FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. [url=https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/]Carolina Hurricanes Gear[/url] . -- The Atlanta Falcons revamped offensive line took a major setback Sunday when left tackle Sam Baker was ruled out for the year after injuring his right knee in a preseason game. The Falcons said the injury pl

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. Carolina Hurricanes Gear . -- The Atlanta Falcons revamped offensive line took a major setback Sunday when left tackle Sam Baker was ruled out for the year after injuring his right knee in a preseason game. The Falcons said the injury plagued Baker sustained a torn patellar tendon in a 32-7 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night. First-round pick Jake Matthews could move from right to left tackle to replace Baker, but the injury is a huge blow to Atlantas efforts to bolster a line that was one of the leagues worst a year ago. The Falcons ranked last in the league in yards rushing and quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked a career-high 44 times, in addition to being pressured 203 times, most in the NFL. Baker played in just four games because of a left knee injury that required surgery in November. The Falcons were counting on improvement with Bakers return, the drafting of Matthews with the No. 6 overall pick, and the signing of free-agent guard Jon Asamoah, another instant starter. Now, it looks like Matthews might have to start right away at left tackle, a more demanding position that protects the quarterbacks blind side. Or the Falcons could turn to Lamar Holmes, who struggled mightily while starting 15 games a year ago. "Following his injury in the game, Sam underwent a number of tests and it was determined that he had suffered a torn patellar tendon and will miss the rest of the season," coach Mike Smith said in a statement. "Sam had worked extremely hard to get back on the field after missing most of last season, and he was having a good camp. I know he is disappointed, but I also know he is a very resilient football player and will do whatever he can to bounce back." Baker, a first-round pick in 2008, has started 61 games in his career but injuries have hindered his progress. He has undergone three back surgeries and even lost his starting job during the 2011 season. After starting all 16 games in 2012, when the Falcons won the NFC South and reached the NFC championship game, Baker was re-signed to a six-year, $41.5 million deal. It hardly looks like money well spent. With the latest injury, Baker will play only four games in the first two years of his current deal. "Its tough," Ryan said. "You never like to see anybody go down, especially in the preseason." This is becoming a familiar woe for the Falcons. A year ago, Mike Johnson was projected to start at right tackle after the team decided not to re-sign Tyson Clabo. The move backfired when Johnson went down in training camp with a season-ending injury. Hurricanes Jerseys China . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. Carolina Hurricanes Pro Shop . I kind of got a taste of being able to pick a suit with the draft lottery, I went with the bow tie. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ .C. -- When Michael Jordan speaks, people still listen.SAN ANTONIO -- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the winningest trio in NBA post-season history, shared hugs. Players wrapped themselves in flags from around world, a reminder that the San Antonio Spurs look far beyond the border to build champions, as confetti fell from above. Painfully denied 12 months ago by the Miami Heat, this victory party was worth the wait. "It makes last year OK," Duncan said. The Spurs finished off a dominant run to their fifth NBA championship Sunday night, ending the Heats two-year title reign with a 104-87 victory that wrapped up the series in five games. "We had a great first quarter, but from that point on they were the better team, and thats why theyre the champions in 2014," said LeBron James, who led the Heat with 31 points and 10 rebounds. San Antonio erased an early 16-point deficit and routed Miami for the fourth time in the series, denying the Heats quest for a third straight championship. A year after the Spurs suffered their only loss in six finals appearances -- a heartbreaking seven-game defeat -- they turned the rematch into no match at all. "We wanted to redeem ourselves. Im just glad we were able to do that," Parker said. Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who added this title to the ones they won in 1999, 2003, 05 and 07. They nearly had another last year, but couldnt hold off the Heat. "Ive said many times, a day didnt go by where I didnt think about Game 6," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the turning point in last years finals. "So I think, just in general, for the group to have the fortitude that they showed to get back to this spot, I think speaks volumes about how theyre constituted and what kind of fiber they have." Not to mention tons of talent, and perhaps the best coaching in the game. "They played exquisite basketball this series and in particular these last three games and they are the better team. Theres no other way to say it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. The Spurs won four titles in nine years, but hadnt been back on top since 2007, making Foreigners "Feels Like the First Time" an appropriate song choice after the final buzzer. Duncan and Popovich have been here for all of them, and it was the fourth for Parker and Ginobili, who with Duncan are once aagain the reigning the Big Three in the NBA. Hurricanes Jerseys 2020. Chris Bosh finished with 13 points and Dwyane Wade just 11 on 4-of-12 shooting for the Heat. The painful conclusion to last years NBA Finals served as the fuel for this one, powering the Spurs to a league-best 62-win season and a rematch with Miami -- the first in the finals since Chicago beat Utah in 1997-98. Round 2 went to the Spurs, but both teams have challenges to navigate if there is to be a rubber match. San Antonio will face questions -- as it has for years -- about the age of its core, and whether Duncan, Ginobili and Popovich want to stick around. The Heat will brace for the potential free agency of James, Wade and Bosh, and will need younger, fresher pieces around the three All-Stars if they all stay. But this moment belongs to the Spurs. Playing a methodical, albeit winning, style for many years made San Antonio respected, but never beloved. The Spurs were TV ratings killers, casual viewers finding them not much fun to watch. But Popovich opened up the offence a few years ago, making the Spurs an easy-to-like, tough-to-beat group that thrives on ball movement and 3-point shooting. "You showed the world how beautiful this game is," Commissioner Adam Silver told the Spurs during the postgame award ceremony. A decade and a half after winning their first title in 1999, when Duncan was in his second season, the Spurs remain the NBAs model organization, a small-market team that simply wins big and hardly ever does it with a high draft pick. Instead, they found players overseas or in other organizations who would fit the Spurs way of doing things and mesh with the Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, who have teamed for 117 postseason victories. That included Leonard, acquired in a draft-night trade with Indiana after playing at San Diego State, and Patty Mills, an Australian national who scored 17 points off the bench. In the end, the Spurs made winning their fifth title look stunningly easy -- much to the delight of the home crowd. After the slow start, they had their fans standing, chanting and dancing much of the second half. Notes: It was the Spurs 12th win by 15 or more points, most ever in a post-season. The Spurs outscored opponents by 214 points in the post-season. ... Miami had won 11 straight series, tied for the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. ' ' '