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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. "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. Salomon Baratas España .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Comprar Salomon Baratas . That was OK with him. He was just happy his team came away with two points. Letestu redirected Jack Johnsons shot from the point with 2:38 left, lifting the Blue Jackets past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Monday night. http://www.baratassalomon.es/.C. - The Panthers will be without starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei for Saturday nights NFC divisional playoff game against Seattle after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a broken bone in his foot. Zapatillas Salomon España . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. Zapatillas Salomon Baratas . He liked what he saw on Tuesday night. Not only did his team post a comeback 3-2 victory in a shootout over the Montreal Canadiens, but the rival Washington Capitals were beaten 5-1 in Buffalo. PHOENIX - Going into Fridays game the Raptors had one noticeable advantage over the surprisingly competitive Suns - their size. The Raptors owned the NBAs seventh-best rebounding rate and ranked fourth on the offensive glass while the Suns, a team that starts two point guards and plays mostly outside of the paint, have struggled on the boards despite their hot start to the season. For Toronto, the game plan was simple. "Try to make them pay for playing small," Dwane Casey emphasized after morning shoot around. It turned out to be easier said than done. "Thats an area that was a strength of ours, rebounding, but now its one of our weaknesses," Casey said after his team was out-rebounded 53-36, including an 18-11 disparity on the offensive boards, in a 106-97 loss, the Raptors fifth straight. Caseys club misjudged this Suns team like others have done early in the season. As Toronto found out, their stature can be misleading. Their toughness set the tone and the Raptors, for all of the mismatches they planned to exploit, were in over their heads once again. "Its about toughness, its about attention to detail, its about being locked in and knowing your guy is coming in behind you," Casey exclaimed. "When you give them 18 more bullets, you cant win in this league." The Raptors played frustrated, which didnt necessarily translate to that desperate style of play that Caseys been looking for. Markieff Morris jawed at Jonas Valanciunas, baiting him into a double technical, Kyle Lowry pouted and complained until he was whistled for a tech of his own and former Raptors castoff PJ Tucker got under the skin of DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay all night. The Suns did a lot of talking, but they backed it all up. Morris missed just three of his 14 attempts recording a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds and Tucker scored 18 to go along with a career-best 13 boards. "This team is a very physical team," Casey said of the Suns. "Their wing players are very physical. They are tough match-ups and you have to meet that physicality with physicality and we didnt do it on the boards." With a roster designed to be bad while incoming visionary Ryan McDonough collects picks and cap space, rookie head coach Jeff Hornacek has the Suns playing hard despite being outmatched in the talent department most every night - not unlike the team that overachieved iin Caseys first year with the Raptors.dddddddddddd On the opposite end of the spectrum, nothing is going right for the Raptors. The team still sits dead last in the league in assists (they recorded just 15 on Friday) and their primary shot-takers cant seem to knock down shots. Gay and DeRozan combined to shoot 11-for-30 on a night in which both were oddly ineffective and often unnoticeable. Efficiency be damned on some nights, but generally one or the other - recently its been DeRozan more often than not - manages to put points on the board. It was not the case on Friday. Most concerning for Gay continues to be his missed shots around the rim, an ongoing trend this season. Gay was just two-for-seven in the painted area against the Suns and his percentages around the bucket have dropped significantly compared to his career norm. "Its tough because hes getting hit, but he has to hit first," Casey said of Gays struggles in the paint. "Hes not getting the benefit of the calls, but some of them are not fouls. He has to go in there and hit first and think about dunking the ball rather than finessing." Johnson fills in for injured Hansbrough The Raptors certainly missed the toughness of Tyler Hansbrough, who exited the game just two and a half minutes in after taking an inadvertent elbow from Channing Frye and spraining his left shoulder. He did not return and is considered day-to-day. In his place, Amir Johnson, who lost his starting gig to Hansbrough last week, stepped up and chipped in a season-best 22 points in 33 minutes off the bench. It was the second-straight game in which Johnson resembled his old self, a positive sign for this team moving forward, especially if Hansbrough is forced to miss time. Looking ahead, or not looking ahead Prior to the game, Casey insisted he and his team would not be distracted by a boisterous announcement made by Kobe Bryant and the Lakers earlier in the day. Bryant, who has been recovering from his Achilles injury, will make his season debut in Los Angeles against the Raptors on Sunday. "I heard that," Casey admitted. "But I know Im not [looking ahead] and I havent heard our guys mention anything about it as far as looking ahead to Sunday." "We have no right to look ahead," he exclaimed before the loss. "Weve got to be the hungry team, weve got to be the desperate team tonight." ' ' '