NBA
THREE TEAMS GET FIRST PLAYOFF WINS
Washington 108, Cleveland 72
The Cleveland Cavaliers are not known as a good road team. But seldom are they this bad. The Washington Wizards ran the Cavs out of the Verizon Center and halfway back to Ohio on Thursday with a convincing 36-point victory. That's a 66-point turnaround since Game 2, which the Cavs won by 30. Washington's defense stymied the Cavs' offense, allowing them 20 or more points in only one quarter-the last one. Cleveland shot 39 percent from the floor, including a miserable 12 percent (2 for 16) from behind the arc. And even at the free throw line, Cleveland was awful-hitting just 12 of 23 attempts. Cleveland turned the ball over 23 times. Besides a tough defense, the Wizards shone on offense-hitting 52 percent of their shots and nailing 42 percent of their trey tries. DeShawn Stevenson led the Wizards with 19 points while Roger Mason had 18. LeBron James led Cleveland with 22.
Toronto 108, Orlando 94
Home cooking was good for the Raptors too. They raced off to a 61-40 halftime lead and coasted to victory in front of 20,000 fans at the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors used balanced scoring with six players in double figures, led by T. J. Ford's 21. Jose Calderon was next with 18 to go with his 13 assists. Hedo Turkoglu led all scorers with 26 for Orlando.
Houston 94, Utah 92
The Houston Rockets became just the second team in the playoffs so far this year to win a game on the road with their come-from-behind win at Salt Lake City's EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz had put together a six-point lead after three quarters, but the Rockets outscored them 24-16 to net the win. Tracy McGrady paced the Houston attack with 27 points and was able to put some points on the board in the fourth quarter this time around, and Rafer Alston had 20. Chris Landry was also big for the Rockets with 11 rebounds, two blocks, and one lost tooth. Landry tipped away Deron Williams' possible gamewinner at the buzzer to preserve the win. Williams was his usual stellar self for the Jazz with 28 points and 12 assists. Both Carlos Boozer (15 points and 13 rebounds) and Mehmet Okur (12 and 11) had double-doubles as well.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Detroit at Philadelphia
New Orleans at Dallas
San Antonio at Phoenix
SATURDAY'S GAMES
Boston at Atlanta
Orlando at Toronto
LA at Denver
Houston at Utah
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Detroit at Philadelphia
Cleveland at Washington
New Orleans at Dallas
San Antonio at Phoenix
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta
Game 1: Boston 105, Atlanta 81
Game 2: Boston 97, Atlanta 77
Boston leads 2-0
Game 3: At Atlanta Saturday
#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia
Game 1: Philadelphia 90, Detroit 86
Game 2: Detroit 105, Philadelphia 88
Series tied 1-1
Game 3: At Philadelphia Friday
#3 Orlando vs. #6 Toronto
Game 1: Orlando 114, Toronto 100
Game 2: Orlando 104, Toronto 103
Game 3: Toronto 108, Orlando 94
Orlando leads 2-1
Game 4: At Toronto Saturday
#4 Cleveland vs. #8 Washington
Game 1: Cleveland 93, Washington 86
Game 2: Cleveland 116, Washington 86
Game 3: Washington 108, Cleveland 72
Cleveland leads 2-1
Game 4: At Washington Sunday
WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 Denver
Game 1: LA 128, Denver 114
Game 2: LA 122, Denver 107
LA leads 2-0
Game 3: At Denver Saturday
#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas
Game 1: New Orleans 104, Dallas 92
Game 2: New Orleans 127 Dallas 103
New Orleans leads 2-0
Game 3: At Dallas Friday
#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Phoenix
Game 1: San Antonio 117, Phoenix 115 (2 OT)
Game 2: San Antonio 102, Phoenix 96
San Antonio leads 2-0
Game 2: At Phoenix Friday
#4 Utah vs. #5 Houston
Game 1: Utah 93, Houston 82
Game 2: Utah 90, Houston 84
Game 3: Houston 94, Utah 92
Utah leads 2-1
Game 4: At Utah Saturday
MLB
SOX AVOID SWEEP WITH LATE RALLY
The Chicago White Sox avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees on Thursday when Joe Crede knocked in Carlos Quentin with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Chicago 7, New York 6.
