In brief: Howard, Lewis turn back Cavs
No longer untested, no longer unbeaten. The Cleveland Cavaliers finally met their match in the playoffs.
Superman’s team stopped them cold.
Dwight Howard scored 30 points, Rashard Lewis added 22 and the Orlando Magic rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to hand LeBron James and the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason, 107-106 on Wednesday night in the Eastern Conference finals opener at Cleveland.
James finished with 49 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but the league MVP walked off the floor with a slight limp after Cleveland’s stunning loss – just its third in 46 home games.
Lewis made a 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left and the Magic, who dethroned the champion Boston Celtics in the previous round, survived two shots by Cleveland in the final seconds. Mo Williams missed a catch-and-shoot jumper off a jump ball as the horn sounded and the Cavs fell to 8-1 in the postseason.
“It’s a big victory,” said Howard. “We kept believing we could win.”
•WWE relocates: World Wrestling Entertainment is moving its Monday show to Los Angeles because of a conflict with the Pepsi Center in Denver, which had booked two events for the same night.
The Nuggets are scheduled to host the Lakers on Monday in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, but WWE had previously secured the arena for an episode of Monday Night Raw.
•Martin fractured finger: What was originally diagnosed as a contusion to the left, non-shooting, ring finger of Denver’s Kenyon Martin turned out to be a fracture, but a Nuggets spokesman said that Martin would play today in Game 2 of the Lakers-Nuggets series.
•Tisdale remembered: Friends and fans paid their last respects to former Oklahoma and NBA basketball star Wayman Tisdale at a public viewing at the Friendship Baptist Church in Tulsa, Okla.
Tisdale, 44, was a three-time All-American for Oklahoma in the mid-1980s before playing 12 seasons in the NBA. He died Friday of bone cancer.
Football
Rooney Rule examined
NFL teams looking to hire general managers may soon be required to interview at least one minority candidate.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league’s owners discussed expanding the Rooney Rule – which already applies to coaching openings – during the final session of their two-day meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. No vote was taken, though Goodell indicated any changes could be made soon.
•Ex-linebacker charged with slaying: A former NFL linebacker and his former lover have been charged in the slaying of an Orange County multimillionaire nearly 15 years ago.
Authorities in Newport Beach, Calif., arrested Nanette McNeal and Eric Naposki, who played in the late 1980s for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. They are each charged with murder for the December 1994 shooting death of William Francis McLaughlin.
•Brady skips practice: The New England Patriots were back on the practice field, with many veterans – including quarterback Tom Brady – skipping the voluntary workout at Foxborough, Mass.
•Iwebema has tumor removed: A benign, baseball-size tumor was removed from the chest of Arizona Cardinals defensive end Kenny Iwebema on Monday.
•Henry arrested: Former NFL running back Travis Henry is in federal custody in Tampa, Fla., after violating conditions of his bond by consuming alcohol.
Tennis
U.S. fails to advance
The United States was eliminated from World Team Cup tennis after failing to advance out of round-robin play at Duesseldorf, Germany.
Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey defeated Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt and Robin Soderling 2-6, 6-2, 10-3, but the U.S. couldn’t overcome losing two singles matches Tuesday.
•Sharapova sizzles: Maria Sharapova routed Darya Kustova 6-2, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Warsaw (Poland) Open in her first singles tournament since returning from shoulder surgery.
Auto racing
Long, Swing suspended
NASCAR has suspended driver Carl Long for the next 12 Sprint Cup races and fined crew chief Charles Swing $200,000, the largest penalty in the sport’s history.
Swing also was suspended until Aug. 18 for using an engine that was too big for NASCAR’s specifications last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Long was docked a NASCAR-record 200 points.
•Court backs F-1: A Paris court dismissed Ferrari’s bid to stop Formula One from instituting a budget cap next season, and the Italian team reiterated its threat to pull out of the 2010 championship.
Miscellany
Potential buyer surfaces
Another potential buyer has surfaced for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, one that would keep the team in Glendale, Ariz.
An attorney for Las Vegas-based businessman John Breslow, who owns 3 percent of the Coyotes, said that Breslow told the NHL he has formed a group interested in submitting a bid for the team.
•Memorial Cup action: Gabriel Dumont scored the overtime winner at the 13:23 mark to send the Drummondville Voltigeurs to the semifinals of the Memorial Cup with a 3-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic in Rimouski, Quebec. The Voltigeurs (2-1) will await tonight’s winner of the Oceanic (1-2) and the Windsor Spitfires (1-2). Kelowna of the Western Hockey League has already clinched a spot in the finals.
•UCLA leads way: UCLA’s Maria Jose Uribe shot a 6-under-par 66 to take a two-stroke lead in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships and help the Bruins open a one-shot edge in the team competition at Owings Mills, Md.
•Preakness winner works out: Rachel Alexandra returned to the track for the first time since becoming the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness.
She galloped a mile over a fast Churchill Downs track at Louisville, Ky. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird galloped 11/2 miles for the first time since finishing second to Rachel Alexandra in last Saturday’s Preakness at Pimlico.