In brief: Memphis defeats Oklahoma City to seize 2-1 series edge

NBA: Zach Randolph had 21 points and a franchise-record 21 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from a 16-point deficit to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-93 in overtime Saturday and grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal in Memphis, Tenn.

The Grizzlies are trying to do something no NBA team has done in climbing from the No. 8 seed all the way to the Western Conference finals. They moved two wins away from that by remaining undefeated on their home court this postseason.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points.

Game 4 is Monday in Memphis.

• Garnett leads Celtics past Heat in Game 3: Kevin Garnett had 28 points and 18 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 27 points and the host Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 97-81 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Dwyane Wade had 23 points and seven assists for the Heat.

Miami leads the best-of-7 series 2-1, with Game 4 on Monday night in Boston.

Ward helps Predators stay alive with win

NHL: Joel Ward scored two goals less than five minutes apart early in the third period and the Nashville Predators stayed alive against the Vancouver Canucks with a 4-3 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinal series in Vancouver, B.C.

David Legwand also scored twice and Pekka Rinne made 29 saves for the Predators, who trail 3-2 in the best-of-7 series but will return home for Game 6 on Monday night.

Ryan Kesler scored twice for Vancouver.

U.S., Canada winners at hockey worlds

Miscellany: Derek Stepan scored the tying goal in the first period, Mark Stewart and Chris Kreider added goals in the second and the United States rallied from an early hole to beat France 3-2 in the ice hockey world championships in Kosice, Slovakia.

In other action, Canada advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Norway 3-2 behind goals from Jason Spezza, John Tavares and James Neal.

Canada leads Group F with a perfect 10 points. The U.S. team has seven points and plays Switzerland in its last qualifying game today, needing one point to clinch a quarterfinal spot.

• Ice even series with win over Portland: Kevin King and Matt Fraser each scored twice as Kootenay exploded for five goals in the second period, and the Ice hung on for a wild 7-5 victory over the host Portland Winterhawks in Game 2 of the Western Hockey League final.

Kootenay led 6-1 with 5:28 left in the second period, but Portland scored four straight goals to draw within one with 11:46 to play in regulation.

• Ohio State beats UCSB for men’s volleyball title: Ohio State won the NCAA men’s volleyball title for the first time with a 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9 victory over UC Santa Barbara (18-15) in State College, Pa.

Shawn Sangrey led the Buckeyes (26-6) with 30 kills, three coming in a decisive 5-0 run to close the fifth set.

• Nadal, Djokovic to meet in Madrid Open final: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain rallied to reach today’s Madrid Open final with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Swiss star Roger Federer.

In the other semifinal, Novak Djokovic of Serbia rallied to beat unseeded Thomaz Bellucci 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

• HTC-Highroad wins first stage of Giro d’Italia: American team HTC-Highroad won the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia, finishing 10 seconds ahead of fellow U.S.-based squad Radioshack in the team time trial and putting Italian Marco Pinotti in the leader’s pink jersey in Turin, Italy.

Italian team Liquigas was third, 22 seconds back.

Today’s 151-mile flat stage runs from Alba to Parma.

Geale tops Sylvester for middleweight title

Boxing: Australia’s Daniel Geale took the IBF middleweight title from Germany’s Sebastian Sylvester, winning a split decision in Neubrandenburg, Germany.

The 30-year-old Gaela (25-1) received winning scores of 118-110 from judge Steve Epstein and 118-112 from Marcus McDonell, while Berit Andreasen scored it 118-110 in favor of Sylvester (34-4-1).

• Holyfield beats Nielsen with TKO: Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield stopped Denmark’s Brian Nielsen on a technical knockout to win in the 10th round in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The 48-year-old Holyfield pressed Nielson in the corner and the bout was halted after Holyfield landed several jabs in the corner and the Dane spat out some blood.

Byrd parlays hot start into Wells Fargo lead

Golf: Jonathan Byrd fired a 5-under-par 67 to take a one-shot lead over Pat Perez (70) in the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

Byrd sits at 15-under 201 entering today’s final round. Stewart Cink (68) and Lucas Glover (69) are three back.

Alex Prugh (Ferris, UW) shot a 73 for a three-day total of 216.

• Calcavecchia holds onto Regions Tradition lead: Mark Calcavecchia shot a 1-under 71 for a one-stroke lead over Jay Haas (68) at the Champions Tour’s Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.

Calcavecchia finished at 12-under 204. Tom Pernice Jr. and Tom Lehman both shot 68s and are two shots back.