Richardson, Warriors Take 2-1 Series Lead

OAKLAND, Calif., April 27 (AP) --
Stephen Jackson swore he felt the arena shake at times, the sellout crowd swelling to its yellow seams with every basket, blocked shot and improbable turn in the Golden State Warriors' victory.
Every minute of this game seemed worth a 13-year wait for the Warriors' faithful fans who loved their club long before it even dreamed of being halfway to knocking the Dallas Mavericks out of the playoffs.
Jason Richardson had 30 points and eight rebounds, Baron Davis added 24 points and the Warriors steamrolled NBA-leading Dallas for the second time in three games, winning 109-91 Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
"The place was jumpin','' said Jackson, who had 16 points. "That's a great night.''
The Bay Area's first NBA playoff game since May 4, 1994, was a rollicking success for the eighth-seeded Warriors, who endured 12 straight losing seasons before coach Don Nelson got them back to the playoffs this spring.
And after dominating both ends of the court in another improbably comfortable win over the mighty Mavericks, the Warriors are halfway to what probably would be the biggest first-round upset in NBA playoff history - if Golden State can recapture this marvelous formula two more times.
"We just love playing them,'' Richardson said. "We get up for them. They're the best team in the NBA. We pretty much know these guys. ... I think they just had a bad game tonight. We can't be overconfident about this game. We've still got another couple of games to try to win.''
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday night in Oakland, with Game 5 back in Dallas on Tuesday.
The biggest crowd in Warriors history - 20,629 fans wearing yellow T-shirts packed into the rafters of Oracle Arena - rarely sat down during Oakland's biggest party in years. The fans gleefully chanted "Overrated!'' at the flustered Mavs and Dirk Nowitzki, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in another poor performance.
Monta Ellis scored 14 points for the Warriors, who extended their uncanny Mavs mastery with their seventh win in the clubs' last eight meetings overall, including a three-game regular-season sweep.
"I think we caught them off-guard tonight,'' Davis said. "We just played with an unbelievable confidence, a tenacity on defense. ... Our style of play is hard to guard, because you've got five guys that can penetrate and make plays.''
The Warriors led throughout the final 44 minutes, taking an 18-point lead in the first half and going up by 22 in the third quarter before coasting home. Richardson was largely unstoppable, mixing drives with four 3-pointers in the six-year veteran's first playoff showcase at home.
"I knew it was coming,'' Davis said of Richardson's brilliance. "What better time for him to break out than in his first home game?''
So what's wrong with the Mavs? Not even coach Avery Johnson seems to know. After posting the sixth-best regular season in NBA history, the Mavericks have looked inexplicably ordinary against the Warriors' speed and skill.
"We tried anything to get it going here, and we just didn't have it,'' Nowitzki said. "We know the pressure is going to be on us. We won 67 games, and we said all along our goal is a championship. Anything else would be a disappointment. The pressure is on a lot of shoulders.''
Nowitzki battled constant foul trouble in Game 3, and Golden State's hustling defense somehow turned the probable league MVP into a bumbler or a bystander on most Dallas possessions. His teammates were little help outside of Josh Howard's 20 points, with Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse both enduring poor shooting nights.
"We just didn't do a lot of the detail things that we've been doing all year,'' Johnson said. "We just didn't keep our cool. We're normally a team that keeps our cool. We look like they did in Game 2, which I'm really disappointed with more than anything, how we lost our composure.''
The Warriors shocked Dallas 97-85 in Game 1 with their uptempo offense and fearless play, but fell apart in the second half of an otherwise competitive Game 2. Davis and Jackson were ejected, and Jackson was hit with a $50,000 fine from the league Friday for his behavior.
But Golden State regained its momentum and maturity back home. The Warriors controlled the tempo and the Mavericks missed open shots while Golden State took a 61-48 halftime lead.
Davis was brilliant in scoring Golden State's final basket - rolling off Biedrins' pick and herding Nowitzki into the paint before banging home a layup and drawing Nowitzki's third foul with 3 seconds to go.
The Mavs' frustration bubbled over in the third quarter, with Howard, Stackhouse and Devin Harris all picking up technical fouls.
Notes: Nelson tweaked his starting lineup, inserting Andris Biedrins in place of Al Harrington. ... Actors Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson attended the game. Hudson and Davis, an aspiring movie producer, were high school classmates in Santa Monica, while Wilson is from the Dallas area.

