~~**PINNWAND**~~ » wasnt because he was missing. He was just

Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - The queen is still on top, but her reign has some worthy challengers. South Koreas Kim Yuna began her quest for a second straight Olympic gold medal by posting the top score on Wednesday in the womens short program at the Sochi Olympics. But Kims advantage is slim. She scored a 74.92 as the 17th performer and her lead held solid until Italys Carolina Kostner put together a routine that netted her a score of 74.12. Russias Adelina Sotnikova then sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a routine that scored at 74.64, putting her a mere .28 behind Kim, known in her home country as Queen Yuna. Canadas Kaetlyn Osmond damaged her short program with a heavy stumble en route to a score of 56.18. She is currently 13th. Kims score on Wednesday was good enough to put her first going into Thursdays free skate, with medals awarded following that event. Kim, a two- time world champion, is aiming to become the first repeat gold medalist in the ladies singles since Katarina Witt in 1984 and 88. The 23-year-old used a score of 78.50 in the short program en route to gold four years ago in Vancouver and was solid in Sochi despite a foot injury suffered in September that held her out of action until December. Japans Mao Asada, who won a silver four years ago, fell during her routine and was 16th with a score of 55.51. The U.S. saw its three skaters finish in the top seven, led by Gracie Golds score of 68.63 that landed her in fourth. Ashley Wagner was sixth following a score of 65.21, putting her behind 15- year-old Russian fan-favorite Yulia Lipnitskaya. She earned a score of 65.23 despite a fall during her routine on a triple flip. Another 15-year-old had a solid showing in American Polina Edmunds, who set a new season-best with a score of 61.04 to put her in seventh place. The American woman have something to prove after failing to win an Olympic medal for the first time since 1964 four years ago in Vancouver. In fact, theres only been one U.S. medalist in the ladies singles in the past two Olympics and that was a silver by Sasha Cohen in 2006. Cheap Running Shoes Australia . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. Wholesale Running Shoes Australia . Donald Young lost in straight sets to Israels Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-0. Querrey, ranked No. 61, is the second-highest ranked American, ahead of Johnson (64). http://www.wholesalerunningshoesaustralia.com/.com) - Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 11. Clearance Running Shoes . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. Discount Running Shoes Online . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. DALLAS -- Monta Ellis dribbled near midcourt with the clock winding down in a sluggish first half for the Dallas Mavericks. He made a pullup jumper off that isolation play, triggering a big finish for Dallas new playmaker. Ellis scored 24 points, including 13 in the third quarter when Dallas took its first lead, and the Mavericks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 97-94 Monday night. Ellis had 19 points in the second half and added a game-high 10 assists and two of Dallas 11 blocked shots. "I dont think I was being aggressive enough in the first half," said Ellis, who has scored at least 18 points in all 11 games with the Mavericks, the longest streak to start a career in Dallas. "We werent clicking as a team. They took us out of our game." Two nights after a 37-point loss in New Orleans and playing without budding star Michael Carter-Williams for the fourth straight game because of a foot injury, the Sixers held the Mavericks scoreless for the first 5 minutes and led by 10 in the first half. Even after losing its lead for good late in the third quarter, Philadelphia stayed close behind Evan Turner, Tony Wroten and some late 3-pointers from James Anderson. Turner had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Wroten had 19 points and five steals. The Sixers were down six with just 30 seconds left, but one of 20 Dallas turnovers kept them alive. The outcome wasnt settled until the Mavericks inbounded with 4.8 seconds left and Shawn Marion had a breakaway dunk that came just after the final buzzer, leaving the final margin at three. "I thought we battled and showed a lot of heart to come back from arguably our worst performance in New Orleans, and we lost to a good team," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. Dirk Nowitzki and Marion had 20 points apiece for the Mavericks, who began a stretch of seven of nine games in Dallas. Nowitzki had 10 rebounds, and Marion chipped in seven. The Mavericks pulled even twice in the third quarter before finally taking their first lead when Vince Carter knocked the ball loose as Hollis Thompson was going up for a layup. Jae Crowder ended up with the ball on a breakaway but gave it up to Marion for the dunk and a 70-69 Dallas lead with 1:44 remaining. Philadelphia had the ball down just 90-877 in the fourth, but Samuel Dalembert had one of his three blocks on a drive by Turner.dddddddddddd Jose Calderon was wide open for a short jumper on the other end but passed before getting the ball back beyond the arc and hitting for a 93-87 lead. Calderon had 14 points and was 4 of 10 from long range. Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Dalembert also had eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. "I explained the situation this morning," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "He was great about it. Its a case of a guy who didnt let that affect him. He came in and he was a big factor." Anderson finished with 14 points, including 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Thaddeus Young struggled from the field at 6 of 18 but still finished with a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer Hawes had 10 points and 11 boards. The Sixers shot just 38 per cent and made only 12 of 22 free throws, numbers best illustrated by a sequence of three missed shots, four missed free throws and four offensive rebounds all in the same possession when they trailed 86-81 midway through the fourth quarter. "I think we played our hearts out," Turner said. "Once again, we didnt help ourselves at the free-throw line but we just have to keep up the intensity." Ellis didnt get his first basket until the 2:12 mark of the second quarter. But it wasnt because he was missing. He was just 2 of 4 from the field before halftime. Carlisles move to replace Dalembert, his centre, with Crowder, a forward, in the starting lineup backfired at first. Crowder went 0 for 5 with two turnovers while Dallas went scoreless in the first 5 minutes before Nowitzki hit a baseline jumper after Marion rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Crowder, who scored two points on 1-of-8 shooting but did have six rebounds. NOTES: Dallas rookie PG Shane Larkin made his NBA debut late in the first quarter, four months after breaking his right ankle in the final practice before summer league. He immediately had a steal, and his first assist was on a bucket by Nowitzki. He finished three points, three assists and three steals. ... The teams combined for 12 missed shots to start the game before Turner hit a jump shot with 9:10 left in the first quarter. ' ' '