hopeful of being activated off the disabled list late next week and of meeting the

NEW YORK -- Neither Shaun Livingston nor the Nets were expecting to see the backup point guard playing this many minutes in his first season in Brooklyn. Eric Bledsoe Bucks Jersey . On a team dealing with a rash of injuries all season, Livingston has been one of the key figures in the Nets revival after a dismal start. Starting alongside Deron Williams with All-Star guard Joe Johnson sidelined, Livingstons seventh steal of the night with 5.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter helped sealed Brooklyns win 108-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. "Ive been on the wings obviously guarding some of the better scorers, but just trying to be active, be disruptive and help my teammates," said Livingston, who also had 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Deron Williams added 21 for the Nets, who stopped a three-game losing streak. The Nets saw their first big lead of the night, a 15-point advantage, go to waste in the first half as Philadelphia managed to take a 44-37 late in the second quarter before Brooklyn answered back with a 17-5 run to head into the half with a 54-49 lead. Brooklyn then seemed like it was about to run away with the game with a strong start to the third quarter, relying on its defence to force some key turnovers. After a bad pass turnover by Philadelphias Tony Wroten, Livingston found Williams for a 3-pointer that made it 78-59 with 4:21. Trailing 84-69 to start the fourth quarter, the 76ers made nine of 10 shots and James Andersons 3-pointer made it 104-102 with 22 seconds left. Pierce, who made all 14 free throws, hit a pair after Michael Carter-Williams fouled him to increase Brooklyns lead to 106-102 and Livingston sealed the victory by intercepting Carter-Williams pass, Philadelphias 26th turnover of the night, and converting a pair of free throws to put it away. Livingston has come a long way since that awful knee injury almost seven years ago as a 21-year-old with the Los Angeles Clippers. In 45 games for the Nets, the 6-foot-7 point guard has averaged 7.8 points and 3.1 assists over 24.6 minutes. As a starter, hes logged 29.2 minutes in 23 games, posting 9.4 points, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, showing flashes of the player that was supposed to be part of the Clippers future before his injury. "Honestly, Im not trying to jinx it and think about it. Its a situation where I know where Ive come from, mentally as well," Livingston said, adding that hes leaned on Kevin Garnett on how to manage his body. "I just want to continue my same confidence, continue to play with the same confidence and I give credit to (Nets coach) Jason (Kidd) as well because I talk to him every day. Just getting a chance to pick his brain gives me confidence and to see the confidence that he has in me as well." The Nets had lost to division leaders Toronto, Oklahoma City and Indiana after starting 2014 by winning 10 of their first 11 games, but got back on track against a Philadelphia team that has lost 13 of its last 16 games. Carter-Williams scored 21 points for the 76ers, who have lost three straight. Wroten had 18 off the bench and Thaddeus Young added 17. The Nets scored 32 points off Philadelphia turnovers. "I think we had some careless turnovers. We tried to force some shots that led to turnovers," Carter-Williams said. 76ers coach Brett Brown wished his team could have kept those mistakes down like they did in the final quarter, when they had just two turnovers. "Isnt that amazing? You actually get to shoot and have a chance to score," the first-year coach said. Mirza Teletovic had 20 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers. Johnson was held out of the game due to tendinitis in his right knee. The Nets were also without reserve forwards Andrei Kirilenko, who missed his last three games with a sore right calf, and Andray Blatche, who was out with a sore hip. NOTES: Former team minority owner and rapper Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, took in the game, sitting next to Russell Wilson, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. . Brooklyns 15 steals were a season-high. . Garnett recorded five blocks, making him the 18th player in NBA history with 2,000 career blocks. Sterling Brown Jersey . The No. 23 seed at the first Grand Slam event of the tennis season has worked out all the details, from his training regime right down to where hes going to eat dinner. George Hill Bucks Jersey . The 26-year-old Sobotka injured his left leg playing for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Blues said he would not recover from the injury in time for the Olympic tournament. https://www.bucksrookiesshop.com/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night.TORONTO - Forgive Max Pentecost if his attentions divided this weekend. The Blue Jays second pick in the first round (11th overall) is competing in this weekends NCAA super regional for his school, Kennesaw State, against the Louisville Cardinals. All the while, he could be days or weeks away from signing a multi-million dollar contract to turn professional and enter Torontos organization. Pentecosts Owls were down a game in a best-of-three heading into action on Saturday night. Hes got business to take care of first but with a draft slot value at just under $2.9-million, the potential is there to strike it rich. Still, when you hear him speak in his southern drawl, its a reminder that the 21-year-old, like everyone his age, is in many ways still a kid. "I cant wait to get out there and go play," said Pentecost. "Theres going to be one day where Im going to have to clean out my locker and putter around home just because my parents had to move me out of my apartment while we were coming to the super regionals." Selected in the seventh round of the 2011 draft by the Texas Rangers, Pentecost chose not to sign when the Rangers included a 90-day clause in the contract offer, a shield against a recurring injury he suffered in high school. In Pentecosts sophomore year at Winder-Barrow High School near Atlanta, he suffered a stress fracture of his olecranon, which is the bony point of the elbow. He was prescribed rest and rehabilitation. It didnt work and the injury recurred during his junior year. Another season of rest and rehab didnt work and Pentecost suffered the injury a third time in his senior year. He had surgery, two screws were implanted, and there hasnt been an issue since. "I looked at it as I can go to college, work on a degree and if anything I can show them I can play three or four years without the injury recurring," said Pentecost. "I can play healthy and thankfully I was blessed enough to have a good career and improve my stock." His faith in himself has been rewarded. Pentecost has improved as a hitter in each of his thhree years at Kennesaw State, working a slash line of . Luke Maye Bucks Jersey. 23/.483/.631 this season. "I feel that Im more of a hit for average, Im more of a gap to gap, line drive kind of guy," said Pentecost. "I have power but Im not known as a power hitter. You know, it just kind of happens. I feel like I have pretty decent speed for baserunning, for stealing bags. I usually have a pretty good approach, hit offspeed well."Growing up in Georgia, Pentecost admitted he doesnt know much about the city of Toronto. He joked about his time in the Cape Cod League, the collegiate summer circuit in Massachusetts, where he picked up French-language radio stations beaming out of Quebec. It was his time in "The Cape," as its known, when he hit .346/.424/.538 with seven home runs for the Bourne Braves, that Pentecost feels he made his name. "I think thats the only reason I am where I am today," said Pentecost. "Going up there, nobody really knew who I was or had never even heard of Kennesaw State. So going up there I felt like I was really going to have to prove myself and prove my game just to prove who I am. I made a lot of changes to my game, really played hard, enjoyed it. The overall experience was, I mean, it was just a blast." Pentecost cites Jason Kendall and, more recently, Buster Posey as players hes looked up to. He considers himself a versatile athlete; if the catching thing doesnt work out, he could play a corner infield position or in the outfield. First things first, Pentecosts got a game to win on Saturday night. Hell worry about becoming a millionaire later, although getting the draft out of the way will help him relax. "Its a huge weight off my shoulders," he said. SANTOS UPDATE Sergio Santos will throw a bullpen session in Toronto on Sunday. If all goes well, hell report to Single-A Dunedin on Monday. The plan, Santos says, is to throw an inning each on Tuesday and Thursday. Hes hopeful of being activated off the disabled list late next week and of meeting the team in Baltimore. ' ' '