Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Pierce leads Celtics to 98-88 win in Game 1

BOSTON—Big moments have defined the Lakers-Celtics blood feud, and in their first get-together in 21 years, a kid from Los Angeles gave Boston one to remember.

Paul Pierce, who used to sneak into Lakers games as a youngster, came bounding out of the tunnel from the locker room after leaving with an injured knee and led the Celtics to a tense 98-88 victory over Los Angeles on Thursday night in Game 1 of these tradition-soaked finals.

Pierce's dramatic return after being carried from the court and wheeled down a hallway for treatment will be added to the annals of Celtics-Lakers lore, taking a spot alongside Magic Johnson's baby sky hook and Kevin McHale's clothesline of Kurt Rambis.

Kevin Garnett scored 24 points, Pierce finished with 22 — 11 after getting hurt — and Ray Allen, the third member of Boston's Big 3, added 19 for the Celtics, who are chasing a 17th NBA championship.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 24.

Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. in Boston.

Hockeytown rejoices: Detroit wins Stanley Cup

PITTSBURGH—Oil up the Winged Wheel, it’s time for another victory parade.

Hockeytown is home to the Stanley Cup — again.

For the fourth time in 11 seasons, the Detroit Red Wings are the Stanley Cup champions. They used experience and grit to knock out the young up-and-coming Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 of the finals.

Following in the footsteps of Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman, new captain Nicklas Lidstrom led the Red Wings to the title. Detroit’s 11th NHL championship team is the first in league history to be captained by a European.

The celebration came two nights later than expected. The Penguins forced the series back to Pennsylvania by tying Game 5 with 34.3 seconds left in regulation and winning it shortly before 1 a.m. in Detroit on Petr Sykora’s power-play goal in triple overtime.

Undeterred, the Red Wings wrapped up their fourth straight series on the road in these playoffs. Detroit is third in NHL titles, trailing fellow Original Six clubs Montreal and Toronto.

It was the best night for Swedish hockey since the national squad won the gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Along with Lidstrom’s achievement, Henrik Zetterberg, who had a goal and assist in the Cup clincher, earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Ivanovic faces Safina in French Open final

PARIS—If official statistics were tallied for fist pumps and self-exhortations during Grand Slam matches, Ana Ivanovic might well have established a record while winning her French Open semifinal.

Perhaps Ivanovic did not raise a clenched hand and let out a yelp after each of the 96 points she earned. It sure did seem that way to the woman she beat 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday, Jelena Jankovic, who mocked the gesture at least twice, drawing guffaws from fans.

There was plenty at stake, and nerves clearly were raw.

The winner was assured of replacing Maria Sharapova at No. 1 in the rankings, in addition to earning a berth in Saturday’s championship match against 13th-seeded Dinara Safina. The younger sister of two-time major champion Marat Safin followed up her twin escape-from-match-point-down, three-set upsets of Sharapova and No. 7 Elena Dementieva with a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach her first Grand Slam final.

“I won in two sets,” Safina said with a smile. “That’s strange for me.”

The men’s semifinals Friday feature No. 1 Roger Federer vs. unseeded Gael Monfils, and No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

Rays select SS Tim Beckham with top pick

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—The Tampa Bay Rays selected Tim Beckham with the No. 1 pick in the baseball draft Thursday, choosing the talented high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., over Florida State catcher Buster Posey.

Beckham was recognized as one of the best pure athletes in the draft and labeled a legitimate five-tool player. He established himself as the top prep prospect in the nation with solid performances at last summer’s high school showcase events and hit .500 with five homers, 31 RBIs and 16 stolen bases this season.

“I found out this morning. ... The scouting director gave me a call and the general manager gave me a call. It was crazy. I was about to do a backflip in my room,” Beckham said.

“It means everything in the world. I’ve worked this hard the last three or four years, me and my brothers and my dad. This means all the hard work paid off. I hope to become an All-Star and after that I want to become a Hall of Famer.”

With the second pick, the Pittsburgh Pirates chose sweet-swinging Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Florida high school first baseman Eric Hosmer went to the Kansas City Royals, and the Baltimore Orioles took top college pitching prospect Brian Matusz out of San Diego with the fourth pick.

This is the second straight year the Rays have had the No. 1 pick. David Price, a hard-throwing left-hander from Vanderbilt, was the choice in 2007 and is off to a great start with Class-A Vero Beach.

Steroids dealer found dead at North Texas home

PLANO, Texas—A convicted steroids dealer who recently met with NFL security officials and gave them names of players he said bought steroids from him was found shot to death in his home Thursday, police said.

Early Thursday morning, Plano police made a welfare check and found 35-year-old David Jacobs and 30-year-old Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell dead. Police said both had been shot to death.

Police spokesman Rick McDonald said the officers were making a welfare check after relatives of Earhart-Savell expressed concern about her whereabouts.

Plano detectives aren’t releasing information about whether the deaths were a double homicide or a murder-suicide, whether a weapon was found near the bodies, or any other details, McDonald said.