Sports Morning Headlines - Monday, 3/26/12

Details: Created on Monday, 26 March 2012 03:04; Last Updated on Thursday, 16 May 2013 07:51; Written by MVPTexas Morning Sports Report

Project Spurs: Jackson says Cardinal's hit on Duncan was dirty - It didn't take long for new Spur Stephen Jackson to show his fiery side and add to the San Antonio Spurs-Dallas Mavericks rivalry. During the Spurs-Mavericks game this past Friday, Cardinal accidentally hit Duncan across the face during a Spurs' possession. After the game, Jackson didn't think the hit was an accident and let Cardinal know exactly how he felt about the hit with a shot of his own. "To me, it was a dirty play," Jackson said. "When you can't play no more, I guess all you can do is go out and try to hurt people."   READ MORE

Spurs 93, Sixers 76 – Duncan, Splitter, Neal out - Tony Parker scored 21 points and notched seven assists to lead the injury-riddled Spurs to a 93-76 victory over Philadelphia Sunday night at the AT&T Center. The Spurs played without Tim Duncan (rest), Gary Neal (left mid-foot sprain) and Tiago Splitter (mid-back spasms). Manu Ginobili returned after resting last night and not making the trip to New Orleans. Despite playing only 10 men, Spurs (33-14) controlled the game as they dominated the Atlantic Division leaders throughout most of the game. The victory enabled them to become only the sixth NBA squad to win all three games of a back-to-back-to-back.   READ MORE

Are The Mavericks Ready To Move On Without Lamar Odom? - It seems like Lamar Odom remains a mystery to the Mavericks organization. Kobe offered some help in saying that only he knows how to use Odom's skill-set properly and that he hopes the Mavs will never find out. I see! Thanks man! Many fans still think Odom just isn't trying and it's really hard to find some contradictory points. The Mavs still hope that Odom magically will turn the corner some time, but in fact he's getting worse as the regular season is in its final five weeks and the Mavericks have to play tons of quality opponents down the stretch:   READ MORE

Scout doubts Mavs as legit title contender - A scout's take on the Mavs, from Marc Stein's ESPN.com Weekend Dime, which is required weekly NBA reading: "I see them as the Orlando of the West right now. Could they knock the Thunder off in Round 2? Sure. They could pull that off. But to battle through three rounds to get back to the Finals? I have my doubts. "They're dangerous, don't get me wrong. They did win the championship last year. But I just haven't seen the support for Dirk [Nowitzki] and [Jason] Terry. There's a lot of pressure on those guys to perform. If they're a little bit off, Dallas starts to look ordinary.   READ MORE

Rockets' effort not enough for win over Mavs - Come the middle of April, depending upon where the Rockets sit in the Western Conference playoff picture, how they lost to the Mavericks Saturday night at Toyota Center will be rendered moot. Their valiance and gumption and perseverance served them well for 48-plus minutes, but if the Rockets find themselves on the outside looking in at the postseason for a third consecutive spring, the fact that they fought hard while shorthanded won't offer them much consolation. The bottom line is that the Rockets dropped a critical game to the Mavericks, falling 101-99 in overtime to slip into ninth place in the West, one game in the loss column behind the Jazz and Nuggets.   READ MORE

Rockets miss shots, chance at another stunner, but more appears missing than some open shots - The Rockets lamented the missed final shot only as a reminder of how close they came. It was a good look, the one they wanted. But Chase Budinger never seemed quite right on it. The timing was thrown off when Shawn Marion slapped away Goran Dragic’s initial attempt to get the ball to Budinger in the corner. Dragic was still able to shove the ball out to Budinger as he had planned all along, but Budinger’s 3 fell short and so did the Rockets, not only dropping a painful 101-99 overtime loss to the Mavericks, but out of the top eight of the Western Conference. The Rockets, however, will not look at the loss as the result of that last missed shot, even if it was so similar to the shots that stunned Oklahoma City and Los Angeles. They cannot expect to regularly win on last second 3s. It’s difficult to rely on a shot that misses 64 percent of the time. The last-second 3s fell to beat the Thunder and Lakers. It came up short against the Mavericks.   READ MORE

Left-handed relievers at forefront of Rangers' 6-5 loss to Angels - Robbie Ross is keeping himself in the mix to become the left-handed reliever in the Texas Rangers’ bullpen, while Michael Kirkman continues to have an inconsistent spring. Both pitchers had vastly different days vs. the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, a game that the Rangers lost 6-5 at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Ross threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one walk and two strikeouts. In the fourth inning, Ross retired Albert Pujols on a fly out and later induced an inning-ending double play by Bobby Abreu.   READ MORE

