NEW ORLEANS - MAY 19: Tony Parker #9 of the San Antonio Spurs makes a shot over Peja Stojakovic #16 of the New Orleans Hornets in Game Seven of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2008 NBA Playoffs at The New Orleans Arena on May 19, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NBA
SPURS EDGE HORNETS TO MOVE ON
Jannero Pargo nearly brought the New Orleans Hornets all the way back. But when his three-point try failed to hit net and tie the game with a little over a minute left, the Hornets' comeback try had made its last gasp. The San Antonio Spurs went on to win 91-82 and move into the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pargo had nailed a three just seconds earlier to pull the home team to within three at 83-80, and when he lined up another three 36,000 arms were suddenly raised into the air in anticipation of another trey and a tie game.
The Spurs, though, gathered themselves and scored eight of the game's last 10 points to ice the victory.
In the end, the Hornets just could not slow down Manu Ginobili, who scored 26 points, including four three-pointers, for the Spurs. Tony Parker chipped in with 17, and Tim Duncan had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Spurs out-rebounded the Hornets 51-42, which made a huge difference in the outcome.
David West scored 20 and Chris Paul had 18 points and 14 assists as the surprising Hornets' unexpected run for the Western Conference finals came up short.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
BOSTON VS. DETROIT
Game 1: Tuesday at Boston
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS.
Game 1: Wednesday at Los Angeles
NHL
WINGS BLAST STARS, FACE PENS IN FINALS
It started with a true "face-off" by Kris Draper, it continuted with a "Dallas" goal for Detroit, it ended with a Henrik Zetterberg short-handed, unassisted goal, and it resulted in the Detroit Red Wings getting a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars and heading for the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In the first period, Draper was standing just outside the Dallas net when Brad Stuart slammed a pass his way. It got some air under it and smacked Draper in the chin, bounced to the ice, and into the goal. It was the rare "face assist," which hurts like everything but gets the job done.
The Wings weren't done letting Dallas know that home ice was not going to make any difference for them. At 11:41, Pavel Datsyuk scored on a power play, and at 16:17, Dallas Drake scored his first postseason goal. At the first break, Detroit had three goals, Draper had several stitches, and Dallas had no answers.
Zetterberg made it 4-0 early in the third, and Chris Osgood did the rest, stopping all but one Stephane Robidas goal early in the final stanza.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Game 1: Saturday at Detroit
MLB
LESTER TOSSES ANOTHER SOX NO-NO
Jon Lester wasn't perfect on Monday night-but he was close! The Boston southpaw tossed a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. Boston 7, Kansas City 0.
Lester, the 24-year-old who has already overcome cancer in his young career, struck out nine and walked two in his first complete game in the big leagues. In finish off his dominating performance, Lester (3-2) struck out Alberto Callaspo.
Boston captain Jason Varitek, who has now caught a major league record four no-hitters, clubbed his fifth home run of the season.
Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (3-3) took the loss.
Lester's teammate, Clay Buchholz, tossed the last no-hitter in the big leagues in September of 2007. Boston pitchers have thrown 20 no-hitters in team history. The first was by Cy Young in 1904.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Minnesota 7, Texas 6 - 12 innings
Tampa Bay 7, Oakland 5 - 13 innings
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Colorado 4, San Francisco 3
Chicago Cubs 7, Houston 2
Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Cincinnati 5
Washington 4, Philadelphia 0
St. Louis 8, San Diego 2
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
ALBERT PUJOLS
BIO NOTE: Pujols is now in his eighth major league season, and he has piled up some impressive numbers. He has a career batting average of .333, he has 293 home runs, and he has 1,403 hits.
RECENT NEWS: On Monday, Pujols hit his 10th and 11th home runs of the season and raised his batting average to .364 as he helped the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres.
FAITH QUOTE: "You have to know who you represent. I want to represent the Lord out there. We all fall into temptation. We're all human. We all make mistakes. The only one who was perfect was our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Nobody else can be like Him, and that's why He forgives us. I want to try to be like Him, while at the same time knowing that you can't be like Him."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NBA
BARKLEY AND THE GAMBLING QUESTION
Now that Charles Barkley and the folks in Las Vegas have brought it up, maybe it's worth a few words-this subject of gambling, that is. The practice of gambling is increasingly being debated among Christians while more and more of them are convinced that there is nothing wrong with it. Dr. Rex Rogers, former president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, wrote an excellent book on the subject. In Seducing America, Rogers examines the question of whether gambling is a sin. At the conclusion of that chapter, Rogers gives several reasons thinking Christians will steer clear of gambling. Here is a sampling of those reasons: 1. No justification for gambling can be found in Scripture, including the practice of casting lots. 2. Gambling appeals to luck and chance, disregards the sovereignty of God, and promotes pagan superstitions. 3. Gambling violates Christian stewardship of time, talent, and treasure, and it violates our stewardship of or relationship with others. 4. Gambling undermines a biblical work ethic and human reason and skill. 5. Covetousness, not godly contentment, is the chief end of gambling, which encourages greed, materialism, and love of money. 6. Gambling is a form of theft. 7. Gambling is potentially addictive. 8. In most cases, gambling is associated with a host of social and personal vices, thus violating God's command to avoid every kind of evil.
NBA
SURPRISING SPIN
To listen to Tim Donaghy's lawyers, you would think the NBA should be sending him flowers and a thank you note. In what seems to be a gargantuan display of hubris, the lawyers are asking for probation for their client because he helped the NBA. After you're done shaking your head in disbelief, we'll explain. See, Donaghy gets caught gambling on games he is refereeing, thus putting the integrity of the league in total jeopardy and calling into question the credibility of all NBA refs. Then, to save his own hide, he agrees to tell the NBA what he knows about gambling. That face-saving act, it appears, is what the lawyers cite as helping the NBA. That's like giving an arsonist a plaque for telling investigators where he bought the gasoline he used to burn down the building. David Stern is probably crafting his "thank you" note to Donaghy as we read this.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
We are 11 races into the 2008 NASCAR season. The next race is Saturday is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is not a points race, so the standings will stay the same until May 25 when the Coca-Cola 600 takes place at the same speedway. The Chase for the Cup looks like this.
1. Kyle Busch 1,690
2. Jeff Burton 1,611
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,556
4. Denny Hamlin 1,500
5. Clint Bowyer 1,490
6. Jimmy Johnson 1,442
7. Carl Edwards 1,400
8. Tony Stewart 1,397
9. Kevin Harvick 1,396
10. Jeff Gordon 1,326
11. Greg Biffle 1,308
12. David Ragan 1,266
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.
