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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
Getty ImagesO’Neal’s third foul came just over 2 minutes later when he was called for bumping Hamilton on a drive. O’Neal protested that he had his arms straight up, then frowned at the referee who made the call, Jack Nies, as he exited for the rest of the half.
Miami had a 13-3 run to pull to 46-42, but things went bad for the Heat after O’Neal’s backup, Alonzo Mourning, drew his third foul with 3:30 left. Hamilton scored six points and Billups had four as Detroit closed the half with a 14-4 run for a 60-46 lead.
Wade had just 10 points at the half as Hamilton did a superb job keeping him out of his rhythm.
“We just wanted to change up,” Brown said. “The kid’s a great, great player. You can’t always give them the same look.”
O’Neal’s fourth foul came with 3:05 left in the third quarter after Miami had pulled to 70-65, and the Heat entered the fourth quarter trailing 79-69. A 3-pointer by Damon Jones pulled the Heat to 84-75 with 7:51 left, but Prince hit a short jump-hook to start a 9-1 run that made it 93-76.
“We’re obviously a better team with him in the game, but we can’t worry about ’What if the big fella didn’t get in foul trouble,’ and stuff like that,” Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. “We didn’t play team defense.”
Earlier Tuesday, Brown was unusually defensive and testy in reacting to a report on ESPN.com that he already had agreed to become president of the Cavaliers.
Brown has three years remaining on a five-year contract, but the Pistons have made it clear they would not stand in Brown’s way if he wants to secure a position with another club in case his health prevents him from coaching.
“All my players ever ask is how I’m feeling,” Brown said. “They know I want to coach, that’s what I do. Could you imagine me not coaching?”
The players have regarded the rumors surrounding Brown as more of an annoyance than a distraction, though it is clear they aren’t too happy with the timing of the revelations about Brown possibly leaving for Cleveland.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Prince said. “The stakes are higher now, but we dealt with this during the season with New York and those rumors. The only difference now is that we’re in the Eastern Conference finals. We’re a mature team and we know how to handle it.”
Notes: O’Neal did not speak to reporters after the game. ... The 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers were the only team in NBA history to go unbeaten on the road in the postseason (8-0). ... Detroit avoided falling behind 3-1, a deficit only seven of 159 teams have recovered from in postseason history. ... Commissioner David Stern attended the game.
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
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Knicks, Lin still streaking Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Jeremy Lin discuss the team and Lin's recent success. |
 | 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 |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.