Lakers clinch top seed in West
Pau Gasol had a season-high 36 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the top playoff seed in the Western Conference with a 103-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.
Shaking off some uncharacteristic poor shooting early and a sprained right ankle before halftime, Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and added nine assists as the Lakers (58-14) won their fifth straight.
Derek Fisher added 18 points and Lamar Odom had 12 points and 11 rebounds in Phil Jackson’s record-setting 728th game as the Lakers’ coach.
The Lakers had some scary moments in a game in which they nearly blew a 22-point third-quarter lead, but none was scarier than the sight of Bryant falling to the court late in the first half after colliding with the Nets’ Devin Harris on a drive to the basket.
The former MVP lay on the court for about a minute before limping off to the locker room with a sprained ankle. He started the second half and finished 5 of 19 from the field.
Cavs win 11th straight: LeBron James scored 25 points and Mo Williams added 22, leading Cleveland to its 11th straight win, 107-85 over visiting Minnesota. Cleveland’s victory ties the franchise record for consecutive wins in a season.
Magic keep pace: At Orlando, Fla., former Seattle Sonics star Rashard Lewis scored 19 points and Dwight Howard added 18 as the Magic (54-18) won their fifth straight and 12th of their last 14 and stayed percentage points ahead of Boston for the Eastern Conference’s second seed with a 110-94 win over Milwaukee.
Chandler in boot: New Orleans Hornets center Tyson Chandler has been fitted with a walking boot to immobilize his sore left ankle and is expected to be out of action for another one to two weeks.
Golf
O’Hair leads; Tiger 5 back
Sean O’Hair opened the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando’s Bay Hill with three straight birdies and didn’t drop a shot until his final hole, which gave him a 5-under-par 65 for a three-shot lead over Jason Gore.
Tiger Woods remained in the mix for a sixth title at Bay Hill, courtesy of a short game that turned a mediocre round into a 69.
O’Hair was at 8-under 132 and will be in the final group today with Gore, who had four birdies and four bogeys for a 70.
Another 68 paces Kim: At Phoenix, In-Kyung Kim shot her second straight 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead halfway through the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International. The 20-year-old South Korean had six birdies and two bogeys to retain the top spot on the 6,711-yard Papago Golf Course.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (69) and Australia’s Karrie Webb (68) were second at 5 under. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., is tied for 33rd after carding a 74.
Eger takes Champions lead: At Cap Cana, Dominican Republic, David Eger shot a 5-under 67 to sit atop a crowded Champions Tour leaderboard after the first round of the Cap Cana Championship. Eger, a two-time winner on the Champions Tour, shot a bogey-free round that put him one shot ahead of Nick Price, Eduardo Romero, Keith Fergus, Tim Simpson and Tom Jenkins.
NHL
Ovechkin riddles Lightning
Alex Ovechkin scored his 52nd and 53rd goals and added two assists as the Capitals beat visiting Tampa Bay 5-3 at Washington.
The Capitals blew a 3-1 first-period lead before holding on to beat the Lightning for the 10th straight time. Ovechkin reached 100 points for the season with his second goal, an empty-netter with 7 seconds to play.
Blackhawks rally: At Chicago, Martin Havlat had a goal and two assists and Brent Seabrook scored with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in overtime to help the Hawks rally for a 3-2 victory over New Jersey.
Olympics
Revenue-sharing respite
Olympic officials have agreed to a system to help resolve their contentious revenue-sharing agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, said the USOC has agreed to negotiate a deal to pay a portion of the cost of running the Olympic Games.
Cycling
Leipheimer prevails
Levi Leipheimer won the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon after protecting his overall lead in the final stage at Valladolid, Spain.
The American finished 16 seconds ahead of Astana teammate Alberto Contador after holding off the 2007 Tour de France champion in the two mountain stages since winning Tuesday’s time trial.
Lance Armstrong was supposed to challenge Contador and Leipheimer at the race but pulled out Monday after breaking his collarbone in a crash.
Nimke wins time trial: At Pruszkow, Poland, Stefan Nimke of Germany won the 1-kilometer time trial in an upset at the track world championships, with American cyclist Taylor Phinney taking the silver medal.
Nimke, an Olympic bronze medalist in the team sprint, started slow but finished in 1 minute, 0.666 seconds, nearly half a second faster than the best time of absent world and Olympic champion Chris Hoy of Britain.
Women’s basketball
Mankato wins D-II title
Heather Johnson had 29 points to lead Minnesota State-Mankato to a 103-94 victory over Franklin Pierce in the NCAA Division II national championship game at San Antonio, the Mavericks’ first basketball title in school history.