Spurs shocked as NBA playoffs open
SAN ANTONIO, April 20 (UPI) -- The opening day of the NBA playoffs created some unexpected results, chief among them the one produced by Stephon Marbury.
Marbury banked in a three-pointer at the overtime buzzer as the Phoenix Suns shocked the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs, 96-95, in the opener of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Phoenix joined New Jersey, Boston, Dallas and Sacramento as first-day playoff winners.
The Suns were given a chance to pull off the upset when San Antonio's Tim Duncan missed three of four free throws in the final momehts, including a pair with 5.1 seconds to go.
The Suns grabbed the rebound and got the ball in the hands of Marbury, who raced up court. With the clock running down, he pulled up for a runner from just outside the three-point line at the top of the key that caromed off the backboard.
The officials counted the basket after briefly reviewing replays. There was no argument from the Spurs.
Marbury finished with 26 points as the Suns showed their success against San Antonio in the regular season was no fluke. Phoenix won three of the four meetings, including one here.
In East Rutherford, Jason Kidd scored all 14 of his points in the first quarter and handed out 14 assists as the New Jersey Nets raced to an early lead and coasted to a 109-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The second-seeded Nets controlled the tempo from the outset and led by as many as 31 points before resting their starters for the majority of the fourth quarter.
In Indianapolis, Paul Pierce made all 21 of his free-throw attempts and poured in 21 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Boston Celtics from a 16-point deficit for a surprising 103-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana took its final lead at 97-96 on two foul shots by Brad Miller with 32 seconds left. That set the stage for Pierce, who made a step-back three-pointer over the arm of Jeff Foster five seconds later to put the Celtics ahead for good.
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki poured in a franchise playoff-best 46 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks used a big second half to rally for a 96-86 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
On a night in which his teammates struggled offensively, Nowitzki did it all to help Dallas fight back from a 13-point deficit. The Mavericks also limited the Trail Blazers to 12 points in the pivotal third quarter.
The old Dallas playoff mark of 43 was set on April 18, 1985 by Rolando Blackman, who is currently a Dallas assistant coach.
In Sacramento, Chris Webber scored 27 points and the Kings fought off the Utah Jazz, 96-90.
Sacramento had a tougher opening game than expected as the Jazz hung close until the final minute. The Kings made eight of 12 pointers while Utah hit only one of eight.
Sunday's series openers find Orlando at Detroit, New Orleans at Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota.
Stars advance to semifinals
EDMONTON, April 20 (UPI) -- The Dallas Stars advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Saturday night while the Colorado Avalanche missed a chance.
Mike Modano scored with 6:52 remaining as the Stars squandered a two-goal lead before eliminating the Edmonton Oilers for the fifth time in six years with a 3-2 triumph in Game 6 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Since losing to Edmonton in the 1997 quarterfinals, Dallas has won the last five playoff series, knocking out the Oilers in the opening round of their last four postseason appearances.
Edmonton battled back from an early 2-0 deficit and tied it on second-period goals by Ryan Smyth and Shawn Horcoff. But Modano, a long-time postseason nemesis, did in the Oilers again.
Modano had trouble handling defenseman Sergei Zubov's cross-ice pass in the left faceoff circle but finally put a wrist shot over the right arm of goaltender Tommy Salo for his fourth goal of the series and second game-winner.
Marty Turco, who had numerous run-ins around the net, made the lead stand by stopping all 12 shots in the third period. He sprawled to deny rookie Jason Chimera in tight on the left side with 1:17 to play, then snared defenseman Eric Brewer's point shot through traffic with 34 seconds left.
Dallas will take on Anaheim in the conference semifinals.
In Denver, Manny Fernandez made 26 saves in his first start of the series and Pascal Dupuis had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild avoided elimination with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5.
Colorado failed for the third straight time to eliminate an opponent. The Avalanche had a three games to two lead over Detroit in last year's conference finals, then did not score in the final two contests as the Red Wings advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.
After replacing Dwayne Roloson early in Game 4, Fernandez blanked Colorado for two periods in this one as Minnesota built a three-goal lead. The team that has scored first has won all five games in the series.
Dupuis got an assist on defenseman Willie Mitchell's goal 3:41 into the opening period, then scored the eventual game-winner with 78 seconds to go in the second. In between, defenseman Filip Kuba had a power-play goal.
In Philadelphia, Sami Kapanen scored two power-play goals and Tony Amonte had two assists Saturday as the Philadelphia Flyers posted a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs to take a three games to two lead.
Kapanen vanished during the Carolina Hurricanes' magical run to the Finals last season, scoring just one goal in 23 postseason games. He doubled his output from last year's playoffs in this one to help put the Flyers one win away from advancing to the conference semifinals.
