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GENEJ.PUSKAR—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) pokes the puck away from the San Jose Sharks' Joe Pavelski (8) during the third period in Game 2of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. ByCurtisPashelka BayAreaNewsGroup PITTSBURGH The San Jose Sharks' heartbreak in overtime continued Wednesday night. Conor Sheary's wrist shot from the top of the circle beat goalie Martin Jones 2:35 into overtime and gave the Pittsburgh Pengiuns a 2-1 win over the Sharks in Game 2 and a two-games-to-none lead in the Stanley Cup Final. The series now shifts back to SAP Center in San Jose with Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. The Sharks are 7-2 at home in the playoffs. The Sharks fell to 0-4 in over- time in this season's playoffs. The Penguins are now 4-2 in over- times in the postseason. With the Sharks trailing 1-0, Justin Braun tied the game with 4:05 to go in the third period, as his shot got through traffic, and hit the inside of the post and past Penguins goalie Matt Murray for his first goal of the playoffs. Lo- gan Couture and Joel Ward had the assists. Braun played Game 1 with a heavy heart, as his is father-in- law, former NHL all-star Tom Lysiak, passed away Monday from leukemia. Lysiak, who played for Atlanta and Chicago during a 13-year career, was 63. News of Lysiak's death was made public by his daughter, Jessica Lysiak Braun. Braun will leave the team Thursday to attend to family mat- ters. He is expected to rejoin the Sharks in time for practice Friday in San Jose. Phil Kessel's goal, his 10th of the playoffs, came after on a Sharks giveaway. Roman Polak took a pass from Logan Couture but fanned on his attempt to get the puck across to Brenden Dil- lon, who had his stick lifted by Carl Hagelin. Hagelin then fed the puck to STANLEY CUP FINAL PenguinsedgeSharksinOT San Jose falls behind 2-0 before heading home for Games 3, 4 PENGUINS2,SHARKS1(OT) Series: Pittsburgh leads 2-0. Game 3: Pittsburgh Penguins at San Jose Sharks, 5p.m. Saturday, TV on NBC. THESCORE BRAVES 5, GIANTS 4 (11) Up next: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves, 9:10a.m. Thurs- day, TV on CSN-BA. THESCORE By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group ATLANTA Hunter Pence's ham- string apparently wasn't ready to go full throttle. The San Francisco Giants' ef- fervescent right fielder sustained what appeared to be a major set- back in the fourth inning Wednes- day night at Turner Field, and adding insult to injury, Santiago Casilla blew a save in the ninth of an eventual 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves. Casilla allowed the tying run to score in a wild pitch in the ninth, and Freddie Freeman hit a home run on Derek Law's first pitch in the 11th inning as the Gi- ants lost for the second time in three games against the National League's worst team. The loss was a thumb to an al- ready swollen eye. Pence crum- pled to the ground shortly af- ter starting out of the box on a ground ball and clutched his right hamstring. He limped to the clubhouse and Jarrett Parker replaced him BASEBALL Giantsfall to Braves in 11th on home run By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press PARIS Yelling at his entourage and muttering to himself, Andy Murray alternated between bril- liant and bad for the better part of two sets before righting things to reach his fourth French Open semifinal. The No. 2-seeded Murray over- came his own frustration as much as his French opponent and a par- tisan crowd Wednesday, beating No. 9 Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2 at Court Philippe Cha- trier. Murray, a two-time major title winner, will take on defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who easily eliminated 55th-ranked Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7). Murray ran his winning streak to 10 matches, all on clay. This one did not come easily, though. He led 5-2 in each of the first two sets before letting those leads slip away, getting broken while serv- ing for both at 5-3. And he trailed 3-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, a critical moment. "It was a very physical match, up to that point," Murray said, "and it would have been very dif- ficult to come back if I'd lost the FRENCH OPEN Murray moves into semifinal in tough win By Jon Krawczynski The Associated Press OAKLAND LeBron versus Steph. King James versus the Baby- faced Assassin. Nike versus Un- derArmour. Any way you slice it, it's a dream matchup for the league in the NBA Finals. Again. A second straight champion- ship showdown between LeBron James and the Cleveland Cava- liers and Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors puts the league's two brightest stars on its biggest stage. It could also mark the begin- nings of a new rivalry between the longtime face of the league and the shooting supernova threatening to supplant him. "It's really annoying for me. That's not what I'm playing for, to be the face of the NBA or to be this or that or to take LeB- ron's throne or whatever," Curry said Wednesday, one day before the Warriors host the Cavs in Game 1. "You know, I'm trying to chase rings, and that's what I'm all about. So that's where the conversation stops for me." Curry got his first last year, at James' expense. And there have been subtle signs of a brewing rivalry ever since. As the Curry hype was build- ing during the Warriors' run to the title last season, James went out of his way to proclaim himself "the best player on the planet" during the finals. He played like it, too, averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists while carrying a Cavs team missing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love through six games in the series. After Curry won his second MVP award this season in unan- imous fashion — something no other player, including four-time winner James, had ever done — James offered a nuanced take on the achievement. James said Curry's numbers were tremendous, "but when you talk about most 'valuable' then you can have a different conver- sation, so, take nothing away from him, he's definitely deserv- ing of that award, for sure." On Wednesday, James ex- panded, saying "Steph was def- initely the MVP of our league." "You guys make rivals," James said. "I think it's great for the sport. It's great for all sports. I don't think me and Steph, when you talk about rivalries, you talk about Carolina-Duke, you talk about Ohio State-Michigan. It's hard to say LeBron and Steph. If there's a smaller scale or an- other word for a rival." If not rivals, certainly peers at the top of the league's food chain. They've both changed the league in different ways. "I don't think there's just a face in the NBA," Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. "I think there are faces because it's such a star-driven league. ... But I think it might be easier for the common fan to relate to Steph because it's hard to be 6-8, 260 and have a 40-inch (vertical) and be the fastest guy on the floor." There are similarities be- NBA FINALS JAMES, CURRY SET TO FACE OFF AGAIN Top-seeded Warriors won record 73 games in regular season, look to defend title The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James shoots during practice Wednesday in Oakland. The Golden State Warriors host the Cavaliers in Game 1of the NBA Finals on Thursday. PHOTOS BY MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry gestures on the court during practice Wednesday in Oakland. The Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1of the NBA Finals on Thursday. NBA FINALS Game 1: Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors, 6p.m., Thursday, TV on ABC. TUNEIN TENNIS PAGE 2 NBA PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 SHARKS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, June 2, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1