Its a double dose of Thursday night hoops as the battle of New York continues, and the defending champs head to the windy city to renew a rivalry. Watch the Knicks at Nets (TSN2) Tonight at 7pm et/4pm pt and Heat at Bulls (TSN2) Tonight at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt Thursdays showdown between the Knicks and Nets at Barclays Center was an anticipated matchup when the schedule came out and now seems like an ordinary game. The Knicks have lost nine a row and are just 3-13, while Brooklyn has dropped eight of 10 games for a 5-13 record. Both the Knicks and Nets are battling to stay out of the basement in the Atlantic Division. Actually, the Knicks are three games off the division lead and Brooklyn sits two back. "I just want to win, man," Knicks star Carmelo Anthony said. "I dont care about me having a big night. I want to win. I think that should be the mindset for everybody. Is it an important game for us? Yeah. Lets be quite frank about that. We are playing Brooklyn in their arena, one of our rivals, and we want to win." Anthony then said he wants to have a big game and that the team as a whole should have the same mentality. Anthony, the NBAs reigning leading scorer, is second in the league with 26.3 points per game and will see a familiar face on the opposing side in Nets head coach Jason Kidd. Kidd and Anthony were teammates last season in New York. "We have to get used to it," Anthony said of seeing Kidd. "Im still getting used to it because just a couple of months ago he had a uniform on with us. To see him in a suit now coaching ... trying to get used to that." A reporter told Anthony that Kidd was asked about Thursdays battle between the Knicks and Nets and responded, "we both stink right now." "We do. He wasnt lying about that. I mean we do," Anthony said with a smile. "For us we have to figure it out and try to turn it around ASAP. We have to play with some more energy, some more effort." Anthony, who has led the Knicks in scoring in all 16 games, also said, "we are the laughing stock of the league right now." New York suffered its ninth straight loss in Sundays 103-99 decision versus the New Orleans Pelicans and Anthony netted 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points off the bench and Andrea Bargnani chipped in 17 and seven rebounds for the Knicks, who are on the longest losing streak since dropping 10 in a row from Jan. 28 - Feb. 13, 2006. "Until we are able to take pride in guarding the ball, there are going to be nights like this," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "We needed some stops and we couldnt get them." J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton scored 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who havent won since Nov. 13 at Atlanta. Smith is probable Thursday because of a sore left knee and is averaging 11.7 points per game. The Knicks hope to stop a five-game road losing streak and are just 2-6 away from Madison Square Garden this season. Brooklyn is coming off Tuesdays 111-87 loss to the Denver Nuggets and is still without guards Deron Williams (ankle) and Jason Terry (knee), and forwards Paul Pierce (hand) and Andrei Kirilenko (back). Through 18 games this season, the Nets have lost a total of 41 games due to injury. Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche scored 22 and 15 points, respectively, for the Nets, while Brook Lopez and Tyshawn Taylor each finished with 12. "We sometimes cant put the ball in the basket and we stop playing on the other end," Kidd said after Brooklyns fifth straight loss at home. The Nets are 2-5 at Barclays Center this season. Johnson has scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, averaging 21.0 ppg in that time, and is four assists shy of 4,000 in his career. Kidd, meanwhile, made some news when he reassigned assistant coach Lawrence Frank to a lesser role. Kidd cited "different philosophies" for the switch. Brooklyn and New York will play the first of four matchups this season and split four games in 2012-13. The Knicks are 11-5 in the last 16 meetings with the Nets and have won four of five as the guest in this series. Anthony averaged 35.0 ppg in four games against Brooklyn last season. Williams, who is doubtful for Thursday, posted an average of 16.0 points and 11.5 assists in last seasons series (4 games). --- The Miami Heat will exit the comfy confines of home when they embark on a four-game road trip, starting with Thursdays matchup against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Miami had its season-high 10-game winning streak come to an end with Tuesdays 107-97 loss to the Detroit Pistons and played without guard Dwyane Wade because of sore knees. LeBron James once again led the Heat with 23 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. James has scored in double figures in 513 consecutive games. Moses Malone is next on the list at 526 games from Oct. 4, 1978 - March 4, 1985. Michael Beasley added 23 points off the bench and Chris Bosh registered 14 for the Heat, who were down 28-18 after the first quarter and trailed by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter. The Heat trimmed the Pistons lead to 91-88, but would get no closer the rest of the way. Detroit scored 29 points off 19 Miami turnovers and held the Heat to 43.9 percent shooting. The Heat will try to extend their road winning streak to six games Thursday and are 5-2 as the guest. Miami will also make stops in Minnesota, Detroit and Indiana. Meanwhile, Wade is probable against the Bulls and is averaging 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds this season. Wade has scored 20-plus points in four of his previous five games. Chicago opened its four-game homestand with Mondays 131-128 triple-overtime loss to the New Orleans Pelicans after going 1-5 on its previous road trip. The Bulls were outscored, 9-6, in the third extra