eering fans upon its arrival home following the Game 7 loss to t

SAN ANTONIO -- Fans screamed "Go Spurs Go!" in unison at the slightest glimpse of a San Antonio Spurs player or coach floating down the River Walk. It was reminiscent of last season when the Spurs walked off their team charter to those chants, except the tone Wednesday night was much sweeter. The victory parade for Spurs fifth NBA title was part celebration and part exorcism. "It is soaking in, but Im still going to live it up for about the whole summer," NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard said. "(I havent slept) very much. Ive been trying to live the moment. Its been hard to sleep still. Thought I would get some sleep after we won the finals, but Im still celebrating. Go Spurs Go! San Antonio!" After falling 25 seconds shy of capturing the title last season only to fall in seven games to the Miami Heat, the Spurs made another run to the NBA Finals. Except this time, they closed out the Heat in five games for the teams first title since 2007. "I cried (last year). I think the rest of the city cried, too," Spurs fan Rosalinda Gonzalez said. "How they lost, that was bad. It made this years victory even more sweet, sweet. (And) the way we did it. All the games that we won were by a billion points. It was awesome. Great comeback." Given a chance to celebrate what they couldnt last year, Spurs fans endured 90-degree heat to line the River Walk and stand outside of the Alamodome up to five hours before the festivities began. The City of San Antonio estimated about 100,000 people attended the River Walk parade and 75,000 were at the Alamodome. "Weve got to thank the people of San Antonio," said Spurs guard Patty Mills, who served as the events master of ceremonies. "You really make this way more special than it already is. You guys are so genuine and really care about us. Youve embraced all of us as a family." And the fans soaked up the moment as if it was the citys first championship. Even usually cantankerous Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fully embraced the moment, smiling and waving at the crowd as the barge he rode on floated along the River Walk. Popovich raised one finger with a puzzled look before counting off two, three, four and nodding his head when he reached five, raising an outstretched hand to symbolize how many titles the franchise has won. It was Popovich who admitted the Spurs were "hurting" after losing last seasons finals. Still, the team was greeted by thousands of cheering fans upon its arrival home following the Game 7 loss to the Heat. "Ill be honest with you, when you saw the crowd the first feeling I had was embarrassment," Popovich said last year. "Was just embarrassed that we didnt get it done and then as you look at them all and they just keep cheering you realize, my gosh, you really felt the love and the way they care for these guys and their team and then it did make it easier." It also was Popovich who implored the team to face the defeat head on and learn from it, and the Spurs certainly did that. The Spurs Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili guided the team to the leagues best regular-season record and to a dominant post-season run after escaping a seven-game series with the Dallas Mavericks. San Antonios combined 70-point winning margin over Miami was the largest in NBA Finals history. "We owe it all to Pop," Ginobili said as his barge made a stop. "He had us playing great basketball at the right time." The Big Three twice received standing ovations from the capacity crowd inside the Alamodome as Duncan celebrated his fifth title and Parker and Ginobili their fourth. "Thats the best thing about them, you can hang with them, you can have jokes with them," Mills said about the Big Three. "They are better people than they are basketballers." Aside from the Big Three, the loudest ovations were for Leonard, who Popovich has called the future face of the Spurs since his arrival via a draft day trade with the Indiana Pacers in 2011. On the Alamodome stage, Mills shared a story of how he asked Leonard which superhero he was going to be for Parkers annual Halloween party. The quiet 22-year-old responded with, "Kawhi Leonard superhero." And Leonard was that in the finals. Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the series-ending victory Sunday night, becoming the youngest finals MVP since Duncan received the honour at the same age in 1999. The Spurs face an uncertain off-season with up to six possible free agents, but that wasnt even a consideration for the players or the fans Wednesday. After waiting a year, they all got to exhale and celebrate another title. Calvin Johnson Jersey . 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Custom Detroit Lions Jerseys . -- Kael Mouillierat scored three times and set up one more as the St.The Philadelphia Flyers havent wasted anytime getting into the free agent market and, after already agreeing to a deal with defenceman Mark Streit, they added a top free agent centre before the wider market opens Friday. Numbers Game looks at the Flyers acquisition of Vincent Lecavalier. The Flyers Get: C Vincent Lecavalier. Lecavalier, 33, was bought out of his contract in Tampa Bay and while that was an understadable (and expensive) decision, given the potential ramifications at the end of the deal, it shouldnt completely overshadow the calibre of play that Lecavalier has provided in recent seasons. Over the last five seasons, Lecavalier has finished with between 0.77 and 0.87 points per game in each season, with his 0.83 points per game ranking 38th among players with at least 250 games played in that span. While Lecavaliers per-game production is strong, there is a reasonable concern that injuries are starting to catch up to him. Hes missed 44 games over the last three seasons and its not just one thing -- it was a lower body injury this year, a broken hand a couple of times, and wrist surgery and a shoulder injury before that over the last five years. While none of those injuries would appear to be chronic, there is some evidence that playing more than 1000 NHL games is starting to catch up with Lecavalier. Lecavalier played 17:53 per game in 2013, his lowest time on ice since 2001-2002. Nevertheless, even if the Flyers expect that Lecavalier will miss time with injuries and he scored at 0.75 points per game for a couple of seasons, 0.65 for another couple and 0.50 points per game for the last year of the deal, that would be a reasonable return. It would be bonus if Lecavaliers production was higher than that or didnt slide, but hes played with high quality offensive linemates in Tampa Bay, so hes not getting a major upgrade in that regard (unless he ends up on Claude Girouxs wing), and its difficult to forecast anything but decline for a player entering his mid-30s.dddddddddddd In Philadelphia, Lecavalier should settle comfortably into the second-line centre role, perhaps with Brayden Schenn shifting to left wing and Wayne Simmonds on right wing, and get significant power play time. Lecavalier, who received a $32.67-million buyout from Tampa Bay, signed for five years and $22.5-million (with a no-movement clause), a reasonable $4.5-million cap hit, especially so when compared to a cap hit that was $7.167-million on his previous contract with the Lightning. He was available prior to the free agent market opening because he was bought out of a contract that had a no-movement clause, giving him the option to not go on waivers before being bought out. With Lecavalier departing, Tampa Bay will have to fill their second-line centre role behind Steven Stamkos. The leading internal andidate could be AHL MVP Tyler Johnson, a 5-foot-9, 22-year-old who had 65 points in 62 AHL games (adding 21 points in 18 playoff games) and chipped in six points in a 14-game NHL audition with the Lightning. So ends Lecavaliers time in Tampa Bay, after 874 points in 1037 regular season games (and 52 points in 63 career playoff games) and a Stanley Cup win in 2004. He has a chance to finish out his career as a productive secondary scorer, for a team that isnt shy about spending every year in an attempt to be a contender. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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