Crede singled off Yankees hard-throwing reliever Joba Chamberlain (1-1). It was the first loss of Chamberlain's young career.
The Yankees jumped out to a three-run lead in the third inning. Then the rains came. After the rain delay, the Yanks chose to remove starter Philip Hughes. Bad move.
The White Sox erupted for five runs off reliever Russ Ohlendorf in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth, Sox slugger Jim Thome hit a solo home run-the 513th home run of his career. That moved him into 19th place on baseball's all-time list.
The Yankees then tied things up with a pair of runs in the sixth and a solo score in the seventh. The game stayed tied at 6-6 until Crede delivered the big blow in the bottom of the ninth.
White Sox closer Bobby Jenks (1-0) picked up the victory.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Los Angeles Angels 7, Boston 5
Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 3
Detroit 8, Texas 2
Oakland 11, Minnesota 2
Baltimore 8, Seattle 7
Cleveland 9, Kansas City 6 - Game One
Cleveland 2, Kansas City 0 - Game Two
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Colorado 4, Chicago Cubs 2
Philadelphia 3, Milwaukee 1
Atlanta 7, Florida 4
Houston 5, Cincinnati 3
St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 2
San Francisco 1, San Diego 0
Arizona 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Washington 10, New York Mets 5
NHL
HABS, WINGS TAKE GAME 1
Montreal 3, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Tom Kostopoulos scored the gamewinner at :48 of the overtime period to give the Canadiens the comeback win. Alexei Kovalev had tied the game with just 29 seconds left in regulation for Montreal to send the game into OT.
Detroit 4, Colorado 3
Three first-period goals by Detroit put the Avs in a hole they couldn't escape-despite scoring two second period goals and stopping Detroit's offense after 1:13 of that same period. Johan Franzen scored twice for Detroit. After Milan Hejduk scored for Colorado at 16:29 of the second to make it 4-3, no one scored the rest of the game.
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Montreal vs. Philadelphia
Game 1: Montreal 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Montreal leads series 1-0
Game 2: At Montreal Saturday
Pittsburgh vs. New York Rangers
Game 1: Friday at Pittsburgh
Game 2: Sunday at Pittsburgh
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Detroit vs. Colorado
Game 1: Detroit 4, Colorado 3
Detroit leads series 1-0
Game 2: Saturday at Detroit
San Jose vs. Dallas
Game 1: Friday at San Jose
Game 2: Sunday at San Jose
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
CHAD BRADFORD, pitcher, Baltimore Orioles
BIO NOTE: Bradford and his wife Jenny have two children: son Keller (13) and daughter Lanie (8).
RECENT NEWS: On Thursday, Bradford was the winning pitcher as the Orioles beat the Mariners 8-7. Bradford is 2-1 in 2008 with an ERA of 2.35.
FAITH QUOTE: "I have been a Christian since I was 9 years old, but I feel like when I was 26, I took that extra step of really understanding what everything meant and what it meant to live for Him every day instead of just saying, 'Yes, I'm a Christian,' but not really thinking about what I'm doing on a daily basis."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NBA
CELTICS TOP THE DAILY WEEKLY POLL
It's not even close. The Boston Celtics were picked by nearly 50 percent of the SS readers who have voted in this week's poll, which asked who would win the NBA title. While the LA Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs got a little love, the C's dominated. We listed the Top 10 teams by record in the playoffs (we have just 10 slots), and each team got at least a small percentage of the voting. Here's the breakdown so far: Boston, 45 percent; LA Lakers and San Antonio, 15 percent each; all others, less than 10 percent in this order: Detroit, New Orleans, Dallas, Orlando, Utah, Houston, and Phoenix. There's still time to weigh in on this question.
