EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed veteran forward Metta World Peace, who will attempt to win a roster spot for his 17th NBA season.The Lakers announced the deal Friday.The 36-year-old World Peace returned to the Lakers last season after winning a title during his first four years with the franchise from 2009-13. He appeared in 35 games last year, largely serving as a veteran leader and mentor during the worst season in Lakers history.World Peace has played in 966 games for six NBA teams during his career, which began with Chicago in 1999. He was an All-Star and the NBAs defensive player of the year in 2004.He then received the longest suspension in NBA history in late 2004 for his role in the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl, but he has become a model teammate and leader who received the NBAs J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2011.The Lakers have 20 players on coach Luke Waltons first roster as they head to training camp in Santa Barbara next week. Cheap New Balance Shoes China . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Wholesale Shoes China Store . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. http://www.cheapshoeschinaonline.com/cheap-under-armour-shoes-china-183a.html . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. China Shoes Outlet . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Cheap Shoes From China Fast Shipping . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. BATON ROUGE, La. -- No. 25 LSUs offense has discovered a knack for big plays even without Leonard Fournette, and just in time to run a gauntlet of ranked Southeastern Conference opponents.Now the Tigers are curious to see if they wont fill up highlight shows even more if their fearsome running back returns from his ankle injury for Saturday nights clash with No. 23 Mississippi.Much of the credit for LSUs newfound explosiveness through the air -- and on the ground -- has gone to new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, a former Tigers quarterback who was promoted to his current post when Ed Orgeron took over as interim coach after the firing of Les Miles in late September.Coach Ensminger is aggressive. We knew he was going to take his shots down the field, said LSU receiver D.J. Chark, who had an 80-yard touchdown catch and 19-yard scoring run in a 45-10 victory over Southern Mississippi last weekend. The wide receivers did something Saturday weve been waiting for. Coach gave us the opportunity to make plays. You never know when those opportunities are going to come. We didnt fall on our faces. It really worked out for us.In the two games since LSUs coaching change, LSU has scored seven touchdowns of 20 or more yards. Five of those came in the second half last week, and three of them went for more than 60 yards. Some of the big gains have come from running back Derrius Guice, a fast, elusive ball carrier who is finding bigger gaps in the defense because of the way LSUs offense has begun to spread defenses out. Hes had touchdown runs of 61, 42 and 37 yards in the past two games.Offensively they are different right now, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. They are very multiple. They give you a lot of different sets, staying balanced, using the skill at receiver; whether it is through speed sweeps or quick throws or shots down the field. Their run game has always been good -- and still is.It appears Fournette will join the mix after practicing this week, but chances are he wont resume the workhorse role that saw him delivering or taking one pounding after another while often running into the teeth of defensses that were aligned primarily to stop him.dddddddddddd Too many other skill players on LSUs offense have emerged in recent weeks to stop spreading the ball around.Given the success that everyones having, Im pretty sure were going to work him in strategically, senior receiver Travin Dural said. Were not going to overload him.A grin then spread across Durals face as he added, but we dont have a problem giving it to him every now and then.Dural also noted that the mere sight of Fournette in the backfield will likely motivate opponents to regularly stack defenders close to the line of scrimmage.Everyone knows what hes capable of. Just having him there, his presence, it opens up a whole different world, Dural said. It means more opportunities for the receivers (to get open). Im happy to have him back and have him healthy. Im looking forward to seeing him run again.Meanwhile, Ed Orgeron made it clear hes looking forward to seeing Ensminger call his share of deep passing plays, saying last weekends performance should have let everyone know that LSU no longer will hesitate to take shots down the field.LSU quarterback Danny Etling wasnt about to complain after throwing touchdown passes of 80, 63 and 23 yards -- the latter two going to receiver Malachi Dupre .The long pass plays showed the talent we have at wide receiver. We have a guy like D.J. who has the speed to outrun anybody. Then, Malachi popped open and made his big play, Etling said, adding that he trusts the 6-foot-4 Dupre to get to the 50-50 balls and make the catch.For Dural, LSUs recent explosiveness has been refreshing, but hardly a surprise.I knew it was very possible. We have the quarterbacks. We have the receivers. We have the running backs, Dural said. We finally put it together and hit a couple of deep balls and once that happened, one deep ball turned into two. Coach O says big plays fuel emotion. And once we had one or two of them they just kept on coming.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '