The St. Louis Rams' long search for a return man ended Wednesday when the team acquired Dante Hall from Kansas City in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this weekend's draft. "We have filled a need with one of the top players in football at his specialty, returning punts and kicks," Rams coach Scott Linehan said.

Tired of hearing about everything they did wrong in the playoff opener, the Dallas Mavericks sure did a lot right in Game 2. Jason Terry scored 28 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 and Josh Howard led a 15-2 run in the third quarter that sent the Mavericks to a 112-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, evening their first-round series.

Manu Ginobili knew Game 2 would have to be different after the San Antonio Spurs' top three scorers delivered less-than-stellar performances in the opening-game loss to the Denver Nuggets. He was right and the Spurs won 97-88 on Wednesday night to even the first-round series. "A sense of urgency is what kept us matching that aggressiveness," Ginobili said.

Once he dropped in his sixth straight jumper, Drew Gooden spun around and looked over at Cleveland's bench. Then, he placed his hands in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. "That's called making it rain," Gooden said. On Wednesday night, Gooden poured it on for the Cavaliers. Usually a member of Cleveland's supporting cast, Gooden co-starred with LeBron James by scoring 19 of his 24 points in...

Now that Rick Carlisle is out as the coach of the Indiana Pacers, the team needs to figure out what is next. Carlisle was fired Wednesday after a season in which the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. The Pacers finished the season 35-47, their worst since 1988-89. Indiana was 29-24 shortly after the All-Star break, but lost its next 11 games to fall out of the top...

Depressed and humiliated. That's how Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson described the mood of his team Wednesday. "It's accurate. I don't know how you wouldn't be after what happened last night," forward Luke Walton said after the Lakers watched the horror show that was Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.

The Orlando Magic have used a number of defenders on Detroit's Chauncey Billups, and none of them has been able to slow him down. Billups has 43 points and 19 assists in two games, taking advantage of mismatches, avoiding double teams and finding open teammates. He's one of the main reasons the Pistons have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

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. "I think we showed everybody we were ready," Kotalik said.

Andy McDonald had his first career hat trick and assisted on another goal as the Anaheim Ducks opened their first series against the Vancouver Canucks with a 5-1 victory on Wednesday night. After Jeff Cowan gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 7:07 of the first period, the Ducks responded by scoring three times -- twice by McDonald -- on their first nine shots against goalie Roberto Luongo.

Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom has an eye injury that will sideline him Thursday night when Detroit opens its second-round series against San Jose. "The doctors want no blood on his eye before he plays," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Wednesday. "It's a blow because he scored 30 goals this season, and he's one of our key players.

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.

Two-time champion Tony Stewart likened NASCAR to professional wrestling and accused it of using bogus caution flags to shape races in biting comments made on his weekly radio show.