Melbourne midfielder Jake Melksham says the birth of his daughter Frankie helped get him through the Essendon supplements saga.Melksham and best mate Michael Hibberd will line up for the Demons for the first time next year after being among 34 past and present Bombers players banned this season.Frankies January birth came just days before the worst fears of the Essendon 34 were realised with 12-month bans handed down, throwing the Bombers and other AFL clubs into turmoil.Several players have described the mental toll the ban took on them but it proved to be perfectly timed for Melksham.Having a baby this year has actually been really good for me, he said on Friday.Ive got to spend every day with her. I havent missed a thing. Now shes probably sitting at home and wondering where I am.I can honestly say if I didnt have her, I would have probably spent the whole year away and who knows what I would have been doing.I might have rebelled a little bit and been pretty bitter about things but that just kept me in a good positive frame of mind.Melksham spent time travelling and worked as a labourer, a task which reinforced his desire to sustain his football career.The 114-game midfielder, who was traded to Melbourne at the end of 2015, is confident hell be able to fight his way into Melbournes side despite their wealth of young talent.Former teammate Hibberd says he struggled at times during his 12 months off but is eager for a fresh start with Melbourne after joining them during this years trade period.The 26-year-old is keen to reunite with new Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin, who previously served as an assistant at Essendon, and to play as part of a youthful Demons group.Just being here the first two weeks and seeing how upbeat the young guys are, theyre just an exciting group and theyre only going to get better, he said.With the year off, Ive really learned to love footy a lot more. I realised that I missed it a lot. This is really what I want to do.Boston Celtics Gear .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. Boston Celtics Pro Shop . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. https://www.cheapceltics.com/ .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Boston Celtics Store . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Stitched Celtics Jerseys . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery.CLEVELAND -- Kevin Love scored an NBA-record 34 points in the first quarter, LeBron James had his 44th triple-double, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland 137-125 on Wednesday night.Love fell three points shy of the league record of 37 for points in any quarter set by Golden States Klay Thompson on Jan. 23, 2015.Love made 11 of 14 field goal attempts, including 8 of 10 on 3-pointers in the first quarter. He finished with 40 points, 11 off his career high.James had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his second triple-double this season. He also passed Guy Rodgers for 17th place on the career assist list. Cleveland also set a franchise with 20 3-pointers.Damian Lillard scored 40 points for Portland, including 25 in the second half.CLIPPERS 124, MAVERICKS 104DALLAS -- Chris Paul scored 18 points, DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and eight rebounds and Los Angeles routed Dallas in a matchup of the teams with the best and worst records in the NBA.Dirk Nowitzki scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes in his return for Dallas after the 13-time All-Star missed eight games with a strained left Achilles tendon.Austin Rivers added 22 points for the Clippers (14-2). They had a 30-6 run in the second and third quarters on the way to their fourth straight win and 11th in 12 games.Harrison Barnes had 22 to lead the Mavericks (2-12). They lost their seventh straight game to match their longest skid since February 1999, during Nowitzkis rookie season. Dallas is off to its worst start since going 1-23 in 1993-94.SPURS 119, HORNETS 114CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points and San Antonio beat Charlotte for its seventh straight victory.LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points and seven rebounds, and Danny Green had 16 points to help the Spurs improve to 8-0 on the road.Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Frank Kaminsky had 13 points and eight rebounds. They have lost three third straight game after starting the season 8-3.RAPTORS 115, ROCKETS 102HOUSTON -- DeMar DeRozan scored 21 of his 24 points in the third quarter and Toronto beat Houston to snap a two-game skid.Raptors avoided losing three in a row for the first time since last November, and ended a nine-game losing streak in Houston.James Harden had 29 points and 15 assists for Houston, but also had 12 tuurnovers.dddddddddddd The Rockets lost for the first time in four games.HAWKS 96, PACERS 85INDIANAPOLIS -- Dwight Howard had 23 points and 20 rebounds to help Atlanta beat Indiana.Indiana rallied to cut Atlantas lead to a point with 3:42 left in the third quarter, but the Hawks pulled away with a 19-2 run.Paul Millsap added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Thaddeus Young led the Pacers with 24 points and had seven rebounds. Monta Ellis added 19 points, and Paul George had 18.GRIZZLIES 104, 76ERS 99, 2OTPHILADELPHIA -- Marc Gasol scored 27 points, Mike Conley had 25 and Memphis outlasted Philadelphia for its sixth straight victory.Conley added nine rebounds and nine assists. The Grizzlies came back from an 11-point, second-half deficit for their eighth consecutive victory over Philadelphia.Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia.PISTONS 107, HEAT 84AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Andre Drummond had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 22 points in Detroits victory over Miami.Detroit snapped a four-game losing streak. The Pistons are 6-2 at home and 1-7 on the road.Tyler Johnson had 17 points for Miami. The Heat have lost eight of 10.JAZZ 108, NUGGETS 83SALT LAKE CITY -- George Hill scored 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence and Utah beat Denver to break a four-game losing streak.Hill had tape covering the strained thumb on his shooting hand. Gordon Hayward had 22 points and seven assists, and Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 13 rebounds.Rookie Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 23 points.SUNS 92, MAGIC 87ORLANDO, Fla. -- Alex Len had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe added 16 points to lead Phoenix past Orlando.Bledsoe made two free throws with 16 seconds left for a five-point lead, and Devin Booker added two more with 6.2 seconds to go. Phoenix snapped a two-game losing streak and finished 2-4 on a six-game trip.Evan Fournier scored 25 points for Orlando.CELTICS 111, NETS 92NEW YORK -- Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points, Avery Bradley had 22 and Boston beat Brooklyn.Al Horford added 17 points for the Celtics in their third straight victory.Sean Kilpatrick scored 23 points for the Nets. They have lost five in a row. ' ' '