The New Orleans Saints began this season with certain bluster. That bluster morphed into mysticism as the season progressed. No one, especially the long-suffering Saints fans, could have ever anticipated the team going 13-0.

People were really starting to ‘believe’ as the The New Orlean Saints began to gain across the whole country. Before the NFL season was all said and done, New Orleans would lose three straight and many would question whether the Saints would be able to get their swagger back in time for the playoffs.

“I think it is a little bit of a confidence booster, especially because we haven’t played as well the last couple of weeks,” All-Pro safety Darren Sharper said, “to know that we were rested, we’ve got all our guys back and this is the type of team, this is the type of game we can’t have.” He added, “We knew we were early in the season. We were playing at that level. I think now we’ve gotten that back. It’s a good time to get that engine going again.”

Whatever it is for the Darren Sharper. Fans will cross-check the teams’ performance in the NFL season. The sport betting is high for the New Orleans Saints.

Mark Cuban sued the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday for access to documents detailing the insider trading case against the Dallas Mavericks owner.

The Dallas billionaire filed requests for records in December under the Freedom of Information Act. That was a month after the SEC brought a civil action against Cuban, accusing him of selling shares of Internet search engine company Mamma.com after receiving confidential information about a private offering.

Cuban’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, claims the SEC improperly rejected some requests, didn’t respond quickly enough to appeals of rejections and failed to conduct adequate searches for some records.

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Cavaliers 114, Magic 116

Superman swooped in just in time.

Dwight Howard scored 10 points in overtime and the Orlando Magic, raining down 3-pointers like a Florida thunderstorm, withstood 44 points and a last-second shot by LeBron James for a 116-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Howard finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds and again made his free throws — 7 of 9 — for the resilient Magic, who made a team record 17 3-pointers — 11 after halftime.

Orlando can earn its first trip to the NBA finals since 1995 with a win in Game 5 on Thursday night in Cleveland.

Rafer Alston added 26 points and Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus had 17 each for the Magic.

James was spectacular again, adding 12 rebounds and seven assists, but he had eight turnovers for the Cavs, whose season of seasons is slipping away.

“I had to get myself going. My teammates found me in the right place to score and I kept scoring,” Howard said of his overtime effort that included three dunks, a tip-in and two free throws. “I hate losing, especially on my home floor. We kept fighting for the win.”

After Lewis made one of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to give the Magic the 116-114 lead, the Cavs had one final chance.

And every person inside Amway Arena and millions watching on TV knew who was going to get it — James.

The league MVP, who saved the Cavaliers with a 3-pointer at the final horn in Game 2, was double-teamed on the inbounds pass but still managed to get free. He came back and got the ball before dribbling into the frontcourt as Magic fans held their collective breath.

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The buildup to Lane Kiffin’s first season at Tennessee continues to be one wild and crazy ride.

He’s gigged rival coaches, pried away top recruits from rival schools, infuriated an entire community with his unflattering post-signing day comments, landed a reprimand from the SEC and accumulated a handful of NCAA secondary violations along the way.

Now Kiffin has the first turnover on his staff — all in about six months’ time.

Sources told ESPN.com that Kiffin and his strength and conditioning coach, Mark Smith, met on Thursday and agreed to part ways. The details of Smith’s departure as strength coach were still being finalized, and Tennessee athletic department officials declined to comment.

Smith, who was previously the strength coach at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier, was one of the first hires Kiffin made after being named the Vols’ coach on Dec. 1. Smith was given a $50,000 raise to come to Tennessee, bumping his annual salary up to $190,000.

The issues that led to Smith’s short stay on Kiffin’s staff had been brewing for some time, sources told ESPN.com. Smith was not available for comment, but told several people in and around the football program on Thursday that he would not be back.

One possible replacement is Aaron Ausmus, the strength coach at North Texas and a former All-America shot putter at Tennessee. Ausmus was the head strength coach at Ole Miss under Ed Orgeron and also worked with Orgeron and Kiffin at Southern California as strength coach.

Ausmus was a candidate for the job when Kiffin hired Smith back in December.

After Michael Vick’s frenzied first couple of hours at home — two probation officers stopped by 90 minutes after he arrived, and one of his attorneys briefly addressed the media horde that was camped out in the cul-de-sac — things seemed to settle down outside the house.

The media ranks thinned out, and the curious onlookers who had lingered into the early morning hours hoping to get a glimpse of the suspended NFL star were long gone. Inside, Vick was reunited with his family.

