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Sports Morning Headlines - Tuesday, 1/24/12

Written by MVPTexas Morning Sports Report

Tuesday, 24 January 2012 00:49

Duncan's late score lifts Spurs over Hornets - Tim Duncan's season-high 28 points and late-game heroics proved too much for the feisty yet hapless Hornets to overcome. Duncan sank a 13-foot running hook in a lane with 1.4 seconds left, and the San Antonio Spurs sent New Orleans to an eighth straight loss, 104-102 on Monday night. Tony Parker added 20 points and a career-high 17 assists for the Spurs, who snapped a two-game skid, while Richard Jefferson added 14 points and Tiago Splitter added 12 points. The Hornets inbounded the ball to Carl Landry for a desperation 3-pointer that could have won it as time expired, but the shot fell short, dooming New Orleans to its 14th loss in 15 games. Jarrett Jack led the Hornets with 26 points and nine assists. Trevor Ariza tied a season high with 18 points and Landry also scored 18. The Spurs led 102-98 after Duncan hit two free throws to reach his season high in points with 1:16 to go, setting up a thrilling finish to a game that included 15 lead changes and eight ties.   READ MORE

Spurs to Retire Bruce Bowen’s No. 12 Jersey on March 21 - Bowen to be Honored at Luncheon Benefitting Silver & Black Give Back. The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they will retire Bruce Bowen’s No. 12 jersey on Wednesday, March 21 when the Spurs host the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bowen’s No. 12 jersey will join James Silas’ No. 13, George Gervin’s No. 44, Johnny Moore’s No. 00, David Robinson’s No. 50, Sean Elliott’s No. 32 and Avery Johnson’s No. 6 in the rafters in the AT&T Center. “Bruce Bowen was the premier perimeter defender in the NBA for close to a decade,” said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. “His success is proof that hard work and determination do, in fact, pay off. Statistics are meaningless when talking about his importance to this franchise. The simple fact is the Spurs don't win NBA Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007 without Bruce Bowen.” Bowen joined the Spurs on July 31, 2001. He spent nine seasons (2001-09) in San Antonio and appeared in 630 games, one of just eight players to appear in 600-plus games with the Spurs. Bowen started in every game he played in for the Silver and Black, averaging 6.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 31.2 minutes.   READ MORE

Rapid Reaction: Mavs 93, Suns 87 - How it happened: Shawn Marion looked like the Matrix of old. This was a performance reminiscent of Marion’s time as a four-time All-Star for the Phoenix Suns. He scored a season-high 29 points -- matching his most in a Dallas Mavericks uniform -- and dominated the third quarter to allow Dallas to turn a tight game into a comfortable lead. Marion had 14 points in the fourth quarter. He made five of eight shots in the frame, including all three 3-pointers he attempted, a pair coming on consecutive possessions that pushed the Mavs’ lead to 15. Marion was one of five Mavs to score in double figures, a quintet that included big men Ian Mahinmi (17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks) and Brendan Haywood (10 points, six rebounds). It was pretty much a typical performance for the NBA's third-stingiest defense. The Mavs extended their streak of holding foes under 100 points to 15 games.   READ MORE

Mavs Stretch Home Winning Streak To 7 With 93-87 Win Over Suns - Shawn Marion scored a season-high 29 points and the short-handed Dallas Mavericks stretched their home winning streak to seven games with a 93-87 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Marion, who entered with five 3-pointers all season, went 4 of 6 from behind the arc and 11 for 20 from the field.   READ MORE

Rockets win again behind Lowry's triple-double - Kevin Martin scored 31 points to lead the Houston Rockets to their seventh straight victory, 107-92 over Minnesota on Monday night in coach Kevin McHale's first game back at Target Center since he was fired by the Timberwolves in 2009. Kyle Lowry had 16 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and Samuel Dalembert grabbed 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who put the game away with a 19-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Kevin Love had 39 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter in coach Rick Adelman's first game against the team he spent the last four seasons coaching.   READ MORE

The Psychology of Greatness - As I write this, the Houston Rockets are on a six-game winning streak and are entering an eight-game stretch in which they should be at least even odds to win every night; they currently occupy the 8th seed in the playoff standings. Barring some catastrophic injury, I fully expect them to make the postseason. The Rockets aren’t just cleaning up on an easy schedule. They hung tough, without key players, against contenders in OKC and the LA Lakers. Most encouraging is that there’s a discernible catalyst: the team’s wins aren’t just flukes because they come in correlation with an extreme change – the insertion of Chandler Parsons and Samuel Dalembert into the starting lineup. It’s a fair bet also that the Rockets continue to improve. Samuel Dalembert still isn’t fully in shape. Chandler Parsons is still learning the NBA game, and Patrick Patterson told me just the other night he’s in preseason form (after the ankle surgery.) There’s really no reason to believe Patterson won’t return close to the production levels from his rookie season that left many experts in amazement. And if Patterson’s 2011 is any reference, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this year’s #14 overall pick, rookie Marcus Morris back with the varsity and paying dividends for his bosses.   READ MORE

