His first home game wont be his last, because the Nets plan to sign Collins to a second 10-day contract, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

NEW YORK -- Jason Collins dealt with the ticket requests, handled the media responsibilities, then moved on to what he most wants to do in the NBA. John Matuszak Jersey . "Win basketball games," Collins said. He will get at least a few more chances. Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with the Brooklyn Nets, who cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 96-80 victory Monday night. Finally playing at Barclays Center more than a week after returning to the NBA as the leagues first openly gay player, Collins checked in to a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 17,732 that included former commissioner David Stern with 2:41 remaining. He committed a foul five seconds later, missed his only shot, grabbed a rebound and had one of the Nets NBA season high-tying 19 steals in their third straight victory. "It was cool. It was a lot of fun to go into the game," Collins said. "The most important thing was that we got the win. Chicagos been playing really well as of late and for us to come out and really be -- I think we played more physical than they did tonight." His first home game wont be his last, because the Nets plan to sign Collins to a second 10-day contract, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Collins signed his original deal on Feb. 23 and it expires Tuesday. The Nets then will re-sign him for another 10 days on Wednesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plans havent been made public. After that expires, the Nets would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they wanted to keep him. Collins sat at the end of the bench for most of the game while the Nets built a series of comfortable leads, making the only intrigue down the stretch whether the 12-year veteran would get in during his first home appearance for the Nets since Jan. 29, 2008, against Milwaukee in East Rutherford, N.J. A chant of "Jason Collins! Jason Collins!" broke out while Deron Williams was shooting a free throw with the Nets leading 90-73 with 3:27 remaining. Fans finally got their wish less than a minute later -- though not because coach Jason Kidd was listening to them. "No, the game was out of hand, so I wanted to get those guys some rest," Kidd said. "D-Will was shooting free throws. Couldnt put Twin in at that time, so I told him after the free throws that he would come in." Collins said before the game that he wasnt aware of any second contract, leaving those details up to his agent. Kidd said those discussions were between management and Collins agent, but said his former teammate has been "great, on and off the court." "Twin is a good friend of mine and hes a basketball player, but hes a great person and so thats why we wanted him on this team and we felt he could help us win," Kidd said, referring to Collins by the nickname he had during his original stint with the Nets from 2001-08. The Nets still practice in New Jersey even after moving to Brooklyn before last season, so thats where Collins was Sunday after the Nets got back from their road trip that ended Saturday night in Milwaukee. He spent part of the day shopping at Costco, wisely stocking up since hell be sticking around. "Its kind of funny. Yesterday on my day off Im driving around Jersey on Route 17 and bringing back a lot of memories from when I was here before," Collins said. Hes much more famous now after revealing he was gay in a Sports Illustrated article last April. He had been out of the NBA from then until signing with the Nets. Collins said he had plenty of ticket requests from family and friends for Mondays game, and also saw a number of familiar faces from the old days. The pregame news conference and the overall media attention are new, and Collins believes it wont last, but understands that for now his sexuality makes him a big story. "Over time it will go down, but as far as doing interviews and talking about it, Im getting comfortable with the microphone or the camera on me," he said. Hes more comfortable on the court, even in the limited minutes he gets. Finally finished with his lengthy list of pregame obligations, he was looking forward to helping the Nets in whatever way he could. "Now that thats all settled, Ill go out there and just try to focus as much as I can on the game," Collins said. Jared Cook Jersey . Tepesch, back from the minor leagues, earned his first major league victory in more than 10 months and the Rangers edged the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Wednesday. Michael Crabtree Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. http://www.shoptheraidersonline.com/Elite-Marshall-Newhouse-Raiders-Jersey/ . - Chelseas 1-0 win at the Etihad, spoiling Manchester Citys perfect home record continues to be the talking point of the week.(SportsNetwork.com) - While the Winnipeg Jets dropped a one-goal decision last time out to see their four-game winning streak came to a halt, the Toronto Maple Leafs had their longest string of victories this season snapped in lopsided fashion. The two clubs look to rebound with Saturday nights meeting in Winnipeg. Listen to the game live on TSN Radio Winnipeg 1290 or TSN Radio Toronto 1050 starting at 7pm et/6pm ct. You can also join the TSN 1290 Jets Game Night Chat and get interactive about the game. The Jets had matched their longest win streak of the season by winning their first four games under Paul Maurice, who replaced a fired Claude Noel as head coach on Jan. 12. Aiming for a fifth consecutive triumph, Winnipeg instead lost a 1-0 decision in San Jose. Ondrej Pavelec took the tough-luck loss, yielding a goal 6:48 into the third period and coming up with 31 stops overall. "They got the bounce and we didnt," Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba said. "(Pavelec) certainly did a great job to keep us in it. We can take a lot of positives out of this game." One positive remains the defense as the Jets have yet to allow more than two goals in a game under Maurice. Pavelec has been part of that surge, giving up just eight goals in the five games since the coaching switch. However, Winnipeg was shut out for the second time this season and for the first time since a 3-0 loss at home to Montreal on Oct. 15. The Leafs might wish they had that kind of losing effort to build off, but they instead will look to rebound from a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Maurice waas frank about facing a team that is coming off such a large defeat. Jim Plunkett Jersey. "I wouldve preferred they won 7-1 coming in here fat and happy, but theyre not. Theyre going to be ready to play," said the former Maple Leafs head coach. Toronto had won six in a row, but yielded four second-period tallies and matched its largest margin of defeat on the season, having lost 6-0 to Columbus on Nov. 25. Nikolai Kulemin had a goal, but Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer combined to make just 21 saves. Bernier allowed three goals on 13 shots through 26 1/2 minutes, while Reimer didnt fare much better after getting bested four times on 15 shots faced in relief. "Weve got to find a way to pick ourselves back up," Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle said. "We cant let this linger with our group." Forward Nazem Kadri assisted on Kulemins tally to give him five helpers in his past five games for a Maple Leafs club that concludes a four-game road trip tonight and is tied with the Canadiens for third place in the Atlantic Division with 59 points. Tonight marks the first of two meetings this season between the Jets and Leafs, who will host Winnipeg on April 5. The Jets have won two straight and four of the last six meetings overall and have claimed three of four over the Maple Leafs since relocating to Winnipeg. Pavelec has gone 7-4-2 with a 2.23 goals against average in 13 career starts versus the Maple Leafs. Reimer, who is starting for the Leafs tonight, is 3-2-1 with a 2.43 GAA in his career versus the Winnipeg franchise, making eight appearances with six starts. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '