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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Keller’s shutout lifts Sounders past Earthquakes

New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul, followed by James Posey, applauds near the end of the second half Saturday.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Kasey Keller returned from a one-game red-card suspension to post his fourth straight shutout and set an MLS record as the Seattle Sounders FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 on Saturday night in Seattle.

Keller hasn’t allowed a goal in 389 minutes to start the season, surpassing the record of 375 set in 2007 by New York’s Ronald Waterreus.

Steve Zakuani and Brad Evans scored for Seattle.

The Sounders (4-2-0) halted a two-game losing streak while San Jose (1-3-2) is winless in its last four games.

NBA Playoffs

Paul lifts Hornets

Chris Paul played as hard and long as needed to give the New Orleans Hornets a desperately needed victory in the playoffs.

Paul had 32 points and 12 assists in 46 minutes, helping New Orleans hold on for a 95-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their first-round series at New Orleans. Denver leads the series 2-1.

•Mavs down Spurs again: Josh Howard scored 28 points, seven in an early second-half spurt that put the Mavericks ahead to stay in a 99-90 victory in Dallas that gave them a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs.

Heat keep rolling: Dwyane Wade finished with 29 points and eight assists, Jermaine O’Neal added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Miami extended Atlanta’s decade-plus road playoff drought, beating the Hawks 107-78 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup. Miami leads the series 2-1.

Lakers bounce back: Kobe Bryant followed his worst shooting game in years by scoring 38 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 108-94 win over the Utah Jazz and a 3-1 series lead at Salt Lake City.

NHL Playoffs

Penguins eliminate Flyers

Down three goals and facing an inspired opponent in a hostile building, the Pittsburgh Penguins easily could’ve settled for going back home to play Game 7.

Instead, Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby helped the Penguins stage a remarkable comeback in Philadelphia to advance to the next round.

Gonchar scored 2:19 into the third period and Crosby scored the tying goal in the second as the Penguins eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 5-3 victory in Game 6 of their first-round series.

Sharks survive: Patrick Marleau scored his second winning goal of the playoffs 6:02 into overtime, and the top-seeded San Jose Sharks avoided first-round elimination with a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5 at San Jose, Calif. Anaheim leads the series 3-2.

Blackhawks take lead in series with Flames: Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg scored 19 seconds apart in a three-goal first period and the Blackhawks grabbed control early and beat the Calgary Flames 5-1 in Chicago to take a 3-2 series lead.

Rangers coach suspended: Rangers coach John Tortorella has been suspended by the NHL for one game because he squirted a fan with water and threw a water bottle into the stands, striking a spectator in Washington on Friday.

Golf

Ochoa in front

Defending champion Lorena Ochoa shot a 4-under-par 69 in windy conditions to take a one-stroke lead over Norway’s Suzann Pettersen into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Corona Championship at Morelia, Mexico.

Ochoa had a 20-under 199 total.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., shot 66 and is tied for fourth at 205.

Kelly up three strokes: Jerry Kelly shot a bogey-free 3-under 69 to increase his lead to three strokes in the Zurich Classic at New Orleans.

Steve Marino moved to 11 under before a bogey on the par-5 18th dropped him to 10 under, still good enough to give him sole possession of second place.

Roberts, Wiebe lead: Loren Roberts and Mark Wiebe reeled off five birdies and an eagle over the final nine holes for a better-ball 61 and 125 total, a stroke ahead of John Cook and Joey Sindelar (63) at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.

Tennis

Nadal into final

Rafael Nadal will attempt to win his fifth straight Barcelona Open title when he meets David Ferrer today in a repeat of last year’s final at Barcelona, Spain.

Nadal beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-2 and Ferrer rallied to defeat Fernando Gonzalez 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the semifinals.

American Glatch gets big upset: 19-year-old Alexa Glatch pulled off a major upset in her Fed Cup debut at Brno, Czech Republic, dominating Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2 to lift the United States to a 1-1 tie with the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

Miscellany

Kelowna downs Vancouver

Kelowna put Vancouver on the brink of elimination from the WHL playoffs as the Rockets blanked the Giants 1-0 at Vancouver, British Columbia. Kelowna leads the best-of-7 series 3-2.

Ryley Grantham scored the game’s only goal at 18:22 of the first period before a disappointed crowd of 10,083 at Pacific Coliseum.

U.S. Hockey gets win: The United States got a surprisingly tough test before emerging with a 4-2 victory over Latvia in its opening game of the ice hockey world championship at Bern, Switzerland.

Froch knocks out Taylor: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch delivered a stunning knockout of Jermain Taylor in the final round, stealing a fight he would have lost had it been allowed to go a few seconds longer at Mashantucket, Conn.

Sturm retains title: Felix Sturm easily retained his WBA middleweight title, stopping Japanese challenger Koji Sato in the seventh round at Krefeld, Germany.

Duke’s Henderson eyeing NBA: Gerald Henderson is entering the NBA draft but is keeping open the option to return to Duke for his senior season and has not hired an agent.

Hull wins Derby Trial: Hull dominated the $100,000 Derby Trial at Louisville, Ky., easily holding off Kensei by four lengths to win for the third time in three starts.