In the NBA Playoffs, the Boston Celtics routed the Philadelphia 76ers in Philly 107-91 Wednesday night to take a 2-1 series lead in their Eastern Semifinal series.  Kevin Garnett had 27 points and thirteen rebounds to lead Boston.  Fajon Rondo had 23 points and 14 assists, and Paul Pierce had 24 points and 12 rebounds.  Game Four is Friday in Philadlephia.  Oklahoma City rallied from seven down with two minutes left to have a 9-0 run at the end of the game and edge the Lakers 77-75.  Kevin Durant got what proved the be the game winning basket on a baseline runner with 18 seconds left.  The win gave the Oklahoma squad a 2-0 lead in the Western Semifinals, as they head to Los Angeles  for Game Three Friday night.  Tonight (Thursday) Miami and Indiana shift sites to Indianapolis for game three of their series which is now tied at one game apiece.  The LA Clippers are in San Antonio for Game two of their Western Conference Semifinals Thursday. The Spurs lead one game to none after winning their fifteenth game in a row in the series opener Tuesday night.  The Pacers and Heat tipoff at 7:00PM, while the Spurs and Clippers start at 9:30PM.

In the NHL Eastern Finals, New Jersey edged the New York Rangers 3-2 in New York to square that series at one game apiece.  They resume Saturday at Jersey.  Thursday night the Western Finals series resumes between the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes in LA.  The Kings lead the series two games to none.

Playoff Baseball continues for some of our teams from Rowan County and the area.  North Rowan’s Baseball season came to an end Wednesday night, as they lost to Yadkin Valley Conference rival, West Montgomery 6-1 on Wednesday night. West Montgomery took advantage of walks and errors and scored all six of their runs in the last of the fourth.  The Cavaliers socre their only run in the seventh inning.  Clint Veal took the loss and had his record drop to 5-5.  North finished the season at 11-13.  It was the fourth time in four games that North Rowan had lost to West Montgomery.  Two other Second Round Baseball Playoff games that had been scheduled were postpone again because of wet grounds.  Carson at Northwest Cabarrus and Northeast Guilford at Davie County have rescheduled again for Thursday and must be played then.  If the scheduled sites are unplayable they will have to find alternate sites..Both games are scheduled for 7:00PM starts.  Carson at NW Cabarrus is a 3A second round game, while Northeast Guilford at Davie County is a 4A game. 

Catawba begins play in the Division II Southeast Regionals Thursday against Tusculum, with the game due to start at 3:00PM at Mt. Olive, the host of the Regional.  Nick Lomasaculo has been designated as the starter for Game for Catawba.  The Tournament is a double elimination event and will have one Champion survivor by Sunday.  Tusculum is seeded second, while Catawba is the fifth seed.  Tusculum took two out of three from the Indians during the regular season series played in Tennessee.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers edged the Kannapolis Intimidators 10-8 in eleven innnings Wednesday afternoon, sweeping the three game series in Greensboro.  The I’s start a new homestand Thursday night against the Lexington Legends at CMC Northeast Stadium 7:05PM.

The Atlanta Braves dropped back into second place in the NL East, losing 8-4  to the Miami Marlins in Atlanta in the first game of a two game series.  Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a two run homer and made a diving catch that save two runs as well.  Mark Buehrle gave up four runs on six hits in six inning, but it was well enought to get the win.  Mike Minor took the loss for the Braves as he continued his recent struggles.  Miami continues hot with a 12-3 May record.  The Braves dropped a half game back of  Washington in the NL East at 23-15.  They finish their series with the Marlins Thursday night and the homestand  as well before moving on to a road trip that starts with interleague play at Tampa Friday.  Airtime is 5:55PM, first pitch is 7:10PM Thursday on Newsradio 1490 with the Braves network.

Star High School forward, Amile Jefferson signed with Duke Tuesday.  Jefferson at 6’7″, averaged 19.9 points and 10.2 rebounds for Friends Central High School out of Philadelphia his senior season. He’s rated on of the nation’s top prep big men, and was named a McDonalds All-America.  NC  State and Kentucky had also been considered by Jefferson in the recruiting process.

In the NBA Playoffs, the Indiana Pacers edged the Heat in Miami 78-75 to even their series at one game apiece.  David West led the Pacers with 16 points and ten rebounds.  Labron James had 28 points and Duane Wade 24 for Miami, but the Heat was unable to make up for the loss of Chris Bosch to injury.  In the Western Semifinals, San Antonio won its fifteenth straight game, handling the LA Clippers easily 108-92 in the opening game of the series.  Tim Duncan led the scoring with 26 points and added ten rebounds.  Wednesday night, Boston at Philadelphia with the series at one game apiece and Oklahoma City hosts the LA Lakers in game two of their series.  The Thunder took the opening game 119-90 on Monday.