Grizzlies put Spurs on brink of elimination
NBA: Mike Conley had 15 points and seven assists to help the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies rout the San Antonio Spurs 104-86 on Monday night in Memphis, Tenn., and grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their opening series.
The Grizzlies already had made franchise history by winning their first playoff game in Game 1 and added their first playoff win at home. Now they are a game away from joining the 2007 Golden State Warriors as the only eighth seeds to knock off a No. 1 seed since the NBA expanded to a best-of-7 series.
Game 5 is Wednesday in San Antonio.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points, but he also had seven turnovers. Manu Ginobili had 14 points, Gary Neal 11 and George Hill and Tiago Splitter 10 each. Splitter, a rookie from Brazil, had not played previously in this series.
• Mavericks win Game 5 to go up 3-2: Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 25 points in the third quarter and the Mavericks avoided another late collapse to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 93-82 in Dallas to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Now the Mavericks have two days to rest up before trying to close out the series in Game 6 on Thursday night in Portland. It won’t be easy; the Trail Blazers have won all four meetings there this season.
• Nuggets narrowly avoid sweep: Ty Lawson scored a career playoff-high 27 points and J.R. Smith and Danilo Gallinari hit clutch shots down the stretch to help Denver beat the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 104-101 as the Nuggets avoided a first-round sweep.
The series resumes Wednesday night with Game 5 in Oklahoma City.
The Nuggets still face a huge challenge in trying to become the first NBA team ever to overcome a 3-0 series deficit, but they finally found a formula for beating their nemesis.
Lightning take Penguins to Game 7
NHL: Steve Downie scored to snap a third-period tie and Dwayne Roloson stopped 27 shots, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Marc-Andre Fleury and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in Tampa, Fla., to force a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series.
The deciding game is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, where Tampa Bay has already won twice this postseason, including an 8-2 Game 5 blowout that began its comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the Eastern Conference series.
• Sharks close series with overtime win: Joe Thornton scored 2:22 into overtime to give visiting San Jose a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings and send the Sharks to a first-round series win.
Kyle Wellwood, Jason Demers and Dany Heatley also scored for the Sharks, who wrapped up the all-California series in six games.
Antti Niemi made 26 saves for the Sharks after being pulled in two of the last three games.
• Blackhawks lose Bickell: Chicago Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell underwent surgery in Chicago to repair a lacerated tendon in his wrist and will miss Game 7 tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.
Bickell was injured in Game 2 when he was hit by a skate.
Team physician Dr. Michael Terry said full recovery could take six to eight weeks.
• Norris Trophy finalists announced: Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators are finalists for the Norris Trophy awarded to the league’s top all-around defenseman.
Pelini rewarded with new contract
College football: Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne says he’s giving coach Bo Pelini a new five-year contract to ward off teams that might want to hire him away from the Cornhuskers.
Pelini’s contract gives him an immediate $425,000 raise, to $2.775 million, and will pay him more than $3 million a year starting in 2014.
Pelini’s name in December was linked to the opening at Miami in media reports. Osborne said that “two or three” schools were interested in Pelini after last season, but he wouldn’t name them.
Osborne said Pelini didn’t ask for a raise or new contract.
Pelini is 29-12 in three seasons at Nebraska with two straight appearances in the Big 12 championship game. The Huskers move to the Big Ten this season.
• Panel members attended bowl-sponsored retreat: Nine of the 11 members of an NCAA panel that will help decide the Fiesta Bowl’s fate attended a bowl-sponsored retreat that included free meals, resort rooms and golf outings.
The nine names all showed up on a 2008 “Fiesta Frolic” attendee list obtained by Playoff PAC. The group, which advocates switching to a playoff system to determine a national college football champion, shared the list with the Associated Press.
Japanese skater first in qualifying
Miscellany: Takahiko Kozuka easily won the men’s qualifying at the World Figure Skating Championships that were moved from Japan to Moscow after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that has left 27,000 people dead or missing. Worlds were scheduled to begin March 21 in Tokyo, and the International Skating Union didn’t announce a new venue until March 24.
Qualifying continues today for ice dance and the women.