g three in a row and six of nine.The Bulls have beaten two of the NBAs best teams in the past week in the Spurs and defending champion Cleveland. But the

DENVER -- It might have been the most important two innings of the season when?Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw completed a simulated outing Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. It was his first time facing hitters in 45 days.Kershaw, who has been out since June 26 because of a back injury, is trying to get back to the Dodgers at some point in September, and Tuesdays outing was a major part of the process.It was a great step in his progression, said team president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who is with the club in Colorado. He felt great after, which is obviously everything he cared about. As we knew he would do, he said he was not as sharp as he wanted to be, but hes always going to say that. The most important thing is that he felt great, and we will assess tomorrow what the next steps are.Manager Dave Roberts suggested that in one scenario, Kershaw could be back with the Dodgers on the next homestand and could pitch a four-inning outing as he builds up his length. It seems more likely, though, that a minor league rehab outing would be next.My guess is that Kersh will want to pitch in a major league game tomorrow, Friedman said. With the time that hes missed, my guess is that the next step will be a minor league assignment. I think it will take a little bit of time to build him up in a way for him to be strong through September and hopefully October as well.Kershaw was hurtling toward a fourth Cy Young Award -- and a possible National League MVP award -- when his back sabotaged him after a start at Pittsburgh. He was diagnosed with a mild disk herniation at the time. He went through the initial rehab process, and on July 16, he tried to throw a simulated game, similar to Tuesdays, but had a setback that forced him to start his rehab all over again.The Dodgers are trying to be careful with Kershaws rehab process, knowing their staff ace will push himself as hard as he can to return. Friedman said Kershaw has a lot of input in the process.But you have to also balance that with the fact that hes as competitive a person as I have ever been around, and he wants to get out here and help this team in the worst way, Friedman said. Well have to balance the medical opinion with how he is doing and feeling and getting him back as soon as we can, but in the most responsible way possible.Kershaw was 11-2 after his first 16 starts and had a 1.79 ERA. Most incredible of all, he had 145 strikeouts and just nine walks in 121 innings and was pitching at a level beyond what he had shown before.?What he will be like when he returns remains to be seen. When he returns is also up in the air. Friedman was asked if its possible that Kershaw could have a second minor league start, in a playoff game, before he comes back.I dont know, Friedman said. All of this is speculative. We will see how hes doing tomorrow. But the most important thing is that he got through today feeling really good. Well kind of lay out the next steps tomorrow. Nike Air Max Sale . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Cheap Air Max 270 .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/ .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. Fake Nike Air Max Replica . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Discount Nike Air Max Wholesale . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. CHICAGO -- It wasnt that they finally lost a road game and had their shot at a record dashed.No, what bothered the San Antonio Spurs was the disturbingly slow start.Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and the Chicago Bulls handed the Spurs their first road loss after a 13-0 start, hanging for a 95-91 victory on Thursday night.San Antonio fell one win shy of matching the NBAs best road start set by the Golden State Warriors last season. The Spurs cut an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter to four in the closing minutes, only to come up short.Streaks are a good sign when theyre positive and theyre a bad sign when theyre negative, but at the end of the day, it doesnt give you anything else, said Pau Gasol, the former Bull.Hes more concerned that the Spurs keep struggling early in games. It could be San Antonio is still adjusting after a busy offseason that included the retirement of Tim Duncan and the addition of several new faces to complement Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Even so, the Spurs need that to change.Our opponents have outplayed us physically and execute-wise in most first halves for most of the season, and somehow we pull it together in the second half and play harder and smarter than we did in the first half, coach Gregg Popovich said. We got it to four, then some execution mistakes. Thats the disappointing part, that were not a very consistent team and we havent learned as a group the game is 48 minutes.Leonard scored 24 for San Antonio. Patty Mills added 16 points, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers. Gasol had 13 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in Chicago since signing with San Antonio in the summer, but the Spurs lost a road game for the first time since Oklahoma City knocked them out in the Western Conference semifinals last season.Jimmy Butler scored all of his 13 points for Chicago in the second half. Rajon Rondo added 12 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds, and Chicago picked up the win after dropping three in a row and six of nine.The Bulls have beaten two of the NBAs best teams in the past week in the Spurs and defending champion Cleveland. But they also lost to Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas and Detroit during this slump.dddddddddddd.Its a long season, Wade said. We have time to fix it. We could play with good teams in this league home or road, but we still have time to fix that. As long as we understand what we need to do, what we have 60 games left, whatever it is, we have a lot of games to fix that so hopefully we can.STREAK ENDSThe Spurs had won 14 straight regular season road games since Denver beat them on April 8. But after a big push down the stretch, they couldnt pull out this one.The Bulls led 65-47 midway through the third following a surge by Butler, who scored seven in a 54-second span after missing his first six shots. But the Spurs jumped back into it in the closing minutes of the quarter.They went on an 11-2 run that Mills finished with a 3 to cut it to 72-66 just under a minute into the fourth.Things got real tight when Gasol nailed a 3 to pull San Antonio within 88-84 with 3:24 left. Doug McDermott then hit three free throws after being fouled by Tony Parker, and the Bulls hung on.WELCOME BACKGasol spent two seasons with Chicago and forgot for a moment where to go when he arrived at the United Center. The six-time All-Star was halfway to the Chicago locker room when he realized his mistake and turned around. The Bulls showed a video tribute to Gasol during a timeout midway through the first quarter.TIP-INSSpurs: Parker had eight points and five assists after missing a game because of a bruised left knee. ... For the second straight game, the Spurs set a season low for first-quarter scoring. They had 17 points after managing 19 at Minnesota on Tuesday night.Bulls: McDermott scored eight points after being sidelined because of a concussion since Nov. 12. ... Butler had scored 20 or more in 15 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Bulls player since Michael Jordan did it in 24 straight during the 1995-96 season.UP NEXTSpurs: Host Brooklyn on Saturday night.Bulls: Host Miami on Saturday night. ' ' '