Boston's Big Three against New Jersey's Great Eight had the look of a mismatch. Instead, the Celtics had to work hard to keep the injury-decimated Nets winless. Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce each scored 16 points, and Boston bounced back from its first loss of the season with an 86-76 victory Saturday night.
LeBron James celebrated with the Yankees and toyed with the Knicks. No wonder he's bummed about the NBA schedule: only one Garden party this season. James scored 33 points in his lone visit to New York, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the Knicks on Friday night. One night after managing just 42 second-half points in an ugly home loss to Chicago, the Cavaliers rang up 40…
Jason Richardson and the Phoenix Suns had no trouble putting their only loss of the season behind them, even against unbeaten Boston. One game after going scoreless for just the third time in his career, Richardson had 34 points and 10 rebounds to lead Phoenix to a 110-103 victory over the Celtics on Friday night.
Brian Westbrook is set to return from his latest injury when the Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in a matchup of the top two teams in the NFC East on Sunday. Westbrook missed the Eagles' rout of the Giants last week with a concussion sustained a week earlier in a victory over Washington. Coach Andy Reid said Westbrook, who practiced Wednesday for the first time since the injury, should be…
Drew Brees and the Saints are so good right now they can't even beat themselves. New Orleans overcame four turnovers for a second straight week to stay perfect with a 35-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night, matching the best start in franchise history. Brees, responsible for two turnovers, passed for 308 yards and two scores.
Guess who showed up for Halloween dressed as sluggers? The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez, whose double clanked off a television camera in the right-field corner and was ruled a home run in the first instant replay call in World Series history. It changed the game. "I think it woke our offense up a little bit," Rodriguez said after the Yankees rallied for a rain-delayed 8-5 victory…
The Dallas Mavericks surprised themselves in a bad way with a season-opening loss at home. Then they hit the road and stunned the defending NBA champions. Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and the Mavs were 25 of 32 from the free throw line, snapping a six-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 94-80 victory Friday night.
With two starters ruled out and two others, including running back Brian Westbrook, listed as questionable, the Philadelphia Eagles go into their biggest game of the season with key health issues. The Eagles (4-2) host the New York Giants (5-2) on Sunday with first place in the NFC East at stake. But Westbrook is questionable after suffering a concussion in last Monday's victory over…
Carmelo Anthony almost couldn't miss and Greg Oden missed when it mattered most. Anthony scored 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets were helped by Portland's trouble at the free-throw line for a 97-94 victory Thursday night. Oden missed a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left, squandering a chance for Portland to go ahead.
Derrick Rose was so antsy and "geeked up" to get back on the court he had to blast the music on his way to the arena. Once he arrived, he certainly seemed in tune. Or at least close. Rose scored 13 points and had seven assists to lead the balanced Chicago Bulls to an impressive 92-85 season-opening victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
The Orlando Magic didn't spend much time hoisting their Eastern Conference championship banner. They didn't take long to adjust to a revamped roster, either. Dwight Howard had 21 points and 15 rebounds, Vince Carter scored 15 points and the new-look Magic rolled to a 120-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Kevin Garnett scored 21 points, Ray Allen added 20 and the Boston Celtics won their fifth straight, beating the Toronto Raptors 101-82 on Sunday. Eddie House scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth, while Rasheed Wallace, who sat out Boston's 106-90 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night because of a sore right ankle, returned to score five points.
NBA or Europe, regular referees or replacements, the rules are the same: Two technical fouls is an automatic ejection, and anyone ejected must leave the floor. Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted a pass on that rule Sunday. The New York Knicks' 106-91 victory over the Euroleague team featured a bizarre delay in the third quarter when the visiting coach refused to leave after he was ejected.
