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2B – Daily News – Thursday, April 1, 2010 KINGS (Continued from page 1B) Kings 46-33. Minnesota also tied a season high with nine blocked shots. As has been the case for much of this season for Minnesota, this victo- ry didn’t come easy. After a strong third quarter and start of the fourth, the Timberwolves led 94-74 when Wayne Ellington hit a 3-pointer with 8:11 to play. Sacramento went on a 16-2 run to make the ending interesting. When Kings rookie Tyreke Evans made one free throw with 3:08 to play, the Kings were with- in six, 96-90. After Jefferson scored inside and Brewer made a three with 2:09 to play, Minnesota stretched its lead back to 101-92. Brewer put the Timber- wolves ahead 104-94 with an acrobatic 3-point play with 1:02 remaining and put an exclamation point on the victory with a steal and dunk with 34 seconds left. Sacramento has now failed to reach the 100- point mark in six consecu- tive games. Evans, who recently missed five games after a concussion, played in both ends of Sacramento’s back-to-back. After scor- ing 17 points on Tuesday night, Evans finished with 20 points against the Tim- berwolves. Leading by nine at halftime, the Timber- wolves (15-60) avoided a poor third quarter, some- thing that has happened frequently this season for the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. Minnesota used a 9-0 run in the third quarter and led 67-51 when Brew- MCT photo Minnesota’s Corey Brewer leaps over the Kings’Carl Landry,Wednesday. er hit an 18-foot jumper with 7:32 to play in the third quarter. When Sasha Pavlovic, who reached double figures for only the second time since mid- November, hit a jumper The first football game in the new Meadowlands Sta- dium will be between the owners of the $1.6 billion facility. The NFL announced Wednesday that the Giants and Jets will play the first game Aug. 16 when they meet Monday night in the preseason opener for both teams. The Dallas Cowboys will play the Cincinnati Bengals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game to open the NFL’s preseason schedule in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 8. Carolina will play at Bal- timore on Thursday night, Aug. 12, then the Jets and Giants meet the following Monday before the rest of the league gets into action later in the week. Super Bowl champion with 4.3 seconds to play in the third quarter, Min- nesota led 87-70. NOTES: The Kings played without Spencer Hawes, who was in street clothes after suffering a the new Meadowlands Sta- dium on Sunday, Sept. 12. The Jets will open their reg- ular season with the first Monday night game at the new stadium. New Orleans opens the pre- season at New England. The date is still to be determined. The Jets and Giants tradi- tionally play the second-to- last preseason game against each other, but with the new stadium both teams wanted to be the first to play in it. The Giants will play the first regular season game in That decision caused some controversy. Both teams also wanted to play the first regular-sea- son game at the new stadi- um. But since the Giants and Jets are not on each other’s schedule, NFL commission- er Roger Goodell flipped a coin to determine which would play first at home. The Giants won the toss, but Jets owner Woody John- left hamstring contusion in Tuesday night’s loss at Indiana. ... Omri Casspi was in uniform, but did not play for Sacramento. He missed the game at Indiana because of illness. Giants, Jets to meet in NFL preseason opener NEW YORK (AP) — son was upset that a repre- sentative of the team was not present when the coin was flipped. The AFC champion Indi- anapolis Colts open their preseason at home against San Francisco. The Minnesota Vikings, with or without Brett Favre, start the preseason at St. Louis. Pete Carroll’s first pre- season game as Seattle Sea- hawks coach will be against at home against Tennessee. New Washington coach Mike Shanahan opens at home against Buffalo. Scoreboard MLB Spring Training Glance AMERICAN LEAGUE WL Pct Tampa Bay 19 7 .731 Cleveland 17 8 .680 Detroit 16 10 .615 Minnesota 15 12 .556 Kansas City 13 11 .542 Boston 14 14 .500 Toronto 11 12 .478 New York 12 15 .444 A’s 11 15 .423 Angels 10 14 .417 Seattle 11 16 .407 Baltimore 10 17 .370 Chicago 9 16 .360 Texas Minnesota vs Boston, 10:05 a.m., ESPN N.Y.Yankees vs Toronto, 10:05 a.m. Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia, 10:05 a.m. Today’s Cactus League games Arizona (ss) vs Kansas City, 12:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox vs Seattle, 12:05 p.m. Cleveland vs L.A. Angels, 12:05 p.m. Arizona (ss) vs Milwaukee, 1:05 p.m. Colorado vs Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m. Texas vs Cincinnati, 1:05 p.m. Today’s other exhibition games Oakland at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. San Diego at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. Cleveland at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. NBA 9 17 .346 NATIONALLEAGUE WL Pct GIANTS 21 10 .677 Atlanta 17 9 .654 Padres 17 10 .630 Chicago 16 11 .593 Colorado 16 12 .571 St. Louis 14 12 .538 Milwaukee 14 13 .519 New York 14 13 .519 Houston 13 13 .500 Philadelphia 12 12 .500 Florida 13 14 .481 Dodgers 11 13 .458 Arizona 12 16 .429 Cincinnati 10 15 .400 Washington 9 18 .333 Pittsburgh 7 18 .280 NOTE:Split-squad games count in the stand- ings;games against non-major league teams do not. ——— Wednesday’s results Cincinnati 8, Oakland 3 San Francisco 6, L.A. Dodgers 2 Atlanta 10, Houston 5 Boston 14, Baltimore 6 Cleveland 10, Chicago White Sox 1 Colorado 4, Arizona 3 Detroit 8, Pittsburgh 5 L.A. Angels 11, Chicago Cubs (ss) 0 Milwaukee 12, Chicago Cubs (ss) 7 Minnesota (ss) 4, N.Y.Yankees 2 N.Y. Mets 6, Florida 3 San Diego 8, Kansas City 8, tie Seattle 7, Texas 6 Tampa Bay 10, Minnesota (ss) 3 Toronto 5, Philadelphia 2 Washington 9, St. Louis 6 Cincinnati vs L.A. Dodgers, late Today’s Grapefruit League games Florida vs St. Louis, 9:05 a.m. Washington vs N.Y. Mets, 9:10 a.m. Atlanta vs Detroit (ss), 10:05 a.m. Baltimore vs Tampa Bay, 10:05 a.m. Detroit (ss) vs Houston, 10:05 a.m. WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB x-Lakers 54 21 .720 — x-Phoenix 49 26 .653 5 Clippers 27 48 .360 27 KINGS 24 52 .316 30.5 WARRIORS 21 52 .288 32 Southwest Division WL Pct GB x-Dallas 50 25 .667 — San Antonio 45 29 .608 4.5 Memphis 38 36 .514 11.5 Houston 37 37 .500 12.5 New Orleans35 41 .461 15.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB x-Utah 49 26 .653 — x-Denver 48 27 .640 1 Okla. City 46 28 .622 2.5 Portland 45 29 .608 3.5 Minnesota 15 60 .200 34 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB y-Boston 47 27 .635 — Toronto 37 37 .500 10 New York 26 47 .356 20.5 Philadelphia 26 49 .347 21.5 New Jersey 10 65 .133 37.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB x-Orlando 52 22 .703 — x-Atlanta 48 26 .649 4 Miami 41 34 .547 11.5 Charlotte 39 35 .527 13 Washington 22 52 .297 30 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Cleveland 59 16 .787 — Milwaukee 41 33 .554 17.5 Chicago 35 39 .473 23.5 Indiana 28 47 .373 31 Detroit x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Wednesday’s results Minnesota 108, Sacramento 99 Golden State at Utah, late Atlanta 109, L.A. Lakers 92 Charlotte 103, Philadelphia 84 Cleveland 101, Milwaukee 98 Dallas 106, Memphis 102, OT Miami 98, Detroit 81 Oklahoma City 109, Boston 104 Phoenix 116, New Jersey 105 San Antonio 119, Houston 102 Toronto 114, L.A. Clippers 92 Washington 96, New Orleans 91 New York at Portland, 10 p.m. Today’s games Orlando at Dallas, 5 p.m., TNT Portland at Denver, 7:30 p.m., TNT NIT At Madison Square