Brendan Shanahan made sure the New York Rangers took advantage of the struggling Ottawa Senators. Shanahan scored two goals and the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 Saturday, handing the Eastern Conference champions their sixth straight loss.
Bruised but not broken this time, Larry Hughes is again too hurt to play for the Cavaliers. Cleveland's fragile guard, who has also endured personal misfortune in the past, will miss at least four weeks with a deep bone bruise in his left leg, yet another setback for Hughes and the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Shawn Marion led eight players in double figures with 16 points apiece and the Phoenix Suns continued their dominance of the Eastern Conference with a 115-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night.
Eddie Johnson returned from international tournaments and scored in his third straight MLS game as the Kansas City Wizards beat Real Salt Lake 1-0 on Saturday night to move into second place in the Eastern Conference.
The New York Rangers solved their problems at center in a big way Sunday, signing Scott Gomez and Chris Drury away from Eastern Conference rivals on the first day of free agency.
As his teammates danced and carried on while wearing baseball caps and T-shirts proclaiming "Champions," LeBron James walked around in a daze with a smile etched across his face. "This is like a dream," he said, shaking his head. "This is probably the best feeling that I've ever had in my life." An entire city felt the same.
LeBron James scored a career playoff-high 48 points — including his team's final 25 points, and 29 of its last 30 — to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 109-107 double-overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons Thursday night and within a win of the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history.
Cavaliers point guard Larry Hughes was in the starting lineup for Game 4 against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night despite a painful foot injury.
Leave it to Daniel Alfredsson — the Ottawa Senators' captain and longest serving player — to score the biggest goal in team history. With one clutch shot at 9:32 of overtime, Alfredsson ended a decade's worth of frustration by sending the Senators to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time.
Ryan Miller prevented the Buffalo Sabres from being swept out of the playoffs. Yet, the Presidents' Trophy winners still have a long way to go to climb back into the Eastern Conference finals against the Ottawa Senators. One step at a time, Miller said after stopping 31 shots — including 15 in the third period — to preserve a 3-2 win in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
LeBron James' shot was back, and New Jersey's Big Three was missing. That combination has the Cleveland Cavaliers on the verge of their first Eastern Conference finals in 15 years.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson saw the puck dribbling over the line, but gave it an extra push just in case. The way Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller was playing, Alfredsson didn't take any chances. An opportune bounce that led to Alfredsson's goal and a stifling defensive performance combined to produce Ottawa's 1-0 win over the Sabres on Monday night that gave the Senators a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Joseph Corvo never scored a bigger goal, and the Ottawa Senators have never been in such an advantageous position in the playoffs. Believe it, these Senators are for real. Corvo's bouncing shot skipped in at 4:58 of the second overtime, giving Ottawa a 4-3 win over the stunned and suddenly silenced Buffalo Sabres in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night.
Call them the new and improved Ottawa Senators. Showing poise and resilience in withstanding the Buffalo Sabres' two-goal comeback, the Senators further shed their label as postseason underachievers to get a jump on their rivals.
Chris Drury had a goal and assist in the Buffalo Sabres' four-goal second period that erased an early deficit and sent the team to a 5-4 victory Sunday over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the conference semifinal series. Ryan Miller preserved the win with 32 saves, including 11 in a frantic third period.
First Sid the Kid and the Pittsburgh Penguins got the boot. Now Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils are done. It took the Ottawa Senators all of 10 games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals and finally deliver in the playoffs after a decade of disappointing failures.
Lindy Ruff promised his Buffalo Sabres would be aggressive and resilient in response to the team's suddenly growing number of postseason critics. Little did the Sabres coach realize how hard and determined they would have to play to regain the edge in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Rangers.
Benched one game, the overtime star the next: Maxim Afinogenov sure knows how to make up for miscues.
This no-goal got the New York Rangers even with the Buffalo Sabres in more ways than one. Henrik Lundqvist stopped Daniel Briere's shot just short of fully crossing the goal line with 17 seconds left, and the Rangers hung on for a 2-1 victory over the Sabres on Tuesday night to square the Eastern Conference semifinal series after four games.
A terrific regular season was a little more than three minutes from a horrendous end. The largest crowd the Dallas Mavericks have ever had was witnessing one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, with a blown 21-point lead to cap it.
The New Jersey Devils owned the first period and very little else. That is until Jamie Langenbrunner put a quick end to double overtime.
With Chris Drury and Thomas Vanek scoring clutch goals, the Buffalo Sabres didn't need to play an entire game to beat the New York Rangers for a second consecutive time. On Friday night, all it took was the third period.
The Ottawa Senators got to Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils early and often, and then avoided what could have been an embarrassing letdown. Jason Spezza scored 90 seconds into the game, and the Senators jumped to a 4-0 first-period lead before holding on for a 5-4 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Ales Kotalik and the Buffalo Sabres provided an answer to anyone questioning whether they are the elite team in the NHL. It's a response that came through loud and clear in a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday night.
Recent history now favors the New Jersey Devils against the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the last two postseasons (2004 and 2006), 12 of the 14 teams that won Game 5 in a series previously tied at 2 have gone on to win the series. The Devils put themselves in position to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals by getting 31 saves from Martin Brodeur in a 3-0 win on Friday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Sports Watchers brings you the 2007-2008 NBA forecast for the Toronto Raptors.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you NBA season forecast for all of your favorite teams and players.
The Sports Watchers (TSW) brings you the a forecast for the 2007-08 Boston Celtics.
Allan Houston is a New York Knick....yet again!
I feel for the Boston Celtics fans, but they just don't have the D.
DAY FORTY-THREE - We thought LeBron would be great. We thought the series would be close. It looks like we thought wrong.
DAY FORTY-TWO - LeBron James was held to just 14 points in his NBA Finals debut as the Spurs defense prevailed. LeBron and the Cavs try to even up the series tonight in Game two of the Finals.
DAY FORTY - Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the NBA Finals. After 82 games in the regular season and three rounds of playoff basketball behind us, all that's left is for the two final teams to square off for the right to be called the NBA Champion.
NBA Finals - The NBA Finals herald the arrival of the league's next great superstar. After taking down the long reigning Pistons in the East, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers get ready to battle the veteran Spurs.
DAY THIRTY-NINE - Game six. In Cleveland. After LeBron James put on one of the greatest playoff performances of all-time, his teams needs only one more win to advance to the NBA Finals.
DAY THIRTY-EIGHT - Detroit and Cleveland have both held serve at home so far, each winning two, and now the Eastern Conference Finals head into the pivotal game five tonight.
DAY THIRTY-SIX - Facing endless criticism and doubt coming into game three, LeBron James rose to the occasion and led his team to a huge win.
DAY THIRTY-FOUR - Two games. Two Pistons wins. Two lackluster performances from LeBron James. Two late game opportunities for Cleveland that didn't quite pan out. The series moves on to game three in Cleveland and the Cavaliers need a win to keep this series close.
DAY THIRTY-TWO - The golden boy of the Association, aka LeBron James, laces 'em up for game two as he attempts to lead his team's charge with a bit more fervency against the bad boy Pistons.
DAY THIRTY - In matter of just a few seasons, LeBron James has taken the Cavaliers from the worst team in the league to the Eastern Conference Finals.
CONFERENCE FINALS - The Conference Finals are upon us and both the East and the West feature compelling match ups of young up and coming teams versus experienced playoff veterans.
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT - The conference finals may be set in the both the East and the West as two teams face elimination tonight. The Nets face Cleveland in Jersey and the Suns take on the Spurs in the Alamo City.
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN - After holding off elimination twice in a row, the Chicago Bulls are not just "holding off" any longer - they're legitimately contending to win this series. The Pistons try once again to take down the resurging Bulls tonight in Chicago.
DAY TWENTY SIX - Absurd suspensions plague what should be in the best series of the playoffs, and the Cavaliers try to finish off the Nets at home tonight.
DAY TWENTY-FIVE - After pulling off the two biggest upsets of the first round, the upstart Bulls and Warriors are both facing elimination tonight in their respective series. Will these teams find a way to continue their unprobable playoff runs, or will their ride end tonight?