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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
AP
TORONTO - With Rajon Rondo running at full speed, the Boston Celtics’ offense has found a new gear.
Ray Allen scored 21 points and Boston led from the start in winning its fifth straight game, 118-103 over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Tony Allen each scored 15 points for the Celtics, who have won 11 of 12 since a Nov. 1 loss to Indiana.
“Our offense carried us tonight and we executed on all cylinders,” Rondo said.
Kendrick Perkins had 12 points and Paul Pierce and Eddie House each had 11 in helping Boston score a season high. Its previous best was 110 points in a Nov. 18 victory over New York.
Coach Doc Rivers credited Rondo for relentlessly pushing the ball.
“I thought his speed was the factor of the game,” Rivers said. “It set the tables for everyone else to get in. He’s done that three or four games in a row and we’re winning by big margins and I really believe that’s the reason.”
Rondo was reluctant to run at first, so Rivers had to press the message home.
“I told him that his speed, every night, has to be the factor of the game,” Rivers said. “That makes people have to play him. Early in the year, everyone was playing off of him because we were walking the ball up the floor and not doing anything. Now, with his speed, you’ve got to stay with him.”
Now in his third season, Rondo said he’s more confident with the high pace than he was last season.
“I think I’m 10 times better,” Rondo said. “I’ve been working, trying to continue to learn the game. It’s just part of growing as a young player, knowing when and when not to attack.”
Continued reinforcement from Rivers has taught Rondo one thing.
“When guys are backpedalling, it’s tough to defend a guy that’s coming full speed at you,” Rondo said.
Maintaining the balance between scorer and distributor remains a challenge, but, as long as the wins keep coming, the Celtics are happy to have Rondo keep running.
“This is a textbook game for Rondo to see exactly how he should attack every night, regardless of who we’re playing,” Allen said.
Chris Bosh led Toronto with 24 points, while Jose Calderon had 14 points and nine assists. Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker had 14 apiece for the Raptors, who are 2-4 at home.
Boston wasted little time in building a 10-0 lead, forcing Toronto to call time out at 8:37 of the first after missing their first five field goal attempts.
“We took command of the game early and we made sure that we made them play,” Allen said.
Toronto forward Jermaine O’Neal left the game in the second quarter after falling following a missed jump shot. O’Neal started despite straining his surgically repaired left knee in the fourth quarter of Friday’s overtime loss to New Jersey.
Wincing visibly every time he jumped and landed, O’Neal was slow to get up after falling on a missed jumper at 7:36 of the second. He left the game one possession later and did not return. O’Neal, who finished with six points, spent the second half in the locker room getting treatment.
“I tried to gauge it and see if I could help the team, but I didn’t really have any stability, it was becoming too painful,” said O’Neal, who expects to be healthy for Wednesday’s game against Charlotte.
Boston led 32-20 after the first quarter and pulled away in the second. Tony Allen came off the bench to score 12 points, pushing the lead to 18 at one point. The lone bright spot for Toronto was Calderon’s alley-oop to Jamario Moon with just over a minute to play in the half.
The Celtics led 59-49 at the break, their highest-scoring first half of the season.
Notes: Ray Allen had five of Boston’s 10 3-pointers as the Celtics finished 10-for-16 from beyond the arc, matching a season-high. ... Pierce got a technical foul for arguing with 25.6 seconds left in the second, and Perkins got one for taunting after a third-quarter dunk. ... Calderon made all eight of his free throws and is a 40-for-40 from the line this season.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Lin on on 'Linsanity' Knicks guard Jeremy Lin discusses the hype surrounding his recent rise in New York. |
 | 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 |
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.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
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.