Sports

Pistons reach semis for 6th straight year

DETROIT, Michigan: Richard Hamilton scored 31 points and the Detroit Pistons advanced to the National Basketball Association semifinals for the sixth year in a row by defeating Orlando 91-86 Tuesday.

Davydenko, Ferrer progress as Frenchman blows a Gasquet

HAMBURG, Germany: Out-of-form French No 1 Richard Gasquet admits Roland Garros may come too soon for him after he was the biggest casualty of the Hamburg Masters Series here on Tuesday.

Penguins on brink of NHL finals

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Marian Hossa scored two goals to lead Pittsburgh past Philadelphia 4-1 here Tuesday, pushing the Penguins to the brink of advancing to the National Hockey League finals.

Datsyuk's hat trick lifts Red Wings

DALLAS: Pavel Datsyuk scored his first career hat trick to power the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday, moving the Western Conference top seeds to the brink of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Judge orders March '09 Cup race

NEW YORK: The America's Cup match race between holder Alinghi and challenger BMW Oracle is to be held in mid-March of 2009, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled on Monday.

Canada, Russia cruise into quarters with unbeaten records

HALIFAX, Canada: Russia and Canada closed out the qualification round on Monday with unbeaten records as they clinched the top spots in their groups at the World Ice Hockey Championships.

Sports

LeBron helps Cavaliers slam Celtics

CLEVELAND, Ohio: LeBron James scored 21 points while adding six rebounds and a playoff career-high 13 assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past Boston 88-77 on Monday to level their second-round series.

IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Sports

Jazz holds off Lakers, Spurs crush Hornets

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah: The Utah Jazz needed overtime to down the Lakers while the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a rout of New Orleans on Sunday to square both Western Conference series in the National Basketball Association playoffs.