A grounder off a fielder's glove. A bunt that slipped by two players. The Los Angeles Dodgers' latest postseason rally began in the weirdest, wackiest way. Another throwing error by Chase Utley, a pinch-hit single and two walks also were part of the Dodgers' crazy eighth inning that produced a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, tying the NL championship series at one…
Brad Lidge has regained that nasty slider. Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz are stroking big hits. Cole Hamels is winning postseason games without his best stuff. Boy, this is looking real familiar for the Philadelphia Phillies. Ruiz and Raul Ibanez hit three-run homers, reliever Ryan Madson got a key out and Lidge finished off the Phillies' 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NL…
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison will miss the rest of the team's exhibition games with a right shoulder injury. Jamison will be re-evaluated next week, after the swelling goes down. He had an MRI exam Thursday, a day after getting hurt while trying to block a shot by Zydrunas Ilgauskas in Washington's 109-104 preseason victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mickael Pietrus scored 19 points and Dwight Howard and J.J. Redick each had 15 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 102-83 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in a preseason game on Monday night. Howard also had a team-high 11 rebounds in 24 minutes as the Magic remained unbeaten in four exhibition games.
Peyton Manning's left knee may be sore, but it doesn't appear to be a serious problem for the undefeated Colts. One day after Manning led Indianapolis to a 31-9 victory at Tennessee, coach Jim Caldwell said he had not received a doctor's report regarding the knee, something he would have expected had there been concerns.
Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez stood together as Yankee Stadium roared. Teixeira had the chills. Rodriguez had a smile that said it all — a satisfied look after putting years of postseason failure behind him. Teixeira hit a leadoff drive in the 11th inning to give New York a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night and a 2-0 lead in their AL playoff series.
Kevin Garnett's knee is better, and he's waiting with uncharacteristic patience for the rest of his body to catch up. After missing 25 regular-season games and the playoffs last season because of strained ligaments in his right knee, Garnett was back on the court in Boston for the first time on Friday night in the Celtics' 96-82 exhibition victory over the New York Knicks.
A sinking line drive sailed through the chilly evening air toward Matt Holliday. All he needed to do was make the catch, and St. Louis would have a series-tying victory. Instead, the ball smacked him in the gut and dropped to the grass — and the Cardinals never recovered. Holliday's crucial error with two outs in the ninth inning led to a two-run rally that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-2…
Scoring early against St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter gave the Los Angeles Dodgers the shot of confidence they needed. Then their bullpen came in and closed out the Cardinals. Randy Wolf survived a shaky first inning before five relievers combined to give up one run in the Dodgers' 5-3 victory on Wednesday night in an NL playoff opener full of missed chances for both teams.
Kevin Garnett went down. Luckily for Boston, it was only for a second. Garnett hit the floor after missing on an attempted alley-oop just over five minutes into the preseason opener against Houston on Wednesday night. To the Celtics' relief, he quickly got back up and hit two free throws. Garnett scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in the Rockets' 96-90 victory.
Vince Carter scored 21 points in his Orlando debut and Brandon Bass added seven of his 13 points in the final two minutes to lift the Magic to a 110-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the preseason opener for both teams on Monday night. Carter, who was acquired by the Magic in an offseason trade with the Toronto Raptors, scored 15 points in the third quarter.
Clay Buchholz has one week to think about his next start. Or, even better, not to think about it. Manager Terry Francona said Buchholz was still in line to follow Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the rotation for the first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels, even after the Red Sox right-hander lasted just three innings in a 12-7 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.
The Minnesota Twins have wanted out of the Metrodome for years. They're playing as if they want to stay a little longer. Jeff Manship's first major league win was well-timed for the Twins, who got a grand slam from Delmon Young and hung on for a 10-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night that cut Detroit's AL Central lead to one game.
Those pesky Twins forced the Detroit Tigers to keep their champagne on ice. Scott Baker got plenty of run support and pitched Minnesota to a testy 8-3 victory on Thursday, preventing the Tigers from clinching their first division title in 22 years. Minnesota avoided elimination from the playoff race and moved within two games of the first-place Tigers with three to play.
The Detroit Tigers were down after absorbing a difficult loss in the opener of their critical day-night doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins. Their ace took over from there. Justin Verlander kept the Tigers on top in the AL Central, pitching eight innings in a 6-5 victory Tuesday night that restored their two-game lead over the scrappy Twins.
Kendry Morales homered and drove in three runs, and the Los Angeles Angels wasted no time clinching their third straight AL West title with an 11-0 victory over the second-place Texas Rangers on Monday night. Ervin Santana pitched a seven-hitter for his fourth career shutout, while Maicer Izturis had three hits and two RBIs to wrap up the Angels' sixth playoff berth in eight seasons.