Lakers stun Spurs at the buzzer
SAN ANTONIO, May 14 (UPI) -- Derek Fisher's fadeaway jumper at the buzzer Thursday night gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 74-73 win over San Antonio.
In what may have been the most pivotal game of the NBA season, the Lakers took a 3-2 advantage in the conference semifinal series and will have a chance to finish off the Spurs on Saturday.
Fisher's winning shot came after San Antonio's Tim Duncan made perhaps the greatest shot of his stellar career -- a fadeaway 18-footer off the dribble over 7-1 Shaquille O'Neal with 0.4 seconds left.
That gave the Spurs a 73-72 lead and threw the SBC Center into bedlam.
Through a series of false starts and timeouts, the Spurs were blanketing superstars O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Gary Payton was forced to inbound to Fisher, who came to the pass and in one motion turned and fired a jumper just before the buzzer over Manu Ginobili.
"One lucky shot deserves another," O'Neal said.
The Lakers blew a 16-point third-quarter lead and scored just 12 points in the final period.
Lightning takes command against Flyers
PHILADELPHIA, May 14 (UPI) -- Vincent Lecavalier beat Robert Esche on a breakaway early in the third period Thursday night to help boost Tampa Bay past Philadelphia, 4-1.
The Lighting took a 2-1 advantage in the Eastern Conference finals and regained home-ice advantage.
In the three days since Philadelphia evened the series with a 6-2 rout, Lightning Coach John Tortorella sparred verbally with Flyers counterpart Ken Hitchcock. But Tortorella's players did the real damage.
Keith Primeau trimmed Philadelphia's deficit to 2-1 just 36 seconds into the third period, but Lecavalier permanently shifted the momentum to Tampa Bay 43 seconds later.
An outlet pass by Martin St. Louis trapped Flyers defenseman Danny Markov and sprung Lecavalier on a breakaway. The Lightning's former captain snapped a shot past Esche's glove for his sixth playoff goal and first of this series.
Brad Richards capped the scoring at 8:20 off another feed from St. Louis, the Hart Trophy finalist who was held to a single goal in the first two games of the series.
In the Western Conference, San Jose climbed back in its series with Calgary with a road victory, 3-0. The Flames still lead the series, 2-1.
Woods one shot back at Nelson
IRVING, Texas, May 14 (UPI) -- Peter Lonard and J.L. Lewis grabbed the lead after the opening round of the Byron Nelson Classic Thursday while Tiger Woods was just one shot off the pace.
Woods hit less than half of the fairways, but rode a hot putter to fire a 5-under 65 at the Four Seasons TPC. The world's top-ranked player shared third place with Dudley Hart.
Lonard and Lewis both played their opening round at the Cottonwood Valley, which averaged more than a stroke easier than the host layout.
Defending champion Vijay Singh of Fiji started with a 68 while South African star Ernie Els and Masters champion Phil Mickelson shot 69s as all of the big guns kept themselves in the running.
Woods needed just 24 putts.
"I had only one really bad shot today," said Woods, referring to his drive at the 10th. "I hit the ball pretty good and I did putt well. I gave myself some good looks at putts and I made a few."
The first round was completed before heavy rains moved into the area. More rain was in Friday's forecast.
Paterno signs contract extension
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 14 (UPI) -- Despite growing criticism that the game has passed him by, Penn State's Joe Paterno signed a four-year contract extension Thursday.
The 77-year-old coach is now under contract through the 2008 season.
Boasting the second-winningest mark in Division I-A history with a 339-109-3 record, Paterno will be entering his 55th season at Penn State and his 39th as the Nittany Lions' coach.
However, Penn State is just 22-26 in the last four seasons. Last year, the Nittany Lions endured the worst record in the program's history, finishing 3-9.
"I still enjoy coaching and I'm excited about the upcoming season and the incoming recruiting class," Paterno said. "Penn State's future is bright and we are determined to have a team which in the future will again be in the mix for a national championship."
Williams carries Yankees past Angels
NEW YORK, May 14 (UPI) -- Bernie Williams broke out of a prolonged slump Thursday, going three for four to carry the New York Yankees past Anaheim, 7-4.
Off to a poor start, Williams had a home run and a double while scoring three times. He raised his average from .194 to .214.
Jon Lieber (2-1) took care of the pitching, allowing three runs and five hits with six strikeouts and no walks. He threw 76 of 101 pitches for strikes, helping the Yankees take the rubber game in just 2 hours, 20 minutes.
Tom Gordon yielded a run in the ninth before giving way to Mariano Rivera, who gave up a hit and a walk but struck out two for his American League-best 13th save.
