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Update on the latest in sports:NBA PLAYOFFS Thunder close out Lakers...Celtics take control UNDATED (AP) — It will be the Oklahoma City Thunder against the San Antonio Spurs in a Western Conference finals that pits the top two seeds. The Thunder have advanced with a third-quarter surge that carried them to a 106-90 victory over the Lakers, closing out the conference semifinal series in five games. Russell Westbrook had a pair of three-point plays during a 14-3 spurt that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter. Kevin Durant drained two three-pointers while the Thunder opened the final period on a 10-0 run to go ahead 93-77. Westbrook finished with 28 points, and Durant added 25 and 10 rebounds in the clincher. James Harden came off the bench to add 17 points and eight rebounds for the winners. Kobe Bryant poured in 42 points for the Lakers on 18-of-33 shooting. Pau Gasol (gah-SAHL') finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds but missed nine of his 14 shots. No other Laker took more than 10 shots. Game 1 of the West finals isn't until Sunday at San Antonio. The Boston Celtics enjoy a three-games-to-two lead in the NBA's Eastern Conference finals following a strong second half. Brandon Bass scored 18 of his postseason career-high 27 points in the third quarter as the Celtics pulled away to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-85 in Boston. The Celtics trailed by four until Bass helped them outscore the Sixers 54-35 in the second half, including a 28-16 margin in the third period. The Celtics shot 52 percent from the field for the game, with Bass hitting nine of his 13 shots. The Sixers led by six early in the third quarter before Boston scored 14 of the next 16 points. Kevin Garnett finished with 20 points, while Rajon Rondo (RAH'-zhahn RAHN'-doh) added 13 and 14 assists. Elton Brand had 19 points for the 76ers, who host Game 6 on Wednesday. NBA-NEWS Magic fire Van Gundy ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic are in the market for a head coach and a general manager. Stan Van Gundy has been dismissed after posting a 259-135 record in five seasons with the Magic. Orlando went 37-29 this year but lost All-Star center Dwight Howard to a back injury late in the season. The Magic went 5-12 without Howard, including a 1-4 mark in their first-round playoff loss to Indiana. GM Otis Smith was also let go after molding playoff teams in each of his six seasons at the helm. Orlando won the Eastern Conference championship in 2009. NHL-PLAYOFFS Devils knot series NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Devils are sending the NHL's Eastern Conference finals back to New York knotted at two games apiece. Zach Parise (pah-REE'-see) scored twice and had an assist as the Devils downed the Rangers 4-1 in Newark. Parise notched his goals in the third period, including an empty-netter that secured the victory with 1:29 remaining. Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac (ZAY'-jak) scored 3:49 apart in the first period to put the Devils ahead 2-0. Parise's goals gave the Devils three-goal cushions both times, more than enough support for Martin Brodeur to post his 109th career playoff victory. Brodeur assisted on Parise's empty-netter and finished with 27 saves, eight coming in the final period. Brodeur was perfect until Ruslan Fedotenko (fed-uh-TEHN'-koh) beat him with 5:05 remaining. Game 5 is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. MLB-SCHEDULE Redbirds rally...Reds show Minor power... UNDATED (AP) — The defending World Series-champion St. Louis Cardinals needed a late comeback to stay atop the National League Central. Tyler Greene belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth as the Cards beat San Diego 4-3 to end a four-game losing streak. Greene's blast came a half-inning after Jesus Guzman's two-run double put the Padres ahead. Jaime Garcia allowed two runs while striking out seven in seven-plus innings for the Cardinals, who stayed a half-game ahead of Cincinnati. The Reds kept pace as Drew Stubbs hit two of their four homers in a 4-1 win over Atlanta. The game was tied 1-1 until pitcher Mike Leake, slumping Zack Cozart and Stubbs hit consecutive solo homers with two out in the fourth inning. Leake also allowed just two hits in eight innings for his first win since an 0-5 start. Also in the National League, Gio Gonzalez scattered three hits in six innings as Washington nipped Philadelphia 2-1. Ian Desmond homered and drove in both Nationals runs. Giancarlo Stanton's grand slam highlighted a five-run fourth that led Miami's 7-4 win over Colorado. Mark Buehrle (BUR'-lee) pitched shutout ball after a four-run first inning, allowing five hits over 7 2-3 innings as the Marlins improved to a major league-best 15-5 this month. Pittsburgh erased a 4-0 deficit and beat the New York Mets 5-4 on a sacrifice fly by Clint Barmes (BAHR'-mehs) following a three-base error by center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (NOO'-ehn-hys) in the bottom of the eighth. Michael McHenry's two-run homer tied the game 4-4 in the seventh. Chris Capuano is 6-1 after pitching the Los Angeles Dodgers to their fifth straight win, 6-1 over Arizona. Matt Treanor (TRAY'-nur), Andre Ethier (EE'-thee-ur) and James Loney homered to back Capuano, who was reached for just one run and four hits in six innings. San Francisco beat Milwaukee 4-3 on Hector Sanchez's home run leading off the top of the 14th inning. It was the Giants' first run since Buster Posey's three-run blast in the opening frame. Three-run homers by Jason Castro and Chris Johnson powered Houston to an 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Bud Norris allowed five hits in seven shutout innings to send the Cubbies to their season-high seventh consecutive loss. Over to the American League, where Felipe Paulino blanked the New York Yankees for the second time in as many starts this season. Paulino allowed six hits while striking out eight over 6 2-3 innings as Kansas City beat the Bombers 6-0 in the Bronx. The Yanks went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position against Paulino and the Royals' bullpen. Mike Moustakas (moos-TAH'-kahs) and Jeff Francoeur (fran-KOOR') hit two-run homers as the Royals handed the Yanks their sixth loss in seven games. The Yankees are 21-21, their worst record at this point in the season since they started 20-25 in 2008. The Yankees are now tied with Boston for last place in the AL East. In other AL action, Kyle Drabek (DRAY'-behk) had been 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA on the road this season before holding Tampa Bay to a pair of runs and three hits in six innings of Toronto's 6-2 win over the Rays. Yunel Escobar hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth. Boston trailed 5-2 until David Ortiz hit a solo homer to spark a three-run sixth in an 8-6 win at Baltimore. Dustin Pedroia (peh-DROY'-uh) had two RBIs and Mike Aviles (ah-VEE'-lehs) scored the go-ahead run on Daniel Nada's sac-fly in the seventh to help the Red Sox secure its ninth win in 11 games. Ichiro Suzuki singled, tripled and collected two RBIs off Yu Darvish as Seattle whipped Texas 6-1. Darvish failed to become the majors' first seven-game winner of the season, laboring through 96 pitches and a season-high six walks. Tommy Milone is 6-3 after allowing a run and three hits in seven innings of Oakland's 2-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Angels. The Halos have dropped three straight and four of five. MLB-CARDINALS/BERKMAN Berkman needs knee surgery UNDATED (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Lance Berkman will be out at least six weeks after he undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week. Berkman was injured Saturday while making a routine stretch to receive a throw against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Berkman is batting .333 with one homer and four RBIs in 13 games, missing a significant portion of the schedule due to a pulled left calf muscle. Elsewhere in the majors, Angels outfielder Vernon Wells will undergo right thumb surgery Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined eight to 10 weeks. Wells was hurt stealing second base in the second inning of Sunday's 3-2, 13-inning loss at San Diego. Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington says outfielder Cody Ross has a broken bone in his left foot and could be sidelined 6-8 weeks. Ross fouled a ball off his foot in Friday night's game against Philadelphia. Padres starter Cory Luebke (LOOB'-kee) says he'll have reconstructive surgery on his left elbow Wednesday. Luebke was 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA when he went on the 15-day disabled list May 2. Tony Gwynn's agent says the Hall of Famer is joining movie producer Thomas Tull in an attempt to buy the San Diego Padres. Tull is the chairman of Legendary Entertainment and is among several people interested in purchasing the franchise. Majority owner John Moores announced last month that he was selling the team after minority owner Jeff Moorad abandoned his attempt to gain controlling interest. Infielder Drew Sutton is joining his third major league organization in two days, traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named or cash considerations. The Bucs sent cash to Atlanta yesterday for Sutton, who was hitting .270 and playing mostly third base at Triple-A Gwinnet. Sutton previously played with Cincinnati, Cleveland and Boston, all since 2010. NFL-NEWS Johnson of Houston undergoes surgery UNDATED — Texans star receiver Andre Johnson says that he will need three to four weeks to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. The 30-year-old sat out Houston's first organized team practice, two weeks after the procedure. The five-time Pro Bowl selection was inactive for nine regular-season games last year with injuries to both hamstrings. He says he hyperextended the knee against Jacksonville on Nov. 27, his first game back after he missed the previous six. He finished that game and also played the following week against Atlanta before going out with a second hamstring injury. In other NFL news, Browns general manager Tom Heckert says the team expects rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden to be Cleveland's starter this season. Speaking at a banquet for Browns fans, Heckert said Weeden will compete with Colt McCoy for the starting job and "we fully expect Brandon to be that guy. That's our goal to have him be the guy." The Browns drafted Weeden with the 22nd overall pick last month. CLEMENS TRIAL Clemens' accuser wraps up, gets to name names WASHINGTON (AP) — Brian McNamee finally got to name names in front of the jury handling the Roger Clemens perjury trial, saying today that he enabled former Clemens teammates Andy Pettitte, Mike Stanton and Chuck Knoblauch to receive human growth hormone. McNamee is Clemens' former strength coach and the only person to claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using steroids and human growth hormone. McNamee was initially barred by Judge Reggie Walton from naming names for fear that such information would prejudice the jury. However, the prosecution persuaded Walton to change his stance after McNamee's credibility was attacked by Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, last week. Clemens is accused of lying to Congress when the 11-time All-Star pitcher denied using performance-enhancing drugs during a Capitol Hill hearing. COLLEGE BASKETBALL-FINE LAWSUIT/ESPN Wife of fired Syracuse assistant sues ESPN SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — The wife of fired Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine has filed a libel lawsuit against ESPN. Laurie Fine claims in the 48-page suit that the network ruined her life by broadcasting salacious reports that she knew her husband abused boys and that she had sex with one of the boys. She accuses ESPN of reporting the allegations against her husband in a bid to boost ratings as the Penn State sex-abuse scandal was unfolding. COLLEGE BASKETBALL-PACIFIC/THOMASON Thomason to step down after a quarter-century at Pacific STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Pacific basketball coach Bob Thomason has announced he will retire after next season. Thomason will be entering his 25th season at his alma mater, which will move from the Big West Conference to the West Coast Conference in September 2013. He has posted nine 20-win seasons, won five Big West coach of the year awards and led the Tigers to four NCAA tournament appearances. OBIT-STEWART Former WVU football coach Bill Stewart dies MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Former West Virginia football coach Bill Stewart has died of what the athletic department says was an apparent heart attack. The 59-year old resigned last summer and was replaced by assistant Dana Holgorsen the same night. Stewart was 28-12 in three seasons after taking over for Rich Rodriguez. FRENCH OPEN Fish pulls out PARIS (AP) — American Mardy Fish won't be participating in the French Open. The tenth-ranked player in the world hasn't played in a match for more than a month and suffers from what French Open officials call fatigue. Organizers of the Paris event made the announcement. ITALIAN OPEN Nadal beats Djokovic 7-5, 6-3 to win Italian Open ROME (AP) — Rafael Nadal beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic (JOH'-koh-vihch) 7-5, 6-3 to win the Italian Open for a record sixth time. The final took place on Monday because of rain over the weekend in Rome. Djokovic had 41 unforced errors, including a double-fault on the last point to give Nadal his 49th career title. |
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