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Lakers vs. Thunder Game 1

The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday after wildly divergent first-round experiences.

The Thunder swept the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks and earned over a week's worth of rest as a result. Despite only winning the first two games against Dallas by a combined four points, Scott Brooks' club kept the pressure on the Mavericks and never let them get back into the series.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles struggled to close out the Denver Nuggets after taking a 3-1 series lead, ultimately finishing the young sixth seed off in Saturday night's Game 7 by a 96-87 final score.

Unless the extended vacation has added some rust to the rolling Thunder, the Lakers could find themselves outrun by a well-rested young team with something to prove.

Mike Brown's Lakers have struggled on the road this year, going just 15-18 in the regular season and losing two out of three games in Denver during the first round. That's especially bad news against a team that was 26-7 in regular-season games played in Oklahoma.

The Thunder took two of three games against the Lakers during the regular season, dropping the third in a 114-106, double-overtime classic at the Staples Center April 22

Tim Hightower Will Rejoin the Redskins

Per multiple reports (including one from Kelli Johnson of CSNWashington.com), Hightower has rejoined the Redskins, two months to the day after free agency opened.

The Cardinals traded Hightower to the Redskins last July, after he was displaced by then-rookie Ryan Williams in Arizona.  He rushed for 321 yards in five starts with the Redskins before tearing an ACL.

Hightower and Roy Helu could compete for the starting tailback job.  The biggest question is whether and to what extent Hightower’s knee injury has healed.

The ability to pick up blitzes could be the tiebreaker in this one, given that the Redskins will be looking to give rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III as much support — and protection — as possible.

Mavs Must Go All out to Chase Another Title

The Dallas Mavericks' long-term plan for NBA title contention has been vindicated, to some extent, by a pair of close losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. The Mavs have managed to hang tough with the team that many have picked to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, even after parting ways with a slew of key contributors from last year's championship team, Tyson Chandler chief among them.

The true success or failure of Marc Cuban's master plan for domination in the NBA, though, can't even begun to be judged until the upcoming offseason, when Deron Williams and Dwight Howard come into play.

Williams is due to hit free agency for the first time in his career after spending the last season-and-a-half toiling amidst mediocrity with the New Jersey Nets. GM Billy King seems to think that he can convince D-Will to stick around for the much-anticipated move to Brooklyn, despite the team compiling an abysmal record of 29-62 since he arrived by way of a shocking trade with the Utah Jazz in February of 2011.

Matt Leinart Former Heisman Trophy Signs With Oakland Raiders at QB

According to a press release from the Oakland Raiders, the Raiders have signed former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart. Terms of the deal were not announced.

The Santa Ana, Calif., native played the past two seasons with the Houston Texans, seeing action in two games with one start last year before suffering a season-ending injury. Prior to joining the Texans, he played in 29 games with 17 starts in four seasons with the Cardinals. In his rookie season, Leinart started 11 games and completed 214-of-377 passes for 2,547 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Lakers may juggle lineup in finale

Bryant will make his final decision to play or not Thursday at shootaround and already has said that capturing the third scoring title of his career in this, his 16th season, was "not very important." But Bryant also seemed to indicate that he did not plan on sitting out any more games after returning to the lineup last week after a seven-game, 14-day long absence because of a left shin injury.

No Announcement of Saints Players Punishments until after NFL Draft

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell won't hand down punishments to New Orleans Saints players for the Bountygate scandal until after the draft, according to NFL.com.

Goodell said that the league was in its "final stages" of working out the punishments and Saints players will be disciplined "very soon." According to Steve Wyche of NFL Network, that punishment could come next week at the earliest.

Anywhere from 22 to 27 Saints players allegedly participated in the bounty program from 2009 to 2011, a program that rewarded players for injuring their opponents. Head coach Sean Payton has already been given a one-year suspension, and general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for the first eight games of next season.

The NFL union reportedly expects only one to two players who participated in the program to be punished but believes the punishments will be severe. Jonathan Vilma is expected to be one of these players.

There is really no telling how many players will be punished at this point, but judging by the penalties handed down to the Saints organization so far, it's likely the fallout will be harsh. The NFL has already made its stance clear—such actions will not be tolerated.

The Saints are coming off a 13-3 campaign in which they made it to the NFC Divisional Round before getting knocked out by the San Francisco 49ers, 36-32. The players and coaching staff will need to rebound quickly. It doesn't help that Drew Brees is still sitting out after being slapped with the franchise tag.

Sacramento will not renegotiate arena deal

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is ready to meet with Kings owners at the NBA Board of Governors' gathering under one stipulation: the city will not renegotiate the proposed arena deal.

In a letter to the Maloof family released late Thursday night, Johnson put pressure on the team - and the league - to follow through with its commitment. He said Sacramento has "done our part" and now it's up to the team to do the same, setting the stage for a critical gathering after taking the city's hardest stance yet.

"Your handshake is your handshake. Your promise is your promise," Johnson said.

The two sides reached a tentative deal last month to fund the estimated $391 million arena, which would keep the team from relocating, as it almost did last year to Anaheim. The Sacramento City Council already passed its end of the deal, brokered by the league and tentatively agreed to by the Kings.

The team has to sign off so all parties can enter into binding contracts.

Kings owners Joe, Gavin and George Maloof have since taken issue with some of the terms - particularly environmental and pre-development costs. Under the agreement, the Kings and arena operator AEG each agreed to pay about $3.25 million in pre-development costs with the city paying the remaining $6.5 million.

George Maloof has since said that he does not believe the team should pay $3.25 million in pre-development costs because they're "playing the role of the tenant." All are expected to meet Friday with NBA Commissioner David Stern - who helped negotiate the original deal - and other league representatives in New York.

"We are 100% committed to moving forward under the framework laid out in the term sheet," Johnson said. "And there should be no expectation in (Friday's) conversation that this deal is subject to further negotiation. In light of these facts, the ball is in your court."

The strongly worded letter followed a day of tension from California's capital to the Big Apple.

In another letter signed by about two dozen of Sacramento's most powerful businesses leaders sent to Stern, the group asked the league to "strongly encourage" the Maloofs to sell. It also accused the Maloofs of not negotiating in good faith and questioned whether the owners have the finances - and motivation - to keep the team in Sacramento.

"We feel it is time for the Maloofs to sell their ownership of the franchise, for the good of the city and in the interest of advancing Sacramento's effort to build a downtown arena," a portion of the letter reads.

The timing of the letter was no accident.

The Maloofs were giving an update on the project to the NBA Board of Governors during its annual spring meeting in New York. It was exactly a year ago when Johnson and the city's business leaders convinced owners - along with presenting more than $10 million of new sponsorship and ticket sales for this season to the team - at the same Manhattan hotel to keep the Kings from moving to Anaheim, Calif.

Sacramento city officials were not in attendance Thursday. Johnson, who was taken an overnight flight to New York, had said the city had done its part and it's up to the Kings and the NBA to resolve the issue.

nba.com

Odom And The Mavs Part Ways

Lamar Odom's brief and bumpy ride with the Dallas Mavericks has come to an abrupt end. The Mavericks and Odom spent Easter Sunday working out a parting, according to sources close to the situation, that frees the struggling Odom to leave the team immediately without actually being released.

"The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it's in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team," Odom said in a statement to ESPN.com.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs' organization, my teammates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship."

Sources said Monday that Odom's departure will be immediate and that the Mavericks intend to simply list him as inactive for the rest of the season instead of outright releasing him, leaving open the possibility that they could still trade him after the season in conjunction with the draft. Any team that has Odom on its roster as of June 29 must buy him out by that date for $2.4 million or otherwise accept responsibility for the full $8.2 million that Odom is scheduled to earn in 2012-13.

ESPN New York

Back To The Drawing Board For Tiger Woods

Well, back to the drawing board. Or in Tiger Woods case, the Jupiter, Fla., practice range. Two weeks after his romp at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods tied for 40th — by far his worst Masters finish as a pro.

"I had the wrong ball-striking week at the wrong time," he said. Woods fought a snap hook Thursday, blew his cool Friday, then spent the weekend trying to limit damage as the swing that won at Bay Hill mysteriously disappeared. "I get out there and I just don't trust it at all," he said. "I fall back into the same old patterns..

Tebow Trade May Prompt Fans To Follow The Jets

Florida graduate and lifelong Gators fan Mike Beattie followed every development of the Tim Tebow trade. After it finally ended, his wife turned to him and said, "Do we have to start rooting for the Jets?" "I guess so," he responded. And there it is: the definition of Tebowmania.

His flocks of fans have as much to do with his faith and image as his football skills. A devout Christian, Tebow has been a role model since his days at Florida, when he led the Gators to two national championships and captured the 2007 Heisman Trophy.

Between mission trips overseas, prison ministry, hospital visits, charity work and fan events, Tebow has become one of professional sport's most compelling and polarizing athletes.(AP)