NEW YORK -- Jason Collins has been warmly received in his historic return to the NBA. [url=https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/]Reds Jerseys China[/url] . Now its time for his own fans to welcome him back. More than a week after becoming the leagues first openly gay player, Collins will finally get to pl

NEW YORK -- Jason Collins has been warmly received in his historic return to the NBA. Reds Jerseys China . Now its time for his own fans to welcome him back. More than a week after becoming the leagues first openly gay player, Collins will finally get to play a home game Monday night when the Brooklyn Nets host the Chicago Bulls. "It will be a lot of fun," Collins said. "I have some family and friends coming to the game. Im looking forward to seeing them and obviously the first home game." He has played hundreds in a Nets uniform, though it was a white, red and blue one, and the home games were in New Jersey. Plenty of fans and employees of the organization remain from when Collins played there from 2001-08, so he will likely be greeted by a loud ovation if he gets into the game. "Ive always said Im not worried about the reaction," said Nets coach Jason Kidd, who played with Collins when the franchise reached consecutive NBA Finals in 2003-03. "I think they will always support a Net. Hes been a Net before. I think theyll be excited to have him, but the big thing is him being able to help us defensively." Collins and the Nets have kept the focus as much on basketball as possible. They all view him as a big man who will willingly defend and foul -- he has racked up 10 of them already in four games -- who can help pass along 12 years of NBA experience to younger teammates such as Mason Plumlee and Andray Blatche. The fact that hes gay makes him much more than that outside the Nets locker room, but he thinks that story line will die down soon enough. "Theres only so many ways you can write the story, or tell the story, and then it will just be about basketball," he said during the middle of last week. Collins thought it had already reached that point, mistakenly believing that Saturdays victory in Milwaukee would be the first time reporters didnt want to talk to him after the game. Not quite yet. Collins may just be a 14th man on the roster to the Nets, but hes still far more than that to the fans he inspired from the moment he decided to come out in a Sports Illustrated article last April. "I think it is a big deal. Hes showing a lot of courage. Youre talking to a guy who was around when Jackie Robinson came in. Whats the difference? Its just as groundbreaking. I just hope hes judged as a basketball player," said Butch Pye, 69, of Castle Rock, Colo., who attended the Nets victory in Denver on Thursday. Collins debut is currently his only guaranteed home game. Hes nearing the end of the 10-day contract he signed on Feb. 23 before facing the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA rules allow teams to sign players to two 10-day deals, then have to sign them for the rest of the year if they want to keep them. There are plenty of reasons to retain Collins. He has brought plenty of positive attention and is making an impact in the gay and lesbian community, with the NBA pledging to donate at least $100,000 from sales of his No. 98 jersey to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. But those having nothing to do with basketball, and the Nets stressed in the press release announcing Collins signing that the move was a basketball decision. He can still do enough to make it a wise one, even with just one basket so far. With Brook Lopez lost for the season and Kevin Garnetts minutes being monitored, Kidd needs a big man he trusts to fill in for a few minutes. And a guy like Collins can help even when hes not in the game. He has defended Shaquille ONeal and Tim Duncan in the NBA Finals, so knows what it takes to guard even the biggest stars, even if hes rarely the one doing it. "When I was a younger guy, I learned from Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning. Its a cycle," Collins said. "Now that Im that old man at the end of the bench, that veteran, even though I may not be playing minutes, there definitely are ways I can help the team win." Reds Jerseys 2020 . - Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has signed with WME-IMG, saying the sports management powerhouse will help maximize the value of my brand. Cheap Reds Jerseys . The Heat centre scored 10 of his 30 points early in the first quarter to silence the Toronto fans as Miami defeated the Raptors 113-101 on Friday night. