In brief: Heat roar back to tie series with Hawks
Remember how bad Dwyane Wade and his Miami teammates looked in Game 1 of the playoffs? They were that good in Game 2.
Wade scored 33 points, 13 straight to close the first half before he banked in a 3-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes left to finish off the host Atlanta Hawks in a 108-93 victory Wednesday night that evened the series before it headed to south Florida.
After scoring only 19 points to open the best-of-7 series Sunday in a 90-64 blowout, Wade eclipsed his point total by halftime.
Mike Bibby led Atlanta with 18 points.
•Nuggets roll again: Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets to another blowout of the New Orleans Hornets, scoring 31 points in Denver’s 108-93 home win.
The best-of-7 series shifts to New Orleans for Game 3 on Saturday night with the Nuggets holding just the third 2-0 edge in their 33-year NBA history.
•Magic pull even with 76ers: The Orlando Magic built a big lead and avoided another meltdown – barely.
Rookie Courtney Lee had 24 points, Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 and the Magic blew another 18-point lead before beating the Philadelphia 76ers 96-87 at Orlando, Fla., to even the series at a game apiece.
Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds but fouled out late, and Rashard Lewis made a pair of big jumpers in the final minutes to help Orlando get its fourth win in five chances against Philadelphia this season.
•Wizards turn to Saunders: Flip Saunders officially has the job on the Washington Wizards’ bench, complete with an $18 million, four-year contract and the task of picking up the pieces from one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
The Wizards said that Saunders will be their new coach, confirming one of the worst-kept secrets of the NBA. Saunders will be formally introduced at a news conference today.
Football
Huskies lose two players
Offensive lineman Allen Carroll and running back Terrance Dailey are leaving Washington’s program.
Coach Steve Sarkisian said that Carroll has lost the passion for playing, while Dailey was unable to meet the academic requirements of the team.
•Union chief has no contract: New executive director DeMaurice Smith has been working for the NFL Players Association without a contract for six weeks while a deal is being negotiated.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said that Smith has not been paid anything by the union.
Hockey
Bruins finish sweep
Former Montreal forward Michael Ryder scored twice and assisted on David Krejci’s goal to help the Boston Bruins complete a four-game sweep of the Canadiens with a 4-1 victory at Montreal.
Tim Thomas made 26 saves, and Phil Kessel also scored for Boston, which won the Eastern Conference quarterfinal for its first playoff series win in 10 years.
The top-seeded Bruins had lost five straight series – including losses to Montreal in 2002, 2004 and 2008 – since beating Carolina in the first round in 1999.
•Rangers put Caps on brink: Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves, half of them in the second period, and the seventh-seeded New York Rangers put the Washington Capitals on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 victory at New York.
Lundqvist, who posted a 1-0 shutout win in Game 2, was on top of his game as the Capitals controlled play from the second period to the end – outshooting New York 39-21. But it’s the Rangers who hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
•Flames draw even: Eric Nystrom scored off a rebound with 6:56 remaining and the Calgary Flames held off the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 in Game 4 at Calgary, Alberta, to even the best-of-7 Western Conference series.
Nystrom also had two assists, Olli Jokinen scored the first two goals of his playoff career, Jarome Iginla completed a two-goal game with an empty-netter, and Adrian Aucoin added a goal for the Flames.
Auto racing
Crews make alterations
Richard Childress Racing will swap the crews for slumping drivers Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears following this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Both teams have underperformed this season, the first in which Richard Childress Racing is fielding four full-time cars. Team owner Childress said he’ll swap the crews to get both teams performing up to their standards.
Meanwhile, Bobby Labonte will have a new crew chief starting this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
Ben Leslie, who had been the field manager for Ford Racing the past four-plus season, takes over the No. 96 Ford from Todd Parrott.
The swap was made by Yates Racing, which is trying to strengthen the organization around Labonte.
Miscellany
Supplement suspected
Twenty-one prized polo horses that mysteriously died before one of the sport’s top championships in West Palm Beach, Fla., were given a supplement that likely caused their deaths, the leader of the Venezuelan-owned team told an Argentine newspaper.
Juan Martin Nero, of Lechuza Polo, told the newspaper La Nacion that the horses were given a supplement known as Biodyl, which contains a combination of vitamin B12, a form of selenium called sodium selenite and other minerals.
•Olympic organizers state their case: Vancouver Olympic organizers were in court, arguing that the decision to exclude women ski jumpers from competition next year is not theirs to reverse.
Fifteen ski jumpers are in a Canadian court this week seeking a ruling that women be allowed to compete in the event at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
•Phelps changes technique: Olympic swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps will be trying out a new freestyle technique when he returns to competition next month.
Phelps isn’t revealing what he’s changed, but he said the difference will be obvious once he takes his first stroke.
Phelps will reveal the new technique at the Charlotte UltraSwim on May 14-17.