Der Tzol-Kin » Duncan told teammate Tony Parker he was "ver

ST. LOUIS - Austin Davis has made the most of his improbable shot the St. Louis Rams, passing for 300 yards each of the last two games. The degree of difficulty is about to go up. Way up. The San Francisco 49ers enter Monday nights game with the NFLs No. 2 defence, making the going very tough even without key players from last season. Catch all the action on TSN1, TSN3, and TSN4 starting at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Patrick Willis leads the way for San Francisco (3-2) which has stepped up its play lately. Last week, they did enough to compensate for a sputtering offence that leaned on five field goals and converted on a fake punt deep in their territory in a 22-17 victory over the Chiefs. Alex Smith found the going tough especially in the second half and Jamal Charles was held to 80 yards rushing. Patrick Willis, lets start there, coach Jim Harbaugh said. He is the kingpin in the middle. Harbaugh said tackle Justin Smith and linebacker Ahmad Brooks have also stepped up their play, plus nose tackle Ian Williams has been a find. Linebacker NaVorro Bowman has resumed running and getting closer to returning. Davis passed for 375 yards and two touchdowns last week at Philadelphia, nearly bringing the Rams back from a 27-point deficit in a 34-28 loss. The previous game, he passed for 325 yards although he was intercepted twice. Several players have proven reliable targets, including wide receivers Brian Quick, Kenny Britt and Austin Pettis and tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks. The 49ers took advantage of the extra day of preparation to learn more about a player who was fourth on the depth chart during the preseason before the job dropped into his hands due to injuries to Sam Bradford and Shaun Hill. Coach Jeff Fisher reversed field after the Rams bye and said Davis was his quarterback for the rest of the year, after repeatedly saying Hill was that guy when he returned from a quadriceps injury. Davis was a volunteer high school coach this time last year, getting re-signed by the Rams after Bradfords first season-ending knee injury. So its still a nice rags-to-riches tale, but with a body of work to analyze. Weve really weve got as much tape on him as we would have if the other guy had still been the quarterback, defensive co-ordinator Vic Fangio said. So, its really not a whole lot different than any other week. The Rams (1-3) are a lot more concerned about solving the 49ers defence than Davis performing on national TV. Its just the next challenge, the next chapter, offensive co-ordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. Its just obviously a very good defence. Again, he doesnt have to do it by himself, we have to do it as a team. The game plan wont change much, if at all, to account for San Franciscos strengths. Running back Zac Stacy is probable coming off a calf injury that sidelined him last week and Benny Cunningham also been effective. Theyll certainly make some plays, they always do, Schottenheimer said. They will be tough stretches Im sure. This is probably an elite defence, but weve played some good defences. For a change the 49ers didnt beat themselves last week, committing just two penalties for 10 yards last week. Penalties remain a season-long concern for the Rams, whove also made enough critical mistakes to put a damper on hopes Fishers third season will be the long-awaited breakthrough. The defence has been a puzzlement, prone to giving up big gainers and limited to a single sack despite aggressive schemes under new co-ordinator Gregg Williams. Theres enough on his plate that Fisher isnt paying much attention to the 15-year anniversary recognition of the 1999 Super Bowl team. The team was honoured at a function Sunday night and will be the focus of halftime Monday night. Im actually thinking about the 49ers, Fisher said. Ive been here for a few years now. Im reminded on a daily basius inside the building, so Im used to it now. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Nike Air Max 720 Rebajas .The Hanwha Eagles said the team was impressed with Morgans contact ability and base-running skills.The 34-year-old debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007 and hit . Nike Air Max España . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. http://www.tiendasairmaxbaratas.com/zapatillas-air-max-axis.html . The England international raised his middle finger toward Manchester City supporters during Saturdays game at Etihad Stadium, which Arsenal lost 6-3. The incident was not seen by match officials at the time but the FA charged Wilshere retrospectively after a study of video footage. Nike Air Max 97 Rebajas . It led to his downfall on Tuesday. The Major League Soccer club fired Rennie after a second straight up-and-down season that saw the Whitecaps start strong before limping across the finish line. Nike Air Max Thea Baratas . Jonathan Crompton led the team to a 40-9 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Crompton threw three touchdown passes - two to Duron Carter and one to Brandon London - and Sean Whyte connected on four field goals to power the Alouettes to the win.SALT LAKE CITY - Now that Tim Duncan is playing