The defending NBA champions are heating up. On Monday night, they went out on the road and destroyed the Phoenix Suns. However, the Suns did have an excuse: they were without future Hall of Famer Steve Nash.

The Mavs led 96-70 heading into the fourth quarter before cruising to a 122-99 victory.

Coming into the season, the Portland Trail Blazers were viewed as a potential sleeper in the race to win the championship of the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz, on the other hand, supposedly didn't have a chance to make the playoffs. Things done changed.

On Monday, the Jazz beat the Blazers 93-89 and now have a one-game lead over Portland in the West.

Blake Griffin had a night to remember on Monday. While it ended with a 112-100 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, everyone was talking about something else: Blake Griffin's dunk over Kendrick Perkins. If you haven't seen it, you must click the link and watch the video.

Including those amazing two points, Griffin poured in 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Last year in the playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies shocked the world when they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. The Grizzlies were the eighth seed and the Spurs were the first seed. It was only the fourth time in NBA history that an eighth seed had beaten a first seed.

But so far this season, the Spurs have been able to get their revenge.

The Milwaukee Bucks were missing two of their better players on Saturday when hosting the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite being shorthanded, the Bucks handed the Lakers another road loss by a final score of 100-89.

Andrew Bogut will miss up to the next three months with a broken ankle. Stephen Jackson was suspended due to a confrontation with a ref.

Early this season, the Miami Heat looked unbeatable. After Friday's 117-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Heat have lost there straight games. While it's not time to panic in Miami, it's now obvious that this regular season won't be a walk in the park for the Heat.

Ty Lawson, like he's been doing for most of the season, led the way for the Nuggets.

Who says Kobe Bryant is old? He sure doesn't look old right now. The superstar guard for the Los Angeles Lakers dropped 40 points on the Utah Jazz tonight 24 hours after torching the Phoenix Suns for 48 points. With Kobe on fire, the Lakers have won four straight games and once again look like a legit contender in the Western Conference.

In a much anticipated affair, the Los Angeles Clippers hosted the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. The game lived up to the hype. In an overtime battle, the Clippers escaped with a 95-89 victory.

Chris Paul, who was traded to the Clippers in the offseason, had perhaps his best game of the season: 27 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three blocks.

A lot of older teams around the NBA have struggled. This condensed season appears to be favoring the younger squads who have youthful energy. However, so far the San Antonio Spurs have been able to avoid struggles even though their core is older.

Against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, the Spurs cruised to a 104-89 victory.

New York Knicks rookie bigman Josh Harrellson got the start on Saturday night and was really impressive as the Knicks defeated the Sacramento Kings. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds, while nailing 4-of-8 from downtown. In the fantasy basketball world, those stats look like gold for a player available on the waiver wire.

Amare Stoudemire was out due to injury and the New York Knicks were on the road to take on the Sacramento Kings. It turned out to be a walk in the park for the Knicks, who rode Carmelo Anthony's 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists to a 114-92 win.

The Knicks also got 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks from Tyson Chandler, while Landry Field chipped in with 21 points and five rebounds.

Welcome back, Andrew Bynum. The center for the Los Angeles Lakers took a break from racking up traffic tickets and got back to playing basketball. In his first game back from suspension, Andrew Bynum was dominant scoring 29 points, pulling down 13 rebounds and blocking two shots.

With Andrew Bynum powerful in the middle, the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 92-89.

The defending NBA champions lost their first three games of the season. Even worse, the Dallas Mavericks lost the first two games in blowout fashion. However, in Game 4, the Mavs finally got their first win with a 99-86 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

So, who was the hero for the Mavs? It was backup center Ian Mahinmi, he had 19 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

When the chips are down and the Miami Heat need a bucket, who do they go to? That would be NBA champion and Finals MVP Dwyane Wade. For the second time this season, Wade delivered the game-winner for the Miami Heat.

This time, Wade's shot downed the Minnesota Timberwolves by a final score of 103-101.

Perhaps all the Boston Celtics needed was their best player. Losers of their first three games this season, the Celtics welcomed back Paul Pierce and then welcomed themselves to the win column with a 96-85 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

In his debut, Pierce had 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Amare Stoudemire is a walking injury concern. Just a couple games into this shortened season, Amare Stoudemire has sprained his left ankle. The injury took place during the New York Knicks game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Officially, Amare Stoudemire is listed as day to day.

In matchup of undefeated teams, the Portland Trail Blazers topped the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 111-102. These two Western Conference sleepers played a fantastic game that featured a lot of back of forth action. Don't be surprised if the Blazers and Nuggets face each other in the 2012 NBA playoffs.

After losing their first two games of the season, the Phoenix Suns have brought in help in the form of former All-Star Michael Redd. The Suns gave Redd a one year contract. In his 11-year career, all spent with the Milwaukee Bucks, Redd has averaged 20 points and 4.1 rebounds.

At 32, Redd is a good gamble for the Suns.

Everyone is overlooking the Atlanta Hawks this season. They didn't do much in the offseason but now that the regular season has started, Atlanta is on fire. After beating the Washington Wizards by a final score of 101-83 on Wednesday, the Hawks are now 2-0 with a total margin of victory of 54 points.

Rochester Lancers dominated the Norfolk Sharks and won a well deserved holiday present, but if Rochester thought tonight's game against the Sharks was a pre-Wave tune-up, they are going to need to keep tuning.
Despite Salles' piercing three point direct kick at 54 seconds in, it would be another ten minutes before Nelly found net and a full twenty minutes into the game before the Lancers would spring to life.

While it seems like every young player in the NBA wishes they were in a different market, Derrick Rose is happy in Chicago. To prove his happiness, Rose signed a five-year extension with the Chicago Bulls. The reigning MVP will be paid nearly $95 million over the life of the contract.

