Super Bowl XLVI
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.
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored shootout goals to give Detroit a 2-1 win over Anaheim on Friday. The victory was the Red Wings' 19th consecutive at home, one shy of the NHL record.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
Arc's weekend preview: The way you beat Kentucky is by getting physical with their big guys, and the Wildcats don’t have much depth up front.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Despite an injury scare and a few missed opportunities at Monterey Peninsula CC, Tiger Woods remains in contention at the AT&T.
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.
Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 in an ill-tempered match Saturday to provisionally move to the top of the Premier League.
All that stuff about the Olympic ideal, how it's all about taking part, not winning, can often seem like so much hot air, rendered hopelessly quaint and outdated by the ultra-competitive and mercenary world of modern sport. Until, that is, you speak to Kieran Behan.
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.
Getty Images
LOS ANGELES - Until Thursday night, Pau Gasol had made more appearances this fall on “CSI: Miami” than in the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting lineup.
The Spanish 7-footer finally got back to his day job in a dynamic season debut that suggested just how good the defending NBA champions can be when they’re whole.
Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant scored 21 points while passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the Lakers’ career scoring chart in Los Angeles’ 108-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Ron Artest added 15 points for the Lakers, who finally had their full starting lineup intact for their ninth victory in 12 games to start the season. Although key reserve Luke Walton is out following back surgery, Los Angeles finally can begin building team chemistry around Bryant and Gasol, the pillars of their title run last summer.
“Definitely, I missed it a lot,” said Gasol, who sat out the Lakers’ first 11 games with a right hamstring injury. “It’s so much fun to play with our guys in front of our crowd. I really wasn’t expecting to be as effective as I was tonight, but my teammates found me a couple of times and made it easy.”
Although Gasol confessed to loving the extra-long timeouts of a nationally televised game, he appeared fully healthy in his first appearance since early in the preseason. Gasol scored 10 of the Lakers’ first 13 points, moving easily on his injured leg while playing 34 minutes.
“It feels great. We have our squad now,” Bryant said. “Obviously, we can’t wait to get Luke back, but having Pau back is huge. We didn’t miss a beat, either. We have a bunch of guys that can post. We have the advantage.”
Bryant clearly took a back seat to Gasol early on in a 7-for-21 shooting night, but still added nine rebounds and eight assists. And two days after Bryant posted his 100th career 40-point game, he reached yet another milestone.
With a free throw in the third quarter, Bryant passed Abdul-Jabbar (24,276) for second place on the Lakers’ career scoring list, leaving him trailing only Jerry West (25,192).
With 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Gasol in a starting lineup described by Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro as “really, really long,” the champs had little trouble with the Bulls, opening a 20-point lead in the third quarter before beating them for the eighth time in nine meetings.
Derrick Rose had 20 points and John Salmons scored all 18 of his points in the first half for the Bulls, who lost on the second stop of a taxing six-game road trip.
“Their length is definitely their biggest strength,” said Joakim Noah, who had 12 points and 15 rebounds. “To me, the most amazing thing about it is you’re out there competing hard, and these guys are hardly breaking a sweat because they’re so comfortable running their offense. They look like it’s very easy.”
Before beating Sacramento on Tuesday, the Bulls were 9-56 since Michael Jordan’s departure on the annual fall road trip made necessary by the circus occupying the United Center around Thanksgiving. Chicago still must stop in Denver, Portland, Utah and Milwaukee before getting home in December.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
Chandler: Even in eighth grade, Jeremy Lin stood out as a singular talent. So his success with the Knicks is no surprise.
 | Special feature |
 | Fan ranker: Who will be MVP of the NBA? Visit each week during the regular season to rank the candidates. NBCSports.com |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 NBAE/Getty Images |
 | 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 |
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
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.