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RICKBOWMER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) loses the ball on the final play as Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry (le ) and Klay Thompson defend during the second half of Game 2of the Western Conference finals Thursday. ByAntonioGonzalez TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND StephenCurryscored33 points to turn back another spectac- ular performance by James Harden, and the Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 99-98 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals. Harden rallied the Rockets from 17 points down in the second quar- ter and had a chance to finish off the comeback in the final seconds of the fourth. Instead, Klay Thompson and Curry trapped Harden, who lost the ball as time expired. Harden fell to the floor and put his hands over his head as the Warriors celebrated on the court, the sellout crowd roared and golden-yellow con- fetti fell from the rafters. Harden had 38 points, 10 re- bounds and nine assists, and Dwight Howard overcame a sprained left knee that slowed him down to fin- ish with 19 points and 17 rebounds for a Rockets team headed home in a major hole. Game 3 is Saturday in Houston. Curry, the NBA MVP, made five 3-pointers to go with six assists and three rebounds. He got a big boost from his teammates — notably An- drew Bogut, Draymond Green and Thompson — to regroup after the Warriors lost the big lead in the first half. But the Warriors pulled ahead again late in the fourth quarter be- cause of Curry — with his shot and his passes. Curry connected on a 3-pointer, then found Bogut under the rim for a layup that sent the 7-footer flexing his muscles and shouting to the roaring, yellow-shirt wearing crowd. Bogut missed the ensuing free throw, but the Warriors led 96-89 with 2:25 left. NBA PLAYOFFS WarriorsbeatRocketsagain GoldenStatetakes2-0 series lead in Western Conference finals win WARRIORS 99, ROCKETS 98 Up next: Warriors lead series 2-0; Warriors at Houston Rockets, 6p.m. Saturday, TV on ESPN. THESCORE By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press For years and years — a full de- cade, in fact — Rafael Nadal ruled the French Open the way no one had ever dominated any Grand Slam tennis tournament, winning 66 of 67 matches and collecting nine championships, including the last five in a row. This year, his far-poorer-than- usual results on red clay and ac- knowledged crisis of confidence are generating talk that his reign at Roland Garros might be about to end. When the season's second ma- jor tournament begins Sunday, the lefty from Spain will not be the favorite, despite what he's done in the past. Instead, Novak Djokovic is considered the man to beat, as he bids to complete a ca- reer Grand Slam and extend a ter- rific season that includes the Aus- tralian Open title and a current 22-match winning streak. "Nadal has shown some weak- ness this year, both physically and mentally, that we just haven't FRENCH OPEN Nadal's run might give way to Djokovic RAYS 3, ATHLETICS 0 Up next: Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Rays, 4:10p.m. today, TV on CSN-CA. THESCORE By John Hickey Bay Area News Group ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. There are apparently only two kinds of baseball the Oakland A's can play these day, bad baseball and un- lucky baseball. They played both in a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday. The evening started with bad ball when Billy Burns, in a rush to score, left third base too early while trying to score on a fly ball, had to retreat and stayed put. The first out of the game turned out to be the last best chance for the A's to score as they fell for the 13th time in their last 15 games. "It was a big mistake," said the swift Burns, who could have scored with a refrigerator strapped to his back if he'd waited BASEBALL A's fall to Rays in shutout loss on the road Fears mounted over the fate of one of the Mideast's most prominent archaeological sites a er Islamic State militants overran the historic Syrian desert town of Palmyra, seiz- ing control Thursday. PALMYRA FALLS FearsmountinSyria as IS expands territory FULL STORY ON PAGE B8 By Daniel Brown Bay Area News Group SAN FRANCISCO Even after out- dueling Clayton Kershaw again, even after touching him for a mammoth home run and even after finishing off a rare shutout sweep, Madison Bumgarner sa- luted the other guy. "He's the best pitcher in base- ball," Bumgarner said. Maybe so, but Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants have proven too much for Kershaw this season. They beat the Dodg- ers 4-0 on Thursday, giving them victories in all three Bumgarner- Kershaw showdowns this season. In winning all six games against Los Angeles at AT&T Park this season, the Giants swept back-to-back home series (of at least three games) against the Dodgers for the first time since 1961, back when Willie Mays and Willie McCovey roamed Candle- stick Park. The Giants won all three games of this series without allowing a run, giving them a major league- best eight shutouts. That string of zeroes is unlikely to continue much longer — the Gi- ants open a four-game series at hitter-friendly Coors Field on Fri- day — but Bumgarner said he will enjoy the ride while it lasts. "Everything is going our way," Bumgarner said. "We just want to keep it going as long as we can." The Giants left-hander im- proved to 2-0 with a no-decision and a 1.31 ERA in three matchups against Kershaw this season. (The Dodgers left-hander is 0-2 with a no-decision and a 3.60 ERA in those games.) BASEBALL GIANTS SWEEP ALL 3 OVER DODGERS Bumgarner out-duels Kershaw for third time this season, also hits long home run off him JOSE LUIS VILLEGAS — THE SACRAMENTO BEE The San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner hits a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw on Thursday at AT&T Park. BECK DIEFENBACH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco Giants third baseman Casey McGehee (le ) tags out the Los Angeles Dodgers' Alex Guerrero during the sixth inning Thursday in San Francisco. GIANTS 4, DODGERS 0 Up next: San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, 5:10p.m. today, TV on CSN-BA. THESCORE Online: For more stories on the San Francisco Giants visit REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/GIANTS. The president of the Boy Scouts of America, Robert Gates, said Thursday that the organization's longstanding ban on participation by openly gay adults is no longer sus- tainable and called for change. BOY SCOUTS Leader says ban on gay adults not sustainable FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 Red Bluff High's varsity base- ball team is scheduled to face the Enterprise Hornets in the Northern Section CIF Division II title game at 4p.m. Satur- day at Shasta College. BASEBALL PLAYOFFS Spartans face Hornets in section championship Corning High's track and field team is scheduled to com- pete in the Northern Section CIF Division II Championships today at Central Valley High School. The section finals are scheduled for May 29. TRACK AND FIELD Cards set to compete in division championships FRENCH PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 22, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1