Derrick Rose doesn't sound like a player that will get fat and lazy now that he's a rich man: "I think I live a humble life.

Nene was one of the biggest names in available in the NBA free agent market. On Tuesday, the Denver Nuggets re-signed their starting center for $67 million over five years. A number of other teams were interested in him including the Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets.

Last season, the 29-year-old averaged 14.

The biggest lineup news is that Mauro Rosales will not travel for the match at Real Salt Lake. That basically assures that the Seattle Sounders will have Lamar Neagle on the left and Alvaro Fernandez on the right. That move will of course shift the substitution plan a bit. Something that is already adjusted because of the higher elevation in Sandy, Utah.

The most intriguing thing is that both teams number 10s are gameday decisions. Neither Seattle Sounders winger Mauro Rosales nor center attacking mid Sebastian Grazzini of the Chicago Fire played in their last match due to injuries. Both though are on a path that could have them making a return to the starting XI for the Cup Final.

Ben Wallace must not have found another hobby during the NBA lockout. The Detroit Pistons center was arrested after getting pulled over in Bloomfield Township, Michigan this past weekend. The charges he faces are drunken driving and a concealed weapon charge.

Wallace, who is 37 years old, reportedly failed a breathalyzer test after blowing higher than a 0.

Once upon a time, the Los Angeles Lakers were high on Javaris Crittenton and viewed him as a legit NBA player. In fact, some Lakers fans compared his ability at a young age to one Kobe Bryant. However, those thoughts are a distant memory as the 23-year-old is currently wanted for murder in Atlanta, Georgia.

The latest NBA player to find work overseas is Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers. Due to the NBA lockout, next season isn't guaranteed. In fact, some league pundits think it's unlikely. That's why players like Nicolas Batum are making backup plans.

If there is an extended lockout, Nicolas Batum will play for a French team SLUC Nancy.

Writer Jerrod Roh will provide coverage, analysis, and opinion for the 2011 Women's World Cup for IMSoccer News. He has attended the last 3 men's World Cups in South Korea, Germany, and South Africa as well as the 2003 Women's World Cup in the U.S. He is a self-described fan, student, and teacher of the game.

Writer Jerrod Roh will provide coverage, analysis, and opinion for the 2011 Women's World Cup for IMSoccer News. He has attended the last 3 men's World Cups in South Korea, Germany, and South Africa as well as the 2003 Women's World Cup in the U.S. He is a self-described fan, student, and teacher of the game.

No Wisconsin team has ever won a title at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, which started in 1935.

Thanks the opportunistic Justine Hovden, the FC Milwaukee Under-18 girls team has an opportunity to end that streak.

Hovden scored twice in a 15-minute span, with both goals coming off rebounds, as the Nationals posted a 3-1 victory over Mockingbird Premier (Kent.

Sod it if you think I'm typing all that every time! This was MND v PKR and again while they were a few hundred fans in the stadium for this 4 pm kick off there didn't appear to be any kind of fan groups although a few kids were wearing PKR FC t shirts.

This was a much more even game than what had passed before with MND scoring early on.

Chris Bosh hit the go-ahead jumper with just under 40 seconds left and the Miami Heat went on to take Game 3 of the NBA Finals with an 88-86 victory on Sunday. The Heat now have a 2-1 lead over the Dallas Mavericks.

Dirk Nowitzki scored the final 12 points of the contest for the Mavs, but his shot at the buzzer didn't go in and Miami came away with the victory.

For a team that hasn't had many breaks go their way the Seattle Sounders got a few tonight, but at first it didn't seem like that. Prior to the match starting Alvaro Fernandez had a tweaked hamstring, but insisted that he could play effectively. He could not and Sigi Schmid had to use a sub prior to the 20th minute, and then the weather got worse.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were on the verge of tying the 2011 Western Conference Finals. However, with about five minutes to go in regulation, the Thunder's youth showed ... as did the Dallas Mavericks' veteran mettle. After the game went to overtime, the Mavs continued to dominate on their way to a 112-105 victory.

Chris Bosh has gotten his share of heat this season and not in a good way. The power forward has been in the shadow of Dwyane Wade and LeBron in Miami. However, in Game 3 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Bosh carried the Heat to a 96-85 victory. The Heat now lead the series 2-1.

The Dallas Mavericks could do no wrong early on. Leading by as many as 23 points in Game 3 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it appeared as if the Mavs would coast to a victory. However, the Thunder rallied late making it a four-point game in the final period before the Mavs were able to hang on for a 93-87 win.

After Game 1 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals, everyone was talking about Dirk Nowitzki. Quietly, what nobody cared to admit was that the Dallas Mavericks needed a career night out of Dirk simply to edge the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Game 2, the Thunder held Dirk in check and took home a 106-100 victory to tie the series, 1-1.

Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best shooting bigmen of all-time. On Tuesday night, Nowitzki might have cemented himself as the absolute best. In Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Finals, the German superstar poured in 48 points on only 15 field goal attempts as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by a final score of 121-112.

The Boston Celtics appeared to be on their way to a Game 5 win against the Miami Heat. Then everything changed when LeBron James played like LeBron James down the stretch. Often criticized for not playing well at the end of playoff games, LeBron scored the Heat's final ten points as Miami sprinted to a 97-87 victory.

In one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, the Los Angeles Lakers are now down 0-3 against the Dallas Mavericks after the Mavs won Game 3 by a final score of 98-92. Going into this series, nobody thought the Mavs had a chance. Dallas has a playoff history of choking, while these Lakers have shown their clutchness on their way to winning the last two NBA championships.