period and suffered their first home loss of the season (5-1). Luol Deng did all he could to propel the Bulls to victory with 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Deng has tallied five straight games with 20 or more points, averaging 27.4 points per game in that stretch. Taj Gibson posted a career-best 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Mike Dunleavy netted 23 points. Chicago was coming off a late loss at Cleveland and is just 1-6 in the past seven games overall. "We are just one play away the last two games, but the games are there for us," Gibson told NBA.com. Joakim Noah ended with 19 points and 10 rebounds versus the Pelicans and Kirk Hinrich chipped in 13 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Hinrich, of course, is seeing more action with star guard Derrick Rose expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing another knee surgery. Rose is scheduled to address the media for the first time since his season- ending surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee after Thursdays shootaround. The Bulls, who are allowing just 94.6 ppg, still have Detroit and Milwaukee slated to visit the United Center, and suffered a 107-95 loss at Miami on Oct. 29. James had 17 points to lead seven players in double figures and Carlos Boozer scored a game-high 31 points to pace the Bulls, who have dropped four of six games against Miami. Miami has lost 10 of 13 trips to the Windy City. The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets had high expectations for this season, but so far both squads have disappointed. Alex Killorn Lightning Jersey . -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes Thursday for a 7-under 63 to take the lead after one round of the Honda Classic. Vincent Lecavalier Lightning Jersey . The union filed a grievance late Thursday, one day after Goodell suspended four players who participated in bounties from 2009-11. The complaint says Goodell is prohibited from punishing players for any aspect of the case occurring before the new collective bargaining agreement was signed last August. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Customized/. THE MICHAEL JORDAN FLU GAME First this famous basketball moment. The story goes like this. “Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordans most memorable. Yanni Gourde Jersey .com) - The Utah Jazz look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when the Denver Nuggets visit Salt Lake City Monday night. Tyler Johnson Jersey . Jimmy Howard made 44 saves and Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.GENEVA -- UEFA President Michel Platini has ordered an investigation after a Champions League referee failed to follow guidelines and stop a match to warn Russian fans about racist abuse. UEFA said on Friday its protocol for match officials to handle racism incidents "was not applied" during the CSKA Moscow-Manchester City match on Wednesday. "This protocol empowers the referee to stop the match and ask for a public address system announcement to be made urging spectators to stop such racist conduct," UEFA said in a statement. Platinis request puts 33-year-old Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan under scrutiny as well as the Russian club. UEFA has opened a disciplinary case against CSKA, prompted by complaints by City and midfielder Yaya Toure, who is black. Toure said he told Hategan during play about monkey noises being targeted at Citys black players by home fans. "UEFA must take their decision about that," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday of Platinis request. "We did all that we can do here, we cant do any more." Hategan, who has been a FIFA international list referee since 2008, did not stop play and ask stadium officials to broadcast a warning. It is the first step of UEFAs guidelines to deal with racist abuse in stadiums. If abuse continues, the second step in UEFAs protocol empowers referees to suspend a match and take teams off the pitch. The third is abandoning the match. UEFA said it will publish its investigation findings after the disciplinary case next Wednesday. Russian football authorities on Friday declined to condemn CSKA, the defending champion. The Russian Football Union said &quoot;CSKA fans have always been known for their loyalty to the club and proper behaviour at arenas," in a statement which expressed support for FIFA and UEFA efforts to tackle racism.dddddddddddd Russian league chief executive Sergey Cheban, who attended the match at Khimki Arena, told The Associated Press "there was not an incident." "Maybe a misunderstanding. The stadium is relatively small. The acoustics are very special in there as well. So maybe just a misunderstanding," Cheban said through an interpreter at a meeting of European leagues in Paris. The incident has directed attention at Russian footballs issues with racism ahead of the country hosting the 2018 World Cup. The 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine raised the profile of UEFAs guidelines for referees, who have had authority since 2009 to halt matches and deal with racist abuse. UEFA insisted ahead of Euro 2012 there was a clear protocol in place after Italy forward Mario Balotelli, who is black, suggested he would walk off the pitch if targeted for abuse. CSKA has questioned whether any racially motivated abuse was used, even as it issued a statement on Thursday regretting the incident. "Having carefully studied the video of the game, we found no racist insults from CSKA supporters to the guests," the club said. CSKA has increasing influence in European football through its director Evgeni Giner. Giner sits on the Platini-chaired UEFA strategy council, as one of four delegates representing European clubs. Giner also sits on UEFAs club competitions committee which makes key recommendations about running the Champions League. ' ' '