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.
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
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - LeBron James was the only healthy frontcourt player for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He was more than enough.
James had 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season, leading the Cavaliers to a 102-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
With Zydrunas Ilgauskas sidelined by a fractured left ankle and Ben Wallace out with the flu, Cleveland was missing 40 percent of its starting lineup.
James scored only nine points in the opening half, then had 17 in the third quarter and completed his triple-double — to his surprise — with a behind-the-back pass to J.J. Hickson for a layup in the fourth.
“I had no idea,” James said. “The first time I knew was when I got the stat sheet. I’m just out there playing. Two of our guys are out so everyone had to step up, including myself.”
Delonte West added 19 points and Mo Williams 16 for the Cavs. Anderson Varejao was held to seven points and four rebounds after averaging 16 points and eight boards the past four games in place of Ilgauskas.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown was impressed that James didn’t force anything to make up for the absent teammates.
“It’s not just about jacking up 3s and taking bad shots,” Brown said. “It’s about attacking the basket. LeBron has had this type of game before. He played a different way tonight by taking it upon himself to get this team scoring the right way.”
Kyle Lowry led the Grizzlies with a career-high 25 points, including 15 from the free throw line, and reserve Hakim Warrick had 16 points and seven rebounds. Rookie guard O.J. Mayo was limited to six points, a season-low.
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The Grizzlies also got 13 points in 13 minutes from Darius Miles, who signed a 10-day contract Saturday and is one game away from reaching the 10 appearances that would put the remaining $18 million of his salary back on Portland’s payroll.
Cleveland trailed for only a minute in the first half and stretched a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter to as many as 20 points in the fourth. The Cavs shot 53 percent, including 57 percent from 3-point range, in their 30th victory of the season. The Cavaliers became the fourth team to reach 30 wins, joining Boston, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“They made their push in the third quarter and it made it difficult for us to get back in it,” Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. “We struggled with containing LeBron James on the high pick-and-roll.”
Memphis dropped its fourth straight and lost for the 12th time in 14 games.
“We’ve got to battle and find a way to win games,” Lowry said. “I don’t know what it is. We just seem like when we get hit, we get hit hard. We try to bounce back, but the balls keep bouncing the wrong way.”
The Grizzlies started slowly, missing their first five shots to fall behind 7-0. After having not led at any point during back-to-back losses entering the game, Memphis recovered to lead briefly, 13-12. It was20the Grizzlies’ only lead.
With James allowing his teammates to take most of the shots in the first half, the Cavaliers never built more than a nine-point lead. The Grizzlies made a run late in the second quarter as Lowry and Warrick fueled an 11-4 spurt that closed the gap to 47-44 at the half.
“I was taking what the defense gave me in the first half,” James said. “I play the game the right way. I let the game come to me. I took advantage of it in the third quarter.”
Notes: Grizzlies rookie forward Darrell Arthur started and played 10 minutes in the first half before leaving the game with a hamstring injury. He did not return. ... Memphis native Lorenzen Wright, who played at the University of Memphis, made his first start of the season for Cleveland. Wright, playing in his 11th game, started for Wallace. ... James received a technical foul in the first for hanging on the rim and slapping the backboard.
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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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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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.
