His target Monday was 100 kids at the Challengers Boys & Girls Club in south Los Angeles, some of whom knew who the Denver Broncos quarterback was and others who, somewhat surprisingly, didn’t.

During a question-and-answer session with the kids, one query in particular got the loudest reaction of all. Tebow was asked if he “has a thing” with pop singer Katy Perry.

“No, me and Katy Perry don’t have a thing, but she’s a very good artist,” he said, smiling.

Tebow’s female fans might be glad to hear there’s no special woman he’ll be sharing Valentine’s Day with on Tuesday.

“I’m single … ” he said, “but I’m doing just fine though. I’ll just be around my brothers and friends. We’ll just have a good time.”

Tebow squeezed in a quick haircut in the club’s mirrored aerobics room before his appearance. Later in the day, he had a workout scheduled with his quarterbacks coach, something he’ll be doing for the next few weeks in Los Angeles.

His offseason plans include a trip to the Philippines, where Tebow was born. He wants to visit the construction of a hospital his foundation is funding and visit an orphanage he supports.

“And also find a little bit of time to relax,” he said.

Tebow was promoting books and reading, with nary a video game in sight.

“So many times in today’s society, we can get caught up in Xboxes, video games, watching TV,” he said before meeting the kids, “and forget about reading, about educating yourself and learning how to communicate with people. I just think that’s so important.”

He told the kids how he was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was younger.

“I would get words rearranged in my head and wouldn’t say them right,” he said.

Tebow has been cited as an influence by New York Knicks rookie point guard Jeremy Lin, who like the QB, is public about his Christian faith. Lin’s explosive performances in leading his team to five straight wins have prompted descriptions like “Linsanity.”

“It’s awesome to see what he’s done,” Tebow said. “It’s going to be fun to see where it goes from here.”

Maia Pittman, an 11-year-old girl, was among those who didn’t recognize the guy who made “Tebowing” a cultural phenomenon this season. She said she doesn’t know anything about football.

“I was excited to see him because I really never saw anybody famous like that,” she said.

Kaleb Scott was beaming at the chance to meet the QB of his favorite team.

“I like how he pulls his team in tough situations, like when it’s grind time, he gets the job done,” Scott said.

And for those Tebow critics who say he isn’t a very good QB, Scott replied, “For him to take the underdogs and take them to the playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, I think it speaks for itself.”

Tebow tossed a few left-handed spirals to some of the boys, and autographed the left shoulder of the kids’ blue Book!It T-shirts as they shuffled through a line.

“My brother is going to be so jealous,” Pittman said.

Others handed him footballs and one girl had him sign a dog-eared copy of “Breaking Dawn,” part of the “Twilight” series.

A couple of the boys showed off their version of “Tebowing.”

Tebow urged the kids to establish priorities, telling them his are “faith, family, football.”

Away from the youngsters, he said he has to make choices about his appearances all the time.

“Maybe I could go do this and be blessed to make some money or maybe I could go do this where I’d be blessed to impact some kids,” he said.

On Wednesday, Tebow will host America’s Biggest Storytime in which he’ll read his favorite childhood book, Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” to kids worldwide via the Internet. In exchange for Tebow’s participation, the Pizza Hut/BOOK IT! Reading Incentive Program is making a donation to his foundation.

“It’s pretty much the book I learned to read on,” said Tebow, who was homeschooled by his mother. “The rhyming, it’s just fun. At 5, 6 years old, it was fun and I enjoyed it. Looking back, it’s just a lot of good memories for me as well.”

“The Chargers family is saddened by the sudden loss of one of our very young members,” the team said in a statement. “Tommie Harris’ wife Ashley was just 29 and leaves behind a loving husband and two young children. Our prayers are with the Harris family during this most difficult time.”
The couple delivered their second child less than six months ago.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Harris played 13 games for the Chargers in 2011 and made three sacks after spending most of his career with the Chicago Bears.

The conference held the groundbreaking for the Pac-12 networks in downtown San Francisco on Monday, about six months before it will hit the air with a national cable television network, six regional networks and a digital network.

“It’s truly a seminal moment for the conference,” Commissioner Larry Scott said at a ceremony featuring former great athletes from the conference, as well as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. “It’s an exciting time for college sports in general and there’s no more exciting place to be than the Pac-12. We’ve got a great dynamic and bold vision for the future of college sports and the future of our conference.”

