Greg Oden sure looked like a franchise center Wednesday night.
Oden had 18 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 107-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rudy Fernandez added 15 points for the Blazers, who have won four in a row and are off to their best start since 1999 at 6-3.

The NBA Development League announced today it will expand the playoff format for the 2009-10 season to three rounds of three-game series. The 2010 NBA D-League postseason is set to begin as early as April 7, 2010.
For the first time, the eight qualifying teams will play best-of-three series in both the quarter- and semi-finals, leading up to the third consecutive year of best-of-three Final series.

The Bears-Vikings game Nov. 29 has been moved to a later time slot.
The NFL said Wednesday the game in Minnesota will now start at 4:15 p.m. EST instead of 1 p.m.

The league can change start times late in the season to help the best matchups reach the biggest audiences.

Percy Harvin's rookie season is off to a strong start for the Minnesota Vikings.
The first-round draft pick from Florida has five touchdowns in eight games, two of them coming on kickoff returns. The Vikings like Harvin's route-running instincts. He has shown an ability to adjust on the fly, and works well with veteran quarterback Brett Favre's suggestions about where to be when he throws the ball.

Mikko Koivu scored one goal and assisted on two others in the second period as the Minnesota Wild ended the Toronto Maple Leafs' two-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.
Marek Zidlicky broke a 1-1 tie at 5:44 of the period. Then, 26 seconds after Koivu beat Jonas Gustavsson at 17:29, Greg Zanon made it 4-1.

The Indoor Football League is proud to announce the 24 franchises which will be competing for the 2010 United Bowl.
Returning to the league are the defending champions Billings Outlaws, as well as; Abilene Ruff Riders, Alaska Wild, Bloomington Extreme, Colorado Ice, Corpus Christi Hammerheads, El Paso Generals, Fairbanks Grizzlies, Maryland Maniacs, Odessa Roughnecks, Omaha Beef, Rochester Raiders, San Angelo Stampede, Sioux City Bandits, Sioux Falls Storm, West Michigan ThunderHawks (previously know as the Muskegon Thunder which have changed their name and moved their franchise to Grand Rapids, Michigan), and Wichita Wild.

Kelenna Azubuike scored a season-high 31 points and Anthony Randolph added 23 to help the Golden State Warriors beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 146-105 on Monday night.
Stephen Jackson, whose agent publicly criticized Golden State coach Don Nelson a day earlier, had 10 points and a career-high 15 assists while Monte Ellis had 18 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Warriors to their most lopsided win in more than a year.

Rarely has playing it safe paid off so well for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tyrone Carter started in place of safety Ryan Clark as a precaution Monday night and made the big play that sparked the Steelers to their fifth straight win, taking the first of his two interceptions 48 yards for a touchdown in Pittsburgh's 28-10 win over the Denver Broncos.

The Minnesota Vikings are back from their bye week with an even bigger lead in the NFC North.
Green Bay and Chicago each lost on Sunday and fell three games behind the Vikings in the race. At 7-1, the Vikings start a stretch of three straight home games against Detroit, Seattle and Chicago.

Minnesota Wild right wing Petr Sykora has a concussion and is out indefinitely.
Sykora took a hit to the head in Saturday's win over the Dallas Stars. In his first season with the Wild, Sykora has already missed six games because of a groin injury. He has two goals and one assist in 10 games.

The Kansas City Chiefs have released troubled running back Larry Johnson.
A two-paragraph statement from the team Monday simply listed Johnson's statistics and announced his release. Johnson was due to come off a two-week suspension Monday.

Johnson apparently caused the Chiefs to run out of patience after his latest brush with controversy.

Andre Miller scored 21 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw each had 19 as Portland built a big first-half lead and beat Minnesota 116-93 Sunday night.
Miller, acquired last summer by Portland, scored 12 points during the third quarter. Aldridge, who had only 12 free throw attempts during the Trail Blazers' first six games, was 9-for-9, and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saluted their past, then rookie Josh Freeman gave the struggling franchise hope for the future.
Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns Sunday, including a 7-yard throw to Sammie Stroughter on fourth-and-4, leading the previously winless Bucs to a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

David Garrard threw for 264 yards and a 61-yard touchdown to Mike Sims-Walker, and the Jaguars rebounded from a lopsided loss at Tennessee with a 24-21 victory against Kansas City on Sunday.
The Jaguars (4-4), up and down all season, responded in similar fashion following losses to Arizona and Seattle earlier this season.

The Minnesota Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gomez.

The move, announced Friday, relieves a crowded outfield for the Twins, who also have Delmon Young, Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer. The 27-year-old Hardy batted .229 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI in 115 games for the Brewers in 2009.

Andrew Bogut bested Al Jefferson inside with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Ridnour had 16 points off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks used a second-half surge to top the Minnesota Timberwolves 87-72 on Friday night.
Rookie Brandon Jennings had his first clunker for the Bucks, putting up nine points on 4 for 16 shooting, but his backup Ridnour helped counter a career-high 20 points by Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.

The Sioux Falls Skyforce selected Raymond Sykes, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward from Clemson University, with the thirteenth overall selection in the 2009 NBA Development League Draft.
Sykes played in 124 games with the Tigers from 2005-09, with 41 starts. He was the starting center for Clemson’s 23-win, NCAA Tournament team in 2008-09.

Tough guy Darcy Hordichuk and newly signed Matt Pettinger each scored their first goals of the season, forming an unlikely pair to lead the short-handed Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Hordichuk scored his first goal in 50 games. Pettinger was signed off the street on Monday to bolster a depleted roster.

The Sioux Falls Storm is pleased to announce that veteran defensive lineman, Cory Johnsen, has officially signed to play for the Storm in 2010.
Johnsen will be entering his 5th Season as defensive lineman for the Storm where he is fifth on the Storm career sack list. 2009 was another standout season for the defensive lineman who finished the season with 11.5 sacks, 39 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a safety.

Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his third game back in Minnesota since he was traded in 2007, helping the Boston Celtics remain undefeated with a 92-90 victory over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Rajon Rondo scored 14 of his 18 points in the third quarter for the Celtics (6-0), who join the Denver Nuggets as the only two teams in the league without a loss.