Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
APStill, the Clippers struggled, going 28-54 in a typically injury-wracked year in 2003-04, Dunleavy's first season. Though last season they improved to 37-45 — a spectacular record for the Clippers — Sterling kept his wallet open, and Baylor did the same with his eyes.
Baylor in the offseason shipped young but erratic point guard Marko Jaric to Minnesota for old but steady point guard Sam Cassell, hoping to have him share the position with young hotshot Shawn Livingston. And while Sterling wouldn't sign NBA Most Improved Player award winner Bobby Simmons when his contract was up, Sterling did replace him with another free agent, Mobley, a strong 6-foot-4 off-guard who can score and defend. Mobley signed a five-year, $42 million deal.
It turns out with Livingston not having played this season because of back problems, the Clippers have been Cassell's to control. To give his new teammates an idea of who was alpha dog, Cassell in his first regular-season Clippers game went on an offensive rampage, with what are still his season highs of 14 field goals in 26 attempts for 35 points, as well as 11 assists.
But it's not as if any of the Clippers are having career years — for the most part, the starting five's statistics this year are around their individual career averages. It's just that for what seems to be the first time, Clippers players are complementing each other, rather than competing to see who can hog the ball the most.
Take Kaman and Brand. Brand was a 20-and-10 guy long before Kaman developed into the 6-and-6 player he is today. But the rapidly improving center, drafted sixth in 2003, is becoming the Jeff Foster to Brand's Jermaine O'Neal. Kaman provides 25 minutes a night of hustle, rebounding, shot-blocking and defense on the opposition's biggest man, freeing up Brand for better opportunities against power forwards less able to handle his quick (for a big man) moves and his 6-foot-8, 254-pound frame. This year, Brand has been a 24-and-10 guy, with a career-high 58 percent field-goal percentage.
If there's a reason to think the Clippers will come crashing back to Clipperland, it's the team's depth. The Clippers' bench isn't completely horrible, but it's a long drop from Elton Brand to Chris Wilcox, the eighth overall pick in 2002, who has found himself in Dunleavy's doghouse for his frequent defensive lapses. While players such as rookie guard Daniel Ewing and journeyman center Zeljko Rebraca have acquitted themselves decently in spot duty, they're not ready to handle significant minutes anytime soon.
Having Livingston available would give the Clippers a great three-guard rotation. Coaches have hailed the 6-foot-7, 20-year-old Livingston as a holy alliance of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, but he can't stay healthy. He played only 30 games last year, his rookie season, and it's not clear when he's coming back this year.
But why rain on the Clippers' success? For once in their sorry life, the team appears to be doing things, to borrow words often attributed to their former coach Brown, the right way. If this keeps up, celebrities will start packing Clippers games, and their longtime fans will stop adopting the runts and start picking the meanest dogs in the litter.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Lin on on 'Linsanity' Knicks guard Jeremy Lin discusses the hype surrounding his recent rise in New York. |
 | Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman |
Do you have a burning NBA question? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag. |  |
 | Special feature |
 |
Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.