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2B – Daily News – Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Lincecum gets work in San Francisco Giants SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A lot of teams would be concerned if their ace pitcher just got roughed up by a division rival and their closer was sidelined by a strained rib cage. Rose, Korver lead Bulls to rout of Kings Kings 92 Chicago 132 CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver scored 18 points apiece as the Chicago Bulls routed the Sacramento Kings 132-92 on Monday night. The win gave the Bulls (50-19) their first 50- win season since 1997-98 and allowed Chicago to remain tied with Boston atop the Eastern Con- ference. The Celtics beat the New York Knicks on Monday. Carlos Boozer scored 16 points in his return to the Bulls’ lineup after missing five games with a sprained left ankle. He joined a balanced Bulls attack that had eight players scoring in double figures in a game that was not close after the first period. Marcus Thornton led the Kings with 25 points. With the game well in hand, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was able to rest his top players. Rose played just 28 minutes, his lowest total of the sea- son. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter. The Bulls shot 61.3 percent from the field. More aggressive from the outset, Chicago forced 22 Sacramento turnovers and held a 36-7 edge in fastbreak points. The Bulls’ points total were a season high. The Bulls have won 13 straight at the United Center, their longest home winning streak since 1997-98. At 31-4, the Bulls have the NBA’s sec- ond-best home record behind San Antonio (32- 3). Chicago led by as many as 25 in the third peri- od, reaching that advantage when Keith Bogans lobbed a pass toward the rim on a fastbreak and Rose flew in from the baseline and dunked it with both hands. C.J. Watson’s steal and alley-oop pass for Ronnie Brewer’s dunk highlighted a 9-2 Bulls run, that pushed the lead to 13 early in the second quarter. Chicago pushed the lead to 19 points on a pair of 3-pointers by Korver late in the first half and led 64-47 at the break. The Bulls shot 66.7 percent in the first half. Thornton scored 18 points for the Kings in the half. Sacramento, which entered the game averag- ing more turnovers (16.1) than all but two NBA teams, had 12 miscues in the first 18 minutes, leading to 19 Chicago points. Boozer was aggressive early, taking four shots in the game’s first four minutes. He had six points, two rebounds and three assists in the opening quarter. The Bulls led 34-28 after one quarter. Bogans, who entered averaging 4.0 points, scored seven in the first 12 minutes, matching Rose for the team high. Rose’s double-pump, reverse dunk on a breakaway gave the Bulls a six-point first-quarter lead and ignited the crowd at United Center. Thornton led the Kings with nine points in the opening period. Warriors fall in San Antonio, Duncan hurt Warriors 96 San Antonio 111 SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Manu Ginobili scored 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs got a scare when Tim Duncan sprained his left ankle in a 111-96 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Duncan would be out ‘‘a while’’ but didn’t have a timetable. The injury looked potentially serious as Dun- can lay on his side, clutching his foot with both hands, for more than a minute. The 34-year-old All-Star steadied himself with the help of trainers while limping off the court. Ekpe Udoh led Golden State with 15 points. It was Udoh’s foot that Duncan appeared to be try- ing to avoid while landing awkwardly after hitting a short jumper in the first quarter. Tony Parker added 17 points and 15 assists. Until now, Duncan has avoided the aches and injuries that have hampered him in recent years. He’s been so surprisingly durable that he’s only missed one game. That was Saturday against Charlotte — when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich San Jose Sharks didn’t want to risk Duncan injuring himself on the second night of a back-to-back. Popovich’s biggest fear happened two nights later instead. The Warriors made a run at the Spurs run with Duncan out. Golden State