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MARCIOJOSESANCHEZ—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts as he is guarded by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second half of Game 2of the Western Conference finals in Oakland on Wednesday. ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND StephenCurryscored15 straight points in less than 2 minutes during one dazzling third-quarter stretch, and the Golden State War- riors beat the Oklahoma City Thun- der 118-91 on Wednesday night to even the Western Conference final at one game apiece. The MVP scored 28 points, mak- ing 5 of 8 3-pointers and shooting 9 for 15 overall, while Klay Thompson added 15 points in a balanced perfor- mance by the defending champions to bounce back from just their third defeat all season at Oracle Arena in the series opener two nights earlier. Kevin Durant scored 29 points but just six after halftime. Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 12 as- sists for the Thunder, who were out- rebounded for the first time in five meetings with the Warriors this sea- son. Game 3 is Sunday night in Okla- homa City. Durant provided a big assist dur- ing Curry's flurry. He fouled the su- perstar point guard on a 3-point at- tempt with 6:33 to go in the third, then swatted his hand in disgust at the call and received a technical — a costly four-point play. While Du- rant hit a fadeaway jumper moments later, Curry answered by knocking down consecutive long shots, one a 3, to make it 76-59 with 5:47 to go in the third. NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala brought some timely pizazz off the bench. He missed his first five field- goal tries before a beautiful double- clutch, no-look layup in the final min- ute of the first half and then another basket the next time down that put the Warriors up 57-49 at halftime. He NBA PLAYOFFS WarriorstieserieswithThunder Currydazzlesagainwith 28 points, goes 5 of 8 on 3-pointers to lead team WARRIORS118,THUNDER91 Series: Tied 1-1. Game 3: Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder, 5p.m., Sun- day, TV on TNT. THESCORE By Chip Thompson editor@redbluffdailynews.com @editorchip on Twitter RED BLUFF Throughout football season the narrative for the Spar- tans was quarterback Wes Claw- son going to his top receiver Lane Pritchard for the score and Tues- day night the duo took their act to the baseball diamond in a 10-0 win over Foothill. After Kolby Button scored in the second inning on an Eric Spencer popup to right that was dropped, Tanner Tweedt and Clawson both reached on walks to load the bases and turn the order over, putting the bat in Pritchard's hands. He didn't disappoint, with a double to the gap in left-center to plate all three runners. Payton Edwards led off the third with a solo shot over the fence in dead center — the deep- est part of the yard. Button would reach on his second single of the night and Bryce Sinclair reached on a walk before Ryan Gamboa bunted them to second and third. But the rally ended on a popup and a routine grounder, strand- ing a pair. In the meantime, Sinclair was quietly shutting out the Cougars. BASEBALL SPARTANS THUMP FOOTHILL IN ROUT Red Bluff takes series 2-1, advances to face Chico in section championship game Saturday The Spartans' Kolby Button fields a grounder at third base Tuesday night in a win over the Foothill Cougars. PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS The Spartans' Bryce Sinclair pitched a two-hit shutout Tuesday night against the Foothill Cougars. RED BLUFF 10, FOOTHILL 0 Up next: Red Bluff vs. Chico, 4 p.m. Saturday at Butte College. THESCORE Online: To see more stories on Tehama County sports, visit REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/SPORTS. By Curtis Pashelka Bay Area News Group SAN JOSE The San Jose Sharks have been without one of their fastest players, Matt Nieto, for the first two games of their Western Conference final series against the St. Louis Blues. But the quickness they've shown so far hasn't been all about straight ahead foot speed. The Sharks have been win- ning little races to pucks, been quick to take away time and space from the Blues' elite for- wards and to support each other in all three zones. It's been a big reason why the Sharks have advanced this far and have looked like the bet- ter team through two games against the Blues, even though they meet again Thursday at SAP Center with the series tied at one win apiece. "One of our things is we try to play fast, get in on the forecheck and create turnovers," Sharks forward Patrick Marleau said Wednesday afternoon after the team arrived back in San Jose. "When we're doing that is when we're effective." The way the Sharks are play- ing right now is reminiscent of how they performed in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, another big, heavy team that wanted to exert its will against their Northern Califor- nia rivals. Instead, the Sharks were able to use their speed to get behind the Kings' defense- NHL PLAYOFFS Playing fast has helped Sharks in postseason SERIES TIED 1-1 Game 3: St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks, 6p.m. Thursday, TV on NBCSN. CONFERENCEFINALS The Associated Press MONTEREY It was fitting that Pe- ter Sagan would win a stage of the Tour of California on a racetrack. The world champion and one of the fastest finishers in pro cycling successfully navigated two brutal climbs near the end of Wednes- day's stage, then outsprinted Greg Van Avermaet and Nathan Haas at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for his second victory in the first four stages. Julian Alaphilippe finished with the leaders on the 134-mile ride to retain his overall lead. "It was very hard, the last two climbs, to be with the climbers and everyone was attacking," said Sagan, who also captured the opening stage Sunday in San Di- ego. "(Van Avermaet) was always on my wheel and then after the last turn, I let one guy go in front of me and he pulled my sprint." That guy was Haas, who had attacked the moment the lead group finished a long downhill approaching 60 mph and made a left turn into the grounds of La- guna Seca. BMC Racing quickly pulled him back, and then Sagan — knowing he had the legs to win a sprint finish — began keeping an eye on breakaway attempts. Twice he single-handedly nailed back attacks on the final climb, where the grade reached 14 percent, and that kept things together enough for him to win TOUR OF CALIFORNIA Sagan's stage win his 2nd out of 4 By David Ginsburg The Associated Press BALTIMORE Doug O'Neill couldn't have done any better if he picked Nyquist's post position himself. After Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist landed the No. 3 post for the Preakness in a blind draw Wednesday, O'Neill looked like a man with a winning lottery ticket. "The 3 is exactly what I wanted," O'Neill said. "... We're very optimistic that we're going to break good and get into position." Unbeaten in eight races, Ny- quist was made the overwhelm- ing 3-5 favorite among 11 horses in Saturday's race. His selection as the best horse in the field was justified, accord- ing to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who will saddle new shooter Collected. "I'd probably be surprised if he didn't win," Baffert said about Ny- quist. "He's going to be tough to beat." Secretariat started from the 3-hole to win the 1973 Preakness, PREAKNESS STAKES Nyquist gets No. 3 post as 3-5 favorite SPARTANS PAGE 2 CYCLING PAGE 2 SHARKS PAGE 2 PREAKNESS PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, May 19, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1