Bobby Petrino will have an impact on Michael Vick and the Falcons. Just ask team owner Arthur Blank. Blank sees Petrino, who was hired away from the University of Louisville, "as a difference-maker." "Bobby knows how to motivate," Blank said Monday. "He knows how to teach. He knows how to get the best out of his athletes.

The Denver Nuggets finally found a team as depleted as they are. Marcus Camby returned from a one-game absence after aggravating his broken right ring finger and had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots in Denver's 104-92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. The Bucks were without injured guard Michael Redd and lost his backcourt mate Mo Williams during the game.

Tracy McGrady was tired, tight, and couldn't shake his defender. He was feeling much better by the time the fourth quarter started. "I knew I was going to take over," McGrady said. McGrady scored 15 of his 31 points in the final period, hitting the go-ahead jumper to lift the Houston Rockets to an 84-77 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

Elton Brand can sympathize with what the New Orleans Hornets are going through. He's just glad his Clippers teammates were the ones that got back from their injuries first. Sam Cassell scored 31 points, Cuttino Mobley added 20 and Los Angeles started to look healthy again in a 100-90 win Monday night against the Hornets.

Larry Brown wants his grade-school kids to unpack their suitcases, get used to one house and graduate from a suburban Philadelphia school district. Brown's had it with moving his family. He's enjoyed dropping off his two children off at school and picking them up later in the day. The Brown family even went on their first Christmas vacation.

Despite his limited playing time and a sub-par shooting percentage, Sasha Vujacic says he's never lacking in confidence. And that's a good thing, since a shooter must have that kind of mentality. Vujacic had his best game in three NBA seasons Sunday night, scoring a career-high 16 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Dallas 101-98 to snap...

Although Dwyane Wade said he was sluggish after his four-game layoff, he didn't really show it. Wade returned from a wrist injury and scored 33 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 93-90 victory Sunday night over the Portland Trail Blazers. Wade, who had 25 points in the first half, helped Miami rally from a 16-point deficit and snap a five-game losing streak.

Mark Blount is making it tougher for Minnesota's opponents to focus on Kevin Garnett. The 7-foot Blount continued his recent strong play with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Timberwolves' 103-99 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Garnett still led the way with 26 points and 13 rebounds, but Blount's 6-for-12 shooting performance -- including his second 3-pointer of the season --...

No Tony Parker, no sweat, Tim Duncan said with a straight face. Parker missed his first game of the season with a right hip strain, but Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 34 points, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96 Sunday. The Spurs snapped their first three-game losing streak of the season.

It was a game of perspective exercises. Gilbert Arenas pegged Washington's loss on the early game time. Chris Bosh credited Toronto's win to having a full team for the first time in almost a month. "I don't think we've ever played well on 1 o'clock games," Arenas said after Bosh had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 116-111 victory over the Wizards on Sunday.

Jan Hejda scored his first NHL goal 1:14 into overtime, lifting the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. Jarret Stoll had a power-play goal in regulation, and Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves for the Oilers in the only game on the league's schedule. It was Hejda's 14th game in the NHL.

The Boston Bruins recalled rookie Phil Kessel on Sunday from the AHL nearly a month after he underwent surgery for testicular cancer. Kessel learned he had cancer shortly before playing in a Dec. 9 game against New Jersey. He underwent surgery three days later to remove his right testicle. He played two games last week for Providence of the AHL, scoring in a 2-1 loss Saturday to the Manchester...

Olli Jokinen knew enough about Roberto Luongo from their six seasons together as teammates to be certain the Vancouver Canucks' netminder wasn't going to let a few soft third-period goals ruin his confidence. And he was right. Luongo stopped six Florida shots in overtime and five of six in a shootout as Vancouver defeated the Panthers 4-3 on Sunday night.

For the second day in a row, the surging New Jersey Devils were solid from their superstar goalie on out to cap a very successful weekend in Canada. Martin Brodeur made 28 saves for his NHL-leading seventh shutout of the season and Brian Gionta scored twice, lifting New Jersey to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

Dany Heatley appears to be adapting well to playing without injured Ottawa Senators linemate Jason Spezza. With Spezza sidelined Sunday for the eighth straight game because of a knee injury, Heatley didn't miss a beat against the Philadelphia Flyers. Heatley had two goals and an assist, and linemate Daniel Alfredsson added a goal and two assists in the Ottawa Senators' 6-1 victory over the...

Jeremy Roenick made his possible Chicago swan song memorable. Roenick, who began his career with the Blackhawks, had a goal and an assist Sunday to help Phoenix win its season-high sixth straight, 4-2 over Chicago. Michael Zigomanis, Fredrik Sjostrom and Oleg Saprykin also scored for Phoenix, which hasn't lost in regulation in its last eight, going 7-0-1.

The Anaheim Ducks didn't suffer any hangover from their most embarrassing loss of the season. Coach Randy Carlyle wouldn't let them. Bjorn Melin scored in his NHL debut and the Ducks also got goals from Travis Moen and Ryan Getzlaf to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Sunday night, ending a four-game losing streak.

Sidney Crosby scored an unorthodox goal while sliding toward the net face first. Maybe that's why Martin St. Louis tried to do something different himself on the shot that ended up counting the most. St. Louis put an odd-angle backhander between Marc-Andre Fleury's pads for the only successful shot in the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning shook off Crosby's acrobatic goal to beat the Pittsburgh...