trailed 64-58 in the third after a burst that left Popovich furious. His frustration cost him a technical foul, barking at official Leroy Richardson over a perceived foul on Richard Jefferson that wasn’t called. But the Spurs — and Popovich — quickly set- tled down. San Antonio ended the quarter on a 20-9 run to blow the game back open. Rookie Tiago Splitter, the 7-footer who got his first NBA start in place of Duncan on Saturday, filled in again for his idol and finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Steve Novak scored 13 points and Jefferson had 12 for the Spurs. Acie Law and Dorrell Wright scored 14 apiece as the Warriors dropped their fifth straight. Gold- en State played a night after getting pummeled at Dallas by 28 points, and have one stop left in Houston on Wednesday before returning home Friday to host Toronto. The loss assured Golden State a 14th straight SAN JOSE (AP) — San Jose Sharks rookie Logan Couture sat out practice Monday after leaving the previous game following a hard fall into the boards, but is relieved his injury is not nearly as serious as he origi- nally feared. Couture left Saturday’s game against St. Louis early in the second period. He slammed hard into the boards and appeared to hurt his right leg. He had to be helped off the ice by teammates and is listed as day to day with a lower- body injury. ‘‘It was scary,’’ he said. ‘‘I went in there and tried to PGA FedEx Cup Leaders Rank Points YTD Money 1. Mark Wilson 1,086 $2,268,825 2. Nick Watney 960 $2,278,000 3. Gary Woodland 945 $1,850,064 4. Rory Sabbatini 820 $1,573,194 5. Jhonattan Vegas791 $1,479,510 6. Bubba Watson763 $1,667,417 7. D.A. Points 737 $1,538,207 8. Luke Donald 718 $1,807,800 9. Jonathan Byrd 705 $1,404,148 10. Aaron Baddeley 700 $1,508,716 11. Matt Kuchar 682 $1,622,473 12. Hunter Mahan 639 $1,303,394 13. Vijay Singh 630 $1,275,435 14. Dustin Johnson 628 15. Bill Haas 16.Y.E.Yang $1,444,772 558 $1,037,100 531 $1,130,396 17. Spencer Levin 511 $1,012,664 18. Phil Mickelson 504 $996,531 19.Webb Simpson498 $902,158 20. Jason Dufner 446 Upcoming Schedule March 24-27 — Arnold Palmer Invita- tional, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla. March 31-April 3 — Shell Houston Open, Redstone GC (Tournament Course), Houston April 7-10 — Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC, Augusta, Ga. April 14-17— Valero Texas Open, TPC San Antonio, San Antonio $785,325 stop. I don’t even know if anyone touched me. The way my leg went in, it didn’t feel very good. I wanted to get up. I was trying to but the ref came over and said to stay down. There wasn’t much feeling in my leg. As soon as I got off the ice it started to feel better. I was able to put pressure on it. It wasn’t as bad as it looked.’’ Couture said he is feeling much better than he thought he would two days after the injury and hoped to be back on the ice to practice on Tuesday. He did not rule out playing Wednesday night against Calgary, although the Sharks may be hesitant MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Galaxy 1 0 1 4 2 1 Vancouver 1 0 0 3 4 2 Colorado 1 0 0 3 3 1 Salt Lake 1 0 0 3 1 0 FC Dallas 0 0 1 1 1 1 Chivas USA 0 1 0 0 2 3 QUAKES 01 0 0 0 1 Portland 0 1 0 0 1 3 Seattle 0 2 0 0 0 2 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA D.C. 1 0 0 3 3 1 Kansas City 1 0 0 3 3 2 Philadelphia 1 0 0 3 1 0 New York 1 0 0 3 1 0 Chicago 0 0 1 1 1 1 New England 0 0 1 1 1 1 Houston 0 1 0 0 0 1 Toronto FC 0 1 0 0 2 4 Columbus 0 1 0 0 1 3 ————————————————— Friday’s game Houston at Seattle FC, 7 p.m. Saturday’s games San Jose at FC Dallas, 6 p.m. Portland at Toronto FC, 11 a.m. New York at Columbus, 1 p.m. Vancouver at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at Chicago, 1 p.m. D.C. United at New England, 1:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. Colorado at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. to rush him back with the start of the playoffs just over three weeks away. ‘‘I don’t like sitting out season without a win in San Antonio. Put anoth- er way, the Warriors have never won in San Anto- nio since Duncan was drafted in 1997. But Golden State has given the Spurs two Duncan scares this season. In January, Duncan fell to the floor and cringed for about