Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
Getty Images
DENVER - Carmelo Anthony didn’t mind the extra work, not even when he got kneed in the face in the middle of the third overtime.
“I wasn’t going to miss no time, not in a game like that,” said Anthony, who scored 43 points, including the game-winner with 2.9 seconds left that sent the Denver Nuggets past the Phoenix Suns 139-137.
Anthony played the final 2½ minutes with watery eyes and tissue paper in his left nostril to keep blood from gushing out after he was inadvertently kicked in the face by teammate Eduardo Najera.
Eddie House was short on a long jumper after a timeout. Shawn Marion tried unsuccessfully to toss it back up and send the game to a fourth overtime as the buzzer sounded.
“We played with a lot of heart for seven periods,” said Earl Boykins, who added a career-best 33 points for the Nuggets in their first triple-overtime game in a decade.
It was the Suns’ second triple-overtime game this month alone: They lost at New York on Jan. 2.
“I don’t know what it is about overtimes,” lamented Suns coach Mike D’Antoni. “We don’t get overtime pay, so I don’t know why we do it.”
Predictably, Nuggets coach George Karl loved it.
“I feel great. It was a great basketball game, we made a great effort,” Karl said. “We won a tough one and beat a good basketball team in a great game.”
Raja Bell led Phoenix with 30 points, followed by Marion with 28, Steve Nash with 26, James Jones with 22 and Boris Diaw with 12.
“Tiring,” Nash said. “This was tiring.”
With 35 seconds left, Nash fouled out for the first time since 1999-00. Ten seconds later, Bell fouled Andre Miller, who sank both free throws for a 137-135 lead.
|
House hit a jumper with 12 seconds left, tying it at 137 and setting up Anthony’s game-winner, his second straight.
“Shawn Marion overplayed it, he reached, and once I saw that, I knew I had a clear shot at the basket once I got my feet set,” Anthony said. “I wanted to win, even before I got my face smacked. Then I got energy from that, even though Eddie did it.”
Anthony, who also was the hero in the Nuggets’ 92-90 win at Houston on Saturday night, scored with 2:30 left in the third overtime to give the Nuggets a 131-129 lead, but he was inadvertently kicked in the face by Najera. He stayed down for a minute and when he got up, there was a small pool of blood on the floor.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Knicks, Lin still streaking Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Jeremy Lin discuss the team and Lin's recent success. |
 | 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 |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
