Spurs find rhythm against Jazz

NEW YORK: The San Antonio Spurs held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Utah Jazz to win their Western Conference finals opener 108-100 on Sunday.

Sports

Spurs outbattle Suns for series lead

PHOENIX, Arizona: The San Antonio Spurs outlasted the shorthanded Phoenix Suns Wednesday to gain the upper hand in their NBA playoff series.

Mauresmo crashes out of Italian Open

ROME: Top seed Amelie Mauresmo suffered her second successive early exit when she lost 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 to Australia's Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday.

Technician denies Landis leak

MALIBU, California: A laboratory technician has denied leaking information to French newspaper L'Equipe about Tour de France champion Floyd Landis testing positive for doping.

Sabres slice into Sens lead with 3-2 road win

OTTAWA: The Buffalo Sabres struck early before grinding out a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, a win that staved off elimination in Game Four of their Eastern Conference finals series.

Federer and Nadal battle through

HAMBURG: Roger Federer scraped into the third round of the Hamburg Masters with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Juan Monaco on Wednesday, while Rafael Nadal stretched his claycourt winning streak to 78 matches.

IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Sports

Jazz end Warriors' dream run

NEW YORK: The Utah Jazz eliminated the Golden State Warriors from the playoffs on Tuesday with a 100-87 victory in Game Five of the Western Conference semifinals.

Mourinho arrested in dog row

LONDON: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been arrested in a row with police officers over his dog, a police source said yesterday.

Hasek, Holmstrom lead Red Wings rout

ANAHEIM, California: Tomas Holmstrom scored twice and had an assist, and the Detroit Red Wings took control early on the way to a 5-0 victory Tuesday night over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.