Garden, New York Championship — Thursday Dayton vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m., ESPN CBI Championship Series (Best-of-3) Virginia Commonwealth wins 2-0 Game 2 — Wednesday’s result Virginia Commonwealth 71, Saint Louis 65 NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-SHARKS 47 20 10 104 248 203 x-Phoenix 47 24 6 100 211 191 Kings Ducks Dallas Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Chicago 47 22 7 101 247 195 Nashville 44 28 6 94 214 214 Detroit 40 23 13 93 212 201 St. Louis 37 30 9 83 207 207 Columbus 32 32 13 77 208 246 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 46 26 4 96 248 196 Colorado 41 28 7 89 227 212 Calgary 38 29 9 85 194 193 Minnesota 37 34 6 80 208 230 Edmonton 24 45 7 55 194 260 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA 23 51 .311 35.5 x-Pittsburgh 44 26 7 95 237 219 x-New Jersey 44 26 6 94 203 184 Philadelphia 38 32 6 82 221 210 N.Y.Rangers 34 32 10 78 201 206 N.Y.Islanders 31 35 10 72 199 236 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Buffalo 43 23 10 96 221 191 43 27 6 92 220 202 37 31 8 82 216 229 34 29 14 82 221 239 Ottawa 42 30 5 89 210 220 Boston 35 29 12 82 191 189 Montreal 37 32 8 82 205 210 Toronto 28 36 13 69 204 253 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Washington 49 15 12 110 296 219 Atlanta 34 31 12 80 227 242 Carolina 33 35 9 75 212 237 Tampa Bay 31 34 12 74 201 240 Florida 30 34 12 72 197 226 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference Wednesday’s results Anaheim 5, Colorado 2 Buffalo 6, Florida 2 Carolina 2, Montreal 1 Chicago 4, Minnesota 0 Dallas 5, San Jose 1 Tampa Bay 2, Pittsburgh 0 Phoenix at Calgary, 9:30 p.m. Today’s games Atlanta at Washington, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Toronto, 4 p.m. Florida at Boston, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Carolina at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Columbus at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. St. Louis at Nashville, 5 p.m. Vancouver at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday’s late result Vancouver 4, Phoenix 1 MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Salt Lake 1 0 0 3 3 0 Seattle Colorado 1 0 0 3 1 0 Galaxy 1 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 FC Dallas 0 0 1 1 1 1 Houston 0 0 1 1 1 1 Chivas 0 1 0 0 0 1 QUAKES 01 0 0 0 3 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City 1 0 0 3 4 0 Columbus 1 0 0 3 2 0 New York 1 0 0 3 1 0 Chicago 0 1 0 0 0 1 New England 0 1 0 0 0 1 Philadelphia 0 1 0 0 0 2 Toronto FC 0 1 0 0 0 2 D.C. 0 1 0 0 0 4 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Today’s games Real Salt Lake at Houston, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Chivas USA at Los Angeles, 8 p.m., ESPN2 DEALS National Basketball Association MINNESOTA—Assigned F Nathan Jawai to Sioux Falls (NBADL). OKLAHOMA CITY—Signed G Mustafa Shakur and assigned him to Tulsa (NBADL). WASHINGTON—Signed G Cedric Jackson to a 10-day contract. National Hockey League BOSTON—Reassigned F Yannick Riendeau from Providence (AHL) to Reading (ECHL). Signed F Jordan Caron, F Joe Colborne, G Michael Hutchinson and D Steven Kampfer and assigned Colborne, Kampfer and F Maxime Sauve to Providence. LOS ANGELES—Signed F Ray Kaunisto to a two-year contract. MINNESOTA—Recalled C Cody Almond from Houston (AHL). N.Y. RANGERS—Assigned F Devin DiD- iomete from Charlotte (ECHL) to Hartford (AHL). OTTAWA—Signed G Robin Lehner and D Eric Gryba and assigned them to Bingham- ton (AHL).Reassigned F Zack Smith to Bing- hamton. PHOENIX—Signed D Chris Summers. TAMPA BAY—Recalled D Matt Lashoff from Norfolk (AHL) on an emergency basis. Major League Soccer SEATTLE—Signed F-MF Pat Noonan. Major League Baseball American League BALTIMORE—Optioned OF Lou Montanez to Norfolk (IL). BOSTON—Placed RHP Boof Bonser and INF Jed Lowrie on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. CLEVELAND—Optioned OF Trevor Crowe and C Wyatt Toregas to Columbus (IL). Assigned LHP Jeremy Sowers outright to Columbus.Placed RHP Hector Ambriz on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 27. DETROIT—Optioned OF Clete Thomas to Toledo (IL). KANSAS CITY—Optioned RHP Blake Wood and 1B Kila Ka’aihue to Omaha (PCL). Assigned LHP Edgar Osuna outright to Northwest Arkansas (Texas). LOS ANGELES—Optioned RHP Sean O’Sullivan to Salt Lake (PCL). MINNESOTA—Placed RHP Joe Nathan and C Jose Morales on the 15-day DL. Optioned LHP Glen Perkins and C Wilson Ramos to Rochester (IL). SEATTLE—Placed LHP Erik Bedard and INF Jack Hannahan on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. Optioned LHP Luke French to Tacoma (PCL). Reassigned RHP Chad Cordero to their minor-league camp. Announced OF Corey Patterson has opted out of his contract. TAMPA BAY—Optioned RHP Dale Thayer to Durham (IL). Reassigned RHP Heath Rollins to their minor league camp. Announced 1B Dan Johnson accepted an outright assign- ment to Durham (IL). TORONTO—Reassigned C Raul Chavez to their minor league camp. National League COLORADO—Assigned RHP Tim Redding to their minor league camp. HOUSTON—Placed 1B Lance Berkman, RHP Alberto Arias and RHP Yorman Bazar- do on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. LOS ANGELES—Released LHP Eric Stults and OF Jason Repko.Reassigned RHP Josh Lindblom to their minor league camp. NEW YORK—Placed OF Carlos Beltran and RHP Kelvim Escobar on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 26. Optioned OF Fer- nando Martinez to Buffalo (IL). Announced LHP Pat Misch cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Buffalo. PITTSBURGH—Reassigned C Erik Kratz to their minor league camp. ST. LOUIS—Optioned RHP P.J. Walters to Memphis (PCL). SAN DIEGO—Optioned LHP Wade LeBlanc to Portland (PCL). Reassigned OF Chris Denorfia and C Chris Stewart to minor league camp. WASHINGTON—Optioned RHP J.D. Martin to Syracuse (IL). National Football League BUFFALO—Signed WR Chad Jackson. Re- signed CB Ashton Youboty. CINCINNATI—Re-signed DE Frostee Ruck- er. DENVER—Announced the retirement of PK Jason Elam after he signed a one-day con- tract. PHILADELPHIA—Signed LB Omar Gaither to a one-year contract. College ARKANSAS—Announced the resignation of the football team’s director of high school rela- tions Dean Campbell. CENTRAL ARKANSAS—Named Jonathan Jackson and Anthony Walker men’s assistant basketball coaches. GEORGE MASON—Signed men’s basket- ball coach Jim Larranaga to a contract exten- sion through the 2015-16 season. HOLY CROSS—Fired men’s basketball coach Sean Kearney. LOUISVILLE—Agreed in principle with men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino on a four- year contract extension through the 2016-17 season. MIDDLE TENNESSEE—Signed men’s bas- ketball coach Kermit Davis a three-year con- tract extension through the 2013-14 season. PITTSBURGH—Signed men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon to a contract extension. ST. JOHN’S—Named Steve Lavin men’s basketball coach. SOUTH CAROLINA—Announced freshman G Kelsey Bone is leaving the women’s bas- ketball team and will transfer. WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH—Announced the retirement of director of athletics Allen Acker- man, effective Jan. 2011. GIANTS (Continued from page 1B) for six innings. Vicente Padilla, in his final spring tuneup before starting the opener Monday at Pittsburgh, gave up three runs, one earned, on four hits in three innings. Giants ace Tim Lincecum prepared for his opening day start against Oakland Athlet- ics minor leaguers, striking out eight and walking four in six scoreless innings. It was an improvement for the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, who made three unimpressive starts and an injury-short- ened fourth one earlier this spring. ‘‘Breaking ball was good, changeup felt good, fastball feels like I’m getting the life back on it,’’ Lincecum said as he rushed off the field to catch a flight. ‘‘Other than that, I’m just ready to go for the season.’’ Lincecum began his day striking out the first two hit- ters after going to 3-2 counts. He threw only four pitches in the fourth inning to retire the side and induced two dou- ble-play groundouts. His most difficult inning was his last, as Lincecum got two outs on four pitches and then walked the next three batters. Facing another 3-2 count with the bases loaded, Lince- cum got a swing and a miss. He said he’s eager to atone for last season’s open- ing day, when he lasted just three innings at home against the Milwaukee Brewers. Lincecum opens against the Houston Astros on Monday ‘‘Last year obviously I didn’t do so well in that opener,’’ Lincecum said. ‘‘I want to come back.’’ Lincecum had a 9.39 earned run average over his first three spring training starts and struggled with his command. But he said the big difference Wednesday was that he felt like he had command of his fastball after going in with the belief that his stuff would return to where it normally has been the past two years. Athletics fall to Reds PHOENIX (AP) — Although Mike Leake is likely to begin the regular season in the minors, the Cincinnati right- hander is giving Reds management plenty to think about. Leake pitched six strong innings in his final start of the spring, scattering two runs and four hits in Cincinnati’s 8-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. The eighth overall pick in last June’s draft, Leake has been the Reds’ biggest surprise in camp given his lack of professional experience. With his nasty curve, he stayed in the competition for the fifth spot in Cincinnati’s rotation until the end and didn’t do anything to hurt himself with the solid outing against Oakland. Drew Stubbs homered, doubled and drove in three runs, Lance Nix also homered and Scott Rolen hit a three-run dou- ble in the sixth for the Reds, who snapped a six-game losing streak while beating the A’s for the third time this spring. Travis Buck hit a solo home run and Eric Patterson added a double and sacrifice fly for Oakland. Every Cincinnati starter had at least one hit while Stubbs and Rolen had three RBIs apiece. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance in a big-league game since he had back spasms on March 22. He gave up a hit and a walk in his first inning, when he threw mainly fastballs. He worked on his slider in his next inning, walked a pair of batters and gave up a run. Stubbs hit a solo home run in the second then added a two-run double in the fourth. Both came off Oakland starter Dallas Braden, who was roughed up for seven runs and 12 hits in 5 1-3 innings. Braden’s afternoon was in sharp contrast to Leake’s. The Oakland lefty, who has nerve damage in his left foot that causes it to go numb from time to time, allowed at least one hit every inning while struggling with his fastball com- mand. But Braden didn’t seem too concerned and brushed off his final Cactus League start. ‘‘Spring training’s over, that’s my impression of it,’’ Braden said. ‘‘It’s quite difficult to get up for the last thing. But all things considered my ultimate goal was to leave healthy. That will be achieved barring getting ran over by the bus or something. Everything else felt good. I was just up in the zone a little.’’ Oakland’s Eric Chavez, making the change to first base this season, played two innings at third and two at shortstop, while utility infielder Adam Rosales played four different positions. The A’s flew back to the Bay Area after the game to pre- pare for a three-game Bay Bridge exhibition series.