Miami Must Add Another Star or Risk Losing Dwyane Wade
February 28, 2010 by Tim Povtak · Leave a Comment
ORLANDO — You can hear the clock ticking now on Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.
When the trade deadline came and went last month, when neither Amar’e Stoudemire nor Carlos Boozer landed in South Beach, it raised the stakes unbelievably in Miami for this much-anticipated free agency summer.
Tick … tick … tick … tick …
For Miami, it’s going to be all or nothing, either unbelievable joy or inconceivable sorrow. Either heaven or hell for the franchise.
The Heat either must convince one of the other big-name free agents to join them — LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Stoudemire or Boozer — or Dwyane Wade will be leaving town, sinking them to the depths of the NBA.
You can see it in his play, his body language now. He deserves better than what the Heat have given him.
Wade returned to action Sunday night after missing the previous four games with a strained calf muscle, and he probably wished he had stayed on the sideline a little longer. He had 17 points by halftime, but he ran out of gas in the second half, finishing with 21. There was no one there to bail him out.
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NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
February 28, 2010 by Tom Mantzouranis · Leave a Comment
The NHL trade deadline is set for Wednesday, March 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Below is a list of every trade in the league in the 2010 calendar year. Check back through the deadline for any new movement.
A trade freeze has been in place since Feb. 12 due to the the participation of NHL players in the Winter Olympics. The NHL regular season resumed and the trade freeze ended on Monday, March 1.
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Lakers Push Back, Send Message in Win Over Nuggets
February 28, 2010 by Chris Tomasson · Leave a Comment
LOS ANGELES — There are 15 championship banners hanging in the Staples Center, and plenty have been won with the Lakers being known as a finesse team.
But finesse doesn’t work against the Denver Nuggets. You don’t say “pardon me” if you’re grappling with Kenyon Martin for a rebound or “desculpe,” which is Portuguese for “excuse me,” if Nene gets in the way in the paint.
The Lakers finally figured that out Sunday after getting sand kicked in their faces for 2 1/2 games by the Nuggets. There was a 105-79 road rout at the hands of the Nuggets Nov. 13 and a 126-113 home setback to them Feb. 5, a game in which Denver didn’t even have high-scoring forward Carmelo Anthony. Then the Nuggets pushed around the Lakers in the first half Sunday, taking a 52-43 lead.
Enough finally was enough. Lamar Odom stopped being a nice fellow. So did Pau Gasol.
“We need to really be the aggressor,” Gasol said after the Lakers outscored the Nuggets 52-37 in the second half to win 95-89 in the battle between the West’s top two outfits. “We need to challenge instead of we’re always being challenged … We’re not aggressive enough. We’ve got to start challenging people and imposing our will. And we can. It sucks sometimes that we don’t do it.”
At least the Nuggets (39-20) have been around the past two seasons to knock some sense into the Lakers (45-15). They literally do it courtesy of elbows by Martin and Nene and with Anthony throwing around his big body.
In last spring’s playoffs, the Lakers sometimes looked disinterested until the Nuggets woke them up. With the Western Conference finals tied 2-2 and the Lakers having been lucky to win their two games thanks to late-game faulty Denver inbound passes, Los Angeles rose up to win the last two games of the series and then defeated Orlando 4-1 for another NBA crown.
“[Sunday's win] was important because they beat us [twice this season], and we feel like we’re going to see them again [in the playoffs],” Odom said. “It was important to put in their minds, if we play the right way, we can beat them.”
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Jimmie Johnson Wins Second Straight Sprint Cup Race
February 28, 2010 by Motorsports FanHouse · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jimmie Johnson
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jimmie Johnson needed luck to win a week ago in California. In Las Vegas, a city of chance, he didn’t need any help at all, winning his second straight race by passing teammate Jeff Gordon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway late in the race.
Gordon dominated Sunday’s race by leading 218 of the 267 laps, but he took just two tires on the final pit stop and it cost him the victory.
Johnson took four tires and restarted in fourth, but rocketed to Gordon’s bumper as soon as the race resumed. He chased Gordon for 17 laps, finally scooting past him with 17 to go.
Johnson then pulled away for his 49th career victory and fourth at Las Vegas.
Kevin Harvick finished second, while Gordon faded to third.
