NBA
DETROIT, NEW ORLEANS TAKE COMMAND
Detroit 100, Orlando 93
Riding a home-court advantage past-the-last-second three pointer in the third quarter, the Detroit Pistons cruised past Orlando in the fourth quarter to take a 100-93 win and a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
After the Pistons had shut down Orlando in the second quarter, allowing just 11 Magic points to take a 10-point lead at the half, Stan Van Gundy's guys rallied to score 36 points in the third. But at the end of the quarter, Chauncey Billups hit a three-pointer to shave the lead to one-although the shot probably shouldn't have counted. Detroit inbounded the ball with 5.1 seconds remaining, but the scoreboard stopped ticking the time down at 4.8 seconds. Detroit moved the ball across half-court, threw two passes, and still got off the shot while time stood still. Later TV replays revealed that Detroit had really taken 5.2 seconds to get the shot off-but the refs couldn't use replays by rule and the shot stood.
Detroit outscored Orlando 25-17 in the final stanza, including the last six points on free throws as Orlando was forced to foul at the end.
Billups led Detroit with 28 points while Dwight Howard paced Orlando with 22 points and 18 rebounds.
New Orleans 102, San Antonio 84
This is new for the San Antonio Spurs. The workmanlike Spurs, who usually dismantle playoff opponents with robotic ease, have not been behind 2-0 in a playoff series since 2001. But thanks to Chris Paul, they are now.
Paul, who is making the playoffs his own personal showcase, scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Hornets to their sixth playoff win in seven games. He got some bigtime help from Peja Stojakovic, who had 25 points.
New Orleans turned a tight contest into a rout in the third quarter by outscoring the Spurs 36-18.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan led his team with 18 points.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
BOSTON VS. CLEVELAND
Game 1: Tuesday at Boston
DETROIT VS. ORLANDO
Game 1: Detroit 91, Orlando 72
Game 2: Detroit 100, Orlando 93
Detroit leads 2-0
Game 3: Wednesday at Orlando
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. UTAH
Game 1: LA Lakers 109, Utah 98
LA leads 1-0
Game 2: Wednesday at Los Angeles
NEW ORLEANS VS. SAN ANTONIO
Game 1: New Orleans 101, San Antonio 82
Game 2: New Orleans 102, San Antonio 84
New Orleans leads 2-0
Game 3: Thursday at San Antonio
MLB
SANTANA, ANGELS SHUT OUT ROYALS
Los Angeles Angels starter Ervin Santana continued his early-season dominance by shutting down the Kansas City Royals on just four hits to lead Los Angeles to a 4-0 victory.
Santana (6-0) struck out nine and walked none in his second career complete game. Santana and Angels starter Joe Saunders are the first MLB teammate tandem to start a season 6-0 since 2002.
Royals starter Brett Tomko matched Santana's brilliance for seven innings before turning things over to the K.C. bullpen. Ramon Ramirez (0-1) relieved Tomko and was solid in the eighth inning. The problem was Ramirez gave up an Erick Aybar triple to start the ninth inning. Jimmy Gobble then took the hill for Kansas City and allowed Aybar to score the first of the Angels four ninth-inning runs.
Los Angeles improved to an American League best 21-13.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Toronto 1, Chicago White Sox 0
Boston 6, Detroit 3
Seattle 7, Texas 3
Oakland 2, Baltimore 1 (10 innings)
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Cincinnati 5, Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, New York Mets 1
Philadelphia 11, Arizona 4
St. Louis 6, Colorado 5
NHL
CONFERENCE FINALS
East
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia
Game 1: Friday at Pittsburgh
West
Detroit vs. Dallas
Game 1: Thursday at Detroit
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
RAUL IBANEZ, leftfielder, Seattle Mariners
BIO NOTE: The often overlooked Ibanez had 123 RBI in 2006 and 105 RBI in 2007. Today he's hitting .308 for the Mariners with a lifetime batting average of .286 and more than 1,200 career hits.
RECENT NEWS: On Monday, Ibanez went 2 for 3 with two RBI to help the M's beat Texas 7-3.
