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The way they've played so far this season, the odds favor a first-round sweep even if the Bulls do make the playoffs. But the schedule offers a golden opportunity for this 14-19 team to climb back to .500.

The philadelphia flyers stumbled at the start of the season, losing their first six games. Now they're tied for first place with the New York Rangers in the contentious Atlantic Division, and they don't plan on looking back. Mike Richards scored the only goal in a shootout and assisted on goals by Ossi Vaananen, Braydon Coburn and Mike Knuble, leading the Flyers to a 5-4 victory over the Anaheim...

James Singleton has been like several Dallas Mavericks role players this year. Playing time comes and goes and the reserves are never quite sure what to expect.But compared to this time a year ago, Singleton is in basketball heaven. He played for TAU Cerámica of the Spanish ACB league and said he was miserable.'I have never seen a team so controlling in my life,' Singleton said. 'Every facet, they controlled. What time you went to sleep. What you have to do on the road. What you eat. Everything.'Throw in a major knee injury in September 2007 and life was difficult. But Singleton rehabbed in five months, finished the season in Europe and happily signed with the Mavericks.And one of the attractions in Dallas was Mark Cuban, the essence of a players’ owner.'Mark is a saint,' Singleton said, emphasizing the last word. 'I’m glad to be here and glad to be home.'— Jan Hubbard

By JEFF CAPLAN DALLAS — Since their 2-7 start, the Dallas Mavericks have done an exceptional job of racking up wins against teams with losing records.Friday’s 96-86 win over Philadelphia moved the Mavs to 18-5 overall since those first forgettable nine games and an impressive 14-1 against teams below .500.The only loss came on Dec. 19 when Devin Harris lit them up in New Jersey. At the other end of the won-loss spectrum, the Mavs are 4-4 since the first nine games against teams in the top eight of both conferences, plus Utah.'Whomever we’re playing on a particular night is the team we need to beat,' Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. 'I don’t like talking about sub-.500, over .500. I think it’s disrespectful to the teams that are below.'Still, if the Mavs (20-12) continue to take care of business against teams lower in the standings, they’ll crack the double-digit barrier for games above .500 for the first time this season early next week.Three more sub

Sure, Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, but it was Trevor Ariza's quick hands that saved the Los Angeles Lakers. Ariza came up with two of his season-high five steals in the last 2:22 and scored two fast-break baskets to help the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 113-100...

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No. 1 star: Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets Nash converted a penalty shot for his 17th goal of the season and...

Jeff Pendergraph found it much easier to go up against Stanford now that the Lopez twins are in the NBA instead of prowling the lane at Maples Pavilion. Pendergraph scored 21 of his career-high 31 points on a variety of dunks and layups in the first half and No. 17 Arizona State handed Stanford its first loss of the season, 90-60 on Friday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.

Patrick Christopher has spent most of the season playing second-hand rose and even third fiddle, but the junior guard was Cal's first, second and third star Friday night. Christopher led the team in scoring for the first time this season, matching his best...

If last week's victory over the Celtics represented a chance to shift the tone of Golden State's troubled season, then this week effectively stunted the optimism. After beating the NBA's best team, the Warriors have lost to its two worst, dropping a 115-108...