NHL-STANLEY CUP FINALS
Kings on the brink of celebrating
NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings are hoping to put an emphatic end to the NHL season tonight in New York. They can become the first team to sweep a Stanley Cup Finals since 1998 when they take on the Rangers.
Should LA pull it off, it would be a crowning end to a remarkable post-season that saw the Kings fall into an 0-3 hole against San Jose in the first round, then become the fourth team to overcome that deficit in NHL history.
And that could be a bit of motivation for the Rangers who have been taken to the brink of elimination with two overtime losses and a shutout loss in Game 3 despite outshooting the Kings 32-15.
New York has never come back to win a series it trailed 3-0, but the Rangers rallied to knock out Pittsburgh in the second round this year after trailing 3-1.
NBA FINALS
Spurs ride first-half marksmanship to victory.
MIAMI (AP) — It’s a day to regroup for the Spurs and Heat after San Antonio’s hot-shooting 111-92 win over Miami last night.
That gave the Spurs a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 is set for tomorrow night in Miami.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Tight NL East race continues
UNDATED (AP) —The battle for first place in the National League East rages on as part of the 15-game schedule today and tonight.
Washington and Atlanta are tied for first with Miami just a half game back.
The Nats have won 9 of 11 heading into the continuation of their series with NL West-leading San Francisco. Atlanta sends Julio Teheran to the mound tonight for another game against Colorado. He’s second in the National League with a 1.89 ERA, and the right-hander has a 6-3 mark.
Miami takes on the Texas Rangers and Yu Darvish. Another victory would give the Marlins a major-league record 14-straight interleague wins. Darvish improved to 6-2 the last time out despite giving up a season-high nine hits in seven innings.
Masahiro Tanaka tries to join Toronto’s Mark Buehrle (BUR’-lee) as a 10-game winner when the Yankees visit Seattle tonight. Tanaka is making a splash in his first year in the majors with a 9-1 mark. In all 12 of his starts, he’s gone at least six innings with three or fewer earned runs.
No division leader is sliding faster than the Tigers who have lost 7 of 10 and seen their lead in the AL Central fall to 2 1/2 games over the Indians who have won 8 of 10. The Tigers throw Justin Verlander at the White Sox tonight, while the Indians venture into Kansas City.
GOLF-U.S. OPEN
Open prep continues
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Today’s a final day of tune-up for the 156 golfers entered in the U.S. Open. They’ll be working out the intricacies of the hilly greens at Pinehurst No. 2 as well as figuring out how to play out of former deep rough that has been transformed into sandy areas of natural vegetation.
Play starts at 6:45 a.m. eastern time Thursday, from the first and 10th tees.
WORLD CUP-US-KLINSMAN
Klinsmann maintains US expectation
SAO PAULO (AP) — Jurgen (YUR’-gihn) Klinsmann maintains the United States shouldn’t be expected to win the World Cup, even if that stance is upsetting to some fans back home.
The U.S. coach spoke at his first news conference after arriving at the World Cup
Klinsmann caused a stir last weekend when he was quoted by The New York Times Magazine as saying in a December interview “we cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet.”
The U.S. opens Monday against Ghana, then plays Portugal and Germany in one of the more difficult first-round groups.
WORLD CUP-TICKETS
Some tickets still remain
SAO PAULO (AP) — A day before the World Cup opener, tickets remain available for more than 15 matches, including some involving Germany, Italy and France.
FIFA said it already sold more than 2.9 million tickets. Fans can still get tickets on FIFA’s website for matches such as Germany-Ghana, Switzerland-France and Italy-Uruguay.
Only tickets for the highest-priced categories remained available for the better matches.
FIFA said a total of about 3.1 million tickets will be sold for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950. Brazil plays Croatia in Sao Paulo on Thursday in the opening game.