FAITH QUOTE: "I love Psalm 91: 'He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.' I love Psalm 40, as well. Lately, if I'm strapped for time, I can at least read one of the Psalms. I really enjoy them. But the 91st Psalm, I'll rattle it off in my head."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
MLB
LEADERSHIP AT ITS WORST
It is sad that in a civilized nation where decorum and restraint are so important to the continued success of any organization, some organizations are led by people for whom decorum and restraint are anathema. Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the Chicago White Sox, is one of those people. Guillen is certainly a man who knows baseball, but he does not love it. He does not cherish it enough to treat the game, its fans, and even his own team's reputation with respect. Instead, he periodically, knowingly, and seemingly purposefully unleashes obscenity-laced attacks on various groups of people-including those who spend valuable money to support his enterprise. Guillen's frequent outbursts are inexcusable. People who have risen to positions of authority and respect have a responsibility to discuss issues intelligently and without rancor and malice. Because their voices are megaphones that blast their words into the public arena, they are required by standards of civility to refrain from offensive language. Someone who has higher authority with the White Sox needs to rein in Mr. Guillen or relieve him of his position.
MLB
41-YEAR-OLD SCHILLING TO TRY AGAIN
Put Curt Schilling in John Smoltz' category: Two aging veterans who know how to win, who love to compete, and who simply don't want to see their glory days end. Both have bum shoulders, but both continue to try to sneak one more season out of their damaged wings. Schilling, who has pitched 3,261 major league innings for five different teams, is scheduled to do some light tossing on Tuesday to test his right shoulder. If that goes well, he will continue his rehab, perhaps aiming for a midseason appearance on the mound for the Boston Red Sox, who are paying him $8 million to give it a try this season. Schilling has 3,116 career strikeouts, just 105 more than Smoltzy had accumulated in his long career. Smoltz has pitched 3,394 major league innings. But players, who have each spoken freely about their faith in Jesus Christ, have solidified their credentials for the Hall of Fame, but perhaps the siren call of one more possible postseason go-around will be their motivation to work through their shoulder problems.
NBA
COACHES' CAROUSEL MOVES FAST
Mike Woodson wants to stay. Mike D'Antoni wants to go. And Rick Carlisle appears to want to work with Mark Cuban. Woodson, who guided the Atlanta Hawks to within one TD Banknorth Garden surprise from the biggest upset in playoffs history, wants to continue the rebuilding project in the ATL. So far, though, the masterminds who brought in a solid core of young stars and traded for Mike Bibby to guide them on the court have not decided whether to keep Woodson around. Meanwhile, it is beginning to look like former Marshall University guard D'Antoni is getting a chance to consider the possibilities in Chicago. D'Antoni would add a new dimension to Bulls basketball with his wide-open style. And in Dallas, it appears all but inked on the dotted line that Rick Carlisle, who coached well but not well enough in Detroit and Indiana, could be the man to see what he can do with Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
We are 10 races into the 2008 NASCAR season. On Sunday, Clint Bowyer captured the race at Richmond with Kyle Busch in second and Mark Martin finishing in third. The race to get into the Cup Chase looks like this.
1. Kyle Busch 1,495
2. Jeff Burton 1,477
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,391
4. Clint Bowyer 1,372
5. Kevin Harvick 1,350
6. Denny Hamlin 1,349
7. Jimmy Johnson 1,318
8. Tony Stewart 1,297
9. Greg Biffle 1,269
10. Carl Edwards 1,230
Results: Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Kyle Busch
3. Mark Martin
4. Tony Stewart
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Ryan Newman
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Jeff Burton
12. Reed Sorenson
13. Bobby Labonte
14. Greg Biffle
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Denny Hamlin led most of the race until he had a flat tire in Lap 390. That left Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lead. He was ahead until Lap 398 of the 400-lap event until Kyle Busch bumped him and spun him out. That's when Bowyer raced to the front and held on for the victory.
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Mulligan
By Wally Armstrong
After ending a successful career as a PGA golfer, Wally Armstrong began a venture of teaching golf and of using gold analogies to teach biblical principles. One of his latest ventures is teaching timeless truths through golf is a book called The Mulligan. It's a book that can be used by the Christian for edification, and it can be given to the non-Christian as an outreach tool. Find out more about the book at www.wallyarmstrong.com.
