CLEVELAND -- On the final day, the Nets rested. Joique Bell Jersey For Sale . Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat all of his starters and some key reserves for the season finale against the Cavaliers so theyre ready for the playoffs. The Nets entered Wednesday nights game with the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, but could drop to No. 6 with a loss and if Washington wins in Boston. Kidd is sitting Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson and Shaun Livingston, and the Nets will dress just eight players. Hell start Jorge Gutierrez, Marquis Teague, Andray Blatche, Marcus Thornton -- a group that made a combined seven starts this season. Kidd quickly dismissed the idea he was intentionally trying to lose the game so the Nets (44-37) would avoid playing Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. Brooklyn lost to the Bulls in the opening round a year ago. "I dont catch everybody what they say or write," he said before changing the subject. The Nets, who were 11 games under .500 on Dec. 31, have lost three of four. They were beaten at home by the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. Kidd will head into his first post-season as a coach with a roster loaded with playoff experience, which makes the Nets a dangerous draw. "Ive been blessed to have a great group of guys throughout the slow start, the turnaround and so to have guys who won championships and know what it takes to win a championship in that locker room, to be able to start on the road -- all that comes with experience," Kidd said. "Weve covered all those questions." Matthew Stafford Elite Jersey . "Yeah, [I heard them]," he said. "They made me miss the free throw." A year ago, Lowrys post-game antics may not have been so well received but what was snide and snarky is now endearing quick wit. Nick Fairley Jersey . The Texas Rangers quickly got even, and the right-hander felt like he was starting over when he got back on the mound.DENVER -- Patrick Roy was at a rare loss for words. The subject that silenced the Hall of Fame goaltender? Himself and possible records. These days, Roy is far more interested in keeping his team rolling than setting records. But they sort of go hand-in-hand at the moment. The Colorado Avalanche won their sixth straight with a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, allowing Roy to tie the NHL mark for victories to start a coaching career. He shares the record with Mario Tremblay, who won his first six games with Montreal in 1995-96, a team Roy played for before being traded to the Avalanche later that season. Tremblay played a big role in the trade after not pulling Roy out of a game soon enough in a lopsided loss. Now, theyre linked -- again -- in league history. For the moment, anyway. Roy can break that mark Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings, one of Roys biggest rivals as a player. "I dont know what to say. And that doesnt happen to me very often," Roy said. "I certainly appreciate more the way our guys played than appreciate breaking a record or something like this. "Im not really excited about that record, to be honest with you. Im excited about looking at the way the team has been playing, how hard the team has been working." Matt Duchene scored twice and Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 shots as the Avs moved within a win of tying the franchises best start. The organization was 7-0 in 1985-86 as the Quebec Nordiques. Another possible mark to set. Not that Roy looks at it quite like that. "Were playing with a lot of confidence," he said. "We dont want to lose our confidence." Rich Peverley and Cody Eakin had goals for the Stars, who dropped their second straight road game despite outshooting Avs 41-26. Dallas pulled Dan Ellis with more than a minute remaining, but couldnt score the equalizer on Varlamov, who turned back Alex Chiassons final shot with 1 second remaining. Varlamov came up big all third period, including a point-blank stop of Tyler Seguin. "I guess goaltending is crucial in this league," Roy said, grinning. "You need some good goaltending every night, thats what weve been lucky with. ... Thats a game where Varly -- that was a steal from him." Jamie Benn couldnt agree more. &"He played another great game and sometimes you have to give them credit," Benn said. Nick Fairley Jersey For Sale. Duchene earned the 200th point of his NHL career with the winning goal 14:18 into the second period. With Varlamov on the bench for an extra skater following a delayed penalty against Dallas, Duchene flew into the zone and beat Ellis with a shot just inside the top of the net. That goal came 3:20 after Eakin tied the game with a power-play goal, the first the Avs have allowed this season. Jan Hejda gave the Avs a 2-1 lead with 7 seconds left in the opening period when the defenceman took a shot from near the blue line and it deflected through the legs of Ellis. A few minutes earlier, Duchene intercepted an errant pass down low and beat Ellis with a shot over the goalies right shoulder. Dallas also capitalized on a turnover for its first goal, when Gabriel Landeskog lost the puck while making a move toward the net. Seguin quickly corralled it and sent a perfect pass ahead to Peverley, who beat Varlamov with a low liner 4:18 into the game. It was the first goal Colorado has allowed in the first period all season. "It was probably our best skating game, probably our best game on a chance sheet and Varlamov came up with beauties," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere have been difficult to beat this season in net. The duo earned the NHLs second star of the week after combining for three wins. Energized by the excitable Roy, the Avalanche have been playing with plenty of confidence this season. Hes given them a simple message -- play with passion -- and theyve run with it. "You can tell hes been a player, because he yells the same stuff were yelling to each other," Landeskog said. "The passion and how calm he is, both on the bench and here, in meetings -- he spreads that calm." Roy, calm? He nearly knocked over a glass partition when he was screaming at Anaheims Bruce Boudreau after a 6-1 win to open his Colorado coaching career. "He might raise his voice, but hes still calm," Landeskog said. NOTES: The Stars placed G Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve, retroactive to Friday. ... The two goals are the most Colorado has allowed this season. ... The Avalanche are now 6-0 like Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. ' ' '
