The NBA returns tonight after its weeklong All-Star break, as a league defined by extreme parity prepares to embark on what could be the most wide-open playoff race in decades.
By the numbers: The Boston Celtics (42-17) are on pace to finish with a league-best 58 wins. If that holds, this would be the first 82-game season since 2000-01 without a 60-win team — and just the second such season in the past 44 years.
Spring training is underway,but that normally joyful return to the diamond may be a bit clouded for the 19 players who just went through one of Major League Baseball's strangest annual traditions: arbitration.
State of play: This year's arbitration window concluded last week, and just six of the 19 players who fought for a higher salary won their case.
