NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE
Nets and Spurs advance
UNDATED (AP) β One of the most hard-fought and intense NBA playoff seasons in recent memory now has the San Antonio Spurs and Brooklyn Nets advancing to their conference semifinals by winning Game 7s on Sunday.
The Spurs closed out an otherwise tight series with a laugher as Tony Parker scored 32 points and Manu Ginobili (MAN’-ee jih-NOH’-blee) added 20 in a 119-96 pounding of Dallas. Danny Green had 16 points for the Spurs, who led by as many as 31 after earning their first three wins of the series by an average of four points.
The Spurs pulled away with a 14-2 run that gave them a 51-27 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
San Antonio will host Portland in their first two games of their Western Conference semifinal series.
The Nets now prepare for Miami after pulling out a 104-103 triumph at Toronto. Joe Johnson scored half of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, but the Nets blew most of a 10-point lead in the final 6:18 and didn’t secure the victory until Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowry’s shot from the lane on the final play.
Marcus Thornton scored 17 points and Kevin Garnett had 12 and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the series.
NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE
Chicago tops Minnesota 2-0
UNDATED (AP) β The Chicago Blackhawks will go to Minnesota with a 2-0 lead in the NHL’s Western Conference semifinals.
Bryan Bickell (BIK’-ul) had a goal and two assists as the Hawks downed the Wild 4-1 at Chicago. Brandon Saad (sahd) scored his first two goals of the postseason to help the Blackhawks earn their sixth straight victory since dropping the first two games of their first-round series with St. Louis.
Corey Crawford handled 18 shots and blanked the Wild until Cody McCormick scored two minutes into the third period.
Game 3 is Tuesday.
Pittsburgh has evened its series with the New York Rangers at a game apiece.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots and Kris Letang scored the game-winner as the Penguins downed the Blueshirts 3-0. Neither team scored until Letang tallied midway through the second period. Letang also assisted on Jussi Jokinen’s (YOO’-see YOH’-kih-nehnz) power-play goal with 3 1/3 minutes remaining and Evgeni Malkin’s empty-netter.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby remains scoreless in the series after collecting no goals and six assists in a first-round series win over Columbus.
Henrik Lundvist stopped 32 shots for the Rangers, who host Game 3 on Monday.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Afternoon results
UNDATED (AP) β The San Francisco Giants currently own the third-best record in the majors after going 76-86 last season.
Brandon Crawford homered twice and had three RBIs in the Giants’ fifth straight victory and ninth in 10 games, 4-1 in Atlanta. Madison Bumgarner allowed an unearned run and three hits while striking out nine in six innings to help the Giants improve to 20-11.
The Braves have suffered six straight losses, their longest skid since an eight-game run in May 2012.
Elsewhere around the majors:
β Cincinnati pulled out a 4-3 win against Milwaukee on Todd Frazier’s RBI double in the bottom of the 10th. Brandon Phillips forced extra innings with a game-tying homer in the eighth inning.
β Florida beat the Dodgers 5-4 on Jeff Baker’s RBI double with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and drove in three runs for Miami, giving him the NL leads with 10 round-trippiers and 36 RBIs.
β The Phillies edged the Nationals 1-0 in Philadelphia as Roberto Hernandez outdueled Gio Gonzalez for the win. Chase Utley hit an RBI single in the first inning for the only run.
β Dillon Gee worked six scoreless innings and the New York Mets avoided a four-game sweep by downing the Rockies 5-1 in Colorado. David Wright, Chris Young, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda (DOO’-duh) hit RBI doubles for the winners.
β Yadier Molina’s (YAH’-dee-hr moh-LEE’-nuhz) two-out, two-run single in the ninth gave St. Louis a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Mark Ellis was 3-for-4 with an RBI as the Cardinals salvaged the series finale and ended the Cubs’ three-game winning streak.
β Cameron Maybin reached base after an overturned umpire’s call before scoring on Yonder Alonso’s slow grounder in the ninth inning as San Diego beat Arizona 4-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. Rene Rivera hit a two-run double and later set up the game-winning run by doubling Maybin to third.
β Colby Rasmus hit a grand slam and Melky Cabrera added a two-run homer to lead Toronto past Pittsburgh 7-2. It was just the fourth win in 13 games for Toronto, and it prevented the Pirates from completing their first series sweep of the season.
