go. Indianas defence then held tight until Stephenson ende

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves and shortstop Andrelton Simmons agreed on a $58 million, seven-year contract on Thursday, a record deal for the latest young star locked up by the NL East champions. The deal, which runs through the 2020 season, is the largest ever awarded to a player subject to American draft rules with less than two years of service time. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo signed a $41 million, seven-year contract last May. Simmons, 24, showed power potential in 2013, when he hit 17 home runs, but he earned the big contract with his defence. He won his first Gold Glove award in 2013, when he led the major leagues with 499 assists. "We feel that Andrelton is one of the premier shortstops in the game today, and we are happy that we were able to agree on this multiyear contract," general manager Frank Wren said in a statement released by the team. The Braves this month also reached multiyear agreements with first baseman Freddie Freeman, outfielder Jason Heyward, closer Craig Kimbrel and right-hander Julio Teheran, committing $280.7 million to the rising stars, including Simmons. Simmons hit .248 and drove in 59 runs last season. He earned the new contract after playing in only 206 career games. Simmons received a $1 million signing bonus and will earn $1 million this season. He will earn $3 million in 2015, $6 million in 2016, $8 million in 2017, $11 million in 2018, $13 million in 2019 and $15 million in 2020. It has been a busy month for the Braves and Wren. On Sunday, the team agreed to a $42 million, four-year contract with Kimbrel, 25, the All-Star closer. That came two days after the 23-year-old Teheran agreed to terms on a six-year, $32.4 million deal. Earlier this month, the Braves announced multiyear deals with a pair of 24-year-old hitters — Freeman and Heyward. Freeman, the All-Star first baseman, agreed to the biggest contract in Braves history — $135 million for eight years. Of all the new deals, only Heywards is for fewer than four years. Heyward, the outfielder who won his first Gold Glove in 2012, signed for two years and $13.3 million. Even management has been included in the wave of new deals. Manager Fredi Gonzalez and Wren also have been given contract extensions. Simmons ranks with Freeman, Kimbrel, Teheran, Heyward, Justin Upton, left-hander Mike Minor and others as the foundation for the Braves future. Chipper Jones retired after the 2012 season, and Tim Hudson and catcher Brian McCann departed as free agents after last season, leaving the team that won 96 games last year with a young roster. Simmons hit only .216 against left-handers last season, and he hit only .219 in 283 at-bats as a leadoff hitter. The team took off when Heyward was moved to the leadoff spot, and Simmons was more productive in other spots in the lineup. 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Louis Blues have returned to the top spot in the TSN. Graham Zusi USA Jersey . Team officials travelled to Los Angeles on Thursday night to meet with the free agent, a person with knowledge of the plans said.INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers coach Frank Vogel kept the game plan simple. Make the extra pass, take care of the ball, play defence and get more out of his bench. The four-pronged approach worked. Danny Granger scored a season-high 16 points, Paul George and Lance Stephenson each added 15, and the Pacers plowed through some rough stretches to pull away from the Orlando Magic, 98-79 on Monday night. "I thought we came out with the right focus and the right fight," forward David West said. "We played hard, played together and got the W." Thats good enough for right now. The team with the NBAs best record came into the game with a 3-3 mark over its last six and seemed to be sliding after a series of slow starts forced it to fight its way back from large, early deficits. Even returning home after a five-game West Coast swing wasnt the fix. The Pacers (37-10) lost to Phoenix last Thursday, then had to overcome a season-high 24 turnovers Saturday to barely get past Brooklyn. On Monday, the Pacers looked like a different team. They started fast, committed only two turnovers in the first 21 1/2 minutes and led from start to finish. Perhaps that much should have been expected against the second-worst team in the league and the worst road team in the NBA. But it was still a tough night. West hurt his right ankle in the third quarter, backup centre Ian Mahinmi left with an injured right shoulder in the fourth and Indiana let Orlando (13-37) back into the game late in the first half before nearly giving all of its 16-point, first-half lead by starting the third quarter with 10 straight misses. The difference: The Pacers heeded their All-Star coachs advice and allowed a season-low 29 points in the second half. "Thats typical of us," Granger said. "You know we hang our hat on defence, and we really want that to carry us the whole way." Arron Afflalo led the Magic with 20 points but was shut out for the final 23:47. Nikola Vucevic added 16 points, getting only four over the final 19 minutes. The only other Orlando player to reach double figures was Tobias Harris, who finished with 11. Rookie Victor Oladipo finished with six points and tied a season high with 11 assists but wass just 2 of 11 from the field in his second game back in his adopted home state.dddddddddddd "They were just more active on their tags and disguising their defence," said Oladipo, who again started in place of injured point guard Jameer Nelson. "They just did a great job of making us take tough shots. Its something we need to learn from." The Pacers, meanwhile, stuck to the Vogel Plan. Granger, a former All-Star who has been working his way back from a strained left calf, broke out of his shooting slump. C.J. Watson had 12 points and Luis Scola added 10 as the Pacers bench combined for exactly half of Indianas total, a season best. Indianas two most prolific scorers did their thing, too. George started with seven points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists in the first quarter. Stephenson, the NBA leader with four triple-doubles, settled for 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. It looked as if the Pacers would blow out Orlando when they took a 55-39 lead midway through the second quarter. But the Magic closed the period on a 9-2 run, then watched the Pacers miss their first 10 shots in the third quarter as they crept back within two on Vucevics tip-in with 7:01 to go. Indianas defence then held tight until Stephenson ended the shooting drought with a circus jumper that banked in as he drew a foul on Oladipo. Stephenson made the free throw to give Indiana a 63-58 lead and the Magic never got another chance to tie it. The Pacers closed the third quarter on a 9-1 run to make it 75-63 and opened the fourth on a 11-1 spurt to put it away. "It goes back to passing," Granger said. "You know when once you move the ball, you get a lot more open shots. Weve been trying to do it by ourselves these last 10 or 12 games and our offence has been struggling. So we move the ball, we get layups, backdoor cuts, open 3s. That makes everybody look good." Notes: Vogel gave his starters extra rest in the fourth quarter with the Pacers heading to Atlanta for the second half of a back-to-back on Tuesday. ... Nelson sat out with a sore left knee and is expected to be examined when the team returns home. ... Recently signed centre Andrew Bynum has not yet practiced with the Pacers. ' ' '