Sunday, May 10, 2009

Hall-of-Famer Daly Dies, Nuggets Stun Mavs, Saunders Outduels Greinke







Chuck Daly, the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons who won two championships with them in 1989 and 1990, has died. A couple of months ago, Daly was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Since then, NBA head coaches and NBA analysts have paid tribute to him by wearing pins on their suits with Daly's initials on them. Daly went 638-437 as an NBA head coach with the Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic. Daly also led the 1992 U.S. Mens Olympic basketball team to a gold medal, a team mostly known as the Dream Team. He was 78 years old.






In Dallas, the Denver Nuggets shocked the Dallas Mavericks, beating them 106-105 to take a 3-0 series lead in their second round matchup. The game included a controversial play, when Carmelo Anthony of the Nuggets hit a three-pointer with one second remaining. Antoine Wright of the Mavericks was trying to intentionally foul Anthony, but the foul wasn't called. The NBA publicly said after the game that a foul should've been called. Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets with 32 points, while Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 33 points and 16 rebounds. Game 4 is Monday in Dallas.






In Anaheim, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0, behind the great pitching of Joe Saunders. Saunders pitched a complete game, pitching a shutout and only giving up five hits. Royals' pitcher Zack Greinke, who has been the early front runner for the AL Cy Young award, was excellent as well, only giving up a run by a sacrifice fly by Chone Figgins in the third inning. That was the only run in the game. Greinke only gave up four hits in his complete game as well, but he was handed his first loss of the season. The Royals fall to 18-13, while the Angels improve to 15-14.






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