a minute during a 113-102 win at Golden State. He was diagnosed with a hyper- extended left knee and returned to the game. That wasn’t the case this time. He limped off the court with the help of trainers and did not return. The AT&T Center fell quiet when Duncan crashed to the court and reached for his foot. Park- er was one of the first players over to check on him; Parker then turned and winced at Popovich, who was standing in front of the Spurs bench with his hands in his pockets and watching his two- time MVP writhe on the ground. Before Saturday, Duncan had been the only Spurs player to start the team’s first 68 games. Even though his role has greatly diminished and his averages are at career lows, Duncan remains a big reason why the Spurs (57-13) are on pace to surpass their franchise record of 63 wins set in 2005-06. Sharks’ Couture day to day with lower-body injury Couture has been one of back on the ice.’’ games,’’ he said. ‘‘If I’m healthy. I want to play. That’s how I am. I’ve sat out enough games in my junior career and last year a bit and a couple of games this year. It’s not fun. I want to be NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Kurt Busch 2. Carl Edwards 3. Tony Stewart 150 149 138 4. Ryan Newman 138 5. Paul Menard 6. Kyle Busch 136 133 7. Jimmie Johnson 130 8. Juan Pablo Montoya 126 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 124 10. Martin Truex Jr. 123 11. Mark Martin 12. Kasey Kahne 122 13. Matt Kenseth 14. Bobby Labonte 115 15. Kevin Harvick 123 117 110 16. A J Allmendinger 107 17. Denny Hamlin 106 18. Marcos Ambrose 105 19. Jeff Gordon 20. David Ragan 104 89 21. Brad Keselowski 89 22. David Gilliland 23. Greg Biffle 24. Clint Bowyer 25. Bill Elliott 26. Jamie McMurray 76 27. Regan Smith 28. David Reutimann 75 29. Jeff Burton 30. Joey Logano 31. Brian Vickers 88 86 84 82 75 74 74 69 32. Robby Gordon 59 33. Casey Mears 34. Dave Blaney 35. Andy Lally 36. Tony Raines 37. Terry Labonte 38. J.J.Yeley 39. Michael McDowell 8 40. Dennis Setzer 6 41. Michael Waltrip 4 42. Brian Keselowski 3 Upcoming Schedule March 27 — Auto Club 400, Fontana April 3 — Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, Ridgeway, Va. April 9 — Samsung Mobile 500, Fort Worth, Texas April 17 — Aaron’s 499, Talladega, Ala. CBI Quarterfinals Monday’s results Boise State 75, Evansville 69 Creighton 102, Davidson 92 UCF 66, Rhode Island 54 Duquesne at Oregon, late 52 51 49 44 30 16 San Jose’s most consistent players all season and one of the leading contenders to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Couture is second on the team with 27 goals, the most ever by a rookie in franchise NIT Second Round College of Charleston 64, Cleveland State 56 Colorado 89, California 72 Kent State 72, Fairfield 68 Northwestern 85, Boston College 67 Wichita State 79, Virginia Tech 76, OT Monday’s results Miami 81, Missouri State 72 Alabama 74, New Mexico 67 Oklahoma State at Washington St., late Quarterfinals Today’s game Kent State at Colorado, 6 p.m., ESPN NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB y-Lakers 50 20 .714 — Phoenix 35 33 .515 14 WARRIORS 30 41 .423 20.5 Clippers 27 44 .380 23.5 KINGS 17 52 .246 32.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB x-S. Antonio 57 13 .814 — x-Dallas 49 21 .700 8 New Orleans40 31 .563 17.5 Memphis 39 32 .54918 .5 Houston 37 34 .521 20.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 45 24 .652 — Denver 42 29 .592 4 Portland 40 30 .571 5.5 Utah 36 35 .507 10 Minnesota 17 54 .239 29 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB CIT Second Round Buffalo 49, Western Michigan 48 San Francisco 77, Hawaii 74 Santa Clara 88, Air Force 75 SMU 63, Jacksonville 62 Quarterfinals Monday’s result SMU 57, Northern Iowa 50 Today’s games Ohio at East Tennessee State, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Iona, 4:30 p.m. Santa Clara at San Francisco, 7 p.m. x-Boston 50 19 .725 — Philadelphia 36 34 .514 14.5 New York 35 35 .500 15.5 New Jersey 22 47 .319 28 Toronto 20 50 .286 30.