NBA
CASSELL SHOOTS CLIPS PAST SUNS
The LA Clippers have been losing close games at a dangerous, well, clip, recently, but Sam Cassell made sure that pattern ended on Tuesday. Sam I Am fired away over the Phoenix Suns defense, leading Los Angeles to a 97-90 win at the Staples Center.
Cassell, who at age 38 can still shoot with the best of them on a good night, was 15 for 21 from the floor on the way to scoring 32 points. He got offensive help from Corey Maggette, who had 21. Chris Kaman, who struggled with his shot (3 for 14), rescued the Clippers on the boards with 18 rebounds. The win improves the Clippers to 11-23 on the season.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix (26-12) with 29 points. Steve Nash had 13 assists and Shawn Marion almost matched Kaman on the boards with 17.
The Clippers, who are trying to compete without their best player, Elton Brand, shot 52 percent for the second game in a row.
OTHER NBA SCORES
Philadelphia 111, Houston 107
Orlando 102, Chicago 88
Detroit 103, Toronto 89
New York 105, Washington 93
Golden State 105, Minnesota 98
Cleveland 132, Memphis 124 (OT)
NBA NOTES
• The Chicago Bulls continue to struggle. As is so often the case, their coach blamed a “lack of effort” for their latest loss. It’s a mystery why what appeared to be such a talented group of players has become a team of under-achievers this season.
• It turned into another classic LeBron James Show. When his team needed him the most, James came through against Memphis—scoring 25 of his 51 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. King James now has four career games of 50 points or more.
• All the New York Knicks have is hope. And that tiny flicker of hope grew just a bit on Tuesday as they cobbled together their third two-game winning streak of the season. Their recent back-to-back successes were against Detroit and Washington, definitely a good sign for the struggling MSGers.
NHL
THEODORE SHARP IN SHUTOUT OF LIGHTNING
Jose Theodore’s tenure with the Colorado Avalanche has been anything but smooth. The former star netminder of the Montreal Canadiens has had an up-and-down stay with the Avs. On Tuesday night, Theodore had an up night! The 31-year-old goaltender shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning to give his team the 3-0 victory.
Theodore, who last recorded a shutout in 2004, made 32 saves in to earn the victory. How impressive was Theodore’s performance? He turned away 22 Lightning shots in the third period alone!
Colorado got goals from Jeff Finger, Peter Stastny, and Milan Hejduk in the win.
Tampa Bay has now dropped 12 of their last 15 games.
OTHER NHL SCORES
Anaheim 4, Dallas 2
Phoenix 5, San Jose 3
Montreal 3, NY Islanders 1
Washington 4, Ottawa 2
Los Angeles 3, Edmonton 1
Nashville 3, Calgary 0
Colorado 3, Tampa Bay 0
Toronto 5, Carolina 4
Columbus 3, Vancouver 2
FACTS OF THE DAY
60 PLUS
LeBron James scored 51 points on Tuesday for his fourth 50-plus game during his NBA career. His high game is 56, scored against Toronto on March 20, 2005. Here is a list of players who have cracked the 60-point mark in NBA history.
Wilt Chamberlain (32 times; high, 100)
Kobe Bryant (4 times; high, 81)
David Thompson (1 time; high, 73)
Elgin Baylor (4 times; high, 71)
David Robinson (1 time; high, 71)
Michael Jordan (5 times; high, 69)
Pete Maravich (1 time; high, 68)
Rick Barry (1 time; high, 64)
Joe Fulks (1 time; high, 63)
Jerry West (1 time; high, 63)
George Gervin (1 time; high, 63)
Tracy McGrady (1 time; high, 62)
George Mikan (1 time; high, 61)
Karl Malone (1 time; high, 61)
Shaquille O’Neal (1 time; high, 61)
Bernard King (1 time; high, 60)
Larry Bird (1 time; high, 60)
Tom Chambers (1 time; high, 60)
Allen Iverson (1 time; high, 60)
Gilbert Arenas (1 time; high, 60)
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE: SHANE DOAN
SHANE DOAN, RIGHT WING, PHOENIX COYOTES
BIO NOTE: During the offseason, Doan lives in Kamloops, British Columbia.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, “Doaner” had two goals and an assist to help Phoenix beat San Jose. Doan has 14 goals this season.