well again, the last thing he wants to do is sit. Duncan told teammate Tony Parker he was "very convincing" when lobbying San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to keep him in the lineup, even if it was the Spurs fourth game in five nights and they were facing the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. Popovich usually rests his 37-year-old forward during stretches like this, but Duncan rewarded the club with another double-double. He had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs to their fourth straight victory Saturday night, 100-84 over the Utah Jazz. Sparked by his 23-point, 21-rebound performance against Atlanta on Dec. 2, Duncan has returned to vintage form after a slow start to the season. He is averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds over his last six games. "The first 20 games, its not really that hard to do much better," Duncan said. "Im still not shooting the ball well, but Im trying to play hard and find ways to contribute." Kawhi Leonard added 13 points to help the Spurs (19-4) coast comfortably past the Jazz (6-20) after a big first-half run. "We were never worried about Timmy. Ive been saying (it) since the beginning of the season," said Parker, who had 15 points. "Hes the last guy we ever need to worry about. But now hes getting aggressive and hes getting his shot back." From the beginning, the Jazz pressured Parker and dared Duncan to shoot open elbow jumpers. Duncan missed his first three outside shots. "He executed well, the shots just didnt go down. But he kept playing like he always does, so it was great," Popovich said. Trey Burke had 20 points and Gordon Hayward scored 18 for the Jazz, who shot 39 per cent from the field. The Jazz were coming off consecutive road wins, including a 103-93 victory Friday night in Denver. They had reached 100 points in three of the last four games but were no match for San Antonios smothering defence. "We didnt play with the pep we have had the last few games because of the back-to-back. But I thought the effort was there, just didnt have the same spark," coach Tyrone Corbin said. On the other end, the Spurs set a series of picks to allow penetration and then passes for open 3-pointers. If that failed, they went to their famously fundamental post player on the block. In just 28 minutes, Duncan showed much of his repertoire with bank shots, fallaways, hooks and tip-ins. "In the post, hes aggressive and making strong moves," said Parker, who was creative in getting Duncan the ball where he could gain confidence. San Antonio played its fourth consecuttive game without the defensive influence of starting centre Tiago Splitter, who has a strained calf.dddddddddddd The Spurs, per 100 possessions, score 14 more points than they give up when Splitter is on the floor. But they hardly missed him against the Jazz in the first of a four-game road trip for the Spurs, who are 10-2 away from home. "They are a veteran club. They know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. They showed us," Corbin said. On Nov. 15 in Utah, the Spurs needed a fourth-quarter rally to wipe away a seven-point deficit and win 91-82. Parker scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter of that one. After a dreadful start when Burke was out with a broken finger, the Jazz recovered enough to split their last 10 games. The rookie point guard was hot early and gave Parker a taste of his own medicine on a series of floaters and step-back jumpers in the first half. More than 6 minutes into the game, the Spurs had only six points. But over the remainder of the first half, they used an especially efficient offence to build a 55-40 lead at the break. The reserves, led by Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills, sparked a 21-6 run to help San Antonio gain control. "Our job is to come off the bench and bring that extra gear to turn it up a bit, intensity-wise. It starts on defence and if we can capitalize, it translates to good offence," Mills said. Belinelli and Manu Ginobili each had 11 points off the San Antonio bench, which contributed 47 points. The Spurs outrebounded the Jazz 55-42 and outscored Utah 50-36 in the paint. "They hit the glass really hard and they have a lot of big bodies, so we knew that was going to be a big part of us winning this game. But we had good focus from everybody and when the balls were there to be had, we just went and got them," Duncan said. Richard Jefferson made a 3-pointer to draw the Jazz within double digits for the only time in the second half at 61-52, but Duncan scored twice around a 3-pointer by Leonard and the Spurs were back in control. "It was a very good win against a young team that is starting to play better. We respect them and did a good job of playing horn to horn," Duncan said. NOTES: Utah C Rudy Gobert and G Ian Clark were assigned to the clubs D-League affiliate in Bakersfield. Both earned playing time earlier this season when the Jazz were dealing with multiple injuries. ... Belinelli made all three of his 3-point attempts to improve his NBA-leading mark to 56.5 per cent. ... Jeremy Evans matched his career high with 11 rebounds for Utah. . Oddly, the Jazz had a season-high 11 blocks to one for the Spurs. ' ' '