Astros owner Jim Crane discusses new fan-friendly initiatives for 2012 season - Astros owner Jim Crane addressed the media during a news conference at Minute Maid Park on Monday afternoon to discuss new, fan-friendly initiatives for the 2012 season. The Astros have decided to revise their club policy regarding bringing food and beverages into Minute Maid Park and also announced a reduction in ticket prices, as well as rebates for season-ticket holders.   READ MORE

Should The Astros Name Stay In The National League? - Tell me I should take Jim Crane's mention of evaluating the Astros nickname with a grain of salt. Tell me it was one bad note in an otherwise very positive press conference on the upcoming fan-friendly changes. Tell me that I shouldn't be upset at the very notion of possibly changing the name. I'm really not. But, I am. See, the whole reason I suggested a uniform change last summer when Crane was hired was that I wanted them to get back to traditional Astros colors and away from the more corporate, marketing-friendly but surprisingly sanitized color scheme they currently feature. Changing the name flies in the face of all that and would prove fairly unprecedented. I mean, the franchise has already done it once, but that was because of a pending lawsuit. The only other case I can think of where a professional team drastically changed its nickname is the Washington Bullets switching to the Washington Wizards.   READ MORE

Sources: Texas has trade talks about Uehara - The Rangers have talked to other clubs about trading reliever Koji Uehara, according to sources. Reports surfaced earlier in the evening from Japan, saying the club was talking with the Blue Jays about a trade for Uehara. The pitcher has a limited no-trade clause in that he can block a deal to six teams. The fact that the Rangers are talking about moving Uehara isn't surprising. They've got other right-handed arms for the late innings and Uehara is slated to make $4 million in 2012 after vesting his option during the 2011 season.   READ MORE

Maddux confident Darvish will return ready - Texas right-hander Yu Darvish is back in Japan training without the Rangers keeping tabs on him. That's fine with Texas pitching coach Mike Maddux. "He'll be on his own," Maddux said. "You've got to remember he's a veteran player. He's 25, but he's a veteran player. I'm pretty sure their spring training programs have to mirror ours anyways." Maddux, who didn't have much of an opportunity to visit with Darvish following Friday's press conference at Rangers Ballpark, has no doubt Darvish will show up in Surprise next month in good shape. He talked with him when Darvish visited the club earlier this month.   READ MORE

Houston Texans Pay Tribute to the Fans - For those of you who have not yet seen it, the Houston Texans have posted a great video honoring the fans of the team. This short video provides a highlight of the season, highlights from the Texans first ever playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, and a personal “thank you” message from the team’s Head Coach, Gary Kubiak.   READ MORE

San Francisco 49ers Special Teams Reminiscent of Houston Texans - San Francisco 49ers WR Kyle Williams, who has been returning punts in today’s game against the New York Giants, looks as if he has been studying too much Jacoby Jones footage. Williams muffed an earlier punt when it bounced off of his knee and was scooped up by a Giants player. That turnover allowed Eli Manning and gang to score seven points and pull ahead late in the game. The 49ers evened the score when they followed through with a David Akers field-goal and sent the game into overtime.   READ MORE

Jerry Jones: Eli Manning made the difference for Giants - Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said it was hard to watch the NFC and AFC championship games without his own team involved. Yet, Jones believes the difference between his Cowboys and the New York Giants, who face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI is Eli Manning taking advantage of his supporting cast. Jones loves his quarterback Tony Romo and still believes he can deliver a championship. Yet in the two regular-season losses the Cowboys suffered to the Giants, and the stretch of games the Giants won to salvage their season, Manning was the difference.   READ MORE

Jones hints Newman slump might have been combination of injury, skill drop-off - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said if cornerback Terence Newman was playing hurt late in the season, it might have hurt his performance. But if he was hurt, it wasn’t any more than any other “healthy” NFL player at that point in the season. Newman’s slump was highlighted in the season finale against the New York Giants, when the veteran cornerback was hurdled twice by a tight end, was outrun by receiver Victor Cruz and was an ineffective tackler.   READ MORE

Stars-Ducks Preview - Anaheim Ducks at Dallas Stars - Tuesday January 24, 7:30 p.m. - TV: Fox Sports Southwest, Radio: KTCK-1310 (AM) - About the Stars - The Stars (24-21-2) are coming off a 5-2 loss at Minnesota on Saturday. They head into their final game before the All-Star break on a five-game winless streak (0-4-1), and are looking to head into the break on a positive note. About the Ducks - The Ducks (18-22-7) ran their winning streak to five games and their points streak to nine (8-0-1) with a 3-2 victory over Colorado at Honda Center Sunday night. The Ducks, who were 20 points out of a playoff spot on January 5, are now within 11 points of eighth place in the Western Conference. READ MORE

Goligoski: I'm excited to be a part of Stars' future - Alex Goligoski said Monday that the biggest thrill he received from signing a four-year contract extension for $18.4 million ($4.6 million a season) was the fact that the Stars see him as an important part of the leadership group going forward. "That's a role I've always kind of wanted and liked," said Goligoski, 26, who was acquired from Pittsburgh in a trade last February for James Neal and Matt Niskanen. "I definitely think right now I'm at a point where that's a role I can take on, and I look forward to evolving that part of my game." Goligoski's offensive numbers are low this season, but he missed 11 games with a broken hand. What Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk envisions is that Goligoski will be a key puck-moving defenseman and a key leader for years to come. READ MORE

---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story