SAN ANTONIO - MAY 27: Brent Barry #17 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots and misses the final shot over Derek Fisher #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2008 NBA Playoffs on May 27, 2008 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Lakers defeated the Spurs 93-91 to take a 3-1 series lead. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
NBA
LAKERS WIN; TAKE CONTROL
The Los Angeles Lakers are just one victory from restoring the Old Order to the NBA. Back in the day, business as usual in the NBA was to have the Lakers win the West and take on either Detroit or Boston in the finals. After edging San Antonio 93-91 at the AT&T Center in the Alamo City on Tuesday, the Lakers have to win just one game of three to get to those finals.
The San Antonio Spurs hauled out a different weapon to try to slay the Lakers-a reminder of old school NBA basketball. Brent Barry, whose dad Rick graced both the ABA and the NBA with his shooting touch, scored 23 points for the Spurs. And he had a chance to win the game at the end-missing a shot that was disrupted by the Lakers' Derek Fisher. The Spurs thought Fisher fouled Barry, but a buzzer, not a whistle, ended the game for the Spurs.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points, taking 29 shots and failing to get to the free throw line even once.
The Spurs were led by Tim Duncan, who scored 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
BOSTON VS. DETROIT
Game 1: Boston 88, Detroit 79
Game 2: Detroit 103, Boston 97
Game 3: Boston 94, Detroit 80
Game 4: Detroit 94, Boston 74
Series tied 2-2
Game 5: Wednesday at Boston
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. SAN ANTONIO
Game 1: Los Angeles 89, San Antonio 85
Game 2: Los Angeles 101, San Antonio 71
Game 3: San Antonio 103, Los Angeles 84
Game 4: Los Angeles 93, San Antonio 91
Los Angeles leads series 2-1
Game 5: Thursday at Los Angeles
MLB
HAMILTON LEADS RANGERS OVER RAYS
The Tampa Bay Rays organization made Josh Hamilton a No. 1 draft choice a few years ago because they saw tremendous potential in the sweet-swinging youngster. Injuries and drug addiction forced the Rays to give up on Hamilton.
Now with the Texas Rangers, the Rays saw once again the many talents of Hamilton-whose life was rescued by his faith in Jesus Christ and the faithfulness of family and friends who wouldn't give up on him. The Rangers' center fielder cracked an RBI double in the first inning then added the game's big blow-a grand slam home run in eighth inning. Texas 12, Tampa Bay 6.
Hamilton's long ball was his 13th of the season. He finished with five RBI on the night to push his league-leading total to 58!
Vicente Padilla (7-2) was the recipient of Hamilton's big effort. Padilla wasn't sharp, but still pitched well enough to earn the victory. He surrendered five runs in seven innings to earn his fifth straight decision.
Andy Sonnanstine (6-3) took the loss for Tampa Bay. The Rays had won four straight games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 3, Toronto 1
Seattle 4, Boston 3
Cleveland 8, Chicago White Sox 2
Los Angeles Angels 3, Detroit 2
Baltimore 10, New York Yankees 9 - 11 innings
Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3 - 12 innings
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee 3, Atlanta 2
San Diego 4, Washington 2
Houston 8, St. Louis 2
San Francisco 6, Arizona 3
Cincinnati 9, Pittsburgh 6
New York Mets 5, Florida 3
Philadelphia 7, Colorado 4
Chicago Cubs 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
NHL
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Game 1: Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0
Game 2: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 0
Detroit leads 2-0
Game 3: Wednesday at Pittsburgh
NHL
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Game 1: Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0
Game 2: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 0
Detroit leads 2-0
Game 3: Today at Pittsburgh
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
DAMION EASLEY, first baseman, New York Mets
BIO NOTE: Easley broke into the majors in 1992 with the Los Angeles Angels. The Mets are his sixth major league team.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Easley was 1 for 3 with one run scored and one RBI as the Mets beat Florida.
FAITH QUOTE: "Putting Christ first in my life has made me a better man, husband, father, and baseball player."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
COLLEGE HOOPS
JARVIS RETURNS
When last we saw Mike Jarvis on the national stage, he was being fired as the head coach of the St. John's basketball team in late 2003. Since then, though, Jarvis has undergone a huge transformation, and he has kept busy using his coaching skills in a brand-new way. In April 2005, Jarvis trusted Jesus as his Savior after he and his wife began attending a church in Boca Raton, Florida. After that, Jarvis began working with Athletes in Action, taking a team of AIA players overseas. But now Jarvis feels he's ready to get back into the major-college coaching scene. He was hired Tuesday to coach the Florida Atlantic Owls in his hometown of Boca Raton. He replaces Rex Walters, who went west to coach at San Francisco. During his time off from coaching, Jarvis told Sports Spectrum Radio listeners, "If and when I ever coach again it will be because God wants me to. If I ever coach again, it's definitely for all the right reasons, with the right people. If it's God's will, then I certainly would." Some will criticize this hiring, but the best thing to do at this point is to know that Jarvis is a changed man since he left St. John's-and there is every indication that the problems of his previous coaching stint will not be duplicated at FAU.
MLB
THE KID WHO BATTED 1.000
It's the name of an old baseball book for kids, written in the 1960s, but today that's the label you can stick on Jay Bruce, the next big thing in Cincinnati. Bruce, all of 21 years old, made his much-anticipated major league career on Tuesday at the Great American Ballpark in the Queen City. All the native of Beaumont, Texas, did was to go 3 for 3 as hungry-for-something-to-cheer-about Reds fans chanted his name. Bruce, who was the 2007 Minor League Player of the Year, also stole a base, scored two runs, and knocked in one. Quite a start for the youngster!
PARENTING
A SON IN TROUBLE
Nobody wants to see his or her son or daughter get into trouble. And when kids do mess up, it is often our tendency as parents to downplay the seriousness of what they have done. It happens all the time in schools as parents refuse to believe Johnny can do anything that is so wrong his teachers should take any kind of punitive action against him. Increasingly, it is difficult for authority figures to make their planned measures for enforcing rules stick because parents parachute in with their excuses and their threats of action. Even when kids grow up and leave the home, parents feel compelled to protect them. So, it is understandable on one hand that Yannick Noah finds the charges against his NBA-playing son Joakim overblown. On the other hand, young Noah did break several laws-which would be a good barometer of why the young man is in trouble. All of society depends on obedience to laws and rules-even tennis. Of course, a tennis player may wonder what "all the fuss" is if a referee signals a foot fault or a ball that is out of bounds. But the fuss is made because without rules, tennis is chaos. Without rules, even Gainesville, Florida, could be reduced to chaos as well. Sure, Yannick doesn't want to see Joakim in trouble. But in order to protect society, authorities need to do their jobs.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
Twelve races into the 35-race card in the Sprint Cup 2008 season, Kyle Busch holds the lead. The NASCAR major league will reconvene this weekend in Dover, Delaware, for the Dover 400. Here's a look at the Top 12 in the Chase for the Cup.
1. Kyle Busch 1,860
2. Jeff Burton 1,766
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,721
4. Denny Hamlin 1,596
5. Clint Bowyer 1,578
6. Carl Edwards 1,538
7. Kevin Harvick 1,517
8. Tony Stewart 1,511
9. Jimmie Johnson 1,493
10. Jeff Gordon 1,486
11. Greg Biffle 1,483
12. Kasey Kahne 1,454
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.
