Rose, Bulls stun Celtics at Boston in overtime
Derrick Rose had 36 points and 11 assists in his playoff debut to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 105-103 in overtime Saturday in Boston.
Tyrus Thomas made a jumper from the corner with 51 seconds left in overtime to lead the Bulls past the defending NBA champions in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series.
Rajon Rondo had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Boston, which was without the injured Kevin Garnett and without much help from the rest of the Big Three. Paul Pierce scored 23 points on just 8-of-21 shooting. Ray Allen had four points on 1-of-12 shooting.
•James leads Cavs to victory: LeBron James banked in a 3-pointer at the halftime horn and Cleveland’s superstar finished with 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 102-84 in Cleveland.
Former EWU star Rodney Stuckey had 20 points for the Pistons.
•Mavericks end road woes: Getting a postseason road victory for the first time since their NBA Finals run in 2006, the Dallas Mavericks rode Josh Howard’s 25 points and a clutch fourth quarter to start the playoffs with a 105-97 win over the Spurs in San Antonio.
The sixth-seeded Mavericks had lost nine consecutive playoff road games.
•Rockets rout Blazers: Yao Ming scored 24 points, all in the first half, and the Houston Rockets spoiled Portland’s back-in-the playoffs euphoria with a 108-81 victory over the Trail Blazers in the opener of their first-round series in Portland.
NHL playoffs
Red Wings up 2-0
Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler scored, Chris Osgood posted his 14th NHL playoff shutout, and the Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 in Detroit to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference series.
Barring a stunning turnaround, Detroit will become the first defending Stanley Cup champion to reach the second round since the Colorado Avalanche did it seven years ago.
•Rangers down Capitals: Ryan Callahan spoiled Simeon Varlamov’s NHL postseason debut by scoring on New York’s second shot, and Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves, leading the seventh-seeded Rangers to the victory over the second-seeded Capitals in Washington, and a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
•Bruins roll: Marc Savard scored two power-play goals and the Bruins moved two wins away from their first playoff series victory since 1999 with a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Boston.
•Blackhawks edge Flames: Jonathan Toews scored two of Chicago’s three second-period goals as the Blackhawks rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames in Chicago, to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Golf
Gay maintains lead
Brian Gay moved a round away from his second career PGA Tour victory, shooting a 67 to hold a three-shot lead over Tim Wilkinson at the Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head Islands, S.C.
Gay has made only one bogey at Harbour Town Golf Links and missed just five of its narrow, tree-lined fairways through three rounds to stand at 13-under par. Wilkinson, a lefty from New Zealand seeking his first tour victory, finished with a 65, tied for the low third-round score.
•Price in front in Florida: Nick Price moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory, shooting a 4-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Lutz, Fla.
The 52-year-old Price, had a 9-under 133 total at TPC Tampa Bay. First-round leader Larry Nelson (71) was 6-under along with Jay Haas (68) and Mike McCullough (69).
Miscellany
Silva outpoints Leites
Middleweight champion Anderson Silva outpointed Thales Leites, and Mauricio Rua stopped former light-heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell in the first round at UFC 97 in Montreal.
Rua (18-3) crumpled the 39-year-old Liddell (21-7) with a lunging left and finished him off with a string of hammer-fists at 4:28 before a sellout crowd at the Bell Centre.
The 34-year-old Silva (24-4) won a record ninth straight fight in the UFC, erasing the mark shared by Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch, and tied a record with his fifth successful title defense. The judges scored it 49-46, 48-47, 50-46 for Silva.
•Power on pole: Will Power won the pole for today’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
•Nadal to face Djokovic in final: Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters at Monaco.
Nadal will play in today’s championship against Novak Djokovic, who rallied past Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the other semifinal.
•Dementieva ousted: Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the finals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C, fighting off a furious rally by Elena Dementieva to defeat the tournament’s top seed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
Wozniacki now meets 16th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who easily defeated sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal.
•Advice wins in Lexington: Advice spoiled Square Eddie’s return to racing, roaring from last to first to take the $300,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., the final Kentucky Derby prep.
•Pitino reports threats: Louisville coach Rick Pitino says he is the victim of an extortion attempt and has forwarded the information to the FBI. He has not released any details.