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
TORONTO - Seven years in the NBA has taught LeBron James the importance of patience. It is being tested after Cleveland started its new season with two straight losses.
Andrea Bargnani scored 28 points, Chris Bosh had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors overcame James’ 25th career triple-double to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 on Wednesday night.
“Early in my career, I’d get very upset when you lose two or three games, you’d just feel like you can’t turn it around,” James said. “But I’m at a point in my career now where I know that you can lose two but, at the same time, you don’t look too far into it. You learn from the mistakes and you just try to get better.”
James had 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, but Cleveland opened its season with consecutive losses for the first time since an 0-3 start in 2004-05. James scored 38 points in Tuesday’s 95-89 home loss to Boston.
“I’m still positive,” James said. “If it was 25 or 35 games into the season and we were going through a three- or four-game losing streak, then I’d be a little bit disappointed, but I’m not at this point.”
Mo Williams scored 16 points and Shaquille O’Neal had 12 for Cleveland, which had won five straight over Toronto and nine of 10.
“Coach is still learning us, we’re still learning the system, we’re still learning each other,” O’Neal said. “It’s going to be a work in progress.”
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Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said his team has work to do at each end of the court.
“There were stretches where we struggled offensively and there were stretches where we struggled defensively,” Brown said. “To struggle the way we did on both ends of the floor is going to result in a loss.”
Hedo Turkoglu scored 12 points in his Raptors debut and Marco Belinelli had 10. Jose Calderon had 11 assists for Toronto, but Bargnani’s performance was the talk of the locker room.
“If Andrea gets it going and is scoring the basketball a lot, then we are going to be tough to beat,” Bosh said.
Trailing 78-71 to start the fourth, Brown left James on the bench and Toronto took advantage, outscoring the Cavaliers 9-3 and building an 87-74 lead by the time James returned with 8:40 remaining.
Brown said he wants James, who played 45 minutes Tuesday, to average 38 minutes in the regular season. James played 40 minutes against Toronto.
“The bottom line is this is the second game of the year and I’ve got to make sure I don’t play him too many minutes,” Brown said.
Even with James back, Cleveland struggled to cut into the lead. A pair of free throws by Williams and a 3-pointer by Daniel Gibson cut it to 93-83 with 4:06 left, but Antoine Wright answered with a 3-pointer for Toronto.
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Toronto guard Jarrett Jack stopped the run with a free throw and, after James made one more from the line, Turkoglu made a free throw and Calderon converted a three-point play.
Bargnani had 13 points in the first while James was held to just three, making one of three shots, as Toronto led 27-22.
Belinelli had 10 points, Bargnani scored eight more and the Raptors shot 10 for 17 in the second as the Cavaliers stumbled, going just 6 for 22. Toronto closed the second on a 16-7 run and led 57-39 at the break.
James made four of Cleveland’s six shots in the second and had 14 points at the half.
It was Toronto’s turn to go cold in the third, as the Raptors shot 6 for 15. Cleveland, meanwhile, used five 3-pointers to get back into it, and trailed 78-71 heading into the fourth.
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.
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.