Mourinho launches Ronaldo tirade

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has launched a furious tirade at Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, 22, had claimed that Mourinho "does not know how to admit his own failures" after the Blues boss's controversial comments on penalties.

But Mourinho hit back: "If Ronaldo says it is a lie penalties were not given against United, then he is lying.
"He needs to see he cannot fight with facts. If he is a liar, he will never reach the level he wants to reach."
Last weekend Mourinho insisted that there was a new rule in football, where United could not concede a penalty and Chelsea could not win one.
He was referring to spot-kicks both Sheffield United and Middlesbrough felt they should have been given at Old Trafford and a penalty he thought Chelsea should have had at Newcastle.
"The whole world knows how he is," Ronaldo was reported to have told Portuguese television.
"Mourinho always has to say something when he is not happy."
United are three points ahead of Chelsea in the Premiership with four games left, with the two sides meeting at Stamford Bridge on 9 May.
They will also face each other in the FA Cup final and both clubs are in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Mavs finally break through against Warriors

DALLAS (AP) -- Tired of hearing about everything they did wrong in the playoff opener, the Dallas Mavericks sure did a lot right in Game 2.
Jason Terry scored 28 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 23 and Josh Howard led a 15-2 run in the third quarter that sent the Mavericks to a 112-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, evening their first-round series.
Dallas had lost six straight to Golden State dating to last season. The Mavericks' search for a skid-buster included a new, smaller starting lineup in Game 1, but that only resulted in a 12-point loss.
So coach Avery Johnson went back to the formula that won 67 games in the regular season and saw his club back in synch from the start. The center tandem of Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop proved they can hold their own against Golden State's little guys, and sixth man Jerry Stackhouse bounced back from a scoreless opener to put up 17 points.
"Everybody talked about the Xs and Os and the decision Avery made to go smaller, but it really wasn't that," Stackhouse said. "It was just the fact we didn't compete. I thought we came out and really competed tonight for 48 minutes and the game went in our favor."
Then again, it was easier with the Warriors' two best players getting ejected.
Baron Davis was tossed with 0.2 seconds left in the third quarter and Stephen Jackson was lost with 4:34 left in the game. Golden State already was trailing when the technical fouls started piling up.
"We're not good enough to lose a player to an ejection, much less two," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "It hurt us when we lost Baron. I thought we had a shot at the time. It wasn't to be."
The series shifts to Oakland for Game 3 on Friday night, and there's little doubt the emotions will remain high.
The Warriors certainly won't be unhinged by this loss, just their second in the last 12 games. Nelson won't allow it. He's kept his club loose, telling everyone they were lucky to win the opener and that there was a better chance of him being hit by lightning than of his team winning Game 2. His task now will be harnessing Jackson and Davis' emotions.
Johnson expected Dallas to bounce back strong. The Mavericks have lost consecutive games only once since starting the season 0-4, and last year they recovered from two Game 1 losses to win Game 2 both times. They went on to win both series, too.
Still, this victory was a bit of a relief to the Mavs because it ended a five-game postseason losing streak that started in last year's NBA finals and it should quiet talk of Nellie and the Warriors having their number.
"We needed to turn it up," said Howard, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds. "They were aggressive at the start of the last game and we didn't respond. This time, we turned it around."
Dallas was finishing off its game-changing stretch when things started getting out of control.
The bad blood started when Terry dribbled into Jackson, drawing a foul, then kept going into Davis. Words were exchanged and there was some shoving, but officials broke it up by giving those three players technical fouls.
Davis got another tech, and an automatic ejection, for arguing about a foul with 0.2 seconds left in the third quarter. He was smiling and clapping at the time, which he said was to keep his teammates' spirits up.
"I wasn't trying to show up the refs," he said. "I was trying to keep my emotions in check. Emotion is what got us to the playoffs. We have to channel that emotion into playing better defense."
The game was turning into a rout when Jackson got his second technical. Whatever he said to get tossed wasn't nearly as bad as his reaction afterward. He wouldn't stop screaming at officials as he headed to the locker room, with teammate Matt Barnes trying to cover Jackson's mouth with his arms, then with a towel.
Jackson, who declined to comment, led the Warriors with 30 points, his most ever in a playoff game. He also had eight turnovers. Davis had 13 points, two assists and one rebound; he had 33 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in Golden State's victory in the opener.
"I feel we're in good position," Davis said. "They're supposed to beat us by 20. There's no pressure on us. Tonight we were just out of fire."
Golden State opened the game strong, going on an 11-0 run in the opening minutes. The Warriors were up 23-16 soon after, but all their points had come from Jackson and Monta Ellis. That duo was a combined 9-of-10; everyone else was 0-for-8.
Ellis had 13 points in the first quarter but didn't score again until the final minute of the third quarter. He finished with 20 points. Jason Richardson had 14 with 10 rebounds.
Howard filled his stat sheet with five steals and two blocks. Nowitzki was 7-of-15 with seven rebounds.
"It was a physical game and emotional," Nowitzki said. "I think they got us in the first game and took us out of our game. I said after Game 1 we need to execute a lot better. We made a couple of adjustments that worked. Now they'll make adjustments going home and we'll go from there."
Notes: Golden State had 24 turnovers and only nine assists. ... The Mavs were quick to clean up some problems they had in the opener. By the middle of the second quarter, they already had topped their Game 1 totals for fast-break points and bench points. ... Davis had two fouls in the first 3:13, but didn't get another until there was 5:05 left in the third quarter. ... NBA general managers voted Nowitzki the league MVP -- in a survey, not an actual ballot. They don't get a vote for the real award.