Jimmie Johnson Wins Second Straight Sprint Cup Race originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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LeBron to the Lakers: The Most Ridiculous Rumor of Them All
February 28, 2010 by Brett Pollakoff · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Cavaliers, Lakers, NBA Rumors
The NBA’s summer of 2010 has been easy money for sportswriters, and has been for quite some time now. With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and a whole host of others being available on the free agent market at the end of this season, writing about rumors and possible combinations of which players may end up where has been the simplest way to both fill space and increase page views, all by doing nothing more than speculating on the future.
But this most recent rumor? The one from Roland Lazenby that suggests LeBron James has begun to make it known to the Lakers that they are his destination of choice next season? Now, at this very moment, things have officially gone too far.
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Jefferson Suspended, Apologizes to T-Wolves After DWI Arrest
February 28, 2010 by FanHouse Newswire · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves star center Al Jefferson apologized to the team and fans Sunday after his arrest on suspicion of DWI following a weekend loss to Portland.
The Timberwolves suspended Jefferson for the next two games without pay – a punishment Jefferson said he accepts.
“I want to apologize to the entire Timberwolves organization, owner Glen Taylor, my teammates, coaches and Wolves fans everywhere for my actions last night,” Jefferson said in a statement released Sunday by the Timberwolves. “I made a very poor decision and I am truly sorry for that. As a leader on this team, I know that more is expected of me, and I am disappointed in myself.”
A Minnesota State Patrol trooper stopped Jefferson, 25, on Interstate 394 near downtown Minneapolis early Sunday for speeding and changing lanes without signaling, patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske said.
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Hunter Mahan Hangs on for Phoenix Win
February 28, 2010 by Mick Elliott · Leave a Comment
Filed under: PGA
Hunter Mahan’s first words after walking off TPC Scottsdale Sunday afternoon as winner of the Waste Management Phoenix Open were brief but spot on.
“Great players win,” Mahan said. “I want to be a great player.”
A final-round 65, which included an eagle and two birdies on the back nine, for a 16 under total suggests Mahan understands the concept.
The 27-year-old Californian, who played college golf at Oklahoma State, won his second career PGA Tour title by coming down the stretch like a seasoned pro on the way to a one-shot decision over rookie Rickie Fowler, another Okie State product.
At one point Sunday 19 golfers were within three shots of the lead, but Mahan played the back nine with an eagle at 13 and birdies at 14 and 16. Also, he was the only player in the field to play the final two rounds without a bogey.
Mahan’s potential talent has been no secret. Since joining the tour in 2004 he has played on two U.S. Presidents Cup teams and in one Ryder Cup, each time as a captain’s pick. Last year he finished 10th in the Masters and sixth at the U.S. Open.
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Shaq to Undergo Thumb Surgery Monday
February 28, 2010 by Pat McManamon · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Cavaliers, NBA Injuries, FanHouse Exclusive
Shaquille O’Neal will have surgery on his right thumb on Monday and the Cleveland Cavaliers center could miss the rest of the regular season.
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Hunter Mahan Captures Phoenix Open
February 28, 2010 by FanHouse Newswire · Leave a Comment
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Hunter Mahan has won the Phoenix Open, coming from four strokes back to beat Rickie Fowler by a shot in a 1-2 finish for former Oklahoma State players.
The 27-year-old Mahan had an eagle and a pair of birdies in a late four-hole span Sunday to finish at 16-under 268 for his second PGA Tour victory. The first came at the Travelers Championship in 2007. Mahan closed with consecutive 6-under 65s to finish at 16 under.
Fowler, just 21 and a tour rookie, had a final round 68 for the second runner-up finish of his young career, both of them in Arizona.
South Korea’s Y.E. Yang also shot a 65 to finish at 14 under, two off the pace. Last year’s PGA Championship winner, Yang led until his tee shot went in the water at No. 17.
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Karl Keeps Things Light in a Rough Time
February 28, 2010 by Chris Tomasson · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Nuggets, NBA Coaches
LOS ANGELES — Cancer hasn’t taken away George Karl’s sense of humor.
After a reporter asked before Sunday’s 95-89 loss to the Lakers at the Staples Center about the willingness of the Denver coach in his career to take on combustible players, Karl cracked, “I thought that was going to be on … I better not talk about gravestone.”
Karl revealed Feb. 16 he has a treatable form of throat cancer that he had learned about the previous month. Questions have cropped up about it in every city Karl visits, and he has handled them with aplomb.
On Sunday, Karl, who already has missed Thursday’s game at Golden State due to his radiation and chemotherapy treatment and will miss March 10 at Minnesota, said he might also miss March 12 at New Orleans. Karl also is in line to skip some games when the Nuggets go on a five-game trip between March 23-29.