FanHouse Mike Brown

The Bulls went into Cleveland on Thursday and pulled out a hard-fought win over the Cavaliers. It was a low-scoring, defensive struggle, as neither team shot the ball very well, so it's not surprising that the game came down to the final play.

LeBron James drove to the basket with three seconds left and his team trailing by one, and was met by two defenders when he got there -- Luol Deng, who was guarding him from the play's outset, and Joakim Noah, who came over to help at the last second. James appeared to jump into Noah, and there was definitely contact. But somewhat incredibly, the refs swallowed their whistles, and the Bulls won the game.

Was it the right call? Read on and judge for yourself.

Rome was not built in a day. But in two days, the NBA's version of Camelot sure has looked like the barbarians are at the gate.

OK, I'll try not to lob anymore historical metaphors at you. But you might want to get ready for a whole lot of consternation from the great state of Ohio, because the team with the best record in the league last year has started out 0-2. The Cavaliers fell to the Raptors in Toronto 101-91 to remain winless, and the same problems that surfaced Tuesday night in their loss to the Celtics reared their head again.

DENVER -- George Karl isn't telling the Cleveland Cavaliers how to run their team. Then again, maybe he is.

Karl admits he's providing an "amateur fan evaluation'' regarding his son Coby Karl, a guard for the Cavaliers. But how many fans throwing out opinions on Coby have more than 930 NBA coaching wins?

Unless Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, Bill Fitch or Dick Motta have spoken up, that would be none.

George Karl, the coach of the Denver Nuggets, doesn't understand why the Cavaliers might sign guard Antonio Daniels, which could result in his son being waived after making Cleveland's opening-day roster.

For the first time since his loss to Forrest Griffin more than two years ago, Shogun Rua can legitimately be called one of the top 10 fighters in MMA -- and it took a loss to get him there.

Rua's unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida in the main event at UFC 104 was a fight that most people thought he deserved to win, and a fight that makes one thing very clear: Shogun is back.

But where does Shogun fit in our list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in MMA? Find out below.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Cool things happen when a team trades for a center who has at least one MVP trophy on his mantel.

Wilt Chamberlain got traded, and won a championship. He was traded again, and won another title.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was dealt, and won five more crowns.

Bob McAdoo got traded, and later won two rings.

Bill Walton was shipped away, and eventually got another title.

Moses Malone was traded. You guessed it. He won a championship.

Shaquille O'Neal was dealt. He won a ring to add to the three already on his fingers.

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The WEC 44 fight card has been finalized with 10 bouts for Nov. 18 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

The event is being headlined by featherweight champion Mike Brown (22-4) defending his belt against Jose Aldo (15-1).

Full lineup after the jump.

Former WEC contender Jeff Curran has signed with Strikeforce to compete on the undercard of the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers event on Nov. 7 in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Curran (29-12-1) was released after four consecutive losses with the WEC. But it's also important to note that the losses came against Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki -- arguably four of the toughest assignments for a lighterweight fighter, all in a 20-month period.

Before he was named head coach of the Cavaliers in 2005, Mike Brown twice had the honor of coaching Stephen Jackson: once as an assistant with the Pacers, and before that, as an assistant with the Spurs.

Jackson's time in Indiana wasn't exactly that of a model citizen, but he was fine in San Antonio, and even got himself a ring as a contributor to the Spurs' championship in 2003.

Maybe Brown, based on this past experience, sees something in Jackson that at this point, most of the rest of us do not. That has to be the reason that Cleveland is interested in trading for Jackson, and freeing him from the unpleasant situation that he's created for himself in Golden State.

CLEVELAND -- The Shaq show was overshadowed.

Center Shaquille O'Neal made his preseason debut for Cleveland on Tuesday night, looking good in a 92-87 win over Charlotte at Quicken Loans Arena. But most of the talk after the game centered on Delonte West's continued troubles and Bobcats coach Larry Brown's frustration with replacement officials.

A source said after the game that West will not be at Cavaliers practice Wednesday, and it's possible his absence could continue beyond that. The source said he will be in the Washington D.C. area Wednesday to address legal matters concerning his Sept. 17 arrest in Maryland after police said he was pulled over for speeding on a motorcycle while carrying two loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case.

Pay-per-views and a reality television show are still in the plans for the WEC to further its viability as the lighter weight version of the UFC.

WEC general Reed Harris said Thursday that the WEC is actively looking to enter the pay-per-view market in 2010, but when will all depend on how effective it is in the near future when it comes to building anticipated fights through its free telecasts on Versus.