http://www.nbcsports.com/nba_scoreboard/1381767/feature.html?qs=;tab=recap

Wimbledon Becomes Richest Grand Slam

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Wimbledon will be the richest Grand Slam in history, with both the female and male champion earning $1.4 million.

The only Grand Slam tournament on grass will offer total prize money of $22,572,011, an increase of 8.7 percent, organizers said Tuesday. The increase reflects the recent change to pay women the same as men from the first round to the final for the first time since Wimbledon began offering prize money in 1968. The pay equity was announced on Feb. 22.
''No tennis tournament has ever offered higher prize money than Wimbledon in 2007,'' All England Club chairman Tim Phillips said.
Last year, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer earned $1.17 million while Amelie Mauresmo took home $1.11 million.
At this year's Australian Open, Federer and Serena Williams each earned $1.05 million. The French Open will award champions $1.36 million.
Federer and Maria Sharapova, the 2006 U.S. Open champions, won $1.2 million each. The U.S. Open plans to announce its prize money in July.
Wimbledon, which runs from June 25 to July 8, also announced it would use instant replay technology for the first time, subject to final testing in May. The Hawk-Eye technology, used at the U.S. Open for the first time last year and at this year's Australian Open, will be on Centre Court and court No. 1 only.
Large screens will show replays on the two courts.
The exact protocol of Wimbledon's Hawk-Eye system has yet to be established. The U.S. and Australian Opens offer a player two challenges on line calls per set.
''There are slightly different circumstances on a grass surface,'' Wimbledon chief executive Ian Ritchie said. ''So we're looking at a bit of an alternative, maybe a bit of an extension.''
The existing cyclops technology will be moved to courts two, 14 and 18. Cyclops, which has been used at Wimbledon since 1980, is a system of infrared beams which helps determine if serves are in or out.
''We do feel it's a good thing to introduce,'' Ritchie said. ''We're all confident there won't be any issues arising in May and we'll be using it come the championships.''
Because of plans to install a retractable roof over Centre Court, the main venue has no roof this year. It will be the first time in the building's 85-year history that no roof will be on Centre Court. Three extra rows of bleachers on three sides have been built, with 500 extra seats available at this year's tournament.
Next year, there will be a non-moveable roof, with a hydraulic roof to be completed by 2009, and the capacity increasing to 15,000 from 13,800. The seats will be wider.
''People are getting bigger,'' Phillips said.
Wimbledon also announced plans for a new Court No. 2 to be ready in 2009.

In Los Angeles, Lakers Are Losing to Impatience

By HOWARD BECK

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 25 — A relentless, pounding anxiety permeates the Los Angeles Lakers’ training center. Phil Jackson senses it. Mitch Kupchak feels it. Kobe Bryant exudes it.

