Daily Sports Roundup: May 16 (MSI)
Today
in the Daily Sports Roundup: The conference finals get underway in both
the NBA and the NHL, while the drivers take to the track in the Sprint
Cup Series.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The
NBA's Eastern Conference Finals begins on Sunday afternoon with Boston
at Orlando. The Celtics completed their upset victory over LeBron James
and the Cavaliers on Thursday night, winning Game 6 by a score of 94-85
at TD Garden. Kevin Garnett poured in a team-high 22 points for Boston
in that contest to go along with 12 rebounds, with Rajon Rondo added 21
points on the night. Rasheed Wallace and Paul Pierce each scored 13
points. The Magic swept the Hawks in the second round of the playoffs,
and they have yet to be tagged with a loss during the postseason. The
oddsmakers have listed Orlando as the 6.5-point home favorite for
Sunday's matchup, with the total for the game at 189.5 points.
Meeting
up on the diamond . . .
The American League schedule for
Sunday has Boston at Detroit, Minnesota at the Yankees, Texas at
Toronto, Cleveland at Baltimore, the White Sox at Kansas City, Oakland
at the Angels, and Seattle at Tampa Bay. The Mariners' Cliff Lee (1-1,
2.01 ERA) will take on the Rays' Matt Garza (5-1, 2.49 ERA) in that last
matchup. Lefthander Lee was beaten by the Rays in his May 5 outing, as
he gave up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over his eight innings of
work. Righthander Garza grabbed the win for Tampa Bay in that contest,
surrendering just two earned runs on five hits over his eight innings
of work, and fanning five.
Over in the National League on Sunday
it'll be the Mets at Florida, St. Louis at the Cincinnati, Pittsburgh at
the Cubs, Washington at Colorado, the Dodgers at San Diego, Houston at
San Francisco, Philadelphia at Milwaukee, and Arizona at Atlanta. Dan
Haren (4-2, 4.23 ERA) will take on Tim Hudson (3-1, 2.64 ERA) in that
last matchup. Righthander Haren was tagged with a loss by the Dodgers in
his last trip to the mound, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits over
his 6 1-3 innings of work. Righthander Hudson is coming off a win over
the Brewers in his last start in which he surrendered just one earned
run over his six innings of work.
Taking a trip around the
rink . . .
The NHL also begins its conference finals on
Sunday, with Chicago at San Jose in the west, and Montreal at
Philadelphia in the east. The Blackhawks dispatched the Canucks in the
second round of the playoffs, winning the Game 6 clincher 5-1 in
Vancouver on Tuesday night. The Sharks, meanwhile, completed their
five-game series win over the Red Wings last Saturday night. The
Canadiens needed all seven games to get past the defending-champion
Penguins in the Eastern semis, locking up that set with a 5-2 road win
on Wednesday night. And the Flyers came back from an 0-3 deficit in both
the series and Game 7 on Friday night to eliminate the Bruins, getting a
game-winning marker from Simon Gagne.
Roaring around the
track . . .
The Sprint Cup Series takes the track at Dover
International Speedway on Sunday afternoon for the Autism Speaks 400,
with Jimmie Johnson looking to pick up his third consecutive win on the
track. Johnson visited victory lane at Dover twice last season, claiming
both the AAA 400 in September and the Autism Speaks 400 in May. Those
results have made Johnson a +500 favorite to win on Sunday along with
teammate Jeff Gordon. Kyle Busch, who won at Dover in 2008, is sitting
at +600 for Sunday, with Denny Hamlin just back of him on that list at
+800. Hamlin has grabbed the win in three of the past six Sprint Cup
races.
As well, the drivers of Formula 1 will continue their
latest European swing on Sunday with the Monaco Grand Prix. Sebastian
Vettel is pegged as the 9/4 oddsmakers' favorite to take the checkered
flag in Monaco on Sunday, with Fernando Alonso listed at 10/3 odds to
get the win. Mark Webber, who won the Spanish Grand Prix last time out,
is at 9/2 odds, followed by Lewis Hamilton at 11/2. Jenson Button, the
current leader in the drivers championship, is sitting at 12/1 odds to
win in Monaco, with Michael Schumacher farther back at 15/1 odds.
Rounding
out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the WNBA offers up four games
on Sunday, with Chicago at New York, Indiana at Atlanta, Los Angeles at
Seattle, and Washington at Minnesota. Star guard Seimone Augustus won't
be in the lineup for Minnesota on Sunday night; she'll miss the next
few weeks as she recovers from having abdominal surgery.