NBA
CELTICS NIP CAVS IN MESSY GAME 1
Boston 76, Cleveland 72
How do you spell "sloppy"? How about C-e-l-t-i-c-s vs. C-a-v-s. The cleaning crew had a job to do after this contest at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. They should scrub the floor and the baskets down and see if they can't get rid of the mess made by both teams. This was a battle of turnovers, missed shots, fouls, and all-around sloppy basketball.
At the end, the Celtics won the game because one of the best basketball players on the planet couldn't make a layup. But that shouldn't have been a surprise because LeBron James had one of those nights that remind fans that he's just another human. James hit just two of his 18 shots from the floor, and he committed 10 turnovers all by himself-some of which shouldn't have been made by a high school kid.
In the end, it was the steady play of Kevin Garnett that saved the day for the almost equally inept Celtics on Tuesday. While his two other amigos were going two for 18 (see a theme here), Garnett was scoring 28 points on 13 of 22 shooting. The Cavs' chances at winning this game nobody seemed to want were helped by the excellent play of big man Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds.
How bad was this game? Cleveland shot 30 percent, including just 22 percent of their three-point attempts. The teams combined for 38 turnovers. The Celtics would at times go three and four trips down the floor without a shot because of turnovers.
The teams will take a day off, run some passing drills, practice their shooting, and try again on Thursday to play a game where Amazing Happens. It sure didn't on Tuesday.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
BOSTON VS. CLEVELAND
Game 1: Boston 76, Cleveland 72
Boston leads 1-0
Game 2: Thursday 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
FLOYD NEARLY UNHITTABLE IN WHITE SOX WIN
For the second time this season, Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd toyed with a no-hitter late into a ballgame. For the second time this season, he couldn't quite finish it off.
On Tuesday night, Floyd held the Minnesota Twins hitless before surrendering a double to Joe Mauer with one out in the ninth inning. Sox manager Ozzie Guillen then pulled the 25-year-old to a rousing hometown ovation. Chicago beat Minnesota 7-1.
Chicago's Jermaine Dye homered to power the White Sox attack.
The Twins scored an unearned run in the fourth inning. Floyd walked Mauer to start the inning. Justin Morneau then hit a slicing line drive that outfielder Carlos Quentin couldn't handle. He was charged with an error. Jason Kubel sacrificed Mauer home for Minnesota's only run.
Floyd (3-1) struck out four and walked three on the evening. Earlier this season, Floyd took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers.
Nick Blackburn (2-2) took the loss for Minnesota.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Cleveland 5, New York Yankees 3
Boston 5, Detroit 0
Los Angeles Angels 5, Kansas City 3
Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 4
Texas 10, Seattle 1
Oakland 4, Baltimore 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Florida 3, Milwaukee 0
Chicago Cubs 3, Cincinnati 0
Atlanta 5, San Diego 2
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, New York Mets 4
Arizona 6, Philadelphia 4
St. Louis 6, Colorado 5
Houston 6, Washington 5
Pittsburgh 12, San Francisco 6
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:
BRADEN LOOPER, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals
BIO NOTE: Looper began his career in Florida in 1999 after pitching for the US Olympic team in 1996.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Looper ran his record for 2008 to 5-1 with a win over the Colorado Rockies.
FAITH QUOTE: "Accountability is a tough thing in baseball. A lot of times, there's not a lot of Christian brothers to bond with. When I got traded to the Marlins, there really wasn't a lot going on related to Christ. I've got a few Christian brothers who hold me accountable."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NFL
KITNA'S POSITIVE THINKING
What's Jon Kitna supposed to say? "We're not going to be any good this year?" Kitna is right in suggesting that his team, if it intends to make the playoffs, is expected to win 10 games. While some will fault him for "predicting" double figure victories for the perennially under-achieving Detroit Lions, his mini-camps musings should seem to set the proper tone for his team. Kitna made the same pronouncement last season, and for a while it appeared that the team would make him look like Nostradamus. But after going 6-2 to start the season, the Lions faded and never reached the magic 10. Kitna has tossed down the gauntlet to his teammates again and asked them to step up to the challenge. Not a bad idea.
NBA
MISTAKES HAPPEN, AND DID
The NBA is making it clear. Something happened at the end of the third quarter in Game 2 of the Detroit-Orlando series that shouldn't have happened-but there was nothing anyone could do about it. One element that needs to be made clear is that the person running the clock (or, in this case, not running the clock) when Detroit took 5.2 seconds to get off a shot in what should have been less time than that, was not a Detroit Pistons employee. He was timekeeper from another NBA city not in the playoffs. But a mistake was made nonetheless, and Chauncey Billups' trey should not have counted. However, league rules stipulate that a replay cannot be used in that situation, so the game had to continue as it was even though everybody from Stan Van Gundy to the fans viewing at home knew something was not quite kosher. Clearly, it was a mistake that no one intended to make, but those three points became vital in the fourth quarter in a very tight basketball game. Look for the rules committee to use this as fodder for making further replay changes in the NBA.
MLB
ZITO TO RETURN
Barry Zito faces a big test on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. After being removed from the rotation on April 27, Zito has not appeared in a game for the Giants, despite the fact that he was supposedly going to relieve for the Giants' staff. But the 29-year-old former Cy Young Award winner has been throwing on the side, and Bruce Bochy thinks his ace is ready to try it again. Zito is 0-6 with an ERA of 7.53 as he takes the mound to see if a new attitude and a week and a half off can help him return to being the kind of pitcher who the Giants thought they were getting when they inked him to a $126 million contract.
NBA
KOBE GETS MUCH-DESERVED AWARD
Remember what was going on with the LA Lakers about a year ago. It was Disarray City. The LA Clippers looked to have a better chance to be good as the offseason for both teams began. The Lakers looked like a bad soap opera that had no chance of getting better. But then Kobe Bryant stopped talking and started playing, and he carried the Lakers to the best record in the West. A lesser player, unhappy as he was to start the season, could not have accomplished what Bryant did. The Lakers, remember, lost the services of quickly improving big man Andrew Bynum midseason. The addition of Pau Gasol was a huge boost for the team, but neither Gasol nor Bynum are even close to having the affect on the team that a focused Kobe Bryant has. He earned this MVP award.
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.
