The Daily Fives for February 14, 2011 From The Sports Mac

The Five Top Stories From Yesterday

1. The Celtics hang on to defeat the Heat at home in Boston to stay on top of the Eastern Conference.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned the pole position in qualifying for Sunday’s Daytona 500 and he will be joined in the front row by teammate Jeff Gordon.

3. The Wizards win their first game on the road this season in 25 tries with a victory of the Cavaliers in Cleveland.

4. No. 5 Duke gets a test, but wins on the road at Atlantic Coast Conference Miami (Fla.) to maintain their conference lead.

5. The Islanders win a wild game that featured 13 goals over the Sabres in Buffalo.

The Five Top Games From Yesterday

1. Fairfield 70, St. Peter’s 69, Overtime: Colin Nickerson hit two free throws with seven seconds left in OT to help the Stags escape the upset bid by the Peacocks.

2. Islanders 7, Sabres 6, Overtime: Michael Grabner scored with two minutes remaining in the extra session to give New York the wild win in Buffalo.

3. Kings 1, Flyers 0: Drew Doughty had the only goal of the game 17 seconds into the second period to get Los Angeles a huge road win in Philadelphia.

4. Panthers 3, Sharks 2: Chris Higgins and Jason Garrison had third-period goals as Florida rallied for the home win over San Jose.

5. Hurricanes 3, Thrashers 2: Erik Cole scored with 1:19 left to lift Carolina to the road win over Atlanta.

The Five Top Performances From Yesterday

1. Dwight Howard, Magic C: 31 points and 13 rebounds in Orlando’s 89-75 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers

2. Jonathan Quick, Kings G: 40 saves for his fifth SO of the season and 13th of his career in Los Angeles’ 1-0 road win over Philadelphia

3. Talor Battle, Penn State SG: 19 points, including his 2,000th career point, in the Nittany Lions Big Ten home win over Northwestern

4. Michael Grabner, Islanders RW: a hat trick, including the game winner in overtime, in New York’s 7-6 overtime road win over Buffalo

5. LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers PF: 36 points and four rebounds in Portland’s 105-100 road win over Detroit

Five Performances That Weren't So Good From Yesterday

1. Shannon Brown, Lakers PG: just 3-of-11 shooting and only six points in Los Angeles 89-75 road loss to Orlando

2. Ales Hemsky, Oilers RW: had a minus-two and four penalty minutes in Edmonton’s 4-0 home loss to Anaheim

3. Matt Gatens, Iowa G: just 2-of-11 shooting and only sic points in the Hawkeyes 62-45 Big Ten home loss to No. 25 Minnesota

4. Theo Peckham, Oilers D: had a minus-three and five penalty minutes in Edmonton’s 4-0 home loss to Anaheim

5. Randy Foye, Clippers SG: just 2-of-14 shooting and only five points in Los Angeles’ 98-93 road loss to Toronto

Top Five Events to Follow Today

1. NCAA BB: West Virginia (16-8, 7-5) at No. 13 Syracuse (20-6, 7-6), 7:00 PM, ESPN: Another rough-and-tumble matchup in the Big East featuring the Mountaineers and Orange.

2. NBA: Lakers (38-17) at Bobcats (23-31), 7:00 PM: A tricky spot for Los Angeles, playing back-to-back after a tough loss in Orlando the previous day.

3. NHL: Capitals (29-17-10) at Coyotes (29-19-9), 8:00 PM, Versus: Two teams fighting for playoff positions in the respective conferences square off in the desert in Phoenix.

4. NCAA BB: No. 2 Kansas (24-1, 9-1) at Kansas State (16-9, 4-6), 9:00 PM, ESPN: This is almost a must-win for the Wildcats if they hope to build momentum for March.

5. NHL: Flames (28-22-8) at Avalanche (25-25-6), 10:00 PM: Two teams trying to move up in the Western Conference standings meet up in Denver.