threes en route to 21 points. Goran Dragic scored 18 p

Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Isaiah Thomas made his Phoenix Suns debut a memorable one, shooting 9-of-11 for 23 points off the bench in a 119-99 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Thomas, the former King who signed a four-year deal with Phoenix this offseason, accepted a lesser role in hopes of being the missing piece for the playoff-hopeful Suns. Phoenix, which was projected to finish near the bottom of the standings a season ago, surprised by finishing a game shy of the eighth seed in a loaded Western Conference. All five starters reached double figures for the Suns, with Marcus Morris hitting five threes en route to 21 points. Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Eric Bledsoe went for 16 points and nine assists before getting ejected late in the third quarter. For the second straight night, Kobe Bryant was the lone bright spot for the Lakers. Bryant scored 31 points on 25 shots while the rest of LAs starters had 25 points combined on the same number of looks. Los Angles has been outscored 84-18 from the 3-point line through two games. Less than seven minutes in, Markieff Morris followed Bledsoes 3-pointer with a reverse layup plus a free throw as Phoenix opened up a 20-9 lead. Thomas scored five straight late in the period and after one, it was 33-19. Behind back-to-back Wayne Ellington jumpers, LA pulled back to within six 1 1/2 minutes into the second. Bryant then converted a three-point play to make it 41-37, but thats as close as the Lakers would get. Bledsoe went on a personal 7-0 run, and Phoenix led 59-50 at the break. The Lakers nearly stole moomentum early in the third, as Wesley Johnson drew a foul and hit three free throws 11 seconds in. But Phoenix got hot from the floor and at the 8:00 point of the third, the hosts had opened up an 18-point edge. Both Morris brothers hit triples during the 14-2 flurry, and LA never challenged the rest of the way. Things got chippy late in the third when Bryant and Bledsoe got tangled up under the basket. Bledsoe was handed his second technical foul for kicking the scorers table in frustration that a foul wasnt called on the previous play. Game Notes Phoenix shot 16-of-32 from behind the arc ... Ed Davis scored 14 points off the bench for the Lakers, while Ellington totaled 13 ... The Lakers started 0-2 for the third time in four years. Rod Woodson Steelers Jersey . The Opening Day starter played 53 games this season hitting .192 with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Red Sox manager John Farrell has decided to start Jose Iglesias at third base as of late instead of Middlebrooks. Carnell Lake Steelers Jersey . Grilli hasnt pitched since straining his left oblique in late April. Manager Clint Hurdle says the right-hander will make a couple of appearances in middle relief before the team determines whether to return Grilli to the back end of the bullpen. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steel...Lambert-Jersey/. On Saturday, the paths of Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn cross again as opposing quarterbacks. JuJu Smith-Schuster Steelers Jersey . Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada. Rocky Bleier Youth Jersey . Nowitzki scored 28 points, Harris had a season-high 14 for the second straight game and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons 116-106 Sunday night.MILWAUKEE -- Logan Schafer was not surprised when he got the squeeze sign with the bases loaded in a tie game in the ninth inning. Schafer dropped a pinch-hit suicide squeeze bunt with the bases loaded to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-3 walkoff victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. "I am never surprised to get the squeeze sign," Schafer said. "When you are in my role that is what you are expected to do. As a bench player that is kind of my job, so I am never surprised with suicide squeeze especially if it wins the game." Aramis Ramirez walked to open the inning off Justin Grimm (0-2), who came on to start the ninth. Jeff Bianchi pinch-ran for Ramirez and advanced on Carlos Gomezs single to centre. Grimm then mishandled Scooter Gennetts sacrifice bunt for an error to load the bases. After Caleb Gindl popped out, Schafer put down a slow roller toward the mound, scoring Bianchi. "It was just a well-executed bunt. The guy was going to be safe either way," Grimm said. "But, obviously I got myself in that situation with the leadoff walk, then not fielding my position when the guy hit it to me. I was thinking three, get the lead out and bobbled it." Brewers manager Ron Roenicke admitted the squeeze play was a bit of a risk. "Bases loaded, its not ideal. I have to think about it when we have the bases loaded because its a flip and a force play at home," Roenicke said. "Its so much easier than having to tag at home so most guys wont do it there." Jim Henderson (5-5) allowed a leadoff double in the top of the ninth, but retired three straight for the win. Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija struck out eight in seven innings, giving him 203 strikeouts in 201 2-3 innings this season. Hes the first Cubs pitcher to reach both 200 strikeouts and 200 innings in a season since Ryan Dempster in 2010.dddddddddddd Gomez drove in three runs for Milwaukee with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly. Brewers starter Marco Estrada had allowed just two singles before the Cubs scored three runs in the seventh inning. Junior Lake doubled to open the inning and moved to third on Anthony Rizzos groundout. After Nate Schierholtz walked with one out, Lake scored on Ryan Sweeneys sacrifice fly to right. Welington Castillo followed with his eighth home run. Gomez tied it at 3-all in the seventh, following a leadoff walk to Ramirez with his 20th home run. "A hanging split floated in there and he put a good swing on it," Samardzija said. "Kept it fair and snuck it in the corner. As a whole, I battled and got out of a couple situations, which was nice, which was an improvement on previous outings." Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ramirez doubled to the wall and continued to third when centre fielder Sweeney bobbled the ball for an error. Gomez followed with a sacrifice fly. The Brewers ran themselves out of a scoring opportunity in the sixth when Norichika Aoki tripled into the right-field corner to open the inning. Aoki attempted to score on Jonathan Lucroys one-out bouncer to third, but was tagged out in a rundown and Lucroy was thrown trying to reach second. NOTES: "200 strikeouts, 200 innings is a huge feat for anybody to get done," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said before the game. "The players know it and