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JEFFCHIU—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Warriors guard Stephen Curry won the league's top individual award Monday, beating out Houston's James Harden in a race that turned out not to be that close. ByAntonioGonzalez TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND Somecalledhimtoosmall. Others too fragile. Now, Stephen Curry has a new la- bel: NBA MVP. The Golden State Warriors' point guard won the league's top individual award Monday, beating out Houston's James Harden in a race that turned out not to be that close. Curry received 100 of 130 first-place votes for a total of 1,198 points from a panel of 129 writers and broadcasters, along with the fan vote on the NBA's website. Harden had 25 first-place votes and 936 points. Cleveland's LeB- ron James, a four-time MVP, got five first-place votes and 552 points. Oklahoma City Thunder's Rus- sell Westbrook (352 points) finished fourth and New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis (203 points) was fifth. With the revitalized Warriors win- ning at a historic pace, Curry's case for MVP resonated around the league as loud as the nightly chants at rowdy Oracle Arena. Curry carried the top-seeded War- riors to a franchise-record 67 wins, surpassed his own record for most 3-pointers in a season and added to his growing reputation as one of the most entertaining spectacles in sports. He's the franchise's first MVP since Wilt Chamberlain in 1960, when the Warriors played in Philadelphia. Curry was set to receive the award during an afternoon news confer- ence Monday in Oakland. He will be presented with the hardware again during an on-court ceremony when Golden State hosts Memphis in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifi- nals Tuesday night. Congratulations rolled in from players around the league at practices and on social media. None echoed louder than those from James, who called Curry the main reason for the Warriors' rapid rise to championship contender. "He's the catalyst of that whole ship," James said at the Cavaliers' morning shootaround. "And I think he's had an unbelievable season. NBA CurryvotedMVPoverHarden Road to success not an easy one for GS point guard By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Unless he changed his routine, Rory McIl- roy started celebrating his 26th birthday on Monday by going to the website of the Official World Golf Ranking to see where he stood. It was neither a gift nor a surprise. Everyone knows he is No. 1. McIlroy only wants to know by how much. "Every Monday morning, I go on the website and look at what my lead is — hopefully, lead — and tomorrow morning will be the same," he said. This was shortly after he beat Gary Woodland, 4 and 2, to win the Match Play Championship. And it was in response to a ques- tion about whether McIlroy felt more like the No. 1 player with the trophy at his side than before he won all seven matches at the TPC Harding Park. "I don't need any wins or vali- dation to feel like that," McIlroy said. It was his second win of the year. He has won two of the last three World Golf Championships he has played. He joined Tiger GOLF McIlroy holding the top ranking By Tom Withers The Associated Press CLEVELAND Derrick Rose scored 25 points and Pau Gasol added 21, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 99-92 victory over the short-handed Cleveland Cava- liers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Mon- day night. Looking like the MVP he was before being slowed by knee inju- ries, Rose helped the Bulls swipe home-court advantage from the Cavs, who were missing starters Kevin Love and J.R. Smith. Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and LeBron James added 19 and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, play- ing its first game since Love — one of the Cavs' Big 3 — was lost for the remainder of the postsea- son with a shoulder injury. Game 2 is Wednesday night. The Cavs only trailed by four points in the final minutes, but they forced several 3-point at- tempts and James missed a tough layup with 51 seconds left. NBA PLAYOFFS Rose, Gasol pace Bulls to win over Cavs When the Warriors face the Grizzlies in Game 2of their Western Conference series on Tuesday, newly crowned MVP Stephen Curry will line up alongside a backcourt sidekick like no other in NBA history. WARRIORS Noothersidekick quite like Thompson FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 Staff reports RED BLUFF A first year coach at University of California, Da- vis took home the top prize Mon- day at the Les Schwab & Haleak- ala Ranch Red Bluff Pro-Am golf tournament at Wilcox Oaks Golf Club. Tom Johnson, whose home course is Arbuckle Golf Club, said his short game was the key to the win — hitting just 16 greens over two days, but getting up and down well. Johnson shot rounds of 70 Sun- day and 71 Monday for 141, beat- ing out Bobby Hudack at 142 and Kris Isackson at 143. "My ball striking was really not good," Johnson said. "I'd much rather hit the ball bad and score well than hit the ball well and score badly." The win comes in Johnson's second appearance in the tour- nament and he said the course reminds him of his home course. "I like the challenge of the back nine, the tournament is just really well run and it's a really fun tour- nament," Johnson said. The 24th Pro-Am, which con- cluded Monday, included 30 teams composed of one profes- sional and four amateurs. The professionals were competing for a slice of a $17,350 purse, of which first place received $5,000. The amateur division purse to- taled $13,800. Johnson's teammates, also from Arbuckle Golf Club and sponsored by Alsco-Geyer, were Bobby Mar- tinez, Cody McCullough, Jason Sweet and Thomas Steinhoff. The top team overall was made up of professional Brandon Baker and amateurs Bob LeDoux, Mark Wilburn, Jon Kowalski and Mike Weaver with a score of 402. The team also led Sunday with a score of 198. The second place team, at 404, was professional Hudack and am- ateurs Charlie Eglian, Ken Mor- gan, Robbie Mayfield and jay Ed- wards. Third, also at 404, went to professional Ryan Williams and GOLF SECOND TIME'S A CHARM FOR JOHNSON UC Davis coach takes Red Bluff Pro-Am Westmoreland, le , resumed play Monday a er posting a 72on Sunday, when he was tied for fi h place. DAILY NEWS PHOTOS BY ANDRE BYIK Josh Westmoreland strikes a ball from the first hole during the Red Bluff Pro-Am tournament at Wilcox Oaks Golf Club on Monday. Online: Be the first to get local results from local teams and athletes at REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. "I like the challenge of the back nine, the tournament is just really well run and it's a really fun tournament." – Tom Johnson, UC Davis golf coach Red Bluff High School's var- sity baseball team visits Chico at 4p.m. today and then hosts the Panthers at 6p.m. Thurs- day. The Cards host Anderson at 5:30p.m. today and visit the Cubs at 7p.m. Thursday. BASEBALL Spartans, Cards wrap up seasons this week Corning High School's varsity so ball team (19-7-3, 8-1 Northern Athletic League) hosts Lassen for a double- header at 3p.m. and 5p.m. today. The Lady Cards will visit Lassen at 4p.m. Friday. SOFTBALL Corning continues march toward playoffs Get your puzzles fix with the NEA Crossword, Sudoku and Celebrity Cipher, start your day off right with your horoscope, and read the latest advice doled out by Amy Dickinson. YOUR DAILY BREAK Fun and games inside today PAGE B3 MVP PAGE 2 GOLF PAGE 2 PRO-AM PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, May 5, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1