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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
APPierce and Allen (0-for-4 in Game 1) snapped out of whatever ailed them. Pierce did it right away, with seven points in the first quarter, but Allen took a little more time.
The third member of Boston’s Big Three hadn’t scored since hitting a 3-pointer with 8:48 left in the third quarter of Game 7 against Atlanta. Boston finished off the Hawks with just seven points from the Allen, who shot 3-for-12 in the first-round finale.
He missed his first four shots Thursday but scored 11 points in the third quarter, including the first four of the second half as the Celtics scored 10 straight to take a 54-36 lead. The Cavaliers cut it to 12 on James’ only basket of the quarter, but they spent most of the fourth quarter trailing by 20.
“It was good to see Ray get it going. I thought that lifted everybody up on our team,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who called the first several plays of the second half for Allen. “I made a concerted effort. I told the coaches at halftime, ’We’re going to him over and over again. We’ve got to get him going.”’
Allen joked that he had forgotten what it felt like to make a basket.
“I think everybody was relieved,” said the 33-year-old All-Star, who like Garnett arrived in an offseason overhaul that helped the Celtics post the biggest single-season turnaround in league history. “It was as if I was just traded here all over again.”
Cleveland took an early eight-point lead, but the Celtics erased it with Garnett and Pierce on the bench. The Boston subs outscored Cleveland’s 26-4 in the first half; in fact, the Celtics bench outscored the Celtics starters 26-18 in the half.
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The Cavaliers led 21-11 in the first quarter, and they still led by seven in the second before their shooting went cold.
Notes: The Cavaliers switched from the burgundy uniforms they wore in Game 1 to primarily blue ones Thursday. ... Celtics basketball boss Danny Ainge said the NBA has reversed a flagrant foul call against Cassell from Game 1. ... The Celtics went 7-for-16 from the line in first half. ... Sasha Pavlovic was the highest-scoring Cleveland sub, with five points. ... Pierce spent some time on the bench after having the thumbnail on his right hand nearly torn off early in the second quarter. He returned with a bandage. ... Boston’s Kendrick Perkins came out with three minutes left in the first quarter with a bloody nose. He sat out the rest of the quarter trying to stop the bleeding with a towel then returned in the second quarter.
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
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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.
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.
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