This network is a major part of that. After reaching a 12-year contract worth about $3 billion last May with Fox and ESPN, Scott announced plans to launch a new conference-owned network to supplement coverage and create more exposure for Pac-12 athletes.

It will be a national network that will air 34 football games next season, at least 125 men’s college basketball games, at least 40 women’s basketball games and more than 650 Olympic sports events.

The six regional networks will focus more on local schools, providing increased exposure to a conference that has often lacked it despite on-field success.

“This is going to be an amazing opportunity for our student athletes,” said Cal women’s swimming coach Teri McKeever, a former All-American at USC. “There are wonderful world-class athletes in so many sports. With this network, we’ll be able to showcase those stories and athletes and attract new fans to many sports they will be exposed to for the first time.”

While the groundbreaking was an important step, there is still plenty of work to get done before the launch. About 100 more people need to be hired, infrastructure needs to be put in place to allow events to be broadcast from the campuses and a library of historic footage needs to be created.

“I had no business being here today, I really should be back doing something,” said Lydia Murphy-Stephans, the head of the television networks. “But I needed to see the building. Up until now I had only seen the exterior. It makes it definitely more real.”

The other major task is completing distribution agreements. The conference announced deals with cable companies Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Bright House when it announced plans to launch the network in July. Those carriers are in about 40 million homes, although the network will only be on a sports tier outside the Pac-12 area.

The conference still needs to negotiate deals with Charter Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T and Verizon, among other companies. Talks have started but no agreements have been reached as of yet.

In other conference news, Scott said he is narrowing options for a host for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments starting in 2013 and that he is close to a decision. This is the last year of a contract to hold the events in Los Angeles.

Scott said he is also talking with conference presidents and athletic directors about making changes to the Bowl Championship Series starting in 2014.

The Big Ten athletic directors recently announced they are comfortable exploring the possibility of a four-team playoff as opposed to the current system that matches the top two teams based on poll and computer rankings.

A four-team playoff was proposed in 2008 by the commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference. It was shot down by the leaders of the Big Ten, Pac-10, Big East, Big 12 and Notre Dame.

NCAA President Mark Emmert has also said he supports a four-team championship playoff and is strongly against a 16-team format.

Scott said the conference could come up with its own plan or latch on to one from another conference before BCS meetings in April. He would not comment specifically on the Big Ten’s plan, only saying it was indicative of “an open-mindedness.”

“People are trying to think proactively,” Scott said. “That’s certainly what our approach is going to be. We want to look at it with a fresh set of eyes and be creative like we’ve done on other topics. There are, we believe, improvements that can be made and need to be made in postseason college football. We’re not there with any particular plan or endorsement yet.”

Everything came together against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Corey Perry scored three goals for his fifth career hat trick – and second against Columbus this season – to lead the surging Ducks to a 5-3 victory Sunday night.

Linemates Bobby Ryan had a goal and an assist and Ryan Getzlaf added three assists for the Ducks, playing the second game of a season-long, eight-game road trip. Jason Blake also scored for Anaheim.

“It’s just the way it bounces, I guess,” Perry said. “I had a lot of shots. They were bound to find a way in. I played with a couple good linemates tonight, too. They were finding me. We had a lot of chances together.”

Perry fired a career-high 11 shots on net and has 26 goals this season.

“The coaching staff did a great job of scouting,” Getzlaf said. “We moved the puck around the way we wanted.”

The Ducks have earned at least one point in 15 of their last 17 games, but they entered 11 points out of a playoff spot – largely due to a sluggish start that cost former coach Randy Carlyle his job.

The 41-year-old Teemu Selanne, who leads Anaheim in points in his 20th season, picked up an assist to tie Brett Hull for 21st on the NHL’s career list with 1,391 points.

“We were given a bit of a clinic by 15 (Getzlaf), 10 (Perry) and 9 (Ryan) tonight, especially on their power play,” Columbus interim coach Todd Richards said. “They executed extremely well and we made some mistakes and then ended up paying for them.”

Anaheim came in 1 for 23 on the power play – including an 0-for-7 flop in a 2-1 shootout loss Friday at Detroit. But the Ducks went 3 for 4 against the league’s worst penalty killing team.

Fedor Tyutin had a goal and an assist, and Aaron Johnson and Antoine Vermette also scored for the last-place Blue Jackets, who had won three of four.

