assist, along with a game-high 10 hits, though he h

LOS ANGELES -- Shelly Sterling was reviewing bids from five groups interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The individual, who wasnt authorized to speak publicly about the deal, said if an agreement to sell is reached before next Tuesday, the leagues owners wouldnt meet in New York to vote on terminating Donald Sterlings ownership. The individual wouldnt specify the interested buyers, but described them as major players with considerable financial means. The person told the AP the sale price "appears to be increasing to an unbelievable number," and that it could soar past US$1.5 to $2 billion, and possibly more. Another person familiar with the negotiations said Shelly Sterlings lawyers, bankers and others involved in the process were in a locked room reviewing the bids, which were due by 2 p.m. PDT Wednesday. The individual wasnt authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive and competitive negotiations. Donald Sterlings lawyer, Bobby Samini, said there would be no sale of the team without Donald Sterlings involvement, though he declined to say whether Sterling was involved in reviewing bids or in touch with Shelly Sterling. "Mr. Sterling is an owner of the team, and there will be no sale of the team without his involvement," Samini said. But a May 22 letter obtained by The Associated Press and written by another one of Sterlings lawyers says that "Donald T. Sterling authorizes Rochelle Sterling to negotiate with the National Basketball Association regarding all issues in connection with a sale of the Los Angeles Clippers team." It includes the line "read and approved" and Donald Sterlings signature. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the leagues advisory/finance committee met Wednesday by phone to discuss the separate responses from Donald and Shelly Sterling to the NBA on its efforts to terminate the Sterlings ownership of the Clippers. The first individual told the AP that the leagues owners know a sale couldnt be completed by next Tuesday. But if an agreement was in place, the NBA would give the Sterlings extra time before holding any meetings. The individual said the league hopes a voluntary sale would remove the potential of legal action being taken by the Sterlings. The person told the AP that at this point, with Donald Sterling saying he plans to fight the matter in court, the NBA intends to go forward with the meeting in New York on June 3. A forced sale would require approval by three-fourths of the leagues 30 owners. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said he is confident he would get the necessary votes. On Tuesday, Donald Sterling issued a fiery response to the leagues attempt to oust him. The league charged that he had damaged it and its merchandising partners with his racist comments about blacks in a recording released last month. He argued that there is no basis for stripping him of his team because his statements were illegally recorded "during an inflamed lovers quarrel in which he was clearly distraught." According to the response, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, Sterling says girlfriend V. Stiviano recorded him without his knowledge, which is illegal under California law. He also said he could not have "wilfully" damaged the league because he did not know it would be made public. "We do not believe a court in the United States of America will enforce the draconian penalties imposed on Mr. Sterling in these circumstances, and indeed, we believe that preservation of Mr. Sterlings constitutional rights requires that these sham proceedings be terminated in Mr. Sterlings favour," the response said. Donald Sterling was banned for life and fined $2.5 million by Silver after the recording was made public. It is possible Shelly Sterling could complete an expedited sale of the team despite her husbands legal wranglings, according to Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "She would have to be willing to go through with a sale that gave her absolutely no retained ownership interest in order to satisfy the league," said Lazaroff, a law professor at the school. "If she did that, I dont think the league would stand in her way. If she wants to retain any portion of ownership it wouldnt work." Even if Shelly Sterling accepts an offer, the league has the right to approve potential owners, a lengthy process that would almost certainly not be completed by next Tuesday. "The best case scenario is she finds a suitable buyer," Lazaroff said. "That would work for the league and from a financial standpoint that would work for the Sterlings. If the sale price is satisfactory, the smart thing might be to just get out. Hes a businessman who understands buy low and sell high." Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers for $12 million in 1981, making him the leagues longest-tenured owner. He argued in his response to the leagues charges that he cant get a fair hearing next week because the other owners have already made up their minds to oust him. Lazaroff noted that Sterling signed the NBAs constitution when he joined the league, and its bylaws spell out specific procedures for terminating ownership. He said as long as the league follows its own rules it should be on solid legal ground. "I could see a happy ending to this," Lazaroff said, "but it will depend on both of the Sterlings being out of the picture." Allen Webster Jersey . -- Ryan Gropp scored in overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds shut out the Spokane Chiefs 1-0 in Western Hockey League play Tuesday. Jon Lester Jersey . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2670t-tony-kemp-jersey-cubs.html . The question all fans want to know heading into this light heavyweight affair is will Rua display his true potential. Working with UFC welterweight fighter Demian Maias team in Sao Paulo Brazil and having training partners such as fellow UFC stand outs Fabio Maldonado and Daniel Sarafian, the 32-year old feels very well prepared for Friday nights encounter. Nico Hoerner Cubs Jersey .A. Happ. The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to improve the starting rotation ahead of next season and pitchers like Happ have a chance to show they belong as the disastrous 2013 campaign draws to a close. Ron Santo Cubs Jersey . The Philadelphia left fielder clubbed a tiebreaking, solo home run in the seventh inning, and the Phillies edged the Red Sox, 2-1, in the middle test of a three-game interleague series at Citizens Bank Park. The Bruins win in OT, the Wild dominate in a 2-1 win and the Kings tell the Sharks to put away the brooms. Scott Cullen has notes on Tatar, Pominville, Hishon, Brown, Voynov and more. GETTING IGGY WITH IT Jarome Iginla deflected a Dougie Hamilton wrist shot off Red Wings D Danny DeKeyser for the overtime winner in the Bruins 3-2 Game Four victory. Boston leads the series three games to one. The night started right for the Red Wings, with goals scored by new fathers Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall (who assisted on each others goals) to give the home side a 2-0 lead, but Torey Krug and Milan Lucic scored to tie the game. Detroit had good news and bad news on the lineup front coming into the game. LW Henrik Zetterberg was deemed ready to play -- his first game since February 8 -- and he logged 19:34 of ice time. The bad news, coming in, was that starting goaltender Jimmy Howard was unable to play because of the flu, leaving Jonas Gustavsson to handle the job. Gustavsson played well, stopping 37 of 40 Bruins shots, and the winning goal was a bad bounce off his defenceman, not something for which he should take blame. Forced to play from behind, the Bruins ended up with better possession stats over the course of the game, with their second and third lines both getting more than two-thirds of the even-strength shot attempts when they were on the ice. Bruins D Matt Bartkowski tied for the team lead with six hits in Game Four and his 26:40 of ice time ranked second on the team, behind Zdeno Chara. Red Wings LW Tomas Tatar had a game-high eight shots on goal in 14:41 of ice time. The loss leaves the Red Wings in a 3-1 hole, a deficit that will be very difficult to overcome, particularly with their inability to score. Tatar, Gustav Nyquist and Riley Sheahan were three of the Wings most important forwards this season and that trio has yet to record a point through four games. A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE The final score of Game Four between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild was a 2-1 Wild win, which would denote a close game, but it really wasnt as close as the score appeared. The Wild outshot the Avalanche 32-12 (47-19 in shot attempts), so it was a relatively easy game for Minnesota G Darcy Kuemper, stopping 11 shots to earn the win. Leading the way for Minnesota was the line of Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville, as all three were on for more than 80% of the shot attempts.dddddddddddd Pominville was on the ice for 22 5-on-5 shot attempts for and two against. Coming into Game Four, the Avalanche knew they would be in tough, missing D Tyson Barrie, and they clearly missed Barries ability to move the puck. Ryan Wilson, who was inserted into the Avalanche lineup, was on the ice for 2-of-16 (12.5%) shot attempts at 5-on-5. The series is even and going back to Colorado, but the signs are tilting in the direction of the Wild. Not only are the Avs missing Barrie and C Matt Duchene, but Minnesota has been the most dominant possession team (and Colorado the mirror image) to this point in the first round. In a bit of a feel-good story for the Avalanche, C Joey Hishon, a first-round pick in 2010, made his NHL debut. Hishon suffered a concussion at the 2011 Memorial Cup and has battled injuries since, but he played 6:31 for the Avs in Game Four, getting time on the power play to accompany sporadic fourth-line shifts. STAYING ALIVE Facing elimination, the Los Angeles Kings avoided the sweep with a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Marian Gaborik and Justin Williams each scored a pair of goals for the Kings, while rookie RW Tyler Toffoli added a goal and an assist. Kings captain Dustin Brown also had a goal and an assist, along with a game-high 10 hits, though he had the worst possession stats of any Kings forward. The Sharks outshot the Kings, 39-31 (43-37 5-on-5 shot attempts), while the defence tandem of Robyn Regehr and Slava Voynov was eaten up. With Voynov on the ice, the Kings had 25% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. With Voynov off the ice, the Kings held 55.4% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Sharks G Antti Niemi was chased from the net after surrendering five goals on 26 shots. Alex Stalock only needed to make four saves in 17:46 of action. Sharks LW Patrick Marleau picked up a couple of assists, giving him seven points through four games. Even though the Kings managed to stave off elimination, they have a tall order to catch the Sharks in this series, heading back to San Jose for Game Five and coming out second-best in the series puck possession battle. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '