Celtics cool Heat to narrow series deficit

Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce (C) drives to the net between Miami Heat's Shane Battier (L) and Dwyane Wade during the sceond half in Game 3 of their Eastern …

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Celtics ramped up on defense to re-energies their playoff ambitions with a 101-91 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday, their first win in the NBA Eastern Conference finals series.

A win at home was critical for Boston, especially after losing in overtime to Miami on Wednesday. The Celtics still trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series but could now tie it up in Boston on Sunday.

The raucous crowd energized the Celtics, who surged to a 13-point lead by halftime and a 22-point margin by the end of the third quarter. Center Kevin Garnett top scored with 24 points and captain Paul Pierce had 23 points.

"Kevin does so many little things. He does so many intangibles, he's our best communicator. I could go on and on," Boston guard Rajon Rondo said of his team mate.

Rondo, who played all 53 minutes of Wednesday's overtime loss, chipped in with 21 points and 10 assists, steadying the team in the fourth quarter when Miami mounted an aggressive comeback against the tiring Celtics.

"He stayed with us, stabilized us really," Boston coach Doc Rivers said of Rondo.

The Celtics' tough defense - the decisive factor in their run past Philadelphia and Atlanta to the conference final - was back on track in the win.

"The difference was our defensive energy, which allowed us to run," said Rivers. "We had terrific ball movement for three quarters ... our rebounding was terrific in stretches."

Rivers praised the "phenomenal" effort of his team's second string players, including Marquis Daniels and Keyon Dooling, who each got significant playing time.

"What the second unit did was come in with a defensive energy that just changed the game," Rivers said.

Daniels, who played just 18 seconds in Wednesday's game two, logged more than 17 minutes as a stand-in point guard, adding nine points and five rebounds.

The Heat's Lebron James, in pursuit of his first NBA title, dominated the first quarter and ended up as the game's top scorer with 34 points.

The Heat cut Boston's lead to eight points late in the game, at one point staging an 11-0 run.

"He kept us afloat," team mate Dwyane Wade said of James. "We made a run in the fourth quarter (but) we can't dig that big of a hole for ourselves."

Miami did itself no favors from the penalty line, missing 10 of 20 free throw attempts. James was one of five from the line.

"We know this is a tough place to play but we know we can play a lot better than this," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "We still have a golden opportunity."

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney

Kiprop surges to victory in Kenya's 10,000 trials

Wilson Kiprop (R) of Kenya races against compatriot Matthew Kisorio during the 10,000m men's final race at the 2010 African Athletics Championship at the …

EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) - Wilson Kiprop surged to the lead with 50 meters to go and won the Kenyan Olympic 10,000 meters trials in the year's fastest time at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting on Friday.

Kiprop bettered his personal best by 25 seconds by crossing the line in 27 minutes, 1.98 seconds on a drizzly evening to defeat former world bronze medalist Moses Masai.

Masai ran 27:02.25 and Bitan Karoki finished in 27:05.50 to complete the Kenyan team for the London Games.

The Kenyans moved their trials to low-altitude Eugene in hopes of breaking a 44-year drought without an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000. Their last victory in the event came at the 1968 Olympics.

Despite the wet track and sometimes rainy conditions, a classy field also delivered the year's top performances in the men's triple jump and women's 10,000m.

World outdoor champion Christian Taylor outdueled U.S. team mate Will Claye to win the triple jump at 17.62 meters. Global indoor winner Claye bounded 17.48 and British Olympic hopeful Phillips Idowu claimed third at 17.05 with only two fair jumps.

Ethiopian Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba pipped Kenya's Florence Kiplagat in the women's 10,000m, running 30:24.39. Kiplagat clocked 30:24.85, the year's second fastest.

Quick runs also came in the mile and women's 800m.

Kenyan James Magut led 12 runners under four minutes in the mile, clocking 3:54.16, and American Alysia Montano sped to the year's second fastest women's 800 in 1:57.37.

The meeting continues on Saturday with Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele facing British world champion Mo Farah over 5,000 meters and China's Liu Xiang racing America's top high hurdlers.

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)

AP Source: NFL has Saints bounty ledger

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Documents gathered in the NFL's bounty investigation of the Saints include a ledger detailing payments for plays such as ''cart-offs'' and ''whacks,'' a person familiar with the probe said.

The person confirmed the existence of the ledger to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday night because the NFL has not publicly discussed it. Yahoo first reported that the NFL has the ledger, which describes $1,000 payments for ''cart-offs,'' or hits which left opponents needing help to the sideline. It noted $400 payments for ''whacks,'' or hard hits, and $100 deductions for mental errors.

Another person with access to Saints records also told the AP of the existence of documents listing payments made for ''cart-offs'' and ''whacks.'' But the person was not aware of any document that identified a bounty placed on an opponent.

''There was no such thing as a bounty where anyone put up money to hurt another player,'' said the person, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing and related litigation is pending.

''There were stupid names for legitimate plays,'' the person said, referring to the use of the terms ''cart-offs'' and ''whacks.'' The person said the payments listed ''are for big, clean plays,'' and that plays which were penalized usually resulted in fines.

NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah says the union has not seen the ledger or any other evidence of player involvement in a ''pay-to-injure'' program, including the ledger.

''This supposed coach's ledger, if it does exist, only proves that a fair due process was not afforded to the players,'' Atallah told The Associated Press. ''They were punished before they had the opportunity to review any of the supposed evidence against them.''

The NFL has suspended four players - all of them either current or former Saints - in connection with the bounty probe. Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for all of the 2012 season, Green Bay defensive end Anthony Hargrove was suspended eight games, Saints defensive end Will Smith was suspended four games, and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita three.

The players all have appealed their suspensions. While none of the punished players has denied that the Saints ran a pay-for-performance pool similar to those run by other teams, they have denied that they ever pledged or received cash for injuring a targeted opponent.

Vilma also has filed a defamation lawsuit against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.

The Saints also have been punished harshly as an organization, with head coach Sean Payton serving a suspension that began in April and runs until after the Super Bowl. General manager Mickey Loomis was suspended eight games and assistant head coach Joe Vitt, currently acting as head coach in Payton's absence, must serve a six-game suspension at the start of the regular season.

The team also was fined $500,000 and docked second-round draft picks this year and next, though the NFL has indicated the penalty for next year's draft could be reduced if the club continues to cooperate with the probe.

The NFL has said former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams ran a bounty program for three seasons from 2009 through 2011. Now with the St. Louis Rams, Williams has issued an apology and has been suspended indefinitely. Payton and Loomis also have issued apologies for not doing more to stop a program that Williams ran on their watch.

Clippers' coach Del Negro will return next season

The Los Angeles Clippers announced Tuesday that they have picked up their option on coach Vinny Del Negro's contract, which means he will return as the team's coach next season.

The Clippers had until June 1 to decide whether to bring Del Negro back for his third season with the Clippers, and it was unclear what they would do.

The preseason acquisition of Chris Paul raised expectations considerably, and the Clippers lost in the second round of the playoffs this season, getting swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs.

The Clippers had won their first-round series in seven games over Memphis.

The team's winning percentage of .606 this season was the highest in franchise history.

Goodes takes two-shot lead at Principal Charity Classic

Mike Goodes leads after the first round of the Principal Charity Classic.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Mike Goodes opened the Principal Charity Classic by sticking all of his approaches next to the cup and tapping in for easy birdies.

Knowing such good fortune was unlikely to last, Goodes put it out of his mind and finished Friday's opening round of the Principal Charity Classic nearly as well as he started it.

Goodes shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-shot lead at Glen Oaks Country Club. Jay Haas, who won in Iowa in 2007 and 2008, leads a group at 5-under 66 that includes South African David Frost and former Masters champion Larry Mize.

Goodes opened his round with four straight birdies. He nearly had two more on Nos. 5 and 6 and he closed with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. Goodes shot a 30 on the front nine and matched his lowest overall score on the Champions Tour.

"Just tried to play after that because you know you don't want to start thinking about how good you are after four (holes)," Goodes said. "You're not going to finish too good then."

Goodes, whose only Champions Tour win came at the Allianz Championship in 2009, stumbled to a bogey on No. 7 before racking up back-to-back birdies.

Goodes and Larry Nelson, who were playing in the same group, went to No. 18 tied at 6 under. But Goodes watched Nelson hit a strong putt that shot past the hole en route to a bogey, which helped him judge his try well enough to sink it from above the hole at just under 20 feet.

"It's like a great shooter in basketball. It's my day, and you just keep shooting and think you're going to make everything," Goodes said. "You're seeing putts go in the hole, there's no reason to think the next one's not going to go."

Haas struggled in his previous two tournaments, tying for 29th at last week's Senior PGA Championship. But he had a 69 in his last round at Harbor Shores in Michigan and he carried it over into Friday.

Haas needed just 23 putts in the opening round, a welcome change of pace after struggling recently on the greens.

"Kind of a product of just working at it a little bit. Hit more solid putts and made some nice mid-range putts," Haas said. "My pace was good on my putts."

Graham Marsh, 68, scored the tournament's first hole-in-one since 2006 when he aced the 203-yard second hole. Marsh, who also had a hole-in-one on a different hole during a pro-am earlier in the week, blew his good fortune with three bogeys and a double-bogey on the final seven holes and finished at 2 over.

"That's an amazing thing when you think about it," Marsh said. "I don't know if I've ever heard of three in one week, but I've still got three days to achieve it haven't I?"

Fuzzy Zoeller and John Harris both aced the 16th hole back in 2006.

Defending champion Bob Gilder opened with a 70. Gilder won at Glen Oaks for the second time in 2011 with a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole as Mark Brooks three-putted for bogey.

Brooks, whose bogey on the notoriously difficult par-4 17th hole precipitated his downfall last year, made par on that one Friday en route to a solid 67.

Tom Lehman, Mark Calcavecchia and Kenny Perry were part of an impressive group at 3 under.

Price, Matsui key Rays win over Baltimore

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) David Price made the most of Tampa Bay's five-run first inning.

Price scattered four hits over 7 1-3 innings, Hideki Matsui homered and the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-0 on Friday night.

''The offense made it a lot easier for me going out and getting five runs,'' Price said. ''That takes a lot of pressure off our defense and takes a lot of pressure off me.''

Price (7-3), who struck out five and walked two, retired his first 13 batters. He got some defensive help when right fielder Matt Joyce made a full-extension, tumbling backhanded catch on J.J. Hardy's drive to end the fourth.

Price was charged with a fourth hit after a postgame scoring change that gave Wilson Betemit - the left-hander's final batter - a single on a grounder first called an error on second baseman Ben Zobrist.

''He's good, period,'' Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said of Price.

After Luke Scott hit a two-run single and Sean Rodriguez added a run-scoring bunt, Matsui belted a two-run homer off Wei-Yin Chen (4-2) to make it 5-0 in the first. Matsui, who was promoted from Triple-A Durham on Tuesday, has homered in two of his three games with Tampa Bay.

''Not just me, but everybody else was hitting in that inning,'' Matsui said through a translator. ''I was glad I was able to come through in that situation. It was a pitch that caught the inner part of plate, and I was able to put a pretty good swing on it.''

Jake McGee replaced Price and struck out both batters he faced in the eighth. The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on three singles against Burke Badenhop, but Fernando Rodney struck out Mark Reynolds and got a grounder from Chris Davis for his 17th save.

Baltimore has lost six in a row and nine of 11.

Matt Wieters, mired in a 3-for-43 slide, got the Orioles' first hit when he grounded a single into right field with one out in the fifth.

''That's the last thing I was thinking about,'' said Price about a perfect game. ''I'm just trying to put up as many zeroes as possible. He hit a good pitch and he did what he could with it.''

Baltimore ran itself out of at least one run and possibly a big inning in the sixth. Hardy hit a fly to deep center with the bases loaded, but before Bill Hall reached home from third, B.J. Upton threw Steve Tolleson out attempting to advance from first to second for an inning-ending double play. Since the third out occurred before Hall crossed the plate, no run scored on the play.

''That's not the game,'' Showalter said. ''The game was Price, the first inning. Stevie is a good fundamental player. He just wanted to make something happen for our club. It's one of those things he knew as soon as he did it (it was a mistake).''

Chen gave up five runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. The left-hander didn't allow a hit after Matsui's first-inning homer.

''First inning, my fastball, I couldn't command it,'' Chen said through a translator. ''Off-speed pitches were out of the zone. I didn't do my job.''

NOTES: Baltimore placed OF Nick Markakis (fractured right wrist) on the 15-day disabled list and purchased Hall's contract from Triple-A Norfolk. Markakis had surgery on Friday and is expected to be out three to four weeks. ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria (partial tear left hamstring) could be ready to start a minor league rehab assignment by mid-June. ... Orioles CF Adam Jones, hit on the left wrist by a pitched ball Wednesday, was in the starting lineup and went 2 for 4. He had a 20-game hitting streak end on Wednesday. ... Tampa Bay OF Desmond Jennings (sprained left knee) is expected to rejoin the team during a six-game road trip next week.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter ever for the New York Mets as he blanked the visiting World Series champion St Louis Cardinals 8-0 at Citi Field on Friday.

Santana struck out World Series MVP David Freese on a change-up in the dirt to end the game with his eighth strikeout and unleashed a huge celebration in the middle of the diamond.

The no-hitter came in the 8,020th game for the Mets, who joined the National League in 1962.

After a massive group hug in the middle of the field, the players returned to the dugout, where team mates poured champagne over the elated Santana's head.

In the ninth inning, Santana retired Matt Holliday on a soft liner to center, got Allen Craig on a fly to left and then fanned Freese to complete the no-hitter.

The lefthander, who missed last season after having shoulder surgery, walked five batters and threw 134 pitches in improving his record to 3-2.

"Amazing," Santana said in an on-field interview.

"Coming into this season I was just hoping to come back and stay healthy and help this team, and now I'm in this situation in the greatest city ... I'm very happy and happy for you guys," he told the fans. "Finally, the first one."

Mets outfielder Mike Baxter helped preserve the no-hitter with a spectacular catch on the run in left-field in the seventh inning on a drive hit by Yadier Molina.

Baxter crashed into the fence after corralling the drive but held on for the out. Shook-up by the play, Baxter had to come out of the game.

"When he hit that ball, I thought 'no'," Santana said when asked whether he thought Baxter would catch Molina's drive. "He made that play, it was great. It was amazing. Saved the game."

(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)