10B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY. APRIL 13. 2009
NBA
Cavaliers dominate at home
Team gains grounds in making best home record in league history
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVEIAND — After every 3-pointer, every dunk and every block, LeBron larnes turned and glared at Boston's bench. The message was clear; Not here.
James made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points before dancing in his seat, and the Cleveland Cavaliers throttled the NBA champions 107-76 on Sunday to move within one win of matching the 1985-86 Celtics for the best home record in league history.
At 39-1, the Cavs can tie Bostons mark against Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
Equaling those Celtics of Bird, McHale and Parrish, though, won't mean anything if the Caws can't dethrone the current guys in green sometime this spring. The Cavs led 31-9 after the first quarter, opened a 30-point lead in the second and turned a possible playoff preview into a rout.
It was Cleveland's most lopsided win ever in 173 games against the Celtics.
James didn't even have to play in the fourth quarter, getting some of the rest he'll need before the Cav make a run at their first title. With Cleveland up by 30,
James, Mo Williams and Delonte West boogied on the bench and mugged for TV cameras as the crowd roared in delight.
At the other end of the floor, the Celtics weren't enjoying themselves at all. They sat stoically waiting for the clock to expire.
Daniel Gibson scored 15 points and Williams added 13 for Cleveland, which held the Celtics to 36 percent shooting.
Paul Pierce scored 14 and Glen Davis 12 for the Celtics, who were without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe -- not that they might have made a difference.
The Cavaliers have already clinched home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, and with a win on Monday in Indianapolis, they can lock up home court in the finals -- if they get that far.
They may have to get past the Celtics, who beat them in a seven-game semifinal series last year, and figure to be their stiffest competition again.
On this day, though, the Cavs were untouchable.
Home court has been vital in the budding Celtics-Cavaliers rivalry: The home team has won 15 consecutive games, including all seven in last year's playoffs.
Temperps boiled in the third quarter when Cavs forward Anderson Varejao and Ray Allen got tangled under the basket after a free throw.
Varejao flung Boston's guard to the floor, and Allen responded with a well placed elbow into the forward's groin area. Both were given technical fouls and players on both teams exchanged stares and trash talk that may continue in a month or so.
If the Cavs were sending a messa-
sage, they delivered it quickly.
With its defense in full lock-you-down mode, Cleveland held the Celtics to 3-of-20 (15 percent) shooting in the first quarter. Allen missed all six of his shots and Pierce was just 2-for-7, and the two buckets he made were with hands waving in his face.
James helped set the defensive tone by racing back to reject a layup by Allen, who never could have expected Cleveland's star to close on him so quickly.
They built their lead to 49-19 with 4:23 left before halftime, before the defending champs used a 14-0 run to get within 16. James closed the half with a three-point play to make it 52-33 at the break.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
SOFTBALL
Senior outfieldder Dougie McCauley dives for a catch against Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon. McCauley had one hit and two putouts in Kansas 4-2 victory against the Sooners.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Split series gives Jayhawks needed confidence boost
George bears down against Sooners in Kansas'4-2 victory
Sophoremore pitcher Allison Clark is tagged out as she slides into second base. The Jayhawks defeated the Sooners 4-2 Saturday aftergamet at Arnaudd Ballpark.
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
When No. 11 Oklahoma loaded the bases with only one out in the seventh inning, Kansas was clinging to a two-run lead.
But senior pitcher Valerie George recovered, bearing down and striking out the final two Oklahoma batters to secure the 4-2 victory for Kansas, earning the team a split of the two game series.
"I was just really determined to get out of there," George said. "I didn't want to go to extra innings."
After the game coach Tracy Bunge spoke glowingly of George's performance.
Matthis was back in the circle on Saturday, but the Jayhawks looked like a completely different team at the plate — and not just because of their white and pink uniforms in support
"Mathis pitched a heck of a game," Bunge said. "But still, we've got to find a way to get it done; we didn't make any adjustments at all."
Kansas vs. Oklahoma
"She really toughed it out." Bunge said. "We wanted the ball in her hands and she made some huge pitches for us."
With Saturday's victory over the Sooners in the Pink Diamond Challenge, the Jayhawks avenged Friday's 8-0 run-rule loss.
The shut-out defeat was a forgettable game for Kansas as Oklahoma came out of the gate swinging, scoring five runs in the first inning. The Sooners tacked on three more runs, but had all the offense they needed with D.J. Mathis shutting the layhawk bats down from the circle. The Oklahoma senior struck out seven and allowed only one hit, a double by sophomore catcher Brittany Hile.
Game 1: Friday
OU 8 — KU 0
WP — Mathis (10-3)
LP — Vertelka (5-7)
SV — none
HR — none
Game 2: Saturday
KU 4 — OU 2
WP — George (9-11)
LP — Mathis (10-4)
SV — none
HR — Ricketts (6)
of breast cancer. Unlike Friday's contest, Kansas came out the aggressor, using some trickery on the basepaths to get an early lead.
With senior outfieldier Dougie McCaulley on third and sophomore outfielder Liz Kocon on first. Bunge called for a double steal. As Kocon took off for second. McCaulley scampered home, giving Kansas a 1-0 lead and a big boost in confidence.
"We did a much better job adjusting at the plate." Bunge said. "But that first inning was huge; it changed the mindset of the team. Mentally it really picked us up and put us in a different place than yesterday."
From there, the Jayhawks tacked on three more runs in the second inning, led by an RBI single from junior second baseman Sara Ramirez and a two RBI double by senior catcher Elle Pottorf.
"Our gameplan was to come out swinging," Potterf said. "We forced [Mathis] to bring her pitches into the zone and made her pay when she did."
Still, without the strong outing from George, the four runs might not have been enough to defeat the hard-hitting Sooners. Though hampered somewhat by a leg injury, George tossed her second consecutive complete game while striking out seven Oklahoma hitters.
"George fought through some stuff out there," Bunge said. "She really deserved that win."
The victory over 11th-ranked Oklahoma marks the first time Kansas (14-23, 4-6) has beaten the Sooners since the 2007 season. Saturday was also a success in terms of increasing awareness and support for breast cancer; more than $1,700 was donated to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the KU Cancer Center. Additionally, the victory marks the fifth Jayhawk victory over USA Softball/ESPN top 25 teams this year.
"There's no better time than now to turn things around," George said.
Why use this
Edited by Sam Speer
When you could use these
Every MONDAY & WEDNESDAY
MLS
Kansas City wins 1-0 to give Seattle first defeat
SEATTLE — Davy Arnaud drilled a 35-yard shot into the back left corner of the net off backup goal-keeper Ben Dragonav in the 80th minute on Saturday night, Kansas City handed 10-man Seattle its first MLS defeat, 1-0.
The Sounders (3-1-0) won their first three games, the best start of any expansion team in league history. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller was the primary reason for that fast start, posting three shutouts.
But the former U.S.national team star was given a red card and ejected in the 29th minute for using his hands outside the penalty area to stop a shot, leaving the Sounders with 10 men for the final 61 minutes.
Associated Press
1