National Digest
Cavs up 3-1
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — LeBron James had 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Cleveland moved one victory from its first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 15 years by beating New Jersey 87-85 in Game 4 on Monday night
Larry Hughes added 19 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who can wrap up the best-of-seven series at home Wednesday night.
Vince Carter had 25 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Nets, but was 6-for-23 from the field. Jason Kidd wasted his career playoff-high 17-rebound performance by shooting 2-for-13 and scoring five points, while Richard Jefferson had 15 points but was only 3-of-12 from the field.
New Jersey had only three field goals in the fourth quarter. Carter lost the ball out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left and the Nets trailing by two.
Mikki Moore had a career playoff-best 25 points for the Nets, who will try to become the ninth NBA team to erase a 3-1 deficit.
Suns pull even
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The Phoenix Suns closed Game 4 with a 12-1 run to even the Western Conference semifinals against San Antonio.
The Suns, who trailed by as many as 11 points, took the lead for the first time in the second half on consecutive behind-the-back feeds from Steve Nash to Amare Stoudemire that made it 100-97 with 32 seconds to play.
With 18 seconds left, San Antonio’s Robert Horry hit Nash with a forearm that knocked him into the scorers’ table. Phoenix’s Raja Bell tried to get at Horry as did Nash after he got to his feet.
Horry was given a flagrant foul and was ejected. Bell was given a technical foul. A free throw by each team made it 101-98. The Suns kept possession and Nash added another free throw with 16 seconds to go.
Stoudemire led the Suns with 26 points, while Nash had 24 points and 15 assists. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points and Tim Duncan had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Phoenix.
November baseball
NEW YORK (AP) — The start of the World Series is being pushed back an extra day to Oct. 24, meaning Game 7 is scheduled for November for the first time. Because of extra off-days during the postseason, a team sweeping the NL championship series would have eight days off before its World Series opener.
Major League Baseball announced last summer that the Series would start on a Tuesday beginning in 2007 under the sport’s new network television contracts. In recent months, the decision was made to push it back an extra day to Wednesday.
The only time World Series games have gone into November was in 2001, when terrorist attacks caused the entire postseason to be delayed a week. The World Series has been scheduled to start on a Saturday since 1985, when the league championship series expanded to best-of-seven. It was slated for a Tuesday start from 1977-84.
CYCLING
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Wearing a yellow necktie instead of the yellow jersey earned when he won the Tour de France last year, Floyd Landis began an arbitration hearing which could result in a two-year suspension for Landis and make him the first cyclist in the 104-year history of the Tour de France to be stripped of his title.
Accused of using banned synthetic testosterone during his win last year, Landis insisted on turning his arbitration hearing into a public process, in part to expose what he says is the fraudulent way USADA and its partners in the industry do business.
CAGLIARI, Sardinia (AP) — Alessandro Petacchi won the third stage of the Giro d’Italia in a sprint finish, and Enrico Gasparotto regained the overall lead from teammate Danilo Di Luca.
Petacchi, of the Milram team, covered the flat, 113-mile route from Barumini to Cagliari in 4 hours, 22 minutes, 57 seconds.
Robert Forster, a German with the Gerolsteiner team, was second. Ariel Maximilian Richeze, an Argentine with Panaria, was third, and Robbie McEwen of Australia was fourth.
MONTREAL (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency is prepared to take disciplinary action in the Operation Puerto cycling scandal now that it has gained access to the files in the Spanish doping investigation.
WADA previously had been rejected as a party in the case. The agency, which discussed Operation Puerto at its weekend meetings in Montreal, said it also would file an appeal against a Spanish judge’s decision to drop the case.
WADA said in a statement late Sunday it now has the “ability to intervene in the case.” It added that it “will review the documents for elements which may be used for sports disciplinary purposes and will work with UCI (the international cycling union).”
ROME (AP) — Italy’s Olympic Committee recommended the Italian Cycling Federation suspend Ivan Basso for admitting involvement in the Spanish doping scandal.
The committee’s anti-doping prosecutors also recommended Michele Scarponi be suspended.
Last week, Basso told committee prosecutors he had given blood samples to the Spanish doctor at the center of the scandal, Eufemiano Fuentes, who has been accused of running a blood-doping clinic in Madrid.
HORSE RACING
BALTIMORE (AP) — When Pimlico officials decided in December to rename the Sir Barton stakes for the 2006 Kentucky Derby champion, they hoped Barbaro would recover in time to help launch the inaugural Barbaro Stakes.
Barbaro never recovered from breaking his leg early in last year’s Preakness and was euthanized on January 29. His name will live on, however, as the ninth race on the Preakness Day undercard.
Barbaro trainer Michael Matz is expected to enter Chelokee in the Barbaro Stakes. Matz considered placing Chelokee in the Preakness, but decided the competition was too stiff.
FOOTBALL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A decision on Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones’ appeal for leniency from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be delayed while lawyers complete paperwork.
The commissioner then will review the briefs summing up the legal points and testimony from the appeal hearing before deciding whether to ease Jones’ season-long NFL suspension. The decision would come no sooner than May 21, two people close to the case told The Associated Press.
The two familiar with the new paperwork spoke on condition of anonymity because Goodell has asked those involved not to speak about the pending appeal.
TENNIS
ROME (AP) — In a matchup of the draw’s youngest and oldest players, 16-year-old Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek rallied past 34-year-old Nicole Pratt 6-7 (1), 6-0, 6-2 in the first round of the Italian Open.
Other seeds advancing were No. 11 Shahar Peer of Israel, who was leading 6-0, 2-0 when Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska retired because of a right wrist injury, and 10th-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, who beat Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin 6-1, 6-2.
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Marcos Baghdatis slumped to his fourth opening-round defeat in five Masters tournaments this year, losing to German wild card Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-3.
Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero withstood a strong second set challenge from Stanislas Wawrinka, winning 6-1, 7-6 (5), and Lleyton Hewitt beat Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-4.
Baghdatis has fared poorly in most of the big tournaments this year, losing in the second round of the Australian Open after finishing as runner-up in 2006.
FEZ, Morocco (AP) — Sixth-seeded Vania King of the United States easily advanced to the second round of the Grand Prix SAR Princess Lalla Meryem, defeating Bahia Mouhtassine of Morocco 6-0, 6-1.
No. 9 Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia also advanced, prevailing over Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
