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.
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.
APAnother trip for Phoenix to the conference finals came despite the loss of All-Star Amare Stoudemire for all but three games this season, coupled with the absence of injured center Kurt Thomas the last three months.
“We had a great Game 7,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Shawn was hitting his 3s, and when he is doing that he is really dangerous. Overall, it’s hard to pick one guy. Whoever you pick, go ahead and I will agree with you.”
The result was an extremely small team that relied on speed, shooting and the ball-handling skills of Nash to succeed.
“We run, run, run,” Thomas said, “and those three days off really helped us. We were able to go out and run and play our style of basketball.”
The Clippers, trying to make the conference finals for the first time in the franchise’s history, fell behind in the final 37 seconds of the first quarter and never could catch up.
Phoenix stretched an eight-point halftime lead to 15 after three, then blew the game open early in the fourth.
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Barbosa’s 3 put the Suns ahead 85-75, then after Ross scored inside, Nash was fouled on a drive and Maggette was called for a technical. Nash made two of the three free throws, then scored on a fast-break pass from Barbosa to put Phoenix ahead 89-77 with 2:26 to go in the third.
Barbosa’s 3-pointer, followed by his driving layup, gave the Suns their biggest lead of the night to that point, 94-79 entering the fourth quarter. Jones’ 3-pointer to start the final period gave Phoenix a 97-79 lead.
Notes: Jones was 1-for-19 before sinking a 16-footer in the first quarter. ... Kurt Thomas was not in uniform despite scrimmaging with the Suns on Sunday. ... The Clippers committed six turnovers in the first quarter but only six the rest of the game. ... After being dominated on the boards throughout the series, the Suns equaled the Clippers’ total with 32 and outscored Los Angeles 13-12 in second-chance points. ... Phoenix also made consecutive trips to the conference finals in 1989 and ’90. ... The 15 3s were the most for the Suns in the playoffs this season. ... The Suns are 4-0 in elimination games in this year’s playoffs.
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
Rajon Rondo recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 95-91 win Sunday over the Chicago Bulls, who were without star guard Derrick Rose.
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 | 'It's been a weird year, wild' May 22: Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and 2-time MVP Steve Nash talk about the team's resilience, and Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy and Elton Brand talk about the Game 7 loss. |
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.
