.Portland shot 50.8 percent, including 47.6 (10 for 21) from 3-point range, and fired at an 88 percent clip from the foul line. But defense, a problem all season long, was again an issue. The Clippers shot 47.2 percent from the field, .478 from the 3-point line and .929 from the foul line while committing only 11 turnovers.After the OKC game, it doesnt get easier for the Blazers, who head back onto the road for stops at Denver, Golden State and Sacramento.A 12-14 record isnt what we want, but its not the worst thing in the world, Lillard told reporters. There are teams below us. Things could be worse. But we also know weve got to be better. We came into this season expecting much more of ourselves. So thats disappointing. ' ' '