JaMarcus Russell barely had to wait before taking the stage as an Oakland Raider at Saturday's NFL draft. Brady Quinn turned out to be the forgotten quarterback, lingering long after Russell was picked, until Cleveland took him 22nd. Russell was the top choice, by the offense-deficient Raiders. The 6-foot-6 junior QB who can throw the ball 80 yards fits the mold for Al Davis, who loves the deep...

Mehmet Okur scored like he used to and played defense like he never has before. Okur scored 16 and helped limit Houston's Yao Ming to 20 points in Utah's 98-85 win over the Rockets on Saturday night, tying the series at 2-2. The Jazz forced 16 turnovers, sapped the Rockets' will with another dominant third quarter and kept Houston from going to the free-throw line.

The Orlando Magic had the lead, the momentum and the crowd support. The Detroit Pistons used their postseason experience to overcome all of it. Chauncey Billups scored 25 points, Richard Hamilton added 19 and the Pistons avoided a fourth-quarter meltdown to beat the Magic 97-93 Saturday and sweep the first-round series.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are mastering the art of doing just enough to win. This time, they managed to blow a 17-point second-half lead against the short-handed Washington Wizards. But win the Cavaliers did, so it's hard to argue too much with the results. When the big basket was needed, LeBron James hit a struggling but wide-open Sasha Pavlovic for a 3-pointer in the final minute of Saturday night's...

These San Antonio Spurs suddenly look more king of the mountain than over the hill. The seasoned Spurs took a 2-1 series lead on the youthful Denver Nuggets with a 96-91 victory Saturday night that was fueled by two old pros with a combined quarter century of NBA experience. With Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker doing the heavy lifting as usual, 36-year-old Robert Horry and 34-year-old...

Seven-time All-Star Grant Hill, whose career was slowed by a recurring ankle injury, is contemplating retirement. Hill scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in Orlando's 97-93 season-ending loss to Detroit on Saturday, then said he planned to take a couple of months off to "see if some of the lingering pains go away" before deciding whether to play again.

The New Jersey Devils owned the first period and very little else. That is until Jamie Langenbrunner put a quick end to double overtime. The Devils grabbed a two-goal lead in the opening 20 minutes and spent the rest of regulation trying to protect it. When Ottawa tied it late, there were no signs New Jersey would get back on top of the Senators again.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg answered the call for the Detroit Red Wings' top players to be at their best. Datsyuk scored off a rebound with 1:24 left and Zetterberg's goal started a comeback in Detroit's 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday that evened the Western Conference semifinal at a game apiece.

Johan Davidsson had two goals and two assists Saturday to help defending world and Olympic champion Sweden beat Italy 7-1 in its first game at the Hockey World Championships. After a slow start, Sweden took control in the second period with four goals in 6 minutes in the Group A game. Also in Group A, Sandy Jeannin scored the winning goal in the last minute of the second period to lift Switzerland...

Erik Darnell passed a milestone and kept Mike Skinner from reaching one of his own.

Bobby Labonte pushed teammate Tony Stewart to the lead, then won with a dramatic pass in the last 200 yards Saturday in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

The season opened with a cheating scandal that threatened the integrity of NASCAR's biggest race of the year. A mere two months later, its credibility is again under scrutiny because Tony Stewart likened the sport to professional wrestling.