Ryan Flaherty led off with a double, Hundley followed with ano

NEW YORK -- Paul Pierce drove his shoulder right into LeBron James, a post-season foul in a preseason game. A message to the NBA champions? "Its a message to the league," Pierce said. The Brooklyn Nets showed the defensive toughness Pierce said will be their identity, smothering the Miami Heat 86-62 on Thursday night after retiring coach Jason Kidds number. Brook Lopez scored 14 points for the Nets on a night that peaked with the pregame. Kidds No. 5 was lifted to the Barclays Center rafters during a ceremony a few minutes before the tip, honouring him for leading the franchise to its greatest NBA success. The game itself could have used the jolt Kidd provided when the Nets acquired him in 2001. Except for a few James highlights, it was typical exhibition play, with starters resting and subs misfiring for much of the night. But theres already a hint this could become a rivalry when the games do count, as Miami-Boston was before the Celtics traded Pierce and Garnett to Brooklyn. A day earlier, James noted that those two shouldnt have been so hard on Ray Allen when he opted to leave the Celtics for the Heat, since Pierce and Garnett ended up leaving themselves -- though Allen was a free agent and the pair was traded. "Tell LeBron worry about Miami," Garnett said when asked about James comments. "He has nothing to do with Celtic business." James and Chris Bosh each finished with 16 points for the Heat, who shot 32 per cent and did next to nothing in the 20 minutes James wasnt on the floor. "Weve got so many guys out, were just trying to get better and not waste an opportunity to get better," James said. "I think we did that at phases. Obviously, we dont have all our guys playing, but when guys were in the game, they played, worked hard." The Nets believe their acquisition of Pierce and Garnett, along with a number of other moves, has given them a roster that can compete with the Heat in the Eastern Conference. All that could really be told from this game was that the Nets appear to have a better back end of their bench. Miami managed just 12 points in the second quarter, when it went mostly with reserves and fell behind 44-28. Dwyane Wade sat out for the Heat and Deron Williams is still sidelined by a sprained ankle for the Nets, but the exhibition at times had a playoff feel to it thanks to the rivalry among some of the veterans. James was dribbling quickly up the floor in the first quarter and Pierce simply threw his shoulder into James for a foul that stopped the fast break. Garnett played only 10 minutes. Kidd led the Nets to consecutive NBA Finals as a player and became the sixth member of the franchise to have his number retired. A few former teammates attended the ceremony, while taped messages from Kenyon Martin, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson were shown during breaks in the game. Key reserves Allen and Chris Andersen also sat out for the Heat, while the Nets remained without Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko from their bench. The teams will meet again in Brooklyn on Nov. 1 in the Nets home opener. Marshon Lattimore Womens Jersey .J. -- The New Jersey Devils are so bad in shootouts, coach Pete DeBoer doesnt mind seeing his team take chances in the five-minute overtime. Marcus Davenport Womens Jersey .Y. -- Mark Steenhuis scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Buffalo Bandits over the Toronto Rock 12-10 in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Sheldon-Rankins-Saints-Jersey/ . - Jason Day and Cameron Tringale shot an 8-under 64 on Friday in modified alternate-shot play to increase their lead to three strokes in the Franklin Templeton Shootout. Rickey Jackson Jersey .J. -- The New York Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr. Ted Ginn Jr Saints Jersey . The 26-year-old Regina native teamed up with Denny Morrison and Mathieu Giroux to win gold in 2010. Makowsky also was 13th in the 5,000 metres and 19th in the 1,500m in Vancouver. He also represented Canada at the 2014 Games in Sochi, helping the pursuit team finish fourth and finishing 28th in the 1,500. BALTIMORE -- Baltimore manager Buck Showalter is running out of adjectives to describe how much Steve Pearce has meant to the Orioles this season. Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. The Rangers have lost nine consecutive road games -- their longest skid since 2005 when Showalter was Texas manager. Baltimore (46-39) completed its first four-game sweep against the Rangers since 2004 and improved to a season-high seven games over .500. The Orioles managed the feat while playing without All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who is serving a five game suspension for throwing his bat on June 8 against Oakland. "Were relying on some people, and people are stepping up," Pearce said. "Were pitching, were hitting. Were having timely hitting. Were finding ways to get it done." Chen (8-3) allowed two runs and six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings. He is 4-0 in four starts against Texas with a 1.67 ERA. Left-hander Zach Britton earned his 12th save and hasnt allowed a run in 21 consecutive relief appearances. Pearce, who was released at the end of April and then re-signed, had eight RBIs in the four-game series. Since the beginning of June, he is 31 for 81 (.383) with nine doubles and 17 RBIs. Nick Hundley had two of Baltimores six doubles and scored twice. Texas right-hander Yu Darvish, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, was pushed back one day after rain delayed the start of the game. With the threat of more rain after a nearly one-hour delay, Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to use long reliever Scott Baker against Baltimore and save Darvish until Friday night when Texas will take on the Mets in New York. The game, however, didnt have another delay. The Orioles are scheduled to play an afternoon game in Boston on Friday. "Its so hard to win a four-game series, or three out of four, in the major leagues," Showalter said. "The guys kept a real intensity level through the rain delay, not knowing whether we were going to play or not. So many dynamics of whats going on with the 1:30 game (Friday), and weather issues there, getting in and out tonight." Baker (0-2) allowed three runs and seven hits with two strikeoutts and one intentional walk in 4 2-3 innings.dddddddddddd. Shin-Soo Choo hit his eighth homer of the season for Texas (37-48), which has lost 13 of 15. "Bake was on alert (Wednesday) when we knew of the weather," Washington said. "It wasnt all of a sudden that Bake would be the guy. He knew coming into today that it was going to be a possibility so he prepared. He went out there and did a good job for us." It was the first time in the Orioles last 34 wins that they didnt hit a homer. Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Pearce hit a one-out RBI single to left. Texas responded the next inning when Carlos Penas grounder to second scored Adrian Beltre, who led off with a single. Choo made it 2-1 with a solo shot off Chen in the fifth. "I knew it was going to be delayed from the start so I just went through my routine and waited for the notice that the game was going to start," Chen said through a translator. "So, it wasnt all that difficult. Six innings is the baseline for a starter, so I feel content but I do hope that next time I can go further, deeper in the game." Baltimore regained the lead at 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning. After Ryan Flaherty led off with a double, Hundley followed with another double, and scored on Pearces double to centre. "I probably ran out of gas at the end a little bit," Baker said. "It was pretty muggy out there. It was kind of hard to catch your breath. I would have liked to have made some better pitches, especially that fifth inning. You just cant expect to give a couple of doubles and then them not to score. I would have liked to have had a better showing." The Orioles added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Adam Jones and an RBI single by Chris Davis. NOTES: Baltimore OF Henry Urrutia (sports hernia surgery) will begin a rehab assignment next week. ... Baltimore RHP Bud Norris (strained right groin) took fielding drills, and is expected to throw a bullpen session or simulated game on Friday. Norris is eligible to come off the DL on Monday and could start that night against Washington. ... The Rangers used a new batting order for the 18th consecutive game. ... Pena went 0 for 3 and is mired in a 3 for 33 slump since being promoted from Triple-A Round Rock on June 24. ' ' '