“He is obviously delighted to be home,” his Virginia-based attorney, Lawrence Woodward, told reporters.

Woodward said the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback remains a federal inmate as he serves two months of home confinement to complete his 23-month sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy, and he cannot speak to the media without permission from the Bureau of Prisons. Efforts to get permission are under way, he said.

Vick remained mostly out of sight, arriving early Thursday morning in a sport utility vehicle with blackout curtains, the end of a 1,200-mile, 28-hour journey from his federal prison camp in Leavenworth, Kan.

The SUV, leading a four-vehicle caravan carrying a security team and others, cruised directly into a side garage. Later, Vick emerged only briefly, accompanied by a probation officer on the deck behind the five-bedroom house as they tested the electronic monitor Vick will wear for two months.

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The Reds have put right-hander Edinson Volquez on the disabled list with a sore back, the first time they’ve lost a starting pitcher to injury this season.

They plan to call up right-hander Homer Bailey to take his place in the rotation. Bailey, a former first-round draft pick, would start Saturday against the Cleveland Indians in an interleague series.

Volquez had to leave a game Saturday in San Diego because of back spasms. He tried to throw on Wednesday but had to stop because of the sore back. He got a medical test on Thursday, and the Reds put him on the 15-day disabled list following a 12-5 loss to Philadelphia.

Phillies 12, Reds 5

Four homers. Twelve runs. The NL’s highest-scoring offense took full advantage of the friendly dimensions at Great American Ball Park, then set off to see what it can do in the AL’s newest launching pad.

How will the Philadelphia Phillies take to the new Yankee Stadium?

“It’s a new, expensive ballpark,” said Chase Utley, who drove in four runs during a 12-5 victory Thursday over the Cincinnati Reds. “It’s a great place to hit, so I’m excited to get started there.”

The defending World Series champions are up-and-running on offense as they head into their first interleague series. The pitching? That’s another matter. As they have for much of the season, the Phillies spent the day overcoming another subpar start with superb hitting.

Utley had a two-run single and a double off Micah Owings (3-5), who got nine outs and showed the strain of throwing a lot of innings lately. Utley also had one of the Phillies’ four solo homers — Greg Dobbs, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez connected, as well.

Jimmy Rollins had four hits, scored twice and drove in a run. The top three hitters in the order — Rollins, Utley and Raul Ibanez — went 9-for-15, scored five runs and drove in eight.

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J.J. Yeley will replace suspended Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield in the No. 41 car beginning with this weekend’s preliminary to the Sprint All-Star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Yeley said on Tuesday that before an official announcement can be made, Mayfield must dissolve his ownership in the organization. He said the plan is for Mayfield’s wife, Shana, to be listed as the official owner.

“I’ve already been to the shop and have been fitted for a seat. . . . I met with the team,” said Yeley, who has two top-fives and seven top-10s in 95 Cup races.

Mayfield on Saturday became the first Cup driver to be suspended for violating NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy. The indefinite suspension affects him as a driver as well as an owner; he started his team about a month before the start of the season. The 39-year-old Mayfield insists he did nothing wrong, that the positive test was the result of combining a prescription drug with an over-the-counter drug for allergies. Dr. David Black, who runs NASCAR’s testing program, disputed his claim.

Yeley, who has been out of a Cup ride since losing his job at Hall of Fame Racing last season, had no reservations about stepping into Mayfield’s seat.

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The New York Yankees are monitoring the wind and home runs at their new ballpark along with the empty seats close to the field, but they plan no changes.

Chief operating officer Lonn Trost said Tuesday more wind studies will be done at the $1.5 billion stadium, but the weather during the first two homestands might have been unusual. Forty-seven home runs hit, four shy of the record for the first 13 games at a major league ballpark. Thirty-two of the homers were hit to right field.

“There were wind studies performed before. They’ll be wind studies performed as we go forward, and we’re just looking like you are to see whether or not it’s the weather, the wind, what happens when the old building goes down,” Trost said after a news conference to announce memorabilia sales from the old ballpark.

The home-run total is vastly higher than the most in the first 13 games of a season at the old Yankee Stadium, 36 in 2007, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Based upon wind analysis and wind studies, the winds we were having were the least likely winds to occur,” Trost said. “We’ll always look and we’ll always analyze. And right now, I don’t know if I can do anything about wind.”

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