“It was important, especially because they played last night, to get a lead,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “When you get a lead, and they played last night, it’s a little easier to make them quit.”

But after Anaheim went ahead 5-1 late in the second period, Columbus made things interesting – at least for a moment.

Johnson scored in the final minute of the second when his slap shot caromed off the skate of a Ducks player past Jonas Hiller, who made his 14th straight start.

“They get that goal at the end of the period and I’m thinking, well, if they get one in the first 5 minutes it has a whole bunch of connotations,” Boudreau said.

Vermette then dove through a pile of bodies to poke home a loose puck in the crease. His eighth goal of the season came on the power play just more than 5 minutes into the third, cutting Anaheim’s lead to two. Rick Nash recorded his 250th career assist on the play.

Following his coach’s orders, Perry didn’t waste any time getting on the scoresheet, striking just 46 seconds in. A shot bounced off Tyutin and Perry, last season’s NHL MVP, quickly wristed a shot from the left circle past Steve Mason.

Perry scored his second on the power play on a nice cross-ice passing combination with Getzlaf, tucking his shot from the low right circle inside the near post.

“There were lots of rebounds and we were jumping on them,” Perry said. “We outworked their PK and that’s what we need to do every night.”

Tyutin scored his fourth goal on a power play at 17:41. He one-timed a centering pass from Jeff Carter, who dished the puck while slicing to the net from the right wing.

The Ducks made it 4-1 just 2 minutes into the second.

Derek Dorsett coughed up the puck at his own blue line to Blake, who skated in alone and deked Mason for his fifth goal.

Just more than a minute later, Selanne faked a slap shot from the right side and deftly found Ryan, who scored his 21st with a laser from the slot on the power play.

Perry added his third goal of the night, stuffing home a rebound after a power-play faceoff win at 12:38.

The Blue Jackets had a two-man advantage for 1:04 and a chance to climb back into it, but didn’t get a shot on goal.

“It was a sloppy game,” Boudreau said. “I told them to never complain about winning a game. If we want to continue to win on this trip we have to get more like we played in Detroit rather than (how) we played here.”

NOTES: The Ducks are 12-3-3 since Jan. 1. … Columbus scored on the power play for the fifth straight game, tying a season high. … Mason made his second straight start in place of Curtis Sanford (back spasms). … Anaheim improved to 5-1-2 away from home since dropping a franchise-record 13 straight on the road. … Hiller made 24 saves, while Mason had 30.

Update

Jordan Nolan and Dwight King each had their first career goal and the Kings beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 on Sunday night in a matchup of Western Conference playoff contenders.

Andrei Loktionov contributed a power-play goal for the Kings, his second goal of the season and the sixth of his career.

With the game tied at 2, Nolan skated hard to the net and fired Mike Richards’ centering pass by Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen at 11:29 of the third period.

Nolan and King were both called up from Manchester of the AHL on Friday. Nolan was playing in his second NHL game, King his eighth.

“It was pretty special for me and King to get our first one tonight,” said Nolan, whose father, Ted, is a former NHL coach now in charge of the Latvian national team. “We’re trying to work the hardest, trying to stay in the lineup.”

Jonathan Quick stopped 26 shots and Anze Kopitar added two assists for the Kings, who completed a 2-3-1 road trip.

Justin Williams added an empty-netter with 2.1 seconds left for the Kings, who managed only six goals in the first five games of the trip. The Kings are last in the NHL with 124 goals.

“We’ve struggled to score goals, obviously, so four is quite an accomplishment,” Williams said. “This was a four-point game against a team right behind us in the standings. Everything seems so important at this time of the season.”

Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder scored for the Stars. Alex Goligoski had two assists.

Los Angeles improved to 65 points, tied with Chicago for sixth in the conference. Dallas is 11th in the West with 59 points.

The Kings lost 2-1 in overtime at the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Los Angeles capitalized on a turnover by Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman for the game’s first goal, with King tapping a rebound past Lehtonen at 8:54 of the opening period.

The Kings made it 2-0 at 8:21 of the second when Jack Johnson’s pass bounced into the net off Loktionov’s skate. The goal was upheld after a video review showed that Loktionov didn’t kick the puck into the net.

Dallas was guilty of seven turnovers in the first period, which set a negative tone for the home team.

