CONTENTS

58 Red Hot
Displaying a prickly new attitude, Nebraska overcame ills and Colorado
by S.L. Price

64 Quack Attack
There's a real horse race in the Pac-10, but do not count out the Ducks
by Tim Layden

70 Giants Come Up Big
Durable pitchers paced the Yomiuri Giants to victory in the Japan Series
by Tom Verducci

77 On the Mark
Mark McCumber used a dead-on putt to win the Tour Championship
by Jaime Diaz

80 Cool Hand Drew
New England's Drew Bledsoe is calmly taking aim at a passing record
by Rick Telander

NBA 1994-95

86 High and Mighty
Orlando and Phoenix should soar above the rest and play for the title
by Steve Rushin

96 Swish...Clank
Mil Today's young guns are firing off blanks—and wounding the game
by Phil Taylor

104 Oh, What a Feeling!
Pacer Reggie Miller recalls his astonishing quarter in the playoffs
by Jack McCallum

114 A New Ball Game
Isiah Thomas has gone from hardwood to a hard job in Toronto
by Michael Farber

120 Truly Tall Tale
This SI Classic of 1989 took the measure of 7'5" Chuck Nevitt
by Steve Wulf

130 Scouting Reports
A division-by-division look at who's up and who's not in the league this season

150 World Class
Dikembe Mutombo is impressive in the paint and in faraway lands
by Rick Telander

Departments

9 Faces in the Crowd
12 Letters
51 Scorecard
164 Inside the NFL
175 Inside College Football
178 Point After

Cover Photograph by Walter Iooss Jr. Inset by John W. McDonough

PHOTO

RONALD C. MODRA

Lion Tamer: Shigeo Nagashima, manager of the Yomiuri Giants, got a heave out of his team's four-games-to-two victory over the Seibu Lions in the Japan Series (page 70).