KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010 / SPORTS
NBA
5B
Orlando sweeps Charlotte
With Howard on the bench, Magic maintained lead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dwight Howard kept collecting fouls, and all the Orlando Magic did was become the first team to advance in the NBA playoffs.
Vince Carter scored 21 points, Jamee Nelson added 18 and the Magic showcased their depth and pressure shot-making in a 99-90 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night to complete a sweep of their first-round series.
Howard was held to six points in his fourth straight game in foul trouble, but the Magic never flinched to accomplish their first four-game sweep in franchise history. Orlando will face the Atlanta-Milwaukee winner in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Tyrus Thomas scored a career
Tyrus Thom
playoff high 21
points for the
Bobcats, whose
focus will now
almost immedi-
ately turn to
nomadic coach
Larry Brown's
future with the
team.
Howard did grab 13
rebounds but was limited to 23 minutes before fouling out for the second straight game. The Magic, though, got key contributions and big shots from others.
Rashard Lewis scored 17 points, Matt Barnes added 14 and Orlando held Stephen Jackson to 2-of-11 shooting to make sure Charlotte would be the only team not to win a first-round game.
Nelson's 3-pointer less than a minute later — after Gerald Wallace missed two free throws — put it away for the Magic, whose only previous playoff sweep was a 3-0 victory over Detroit in 1996.
(Dwight) Howard did grab 13 rebounds but was limited to 23 minutes before fouling out for the second straight game.
They made quick work of the Bobcats, whose first playoff appearance turned into a miserable offensive exhibition. Charlotte couldn't take advantage of Howard's long stints on the bench and now has to wonder if its coach will be back.
Brown's wife and children live in Philadelphia, and Brown could hold true to his word if he left for a job such as team president with the 76ers and hired his own coach.
After Charlotte cut Orlando's lead to one on Tyson Chandler's two free throws, Mickael Pietrus hit consecutive 3-pointers directly across the floor from Bobcats owner Michael Jordan's seat to put the Magic ahead 83-76 with 5:47 left.
Asked during his pregame media availability if this series could help the team in the future, a cranky Brown snapped it would
Brown, in the second season of his 13th head coaching job in college and the pros, said two weeks ago that Jordan is "the only guy I'm going to coach for." But Jordan said last month he wouldn't hold the 69-year-old Brown to his contract if he wanted to leave for family reasons.
be "stupid" to think about next season, while he continued to bash Charlotte's deficiencies.
They were magnified by Howard's absence.
The fourtime All-Star's
endless foul trouble entering the game made him the focus of ribbing in the morning shootaround. Teammates told him instead of Superman, his nickname was now "Foul on You." Howard played along in raising his arm and clenching his fist as if to call a foul.
But while Howard joked around, coach Stan Van Gundy was more serious. He had Howard watch video of his frustration fouls on Sunday, and stressed he had to keep his cool against Charlotte's wave of three physical centers.
It didn't work. Howard was called for two fouls in 16 seconds.
GAME 4 Monday, at Charlotte
Orlando 99,
Charlotte 90
(Orlando wins series 4-0)
NEXT GAME:
Orlando will play winner of Atlanta-Milwaukee
series
in the first quarter, the second for tripping. He picked up his third for challenging D.J. Augustin after he had released a reverse layup that turned into a three-point play.
With Howard on the bench, the Bobcats built a 38-31 lead on the strength of Thomas, who hit his first eight shots.
The Magic maintained the lead. After Chandler smothered Carter on his drive to the hoop and was called for a flagrant-1 foul, Carter hit two free throws to put Orlando ahead 77-73 with 9:35 left.
Howard checked in a minute later, and stayed on the floor until he fouled out with 54 seconds left, finishing with 22 fouls in the series.
Bucks win, even with Hawks in first round
NBA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE — Carlos Delfino scored 22 points with six 3-pointers and the milwaukee Bucks pulled off their second straight playoff surprise, beating the Atlanta Hawks 111-104 Monday night to draw even in the first-round series.
Johnson scored 29 points, reserve Jamal Crawford had 21, and Smith had 20 points and nine rebounds.
Salmons was 10 for 10 from the free throw line.
The Bucks finally started getting to the free throw line and they made the most of it, hitting 28 of 32.
Brandon Jennings scored 23 points and John Salmons added 22 for the Bucks, who survived a fourth-quarter surge led by Atlanta stars Joe Johnson and Josh Smith. Now the Hawks head home for Game 5, desperately needing a win to stave off a surprising challenge by a team missing its best player, injured center Andrew Bogut.
Delfino went 6 for 8 from 3-point range, including a 3-pointer from the corner to put Milwaukee ahead 97-88 with 3:56 left. Smith missed inside and Jennings grabbed the rebound, then hit a floating jumper at the other end.
It was yet another subpar performance away from home for the Hawks, who struggled on the road in the regular season and haven't performed well on the road in recent playoff appearances. Atlanta beat Milwaukee in convincing fashion the first two games of the series, but the Bucks blew out the Hawks in Saturday's Game 3.
Layups by Al Horford and Johnson later cut the lead to five with 1:41 remaining, but Milwaukee's Kurt Thomas made one of two free throws, then took a charge by Crawford with 1:20 left.
Atlanta did a better job responding to adversity Monday, but still not good enough.
