SPORTS SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014 Spurs silence Thunder

SAN ANTONIO: Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw were electric off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs routed the Oklahoma City Ex-Microsoft CEO Thunder 117-89 in Game Five of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday to move one Ballmer to buy win away from a berth in the NBA Finals. Ginobili scored 19 points, Diaw added 13 and veteran forward Tim Duncan contributed a LA Clippers for $2b team-high 22, along with 12 rebounds, as the Spurs made the most of home court advan- LOS ANGELES: Former Microsoft chief will buy tage to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven the basketball team for an NBA record $2 series. billion, he announced in a statement Thursday. The NBA is All-Star point guard Tony Parker weighed forcing the family of to sell the team because in with 12 points while Kawhi Leonard and of racist comments he made. Sterling’s wife said in a state- Danny Green tallied 14 points apiece as top- ment issued with Ballmer that she had agreed the sale. But seeded San Antonio had six players in dou- Donald Sterling could still oppose the deal. The price tag for a ble-figures. The Spurs, aiming for a return to team that has never won a championship would set an NBA the NBA Finals after losing to the Miami Heat record. It would mark a massive financial return for Sterling on in seven games last year, outshot their oppo- a club he purchased in nents by 51 percent to 43 from the field as 1981 for just $12 million. In they rebounded from their 105-92 Game the joint statement, Shelly Four loss in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Sterling said she was act- “Aggressiveness,” Ginobili told Turner ing as sole trustee of the Network Television in a courtside interview family, which owns the when asked what had been the biggest team, although a lawyer change for the Spurs. for her husband said he “We played so much harder, sharper, had to sign off on the deal. smarter - everything we talked about. It was “I am delighted that we are a fun-to-play and fun-to-watch game. If we selling the team to Steve, play like this, it’s a completely different sto- who will be a terrific own- ry.” San Antonio out-rebounded Oklahoma er,” Shelly Sterling said in City 48-35, an especially satisfying result for the statement. Ballmer, Ginobili after the teams had been evenly CEO of Microsoft from matched in that statistic in Game Four. 2000 until this year, said he “Today, with seven minutes to go, we were loves basketball and will Steve Ballmer up 15 on the boards and we were close in do “everything in my pow- Oklahoma City,” smiled the 36-year-old from er to ensure that the Argentina who has twice been an NBA All- Clippers continue to win-and win big-in Los Angeles.” The Star. “All the loose balls were ours, we moved deal was reached Thursday night after a bidding war, news the ball really well and we didn’t turn the ball reports said. But attorney Bobby Samini said as he left Donald over so it was a combination of things that Sterling’s home: “There’s been no sale. There can be no sale made us play really, really well.” without Donald’s signature,” the reported. Earlier, another attorney for Donald Sterling, Maxwell Blecher, Thunder fatigue said there would be no sale “unless the NBA does something League MVP Kevin Durant led the about the illegal charges they have filed against him and so far we’ve heard nothing to indicate that will occur.” Thunder with a game-high 25 points and SAN ANTONIO: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (right) shoots dynamic guard Russell Westbrook scored 21 against San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan during the second half of on six-of-12 shooting but both players Sterling opposed Game 5 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals on Thursday, May 29, Donald Sterling is to appear before the NBA board of gov- appeared to be a little fatigued after their 2014. — AP brilliant efforts on Tuesday. “We gave them ernors Tuesday, when the other 29 owners are to vote on (the Spurs) everything they wanted,” said ter. Roared on by their home crowd, San ahead, a Patty Mills three-pointer with just whether to terminate his ownership. “The league on Tuesday Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “They got the Antonio shot at better than 60 percent from over six minutes to go putting them 33 has a guillotine over Mr Sterling’s head,” Blecher said. “They dribble drive, they got the three-point line the field during the second quarter, late ahead after a sizzling 27-6 run. Both teams will confiscate his team illegally, and if they don’t want a law- and they got to the free throw line. “They three-pointers from Diaw and Ginobili help- benched their starters as the clock ran down. suit challenging that conduct, they need to let us know before shot 30 free throws and they’re not