“We didn’t start good, that’s for sure,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We gave them a goal early and had to press from behind. We should have been ready to play from the beginning. We had a couple guys not ready to go.”

Eriksson notched his 18th of the season off Goligoski’s centering pass at 13:22 of the second to pull Dallas within a goal. Eriksson broke a nine-game goal drought.

Ryder’s wrister from the slot for his team-best 21st of the season drew Dallas even at 2 at 4:37 of the third.

But there was calm on the Kings bench even after wasting the two-goal lead.

“There wasn’t any panic,” Williams said. “We were relaxed, in good shape, and we got two big goals from a couple of kids. They bring excitement and everyone feeds off of that. They’ve played great the last two games, given us a lot of spunk and a new look.”

NOTES: LW Brenden Morrow (neck, shoulder) and D Sheldon Souray (foot) are out for Dallas. … The Kings are without C Jarret Stoll (lower body), LW Simon Gagne (concussion) and LW Scott Parse (hip). … The teams played for the final time this season, with the Kings going 3-1-2.

Updated Fe

The report Sunday, citing anonymous sources, says the Lakers are considering the free-agent guard to boost their struggling offense.

The 30-year-old Arenas was let go by the Orlando Magic in the preseason under the league’s amnesty provision. After he was traded to Orlando a year ago, Arenas made little impact in 49 games, averaging eight points. He played sparingly over the previous three seasons because of injuries and a 50-game NBA suspension for bringing a gun into the locker room.

Josh Owens added 15 points for Stanford (17-8, 7-6 Pac-12). The Cardinal had lost five of their previous six after a 15-3 start. Stanford beat USC 51-43 at home on Dec. 31.

Greg Allen scored 13 points for USC (6-20, 1-12 Pac-12).

Byron Wesley scored 10 of the Trojans’ first 13 points, but was had only three more the rest of the way and finished 6 for 15 from the field.

PEBBLE BEACH (AP) — Phil Mickelson delivered the Sunday charge at Pebble Beach and made Tiger Woods’ road back look a lot longer.

Six shots out of the lead going into the final round, Mickelson made putts from all over the place in closing with an 8-under 64 to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and become only the ninth player with 40 career PGA Tour wins.

Playing alongside Woods, his old nemesis, Mickelson beat him by 11 shots.

Woods couldn’t make a birdie in the easy opening stretch, ran off three straight bogeys at the turn and three-putted for par on the 18th hole for a 75 to tie for 15th.

Charlie Wi, who began with a three-shot lead, four-putted for double bogey on the opening hole and never recovered.

Bryant, who scored 27 points, took an inbound pass from Metta World Peace and shot over the outstretched arms of James Johnson to deny the Raptors, who battled back after trailing by as many as 18.

Down 93-92, Toronto blew its best chance for a winning shot when Rasual Butler couldn’t inbound the ball and failed to call a timeout before five seconds had elapsed. Bryant made one of two from the line to put the Lakers up by two with 3.7 seconds left.

Jose Calderon inbounded to DeMar DeRozan for the final possession, but he airballed his potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.

Pau Gasol had 16 points and 17 rebounds and Andrew Bynum scored 14 for the Lakers, who went 3-3 on the road trip.

Calderon scored a career-high 30 points for the Raptors, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Linas Kleiza added 15 and Leandro Barbosa had 12.

Calderon hit two 3-pointers with less than 5 minutes left to tie the score at 84-84. After a missed jumper by Bryant, DeRozan fed Ed Davis for a fast break dunk, giving Toronto its first lead of the game. Bryant missed again before Linas Kleiza made a driving hook shot, putting the Raptors up 88-84 with 2:12 remaining.

The Raptors led 90-86 with just over a minute left but were on the wrong end of a video review. Bryant made them pay with a 3, then forced a steal and assisted on a driving layup by World Peace, putting the Lakers up 91-90 with 31 seconds left.

Calderon restored Toronto’s lead with a pull-up jumper, his 13th field goal of the game, giving the Raptors a 92-91 edge with 16 seconds to go.

That’s when Bryant made his decisive shot, evading two Toronto defenders to get open along the baseline.

