NHL
DOAN LEADS COYOTES OVER SLIDING SABRES
Veteran Shane Doan scored a goal and assisted on another as the Phoenix Coyotes sent the Buffalo Sabres to their eighth consecutive road defeat. Phoenix 6, Buffalo 2.
Doan, the Coyotes captain, scored the second of his team’s three second-period goals. Doan’s 16th goal of the season extended his point streak to a career-high 11 consecutive games.
All six of the Coyotes goals came against Sabres backup goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.
Buffalo’s eight-game slide is the worst road performance in team history. The Sabres have not won a road contest since December 22.
OTHER NHL SCORES
Minnesota 4, Vancouver 2
Nashville
Carolina 3, New York Islanders 2 – OT
Washington 6, Pittsburgh 5 – OT Shootout
NBA
T-WOLVES GET WIN NO. 6
For just the sixth time since late October, the Minnesota Timberwolves and their fans have something to smile about. On Monday, the T-Wolves edged the Golden State Warriors 109-108 to keep their hopes alive of crawling out of the NBA basement.
With the win, the T-Wolves improve to 6-34. They are just two wins away from catching the increasingly hapless Miami Heat, who lost again on Monday to fall to 8-32. Next among the worst of the worst in the Association is Seattle at 9-32. Of those three teams, only Minnesota has won a game in their last ten—and in fact the T-Wolves have won two of their last ten contests.
The win on Monday at the Oracle Center in Oakland gave Minnesota just their second road victory of the season.
Golden State’s Al Harrington missed a tip of a Baron Davis errant layup just before the buzzer, sending the Warriors to their 18th loss of the season against 25 wins and sending the visiting Timberwolves onto the court in celebration of a victory.
Ryan Gomes paced the T-Wolves with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and two free throws in the closing seconds to put Minnesota ahead. Al Jefferson scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the young team.
The Warriors were led by Monta Ellis, who had 28 points.
OTHER NBA SCORES
LA Lakers 116, Denver 99
Cleveland 99, Miami 90
Boston 109, New York 93
Washington 102, Dallas 84
San Antonio 95, Charlotte 86
Portland 111, Atlanta 109 (OT)
Indiana 110, Philadelphia 103
Houston 96, Seattle 89
New Orleans 106, Milwaukee 92
Utah 109, LA Clippers 93
Memphis 104, Chicago 90
NBA NOTES
• One of the big mysteries of this NBA season is why a team with two superstars and one of the best coaches in league history has the second worst team in the league. The Miami Heat’s loss to Cleveland on Monday shows why. Dwyane Wade did everything humanly possible to lead his team to victory, but he had almost no support. While he was scoring 42 points, his teammates were working on their masonry. Wade was 17 for 29 from the floor. Everybody else? 20 for 54. And that includes zero for 10 from behind the three-point line. Only Shaquille O’Neal cracked double figures, and he had just 10. Wade should sue for non-support.
• Boston and New York. Red Sox and Yankees. Bruins and Rangers. Patriots and Giants. Celtics and Knicks. The cities have been banging heads for more than a hundred years in pro sports. The latest version was Monday at Madison Square Garden as the Celtics came into the Big City to play the Knicks. In the middle of it, things got chippy, the players got lippy, and the refs got flippy—sending off Paul Pierce of Boston and Quentin Richardson of the Knicks for excessive trash talk toward each other. The Celtics ended up winning, but the Knicks showed why they had won four of five before this game, making things uncomfortable at times for the visitors from Boston.
FACTS OF THE DAY
Let’s take a look at who is leading the NBA in various categories as the teams near the halfway mark in the season.
Scoring
LeBron James 29.7
Kobe Bryant 27.4
Allen Iverson 27.0
Carmelo Anthony 25.5
Dwyane Wade 25.0
Three-point percentage
James Jones .530
Jason Kapono .505
Daniel Gibson .482
Anthony Parker .477
Richard Hamilton .471
Free Throw percentage
Ben Gordon .923
Ray Allen .920
Jose Calderon .913
Caron Butler .909
Chauncey Billups .904
Rebounds
Dwight Howard 15 rpg.
