In brief: Pierce beats buzzer; Celtics lead series 3-0
NBA: Paul Pierce hit a 21-foot jumper at the buzzer as an injured Dwyane Wade watched from the Miami bench, and the visiting Boston Celtics took complete command of their Eastern Conference first-round series with a 100-98 victory over the Heat.
Wade was helped off the court with 11 seconds remaining, after he missed a shot that would have put Miami up by three points.
He had to hurt worse moments later. Pierce got the ball, dribbled the clock inside of 3 seconds against Heat forward Dorell Wright, then connected to give the Celtics a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
•Jazz handle Nuggets, take series lead: At Salt Lake City, Paul Millsap had career highs of 22 points and 19 rebounds, rallying the Utah Jazz from a disastrous start in a 105-93 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Utah limited Denver’s Carmelo Anthony to 25 points and flustered him into five fouls.
Deron Williams added 24 points and 10 assists for the Jazz.
•Spurs win to take series lead over Mavs: Manu Ginobili helped the San Antonio Spurs hold on in a wild fourth quarter for a 94-90 win over Dallas at San Antonio.
Ginobili scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter with a possibly broken nose.
The Spurs took a 2-1 lead by surviving the NBA’s best road team, and Dirk Nowitzki torching the Spurs for 35 points after a shaky Game 2.
Ginobili, meanwhile, said he will not play for his native Argentina this summer in the world championships in Turkey. The San Antonio Spurs guard said he is skipping the tournament because his wife, who is scheduled to give birth to twins next month, and because he said he wants to stay healthy.
Canucks crush Kings, take series advantage
NHL: Mikael Samuelsson scored twice and added an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks routed the Los Angeles Kings 7-2 at Vancouver, British Columbia, to grab a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Daniel Sedin and Samuelsson scored 5 minutes apart in the second period to chase goalie Jonathan Quick. Samuelsson added his playoff-leading seventh goal on a power play in the third to send backup Erik Ersberg back to the bench.
•Canadiens force Game 6 with win over Capitals: Thanks to terrific goaltending by Jaroslav Halak and a pair of early goals by Michael Cammalleri and Travis Moen, the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens beat the top-seeded Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 5 to extend their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The host Capitals could have closed it out at home, but they will take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 at Montreal on Monday.
•Sabres stay alive with win over Bruins: Adam Mair, Jason Pominville, and Mike Grier scored in the first 30 minutes for the Buffalo Sabres, who rebounded from a devastating loss and beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 at Buffalo, N.Y., to force a sixth game in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
•Howard, Red Wings beat Coyotes in Game 5: At Glendale, Ariz., Jimmy Howard turned in another outstanding performance and Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and an assist as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round Western Conference series. Ed Jovanovski scored for Phoenix, and Ilya Bryzgalov had 25 saves.
•Finalists named for Norris Trophy: Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty, Washington’s Mike Green and Chicago’s Duncan Keith are the finalists for the Norris Trophy, given to the NHL’s top defenseman.
The winner will be announced June 23 during the NHL awards show in Las Vegas.
Goodell has flexibility in suspension’s terms
Miscellany: The NFL can increase the six-game suspension for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger if new evidence of misbehavior emerges that violates its personal conduct policy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the punishment after prosecutors decided not to charge Roethlisberger in a case involving a 20-year-old college student who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Georgia nightclub last month.
Goodell said his annual session with Associated Press Sports Editors that the conduct policy allows him to revisit the ban, announced earlier this week. If evidence of other incidents is presented, “the penalty still has some flexibility,” Goodell said.
•UCLA wins women’s gymnastics title: Top-seeded UCLA won its sixth title at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship at Gainesville, Fla. The Bruins won the title for the first time since 2004.
With five-time defending champ Georgia not in the competition, UCLA returned to where it had been before the Gym Dogs put a stranglehold on the top spot in NCAA women’s gymnastics.
Bad weather halts play at Zurich Classic
Golf: Heavy rain showers and lightening shortened play at the PGA’s Zurich Classic at Avondale, La.
Before play was halted, 47 players had finished their rounds, and three – Lee Janzen, Alex Cejka and Brian Davis – were atop the leaderboard at 7 under after two rounds.
Alex Prugh (Ferris High) was at 3 under through 16 holes before the weather cut his round short. He sits at 3 under for the tournament after an opening-round 72 on Thursday.
•O’Meara and Price tie for lead in Legends: The team of Mark O’Meara and Nick Price carded a 10-under 62 to tie John Cook and Joey Sindelar for the lead after the better-ball first round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at Savannah, Ga.
Fred Couples teamed with Jay Haas for a 9-under 63, one shot off the lead.