β Michael Choice smacked a three-run shot, J.P. Arencibia (ar-ehn-SEE’-bee-uh) hit his first home run of the season and Prince Fielder added a pair of RBI doubles as Texas walloped the Angels 14-3 in Anaheim. Yu Darvish worked into the seventh inning to earn his first victory in almost a month.
β Wil Myers hit an inside-the-park homer and drove in four runs as Tampa Bay beat CC Sabathia (suh-BATH’-ee-uh) and the Yankees 5-1. Erik Bedard earned his first win as a starter since last June, and Evan Longoria had an early RBI double to help the Rays finish 5-5 on their road trip.
β Trevor Plouffe (pluhf) and Kurt Suzuki hit two-run doubles in Minnesota’s 5-2 verdict over Baltimore. Phil Hughes gave up two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings to win his third consecutive start.
β Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EHN’-ehs SEHS’-peh-dehs) drove in the go-ahead run on an infield single with the bases loaded in the 10th to give Oakland a 3-2 win at Boston. The Athletics averted a three-game sweep and finished 5-5 on their road trip.
β Justin Verlander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision as Detroit outscored Kansas City 9-4. Nick Castellanos (kas-tee-AH’-nohs) and Alex Avila homered for the Tigers, who own the American League’s best record at 17-9 following their season-high fifth straight win.
β Dayan Viciedo (dy-AN’ vih-see-AY’-doh) belted a three-run homer in the ninth as the Chicago White Sox stole a victory in Cleveland, 4-3. Indians starter Corey Kluber (KLOO’-bur) struck out a career-high 13 over eight innings and left with a 3-1 lead.
β Robinson Cano (kah-NOH’) and Willie Bloomquist each had two RBIs and Seattle scored four times in the third inning of an 8-7 victory at Houston. Bloomquist broke a 1-all tie with a two-run double and Cano followed with his first triple since June 3, 2012.
MLB-NEWS
Tribe loses Bourne
UNDATED (AP) βIndians outfielder Michael Bourn is hoping he won’t miss too many games because of a tight left hamstring. Bourn had surgery on his hamstring in October and re-injured it in spring training, forcing him to begin the season on the disabled list. The hamstring began to bother him again on Saturday.
Nyjer (NY’-jur) Morgan has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus to help fill the void while Bourn recovers.
Also in the majors:
β The Atlanta Braves have activated right-hander Gavin Floyd from the disabled list and optioned left-handed reliever Ian Thomas to Triple-A Gwinnett. Floyd signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Braves in December after his 2013 season with the White Sox was shortened by an elbow injury and surgery.
β Tampa Bay has recalled right-hander Nathan Karns from Triple-A Durham and designated reliever Heath Bell for assignment. Bell is a three-time All-Star who was 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA in 13 appearances for the Rays after being acquired from Arizona in December.
NASCAR-AARON’S 499
Hamlin wins
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) β Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag in the accident-marred Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race in Talladega, Ala. Hamlin won a drag race with leader Kevin Harvick on a restart with two laps remaining and was out front when NASCAR froze the field because of debris from an accident.
The win is the 24th of his NASCAR career.
Hamlin became the eighth winner in 10 races this season as drivers jockey to grab the 16 spots available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Greg Biffle was second and Clint Bowyer (BOY’-ur) third.
Danica Patrick led twice for a total of six laps before finishing 22nd.
INDYCAR-NEW ORLEANS
Open wheel racing coming to New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) β IndyCar will race in the New Orleans area in 2015. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (JIN’-dul) has confirmed the move through a spokeswoman. The open-wheel race will come to the 2.75-mile road course at the private NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, about 14 miles southwest of downtown New Orleans.
PGA-WELLS FARGO
Holmes finishes first
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β J.B. Holmes was the winner of the PGA event at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. He shot a final round 1-under-71 to finish play 14-under. The runnerup was Jim Furyk (FYOOR’-ihk), who had a final round 7-under-65.
LPGA-NORTH TEXAS
Lewis still leads the way
IRVING, Texas (AP) β Stacy Lewis shot a 7-under 64 to win the North Texas LPGA Shootout. The win comes after six runner-up finishes in her previous 16 tournaments.
Lewis finished at 16-under, six strokes ahead of Meena Lee, the largest margin of victory on the LPGA Tour since Jiyai Shin (jee-eye shihn) won the 2012 Women’s British Open by nine.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Langer lands a win
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) β Bernhard Langer has won another Champions Tour event. He closed out the Insperity Invitational with a 1-under-71 to finish 11-under, good for a one shot win over Fred Couples.