It would be there even if the Lakers were not down 2-0 to the Phoenix Suns in a first-round playoff series, which they are. It would be there even if they had not just absorbed a 126-98 rout in Phoenix on Tuesday, which they did. And it will be there even if the Lakers win Thursday’s Game 3 at Staples Center.
The problem goes to the heart of who the Lakers are and what they hope to be and the one player who can get them there: Kobe Bryant.
It has been five years since the Lakers raised a championship banner (a painful drought by their standards), and three years since they won a playoff series.
They have perhaps the greatest player in the game in Bryant and a Hall of Fame coach in Jackson. But they had a lackluster 42-40 season and appear headed for a second consecutive first-round exit from the playoffs.
These would be small concerns if not for the nagging questions that tug at Lakers officials day and night: How much longer can Bryant play at an otherworldly level before his skills erode? Can the Lakers squeeze in another parade or two before it happens? How long can the notoriously impatient Bryant wait for his young teammates to develop?
“He’s antsy,” Kupchak, the Lakers’ general manager, said. “And we recognize that we’ve got a talented and gifted guy that could get us to that level. We don’t want to waste that.”
Bryant is just 28 but, as he often says, it is not the age but the mileage that counts. Bryant, who entered the N.B.A. as a teen prodigy, just completed his 11th pro season. He has logged 128 playoff games — the equivalent of another season and a half. He will be 30 when he starts his 13th N.B.A. season in the fall of 2008.
For comparison’s sake, Michael Jordan played just 13 seasons at an elite level, not counting the season and a half he sat out to play baseball. Jordan was older when he entered the league, but, like Bryant, he taxed his body with a high-flying, high-impact approach to the game.
Lakers officials quietly speak of the shrinking window for returning to contender status before Bryant begins to decline. That he has had to overextend himself, averaging more than 30 points a game the last two seasons just to get them to the playoffs, does not help.
Since the moment the Lakers exiled Shaquille O’Neal to Miami in July 2004, the franchise has been defined by Bryant’s otherworldly talents. When Jackson returned in 2005, after a one-year sabbatical, expectations were instantly raised.
The talent level, however, has not been. After Bryant, the Lakers have just one All-Star-caliber player, the often-injured forward Lamar Odom. Their most promising prospect, center Andrew Bynum, is only 19.
The hope is that Bynum blossoms into a dominant low-post player while Bryant is still in his prime. Until then, the roster remains sorely lacking in star power. Luke Walton, a third-year pro, is a terrific role player. Jordan Farmar, the rookie point guard, has shown some promise.
Two weeks ago, Jackson himself wondered aloud if the team made a mistake by standing pat last summer after the Lakers’ spirited seven-game series against the Suns.
Bryant’s patience is showing signs of wear. He has noted several times in the past week that “we’re not the most talented team in the world.” The frustration was evident in his taut expression on the bench Tuesday night, and in his piercing stare as he emerged from the training room after Wednesday’s practice.
“I think now is the time,” Bryant said.
“We’ve had three years here where we’re trying to do some things. This upcoming summer and next season, this is really the time to start pushing a little bit and get to that contender level.”
Bryant feels an urgency that he did not five years ago, when he and O’Neal alternately feuded and dominated on the way to three consecutive title. His championship teammates have all moved on or retired.
There are times when Bryant seems wistful for that veteran cast as he prods, encourages and occasionally berates his young teammates. There is indeed a window, Bryant acknowledges, but said, “I don’t know what that window is.”
The Lakers’ effort to rebuild on the fly, without salary-cap space, has brought uneven results. Two years ago, they traded the swingman Caron Butler to Washington (where he has become an All-Star) for the enigmatic and frequently injured center Kwame Brown. Last summer, they signed the veteran shooting specialist Vladimir Radmanovic to a five-year, $30 million contract.
In January, Brown was accused of grabbing a stranger’s $190 birthday cake and throwing it outside of a Hermosa Beach club. In February, Radmanovic was fined $500,000 by the team after he separated his shoulder in a snowboarding accident and then lied about it.
The Lakers’ best shot at improving quickly would be to trade Odom or Bynum. But team officials consider those two players untouchable. Attempts to acquire the Nets All-Star Jason Kidd in February reportedly failed because the Lakers refused to include Bynum.
“He’s not in our plans to trade,” Kupchak said. “It’s one of those deals where you kind of don’t know what you have. You hate to do something too soon.”
Jackson has his own window. He has one year left on the three-year, $30 million contract he signed in 2005. His agent has opened negotiations on an extension with the team owner, Jerry Buss. Those talks will certainly take into account whether the Lakers have any hope of making a major move in the next few years.
“They’re paying me a championship salary to do what?” Jackson said. “Not to get to the playoffs — to get somewhere in the playoffs. I have accountability in that direction, too.”
The question remains one of acquiring or developing elite talent, and soon.
“They’ve got some decisions to make, if they want to build a contender now, or if you want to hold onto these pieces for five years from now,” Bryant said. “They got some tough choices.”