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ByTimReynolds TheAssociatedPress In theory, this is where the first batches of real postseason trouble are supposed to start presenting themselves to Golden State, Cleveland and Chicago. Don't count on it happening. The first road games of this postseason for the Warriors, Cavaliers and Bulls all take place Thursday night. Golden State goes to New Orleans, Cleve- land visits Boston and Chicago makes the short trek to Milwau- kee — and each of the traveling clubs will go into their respective Game 3's with 2-0 series leads. For the underdogs in all three series, the time is now: No team in NBAhistoryhassuccessfullyover- come a 3-0 deficit in any series. "I think we're due for a win now," Boston's Jae Crowder said. Golden State was the league's best road team in the regular season, going 28-13 away from its raucous home floor. But one of those 13 losses came in New Orleans, which gives the Pelicans hope. "We have an advantage on our home floor," New Orleans star Anthony Davis said. "It's going to be a fun game know- ing that we beat them last time here. We're definitely confident in what we're doing." Chicago going to Milwaukee is a de facto home game for the Bulls, with only 90 miles separat- ing the cities and plenty of red- clad fans always finding their way to Wisconsin for these games. NBA PLAYOFFS Pelicans,Bucksand Celticsfacebigtests Warriors,Cavaliers,Bullsalltake2-0series leads into their respective Game 3's tonight MARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) defends on the New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis during the first half in Game 2of a first-round playoff series Monday in Oakland. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) points to a teammate a er scoring during Game 1of the NBA playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday in Oakland. By Cliff Brunt The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY Scott Brooks did everything but win a cham- pionship. It wasn't enough. The Oklahoma City Thunder fired their coach on Wednes- day, parting ways with a former NBA coach of the year who led the team to three conference fi- nals in four years only to falter this season as his players were hit hard by injuries. Brooks coached the Thunder for seven seasons. Starting in 2010-11, he led the team to the Western Conference finals three out of four years, and the Thun- der reached the NBA Finals in 2012. The Thunder failed to make the playoffs this past sea- son, as injuries limited them to a 45-37 finish. Brooks was 338-207 (.620) with the Thunder and was the 2009-10 NBA Coach of the Year. He said last week that he ex- pected to be the coach next sea- son. "This is an extremely diffi- cult decision on many levels," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "Scott helped estab- lish the identity of the Thunder and has earned his rightful place in the history of our organiza- tion through his seven years as NBA ThunderfirecoachBrooksa er7years Oklahoma City failed to make postseason this past season a er successful playoff streak ELISE AMENDOLA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE The Oklahoma City Thunder fired former head coach Scott Brooks, le , on Wednesday, parting ways with a former NBA coach of the year. By Andre Byik sports@redbluffdailynews.com @andrebyik on Twitter RED BLUFF Red Bluff High School's varsity baseball team dispatched the Enterprise Hor- nets 6-2 on Tuesday to improve to 20-4 on the season. The Spartans' (20-4, 5-1 East- ern-Sac River League) Walker Dodero went 2-for-4 batting with an RBI and two runs scored, Ryan Gamboa went 1 for 2 with two RBIs, and Lane Pritchard went 4-for-4 batting with an RBI and two runs scored. Eric Schreter pitched 5 2/3 in- nings in the win, notching six strikeouts and giving up one earned run. Red Bluff is back in action to- day, hosting Shasta at 7 p.m. The Corning Cardinals base- ball team (6-9, 1-4 Northern Ath- letic League) traveled to Central Valley on Tuesday and earned an 8-6 win, breaking its four-game losing streak. Corning's Chris Prest went 1-for-1 batting, notching a home run and two RBIs. Austin Fox and Wyatt Haydon each recorded an RBI. The Cards are back in action Friday, hosting Central Valley at 5:30 p.m. The Mercy Warriors (4-7, 3-2 Five Star League) fell to Redding Christian on Tuesday, 3-2. Mercy's Richie Borges pitched six innings, recording nine strike- outs and giving up one hit. The Warriors host Chester at 4 p.m. Tuesday. So ball Red Bluff (8-13-1, 1-3 E-SRL) fell to Chico, 3-0 on Tuesday. The Lady Spartans will visit Paradise today at 6 p.m. Corning (13-5-2, 4-1 NAL) thumped Anderson at home on PREP ROUNDUP Spartan baseball team beats Hornets Corning so ball team rips Anderson in twin bill By Tim Dahlberg AP Boxing Writer LAS VEGAS Floyd Mayweather Jr. refused Wednesday to back off earlier comments declaring him- self a better fighter than Muham- mad Ali. Mayweather said he respects Ali's great career and the things he did outside the ring. But he said he believes he has done as much in boxing as the legendary former heavyweight champion ever did, without the losses that Ali suffered in his career. "He called himself The Great- est and I call myself TBE (The Best Ever)," Mayweather said. "I'm pretty sure I'll get criticized for what I said, but I could care less. I could care less about the backlash." Mayweather had earlier said that he was better than both Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson, point- ing to his 47-0 record as proof. He also said he would never have lost to a fighter like Leon Spinks, who beat an aging Ali in 1978 af- ter having just seven pro fights. "I just look at Ali's career when he fought Leon Spinks and lost to a fighter with seven fights," May- weather said. "There were some other fights he lost and he's still BOXING Mayweather declares that he's better than Ali was Saudi-led airstrikes hit weapons caches held by Iran- backed Shiite rebels, touching off massive explosions Mon- day in Yemen's capital that killed at least 19people and buried scores of others. YEMEN Airstrikes touch off huge blasts in capital FULLSTORYONPAGEB5 The IRS' overloaded phone system hung up on more than 8million taxpayers this filing season as the agency cut mil- lions of dollars from taxpayer services to help pay to enforce Obama's health law. OBAMA'S HEALTH LAW Phone calls unanswered as IRS cuts service FULL STORY ON PAGE B4 Corning High School's varsity tennis team finished second in the Northern Athletic League and starts the Northern Sec- tion CIF team playoffs at 2 p.m. today in Oroville. TENNIS Corning Cardinals move toward team playoffs The Red Bluff Spartans (20-4, 5-1Eastern-Sac River League) are scheduled to host the Shasta Wolves at 7p.m. today. The Spartans sit atop of the league standings, with the Wolves at second. BASEBALL Red Bluff High School hosts Shasta today PLAYOFFS PAGE 2 ROUNDUP PAGE 2 BROOKS PAGE 2 FIGHT PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 23, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1