Young surprises Magic with last-second shot
Held in check all night, Thaddeus Young delivered at the end.
Young’s driving layup with 2 seconds left lifted Philadelphia to a 96-94 home victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night, giving the 76ers a surprising 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is Sunday night at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers, who stumbled into the playoffs with six losses in their last seven games and a 41-41 record, are two wins away from their first playoff series victory since Allen Iverson led them to the NBA Finals in 2001.
Dwight Howard had 34 points for the Magic, who won 59 games during the regular season.
•Rockets move ahead of Blazers: Luis Scola scored 19 points, Houston’s defense bottled up Brandon Roy, and the host Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 86-83 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Shane Battier added 16 points and the Rockets got away with a quiet night from Yao Ming to beat the Blazers for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings in Houston. Game 4 is Sunday at the Toyota Center.
•Cavaliers take 3-0 edge: LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers made the Detroit Pistons’ inspired effort moot.
James had 25 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, leading the Cavs to a 79-68 victory at Auburn Hills, Mich., and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
The Pistons will host Game 4 on Sunday needing a surprising showing to extend the series.
•End of the road for ‘Hot’ Rod: Utah Jazz broadcaster “Hot” Rod Hundley, 74, is retiring at the end of the season. Hundley has been broadcasting Jazz games since they were an expansion team playing in New Orleans in 1974. He made the move to Utah with the rest of the club in 1979.
Hockey
Capitals keep kicking
Matt Bradley scored his first two playoff goals, Alex Ovechkin added a highlight-reel tally, rookie Simeon Varlamov posted his second shutout of the opening round, and the host Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 4-0 to avoid elimination.
The seventh-seeded Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 heading to Game 6 in New York on Sunday.
•Russia, Canada romp: Tournament favorites Russia and Canada posted convincing victories on the opening day of the ice hockey world championship in Switzerland. Defending champion Russia beat Germany 5-0, and Canada, silver medalists a year ago, downed Belarus 6-1 in Zurich.
Golf
Kelly rediscovers stroke
Jerry Kelly moved into position for his first PGA Tour victory since 2002, shooting a 6-under-par 66 for a one-stroke lead in the Zurich Classic at Avondale, La. Kelly had a 10-under 134 total on the TPC Louisiana course.
Troy Matteson had the low round of the tournament, an 8-under 64, to share second place with Charley Hoffman.
•Ochoa leads by three: Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot her second straight bogey-free 8-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen in the LPGA Tour’s Corona Championship at Morelia, Mexico. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot a 5-under 68 and is tied for 13th at 139.
•Lehman enjoys new start: Tom Lehman, making his debut on the Champions Tour, and teammate Bernhard Langer are tied for the lead at 11-under with Fuzzy Zoeller and John Jacobs after the first round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, a better-ball event at Savannah, Ga.
•Woods commits to play: Tiger Woods will play in his first tournament since the Masters next week at the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
Colleges
Wife at center of case
The estranged wife of a longtime aide to Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino faces charges that she tried to extort the coach, at first demanding cars and tuition for her children, then later asking for $10 million, according to a federal complaint filed in Louisville, Ky.
Karen Cunagin Sypher, 49, who also is accused of lying to the FBI about the case, did not enter a plea at a court appearance and was released on her own recognizance.
Sypher’s husband and Cardinals equipment manager, Tim Sypher, on March 6 brought Pitino a written list of demands including tuition, two cars of her choice, paying off her house and $3,000 per month, according to the complaint. The demands later escalated to $10 million, the complaint said.
What sort of information Sypher may have been trying to use to extort the successful coach was not included in the complaint,
Tim Sypher, a longtime aide to Pitino, voiced his support for his boss in a statement last week, and divorce papers for the couple has been filed in recent weeks.
•Former player admits betting scheme: Former University of Toledo football player Adam Cuomo recruited his teammates and basketball players at the school to take part in a point-shaving scheme during a three-year period, according to documents filed in federal court in Detroit.
Cuomo, a little-used running back, admitted that he initiated the scheme with a Detroit-area gambler in the fall of 2003 and that they both bet on Toledo games.
The FBI has been looking into point shaving at Toledo over the past four years. They say the scheme began in 2003 and continued until 2006 after Cuomo was no longer on the team.
Miscellany
Vols set world record
Sarah Bowman’s speedy anchor leg led Tennessee to a world record in a seldom-run event at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
Bowman rallied from fourth place with a blistering time of 4 minutes, 10.2 seconds on the last leg, and the Vols won the 6,000-meter relay in 17:08.34, besting the previous mark of 17:09.75, set by Australia in London nine years ago.
•Spinks wins IBF title: Cory Spinks (37-5) overcame a first-round knockdown to outpoint Deandre Latimore (19-2) and win the vacant IBF junior middleweight title at St. Louis.