MLB
THOMAS RETURNS TO OAKLAND
The Big Hurt is back in Oakland. Just four days after the Toronto Blue Jays jettisoned the power hitter, Thomas signed up with the Oakland A's to wear the green and gold and try to boost Oakland's offense. Billy Beane strikes again, getting Thomas at the bargain-basement salary of just over a third of a million dollars. At that price (the Jays will pay most of his salary), why wouldn't a team want to bring in a man who has hit 516 home runs? In his return to Oakland on Thursday, Thomas went 0 for 3 with two walks and a run scored.
NBA
ODD TIMING?
The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of a playoff battle with the Detroit Pistons. They even won Game 1 in shocking style and have served notice that although they are the seventh-seeded team in the East they are not going to let the Pistons walk all over them. So doesn't it seem to be an odd time for the team's executive vice president to resign? But then, this particular VP has a tendency to leave his employers prematurely. His name is Larry Brown, and we've seen this happen over and over before. Brown, it is reported, wanted to be free from Philly so he could seek yet another coaching position. So now he'll wait for his phone to ring-and he'll apparently listen to offers at both the college and the NBA level. But would he be brash enough to go back to New York and try again with the Knicks? Probably not. But Chicago does looks like a possible fit for the veteran coach.
DAILY EXTRA: Cubs Reach 10,000 Wins
How in the world did it happen that the Chicago Cubs, known for so many years as the Loveable Losers, based in a ballpark known for its quaintness more than as a venue noted for success, have won 10,000 baseball games?
This is a long, long story-one that started back when the United States was working its way through its 18th president: Ulysses S. Grant. Just 12 years after the Civil War ended, the National League of baseball began play. One of the original teams of this new league (which replaced the National Association) was the Chicago White Stockings, led by Albert Spalding.
Spalding was the Cy Young of his time (although, of course, Young was only 9 years old at the time), as indicated by the fact that of the 52 games Chicago won in that first season (52-14 record), Spalding won 47 of them. The White Stockings easily won the National League pennant that season. Other teams in the league were St. Louis, Hartford, Boston, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. The Red Stockings won just nine games in that first NL season.
Chicago's first of 10,000 wins took place on April 25, 1876 as Spalding shut out the Louisville team 4-0. The team got its first home run on May 5 that year when Ross Barnes hit one against the lowly Red Stockings.
The Cubs have been the only team that has remained in the National League and has operated continuously from the same city since 1876. Along the way, the Chicago team has played using a variety of nicknames. Among them are the following: Colts, Black Stockings, Rainmakers, Orphans, Cowboys, Roughriders, Zephyrs, and Spuds. The name "Cubs" was adopted in 1902.
Chicago won 1,555 games in the 19th century, 7,803 in the 20th century, and 642 so far in the 21st century. They have lost 9,465 times, which means the Loveable Losers are not really losers at all. Their most prolific season for winning was 1906 when they won 116 games.
The Cubs have won 100 or more games five times-the last being in 1935. They have lost 100 or more games twice-in 1962 and 1966 (59-103).
Chicago's total won-lost record in the 133 years of competing in the National League is 10,000-9,465 for a .514 winning percentage.
All of those wins have netted two World Series titles, the last one, of course, was in 1908.
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Goal and the Glory
By Josh Davis
Josh Davis spent his formative years learning to swim. He learned his lesson well, and he went on to capture gold medal in the Olympics. In fact, he won three gold medals in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic Games.
Now Davis and his wife are the parents of five kids, and he is a popular speaker in churches and conferences. Davis has also written a book that examines the faith stories of a number of Christian athletes.
The book, which will be in the bookstores soon, contains the stories of such notable athletes as John Naber, Laura Wilkinson, David Robinson, and Jennie Finch.