Horford fouled Salmons, who hit both free throws to give the Bucks a 103-95 lead with 1:05 to go. Atlanta couldn't get much closer because Milwaukee kept hitting from the line.
After burying the Hawks with a sizzling start Saturday, the Bucks started strong again taking a 28-25 lead in the first quarter.
Little-used big man Dan Gadzuric gave the Bucks a jolt at the end of the third quarter, emphatically blocking a shot by
Johnson and then making an acrobatic layup to give Milwaukee an 85-74 lead going into the fourth.
After burying the Hawks with a sizzling start Saturday,
the Bucks started strong again, taking a 28-25 lead in the first quarter as Delfino went 3 for 4 from 3-point range.
Atlanta responded better than it did Saturday, though, and trailed by only four at halftime.
It started out as a strange day for the Hawks when their team bus was hit by a car as they rode back to their hotel from a morning shootaround.
Nobody on board was hurt; and Hawks coach Mike Woodson
Milwaukee 111,
Atlanta 104
(Series tied, 2-2)
NEXT GAME:
Wednesday, at Atlanta
7 p.m., Fox Sports South
said the woman driving the car and the young boy riding with her appeared to be OK as well. Woodson jumped out of the bus to help immediately after the accident.
"I jumped out and went over to the car and opened the door, and the little kid had climbed out of his car seat," Woodson said before the game. "There was smoke coming from the airbags, so I grabbed the kid. And the mom, they got her out, and we gave the kid back."
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Royals bullpen holds off Mariners
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kyle Davies allowed only one infield single in six dominant innings and Kansas City handed Felix Hernandez his first loss in 10 decisions Monday night with a 3-1 victory over Seattle.
Billy Butler homered leading off the seventh against Hernandez (2-1), who had won nine consecutive decisions since losing 6-1 to Cleveland on Aug. 23. In seven innings, he gave up three runs — two earned — with three walks and seven strikeouts.
Davies (2-1) threw 63 strikes with his 108 pitches, walked three and struck out five before turning a
2-0 lead over to the bullpen starting the seventh.
The sparse crowd which sat through fairly heavy rain in the early innings grew expectant when the right-hander took his no-hit bid into the sixth. But with one out and Rob Johnson on first with Davies' second walk, Ichiro Suzuki slapped a bouncing ball toward the right side of the infield. The ball slowed in the wet grass as second baseman Alberto Callaspo came running in. He scooped it up with his glove and he heavened it to first, but the fleet Suzuki was a couple of steps quicker.
A two-out walk loaded the bases but Davies ended his night by getting Jose Lopez on a
Kansas City's much-maligned bullpen preserved the shutout until former Royal Mike Sweeney's pinch RBI single off Kyle Farnsworth with two out in the ninth scored Milton Bradley, who doubled off Kyle Farnsworth. Bruce Chen came in and got his first career save when Ichiro fled out.
deep fly to left.
The Royals got an unearned run with the help of Hernandez's throwing error in the first. After Scott Podsednik singled, Butler grounded back to the mound. But Hernandez threw the ball into center field as Podsednik went to third and later scored on Jose Guillen's single.
MLB
Bats come alive for Tigers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cabrera's tiebreaking homer off hard-throwing Neftali Feliz (2-1) was a 399-foot shot that landed in the Rangers bullpen in right-center. Inge followed with a blast to left, his second homer of the game.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 Monday night after blowing a five-run lead.
Phil Coke (3-0), the third Tigers pitcher, worked 1 2-3 shutout innings before Jose Valverde pitched a perfect ninth against the top of the Texas lineup for his sixth save in seven chances.
Inge's two-run shot in the fifth, his first of the season, put Detroit up 6-1.
Coke took over with one out in the seventh after the Rangers had loaded the bases off Joel Zumaya. The left-hander struck out Josh Hamilton on three pitches before giving up a two-run single to
Vakimin Guterro that tied it at 6.
David Murphy had a two-run double and a run-saving catch after he entered the game for Texas in the top of the sixth for right fielder Nelson Cruz, who reaggravated a right hantring that has bothered him for the past week. The Rangers said Cruz is day to day.
Detroit,which wrapped up a 5-6 road trip, led 4-0 after the first four batters of the game reached and scored off Matt Harrison.
Vladimir Guerrero that tied it at 6.
Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman retired the first 11 batters he faced until Hamilton homered in the fourth to make it 4-1. After getting his first day off Sunday, Hamilton's second homeer of the season ended
Detroit, which wrapped up a 5-6 road trip, led 4-0 after the first four batters of the game reached and scored off Matt Harrison.
if only a few feet higher or to the right where the height of the wall decreases to eight feet.
A u s t i n Jackson, the rookie center
a 6-for-36 slide
fielder playing not far from his hometown in Denton, had a lead off single before consecutive walks. Cabrera had an RBI single, then Ryan Raburn cleared the bases with a one-out double — a ball high off the 14-foot wall in left-center field that would have been a grand slam
a 6-for-36 slide and he added a single and scored again in the sixth before his strikeout in the seventh and a game-ending lineout.
Hamilton and Guerrero had consecutive two-out singles in the sixth before Murphy's two-run double made it 6-4.
Murphy's defensive gem ended the eighth when he sprinted into the right-center field gap and extended to grab Johnny Damon's liner.
Wieners for Seniors
Free hot dogs and prizes for graduating students 11 a.m.-1 p.m.,Wed.,April 28 Adams Alumni Center