NEW YORK – Carmelo Anthony takes boxing lessons in the offseason to get in shape. This summer, he might want to consider wrestling lessons.

After moving up in class from small forward to power forward this season, Anthony finds himself locked in a physical battle with Indiana Pacers forward David West in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And Round 1 didn't go so well for 'Melo. With West using both his strength and guile, Anthony needed 28 shots to score 27 points as the New York Knicks lost 102-95 to the Pacers in the second-round series opener.

"They outplayed us today and stole one on our home court," Anthony said after missing 18 of 28 shots in a foul-plagued performance. "We will go back tomorrow and make the adjustment for Tuesday's game."

The big question Anthony and the Knicks must answer before Game 2: Should he spend most of his minutes at small forward?

Carmelo Anthony missed 18 of 28 shots in the Knicks' Game 1 loss to the Pacers. (Getty Images)Anthony has played the majority of his 11-year NBA career at the position, but at 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, he is bigger than

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Golden State Warriors had just eliminated the Denver Nuggets to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, and Warriors owner Joe Lacob quickly found himself awash in praise. "Nice trade for Bogut," one Warriors fan said as he walked past Lacob. Another fan offered up a simple, "Thank you, Joe." More thanks, hugs and high-fives soon followed.

These were some of the same Warriors fans who angrily booed Lacob throughout Chris Mullin's jersey retirement ceremony a little more than a year ago. Lacob didn't hear any boos Thursday. Only cheers. With the Warriors pulling off a surprising six-game, first-round upset of the Nuggets, Lacob feels vindicated – and finally welcomed as the franchise's owner.

"I felt like we were doing the right things and people would see it after time," Lacob said. "They love me for tonight. Maybe for tonight. But that's all that matters."

Andrew Bogut had 14 points and 21 rebounds in Golden State's victory over Denver. (AP)To understand how much Thursday night meant to the Warriors and their fans, one must

LOS ANGELES – A somber Blake Griffin limped out of the Los Angeles Clippers' locker room with the worst of ankle sprains. The painful shuffle happened long after Blake watched the last 17 minutes of his team's Tuesday night playoff loss from the training room.

With or without Griffin, Chris Paul and the Clippers are now a loss away from ending the franchise's so-called greatest season in the first round of the playoffs to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"It's a challenge. They are tough at home," Griffin said sitting on a counter, making sure to keep weight off the high ankle sprain on his left foot. "But we've gotten tough wins at their place before. So you can't rule anything out. Obviously, this is it. Our backs are against the wall. We have to play with a sense of urgency or everybody knows what happens."

The Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 103-93 victory in Game 5. Memphis can advance with its fourth straight win on Friday night. Griffin has two days, which

Kobe Bryant doesn't want to see major changes to the Lakers' roster for next season. (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant wants Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol back with the Los Angeles Lakers next season. He says he "would really love" to see that happen and believes there will be a title reward in the end.

"I'm sure I'll talk to Jimmy and I'm sure I'll talk to Jeanie as well, the Buss family, and figure out what we need to do," Bryant told reporters Tuesday. "It's obviously a lot on the table for them with the [financial] penalties and so forth. It's a tough call to make. But then again, it's one more year, one more year. That's how I look at it.

"One more year. I don't know how I'm going to suit up and my contract is up after next year. Pau is done after next year. Hopefully, we get Dwight locked up so he's here for a while so the future is kind of set and take a crack at this thing."

Bryant's wishes are easier said than done.An exit from Los Angeles could cost Dwight Howard up to $30 million. (AP)

Howard will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and is expected to be courted by the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and his hometown Atlanta

The Washington Wizards' Emeka Okafor had no idea that the phone call he took from a teammate Monday morning would include a heads-up on news that would forever change sports.

Okafor was one of the select people Jason Collins gave advance notice that he was telling the world he was gay in a first-person article posted on Sports Illustrated's website. Collins' announcement made him the first active player in one of the U.S.'s four major pro sports leagues to come out. Okafor said Collins was "calm, collected and cool" during their conversation.

Washington's Emeka Okafor is throwing his support for former teammate Jason Collins. (USA Today Sports)

"I'm happy for him and I congratulated him," Okafor told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. "While it's a great thing, it's tough not knowing how it will be perceived. Whenever you're the first there is always that uncertainty.

"He called me right before the article came out and told me. But before that I didn't know. … I told him that I thought it was a very brave thing that he's doing."

Collins has played for six teams in 12 seasons and joined Washington

LOS ANGELES – Dwight Howard took an early exit on Sunday in the final chapter of the Los Angeles Lakers season. With 9:51 remaining in the third quarter of Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, Howard was ejected following his second technical foul. As Howard slowly walked off the floor at Staples Center, he slapped his teammates' hands, offered some words as he walked by general manager Mitch Kupchak and headed to the locker room in perhaps his last moments in a Laker uniform.

Dwight Howard leaves the court after being ejected. (USA TODAY Sports)"It's like a nightmare," Howard said after Los Angeles suffered a 103-82 defeat that swept it out of Round 1 of the playoffs. "It's like a bad dream and we couldn't wake up out of it. That's what it felt like.

"It seemed like nothing could go right, right from the start, injuries and all that stuff. We get an opportunity to get some rest for guys who are injured. A chance to rehab and think about what we can all do to better ourselves."

When asked if the last part of that statement reflected optimism toward

LOS ANGELES – Recovering from his recent Achilles tendon surgery, Kobe Bryant arrived at the Los Angeles Lakers locker room on a golf cart Friday night. Some three hours later, San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter needed to use the same golf cart to leave the visiting locker room.

Splitter left the Spurs’ 120-89 Game 3 victory over the Lakers in the third quarter with a left ankle sprain. X-rays were negative and he left the Staples Center on crutches. While Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford said they were uncertain how long Splitter would be out, the San Antonio Express-News reported he could be sidelined seven to 10 days. The Spurs have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round series and can close out the Lakers on Sunday.

"We will see what happens and how bad it swells," Buford said. "He was in a lot of pain."

Popovich said he was uncertain who will start in Splitter's place for Game 4. Splitter averaged a career-high 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in 24.6

SAN ANTONIO – Kobe Bryant is expected to be watching Game 3 from the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room Friday night with his left leg elevated. Point guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake could join him. Injuries have become so bad for the Lakers that Metta World Peace took the early bus to the arena Wednesday so he could get treatment before the training room got packed.

The beaten Lakers are showing heart against the title-contending San Antonio Spurs. But down 2-0 in this best-of-seven first-round series with injuries mounting, just how much fight do these battered Lakers have left?

"We've had a rough year, but we're not going to hang our heads," said Lakers center Dwight Howard, who is dealing with back and shoulder injuries, after a 102-91 loss Wednesday night. "Guys will go down, but we're still a team and still have a great opportunity in front of us. We just can't lose our faith, with guys getting banged up. With guys falling, other guys will step up and play.

"It hurts to see people