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/ . Austin does not believe the game-time temperature is going to be an advantage for either side heading into the Grey Cup. "We dont think about (the cold)," said Austin. "Im not even sure how you would determine an advantage.EDMONTON -- Jacob Trouba was able to put a goal and an assist on the board in his NHL debut, but the rookie defenceman was way more concerned about getting into the win column. Michael Frolik scored a pair of goals as the Winnipeg Jets came from behind to spoil Edmontons home opener with a 5-4 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday. Trouba, a defenceman and Winnipegs No. 9 pick in the 2012 Draft scored the game-tying goal 11 minutes into the third period. "It was a pretty cool experience," he said. "I just kind of threw it on net and it was a bit of a knuckleball. They dont draw it up like that, but it was a goal. I was just excited to see it go in. "I think the most important part is the win. Its pretty special to me to get the win in my first game. The rest of the stuff comes when it comes. The win is what I am most happy about." Tied 4-4 with five minutes to play, Eric Tangradi sent a beautiful backhand pass in front to Frolik, who directed his second of the season into the net before Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk could get back across the crease. "It was a really up and down game, but we battled hard, especially in the end," said Frolik, who came to the Jets in an off-season trade from the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. "It was a good finish for us and we can be happy with the way we turned the game around. "I dont think that we can afford to give up that many goals. The defence could be a little tighter." Mark Scheifele and Bryan Little also scored, while Ondrej Pavelec made 34 saves in net for the Jets (1-0-0), who were making their first appearance as a Winnipeg team in Edmonton since 1996. Luke Gazdic, Boyd Gordon, Ales Hemsky and Jesse Joensuu responded for the Oilers (0-1-0), who blew a 4-2 lead. Dubnyk stopped 23 shots. "I just have to be better, I have to give these guys a better opportunity to win the game," Dubnyk said. "I didnt play well enough. Any night that we score four goals, I have to be able to at least get us a point." Dallas Eakins, who was coaching his first NHL game as the new head coach of the Oilers, was clearly annoyed that his team gave the game away. "Its one thing when a team beats you, you can be OK with that, but not when you hand them the game like that," he said. "Our group can not hand people goals in games like that, its unacceptable. "It always hurts more when you give the other team something. I dont like sending them a fruit basket or flowers." Edmonton started the scoring just over two minutes into the game as Gazdic took a backhand shot from the faceoff that hit a defenders stick and eluded Pavelec. The goal was given to Mike Brownn later in the game, but then reversed back to Gazdic, who was playing his first NHL shift, coming to the Oilers off the waiver wire from the Dallas Stars on Sunday as Edmonton looked for an enforcer. Cincinnati Reds Store. The Jets tied the game just over a minute later on the power play as Schiefele picked the corner with a shot from the top of the circle that Dubnyk waved at. Winnipeg went up 2-1 with just under four minutes to play in the first period as Little took a long pass from Tobias Enstrom at the blue-line before waiting for defender Nick Schultz to go down to block a shot and calmly beating Dubnyk stick-side. It was Littles 100th career NHL goal. Edmonton tied the game two minutes later on the power play as Gordon tipped in a Justin Schultz point shot for his first as an Oiler. Edmonton went up 3-2 three and a half minutes into the second period as Hemsky worked his way into the Jets zone and beat Pavelec with a quick wrist shot from the face-off dot. The Oilers took a two-goal lead eight minutes into the second with another power-play goal as Jordan Eberle had a couple of cracks in tight before Joensuu pounced on the rebound and put it into the empty net. Centre Mark Arcobello earned an assist for his first NHL point. The Jets got back into the game with a touch under four minutes remaining in the second period as Frolik was hit by a puck in front but picked it up and swung a shot through traffic past a screened Dubnyk. Winnipeg tied the game just past the midmark of the third as Trouba intercepted a long Taylor Hall pass attempt and beat Dubnyk with a knuckler from just across the blue-line. It was Troubas first NHL game. The Jets are off until Friday when they host the L.A. Kings. The Oilers travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks on Saturday. Notes: Edmonton came into the game with a pretty impressive record of 18-6-3 in season openers at homea The two teams are both hoping to erase long absences from the playoffs. The Oilers have not been in the playoffs since going to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. The Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise had not see post-season play since 2007a Trouba earned his first point on an assist on a second period goal. A pair of other defencemen who were question marks with training camp injuries, Dustin Byfuglien and Zach Bogosian were able to play in the season opener in Edmontona In addition to head coach Dallas Eakins coaching his first regular season game in the big leagues, the Oilers had three players making their NHL debuts in defenceman Anton Belov and forwards Will Acton and Luke Gazdic. Acton had an assist in his first shift on Gazdics goala Oiler forward Jordan Eberle led the league in pre-season scoring with eight points. ' ' '