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 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
CHICAGO - Paul Pierce insisted the Boston Celtics have their flaws, no matter how hard they are to find these days. Their latest showing was one of their best yet.
Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 14 assists, and the Celtics won their 10th straight, beating the struggling Chicago Bulls 106-80 on Saturday.
“We’re nowhere near a perfect team,” Pierce said. “We’re still trying to build, trying to get better.
“Definitely, it’s one of our better games.”
Rasheed Wallace and Eddie House scored 15 apiece. Kevin Garnett added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Pierce scored 14 even though he sustained a stinger on his right shoulder and hit just 4 of 12 shots.
Boston scored 10 straight late in the third quarter, making it a 20-point game and sending the Bulls to their 10th loss in 12 games.
Derrick Rose scored 19 for Chicago. Luol Deng added 17 but missed 4 of 6 free throws late in the third quarter, and the Bulls capped a particularly brutal seven-day stretch with another blowout loss. They were routed by Toronto and Atlanta and fell to New Jersey in between, and after an overtime win over Golden State on Friday, they watched Boston run away with this one in the second half.
Chicago went the final 6:18 of the third quarter without a field goal and shot 32.6 percent overall. With a 71-61 lead, Pierce hit two free throws to start a 10-0 run that Garnett capped with an alley-oop layup from Rondo with 1:26 left in the quarter.
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The Bulls hardly resemble the team that pushed Boston to seven games before losing a thrilling first-round playoff series last season, albeit with Garnett sidelined by an injured right knee. Rose and Joakim Noah have questioned the team’s effort and the pressure on coach Vinny Del Negro is mounting.
“We just have to keep playing hard,” Deng said. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
The Celtics, who blew out the Bulls in October, look more like the team that won the championship than the one that struggled to get by Chicago last season, settling in after a volatile start.
Things got testy about 3½ minutes into the game when Miller basically clotheslined a driving Rondo, who gave him a bloody mouth in the playoffs. That delighted the crowd, even if it resulted in a flagrant foul.
Rondo said he expected some retribution from Miller, considering his hard foul late in Game 5 of the playoffs left him with a bloody mouth.
“I think he tried to go for my face, but he hit me in my nose a bit as well,” Rondo said.
Miller said “it’s not really payback, but everybody knows what happened.” He said it was more about a center refusing to let a guard go in for a layup, adding, “You’ve got to win that battle.”
While Pierce said Miller’s not a dirty player, Ray Allen “thought it was excessive.”
Rondo, meanwhile, said the blow “didn’t hurt” and he’s “been hit way harder.”
“I’m not going to get intimidated by it,” he said. “The next time we play, I’m going to drive whether it’s him, whether it’s Noah or anybody. It can be Shaq, I’m still going to drive. That’s what I do.”
Notes: Boston has not lost since falling 83-78 to Orlando on Nov. 20. ... The Celtics went from losing a club-record 18 in a row in 2006-07 to winning the championship next year, so it’s no surprise that coach Doc Rivers endorsed Del Negro. “Listen, I believe this will work out for him,” Rivers said. “I know what he can do. I coached against him last year in the playoffs, and I just hope he gets a chance to do it.” For Rivers, it helped that the Celtics landed Garnett and Allen before their championship season. The Bulls have been hit by injuries and lackadaisical play overall. ... Rondo was having a little fun at his coach’s expense after Kentucky, his school, beat Indiana on Saturday. Rivers’ son Jeremiah plays for the Hoosiers. “I can’t even tell you how hard Rondo’s been the last three hours,” Doc Rivers said. “That’s all right. I control the minutes.” ... The Bulls go from hosting the Eastern Conference leader to the Western Conference leader when the Los Angeles Lakers visit on Tuesday.
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.
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.
Adreian Payne scored 15 points, Draymond Green added 12 and defense-minded No. 11 Michigan State beat No. 3 Ohio State 58-48 Saturday night, ending the Buckeyes' 39-game home winning streak.