Marcus Camby 14.3
Chris Kaman 13.7
Tyson Chandler 12.3
Al Jefferson 12.0
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE
SHANE DOAN, PHOENIX COYOTES
BIO NOTE: Doan’s cousin is Canadian Olympic speed-skating gold medalist Catriona LeMay Doan.
RECENT NEWS: On Monday, Doan helped the Coyotes beat the Buffalo Sabres by scoring one goal and getting one assist.
FAITH QUOTE: “I think you have to take a stand early. If you can’t stand strong all the time, people push you a little. As a Christian, I think I should be the hardest working person on the team. Nothing bothers me more than when I know I haven’t been doing my best.”
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
DUNGY RETURNS
Tony Dungy could have walked away from the Indianapolis Colts with his legacy intact. He could have put the pressures of coaching an NFL team behind him and searched an endless array of other opportunities in football or in ministry. He could have just sat back and enjoyed life from his family’s new home in Florida. But he couldn’t. Not with a continuing opportunity to have an impact on the men he coaches and coaches with—and to continue to influence those who follow sports with his life and message of faith. In the not too distant future, Dungy will walk away and the NFL will suffer a great loss when he does. But for now—for 2008 at least—Tony Dungy is still the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
SERENA OUT
The defending women’s champion at the Australian Open, Serena Williams, will not be defending her title. She lost on Tuesday to Jelena Jankovic in straight sets, spoiling a chance for another Williams-Williams finals. Also on Tuesday, Maria Sharapova defeated Justin Henin in straight sets to reach the semifinals.
FALSE REPORT UPSETS PUJOLS
A reputation is a fragile thing. It can be destroyed so by a careless statement by someone else. Albert Pujols is one baseball player who cares deeply about his reputation. He is cautious about what he says and does because as a Christian he doesn’t want anything to reflect poorly on his faith. So, he is understandably upset because a reporter doing sloppy reporting work, wrongly linked Pujols’ name to the Mitchell Report. Pujols knows that once someone makes such a claim, no matter how erroneous, the damage is done. In an article in Sports Spectrum magazine early in Pujols career, he asked the readers to pray for him. That would still be a good idea today as he begins to get ready for another season that he wants to dedicate to God’s glory.
BEAVER LEAVES
It’s not often that a college coach is fired in the middle of the season, but that’s what happened yesterday in Corvallis, Oregon. The Oregon State University athletic director, Bob De Carolis, gave Jay John the boot after John’s team sunk to 0-
WHO IS HE?
Testing your knowledge of past sports stars—taken from “Legends” articles from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine
MONDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He played in 12 seasons, all with the Dodgers.
• He played his first 10 seasons in Brooklyn and his last two in Los Angeles.
• He was a member of six World Series teams.
• He was a right-handed pitcher who won 122 games for the Dodgers.
• His most memorable moment was in the 1953 World Series when he beat the Yankees—striking out 14 Bronx Bombers batters.
• He and his wife Betty have four children, including Jimmy, who has Down Syndrome. After Jimmy was born, this man began the Hopewell Center, designed to provide help for people like Jimmy.
WHO IS HE? Carl Erskine
TUESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He finished his college basketball career as the top career rebounder, averaging 22.7 rebounds a game.
• He was the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the ABA in 1972.
• He was a member of the 1975 ABA championship team, the Kentucky Colonels.
• He was a six-time NBA All-Star
• He scored 24,041 points in his combined ABA/NBA career.
WHO IS HE?
SPORTS SPECTRUM RADIO
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 TUESDAY GUEST
CJ WOOLUM, basketball coach, Christopher Newport University
Woolum looks over the landscape of a new college basketball season and discusses what he sees. For one, he delves into what some of the coaches who changed teams are doing—and he’ll discuss two key coaches who moved a few years ago and are doing quite well: Roy Williams and Bill Self.BIO NOTE: LaDainian is featured in the Sports Spectrum video Power to Win, used by many as a supplement to parties held on the day of the Super Bowl.
