Allen’s shot lifts Celtics over Bobcats in 2OTs
Ray Allen made a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in the second overtime Wednesday night to lift the Boston Celtics to a 111-109 victory over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats and into second place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bobcats, fighting for the final playoff spot in the conference, blew leads in the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter and both overtimes and fell 11/2 games behind the Chicago Bulls, who were idle.
The Celtics moved a game ahead of Orlando in the battle for second place in the Eastern Conference.
•Mavs hold off Heat: Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Josh Howard had 20 points and drew a game-saving charging foul with 2.3 seconds left, giving the Dallas Mavericks a 98-96 victory over the visiting Miami Heat.
•Raptors top Magic: Chris Bosh had 24 points, including a 22-footer over Dwight Howard with 29 seconds left that put the game out of reach, and the visiting Toronto Raptors beat Orlando 99-95.
•Blunt pleads guilty: Former NBA player Corie Blount has pleaded guilty in Hamilton, Ohio, to two felony marijuana possession charges in a plea bargain that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.
NHL
Penguins rout Brodeur
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby scored power-play goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins had two goals in a matter of seconds against Martin Brodeur during a 6-1 rout of the skidding New Jersey Devils in Pittsburgh.
Brodeur and the Devils extended a late-season slump (0-5-1).
•Thrashers win in OT: Ilya Kovalchuk scored on an unassisted breakaway with 29.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Atlanta Thrashers a 3-2 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres.
Atlanta has won three straight and 10 of 13.
•Maple Leafs disciplined: The Toronto Maple Leafs have been fined $500,000 by the NHL and stripped of a fourth-round draft pick because of how they handled the signing of Swedish defenseman Jonas Frogren.
Frogren had been under contract to a Swedish elite league club before joining Toronto.
The transaction apparently went around the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement.
•Flyers sign winger: James van Riemsdyk is giving up his final two years of college hockey at New Hampshire to join the Philadelphia Flyers.
Van Riemsdyk, the second overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, signed an entry-level deal that takes effect next season.
Basketball
Wooden team named
North Carolina teammates Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, along with Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, are among 11 players named to the John R. Wooden Award All-American team.
Because of a tie for 10th place in the voting, the team includes 11 players. The others are DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh, Stephen Curry of Davidson, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, James Harden of Arizona State, Gerald Henderson of Duke, Terrence Williams of Louisville and Sam Young of Pittsburgh.
The top vote-getters and finalists for the Wooden Award will be announced April 6.
UTEP ties series: Stefon Jackson scored 28 points, nine during a critical second-half run, and UTEP beat Oregon State 70-63 in the second game of the College Basketball Invitational Championship series in El Paso, Texas. The best-of-3 series is tied at a game apiece with the decider on Friday in El Paso. UTEP is 23-13, Oregon State 17-18.
•West edges East: Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the West past the East 69-68 in the girls McDonald’s All-American game in Coral Gables, Fla.
Missoula senior Joslyn Tinkle played on the East squad as the first Montanan to receive a McDonald’s All-America invitation.
Tinkle has signed a letter of intent to play at Stanford next season.
•East boys win: Georgia Tech recruit Derrick Favors had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the East past the West 113-110 in the boys McDonald’s All-American game in Coral Gables, Fla.
Soccer
U.S. men win
Jozy Altidore, 19, became the youngest American with an international hat trick, and the U.S. beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in Nashville, Tenn., to maintain its lead in the final round of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
Making just his fourth international start, Altidore connected in the 13th, 71st and 89th minutes, all three times off passes from Landon Donovan.
The United States (2-0-1), seeking its sixth straight World Cup berth, leads the final round of North and Central American and Caribbean qualifying with seven points, followed by Costa Rica (2-1) with six after a 1-0 victory over El Salvador.
Honduras (1-1-1) has four following a 3-1 win over visiting Mexico (1-2), which has three. El Salvador and T&T (both 0-1-2) have two points each.
The top three nations qualify, and No. 4 goes to a playoff.
Also, defending champion Italy was held to a 1-1 draw by Ireland in qualifying in London.
•Ticket bids sent in: Soccer fans are bidding for tickets to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with FIFA receiving more than 1.6 million requests.
Fans from 205 countries applied in the first phase of online sales, soccer’s world governing body said.
The tickets will be allocated in a lottery on April 15.
Miscellany
Redskins eye Cutler
The Washington Redskins were actively pursuing a trade for disgruntled Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, according to NFL sources.
One source said the Redskins were trying to complete the deal as quickly as possible although at least two other teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets, were also reportedly interested in acquiring Cutler.
•Williams sisters square off: Venus and Serena will meet in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis event in Key Biscayne, Fla. Serena advanced by beating Li Na 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2. Venus beat No. 26 Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-4.
On the men’s side, Roger Federer advanced to the semis after beating Andy Roddick 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Federer will play Novak Djokovic, who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4.
•Shrine game moving: The East-West Shrine Game, college football’s longest running all-star game, will be played at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, in 2010 and 2011.
The game got its start in the San Francisco Bay area in 1925, and was played there for 80 years.
•Mortensen to be inducted: Montana saddle bronc star Dan Mortensen, 40, will be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame on July 11 in a six-member class that includes 1934 Triple Crown winner Leonard Ward.
The 40-year-old Mortensen, a seven-time world champion from Billings, Mont., will be inducted along with the late Ward of Talent, Ore.; bull rider Ted Nuce of Stephenville, Texas; steer roper Walt Arnold of Silverton, Texas; late stock contractor Erv Korkow of Canning, S.D.; and all-around hand Ace Berry of Oakdale, Calif.
•Night racing at Churchill: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., wants to experiment with night horse racing at its upcoming spring meet.