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.
APThe Hawks must find a way to free up Johnson when he’s got two or three defenders running at him every time he gets the ball, which is what the Celtics did for 48 minutes in Game 5 and will surely do again Friday night. If he can’t get open, the other four players on the court must make the extra pass, find the open man and hit the shot.
“It was very frustrating,” Johnson said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. They’re not going to change.”
Who must change for the Hawks?
Start with Mike Bibby, who probably should have kept his mouth shut when it comes to Boston’s fans. Still remembering that he accused them of being “fair weather” supporters after Game 1, they booed the Hawks point guard every time he touched the ball. He responded with another miserable performance on the road: 2-of-8 shooting and only one assist.
But the rest of the Hawks weren’t much better.
Marvin Williams, who was supposed to be a big part of the offensive plan if the Celtics clamped down on Johnson, had only 12 points. Josh Smith, coming off two huge games in Atlanta, was held to 4-for-13 shooting. Rookie Al Horford was the only one who stood up to the Celtics with another double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds.
With Boston making more than half its shots and crashing the boards on those that missed, the Hawks had few chances to run — the key to creating offensive chances against one of the league’s best defenses.
“We can’t allow them to dictate our game,” Childress said. “We have to dictate the game. In this series, it all starts at the defensive end.”
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“There’s no panic,” Cassell said. “They just did what they had to do at home, they tied the series up, so we had to take care of our home court. You see, people don’t realize this is why we work so hard during the course of the regular season — to get home-court advantage.”
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.
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 | Buzzer Beater: Playoffs Soundtrack Vol. 1 April 30: Jay-Z, Boyz II Men, Seal, Norah Jones, Soulja Boy and Drowning Pool are the featured artists on our fake soundtrack. |
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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 |
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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.
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.
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.