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB x-Miami 48 22 .686 — x-Orlando 45 26 .634 3.5 Atlanta 40 30 .571 8 Charlotte 28 41 .406 19.5 Washington 17 51 .250 30 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Chicago 50 19 .725 — Indiana 31 40 .437 20 Milwaukee 28 41 .406 22 Detroit 25 45 .357 25.5 Cleveland 13 56 .188 37 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ————————————————— Monday’s results Chicago 132, Sacramento 92 San Antonio 111, Golden State 96 Orlando 97, Cleveland 86 Boston 96, New York 86 Denver 123, Toronto 90 Indiana 102, New Jersey 98 Memphis 103, Utah 85 Today’s games Chicago at Atlanta, 5 p.m., TNT Washington at Portland, 7 p.m. Phoenix at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m., TNT EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Philadelphia 44 19 8 96 228 190 Pittsburgh 42 23 8 92 213 181 N.Y.Rangers 39 30 4 82 215 179 New Jersey 34 34 4 72 154 182 N.Y.Islanders 28 33 12 68 203 233 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 39 22 10 88 213 175 Montreal 40 26 7 87 200 185 Buffalo 35 28 9 79 214 208 Toronto 32 31 10 74 192 225 Ottawa 27 36 9 63 164 223 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Washington 42 21 10 94 198 176 Tampa Bay 39 22 11 89 214 217 Carolina 33 29 10 76 201 214 Atlanta 30 30 12 72 202 238 Florida 29 33 10 68 182 198 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ————————————————— Monday’s results Pittsburgh 5, Detroit 4, SO Calgary at Los Angeles, late Today’s games Florida at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Boston, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Carolina, 4 p.m. Buffalo at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m., VS Edmonton at Nashville, 5 p.m. Toronto at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Columbus at Colorado, 6 p.m. St. Louis at Phoenix, 7 p.m. history, to go along with 21 assists. He is also tied for the team lead with a plus-15 rat- ing as he has been strong on both ends of the ice. Not the San Francisco Giants. They’re the defend- ing World Series champions and they can afford to sit back and take a breath. The ace, Tim Lincecum, and the closer, Brian Wilson, didn’t seem too bothered, either. They sat and played cards in the clubhouse for nearly an hour after San Francisco’s game with the Colorado Rockies was called after 2 1/2 innings Monday because of rain. Lincecum has won his last three starts and has a 2.55 ERA this spring. But he gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits against Colorado, walking one and striking out four in a steady rain. He threw 54 pitches and said he should be ready to go for his final spring start on Saturday. ‘‘I feel like I’m where I need to be,’’ Lincecum said. ‘‘I’ve been working on my arm strength in between starts. I got to throw some innings today with some guys on base, so that was good.’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Lincecum got his work in, ‘‘and that’s the most important thing,’’ adding that if the game would not have been played, the right-hander would have thrown a similar amount of pitches in a covered batting cage. Dexter Fowler and Jose Lopez each had two hits off Lincecum that won’t count in Cactus League statistics. As for Wilson, he was examined by doctors again Monday after getting injured Thursday. They confirmed he has nothing more than a mild strain on his left side. Bochy said Wilson already has been exercising in the weight room, but no lifting of weights has been involved. After an off day for the entire team on Tues- day, Wilson will attempt to play catch on Wednesday, although not off the mound. ‘‘We are encouraged by the progress he’s made,’’ Bochy said, adding that the team is optimistic Wilson will be ready for opening day March 31 at Los Ange- les. NOTE: Giants LHP Jonathan Sanchez will pitch in a minor league game Tuesday to stay on schedule. Bochy said he will be there to watch. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 42 23 8 92 211 191 Phoenix 39 24 11 89 213 207 Kings 40 26 6 86 197 176 Ducks 40 27 5 85 204 208 Dallas 38 25 9 85 203 202 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 43 21 9 95 237 209 Chicago 39 25 8 86 234 202 Nashville 38 25 10 86 190 172 Columbus 33 29 10 76 195 218 St. Louis 32 31 9 73 201 214 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Vancouver47 17 9 103 238 172 Calgary 37 27 10 84 226 214 Minnesota 35 30 8 78 185 204 Colorado 27 36 8 62 198 250 Edmonton 23 39 10 56 175 237