NBA
HOT JAZZ COOLS OFF HORNETS
The New Orleans Hornets picked a bad time to schedule the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. For openers, the Jazz is as hot as any team in the NBA, winning eight straight as the ball was tipped off on Monday. In addition, the Utah fans are a bit jazzed about their budding superstar guard, Deron Williams, not getting a plate at the All-Star table. So when Chris Paul showed up at the EnergySolutions Arena on Monday, the kind folks of SLC were not in a very gracious mood. Paul, you see, did make the team.
Through it all, the Jazz prevailed again, winning their ninth straight game 110-88 and sending the suddenly struggling Hornets to their third straight defeat. Utah improved to 31-18 on the season while the folks from the Big Easy dropped to 32-15.
Williams certainly played like an All-Star. He scored 29 points and dished out 11 assists while making just three turnovers. He got some bigtime help from Kyle Korver as Double K was 6 for 8 from three-point range on thee way to scoring 20 points. Carlos Boozer kept things under control on the boards, grabbing 17 caroms. He also scored 19 points.
Meanwhile, Paul struggled. He hit just 3 of 11 shots and scored only six points. Jannero Pargo tried to make up the slack with a Hornet-leading 24 points.
OTHER NBA SCORES
Chicago 118, Seattle 108
Toronto 114, Miami 82
Phoenix 118, Charlotte 104
LA Clippers 103, New York 94
Dallas 107, Orlando 98
Atlanta 96, Philadelphia 91
Denver 105, Portland 103 (OT)
Houston 92, Minnesota 86
NBA NOTES
• The presence of some Super Bowl champs couldn’t even help the New York Knicks on Monday at Madison Square Garden. Three Giant showed up and got a standing ovation. Meanwhile, the Knicks managed to lose their sixth straight game, which pretty much has taken away any good feelings the team had in mid-January when they seemed to be turning things around a bit. The LA Clippers, buoyed by the return of Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman to the lineup, beat the Knicks without their coach, Mike Dunleavy, who was out with the flu.
• How would you fix the Miami Heat? These unfortunate NBAers have toiled night after night since early November, and all they have to show for their efforts are nine wins. That’s a win every 10 days or so. On Monday, they boasted a lineup of Ricky Davis, Earl Barron, Mark Blount, Jason Williams, and Dwyane Wade. Their leading scorer was Dorell Wright, a third-year high school draftee who has a career average of 5 points a game. A dispirited Wade had 12 points. Williams had three. Alonzo Mourning is out. Shaquille O’Neal is out. And what the team has left can’t keep up in the NBA. It could be time for some major overhauls in Miami.
• Allen Iverson is an amazing basketball player—among the most fun to watch in the league. And he showed a little icewater in the veins on Monday burying a jumper at the buzzer to give the Nuggets an overtime win over the Blazers. While sometimes NBA games plod along with a mind-numbing sameness, AI always provides a spark with his high energy, quickness, and ability to sneak through small spaces and tall people on his way to the basket.
NHL
DEVILS RALLY; MOVE INTO FIRST-PLACE TIE
The New Jersey Devils waited and waited and waited before finally earning an impressive come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
Trailing 3-1 early in the third period, Devils stars Patrick Elias and David Clarkson both scored less than two minutes apart from each other to send the game into overtime. That’s when Zach Parise beat Pittsburgh netminder Ty Conklin for the game winner. New Jersey 4, Pittsburgh 3.
Parise’s tip shot was the only shot in overtime.
Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur earned his 28th win of the season.
With the win, the Devils finds themselves locked in a three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Division.
OTHER NHL SCORES
Edmonton 5, Calgary 0
Phoenix 4, Colorado 3 – OT
FACT OF THE DAY
EXTREME MAKEOVERS
Let’s take a look at the NBA teams who are pounding out some extreme makeovers (well, some aren’t so extreme) to their records in comparison to how they did last season. Here are all the teams who have a better won-loss percentage now than they had when the season ended last April. Clearly, what Boston is doing is remarkable.
Team 2006-2007 2007-2008
Boston 24-58 .293 36-8 .818 +.525
New Orleans 39-43 .476 32-15 .681 +.205
Portland 32-50 .390 29-18 .574 +.184
LA Lakers 42-40 .512 30-16 .652 +.140
Golden State 42-40 .512 29-19 .604 +.092
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
ANTHONY PARKER, GUARD,
BIO NOTE: His sister is perhaps a more famous basketball player. She is NCAA superstar Candace Parker from the University of Tennessee.
RECENT NEWS: Parker scored 18 points on Monday to help the Raptors beat the Heat.
FAITH QUOTE: “If you ultimate destination is to please God, then you’ll learn from all of those things, and you won’t judge yourself like you’re a failure or you’re a success. You’ll give the glory to God. And that’s the most important thing.” —From Sharing the Victory, the publication of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.”
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
YOU PICKED IT!
Sports Spectrum reader, you are smart! You stood up against the tide of expert pundits who picked the New England Patriots to march past the New York Giants as if they were some also-ran Super Bowl wannabe. During the long two-week run-up to the Super Bowl, we asked you in our The Daily Weekly Poll to let us know which team you thought would be victorious in the desert, and you came through. Fifty-two percent of you (wouldn’t the candidates love to have that majority on Super Tuesday!) chose wisely—picking the underdog Giants to win it all. And the majority ruled! So, congratulations, SS reader. You know your football. Now, about those candidates for president . . .
AND TO ALL, A GOOD KNIGHT
And just like that, the Bob Knight era is over. It’s not at all surprising that this man just up and quit in a bizarre and unexpected way. Coach Knight wants to follow no one’s protocol but his own, and if he decided over the weekend that after winning 902 games and with a game against Baylor coming up on Wednesday and with a big contract for four more years of coaching still in force—he wanted to just call it a day, then that was the way it should be done. This was one man who felt bound by no convention nor seemed bound by any structures. What Bob Knight decided was right at the time was unarguably right in his eyes—and you’d better not argue with him. Knight was an outstanding basketball coach who decided long ago that his modus operandi would include bombast, anger, a distrust of all but his inner circle, disregard for authority, and an attitude that suggested he cared not a whit what others thought of all that. It also included extreme loyalty to his players, the ability to get the most out of his teams, and a drive to force them to succeed on and off the court. His style sharply contrasts the approach of other highly successful coaches such as John Wooden and Dean Smith, but he showed that the college world was big enough for differing personalities.
CARDS TO GIVE JUAN GONE A GO
You might wonder what planet the St. Louis Cardinals are on to think that Juan Gonzalez, who is 38 years old and hasn’t been tested by a high hard one for 5 years, could possibly still play major league baseball. Well, the do have spring training in Jupiter, if that’s any indication. Apparently, Albert Pujols has taken a liking to Gonzo, and he has asked the team to give him a shot during spring training. One could guess that it won’t hurt anything, really, but the team worked so hard to get rid of one problem in Scott Rolen (at least a problem for the manager) that they wouldn’t want to invite a player whose first name could easily be Disgruntled, as in “Disgruntled Juan Gonzalez was released by the Detroit Tigers . . . ” and other such headlines from the past. However, it is true that we all understand the concept of the second chance, and it’s only fair to give Gonzalez the chance to prove his buddy Albert right and the naysayers wrong. It’ll be fun to watch, so train your telescope on Jupiter. Florida, that is.
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 won 11 straight PGA Tour tournaments.
• One year he won 18 tournaments.
• He won five major championships and
• In 1944 and 1945, he was named by the Associated Press as the Athlete of the Year.
• He averaged just 68.3 strokes per round—a record—in 1945.
Quote: “Without God, you don’t have that control. You don’t have somebody who is with you all the time. Without Him I wouldn’t have that constant level. I’d be lost without Jesus.”
WHO IS HE? BYRON NELSON
TUESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• Could hit a line drive single harder than anyone in the game.
• Led the NL in hits, doubles, RBI, and batting average in 1982.
• Had 2,743 hits in his career, mostly with Pittsburgh and Montreal. That’s more hits than Joe Morgan, Lou Gehrig, Billy Williams, Ted Williams, Ernie Banks, and Reggie Jackson.
• Scored 90 or more runs five times in his career.
• One of the best hitters not selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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
DAVID WHEATON, former tennis star
David Wheaton is a long-time favorite of Sports Spectrum. As a professional tennis player, he hung out with the greatest players of his era, but he also discovered that the greatest truth of all is that living for Jesus is far better than living for any sport or any fame sports provides. He later wrote a valuable book to help Christian kids make it through college, and he also hosts a radio show filled with good advice. Sports Spectrum talks to David about the recently completed Australian Open and what he thinks about the new crop of tennis stars coming along.
