Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed early Monday when his white stretch Hummer was sprayed by bullets after a nightclub dispute following a New Year's Eve party. Police have no motive and no indication the 24-year-old player was targeted in the drive-by shooting of the limousine. The burst of violence occurred hours after the Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention.

Not long after Atlanta owner Arthur Blank fired him as the Falcons' third-year coach, Jim Mora went to great lengths to list his accomplishments. Advancing to the NFC championship game in his first season, however, wasn't enough to save Mora's job. The Falcons, who went a combined 4-13 during the final two months of 2005-06, missed the playoffs the last two years.

Dennis Green has joined a long list of failed coaches for the Arizona Cardinals. The franchise with one winning season in the past 22 years already is lining up candidates to be the next one to give it a shot. Mike Sherman is to be interviewed on Thursday, and five other NFL assistants were identified as potential hires.

Sometimes teams that enter the final game of the season needing half a dozen things to break their way get their wish. The Kansas City Chiefs went around all week grumbling at themselves for failing to make the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons. Now they're rubbing their eyes and getting ready to go to Indianapolis on Saturday, thanks to a 35-30 victory over Jacksonville and losses by...

Maybe Kevin Garnett's slump really was caused by the NBA's synthetic ball. Garnett had 32 points and 14 rebounds in the NBA's return to the old leather ball, and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat Charlotte 102-96 on Monday night. Garnett was one of the most vocal critics of the NBA's decision to go with the microfiber composite ball at the start of the season, and his numbers had dipped as...

No Dirk Nowitzki. No problem for the Dallas Mavericks in extending their winning streak to 10 games. "Everybody knew Dirk was out of the lineup," Dallas forward Josh Howard said. "We needed some people to pick it up and not just me." Howard had 28 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Mavericks to their 10th straight victory, 89-85 over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

Steve Nash isn't going to complain about getting a win at the Palace of Auburn Hills. But he feels the victory deserves an asterisk because of the injury to Pistons All-Star guard Chauncey Billups. "It's not like we are going home feeling like we beat the Pistons," Nash said after the Phoenix Suns' 108-101 victory Sunday.

As long as his back holds up, Tracy McGrady says he's ready to carry the Houston Rockets until Yao Ming returns from a leg injury. McGrady scored a season-high 38 points and had nine rebounds to help the Rockets beat Memphis 111-109 on Sunday night, handing Grizzlies interim coach Tony Barone his first loss.

Tim Duncan beat the stomach flu -- and the Atlanta Hawks. Duncan had 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, and Tony Parker scored 27 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Hawks 95-81 on Sunday. "(Duncan) did a great job, especially with the way he was feeling yesterday," said Manu Ginobili, who missed a game Tuesday night because of the bug.

When he wasn't scoring, Elton Brand was making it difficult for the New York Knicks to put points on the board. Brand had 32 points and tied his career high with eight blocked shots, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a 90-80 victory over the Knicks on Sunday. "Our defense is what we prided ourselves in last year, and that's what kept us in ballgames," Brand said.

The Lakers leaned on Kobe Bryant and their reserves, something Los Angeles may have to do for several weeks after losing starting center Kwame Brown to a sprained ankle. Bryant finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Los Angeles reserves Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic and Maurice Evans made some clutch 3-pointers down the stretch to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-94 on...

Chris Wilcox is different from most forwards around the NBA. For the Seattle SuperSonics, that's a good thing. Wilcox, at 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, may not have the strength or weight of other big forwards, but he makes up for it with speed and quickness. Wilcox flashed his way through middle of the Celtics' defense for a season-high 24 points Sunday night to help the Sonics to a 101-95 victory against...

Joe Sakic downplayed moving past Paul Coffey into 10th on the NHL's career points list, focusing instead on snapping Colorado's three-game losing streak. The Avalanche captain had three assists Monday to increase his team lead to 44 points and push him past Coffey in Colorado's 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa combined their offensive efforts to ensure that the Atlanta Thrashers returned to their recent winning ways. Hossa had his third assist on Kozlov's second goal of the game 1:48 into overtime, lifting Atlanta to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Kozlov gave the Thrashers a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, then outmaneuvered Ottawa defenseman Joe...

The surging Sabres made Ted Nolan's return to Buffalo a disappointing one. Ryan Miller made 29 saves and Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and an assist to give the Sabres a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Monday, spoiling Nolan's first appearance in Buffalo since leaving the organization after rejecting a one-year contract offer following the 1996-97 season.

Mats Sundin made sure the Toronto Maple Leafs weren't in last place when they reached the halfway mark of their season. Sundin scored twice and added an assist to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night. Kris Newbury scored his first career NHL goal, and Hal Gill and Jeff O'Neill also scored to send the Maple Leafs to just their fifth win in 17 games.

Instead of dreaming of a Stanley Cup, Anaheim Ducks fans might just want to wish for good health in the New Year. Already without the services of top goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Ducks' sick bay added another big name on Sunday night. Anaheim lost All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger to a broken left foot during the Ducks' 4-3 loss at Minnesota.

The Phoenix Coyotes are having fun again. Owen Nolan had a goal and an assist in Phoenix's three-goal first period, and the Coyotes beat the struggling Washington Capitals 3-2 Monday for their third straight win. The Coyotes improved to 16-20-2, the closest they've been to .500 since late October. "We're playing hard, and it really was a nice effort," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzy said.

The San Jose Sharks didn't waste any time bouncing back from a lopsided defeat. Joe Thornton scored his 200th career goal and added two assists to help the Sharks snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night. Joe Pavelski, Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau also had first-period goals for the Sharks, coming off a season-worst 8-0 road loss to the...

Detroit showed that persistence pays, especially when the Red Wings face the Los Angeles Kings. Detroit got goals from six players Sunday night in a 6-2 win over Los Angeles, the Red Wings' 12th straight victory over the Kings. After struggling on offense early in the season, the Red Wings scored at least five goals for the fifth time in their last 13 games.

Outshot and outplayed most of the way, the lowly Philadelphia Flyers still found a way to beat the defending Stanley Cup champions Sunday night. Alexei Zhitnik scored the go-ahead goal while Robert Esche played a strong game in net to lead the Flyers past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2, giving Philadelphia its second straight victory after a franchise record 10-game losing streak.

Miikka Kiprusoff came up huge early, and Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames took it from there. Kiprusoff made two huge saves on Ryan Smyth in the first 20 seconds of the game Sunday night to set the stage for the Flames' 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Iginla paced Calgary with a goal and two assists, but said Kiprusoff bailed out the Flames early.