Recap: Top stories from Monday

NBA:
Mavericks halt Heat win streak at 12 games: Lebron was held scoreless in the first half, and it looked like he held the offense up with multiple turnovers. James had 5 turnovers for the game and ended the night with a +/- of -20. Dirk Nowitzki and super-sub Jason Terry were the main catalysts in the Mavs' victory, Dirk had 26 points on 8-21 from the field and 10-10 at the charity stripe. Terry finished with 19 points on 6-15 from the field, all of them coming in a closely contested 4th quarter. Dallas has won 15 of their last 16 games.

New look Magic drop first game to Hawks: Orlando Head Coach Stan Van Gundy joked that the Hawks had six years playing together while these Magic had only six hours. That may be the case for this game, but this could become a recurring theme. The new look Magic are an extremely mismatched group that will have trouble finding chemistry. As I said in my previous post about this trade, SVG started Nelson, Richardson, Turkoglu, Bass and Howard, with Arenas coming off the bench; but that lineup wasn't very productive. Howard and Nelson had their usual night, but Turkoglu, Richardson, and Arenas combined for only 27 points on 6-23 from the field - that won't get it done.

Spurs extend their NBA best record to 24-3: Albeit it was against an under-manned Phoenix Suns squad, the Spurs are quietly off to a great start. Tim Duncan led the charge last night with 20 points 15 boards and 6 assists, while Gary Neal provided a much needed spark off the bench, scoring 22 points in 31 minutes. The Suns were without new acquisitions Vince Carter, Mikael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat.

NFL:
Favre makes "final" MNF start, but doesn't finish: Brett Favre knows how to start drama. His last minute decision to play last night against the Chicago Bears was the talk of the sports world, and it started out looking like it was a good decision. Favre led the Vikes to a touchdown on the opening drive with a TD pass to WR Percy Harvin, but it all went downhill from there. The very next drive, Favre looked like the guy we've all come to know lately, a turnover machine. The second drive quickly ended with an interception. On the third drive, Favre was sacked, and drove into the frozen turf. He remained on the ground for a a minute or so, and limped off the field, and did not return. Maybe it was a fitting end to his career, but who knows what will happen this off-season with Favre, I hear a few teams are desperate for a QB (49ers, Cardinals).
The departure of Favre made way for rookie QB Joe Webb to make his NFL debut. Webb, a sixth round pick in this years draft, didn't do much with his arm, 15-26 for 129 yards and 2 interceptions, but he did make a dent with his legs, 6 carries for 38 yards and a TD.
With this victory, the Bears improved to 10-4 (6-1 on the road), and clinched the division. Cutler threw for 194 yards and 3 TD's and RB Matt Forte had a fairly productive night, 17 carries for 92 yards, on a night with such terrible weather.

NHL:
Sidney Crosby extends point streak: Crosby, arguably the games best player, extended his consecutive point streak to 21 games Monday night, ending the Penguins 6-1 rout of the Coyotes with a goal and 2 assists. This is the second longest streak since the NHL's work stoppage in 2004-05, and trails only Mario Lemieux for the longest point streak in team history. Not to be outdone, teammate Evgeni Malkin finished the game with a career high 5 points on 2 goals and 3 assists.

Stamkos scores 100th goal as Lightning beat 'Canes: Steven Stamkos is quickly proving that Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin aren't the only ones who should be talked about. Stamkos' goal late in the second period made him one of six NHL players who have scored 100 goals before their 21st birthday, that list includes: Wayne Gretzky, Jimmy Carson, Brian Bellows, Dave Hawerchuk, and Ilva Kovalchuk.