Holiday drives gritty 76ers to Game 7
Nba: Jrue Holiday scored 20 points, and Elton Brand had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the tough-and-determined Philadelphia 76ers past the Celtics 82-75 on Wednesday night to send the Eastern Conference semifinals back to Boston for Game 7.
No team has won consecutive games in a series in which neither team has played well enough to seize control.
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo could be playing their last game together Saturday night if they can’t find a way to hang onto the ball and put away a Sixers team that won’t quit.
Former 76ers All-Star Allen Iverson earned a roaring standing ovation when he presented the game ball. By the end, the fans were on their feet for Holiday, Brand and Andre Iguodala for keeping the eighth-seeded Sixers alive for at least one more game.
The Celtics posted ugly numbers across the board: Blame the loss on the 33 percent shooting, the 17 turnovers or the 3-for-14 3-point shooting.
• Haslem suspended: Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem has been suspended by the NBA for Game 6 of the Miami-Indiana series.
Haslem committed a flagrant foul against Tyler Hansbrough during the second quarter of Game 5 on Tuesday, shortly after Hansbrough struck Miami’s Dwyane Wade and opened a cut over his right eye.
Also Wednesday, Miami reserve forward Dexter Pittman was suspended three games for his flagrant foul against Indiana’s Lance Stephenson late in Game 5.
Carter’s goal gives Devils 3-2 series lead
NHL: Ryan Carter snapped a tie with 4:24 left, and the New Jersey Devils posted a 5-3 road victory over the New York Rangers after blowing a three-goal lead in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Devils, who led 3-0 before the first period was half over, have a 3-2 edge in the series and can advance to face the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup finals with a win at home on Friday night.
If the Rangers can stay alive then, Game 7 would be back at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
• Canucks extend Vigneault’s contract: The Vancouver Canucks signed coach Alain Vigneault to a contract extension, ending speculation that the team’s playoff loss to Los Angeles might cost him the job.
NFL players union files cap complaint
NFl: The players union claimed that the NFL imposed a secret salary cap during the uncapped 2010 season that cost the players at least $1 billion.
The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, which oversees the Reggie White settlement covering NFL labor matters. But the league says the union has no grounds for the action and is prohibited from filing it by the collective bargaining agreement.
Former Chief adds to title résumé
HOCKEY: David Rutherford added another trophy.
The former Spokane Chiefs forward – who was on Spokane’s 2008 Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup championship team – helped the Florida Everblades clinch the ECHL’s Kelly Cup with a 3-2 overtime victory over Las Vegas in Estero, Fla.
Rutherford was on the ice against former teammate Judd Blackwater, who was also on the 2008 team.
Two other Chiefs from the 2008 team are also still alive in the playoffs.
Goalie Dustin Tokarski and forward Tyler Johnson – a Spokane native – are with the American Hockey League’s Norfolk Admirals, who will play in the Calder Cup final against the winner of the Toronto-Oklahoma City series.
Former Chief Ray Whitney – who won a Memorial Cup with Spokane in 1991 – was also still alive in the NHL playoffs, but Los Angeles eliminated Whitney’s Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference final of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Alabama pads leads in women’s golf
MISCELLANY: Alabama grabbed an 11-stroke lead, and Crimson Tide senior Brooke Pancake shot a 2-under 70 to top the individual leaderboard after the second round of the NCAA Division I women’s golf championship at Franklin, Tenn.
Alabama, two strokes ahead after the first round at the Vanderbilt Legends Club, shot a 3-under 285 in the second to reach 5-under 571.
Defending champion UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia were tied for second at 6 over.
• Rodriguez holds lead: Joaquin Rodriguez won the tough 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia to keep his grip on the overall lead.
The Spaniard led a group of Giro favorites over the line in 5 hours, 24 minutes, 41 seconds to claim his second stage victory of this year’s race. The Giro ends Sunday in Milan.