NOTES: Calderon’s previous career-high was 27 against San Antonio on Feb. 11, 2008. … Andrea Bargnani, who sat for the 16th time in 18 games Sunday with a strained left calf, has been doing plenty of pool work in his rehab. “His new nickname is Flipper,” Raptors coach Dawn Casey joked, adding that Bargnani will increase his workload this week to include weight-bearing exercise. There’s still no timetable for the return of Toronto’s leading scorer. … Toronto Maple Leafs players Don Phaneuf and James Reimer attended the game.

Updated February 12, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jeremy Lin and Ricky Rubio aren’t just responsible for reviving their dormant franchises. They also are giving the NBA two fresh young faces to market internationally.

As the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, Lin is re-opening doors in Asia that were feared to be closing in the wake of Yao Ming’s retirement. He’s led the New York Knicks to five straight victories and has become an instant fan favorite at Madison Square Garden.

Rubio is the Spanish sensation who has fans in Barcelona watching his fancy passes on Internet feeds in the wee hours of the morning. His infectious play has made him an instant rock star in the Twin Cities and has the Timberwolves gunning for the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Robinson had 11 rebounds to become the Big West Conference career leader with 1,119. He passed Cal State Fullerton’s Tony Neal, who set the record with 1,115 from 1981-85. Robinson also had 14 points Saturday.

Ware broke the all-time assists record at Long Beach State, passing Billy Walker (1984-88). Ware entered the game tied with Walker with 507 career assists, and finished with 16 points and two assists against UC Davis.

Eugene Phelps added 23 points and nine rebounds for the 49ers (19-6, 12-0 Big West), who won their 12th straight game and stretched their conference winning streak to 20 games dating back to last season. Larry Anderson added 15 points.

Josh Ritchart scored 24 points for UC Davis (2-22, 1-11), which was coming off a 79-71 victory over Cal State Northridge on Thursday that snapped an 18-game losing streak.

Paul toyed with the Bobcats, finishing with 18 points and 14 assists in only 28 minutes.

Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points with 12 rebounds. Caron Butler added 16 points as the Clippers opened an 84-52 lead after three quarters.

Kemba Walker had 19 points for the Bobcats, who’ve lost a franchise-record 14 straight and are on pace to match a dubious NBA record.

At 3-24, the Bobcats’ winning percentage (.125) equals that of the NBA’s all-time worst franchise, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers finished 9-72. The Bobcats are on pace to finish this year’s lockout-shortened 66-game schedule with eight wins.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) Tiger Woods ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch at Pebble Beach to charge up the leaderboard. It was only enough to make up a little ground on Charlie Wi, who looked steady while going for his first PGA Tour win.

Wi played bogey-free at tough Spyglass Hill for a 3-under 69. He will take a three-shot lead over Ken Duke into the final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Woods created quite a stir at Pebble Beach with his run of birdies, but he had to settle for seven pars at the end for a 5-under 67. Woods is playing this event for the first time in 10 years.

Phil Mickelson played the par 5s in 1 over, but still shot 70 and was six shots behind.

Allen Crabbe added 14 and Jorge Gutierrez 13 for the Bears (20-6, 10-3), who shot 52 percent from the floor in completing their first season sweep of the Bruins since 1993-94. The Bears beat Southern California 75-49 on Thursday night and have won all four regular-season games against the LA schools for the first time since 1958-59.

The Bears had been tied for first in the league with Washington, which plays at Oregon State on Sunday. They earned their third 20-win season under coach Mike Montgomery.

Jerime Anderson scored 16 points, Lazeric Jones 15 and David Wear 11 for the Bruins (14-11, 7-6), who lost at home for the first time in six games.

A bronze statue depicting the Hall of Famer was unveiled Friday in the Dominican Republic, the team announced.

The statue stands at the ‘Paseo de los Immortales’ in La Romana.

Lasorda, 84, serves as Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Dodgers and has worked for the team for six decades.

Lasorda has longstanding ties to Latin America as he spent three seasons in the Dominican Republic.

In 1997, Lasorda was elected to the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame.

He is a founding member of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and serves as their Goodwill Ambassador, according to the team.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

The Islanders captain split the Kings defense and beat goalie Jonathan Quick with a backhander for this fifth goal this season. Matt Moulson and Andrew MacDonald earned assists.

The Islanders (23-23-8) improved to 7-2-2 in their last 11 games, but the Kings (26-19-11) continued to struggle on their six-game road trip.

Michael Grabner scored his 15th goal at 6:52 of the first, sliding a loose puck past Quick.

