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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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.
AP
HOUSTON - Ron Artest gave Houston fans an early glimpse of what he brings to the team.
Artest scored 12 of his 15 points in the first quarter of his Rockets debut, and Houston beat the Memphis Grizzlies 96-93 on Tuesday night in its preseason opener.
The Rockets picked up Artest in an offseason trade with Sacramento with the hope that the talented, temperamental forward transforms them into a title contender.
Artest concedes that he and the team still have a lot of work to do on their chemistry.
“There are a lot of tendencies we don’t know about each other,” said Artest, who went 4-for-12 from the field. “As we play more and more with each other, everybody’s going to get used to each other’s game.”
It’ll help to have a full roster.
Tracy McGrady sat out to rest his sore left knee. The Rockets star had offseason surgery to remove loose tissue in the knee and said last week that it was healing slower than expected. And Shane Battier, the starting forward last season, is out for at least three more weeks with inflammation in his left foot.
“We’ll only get better as a team,” Artest said.
Yao Ming had 10 points and nine rebounds in less than two quarters of action. Houston coach Rick Adelman has said he’ll be careful with Yao during the preseason to try and keep the six-time All-Star fresh and injury-free.
Yao was playing an NBA game for the first time since breaking his left foot last February. Yao said he felt like a rookie in the first quarter, trying to get used to the speed and intensity after such a long layoff. He looked better in the third quarter, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.
“It felt like new, like I’m new here,” Yao said.
Carl Landry, Yao’s backup, had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Houston led 71-70 after three quarters, and Artest and Yao were done for the night. Artest played 24 minutes and Yao played just over 22.
Rudy Gay scored 14 for the Grizzlies and had a pair of highlight-reel dunks in the fourth quarter. Hakim Warrick led Memphis with 15, including a dunk that tied it at 92.
Coach Marc Iavaroni liked what he saw from point guards Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry, who combined for eight assists.
“Both our point guards were very aggressive and we want them to penetrate to the basket,” Iavaroni said. “This is an indication that both of them have made progress from last year.”
Artest got the loudest ovation of the night when he was introduced with the starting lineup. He missed his first shot as a Rocket, a 3-point try from the top of the key. He sank a 3-pointer from the same spot a minute later.
Yao already saw Artest taking scoring pressure off of him.
“He took a lot of shots and drew a lot of fouls on the offensive end,” Yao said.
Gay scored five points, including a driving dunk past Yao, to help Memphis build an early lead. Artest scored seven points, including another 3-pointer, during a 9-0 run that put the Rockets up 18-13.
Artest played for Adelman for one season in Sacramento and knows the offense as well as any of the Rockets. Adelman said he’d like his team to learn how to use Artest more effectively in fast-breaking situations.
“We’ve still got to get used to knowing what he does and what he likes to do,” Adelman said. “We’d like to take advantage of him when we’re pushing the ball and things are on the move and it’s not so stagnant, where they can just see everybody come at him. But that will just take some time.”
Yao had a quiet start and came out with 1:44 left in the quarter. He had five rebounds, but only two points, in 10 minutes before he was replaced by Landry.
Artest also sat out the second quarter. Brent Barry, the Rockets’ other big offseason acquisition, hit a 3-pointer with 10:12 left in the first half to tie the game at 27-all.
Adelman only used reserves in the second quarter and Houston took a 46-43 halftime lead. Warrick had nine points and O.J. Mayo had eight for Memphis in the first half.
Yao and Artest were back for the start of the third quarter.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.