The Chicago Bulls begin another playoff run without Derrick Rose on Sunday night when they welcome the Washington Wizards to the United Center. Kevin De Bruyne Jersey . Catch the game as the first half of a doubleheader on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Chicago is in the postseason for a sixth straight year and for the second time without Rose because of lingering knee issues. The Bulls got by without Rose in the first round last season, using a full seven-game series to dispose of the Brooklyn Nets, but the eventual two-time NBA champion Miami Heat bounced the Bulls in five games in the East semifinals. Now the Bulls are taking on a young and inexperienced Wizards team that won two of three meetings against them in the regular season. The Wizards have to play the first two games in the Windy City, where they are just 5-15 in the last 20 games. "The Wizards are a tough team, tough, tough team," said Chicago sixth man Taj Gibson. "They gave us so many problems in the regular season; great shooters. They got some great bigs in Nene and (Marcin) Gortat. John Wall is playing some phenomenal basketball. Bradley Beal is playing great basketball, too. Their bench is loaded up. Its going to be tough." When Rose went down early this season, the Bulls became Joakim Noahs team, although defense is still their calling card. Chicago finished tops in the NBA in opponents scoring (93.7 ppg) and second in opponents shooting percentage (43.2). The Bulls have ranked no lower than third in opponents scoring in head coach Tom Thibodeaus four seasons at the helm. Noah is headed toward a possible Defensive Player of the Year award, but his offensive game is what carried the Bulls. He averaged 12.6 points and led the Bulls with 11.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. Noah played an integral part for Chicagos top defense, but also averaged a career-high 5.4 assists. Chicago won an Eastern Conference-best 36 games since Jan. 1 and won seven in a row before closing out the season with two losses in three tries. Washington is wet behind the ears when it comes to recent postseason appearances. It has returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08, when it lost in six games to a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wizards are facing the Bulls for the third time in the postseason, as they were swept 3-0 back in the first round of the 1997 playoffs and won a best-of- seven series 4-2 in 2005. "I feel like we like our chances against anybody if we play the right way," said Wall, who averaged 20.7 points, 8.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in three games versus the Bulls this season. "We just have to go out there and play the way we know how to play, and play the defense were capable of playing. Were here and were focused and will try to leave a statement and see where it takes us." The Wizards received a big boost with the return of veteran big man, Nene. He missed a ton of time in the middle of the season, but came back for four games at the end. He averaged 14.3 points and should come in handy against the bruising frontline of Chicago. Washington took advantage of a weaker Eastern Conference to reach the playoffs and went 19-11 after the break. The Wizards closed the regular season with four straight wins and eight in the last 11 games. Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets Two of the leagues best offensive units take center stage Sunday night when the Houston Rockets host the Portland Trail Blazers at the Toyota Center. Catch the game as the tail end of a doubleheader on TSN2 starting at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. The Rockets are the NBAs second-ranked offense at 107.7 ppg, followed by the Trail Blazers, who are fourth with 106.9 ppg. Houston secured the home-court advantage with a win on Monday against the NBAs best, the San Antonio Spurs. "We fought hard for it. It took a little longer than I hoped but we knew we had to get 54 wins and we got there with one to spare," said Rockets coach Kevin McHale. The matchup between the two squads has been decidedly in Houstons favor over the last few seasons. The Rockets have won nine of the last 12 meetings, including three of four this season. "Its the West. We dont care who were going to play, its going to be tough anyway," said Portland forward Nicolas Batum. "Houston is a good team, a great team. Theyve got a good group of players. We match up pretty well with them. Weve had good games, tough games." The Rockets were believed to be a serious contender for an NBA title when they signed prized free agent Dwight Howard in the offseason. Along with All-Star guard James Harden, they form a formidable one-two punch. Portland, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise this season. The Blazers hadnt made the playoffs the last two seasons, but the core group stayed healthy and the bench improved significantly. These two teams met in the first round back in 2009, but oh how different they both are just five years later. Houston has no players on the roster from that team, which was led by Yao Ming, while only LaMarcus Aldridge and Batum remain for the Blazers. "It wont be easy. It is going to be fun," said Batum. "Excited finally for playoffs to start because we wait too much for that, now almost three years, so ready to start." The Rockets got healthy at the right time. Howard missed significant time late in the season with an ankle injury and starting point guard Patrick Beverley was shelved with a knee problem. Both came back before the end of the season and should be all-clear for the playoffs. Portland is healthy. This matchup is so even, down to the matching 54-28 records. Each team had two All-Stars in Howard and Harden for Houston and Aldridge and Damian Lillard for Portland. As expected due to both teams high offensive output, defense has suffered. The Blazers ranked 22nd in opponents scoring, while the Rockets were one rung below. "Its going to be a great series," said Harden. "There are so many guys that can score for them and for us. Its going to be a matter of the small things: who can limit their turnovers and rebound the basketball." Divock Origi Jersey . -- Martin Kaymer never lost sight of opportunity even amid so much evidence of trouble in the closing stretch Sunday at The Players Championship. Dedryck Boyata Jersey .com) - The collective hearts of Chicago Bulls fans sank on Friday night when Derrick Rose went down with a leg injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers. http://www.belgiumsoccerauthority.com/toby-alderweireld-belgium-jersey/ .The seventh-seeded Raonic was scheduled to play U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan, but was replaced in the Group B pool by Spanish substitute David Ferrer.Raonic, who was 0-2 at the year-end event, said he suffered the injury late in the first set of Tuesdays 6-3, 7-6 loss to Murray.The Big Nog vs Big Country bout is the talk of the MMA world right now but that is not the reason for this article. My seventh week of fight ready fitness had me arguing flexibility and conditioning with a few people. The comment that got me riled up was that Heavyweights run out of gas all the time. That turned into them also not being able to do jujitsu, they arent flexible or able to move. Well Ive been working on my conditioning, and I wont be testing it in the octagon any time soon but it did have me jump to the defense of Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, and Roy Nelson, all three high level athletes and all with enough gas in the tank to get some outstanding fights on their highlight reels. It wasnt just the decision that they werent fit. Thats a product of their training practices. Lots of heavyweights have a problem pushing themselves on conditioning because they dont have partners who can last in training. What got to me was the flexibility comment. There are a lot of jujitsu experts who are small, and flexible. They make it look easy to wrap people up, and bend in strange ways. Thats not usually the case with heavyweights. However, there are people who work at changing the paradigm. Frank Mir, and Big Nog are both prime examples. Mousa Dembele Jersey. Watch them move while they fight, it is impressive. To prove the flexibility issue, I posted a picture on my Instagram @fitcityjordan. Its me attempting the splits. Im actually not too far off. Im going to spend the last little bit of my training time here doing Yoga, specifically something called Joga. Its a newer form of Yoga focused at athletes. Ive done a few classes, and Im impressed at how much it focuses on an athletes need to move, and flush lactic acid post training. Im hoping the next picture I post on Instagram of me doing the splits will be right to the floor. Im 63 and right now between 218 and 220lbs. It depends on the meal the night before. Before you go judging an athlete, start giving the training some time. Get out and sign up for kickboxing. Spend a few evenings rolling on the jujitsu mats, and yes head to Yoga. I found Sandy Grewinski at Yoga Public in Winnipeg. Her coaching style and the Yoga Public facility are the best addition to my wellness and total fitness that Ive found in a long time. Go find your new best friends. They are probably Yoga people. Nicest people youll ever meet. Something to be said for trying to live stress free. China Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '