Roddick injured in French Open

Roddick continues his bad lack at the French Open, this time aggravating his ankle injury forcing him to retire at 6-4, 7-5, 1-0 with Alberto Martin leading.
Martina Hingis advanced to the second round brushing off Lisa Raymond 6-2, 6-2. The French Open is the only Grand Slam she has never won before.

Phoenix evens series

The Mavericks took a beating as the Suns won with a blowout 106-86. Barbosa led the charge with 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting, while Nash had 21 and Boris Diaw added 20. Nowitzki put up one of his worst games this season with 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Nadal Wins, sets new record

Nadal beat Swede Robin Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to set the longest Open Era claycourt winning streak, beating Guillermo Vilas' 1977 record. James Blake also won over Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). He is on course to meet Nadal in the quarters. On the women's side, Clijsters and Venus Williams are among those who advanced to the second round.

Heat with commanding 3-1 lead

The Heat are proving the critics wrong, and they're beating the conference champs when it counts the most- in the playoffs. Wade had 12 of his 31 points in the final period to lead the Heat 89-78 over the Pistons. O'Neal also contributed 21 points and 9 boards for the Heat. Tayshaun Prince scored 15 points and Billups added 14 for the Pistons.

Dallas takes lead

Dallas limited the Suns to just 88 points en route to a 95-88 victory. Some sparks flied when Suns' Tim Thomas and Maverick Jason Terry had a shoving match in the first half as both were given technicals. Nowitzki had 28 points and 17 rebounds while Josh Howard added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks. Nash led the Suns with 21 points and 7 assists.

Heat takes home advantage

The dynamic duo in Wade and O'Neal were dominant as the Heat is able to take a 2-1 lead, winning over the Pistons 98-83. Wade had 35 points, while O'Neal added 27 points and 12 rebounds as they combined for a blistering 75% field goal shooting for the Heat. Chauncey Billups scored 31 points to lead the Pistons.

Dallas stop Suns with Defense

Nowitzki had 30 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while Josh Howard added 29 points as the Mavericks won over the Suns 105-98 to tie the series 1-1. Both teams are known for their offensive firepower, but Dallas showed that it can play defense- limiting the Suns to a season-low 17 points in the first quarter. Nash led the Suns with 176 points and 11 assists.

Pistons even series with Heat

Miami almost made it 2-0, rampaging with 17 points in the final 1:46 mark. The Pistons however held to to even the series winning 92-88. Tayshaun Prince had a career playoff high with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Hamilton added 22 points to lead the Pistons. Wade and O'Neal were spectacular for the Heat, with 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks respectively.

Dallas, Phoenix advance to conference finals

Nowitzki and the Mavericks proved the critics wrong, they finally put down the Spurs 119-111 in overtime to win game 7. Nowitzki led the assault with 37 points and 15 rebounds, and Jason Terry came back from suspension to score 27. Duncan paced the Spurs with 40 points and 15 rebounds.
Nash was superb with 29 points and 11 assists making 4 of 5 3-pointers to lead the Suns over the Clippers 127-107. Marion had 30 points with 5 of 9 3-pointers. The Suns had a field day shooting, making 60% of their shots and 15 of 27 3-pointers. Elton Brand powered the Clippers with 36 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome the barage of shots from the Suns.

Hingis beats Venus in semis

Martina came back from a 1st set blowout to beat Venus 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 and advance to the Italian Open final. She will meet Dinara Safina(Safin's sister) in the final. Safina beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the other semifinal. This could be MArtina's first title since returning from her injury after 3 years of absense.

Spurs, Pistons force game 7

Duncan had foul trouble throughout, but Ginobili took over and led the Spurs with 30 points and 10 boards for a 91-86 victory over the Mavericks, forcing game 7 at their home turf. Former Maverick Finley was being booed all game but had 16 points to help the Spurs with the win.
The Pistons showed their playoff experience with an 84-82 win over the Cavaliers, forcing game 7. Rasheed Wallace had 24 points and Hamilton added 17 for the Pistons. Lebron led the Cavaliers with 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but had 7 turnovers.

Cavaliers upset Pistons, Spurs still alive

It was a 2-0 Detroit lead, not Cleveland is up 3-2. Talk about upsets, the Cavaliers pulled off another stunning victory 86-84 to win three straight and get within one of eliminating the Pistons. James had 32 points and Drew Gooden took a game-winning shot to lead the Cavaliers with victory.
The Spurs aren't ready yet to retire from the playoffs. They slugged it out and pulled off a close 98-97 win over the Mavericks, behind Duncan's 36 points with 12 rebounds and Parker's 27. Duncan was virtually unstoppable, making his first 12 shots of the game. Nowitzki paced the Mavericks with 31 points and 10 boards.