FAITH QUOTE: "The more I study the Bible, the more I realize that I'm still just beginning to learn what it all means. Have I made some poor choices in my life? You bet-who hasn't? The difference for me is that I have a bottom line to return to, a sure foundation that I can stand on that will not shift or change or crumble beneath me: The Word of God-nothing more, nothing less, nothing else."
—Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
BREAM IS BACK
Sid Bream has returned to baseball. Bream, you may recall, is the gimpy-kneed first baseman who scored from second on a single by Francisco Cabrera to give the 1992 Atlanta Braves the NL pennant. His dramatic slide across home plate is legendary in Braves’ lore during their rise to baseball’s top echelon in the 90s. The Liberty University product, a strong Christian, retired from baseball in 1994. Now he is back. The Pittsburgh Pirates, the team Bream’s slide home beat in 1992 and the team he played from 1985 through 1990, has hired Bream to be a coach their Class A team in State College, Pennsylvania.
BUFFALO KEEPS GILL LONGTERM
If Buffalo Bulls head coach stays through the end of his new contract with the school, he’ll still be at the State University of New York school until
TERRIBLE DAY FOR TEJADA
The worst news on Tuesday for Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros shortstop, was not that someone in Congress wants to know if he lied to a house committee. Indeed, that is nothing compared to the terrible news that Tejada’s brother, Freddy, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Bani, Dominican Republic, on Tuesday. Tejada, who is playing winter ball in the DR, called Freddy one of his closest brothers.
MORE ROCKET SCIENCE
The Congressional hearings on Tuesday didn’t do Roger Clemens any favors. For one thing, when Donald Fehr opined that the reason he advised players not to talk to George Mitchell was because they might open themselves up to criminal charges would have no bearing on Clemens if he did not take steroids. If someone calls you and asks to talk to you about a possible charge against you, and you absolutely didn’t do that thing, how can criminal charges threaten you? All Clemens had to do would have been to do what Frank Thomas did: Talk to the man. Also, Mitchell stood firm on his belief that the testimony he received from Brian McNamee was “truthful.” While Clemens got no good news out of Tuesday’s hearing, it may have been Fehr himself who came out the worse because it was his office that made the monumental miscalculation to have the players stonewall Mitchell.
WHO IS HE?
Testing your knowledge of past sports stars—taken from “Legends” articles from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine
TUESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He was Mr. Basketball in Indiana in 1983.
• That same year, he was the Converse High School National Player of the Year.
• In 1987, he guided he Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship.
• As a Hoosier, he scored 2,438 points.
• Helped lead the US Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.
• Made his coaching debut in 1991 with an NCAA Division III team, Manchester College. Now is a successful major college coach.
Quote: “How we deal with trials has a huge impact on how we grow spiritually.”
WHO IS HE? Steve Alford, basketball coach, New Mexico
WEDNESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He caught 2,066 major league games.
• During 18 seasons he hit 324 home runs and knocked in 1,225 runs
• Set NL record for putouts with 11,319
• Named to the NL All-Star team 11 times
• Won the Gold Glove Award three times
• Selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003
Quote: “I know that Jesus Christ is the reason for my ability and the reason for me having the career I had.”
WHO IS HE?
SS DAILY INTERVIEW:
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE WEDNESDAY GUEST
STAN PARRISH, former QB coach, University of Michigan
Year after year the question remains: What is with Tom Brady? How does he do it? What is it about this quarterback that allows him week after week and year after year to be a model of quarterback proficiency? One man who may know something about how to answer that is Stan Parrish. When Brady was just learning the ropes at the University of Michigan, Parrish was his QB coach. On this interview, he’ll talk about some of the things that he thinks make Brady such a great signal-caller.
