Video: Danny Granger steps back to slay the Knicks

Video: Danny Granger steps back to slay the Knicks
With 7.8 ticks remaining in the fourth quarter and the score knotted at 117 after a too-easy Carmelo Anthony layup, the New York Knicks rolled out their customary “switch all screens” final frame man-to-man defense, allowing Indiana Pacers star swingman Danny Granger to go one-on-one with Knicks reserve forward Shawne Williams in a “hit it and go home/lose it and go to overtime” situation. The result? Everybody in Indiana made curfew. The Knicks had a chance to tie or win with 0.3 seconds remaining, attempting a lob to the rim rather than a Trent Tucker rule prayer. The ill-designed alley-oop was doomed from the start, though, and Indy held on for the 119-117 home victory on Tuesday night. As Brett Pollakoff noted at Pro Basketball Talk, that final possession didn’t exactly cover either team in glory. While Indy put the game in the hands of its best scorer, it did so with an unimaginative isolation call leading to a mid-range jumper by a player who’s shot 32.7 percent, 25 percent, 39.6 percent and 28.3 percent in “clutch” situations over the past four seasons. And while Granger certainly deserves credit for making the shot after creating a clean look with the step-back, the Knicks certainly didn’t make life too difficult on him, eschewing ball denial and double-teaming in favor of sticking with a single-up-and-switch blueprint that makes creating quickness mismatches like Granger-on-Williams a heck of a lot easier. Granger’s sure shot — his second career last-second, game-winning bucket for the Pacers, according to Mike Wells at the Indianapolis Star — gave Indy its second win over the Knicks in three nights. It also put Frank Vogel’s team a half-game up on the idle Charlotte Bobcats in the race for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot; the two teams will square off in Charlotte next Wednesday. As for the Knicks? They’re now 34-32 on the season, and 6-6 since the deal that imported Carmelo with four losses to the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets sport an 8-2 mark since the trade. Mike D’Antoni believes in yesterday, but isn’t sure about tomorrow. Oh, and despite believing there’s a bullseye on their collective back (which is weird for a six seed), the team is starting to look scarily like one that will make an early-round playoff exit (NOTE: they were always going to!). Plus, the New York front line has single-handedly launched the Tyler Hansbrough for Most Improved Player Movement, giving up consecutive career-best performances to the former North Carolina standout. And on multiple occasions last night, Darren Collison made Chauncey Billups look like he was 57 years old. Outside of that, though, everything’s cream cheese. Luckily for the Knicks, New York fans (and media types, especially) are notoriously patient and measured in their responses to stuff like this, so they’ll have plenty of time to figure it all out. No pressure. International readers (“Int’l read’rs”): If the clip above isn’t rocking for you, please feel free to peruse the game-winner elsewhere, thanks to our man @Jose3030.

Hamilton, Monroe help Pistons end slide (AP)
It took 68 games, but Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester finally got the lineup he wanted. He started his four oldest players — Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Tracy McGrady — along with rookie Greg Monroe. The group scored a season-high 38 points in the first quarter and Detroit ended a three-game losing streak with a 107-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

C-a-C: The loneliness of the long-limbed combo forward
“Lonely I’m Mr. Lonely I have nobody For my own I am so lonely I’m Mr. Lonely Wish I had someone To call on the phone” — Donte Greene, probably Best caption wins poems about togetherness. Buck up, chums, and good luck. In our last adventure: Zach Randolph and Tony Allen can hear us pumping on their stereo-o. Winner, MonsterSquad09: Tony Allen: “Clap your hands, everybody, and everybody clap your hands / We’re Lambda Lambda Lambda and / Omega Mu!” Runner-up, The Football God: “I Feel Pretty” never sounded so ugly. Second runner-up, Jason: Z-Bo does his best impression of a cackling Vincent Price while Tony Allen does the “Thriller” dance. A Special Commendation in Ruling, Things That Have Nothing To Do With Anything Really Division, goes out to Internet denizen Woot, who made this delightfully untethered reference: “I’m a vampire, I’m a vampire.” Well played, Woot. Shrewd tactics are always appreciated here at the C-a-C.

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Lakers end struggles versus Bobcats (AP)

Lakers end struggles versus Bobcats (AP)
Even when the Los Angeles Lakers finally managed to beat the Charlotte Bobcats, the NBA’s youngest franchise still infused another bit of misery into the two-time defending champions’ lives. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and the Lakers interrupted the Bobcats’ inexplicable mastery over them Friday night with a 92-84 victory.

