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MINNEAPOLIS -- D. Marouane Fellaini Belgium Jersey .J. Augustins career was swirling down the drain when the Toronto Raptors waived him in December, and the former No. 9 overall pick seemed destined to join the long list of promising prospects that just never made it in the NBA. Four days later, the Chicago Bulls signed him in an attempt to add some scoring punch to a defence-first team. Augustin has flourished in Chicago, one of the big reasons the surprising Bulls have been able to weather Derrick Roses injury and the trade of Luol Deng to stay in the hunt in the Eastern Conference. "We needed him," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "and he needed us." Augustin had another big game Wednesday night, scoring 21 points to lead Chicago to a 102-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joakim Noah added 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double, moving into a tie with Indianas Lance Stephenson for the most in the NBA this season. Kirk Hinrich scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and the Bulls hit 11 of 21 3-pointers to stay right on Torontos heels for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. "We wouldnt be in this position without D.J.," Noah said. "His passing ability, his scoring ability, just the way he plays the game. ... I feel like I have really good chemistry with him and I think the rest of this team feels that way, too. Were going to need him down the stretch." Kevin Love had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves. But he hyperextended his right elbow in the first half and only made 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 8 3-pointers. Ricky Rubio added 15 points and six assists, but the Wolves were just 4 for 17 from long distance. "I shouldve made a lot of those open shots that I missed," said Love, who also had a large bloody scratch on his chest after getting tied up with Carlos Boozer. "Yeah it was bothering me a little bit. But thats no excuse for the poor shooting." The Bulls entered the night with the same record as Toronto, with the tiebreaker going to the Raptors and only five games to play before the playoffs begin. The schedule certainly favours the Raptors, who beat the 76ers on Wednesday night and finish the season with two games against the Knicks and one each against the Pistons and Bucks. Thanks to the raggedy East, the Bulls dont have it much tougher with the Pistons, Knicks and Magic coming up before the season finale at playoff-bound Charlotte. That made this game against short-handed Timberwolves a crucial one. The Timberwolves played without Nikola Pekovic (right foot), Chase Budinger (right ankle), Kevin Martin (right heel), Shabazz Muhammad (right knee) and J.J. Barea (back and neck), leaving them with only 10 healthy players, and without three of their better offensive players to go at the tenacious Bulls defence. But even though the Wolves have been eliminated from playoff contention, theyve put up quite a fight against some of the best teams in the league down the stretch. Last week Minnesota beat Memphis at home and won at Miami. The Wolves then throttled the Spurs at Target Center on Tuesday night and shot 52.6 per cent to take a 53-48 lead over the Bulls at halftime. Eventually that Bulls defence started squeezing the Wolves and grinding the game down. The Wolves missed eight of their first 10 shots of the second half and scored only 17 points in the third quarter. They shot 33 per cent and managed just 34 points in the second half. "It looked like we ran out of gas in the second half," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. On the other end, the 3s kept falling. Mike Dunleavy, who had 15 points, hit one to give the Bulls a 65-62 lead they would never relinquish. Augustin hit two more in the fourth to help the Bulls pull away. Even bigger were his 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first half, when the Bulls were struggling to get their offence going. "Im just getting a chance to play, period," Augustin said. "Just getting an opportunity and trying to make the best of it." NOTES: Bulls F Taj Gibson finished with 13 points and five rebounds. He picked up a technical foul in the fourth quarter for gesturing angrily after not getting a foul call under the basket. ... Little-used PG Alexey Shved had nine points and a season-high five assists in 16 minutes for Minnesota. ... The Wolves host their former coach and GM Kevin McHale and the Houston Rockets on Friday night in their third home game of the week. Vincent Kompany Jersey . To get things started, heres a little photo tour to get you acquainted with all the main characters. Thomas Meunier Jersey . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/K...um-Jersey/ . The Brewers finalized a US$36 million, three-year contract with free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez on Wednesday, adding a much-needed bat to their lineup.NEW YORK -- Martin St. Louis day started way better than it finished. The former Tampa Bay Lightning star got his wish when he was dealt to the New York Rangers on NHL trade deadline day. He then got into the lineup with his new team right away, but wasnt able to celebrate his first home win on Broadway. Tyler Bozak scored on a penalty shot and then got the winning goal 1:51 into overtime to lift Toronto to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night after the Maple Leafs squandered a two-goal lead in the third period. "Tonight was a gutsy comeback," St. Louis said. "Unfortunately we didnt get the extra point, but I was happy to come here and just break the ice." Bozak got to a loose puck in front that bounced past Rangers defencemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh and slammed a shot past Henrik Lundqvist to snap the Maple Leafs three-game losing streak (0-1-2) and stretch New Yorks skid to three (0-2-1). Lundqvist slammed his stick on the glass as he left the ice and was still aggravated when he got to the dressing room. "Every point is important right now. Its annoying the way it ends," he said. "We played really well and worked ourselves back into this game. Its a big frustration right now to not come out of it with two points." Toronto built a 2-0 lead on Bozaks second-period goal and Nazem Kadris tally in the third. The Rangers tied it on short-handed goals by McDonagh and Dominic Moore 1:19 apart. "That was tough," Bozak said of the Rangers rally. "Just have to play well on the power play. We played well for the most part. Made better decisions, just got lackadaisical for a bit." Lundqvist bounced back from two straight losses in which he gave up 10 goals, and finished with 26 saves. Torontos Jonathan Bernier had dropped two straight after regulation -- allowing nine goals in the process -- before sitting out Mondays loss against Columbus. He stopped 35 shots. The Rangers got even by scoring twice on the first power play they gave up in two games. McDonagh made it 2-1 at 5:34 with his 10th goal, and Moore tied it when he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Derek Stepan. It was the second time in four games Toronto allowed two short-handed goals on one power play. "Aside from those two minutes on the power play, we played a strong game," Kadri said. "We got the result we wanted, the two points. "We just to have to clean up the powerr play and well be better, but were all pleased with the overall good job we did. Axel Witsel Jersey. ." That was enough to prevent St. Louis from being a winner in his first Rangers game. St. Louis was acquired Wednesday morning from Tampa Bay in the rare swap of team captains that sent New Yorks Ryan Callahan to the Lightning. St. Louis, whose jersey was flying off the racks in the team store at Madison Square Garden before the game, got the chance to wear his own just hours after being dealt. "I always felt if I was going to leave Tampa, the first place Id want to play would be in New York," St. Louis said. "Its been in the back of my mind for a long time, but I wouldnt trade those 14 years in Tampa for anything." Just after Toronto killed a power play that carried over from the first period, James van Riemsdyk came out of the penalty box and sent Bozak in on a breakaway. Rangers defenceman John Moore hounded him from behind with his stick and prevented Bozak from getting a clean shot away. However, Bozak was awarded with a penalty shot at 1:44. Bozak skated in on Lundqvist, who came way out above his crease, and found space between his pads to score his 13th goal of the season on his first career penalty shot. The Maple Leafs next best scoring chance didnt register on the shot board as defenceman Jake Gardiners drive struck the crossbar and then the right post before bounding away. It was originally ruled a goal on the ice, but that call was overturned by video replay. Toronto managed only five shots in the second period, compared to nine for New York. The Maple Leafs doubled their lead at 2:00 of the third when Kadri steered in the rebound of Nikolai Kulemins shot. St. Louis got a nice ovation when he hopped over the boards for his first shift 38 seconds in, and created a surge of excitement when he fired a hard shot on goal from the top edge of the left circle. Bernier was sharp and stood tall following a handful of miscues by teammates in front of him, stopping 12 shots in the first period. Lundqvist was just as solid at the other end, denying all 11 shots that came his way. NOTES: The Rangers wont name a new captain this season. Instead, D Dan Girardi joined Marc Staal and Brad Richards as those wearing an A on their jersey. ... Cam Talbot was the winning goalie in the Rangers two victories over Toronto this season. The Maple Leafs avoided a three-game, season-series sweep. ' ' '