Bout of dehydration latest setback for Gentry - Craig Gentry, who had to deal with a tight hamstring and sprained wrist earlier in camp, had another setback on Sunday. His bid to win a job as the Rangers' starting center fielder is not gaining any momentum. Gentry struck out in his first at-bat against the Angels on Sunday, then had to come out of the game because of dehydration. Manager Ron Washington was clearly frustrated at this latest turn in Gentry's difficult spring. "He's got to get on the field and play," Washington said.   READ MORE

Astros drop two in ballclub's first split-squad game action of spring play - Pittsburgh at Houston. The Pirates rallied with a run in the ninth to force extra innings and later put two runs on the scoreboard in the 10th en route to a 9-7 win over Houston on Sunday afternoon in Kissimmee, Fla. Jed Lowrie blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the first off Pirates starter Brad Lincoln to give the Astros an early 1-0 lead. Houston added two more runs in the second, thanks in part to Brian Bogusevic's leadoff walk that set up Chris Snyder's two-run homer.   READ MORE

Farmstros on the Frontfields - Today's split squad games in Kissimmee and Orlando meant there was a surplus of minor leaguers on the field in both places for the Houston organization. My best count shows a total of 12 players who are not part of Major League camp playing in today's two major league games.   READ MORE

Offseason moves puzzling to Texans' fans - A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, but it ends early with a foot full of blisters. The Houston Texans are somewhere in the middle of that journey, somewhere between expansion franchise and Super Bowl champions. Somewhere between drafting Andre Johnson and retiring Andre Johnson. Somewhere between filling a team with solid, selfless Eric Winstons, DeMeco Ryanses and Joel Dreessens and seeing all its Eric Winstons, DeMeco Ryanses and Joel Dreessens walk out the door. Is it time to panic?   READ MORE

Texans on short list of teams not acquiring new players via free agency - Believe it or not, there are other NFL teams that have yet to acquire at least one new player during free agency. Correct me if I'm wrong but by my count, Atlanta and Pittsburgh are the others. Yes it's a very short list but the Texans, Steelers and Falcons have one thing in common - lack of cap space. At least that was true when the last somewhat reliable list of NFL team cap space was published.   READ MORE

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones mum on grievance - for now - Owner Jerry Jones is never at a loss for words. It's just that he chose not to share them with the media Sunday. The Cowboys have joined the Washington Redskins in a grievance filed against the NFL for the league's decision to take cap room away from both teams. Stephen Jones, the team's executive vice president, declined to answer questions at Sunday's league meeting.   READ MORE

Cowboys, Redskins file grievance against NFL over salary cap hits - The Dallas Cowboys have chosen to fight back against the NFL for penalizing the team $10 million of salary cap space over the next two seasons. According to a team source, the Cowboys and Washington Redskins have filed a formal grievance against the league and have sought arbitration. Stephen Burbank, who handles arbitration between the players and the league, will rule on the appeal but no timetable has been set. The Redskins were docked $36 million in cap space over the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Both teams were penalized for front-loading contracts in the uncapped 2010 season. The league warned teams to not use the year as a financial dumping ground to preserve future competitive balance. According to a Cowboys source, the team thinks it has a good case largely because the NFL management council originally approved the contracts in 2010.   READ MORE

Kari Lehtonen is Stars' nominee for Bill Masterton Trophy - The Dallas Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has selected Kari Lehtonen as the Stars’ nominee for the 2011-12 Bill Masterton Trophy. The award is given each year to the NHL player who best displays the characteristics of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Lehtonen, 28, has overcome injuries and his own immaturity to become one of the top goaltenders in the NHL this season. He has posted a 31-17-4 record (ranking 10th in the NHL in wins), a 2.23 goals against average (ranking ninth) and a .925 save percentage (ranking seventh). "I definitely think he’s worthy of that,’’ said Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk, who traded for Lehtonen in 2010. "I think we got him at the right time, and I think he’s shown a ton of maturity since he’s been here. He’s one of the hardest working players on our team, and that’s quite a tribute to him, knowing where he came from.’’ READ MORE

GM Joe: 'Reilly Smith can help our hockey club' - Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said he thinks forward Reilly Smith can help the team now, and that’s why the the 20-year-old is being added to the roster for the final part of the regular season. The Stars signed Smith, who just completed his junior year at Miami University, to a three-year entry-level contract Sunday. He’ll join the team on its current road trip. “I think he’s a player that can help our hockey club,” Nieuwendyk said of Smith, a third round pick (69th overall) in 2009. “I can look back on my own experience (coming out of Cornell), when I joined the Calgary Flames for the last nine games of the season. It was a very valuable experience for me. It was one of the important things in my career. I have a past history with that. That has a lot to do with it. READ MORE

---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story

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