from that one as they watched from the bench. Atlanta shot

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NEW YORK -- Novak Djokovic sat in his sideline chair and winced while his right shoulder was massaged and manipulated by a trainer. Moments later, Djokovic resumed hitting slower-than-usual serves, slapping weak forehands into the net and falling further behind against Andy Murray in his last tune-up match before the U.S. Open. On the CBS broadcast, Mary Carillo asked announcing partner and former No. 1 Jim Courier whether seeing Djokovic struggle so much changed his view that the Serb should be seen as the favourite to win the years last Grand Slam tournament, which starts Monday. "Not even remotely," Courier replied. "Not a scratch on the surface." Yes, given how great -- nearly perfect, actually -- Djokovics 2011 has been so far, plenty of people still figure hes the man to beat at the U.S. Open. Even with that tired and bothersome shoulder that eventually led him to quit during the final of the Cincinnati Masters last weekend. That went into the books as only Djokovics second loss in 59 matches during a marvellous season that featured a 41-match winning streak and nine titles, including Wimbledon and the Australian Open. "I mean, its kind of expected. Ive played so many matches this year. I mean, Ive been winning, you know, a lot and reaching the final stages of each event," Djokovic said. "Considering the schedule that is very busy in tennis, its kind of normal to expect that at some stage you are exhausted." Considering all the ailments and assorted other issues that have hampered so many top tennis players lately, it probably would be appropriate if Djokovic is somewhat less than 100 per cent fit. Even if his assessment was: "I am confident that I can recover and be ready." Run down a list of the sports stars a day before Thursdays draw in New York, and most have been bothered by something: -- Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, has blisters on his left foot and tender fingers that he burned by touching a hot ceramic plate at a restaurant, of all things. Aside from that, there is his 0-5 record against Djokovic this year, all in finals, and upset losses at Montreal and Cincinnati. "Sometimes you are playing well; sometimes you are playing worse," Nadal said. "I am playing a little bit worse now than well." -- Roger Federer, who counts five U.S. Open titles among his record 16 Grand Slam trophies, also exited relatively early at those two key hard-court tune-up tournaments. Now he is facing the real possibility of ending his streak of winning at least one major championship eight years in a row. He also turned 30 on Aug. 8, and the last man to win a Grand Slam title after that milestone birthday was Andre Agassi at the 2003 Australian Open. -- Serena Williams cited swelling in her right big toe while pulling out of the Cincinnati hard-court tournament, a far-less-worrisome problem than Djokovics. Williams -- who leads active women with 13 Grand Slam singles titles, including three in New York -- is a popular pick in the womens field, even though shes seeded only 28th after missing nearly a full year with a series of health scares. -- The top-seeded woman, Caroline Wozniacki, is apparently healthy, but she is dealing with inconsistent play, losing her first two summer hard-court matches, including one against 19-year-old Christina McHale of New Jersey. Then again, at least theyre all planning to play at Flushing Meadows. Kim Clijsters, whose three U.S. Open titles include 2009 and 2010, pulled out of the tournament because of a stomach muscle injury. And 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt withdrew, too. At the Cincinnati Masters -- where No. 2-ranked Nadal and No. 3 Federer both lost in the quarter-finals, before Djokovic bowed out in the final -- No. 4 Murray was asked whether all of that might bode well for his chances for a first Grand Slam title in New York. "Im sure come the start of the U.S. Open next Monday, all of them will be fine," Murray said. "I think each one of them will be playing great tennis, much better than they have played here." Wholesale NFL Jerseys . -- The Detroit Pistons are building their franchise around a talented frontcourt. Cheap Jerseys .C. - Even as the lead quickly grew to four goals, Matt Martin and the New York Islanders never felt comfortable. http://www.cheapnfljerseybest.com/. The much-maligned Moroccan striker headed in the winner in the 42nd minute to give Tony Pulis a win in his first home match in charge and provisionally lift the London club out of last place. Wholesale Jerseys . "If I get a call, I will definitely offer my services," said Abdul-Jabbar, the franchises career leading scorer with 14,211 points. Cheap Jerseys From China . Louis Cardinals losing streak was starting to get to him. ATLANTA -- This was just what the Atlanta Hawks needed as they geared up for the playoffs: a chance to give the starters plenty of rest, while the backups put on quite a show. Tracy McGrady led six players in double figures and the Hawks, with perhaps their most impressive showing of the season, built a 37-point lead in the first half on the way to a 116-84 rout of the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. "That was a lot of fun," centre Jason Collins said. Indeed it was, at least for the home team. With their highest-scoring half of the season, the Hawks were up 72-42 at the break in the first of five straight home games to close the regular season. Atlanta is battling with Boston and Orlando to be the final Eastern Conference team with home-court advantage. The Hawks sure played like it mattered in this one, getting contributions from everyone in what was essentially a mirror image of the 116-77 beatdown that the Pistons handed Cleveland the previous night. Detroit had nothing left for the Hawks, who got a season-best 72 points from their bench. "We really wanted to come out with a lot of energy," Collins said. "We want to finish the season strong with the last five games on our home court. Weve still got a lot to play for." McGrady scored a season-high 17 points, flipping a wristband into the crowd as he walked off the court to a big cheer in the fourth quarter. Ivan Johnson added 16 points, Joe Johnson had 13, Josh Smith chipped in 12, while Marvin Williams and Willie Green scored 10 apiece. Jannero Pargo had nine points and eight assists, setting up numerous dunks and easy baskets. The Hawks led by as many as 41 points but couldnt quite hold on for its biggest win of the season, which remained a 36-point blowout at New Jersey in late December. But Atlanta couldnt have scripted it much better at this point in the season, a laugher of a game that essentially gave the starters a night off with a grueling season winding down and the most important games still to come. Joe Johnson played more than any of the starters, less than 23 minutes, and Jeff Teague was the only other one to go as many as 20 minutes. "We ask a lot of those guys," Green said. "When we come in the game, its up to us to continue their level of play or even pick it up a notch." Detroit, which shot a dismal 35 per cent (32 of 92), was led by Greg Monroes 17 pooints.dddddddddddd It was hard for coach Lawrence Frank to take, especially with the Pistons coming off one of the most lopsided wins in the league this season. "One day you play like a king, the next day you dont," Frank said. The Hawks led 39-20 at the end of the first quarter and really turned it on in the second, even with the entire starting lineup watching it all from the bench. Williams scored eight points, McGrady had six, Pargo and Green five apiece, and Ivan Johnson four -- including a rim-shaking, left-handed slam. Jerry Stackhouse and Vladimir Radmanovic also knocked down shots, meaning every available Atlanta player was on the score sheet by halftime. Once things got out of hand, it was nothing more than a dunkfest for Atlanta. Pargo orchestrated three slams in the second quarter, and his most impressive play mightve been one that he didnt even earn an assist. Dribbling under the basket to get from one side of the court to the other, he lured most of the Pistons defence before flipping a pass to Green, who quickly whipped it back over to Williams all alone under the basket for the dunk. The Hawks didnt even mind when McGrady was called for goaltending, leaping up to pick up off a jumper that was clearly on its way down. The starters got a good chuckle from that one as they watched from the bench. Atlanta shot a season-high 62 per cent from the field (28 of 45) in the first half. "We were two different teams," Detroits Walker Russell said, referring to the previous night. "I dont want to blame the back-to-back because were supposed to come out and be competitive every night. But sometimes it just happens. They came out and really put it to us." Notes: The Pistons rested F Tayshaun Prince while in the midst of three games in three nights. Austin Daye started in his place but scored just four points on 1-of-11 shooting. Frank wanted to shake up his rotation a bit with the season winding down, but he insisted the changes had nothing to do with the poor performance. "No excuse. This has nothing to do with experimentation." ... The Hawks played without C Erick Dampier, who was sidelined by a strained left calf. ... The Hawks are still listing C Zaza Pachulia (sprained foot) as day to day, but coach Larry Drew revealed a bit of concern when asked if the rugged player would be back for the playoffs. "I hope so," Drew said. ' ' '