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
OKLAHOMA CITY - Kobe Bryant needed just a few minutes to thwart an Oklahoma City rally and put the Los Angeles Lakers on the way to improving the NBA’s best record.
It took quite a bit longer to shake off the effects of the ankle injury he suffered in the process.
Bryant scored 10 of his 36 points in a 3-minute span of the fourth quarter to stave off the Thunder’s comeback bid and lead the Lakers to a 107-93 victory on Tuesday night. He didn’t emerge from the Lakers’ training room until about 40 minutes after the game, but he was in a good mood when he did.
“It was my ankle, but I’ve got ankle insurance,” Bryant said with a smile. “I’m fine.”
Bryant moved into 19th place on the NBA’s career scoring list, ahead of Adrian Dantley only one game after he passed Elgin Baylor for 20th. Entering the game, he had needed only 13 points to tie Dantley.
He got to that point with the first of back-to-back jumpers that pushed the lead back to 18 with 7:05 left in the third quarter after Oklahoma City had gotten within 10. The Thunder still had one last charge in them, closing within one before Bryant returned from the bench and took over.
Coach Phil Jackson said he had to turn away Bryant once before he finally let his star check back in with 9:17 to play and the Thunder within two. Bryant said the thoughts that were running through his head were not pleasant ones.
“If I don’t check in within the next 2 minutes, I’m just not going to sleep very well tonight,” Bryant said. “It’s about time for me to go in and do what they ask me to do.”
He had 15 points in the fourth quarter after the Thunder were threatening, allowing the Lakers to improve to 47-10 on the season and 21-6 on the road.
Kevin Durant scored 32 to lead Oklahoma City in its sixth straight loss. It was his ninth time scoring at least 30 points in the last 10 games, and the 13th time in 17 games, during a surge that’s landed him right behind Bryant in fourth place in the NBA in scoring.
Rookie Kyle Weaver followed his career-best 19-point outing by scoring 16, and Russell Westbrook finished with 14 points for the Thunder.
“A guy like Kobe Bryant, he’s a great player,” Durant said. “He makes those shots. We forced him into some of those tough ones, but that’s the kind of player he is.”
Pau Gasol added 14 points, Derek Fisher scored 12 and Luke Walton had 11 for Los Angeles. After averaging 16 rebounds over the last seven games, Lamar Odom had only eight points and eight rebounds.
But Bryant had plenty of production, especially down the stretch.
He hit a jumper immediately after checking back into the game, then scored six points in a row to respond to Jeff Green’s three-point play that cut the deficit to 81-80. He used a series of hesitation moves and pump fakes to draw two fouls from Weaver, then backed his way in against the rookie for a layup that made it 87-80.
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
 | Special feature |
 |
NBCSports.com |
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 |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. 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.
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.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings