DETROIT - It was the type of kick that always seems to go through the uprights against the Detroit Lions. Eric Haase Indians Jersey .Nobody has ever made a field goal from 68 yards in an NFL game, but when Minnesotas Blair Walsh lined up at that distance on the final play Sunday, there were some nervous folks at Ford Field.Stranger things have happened to us, Detroit offensive lineman Rob Sims said. But maybe this is our time. Maybe things are changing.Walshs kick came up short and wide to the left, and Detroit held on for a 16-14 victory over Minnesota.Matt Praters 33-yard field goal with 3:38 remaining gave the Lions their first lead of the game, and Detroit withstood two more tense possessions for the Vikings.Detroit (10-4) pulled into a first-place tie in the NFC North with Green Bay, which lost to Buffalo earlier Sunday. The Lions are now agonizingly close to a playoff spot.And agonizing is a pretty good way to describe this latest victory.Detroit spotted Minnesota a 14-0 lead before slowly rallying with the help of two second-quarter interceptions. The Lions have won three in a row, and Detroit can clinch a playoff spot with a win at Chicago next weekend.Minnesotas Teddy Bridgewater was 31 of 41 for 315 yards with a touchdown, and the Vikings (6-8) held Detroit to 11 first downs, but after Jason Jones blocked Walshs 26-yard field goal attempt with 7:43 left, the Lions drove 65 yards to set up Praters third short field goal of the game.Trailing for the first time all day, the Vikings had a good chance to take the lead again after Cordarrelle Patterson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Minnesota 49. But a holding call pushed the Vikings back, and Bridgewater eventually threw incomplete on fourth down.The Vikings got the ball again at their 30 with 45 seconds left, but could only make it far enough to set up Walshs long attempt at a game winner. Coach Mike Zimmer decided to go for the field goal instead of a last-ditch pass.Either one is kind of a shot in the dark, but Blair has hit 70-yarders in practice before, Zimmer said. So I figured that was the best chance to win.The Lions lost to Baltimore last year on a 61-yard field goal, and to Buffalo this October on a 58-yarder. They were also on the losing end of Tom Dempseys 63-yarder for New Orleans in 1970.But Walsh couldnt convert. He also missed from 53 yards earlier in the game.Matthew Stafford threw for 153 yards and a touchdown for the Lions.In its last home game of the regular season, Detroit looked flat in the first half, falling behind by two touchdowns and drawing boos from the crowd at Ford Field. The Lions couldnt manage a first down until the second quarter, on their fifth offensive possession.Matt Asiata opened the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run. Bridgewater added an 8-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings in the second quarter, and the Vikings were in Detroit territory again when Glover Quin intercepted Bridgewater and returned it 56 yards to the Minnesota 11.We did everything we could to hurt ourselves in the first half, in every phase, but GQ made a huge play to get us back into the game, Stafford said.Stafford threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate, and Bridgewaters next pass was behind Jennings and intercepted by Darius Slay, giving the Lions the ball at the Minnesota 32.Praters field goal made it 14-10 at halftime.Prater, who helped stabilize Detroits terrible kicking game when he joined the Lions in October, connected from 30 yards in the third quarter to cut the deficit to one. Jones block in the fourth meant Detroit only needed a field goal to take the lead.Im not going to apologize for a win, and I hope that none of my players come in here and apologize, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. This was an important win for us, and I dont care if we only scored a half-point.NOTES: The Lions went 7-1 at home during the regular season. The previous time that happened was 1995, when the team still played at the Silverdome. ... Bridgewater was sacked 12 times in two games against the Lions this year, including four times Sunday. ... Walshs career long is 56 yards.___Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Andre Thornton Indians Jersey .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. Cory Snyder Jersey .C. Lions signed cornerback Dante Marsh to a contract extension on Friay and released receiver Paris Jackson. https://www.cheapindiansonline.com/2928u-sandy-alomar-jr-jersey-indians.html . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups.TSN presents a full day of NBA action on Thursday, including Pau Gasol facing his former team as the Chicago Bulls take on the Los Angeles Lakers and Stephen Curry and NBA-leading Warriors facing the Los Angeles Clippers. Watch all five Christmas games on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4 and TSN5. Lakers vs. Bulls After winning a couple titles alongside Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol is a major reason why the Chicago Bulls are thinking big. Gasol faces his former team for the first time as the surging Bulls host the Los Angeles Lakers, who should have Bryant available on Christmas night after pulling off a huge upset without him. You can watch the game live on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5 at 8pm et/5pm pt. Gasol signed a three-year, $22 million deal with Chicago this summer following six-plus seasons with the Lakers, including championship runs in 2009 and 10. The Spanish big man is averaging 18.0 points and what would be a career-best 11.4 rebounds. Emotional, weird, hard to focus, but at the same time I kind of look forward to it in a way, he said of Thursdays showdown. To see some of the people that Ive been through a lot with. ... Just makes Christmas a little more special. Gasols arrival has provided a huge lift for the Bulls (19-9), who have climbed atop the Central Division behind a 7-1 run. Chicago is on the verge of a season-best fifth consecutive victory after winning 99-91 at Washington on Tuesday. Derrick Rose came up big again with 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter after scoring 15 of his 29 over the final 12 minutes against Toronto the night before. Rose is averaging 22.7 points on 50.9 percent shooting over his last six games and is starting to look more and more like his old self. Hes having fun out there. When hes playing, hes playing at a really high level. A lot of guys are