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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014
PAGE 7
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NBA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — Faced with the possibility of having a second straight season end with a Game 7 loss, the San Antonio Spurs played with emotion and let Tony Parker have some fun.
San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker (9) shoots over Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki (41) during the first half of Game 7 of the opening-round NBA basketball playoff series Sunday in San Antonio.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Parker leads Spurs past Mavs in Game 7
Parker scored 32 points and the San Antonio led by as many as 31 on its way to a 119-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, closing out a stressful first-round series Sunday in seven games.
The finale featured Tim Duncan diving into Dallas' bench to save a ball and the Spurs' reserves continually on their feet to celebrate baskets. But no one had as much fun or hit the floor more than Parker.
"I just knew that I had to be aggressive if we wanted to have a chance to win the game because of the strategy that the Mavericks chose," Parker said. "They just dared me to score."
The All-Star point guard was 11 for 19 from the field and 10 for 13 on free throws as Dallas was unable to keep him from attacking the lane, despite a series of hard fouls.
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Manu Ginobili scored 20 points, Danny Green added
Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Dallas.
16 points and Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points apiece for San Antonio.
Last season ended for the Spurs with a Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Facing a much earlier end, San Antonio rode a raucous home crowd and overwhelmed Dallas.
Leonard's 16-foot jumper gave San Antonio an 18-7 lead 6 minutes into the game and the lead swelled to 29 with 2 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Spurs got off to a quick start as they had done at home all series, but the Mavericks were unable to respond as they did in winning Game 2 on the road.
San Antonio advances to face the fifth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who upset the Houston Rockets in a six-game series. The series opens Tuesday in San Antonio.
"We gave ourselves a chance but today we got hit by a tidal wave early." Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "They had their best game today and we just weren't able to do quite enough to stay in it early."
Nowitzki struggled through much of the series, but the Mavericks pushed the Spurs to the brink of elimination behind strong postseason performances from Monta Ellis, Vince Carter, Devin Harris and Dejuan Blair.
"On the court what confounded us was that they've got shooters all the way around," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Dirk Nowitzki gets a crowd, if you double him you, you leave a lot of other open shooters. So we played him pretty much one-on-one, so we could stay at home a little bit better. That and the ability to shoot it; spread the floor, run the sets that Rick does and the speed of Harris and Ellis was tough for us to handle."
Dallas also played a physical series.
There were two technical fouls and two flagrant fouls in Game 7 and two more flagrants reversed upon review.
Bernhard Langer wins Insperity Invitational
I was just laughing with DeJuan," Parker said of the technical. "That's why it was so funny to get a technical for that, because I was not even cursing at him. DeJuan played four years (for the Spurs). He lived for a year at my house. I love DeJuan."
PGA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Langer finished at 11-under 205 at The Woodlands to become the 10th 20-time winner on the 50-and-over tour.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Bernhard Langer won the Champions Tour's Insperity Invitational for the third time, closing with a 1-under 71 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples.
The 56-year-old German player also won the 2007 event at Augusta Pines and successfully defended his title in 2008 at The Woodlands. He opened this season with a victory in Hawaii.
"I'm hoping to add to that number," Langer said. "I hope I'm not done yet. I'm very blessed to have won 20 times in 6 and a half years. It been a great run and a wonderful achievement. I just feel like I'm playing some of my best golf in my career."
Couples, the former University of Houston player who won the 2010 event, finished with a 67. He won in March in Newport Beach, Calif.
Colin Montgomerie was third at 9 under after a 70. His best finish on the tour is second in March in Newport Beach. The Scot had no complaints about his finish.
"On a golf course as hard as this, you can't really play relaxed golf," Couples said. "You have to pay attention to what you're doing. I didn't hit enough good shots to shoot a
lot lower to catch Bernhard, although I got close to him."
"If you're second, third to Couples and Langer, you're doing OK," Montgomerie said.
Esteban Toledo, the winner last year, was 7 under after a 71. Jr Haas and Tom Pernice Jr. tied for fifth at 6 under. Haas shot his third straight 70, and Pernice had a 71.
MLB
Rangers' bats come alive for Darvish in 14-3 win
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish, of Japan, throws to the plate during a game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Prince Fielder fought his way out of a slump just the way manager Ron Washington predicted he would — by driving the ball where no shift could get in the way.
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Fielder had a pair of RBI doubles to end a drought of 39 at-bats without an extra-base hit, and the Texas Rangers trounced the Los Angeles Angels 14-3 on Sunday.
"I was just trying to go up there with an approach and not really worry about the result. And good results happened today," the five-time All-Star first baseman said. "I haven't been pressing, but anytime you're not doing what you know you can do, it's definitely frustrating."
The Rangers built a 5-2 lead after two innings with Fielder's identical doubles — both line drives over the head of first baseman C.J. Cron and just inside the foul line.
"Prince is seeing the ball much better, and it looked like he's beginning to get his timing again," Washington said. "He swung down on the ball today. He's not attacking. He's letting the ball come to him, letting his hands work, and then just putting his bat head on it. That shift they used on him wasn't going to hold none of that stuff he hit today."
Yu Darwish (2-1) worked into the seventh inning to earn his first victory in almost a month. The right-hander shrugged off first-inning homers by Erick Aybar and Albert Pujols to win
"Yu struggled the first couple of innings,but then he found something that worked and settled down," Washington said.
for the first time since his season debut on April 6 at Tampa Bay.
Darvish allowed three runs, seven hits and no walks in 61-3 innings, with nine strikeouts. His teammates scored three more runs than they totaled in his five previous starts combined. J.P. Arencibia hit his first home run and Michael
He added a three-run shot. "When you have your ace out there, you want to support him and get him some runs so he can have a breather," said third baseman Adrian Beltre, who had an RBI single among his three hits. "Today we did that, and hopefully we can do it more often because he always gives us a good chance to win ballgames."
Choice added a three-run shot.
Darvish is 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 career starts against the Angels and has won his last six decisions against them.
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