After Wednesday night's triple-overtime marathon, defenseman Aki Berg gave Toronto a lead 2 1/2 minutes into the game with his first career playoff tally. But the Flyers responded with goals 1:55 apart late in the first period and never looked back.
New York starters remain perfect
MINNEAPOLIS, April 20 (UPI) -- Andy Pettitte pitched 7 1/3 innings Saturday night as the New York Yankees continued their roll with a 4-2 victory over Minnesota.
Pettitte got home-run support from Bernie Williams and Raul Mondesi. The Yankees have made their 100th season a special one thus far, winning 14 of their opening 17 games for the first time.
With Pettitte (3-0) remaining unbeaten, Yankees starters improved to 12-0, marking the first time a major league rotation has won its first 12 decisions since the 1944 St. Louis Browns.
Offensively, the Yankees have been doing it with the long ball. With two more homers, they have a franchise-record 33 through 17 games.
Alfonso Soriano singled twice, stole a base and scored a run for New York, which also extended its winning streak against the Twins to 11 games.
Chris Hammond worked out of a jam in the eighth inning and recorded the first two outs in the ninth before giving way to Juan Acevedo, who stranded a pair of runners by striking out pinch hitter Dustin Mohr for his third save.
Other American League results: Boston 7, Toronto 2; Tampa Bay 8, Baltimore 7; Chicago 12, Cleveland 3; Kansas City 9, Detroit 2; Oakland 12, Texas 2.
Cubs score five times in 10th
PITTSBURGH, April 20 (UPI) -- Mark Grudzielanek's RBI single ignited a five-run 10th inning Saturday night, giving the Chicago Cubs a 6-1 decision over Pittsburgh.
It was the Cubs' fifth straight victory.
Nursing a 1-0 lead, Cubs manager Dusty Baker gave Mark Prior (3-1) a chance to finish the game himself, but the Pirates pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the ninth.
Jason Kendall reached on an infield hit and moved up on Matt Stairs' groundout. After Aramis Ramirez walked, both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
The Pirates tied it on Randall Simon's groundout, but Prior stranded the winning run at third by striking out Reggie Sanders.
Given a reprieve, Chicago went to work against the Pirates' bullpen in the 10th. Mike Williams took over after Scott Sauerbeck (0-1) gave up a leadoff single to Damian Miller but was ineffective.
After walking Eric Karros, Williams gave up four straight hits. Alex Gonzalez followed Grudzielanek with an RBI double before Sammy Sosa's two-run single made it 5-1. Ramon Martinez capped the uprising with a sacrifice fly.
Other National League results: Florida 6, New York 5; Milwaukee 3, Houston 2 in 14 innings; Arizona 4, St. Louis 3; Colorado 10, San Diego 9; Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 0. Montreal swept a double header from Cincinnati, 8-7 in 10 innings and 9-5.
Cink keeps Heritage lead
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C., April 20 (UPI) -- Stewart Cink shot a 69 Saturday to take sole possession of the lead at The Heritage.
The 2000 champion of this event, Cink began the day in a tie for the lead with Hal Sutton but overcame two bogeys with four birdies to reach 12-under 201, a stroke ahead of hard-charging Jeff Sluman.
After the second round, Cink admitted he had been unable to play well over the last two years because of the fear he felt on the course. But that has disappeared this week as he seeks his third career win.
Thanks to a string of four straight birdies on the back nine, Sluman had the lowest round of the day with a 64 that left him alone in second at 11-under 202. He hit every fairway and missed just two greens in the third round.
Woody Austin and Kenny Perry shared third at 203, a shot better than four-time Heritage champion Davis Love III, Chad Campbell, lefthander Steve Flesch and Sutton.
Sutton played a seven-hole stretch midway through his round in 4-over. The big blow was a double-bogey at the par-3 14th, where he called a penalty on himself for making contact with the ball twice on one chip.
Schilling undergoes appendectomy
ST. LOUIS, April 20 (UPI) -- Arizona All-Star righthander Curt Schilling underwent an appendectomy Saturday, one day after complaining of abdominal pain.
Schilling was admitted to Barnes Jewish Hospital upon the recommendation of St. Louis Cardinals team physicians. A hospital spokeswoman was unable to update the condition of the 36-year-old pitcher.
Schilling had been scheduled to pitch Wednesday against the Montreal Expos, but is expected to miss at least one start. He is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA this season, his 16th in the major leagues and fourth full campaign with Arizona.
Last year, he again combined with lefthander Randy Johnson to form one of baseball's most formidable 1-2 pitching tandems. Schilling was 23-7 with a 3.23 ERA and struck out 316 in 36 games, including 35 starts.
