METAIRIE, La. Aledmys Diaz Jersey . - The New Orleans Saints will have to continue their chase for an NFC South title without a pair of starters: receiver Brandin Cooks and safety Rafael Bush.Cooks had surgery on Monday on his broken right thumb and his recovery time is expected to be four to six weeks, said his agent, Jeff Sperbeck.Bush said he has a fractured bone in his lower right leg. Bush initially said the broken bone was his tibia, but a person familiar with the situation said Bush mistakenly used the wrong term and that the fracture was to Bushs fibula. The person spoke to The Associated Press Monday on condition of anonymity because the team has not disclosed the injury.The person said the injury will likely be surgically repaired to hasten healing, but its not yet clear if Bush will miss the rest of the season.Both injuries occurred inside the final five minutes of New Orleans 27-10 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday, and because Cooks and Bush were hurt when that game was no longer in doubt, theyll miss far more meaningful action coming up.New Orleans (4-6) has six games remaining and is tied with Atlanta (4-6) atop the NFC South. Carolina (3-7-1) is close behind, followed by Tampa Bay (2-8) which won only its second game of the season in Week 11 but is now just two games out of the division lead.Cooks, a first-round draft choice last spring, has assumed a prominent role in the offence and also has been New Orleans primary punt returner.Hes second on the Saints in both catches with 53 and yards receiving with 550, to go with three touchdown receptions this season. He has also rushed seven times for 73 yards and a touchdown.His injury occurred during a punt return. His right hand appeared to be struck by a tacklers helmet, and he fumbled.Bushs injury occurred when he raced toward the line of scrimmage to help tackle Cincinnatis Jeremy Hill on a running play.Its just a freak accident. Obviously you dont want those things happening that late in the game, Bush said after the game on Sunday. I dont want to say things had gotten out of hand, but we kind of knew the outcome of this game. Being a competitor and continuing to fight was all I was doing. It was just one of those plays that happen.Bush has made or assisted on 54 tackles, which ranks second on the team. He also has been credited with two tackles for losses and three passes defended.Saints coach Sean Payton was somewhat cryptic when asked if he was comfortable that his current roster possessed the depth to overcome recent injuries.Theres certain positions in-house that are deeper, Payton began, adding that there are others where you would look very quickly to a short list that are outside the building. Those are things we meet on all the time.The roster upheaval comes as the Saints try to sort out costly breakdowns, particularly on defence. New Orleans has lost leads in the last two minutes of four games and on Sunday allowed Cincinnati to convert nine of 13 third downs, including five conversions ranging from third-and-8 to third-and-18.After Sundays game, safety Kenny Vaccaro vented his frustration over the constant breakdowns, citing a lack of chemistry and veteran leadership and suggesting the cause was the departure of players who were part of the past four playoff squads between 2009 and 2013.Payton said he was aware of Vaccaros postgame comments and did not think any of them were really out of line.When you watch that game toward the end, and there was a pretty good chance the score was going to end in (Cincinnatis) favour, I love how he was playing, Payton said. I love the attitude and the toughness he brings. And the frustration? That comes with it.Yet linebacker Curtis Lofton, one of the Saints defensive captains, indicated that he would rather Vaccaro limit such rants when reporters are around.When you express your frustrations, you dont express them to the media. You keep that in house, Lofton said. Hes not the only player that feels that way. There have been numerous guys that have expressed the same feeling, but theres a different way of doing it. Thats how its been handled here in the past, and thats how it needs to be handled here in the future, too.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Abraham Toro Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. Aaron Sanchez Astros Jersey . The matchup will be made up in Minnesota at a later date. The arena was evacuated about 45 minutes before the scheduled 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff when a generator malfunction outside the arena sent smoke pouring into the building, according to NBA spokeswoman Sharon Lima. https://www.cheapastros.com/2213o-zack-greinke-jersey-astros.html . Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders.The Oklahoma City Thunder received a huge boost from a returning Serge Ibaka in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs and will try to even the series Tuesday night in Game 4 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Thunder earned their first win of the set with Sundays 106-97 victory and Ibaka played a big role. After suffering a left calf strain against the Los Angeles Clippers in the previous round, Ibaka was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. He missed the first two games of the conference finals in San Antonio, but word changed on Friday that the big man had improved tremendously and was considered day-to-day. Ibaka started Game 3 and dominated early, going 4-for-4 from the floor in first quarter. He finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in just under 30 grueling, limping minutes. "I was so emotional, but you couldnt really tell because I was on the court," Ibaka said. "I just want to thank my teammates, thank Russell, he tried to get me going early in the game. Kevin (Durant), (Kendrick) Perkins, Reggie (Jackson). I will never stop thanking them for tonight. I will never forget that. It was very special tonight." Without Ibaka, the Thunder allowed the Spurs to shoot at least 50 percent in the first two tilts and San Antonio won them by a combined 52 points. The Spurs shot just 39.6 percent (36-of-91) from the floor in Game 3. Westbrook finished 8-of-19 from the field after missing seven of his first eight shots, netting 26 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Durant added 25 points and 10 boards for the Thunder, who held a commanding 52-36 advantage on the glass. Reggie Jackson, who was inserted into the starting lineup for Thabo Sefolosha, also had 15 in the win. Manu Ginobili nailed six 3-pointers and scored 23 points for San Antonio, which hass dropped eight straight to the Thunder in OKC, including the postseason. Cionel Perez Astros Jersey. . Tim Duncan added 16 and Kawhi Leonard chipped in 10 in the loss. "I was very disappointed that we didnt come out with more of a foot in the neck sort of an attitude," admitted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "They killed us on the board, they beat us on 50/50 balls, and thats very disappointing to me. Thats not the way you approach a game." Ibaka carried OKC in the first quarter, but San Antonio led by one after the first 12 minutes. Westbrook nailed a pair of pull-up triples in the final 30 seconds of the half, including one at the buzzer to give the Thunder a 57-53 cushion heading into the break. Two Perkins free throws at the 8:36 mark of the third capped a 10-2 burst and gave the Thunder a 67-57 cushion. His bonus shots provided OKC its first points not supplied by either Durant or Westbrook since a Jackson floater with 4:01 to play in the second. Ginobili nailed a left wing trey to pull San Antonio within 75-71 with 2:46 to go in the period, but the Thunder extended the margin to 83-76 at the conclusion of the third and then put the game away early in the fourth. Oklahoma Citys lead grew to as many as 20 and the Spurs couldnt get it into single digits. "I think the biggest thing that changed was the intensity on the defensive end," said Durant. "We still turned the ball over more than we should have, but I think we always had great intentions and we moved the ball from side to side tonight." In league history, 94 percent of teams to open a seven-game set 2-0 have gone on to advance. The Spurs sadly know all about the six percent. San Antonio held this exact margin in the 2012 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, only to lose the next four and watch the Thunder lose to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Game 5 will be Thursday night in San Antonio. ' ' '