Lynx sweep Dream for first WNBA title
WNBA: Seimone Augustus and the Minnesota Lynx completed a near-perfect postseason by beating the Atlanta Dream 73-67 on Friday night to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA championship series.
Augustus had 16 points and Maya Moore, returning to her Atlanta home, had 15 to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Lynx won their first WNBA title.
Minnesota closed the postseason with six straight wins, including sweeps of Phoenix in the Western Conference finals and Atlanta in the championship series.
Most Minnesota players celebrated in a pile of hugs on the court. Taj McWilliams- Franklin, the 41-year-old starting center, headed to the bench to engulf coach Cheryl Reeve in a hug.
Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with 22 points. Erika de Souza, who had 11, was Atlanta’s only other scorer in double figures.
Rebekkah Brunson had 13 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota, while Candice Wiggins had 10 points.
Atlanta was swept by Seattle in the 2010 WNBA finals.
Edwards in front row; Harvick qualifies 14th
Auto racing: Carl Edwards will start on the front row for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., giving him an advantage over fellow Chase leader Kevin Harvick.
The two drivers are tied for the lead with seven races left.
Greg Biffle will start on the pole after turning a lap of 174.887 mph. He bumped Edwards, his Roush Fenway teammate, who briefly had the pole after a lap of 174.571 on a breezy afternoon.
Harvick will start 14th in the 43-car field.
On-time start of NBA season in jeopardy
Basketball: The NBA players’ association wanted a meeting and said the league would grant one – under one condition.
Just agree first to a 50-50 split of revenues.
Players already rejected that offer once. The league confirmed it wasn’t moving beyond that number but wanted to meet about other issues, and it said the union wasn’t interested.
All that matters: An on-time start to the NBA season seems even less likely.
Commissioner David Stern has said the league will cancel the first two weeks of the regular season if the sides can’t reach a labor agreement by Monday, and it now appears the sides won’t even talk before then.
• James, Wade will lead game at FIU: For the first time since the NBA finals, the league’s best will play in South Florida.
Miami Heat stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will headline a glitzy group tonight at the duly named “South Florida All-Star Classic,” a game in which nine players who were in last season’s NBA All-Star game are committing to appear.
Kings, Sabres win openers in Europe
Hockey: Jack Johnson scored on a power play at 4:08 of overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings past the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime at Stockholm.
Mike Richards tied it with 4:59 left in the third, and set up Johnson’s goal. Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for the Kings.
At Helsinki, Thomas Vanek scored two power-play goals, and Ryan Miller made 29 saves to help the Buffalo Sabres open the season with a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Up-and-down Woods makes Frys.com cut
Golf: Tiger Woods ran off three straight birdies early in his round, survived a rough patch around the turn and kept the stress to a minimum in his round of 3-under-par 68 in the Frys.com Open at San Martin, Calif.
It assured he would be around for the weekend, but he still was seven shots behind Paul Casey, who is making a revival of his own.
Casey, at No. 135 on the money list and in danger of losing his PGA Tour card, posted a 7-under 64 that put him atop the leaderboard at 8-under 134.
Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot a second-round 72 for a 148 total. Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot 78 for a 152 total.
The second round was incomplete and will conclude today.
• Allen leads Insperity Championship: Michael Allen shot a 9-under 63 to take a three-stroke lead over John Cook after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Insperity Championship.
Allen, the 2009 Senior PGA Championship winner, had nine birdies in his bogey-free round at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club. Cook, a three-time winner this year, also had a bogey-free round.
• Tseng out front with 7-under: Yani Tseng lived up to her top-ranked billing with a 7-under 65 to take the lead after the first round of the LPGA Hana Bank Championship in Incheon, South Korea.
Edwall, Wash., resident Wendy Ward shot 76.
China’s lead unlikely to stand up in Tokyo
Gymnastics: Forget what the standings say. China is going to be eager for a do-over after a lackluster effort in qualifying at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo.
The Chinese scored 230.370 points and passed Romania for the top spot in qualifying, despite major errors on uneven bars. Romania, which competed Friday, scored 227.228 points.
But those standings are unlikely to hold up with the United States and defending champion Russia competing later today.