Heat finish off Nets, Suns take lead

Wade made a steal on the Nets' last play and the Heat finished of the Nets 106-105 to take the series 4-1. Antoine Walker had 23 points, and Wade added 21 as 6 players from Heat were in double figures in a balanced team effort. Carter and Jefferson each had 33 points for the Nets.
The Suns are being stretched to their limits, but they still prevail over the Clippers in double overtime 125-118 to take a 3-2 series lead. Shawn Marion had another huge game with 36 points and a career playoff-high 20 rebounds, to offset Elton Brand's 33 points and 15 rebounds and Cassell's 27 second half points.

Cavaliers tie series, Mavericks close to win series

The Pistons are known for their defense, but it was the Cavaliers who used it to win the game. Rasheed Wallace's prediction for a win came out flat as the Cavaliers upset the Pistons 74-72 to tie the series 2-2. Lebron had an all-around game with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists to lead the Cavs.
Seems alot of people including me are falling flat on playoff predictions, who would've thought that the Mavericks would take a 3-1 lead, following their 123-118 overtime upset over the former champs. Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 28, while Duncan had another solid 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, which wasn't enough yet again to give the Spurs the win.

Nadal outlasts Federer in Rome final

Well, seems like Nadal proved that he's got Federer's number, winning for the fourth straight time. He beat the no.1 ranked Swiss 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in a long and tiring match and won his second consecutive Masters final, again over Federer. All of Federer's losses this year came from Nadal. This must have taken alot out of the two though, as they both withdrew from the Hamburg Masters Series. Nadal tied Guillermo Vilas' record for winning 53 straight matches on clay in the Open era, and can extend it in the French Open

Federer vs Nadal #2- Rome Masters final

Surprise surprise, its again Federer and Nadal for the 2nd consecutive Masters Series final. Federer escaped in the semis with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win over No.3 seed Nalbadian. Nadal meanwhile breezed through French Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2. Although Nadal seems to be poised to beat Federer again, I'mm still slightly favoring Federer since it's a bit hard to believe for him to lose alot of times to the same opponent.

Cavaliers take 1, Spurs crumble

The Cavaliers aren't just going to allow the Pistons to sweep them away. Lebron had his second double-double of the playoffs with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, along with 4 steals, to lead the Cavaliers to a much-needed 86-77 win over Detroit. The Pistons shot only 39 percent from the field, and was led by Hamilton's 22 and Billups 20.
Dallas wants to prove that the Spurs and Pistons will be the story of the 2006 finals. The Spurs fumbled their last chance to win the game and the Mavericks escaped with a 104-103 victory. Nowitzki had a field day from the foul line, scoring 21 of his 27 points from free throws. Duncan was again incredible with 35 points and 12 rebounds, but still it wasn't enough to win the game.

Heat, Suns take 2-1 lead

The Heat took back home-court advantage beating the Nets 103-92. It was Wade vs. Carter in the final period, with Wade outscoring the Nets 15-11 during a span, and Carter scoring the last 13 points of the Nets. But Wade got help from his team, while Carter had almost no help at all from Kidd and Jefferson, who were heavily guarded.
Phoenix took a different approach and won game 3 with defense over the Clippers 94-91. The Suns won despite having 37.2% field goal shooting and scoring below 100, and they limited the Clippers to 42%. Marion dominated inside out with 32 points and 19 rebounds, while Kurt Thomas had 19 and 14.

Federer and Nadal still strong

Federer and Nadal continued their dominance in clay brushing aside Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-4 and Tim Henman 6-2 6-2 respectively. They're still on track to meet in the finals. Nalbandian and Roddick also advanced to the quarters.

Heat and Clippers get even

The Heat aren't taking game 1 lightly. Opposite of what happened in game 1, the Heat took off with a 25-4 run in the 1st quarter behind 17 from Wade and never looked backed as they cruised to a 111-89 victory over the Nets. Shaq added 21 for the Heat. Carted scored 22 for the Nets, and Jefferson played for the team, adding 16.
The Clippers definitely showed the Suns's lack of size, dominating the boards 57-26 in a 122-97 rout of the Suns. All five starters from the Clippers were in double figures, led by Elton Brand's 27 and 10.