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Spurs to play for championship

PHOENIX, June 2 (UPI) - Tim Duncan carried San Antonio into the NBA Championship Series Wednesday night with a 31-point effort that helped eliminate Phoenix, 101-95.

Having disposed of the Western Conference's top seed in five games, the Spurs await the winner of the Detroit-Miami series - which resumes in Miami Thursday night deadlocked at 2-2.

Phoenix, trying to become the first team in NBA history to win a seven-game series after losing the first three, fell victim to San Antonio's depth as well as the relentless effort of Duncan. He made 14 of 24 shots from the field and was assisted by 19 points from Manu Ginobili and 18 from Tony Parker.

Amare Stoudemire scored 42 for the Suns and league MVP Steve Nash had 21, but they had little help while combining for almost two-thirds of their team's points. The Suns lost all three of their home games in the series.

San Antonio trailed by a point at intermission, but took control in the third period and owned an eight-point advantage going into the fourth.

The Spurs will be seeking their third NBA crown in seven years. The Championship Series opens June 9.

Men's semifinals set at French Open

PARIS, June 2 (UPI) -- ing Nikolay Davydenko and unseeded Mariano Puerta reached the semifinals Wednesday with a pair of five-set wins at the French Open.

Puerta was a surprise winner over ninth-seeded Guillermo Canas, 6-2, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Davydenko rallied past Tommy Robredo, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Davydenko and Puerta will meet in the semifinals on Friday with the other match that day bringing together Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- the game's two hottest players.

Federer is ranked No. 1 in the world while Nadal has dominated the clay-court circuit this year.The women's semifinals will be held Thursday with Justine Henin-Hardenne facing Nadia Petrova while Mary Pierce challenging Elena Kikhovtseva.

Petrova is the top seed remaining at No 7. She lost to Henin-Hardenne on clay last month.

Tiger tries to start new streak

DUBLIN, Ohio, June 2 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods returns to action Thursday as he tries to begin a new cuts made streak at The Memorial Tournament.

In Woods' last appearance, he missed the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship. That ended his record cuts made streak at 142.

He will be facing substantial competition this week at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club with world No. 1 Vijay Singh and Ernie Els both present.

Singh took over the No. 1 spot from Woods last week and Woods can regain it this week with a victory.

Also playing will be the tournament's host. Nicklaus recently said he would play in competition for the final time next month at the British Open, which will be played at The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Nicklaus, however, has announced his retirement before, only to return when he had fine-tuned his game.

Detroit finally slows down Rangers

DETROIT, June 2 (UPI) -- Brandon Inge keyed a five-run seventh with a two-run single Wednesday night as Detroit ended Texas' nine-game winning streak, 6-4.

The Tigers overcame a 4-1 deficit to keep the Rangers from recording their second-longest winning streak ever. Inge's single drove in the go-ahead runs to help Detroit win its fourth game in five outings.

Jeremy Bonderman (6-3) fell behind early, but got the win by lasting 7 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on 10 hits. Ryan Drese (4-5) gave up one run through the first six, but then coughed up the lead.

The Rangers fell five wins short of the club's all-time winning streak. They had averaged eight runs per contest during the stretch of success.

Brown becomes coach of Cavaliers

CLEVELAND, June 2 (UPI) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers announced Wednesday they had hired Mike Brown to coach the team.

He takes over for Brendan Malone, who completed the 2004-05 season following the dismissal of Paul Silas on March 21. The Cavaliers, seemingly a sure thing for the playoffs early in the season, wound up at 42-40 and missed out on the chase for the NBA title.

Brown will be a head coach in the NBA for the first time. He was assistant to Indiana's Rick Carlisle the last two seasons.

There have been widespread reports that Brown will soon be working for current Detroit Coach Larry Brown, who is attempting to lead his team to its second straight league title. Because of health considerations, Larry Brown is expected to leave the Pistons and become general manager of the Cavaliers.