Lakers stay alive, Nets advance
LOS ANGELES, June 1 (UPI) -- Shaquille O'Neal manhandled his way to 41 points and 17 rebounds Friday night to help the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers stave off elimination with a 106-102 victory over the Sacramento Kings and force a Game 7 in the Western Conference finals.
The Kings will host Game 7 Sunday night with a chance to dethrone the Lakers, who improved to 3-0 in elimination games during their hold on the title. The winner faces the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals beginning Wednesday night.
The Nets advanced to the title series for the first time with a 96-88 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Hampered by injuries all season, the 7-2, 350-pound O'Neal put the hurt on the Kings. His best game of the 2002 postseason saw him make 14 of 25 shots and 13 of 17 free throws, fouling out Sacramento big men Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard.
O'Neal scored 12 points in a tense fourth quarter, including a nifty reverse layup with 52 seconds left -- his team's first basket in nearly six minutes -- that gave Los Angeles a 101-98 lead.
The Lakers showed their championship mettle, making 14 of 16 foul shots in the final three minutes. They needed just about every one as the Kings continued to provide the toughest test they have faced during their dynasty.
Even with O'Neal's heroics -- and 31 points from Kobe Bryant -- the Lakers still held their breath as a bloodied Mike Bibby launched a potential tying three-pointer with five seconds left. He missed, bringing about the first Game 7 of this year's playoffs.
Jason Kidd paced the Nets to their win with his third triple double of the series.
Kidd, obtained during the offseason in a trade with the Phoenix Suns, scored 15 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 13 assists. No one had achieved three triple doubles in a series since Wilt Chamberlain accomplished the feat in 1967.
Oscar Robertson is the only other player to have done so, recording three triple doubles in a 1963 series.
New Jersey overcame a 10-point deficit by holding Boston to 34 points over the final two periods. The Celtics tried 30 three-point shots and made only seven.
Kenyon Martin added 16 points for the Nets.
Red Wings crush Avalanche
DETROIT, June 1 (UPI) -- Patrick Roy was beaten on three of the first five shots he faced Friday night and was pulled in the second period of the most lopsided Game 7 in NHL history as the Detroit Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a 7-0 rout of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche.
Roy has shown an uncanny ability throughout his unparalleled career to recover from bad playoff losses. But he will have four months to think about this one, as well as the Game 6 defeat that sent the Western Conference finals back to Detroit.
At the other end of the rink, Dominik Hasek stopped 19 shots for his second straight shutout and record-setting fifth of this year's playoffs. One of three key offseason acquisitions by the Red Wings, Hasek put himself four wins away from his elusive first Stanley Cup championship.
Tomas Holmstrom scored twice and Luc Robitaille broke out of a slump with a goal and two assists for Detroit, which ended Colorado's streak at four straight Game 7 victories. The first team in NHL history to play four consecutive seven-game series, the Avalanche were blitzed in the first period and went through the motions thereafter.
The Red Wings are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since winning their second straight championship in 1998. They will host the Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Senegal pulls off World Cup shocker
SEOUL, South Korea, June 1 (UPI) -- Papa Bouba Diop scored in the first half while sprawled on the ground and Senegal made it stand up Friday night for a shocking 1-0 victory over defending champion France in the opening game of the World Cup.
Playing without superstar Zinedine Zidane, France was unable to take advantage of its numerous chances and found itself in instant danger of not advancing past the opening round.
At the 1994 World Cup, no team lost an opening match and made it out of the round-robin portion of the month-long tournament. And although France came into the World Cup as a co-favorite along with Argentina, no European nation has ever won the championship when the event has been played outside Europe.
Senegal, which a generation ago was a French colony, was making its first-ever appearance in the World Cup and displayed no opening-game jitters. Goalkeeper Tony Sylva was outstanding and Senegal's defense, while tested throughout the night, never made the one big mistake that would have allowed France an easy goal.
Instead, it was the French who gave up a fluke goal in the 30th that decided the match.
Senegal's victory was similar to the opening game of the 1990 World Cup in Milan, when Cameroon stunned defending champion Argentina.
The lone goal came on a wild scramble in front of France's net that broke out when Elhadji Diouf easily got past France's Frank Leboeuf on the left side.
Diouf sent the ball scooting across the ground toward the goal and both goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and teammate Emmanuel Petit appeared to have a chance to clear it.
But Petit missed it and Barthez suddenly found himself having to dive to get a hand on it. That was all he could do, however, and the ball bounced off Barthez right to Diop
Diop was lying on his side when the ball arrived, but with the wide open goal in front of him, all he had to do was get a foot on it and he was able to do so.
Today's action will find Ireland meeting Cameroon, Denmark playing Uruguay and Germany taking on Saudi Arabia.
Clijsters ousted in French Open
PARIS, June 1 (UPI) -- Kim Clijsters of Belgium, a runner-up at Roland Garros a year ago, crashed out of the French Open Friday.
Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina converted five break-point opportunities en route to a 6-4, 6-0 third-round upset of the fourth-seeded Clijsters.
The 18-year-old aided Fernandez's cause, committing 61 unforced errors. Clijsters, who has complained of a sore shoulder, saved four match points before joining compatriot Justine Henin on the list of first-week casualties. A semifinalist last year, Henin was eliminated in the first round on Tuesday.
While Clijsters made a quick exit, second seed Venus Williams cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Italy's Rita Grande, the 31st seed.
On the men's side, top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia needed four sets to get past No. 30 Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, while defending champion Gustavo Kuerten extended his French Open winning streak to 17 games with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 8-4 win over Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
But the biggest surprise of the day involved Clijsters, who was knocked out by the 87th ranked player in the world. Clijsters struggled in her first two matches here and never had her way against Fernandez, who is making her debut in this tournament.
Maddux wins fourth straight
CINCINNATI, June 1 (UPI) -- Greg Maddux and three relievers combined on a four-hitter and the Atlanta Braves rapped out six doubles Friday night in a 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Maddux (6-2) won his fourth straight start and second in a row against the Reds. The righthander gave up two hits and a walk in five innings, striking out two. A four-time Cy Young Award winner, Maddux improved to 16-12 lifetime against Cincinnati.
Kevin Gryboski pitched 1 2/3 hitless innings, striking out three. Kerry Ligtenberg got the final out of the seventh and worked through the eighth, allowing two hits. Chris Hammond pitched a hitless ninth.
One of Atlanta's doubles came from Gary Sheffield, who missed the previous seven games with a pulled left hamstring. He drove in a run in the seventh inning, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead.
Other National League results: Houston 4, Chicago 1; New York 6, Florida 5; Montreal 8, Philadelphia 7; Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 1; Milwaukee 12, San Diego 1; Arizona 6, Los Angeles 3; Colorado 6, San Francisco 2.
Red Sox outlast Yankees
NEW YORK, June 1 (UPI) -- Derek Lowe lasted through a pair of rain delays and gave up four hits over six scoreless innings Friday night, carrying the Boston Red Sox past the New York Yankees, 5-2.
In his last start against New York on May 25, Lowe (8-2) surrendered three runs in the second inning en route to a 3-2 loss.
In the opener of a three-game showdown at Yankee Stadium, he got help from Nomar Garciapara, who doubled, tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning to snap a scoreless tie.
Jason Varitek chipped in two RBI and Tony Clark padded Boston's lead in the eighth with a two-run homer, his first since Opening Day.
Starter David Wells (6-2) gave up one run and five hits in seven innings while striking out seven, but the Yankees had a five-game winning streak broken.
Jorge Posada hit a two-run homer in the ninth for New York, which posted comeback victories in each of its previous two games but fell two games behind first-place Boston in the American League East.
Other American League results: Cleveland 7, Chicago 0; toronto 4, Detroit 2; Baltimore 8, Seattle 7 in 10 innings; Oakland 13, Tampa Bay 9; Anaheim 11, Minnesota 3; Kansas City 10, Texas 7 in 11 innings.
Norman takes two-shot lead
POTOMAC, Md., June 1 (UPI) -- Greg Norman fired a bogey-free 6-under-par 65 Friday to open a two-shot lead midway through the Kemper Open as he seeks his first win in nearly five years.
Enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame last November, the "Great White Shark" reached 10-under 132 after two trips around the TPC at Avenel. And although he becomes eligible for the Senior Tour in less than three years, he is halfway to his 18th PGA Tour triumph.
Norman almost surely would to forget the last time he had the outright lead after two rounds. That came at the 1996 Masters, where he squandered a six-shot advantage in the final round and lost to Nick Faldo in the greatest collapse in tournament history.
Norman bounced back to capture two events the following year, but is winless since the 1997 World Series of Golf.
Craig Barlow, Willie Wood, Bob Estes and Bob Burns were tied for second at 8-under 134. Barlow had the best round of the group, a 67.
First-round leader Franklin Langham followed a course record-tying 63 with a 1-over 72 and slipped into a seven-way tie at 135.
Kenseth wins NASCAR pole
DOVER, Del., June 1 (UPI) -- It took 89 starts, but Matt Kenseth finally won his first pole position for a Winston Cup race.
Kenseth raced around the high-banked, one-mile concrete oval at Dover International Speedway in 23.25 seconds at an average speed of 154.939 miles per hour Friday to earn the pole for Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400.
Kenseth, who has eight career poles in the Busch Series, backed up his fastest morning practice speed of 156.027 mph in his No. 17 Ford.
Bill Elliott will join Kenseth in the front row after a lap of 154.374 mph in his No. 9 Dodge.
Substitute driver Jerry Nadeau was third in his No. 10 Pontiac at 154.136 mph.