Andrei Loktionov scored his first goal of the season to tie it for the Kings at 5:20 of the second period. The rebound goal originally was credited to captain Dustin Brown.

Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves to earn the win. In last three starts against the Kings — all wins — he has stopped 103 of 106 shots.

The Kings have scored just six goals in five games on their trip, and three came in their lone win over Tampa Bay.

Quick and Nabokov made acrobatic saves and had luck on their side in the third period.

Los Angeles left wing Dwight King hit the post on the power play midway through the third, with Jordan Nolan positioned in the crease barely missing on the rebound. The 22-year-old son of former Islanders coach Ted Nolan made his NHL debut after he and King were called up from Manchester of the AHL.

Quick made a sprawling save on a point-blank shot by Frans Nielsen at 11:37 of the third. Earlier in the period, Quick, 11-4-5 in his past 20 games, made a series of saves on John Tavares and Moulson in front.

The Kings, who have scored an NHL-low 120 goals, will complete their trip Sunday in Dallas.

NOTES: The game marked the Nassau Coliseum return for Trent Hunter who played 459 games over eight seasons for the Islanders. … Injured Kings forwards Jarret Stoll (lower body) and Simon Gagne (concussion) remained out indefinitely. . Moulson, a former Kings player, played in his 218th straight game for the Islanders. It was the fifth time Moulson faced Quick, his brother-in-law.

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) – Kobe Bryant didn’t know much about Jeremy Lin coming into Friday nights tilt against the New York Knicks, but he knows now.

Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85.

Buried deep on the bench a little more than a week ago, Lin led the Knicks to their fourth straight win, tying their longest streak of the season.

His two free throws with 52 seconds left and some booming “MVP! MVP!” chants stopped the Lakers’ final rally and allowed the undrafted Harvard product to pass Carmelo Anthony for the highest-scoring game by a Knicks player this season.

“Nobody has ever got to the rim that many times against us without another body being there, but give him credit.” Mike Brown said after the game.

His 38 points is the most points by a Knicks player against the  Lakers since Stephon Marbury put up 45 back in 2005.

DETROIT (AP) — Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored shootout goals to give the Detroit Red Wings their 19th consecutive home victory, 2-1 over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

Detroit tied the 1970-71 Boston Bruins for the second-longest home streak in NHL history. The 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1929-30 Bruins won 20 consecutive games at home.

Jakub Kindl scored for Detroit. Joey MacDonald made 29 saves in regulation and overtime.

Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 1,549th game to tie former Detroit star Alex Delvecchio’s NHL record for games with one team. It’s also the second-most games played in Detroit franchise history, behind Gordie Howe at 1,687.

George Parros scored for Anaheim, and Jonas Hiller stopped 23 shots. Teemu Selanne scored in the shootout.

The Ducks’ Cam Fowler hit the goal post on a breakaway with 1:40 left in overtime and the teams playing 3-on-3.

An apparent goal by Anaheim’s Niklas Hagman 3:35 into the second period was waved off because of Parros’ penalty for goalie interference.

Parros scored his first goal of the season to open the scoring with 3:43 left in the first period. The Anaheim enforcer deflected in Rod Pelley’s shot from the point.

Kindl tied it with 1:18 left in the opening period, beating Hiller with a wrist shot from the point. It was Kindl’s second goal.

NOTES: It was Detroit right wing Tomas Holmstrom’s 1,000th game. He joins Howe, Delvecchio, Lidstrom Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper as the only players who have played 1,000 games for the Red Wings. … Detroit right wing Danny Cleary didn’t play because he had his left knee drained and got a cortisone shot. He is expected to miss two more games. Jan Mursak replaced him in the lineup. … Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard missed his fourth game because of a broken right index finger. He hopes to start taking shots in practice Saturday. … Fowler grew up in the Detroit-area suburb of Farmington Hills and played junior hockey with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. Windsor is across the Detroit River from Detroit.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Chris Paul had 24 points, including the game-winning 17-footer with 3.2 seconds left, Blake Griffin added 16 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 78-77 on Friday.

Mo Williams added 14 points, Randy Foye had 10 and Reggie Evans added a season-high 10 rebounds for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers, who improved to 16-8.

The Clippers are still coping with the loss of veteran guard Chauncey Billups, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear.

Foye, who starred at nearby Villanova, received his second straight start and scored four points in the fourth quarter.

