Even when football season ends, superstar quarterback Peyton Manning is hard to miss on TV. He has become such a marketable pitchman that his commercials -- a sports drink here, a credit card company there -- seem endless. Apparently, President Bush has taken notice while flipping the channels. "So a lot of people here in the White House compound have been really looking forward to seeing Peyton...

This time, Shaquille O'Neal had nothing but praise for the opponent and the officiating. The only finger he pointed was at himself. He realizes he needs to do more if the Miami Heat are going to climb out of another 2-0 playoff deficit. Dwyane Wade needs to step up, too. Ben Gordon scored 27 points and Luol Deng added 26 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 107-89 victory Tuesday night and a 2-0 lead over...

The Phoenix Suns put the pedal to the floor and left that Game 2 jinx, and the Los Angeles Lakers, buried in the dust. The Suns revved up their frenetic style to near perfection on Tuesday night in a 126-98 rout that put Phoenix up 2-0 in the best-of-seven first-round series. "It's hard to single things out," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

The Toronto Raptors celebrated with Sam Mitchell, then went out and played like him. After starting the night with an award ceremony for their coach of the year, the Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 89-83 Tuesday to even their first-round series at a game apiece. "He wasn't the prettiest player but he got the job done and that's kind of how the playoffs are," forward Chris Bosh said.

Clay Bennett waited months to finally put his imprint on the basketball side of the Seattle SuperSonics. Bennett, the Sonics' majority owner, did that on Tuesday by firing coach Bob Hill, as expected, and removing Rick Sund as general manager. But it came with little fanfare or explanation, and plenty of questions not involving the franchise's future in Seattle.

Sam Mitchell remembers the advice he got from Bill Fitch when he was cut by the Houston Rockets in 1985. Fitch told him to persevere, regardless of what others say. Mitchell did just that, as a player and a coach. On Tuesday, he was honored as NBA coach of the year after leading the Toronto Raptors to a franchise record-tying 47 victories and their first Atlantic Division title.

The Boston Celtics are severing ties with guard Sebastian Telfair days after he was arrested in the New York area and charged with carrying a loaded gun in his car. Team managing partner Wyc Grousbeck said Telfair, the 13th pick in the 2004 draft and coming off a disappointing first season with the Celtics, would not be back with the team.

Dirk Nowitzki is tall enough to shoot over almost anyone. He's accurate enough to shoot from almost anywhere. Yet surround him with a bunch of pesky defenders and the big German struggles. Case in point: Game 1 of the playoffs against Golden State. With a variety of guys between 6-foot-3 and 6-9 charging at and swarming around the 7-footer, Nowitzki had one of his worst games of the season.

Each of the Houston Rockets have to make 10 consecutive free throws before they are allowed to leave the practice floor every day. The often frustrating drill paid off Monday night, as the Rockets used an exceptional game from the line to offset Carlos Boozer's 41 points and beat the Utah Jazz 98-90 to go up 2-0 in the first-round playoff series.

Even after Denver's Game 1 victory over the Spurs, Marcus Camby knows there are still plenty of doubters. "It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks," the Nuggets' center said. "Our mind-set is that us 15 players out here, (we're) the only ones who probably really think we can beat the Spurs." Denver will try to pull off a real stunner -- winning two games on the Spurs' home floor -- in Game 2 on...

It didn't take long for Tom Renney's views about the Sabres not being the "cream of the crop" to reach Buffalo's locker room Tuesday. Whatever the New York Rangers coach's intentions were in making that comment a day earlier, the top-seeded and President's Trophy-winning Sabres made sure they interpreted it in the worst possible light.

Over a career that lasted more than two decades, Scott Mellanby twice made it to the Stanley Cup finals, played in the NHL All-Star game and became one of hockey's most respected leaders. That said, he'll always be remembered for his coup de grace on a rodent. The 40-year-old Mellanby retired Tuesday, less than a week after the Thrashers were swept in the first round of the playoffs.