stepping up, it just feels good to have Derrick back on the court, center Joakim Noah said. Its real, Chicago Bulls are getting healthy again. Its very real. ... We know the skys the limit for our team. Our confidence is getting better, and were just going to keep working. Its all coming and its going to be a special year. It appears the Bulls will get their first glimpse of Bryant in two seasons with the 16-time All-Star expected to return after sitting out Tuesdays surprising 115-105 win over NBA-leading Golden State due to rest, his first absence since missing last seasons final 57 games with a fractured left knee. The 36-year-old Bryant is averaging 24.6 points and over 35 minutes while shooting just 37.2 percent, way down from his career mark of 45.2. Looking at our schedule coming up, I just thought it was a good time to give him a day of rest and let him prepare for the next game, coach Byron Scott said. Hes on board with it. ... Youve got to remember - this is 19 years in this league. Thats an unbelievable career. I dont care how much his mind is willing. Youre not going to be able to play 82 games at the level that he is accustomed to playing. The Lakers (9-19), who snapped a three-game losing streak, shot 51.7 percent against the Warriors for their highest mark in 12 games. Former Bulls forward Carlos Boozer scored 18 points off the bench to lead seven players in double figures while Ronnie Price finished with 17 points - his most in three years. Like Gasol, this game could have extra significance for Boozer, who landed in Los Angeles after the Bulls used the amnesty clause to cut him this offseason. I think he should get some love, Noah said of his former teammate. Carlos was big part of this team for four years, and somebody who fought hard every night. The Bulls had dropped seven straight against Los Angeles before taking five of the last six meetings. Noah is averaging 18.3 points and 17.0 boards during a three-game stretch in the series. Rose hasnt faced the Lakers since scoring 22 points - including the winning basket with 5 seconds left - in an 88-87 road victory on Christmas Day in 2011 in what was both teams first game following the lockout. Rose is averaging 24.6 points against Los Angeles for his second-highest mark against any team. Bryant is averaging 30.4 poinnts over his last nine games on Christmas. Jake Bauers Jersey. Warriors vs. Clippers Stephen Curry and the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors have been one of the seasons big stories, and theyre excited to showcase their talents on the biggest of stages. The Los Angeles Clippers also have earned plenty of accolades, though theyre trying to put an end to a recent rough patch. The high-scoring Pacific Division rivals will go toe-to-toe Thursday night at Staples Center in the fifth and final game of the leagues much-anticipated Christmas Day slate. You can watch the game live on TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5 at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Theres big moments throughout the course of the season that you enjoy, Curry said, and you have fun showing what you can do. Curry has averaged 23.4 points in leading Golden State to a 23-4 start - at least three fewer losses than every other team. The Warriors are third in the league in scoring with 108.1 points per game, while Los Angeles (19-10) ranks fourth at 106.8. Theyre really good, Clippers coach Doc Rivers told the NBAs official website. But we are, too. Golden State came out on the losing end of a seven-game, first-round series against Los Angeles this past spring, but it took this seasons first meeting 121-104 on Nov. 5. Curry poured in 28 points to lead all scorers, Draymond Green added 24 and the Warriors shot a season-best 58.1 percent. The Warriors have strung together six consecutive regular-season home victories in the series, but have dropped 15 of 20 road matchups since 2004-05 - including the last three by an average of 16.6 points. Playing on Christmas Day is special, forward David Lee said. You know its a bigger stage than a normal regular-season game would be, and we enjoy that and we enjoy the challenge of facing a good Clippers team that we beat once this year. Its two teams that have had fun the last couple years playing against one another. Golden State has split its last four overall following a franchise-best 16-game winning streak, with both defeats coming on the road. The Warriors were handed a 115-105 loss against the Lakers on Tuesday despite Kobe Bryant getting the night off to rest. They kicked our (butts). They were much better than we were, said coach Steve Kerr, whose team had 20 assists negated by as many turnovers. We werent ready to play. We started turning the ball over immediately. We never had any energy, which is going to happen occasionally in the NBA with 82 games. Thats where we have to improve, you have to be able to stay in games with your defense. Aside from Tuesdays display, the Warriors have mostly shined on that end of the floor. They lead the NBA with a defensive rating of 96.9 - the number of points allowed per 100 possessions - and are holding teams to a league-low 42.2 percent shooting. That doesnt bode well for a Clippers team that shot just 40.2 percent in Tuesdays 107-104 loss at Atlanta, their worst mark in 26 games. Los Angeles also fell 125-118 at San Antonio the night before to drop to 3-5 since Dec. 12. Im fine with where were playing, Rivers said. It was a tough trip. Im not going to over-analyze it. Blake Griffin finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and a career high-tying 11 assists against the Hawks, while DeAndre Jordan scored 15 to go with 22 boards. Jordan has averaged 16.5 points on 82.8 percent shooting and 17.0 rebounds over a four-game stretch against the Warriors, including playoffs. Despite their recent efforts, the Clippers wont be making any excuses Thursday. If you cant find energy for that game, thats a problem, Griffin said. I think well be ready for that game. Getting back home could make all the difference for Los Angeles, which has won each of its seven games there this month by an average of 14.7 points. Griffin is averaging 29.6 points on 52.5 percent shooting over a five-game stretch at Staples and the Clippers are 9-1 at home when hes scored at least 21. All-Star point guard Chris Paul is averaging 22.9 points against the Warriors since joining Los Angeles in 2011-12, his highest mark against any team during that span. ' ' '