Sports Briefs March 27, 2012

Football

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might allow Sean Payton to coach the Saints while he appeals his season-long suspension for his role in the team's bounties program.

"I said in a letter they have to appeal by April 2, I believe," Goodell said Monday at the owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. "If he decides to appeal, I probably will allow him to continue and I would expedite the hearing and I would expedite my decision.

"We did meet twice and went through the information. If he has something else for me to consider, I will."

Payton's agent, Donald Yee, said "no decisions have been made about an appeal" by his client.

"Sean fully supports the league's player safety goals," Yee said. "Given this, he probably won't address the entire league" when he arrives at the owners meetings.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said Payton was expected to speak later this week at the meetings. NFC coaches are scheduled to meet the media Wednesday morning.

Baseball

The New York Mets will honor the memory of former star Gary Carter with a pregame ceremony on opening day.

Carter's family will take part in the tribute on April 5 at Citi Field before the Mets play the Atlanta Braves.

There also will be a moment of silence for Carter.

Carter died Feb. 16 in Florida at the age of 57. The Hall of Famer catcher helped lead the Mets to the 1986 World Series championship.

Pistons 79, Wizards 77: Former Eastern Washington standout Rodney Stuckey scored half of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including the winning 20-foot jumper with 0.2 seconds left, to help Detroit beat Washington.

Nuggets 108, Bulls 91: Ty Lawson tied a season high with 27 points to lead Denver at Chicago.

Celtics 102, Bobcats 95: Paul Pierce scored a season-high 36 points to lead Boston over Charlotte.

Jazz 105, Nets 84: At Newark, N.J., Paul Millsap had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Utah beat New Jersey.

Pacers 105, Heat 90: At Indianapolis, Danny Granger scored 25 points to help Indiana beat Miami.

Magic 117, Raptors 101: Dwight Howard had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead visiting Orlando over Toronto.

Knicks 89, Bucks 80: Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and host New York beat Milwaukee.

Rockets 113, Kings 106, OT: Patrick Patterson scored a career-high 24 points to lead host Houston past Sacramento.

Clippers 97, Hornets 85: Chris Paul had 25 points and 10 assists to lead host Los Angeles over Charlotte.

Lightning 5, Flyers 3: Martin St. Louis scored the go-ahead goal to lead Tampa Bay at Philadelphia.

Red Wings 7, Blue Jackets 2: Tomas Holmstrom scored two goals and host Detroit beat Columbus.

Flames 5, Stars 4: Mike Cammalleri had a goal and two assists and host Calgary beat Dallas.

Senators 6, Jets 4: Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals in the third period to lift Ottawa at Winnipeg.

Sharks 5, Avalanche 1: Joe Pavelski scored two goals in helping host San Jose beat Colorado.

Arnold Palmer is out of the hospital and back at work.

A spokesman for the tournament named for the golfing great said Palmer was released Monday morning. The 82-year-old Palmer had been hospitalized overnight in Florida as a precaution because of high blood pressure from new medication.

- The Associated Press