Lue as he looked

CLEVELAND -- Tyronn Lue is joining the Cavaliers as a coach after all. Joey Votto Authentic Jersey . Lue, who had two interviews during Clevelands recent coaching search but didnt get the job, was hired as an associate head coach on new Cavs coach David Blatts staff. General manager David Griffin was impressed with Lue as he looked for a coach, and believes the former Los Angeles Clippers assistant can help the Cavs rebound from a tough season. "Over the past several weeks, it became clear that Ty could play a key role in our teams future success," said Griffin. "Ty fits our culture and vision for the franchise. His successful experience as both a player and coach is going to help us tremendously. Tyronn Lue joining Coach Blatts staff is more than exciting to all of us here in Cleveland. The leadership and knowledge of Ty is going to be critically important as we move into a new era of competitive Cavaliers basketball." Yahoo! first reported Lues hiring. Lue was one of the finalists to get the Cleveland job before it went to Blatt, who signed a three-year contract with a fourth year club option on Friday. The 55-year-old Blatt has never coached in the NBA -- or the U.S. -- so bringing in a coach with Lues experience will help him and give the Cavs an insurance policy. "I could not be happier that Ty will be joining the Cavaliers coaching staff as my top assistant," Blatt said. "I look forward to leveraging all of his experiences and expertise into our teams development. "This is a character guy and winner himself who played and worked with some of the greatest talents and successful leaders in NBA history. I am thrilled to have him by my side as we get to work in Cleveland." The 37-year-old Lue played guard for 11 seasons with seven NBA teams. He won NBA titles as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 and 2001. Lue spent the past five years working on Doc Rivers staff in Boston and Los Angeles and is regarded as one of the leagues rising young coaches. Lue thanked Rivers for his "deep support, mentorship and friendship" and "helping prepare me so well for this next step and challenge." Lue sees Cleveland as a great opportunity. "Through numerous discussions with David and Griff, I felt Cleveland is a great situation for me," he said. "I believe my background will help me play a key part in helping achieve the vision that the leadership of this franchise has for its team. I cant wait to get to work with Coach Blatt and our players." As the Cavs consider other candidates to join Blatts staff, they are finalizing plans for Thursdays draft. Cleveland has the No. 1 overall pick for the second year in a row and is expected to select either Duke forward Jabari Parker or Kansas forward Andrew Wiggins. Joey Votto Reds Jersey . "Its huge," Casey said of Torontos matchup with the fifth-place Hawks, who sit 1.5 games behind the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference. "Its not like in the past where games dont matter. In the past we were building, getting guys experience. Aroldis Chapman Jersey . -- The basic role that Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito shared as offensive linemen for the Miami Dolphins was protecting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers cooled off Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Tomas Kopecky scored the winning goal in the 10th round of a shootout in the Panthers 3-2 victory over the Capitals on Friday night. Kopeckys goal went high over Philipp Grubauer and into the net. It came after the Panthers missed five previous chances to win the game during the shootout. The shootout matched the second-longest in Panthers history. The longest was 11 rounds against the Capitals on Nov. 28, 2007, a 2-1 Florida victory. "Obviously, it feels good, especially to win the game and get that extra point," Kopecky said. "We need every point right now." The Panthers won for the fourth time in five games and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Capitals. The Caps lost for the first time in four games. Ovechkin was held without a point. He scored in each of the last seven games against the Panthers, and had four goals Tuesday night in a 6-5 overtime victory over Tampa Bay. "Hes one of the hottest players in the league and we know he can turn a game real fast," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. "As a team we tried to pay attention to him. I think the guys did a really good job." Jonathan Huberdeau, Brad Boyes, and Nick Bjugstad also scored in the tiebreaker for Florida. Aleksander Barkov and Dylan Olsen had regulation goals, and Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves. Clemmensen has had plenty of experience facing Ovechkin and the Capitals. "Hes a Panther killer, has been ever since Ive been here and this is my fifth year," Clemmensen said. "So youre always aware when hes out there." Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mikhail Grabovski scored shootout goals for Washington. Joel Ward and Backstrom scored in regulation, and Grubauer stopped 39 shots. Washington had only seven shots in the first period, and didnt get its eighth until 9:337 of the second. Johnny Cueto Jersey. That changed quickly after Erik Gudbransons blow to Fehrs head at 16:16 of the second. Troy Brouwer then dropped the gloves with Gudbranson, drawing a fighting penalty. Gudbranson got a match penalty. Fehr returned in the third period. Both teams scored during the resulting 4-on-4 play, and Washington added another goal on the power play. "The guys on our team responded to that," Brouwer said. "I didnt get to see much after that but scoring two goals put us in a good position going into the third period to try to win the hockey game." The Capitals tied it at 1 when Backstrom scored 18 seconds into the 4-on-4 on a wrist shot from the slot. The Panthers answered when Barkov stole the puck near the blue line, brought it to the right circle, and wristed it past Grubauer on the stick side at 17:56. Ward added a power-play goal with 30 seconds left in the second. Originally ruled no-goal during a scrum in front of the net, the officials used a video review to determine the puck crossed the goal line. "I tried to plant myself to get ready for a shot and I saw it kind of leak through the goalie," Ward said. "There was no whistle called so I tried to follow it up and whack at it." Olsens goal started the scoring in the second. His bad-angle shot from low in the left circle got past Grubauer 2:13 into the period for his third goal in his past nine games. "You just see an opening and you throw it on net," Olsen said. "Its been fortunate to go in." The Capitals had a goal disallowed in the opening minute when it was ruled Martin Erat nudged Clemmensen out of the goal and interference was called. NOTES: Backstrom has 10 points in his last six games. ... Florida G Tim Thomas missed the game because of a lower-body injury. He was hurt in practice Thursday. ... Former Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck was honoured with a bobblehead doll. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '