His was the best known jaw in the NFL, a jutting block of granite that perfectly reflected his toughness and passion for winning. What no one seemed to know about Bill Cowher was that finally winning the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers not only calmed his competitiveness, but sent him off on a football sabbatical with a look he rarely flashed before: a smile of satisfaction.

An unlikely playoff run and the development of a star rookie quarterback wasn't enough to save Titans general manger Floyd Reese's job. After 13 seasons on the job, Reese resigned Friday, a month before his contract was set to expire. "I had hopes of signing a contract extension and staying with the Titans for many more years, but it became apparent to me over the last several months that that...

Exit Iverson. Enter Brown. And so it goes with the Philadelphia 76ers, who rehired Larry Brown for their front office nearly three weeks after trading away the player who tormented him during much of his six years as their coach -- Allen Iverson. The 76ers said early Saturday that Brown returned as an executive vice president.

Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks won a game that Manu Ginobili said the Spurs needed but "just couldn't take." San Antonio is getting used to that feeling when Dallas comes to town. Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Mavs to their 13th straight victory, 90-85 over the Spurs on Friday night.

Smush Parker led five players in double figures with 23 points and the Los Angeles Lakers led virtually all the way in beating the Denver Nuggets 123-104 Friday night. It was the Lakers' eighth consecutive victory over Denver at Staples Center, where they are 13-1 all-time against the Nuggets. Kobe Bryant wasn't among the Lakers in double figures in coach Phil Jackson's 899th career victory.

The Phoenix Suns had to do little more than go through the motions to beat what's left of the Miami Heat. Steve Nash scored 22 points, Amare Stoudemire added 20 and the Suns won their fifth consecutive game Friday night with a 108-80 victory over the severely depleted Heat. Miami lost its fifth straight, the last four without All-Star Dwyane Wade, sidelined with a sprained right wrist.

Tracy McGrady seemed particularly inspired by Dikembe Mutombo's pregame pep talk to the Houston Rockets on Friday night. McGrady scored a season-high 44 points, topping 30 points for the fourth consecutive game, and the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 100-86 for their fifth straight victory. McGrady hit 14 of 31 shots and went 13-for-16 from the free-throw line, reaching 40 points for the 39th time in...

Jason Kidd knew time was on the New Jersey Nets' side, even when Chicago was scoring the first 18 points of the game. In the end, Kidd and Vince Carter combined to score 10 straight points down the stretch, and New Jersey rallied to beat the Bulls 91-86 on Friday night. "This is a veteran ballclub," Kidd said.

With 3.3 seconds on the clock and the game tied in overtime, Kevin Garnett had one thing on his mind -- slow down. After missing the potential game-winner at the end of regulation, Garnett hit a 15-footer with Samuel Dalembert's hand in his face as the buzzer sounded in overtime to lift the Timberwolves to a 104-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.

LeBron James' final assist of the night was in the locker room, shooing the horde of reporters toward Drew Gooden first. With James struggling, Gooden scored a season-high 31 points and matched a season high with 16 rebounds to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to a come-from-behind 95-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.

Winning in Buffalo was big for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Beating the Eastern Conference-leading Sabres was even better. Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Whitney and Jordan Staal each had a goal and assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves in the Pittsburgh's 4-2 victory over Buffalo on Friday night. The Penguins won in Buffalo for the first time since November 2003 and snapped the Sabres' five-game winning...

The Vancouver Canucks are enjoying their newfound confidence. Matt Cooke's second goal of the game, scored 84 seconds into overtime, gave the Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night and a season-high, six-game winning streak. The Canucks squandered a late lead when the Oilers forced overtime with Petr Sykora's goal that came with less than three minutes left in regulation.

The Phoenix Coyotes are still below .500 and still 12th in the Western Conference, but they hope a three-goal rally against the Atlanta Thrashers might be the start of something big. "We showed some character," said Yanic Perreault, who scored 2:29 into overtime to give the Coyotes a 5-4 win over the Southeast Division-leading Thrashers on Friday night.

Paul Kariya and the Nashville Predators found their offense and broke out against the Chicago Blackhawks. Kariya had a goal and three assists, and Scott Hartnell scored twice in the Predators' 8-3 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night. It was Nashville's highest-scoring game since a 9-4 win over Calgary last March 18.

Paul Stastny gave the Colorado Avalanche a glimpse of the fine career they expect him to have. Stastny had a goal and two assists, and Joe Sakic scored on the power play in the Avalanche's 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night. "Everybody experiences stretches, whether it be a scoring drought or maybe not having the same energy all the time," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said...

Boston Bruins rookie Phil Kessel started a brief conditioning stint in the AHL on Friday night, one month after surgery to treat testicular cancer. Kessel saw action on three lines and played on special teams during the Providence Bruins' 2-1 loss to Worcester. "I felt good, my body felt fine," said Kessel, the No.

The San Jose Sharks were three goals down, and their starting goalie had been lifted. Then Josh Gorges took a shot that was sailing wide -- and it somehow caught the top end of Dominik Hasek's stick and caromed into the net. One bizarre bounce triggered an avalanche of goals -- nine straight, to be exact -- on a revitalizing, record-setting night for the Sharks and Patrick Marleau, their steady...

The Boston Bruins were ashamed after they were manhandled by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins lost their third straight game, losing 10-2 Thursday night, and have been outscored 20-3 in the last three contests. They have allowed 28 goals in the last five games. "We are embarrassed. It was almost like we gave up," Bruins defenseman Brad Stuart said.