Elton Brand had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Andre Iguodala contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists one day after being selected to the All-Star team as a reserve for the first time in his eight-year career.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

POMONA  (AP) — Bob Tasca raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car on Friday in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway.

Morgan Lucas led the Top Fuel field, and Mike Edwards topped the Pro Stock competition after the second round of qualifying.

Tasca had a 4.109-second pass at 309.34 mph on Friday in his Ford Mustang. Courtney Force, the 23-year-old daughter of 15-time NHRA champion John Force, was eighth in her first NHRA Funny Car event. John Force as sixth.

Defending Top Fuel event winner Lucas led the field Friday with a 3.835-second pass at 316.38 mph, but topped the standings with his Thursday run of 3.832 seconds at 320.28 mph.

Edwards’ Thursday mark of 6.545 seconds at 211.86 mph also stood up.

There are two more rounds of qualifying Saturday and the final eliminations are Sunday.

Sunshine gave way to clouds and eventually a light rain on the Monterey Peninsula, which put a stop to the low scoring. Wi holed out a wedge for eagle on the 13th hole at Pebble Beach and limited the damage to a bogey on his final hole for a 3-under 69.

Dustin Johnson shot 72 at Spyglass and was three back at 9-under 135.

Tiger Woods had a 2-under 68 at Monterey Peninsula, which put him six shots behind. Phil Mickelson shot 65 and was five behind.

Wi was at 12-under 130 and now heads to Spyglass Hill, which has played slightly tougher than the other two courses.

The Cincinnati Bengals MLB  allegedly struck a bar manager while fighting another man in the club.

Maualuga was arrested in 2010 for a DUI.

Maualuga played at USC from 2005-2008.

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have signed Mitch Mustain to a minor-league contract as a pitcher (LA Times). In other words, the dude who started for USC against Notre Dame in football during the 2010 season is now in the White Sox organization.

For More,  CBS Sports

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are rarely lacking in either of those categories.

A budding fan favorite among the faithful at Madison Square Garden, Lin faces possibly his toughest test yet Friday night as the Knicks attempt to defeat Bryant and the Lakers at home for the first time in more than five years.

New York (11-15) was one of the NBA’s biggest disappointments during a woeful 2-11 stretch Jan. 12-Feb. 3, but Lin has provided a much-needed spark since then.

The second-year point guard, who played only sparingly prior to the last three games, is averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists during the Knicks’ three-game winning streak.

Lin’s opportunity has come amid the absence of Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Anthony is out with a strained right groin, while Stoudemire isn’t expected back from grieving the death of his brother until Tuesday at Toronto.

In the meantime, Lin’s sudden production and popularity has the Knicks selling shirts with “Linsanity” emblazoned across the front.

He lived up to the hype again Wednesday, scoring 23 points while shooting 9 of 14 from the floor and adding 10 assists in a 107-93 win at Washington.

“Like I said after the last game, I wouldn’t have imagined this,” said Lin, who went undrafted out of Harvard in 2010 and played his rookie season with Golden State, averaging 2.6 points in 29 games as a reserve.

Lin may be reviving both the Knicks’ season and embattled coach Mike D’Antoni’s job security.

“I think it’s for real,” D’Antoni said of Lin’s surge. “The things that are real are his vision, which won’t change; his speed, which won’t change; his knowledge of the game, which won’t change. I think it can only get better.

“He just does everything easy and the rest of the guys around him are playing the way we want to play.”

Lin and the Knicks, who are looking to match their season-high four game winning streak from Jan. 6-11, are in for a major test against the Lakers (15-11).

The Knicks have lost nine in a row to Los Angeles, including four straight at MSG. They fell 99-82 in Los Angeles on Dec. 29, when Lin scored two points in 1:40 of playing time.

Bryant, the league leader with 29.2 points per game, has averaged 33.4 points during the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak in this series. He’s averaging an incredible 40.0 points in his last four visits to New York, including a 33-point effort in a 113-96 victory last Feb. 11.

Teammate Pau Gasol had 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks Thursday as the Lakers won 88-87 in overtime at Boston. One of the blocks came at the final buzzer to secure the victory.

“I’ve been in situations before in my career where you freeze … catch yourself looking at the ball and end up losing the game,” Gasol said.

Gasol is averaging 26.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in his last four road games against the Knicks.