Ducks D Visnovsky caps hat trick in OT (AP)
Lubomir Visnovsky provided one of the most improbable endings to a game in the 17-year history of the Anaheim Ducks. The 10th-year defenseman completed his second three-goal game in the NHL on a power play with 3.8 seconds left in overtime after Teemu Selanne scored the tying goal with 1:03 remaining in the third period, and the Anaheim Ducks pulled out a remarkable 4-3 victory over the Dallas…

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Cuban OF Cespedes eligible to be signed (AP)

Cuban OF Cespedes eligible to be signed (AP)
NEW YORK (AP)—Major League Baseball has told teams that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is eligible to negotiate with big league teams. The commissioner’s office notified clubs on Wednesday, a day after Cespedes established legal residency in the Dominican Republic. His agent, Edgar Mercedes, confirmed the residency in a telephone interview Tuesday. MLB said Cespedes cannot finalize a contract until he obtains an unblocking license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control because he is a Cuban national who has established residency in another country. Earlier this month, Cespedes said six major league teams—the Miami Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs and White Sox—are interested in him.

First-round tee times for Farmers Insurance Open (PGATOUR.com)

First-round tee times for Farmers Insurance Open (PGATOUR.com)
Lee aces No. 17 in Round 4 of Humana Challenge In the final round of the 2012 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, Danny Lee cards a one on the 140 yard par-3 17th hole. Posted Jan 22 2012 More: Golf video

Djokovic includes Olympics among goals (AP)

Djokovic includes Olympics among goals (AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—After taking three of the four majors and gaining the No. 1 ranking last season, Novak Djokovic is going for prizes beyond Grand Slams in 2012. An Olympic gold medal, he thinks, would go nicely in his collection. “It’s one of the biggest priorities this year, Olympic Games,” Djokovic told a news conference Saturday, only days before he starts the defense of his Australian Open title with a first-round match against Paolo Lorenzi. “I had that privilege and honor to represent my country in 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was a remarkable experience, like no other.” He won the Olympic bronze medal in 2008, when then No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal won the gold. Roger Federer also has an Olympic gold medal from Beijing, although his is in doubles. The London Olympics gold medal has extra emphasis for tennis players, given the tournament will be played at the spiritual home of the sport in Wimbledon. “Tennis is just one of so many sports that is present in the Olympic Games, which is the most prestigious, the most valuable, the most well-known sporting event in the history of sport. That says enough,” he said. “I’m very happy to be representing my country again and going back to the Wimbledon grass where I played in 2011, achieved one of my biggest goals. So I hope that I can play well, perform well and bring a medal to Serbia.” Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s taking his eye off the ball at the tennis majors—he’s not discounting his chances of going one better and winning all four of them this season. “Everything is possible,” said Djokovic, who wore a tailored suit jacket to the news conference and got straight to business. “Obviously 2011 has been the best year so far in my career. It’s going to be very difficult to repeat what I have done. “But, look, I’ve done it once. Why not twice? Why not stay optimistic and positive about the whole season? Obviously I’m not thinking too far away from Australia—my focus is directed to this tournament. I want to start off the year well.” Djokovic had a 10-1 win-loss record against Nadal and Federer in 2011. He beat Nadal in six finals and his only loss at a major was to Federer in the French Open semifinals. He started the year with a 41-match winning streak that ended with that loss in Paris, but bounced back to win the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles. He faded at the end of the season when nagging injuries started bothering him, and that’s when Federer swooped. The 16-time Grand Slam winner finished off 2011 on a roll, capping it with his sixth title at the season-ending championship in London. And although he didn’t win a major last season—ending eight consecutive years of at least one success in the Grand Slam arena—Federer is showing signs that he’s still a serious contender at age 30. “He finished off the season best from all the other players,” Djokovic said. “He had over 15 wins in a row. “But it’s a whole new year. It’s a whole new season. We’re starting to play outdoors. We’ll see if everybody can keep up.” Federer hurt his back and had to withdraw during a tournament at Doha earlier this month, something he’d only had to do once before in his professional career. He held some concern about whether he’d be fit in time for the Australian Open, where he won his last major in 2010. On Saturday, he said he’d be OK to continue his streak of playing in every Grand Slam tournament this century. No. 3-ranked Federer opens his tournament against Russian qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev at Rod Laver Arena on Monday night. “Today was my first practice where I could play again at a 100 percent,” he said. “Yesterday I felt good, too. No pain. But at least, you know, I was out there playing full on, but still just a little worried or scared, let’s put it that way. “Today all that’s gone, so I feel like I’m back to normal.” Federer is also targeting an Olympic gold medal, but it won’t be in mixed doubles despite the pressure from the Swiss public for a Federer-Martina Hingis team in London. Federer said the idea of winning another medal for Switzerland was appealing, but it was Hingis—winner of five singles, nine doubles and one mixed doubles title at Grand Slams—who told him in a phone call last month that it wouldn’t work. She retired, for the second time, after the 2007 season. “She was the one to basically also tell me I should focus on winning singles and defending my doubles,” he said. “She’s very happy staying in retirement. She thinks it’s the only right thing for me to do. “She basically took the decision for me, which was very nice of her. We were very happy I think at the end of the phone call and didn’t have any hard feelings. “