a team ing them to a 65-55 advantage at halftime. The series shifts back to Oklahoma City for Tuesday.” Blecher insisted the league has no grounds to act that shoots a lot of free throws, but we With the Thunder’s big two of Durant and Game Six otoday with the eventual winners against Sterling because the remarks for which he has been fouled enough to put them on the line for 30 Westbrook nowhere near as sharp as they advancing to meet either the Heat or Indiana sanctioned-telling his girlfriend not to bring blacks to Clippers free throws.” had been in Game Four and frequently kept Pacers for the NBA title. “We have to regroup games-came in a private conversation that was recorded with- The Thunder began well enough to take out of the paint, the Spurs continued to and come back better in a few days,” said out his permission, which is a crime in . “Under early control, a Durant layup capping a 15-3 dominate and stretched their lead to 20 Brooks. “We always come back with greater California law, that recording cannot be used for any purpose run as they moved ahead 19-12, but the points heading into the fourth quarter. energy and better defensive attitude and in any proceeding except for impeachment,” Blecher said. The Spurs hit back with a flurry of three-pointers There was no way back from there for that’s what we’re going to have to come comments were posted on entertainment website TMZ in to even the score at 32-32 after the first quar- Oklahoma City as San Antonio forged further back with.”— Reuters April, sparking a firestorm that prompted the NBA to act against Sterling. In addition, Blecher indicated Sterling would not meekly accept the league’s condemnation. “He’s not consenting to Rangers eye bigger title; paying a $2.5 million fine or to be banished from the stadium for the rest of his life,” Blecher said. “These are draconian remedies that exceed anything that anyone has ever done in knock out Canadiens 1-0 any professional sport.” Blecher said Sterling will attend Tuesday’s board meeting since league rules say he would sur- NEW YORK: The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 1- the puck going into the net, whipping the Big Apple’s hockey fans render his rights if he fails to appear. Sterling and his advisers 0 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday to seal their first Stanley into a frenzy. “It was a roller coaster mentally,” said Lundqvist, who have not taken any legal action against the NBA so far Cup appearance in two decades. Dominic Moore scored the game’s gave up four early goals before he was taken off in the last game. because he “did not want to interfere with Mrs Sterling’s effort only goal in the second period as the Rangers wrapped up the “But then you just have to make up your mind. I kept telling myself to try to arrange a sale of the team,” the lawyer added. Eastern Conference finals series 4-2. The Rangers will play either the all day, ‘believe in what you’re doing’ ... you have a tough game, but The Los Angeles Times said Ballmer beat at least two oth- Los Angeles Kings or the Chicago Blackhawks for the National you just have to stay confident.” er bidders for the Clippers. A group including former NBA Hockey League’s championship when the Stanley Cup finals start With Lundqvist back to his impenetrable best and the Rangers player Grant Hill had offered $1.2 billion and a group led by on June 4. We’ve given ourselves the opportunity to compete for offense fuelled by a rowdy crowd at Manhattan’s most famous old entertainment mogul David Geffen bid $1.6 billion, the the Cup,” said Rangers’ coach Alain Vigneault. “It was a great feel- arena, the Blue shirts came out with all the ferocity of a prize fighter newspaper said. The previous highest price ever paid for an ing tonight. We played, in my book, probably our best game of the looking for a quick knockout. Montreal’s rookie goalie Dustin playoffs.” Tokarski soon found himself under fire, forced to save the first sev- NBA team was $550 million paid for the Milwaukee Bucks in New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was surprisingly pulled en shots of the contest, including a vicious snap from Mats April. The most paid for a North American professional sports during Tuesday’s Game Five loss in Montreal, made a spectacular Zuccarelolo that rifled into his face mask. But the Rangers failed to franchise was the $2.1 billion paid for baseball’s Los Angeles return with 18 saves and his first shutout of the playoffs. He pulled capitalize on their early chances including a golden opportunity to Dodgers in 2012 by a group led by NBA great Magic off one fantastic save from Thomas Vanek in the second period score off a short-handed wraparound - and the Habs slowly began Johnson. Any deal must be approved by three quarters of when he dropped his stick but flipped around just in time to stop to grow in confidence in a scoreless opening period. —Reuters the NBA’s other owners. — AFP