Syracuse remained one of three unbeaten teams in Division

DENVER - Josh Kroenkes slip of the tongue even made Arron Afflalo smirk. The Denver Nuggets president explained Monday how he has closely "Afflalowed" the shooting guards two seasons in Orlando, before reacquiring him in a draft-day deal last week. "Afflalowed? I have followed," Kroenke quickly modified to laughter, "Arrons career since he left here." Theres no mistaking this: Afflalo has developed more of an all-around game since the Nuggets dealt him to the Magic on Aug. 10, 2012, as part of the blockbuster four-team, 12-player deal that also involved Dwight Howard. Back then, Afflalo was viewed as a defensive specialist with a solid jumper. Now, hes got more of a shooters mentality. So much so that Kroenke introduced him as a "new Arron Afflalo." "Arron took a lot of steps in his own growth over the time he was here and has since taken more steps," Kroenke said. "Im proud to see him doing the things hes been doing down in Orlando." The 28-year-old Afflalo is coming off a season with Orlando in which he averaged career highs in points (18.2), rebounds (3.6) and assists (3.4). He also made 128 3-pointers. This season, he will be reunited in the backcourt with Ty Lawson, who was one of the first to congratulate him after the trade that sent promising young point guard Evan Fournier to the Magic, along with a pick. "I want to continue to improve as a player," Afflalo said. "Im going to do my job, work hard this summer to put myself in the best position." In some ways, Afflalo feels like he never really left the Nuggets as he always kept close tabs on his former team. And yet plenty has changed in his two-year absence. Namely, George Karl being replaced as coach by Brian Shaw. Afflalo is ready to take on whatever role Shaw has for him, whether its as a scorer or simply being Afflalo the leader. "My job is to make sure Im capable of getting that job done," Afflalo said. "I have no problem doing whatever coach asks of me." Thats the way he was with Karl, too. Afflalo couldve been a different type of player — more of a scorer, perhaps — in his first go-round with the Nuggets. But thats not what they needed, especially in the years when they had Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony on the floor. "There are probably a lot of things I probably could do back then," said Afflalo, who will wear No. 10 for Denver this season. "But its not my job to come in here and prove I could score points with the lineup I was starting with three years ago. "These days, Im a lot more confident all over the court, whether its posting up, shooting 3s, being available in the fourth quarter, being someone you can rely on in the fourth quarter." As for his defensive tenacity, that will always be a source of pride with him. "Thats part of being a complete player," he said. "I expect to be at a high level on both ends of the court." Jason Heyward Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. 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Kerry Wood Cubs Jersey .Leicester won 25-21 in a heated European Rugby Champions Cup group match on Sunday.Toulon said on its website on Wednesday that it decided to open an investigation after Leicester complained about the behaviour of prop Martin Castrogiovanni and fullback Delon Armitage.WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C.J. Fair has been a member of both. This current one, he says, is "a hard-fought 20-game winning streak." Not much came easy during the Oranges latest victory. No. 2 Syracuse matched the best start in program history Wednesday night, pulling away to beat Wake Forest 67-57 behind a strong second half from freshman Tyler Ennis. Ennis scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime and Fair finished with 16 points for the Orange (20-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Trevor Cooney scored all eight of his in the final 1:45. Syracuse remained one of three unbeaten teams in Division I with No. 1 Arizona, which beat Stanford 60-57 on Wednesday, and No. 4 Wichita State. The Orange pulled away late while sidestepping a possible trap with a visit from No. 17 Duke coming up this weekend, and joined the 2011-12 group as the only Orange teams to start 20-0. "Weve got a long stretch ahead of us," Fair said. In their first visit to Tobacco Road as ACC members, they had to work for it against a Wake Forest team that had been perfect at home and tough on visitors in the top five. "It was just one of those games youre just trying to struggle through defensively, and we did just a good enough job defensively to be able to get the win," coach Jim Boeheim said. "You have to find a way to win these games, and this team has been able to do that." Travis McKie scored 12 points for the Demon Deacons (14-7, 4-4), and his free throw with 4:10 left pulled them to 54-49. But while Wake Forest came up empty on its next two trips down court, Cooney caught fire. "We needed one of those timely 3s to go in," McKie said. "If we just wouldve got three more of those 3s to go in, wed be looking at a different outcome." The guard buried a fall-away jumper that he called "the toughest shot I had all day." He followed that with two free throws to give Syracuse its first double-figure lead and streaked down court for an open-court dunk after a steal by Fair to put the Orange up 62-50 with 1:19 left.dddddddddddd. "I heard C.J. say, Shoot it," Cooney said. "And no one needs to tell me to shoot it." By then, they could look ahead to hosting the Blue Devils at the Carrier Dome in one of the seasons most widely anticipated matchups. Devin Thomas scored 12 points for Wake Forest, which had won 13 straight at Joel Coliseum and had won three straight home games against top-five teams -- a run that included a rout of then-No. 2 Miami last season. Just about all of the Demon Deacons key stats suggested they would be blown out: They shot 34 per cent, were outrebounded 55-35, made just three of their 20 3-point attempts and were 18 of 30 from the free throw line. "Theyre long and athletic, so their zone is definitely a force to be reckoned with," McKie said. "We had great looks. We just didnt knock it down." But some of the Oranges numbers were equally poor -- they shot 36 per cent and were 22 of 33 from the free throw line -- and that allowed Wake Forest to stay within striking distance for much of the game. "For the most part, we did a good job on their shooters, and when they got an open look, they just didnt make it," Boeheim said. "Same as us." Joel Coliseum was buzzing when Wake Forest turned an eight-point deficit into a one-possession game in the span of a few seconds midway through the second half. Robert Morris transfer Coron Williams swished a 3-pointer before Madison Jones swiped the ball from Cooney and hit a quick layup to make it 40-37 with 12 1/2 minutes left. Ennis, who was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half, followed by reeling off eight points -- all on drives down or across the lane -- in about 4 minutes to give the Orange a bit of breathing room. His finger roll helped Syracuse match its largest lead to that point, 48-40, with about 8 1/2 minutes left. Jerami Grant finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Orange. ' ' '