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Show Wednesday, November 3. 2004 HERALD .DAILY TODAY THURSDAY NBA FTNG 8:30 p.m. Delta Center ESPN Auto Racing t CHRIS ISONAssociated Press and Stavros S. The tall ships Prince William, right, Niarchos match race on the Solent just off the south coast of England on Tuesday. The 60 metre, d course brigs competed over a for the prestigious Tall Ships Challenge Cup. t Olympics twin-maste- Swimmer says he competed while recovering from collapsed lung 1,500-met- ON THE AIR one-quart- TV ' NBA , f4 rjTf j WHO MAKES THE PLAYOFFS? this sound like a playoff to you? Ratliff, Zach Randolph, Derek Anderson, Damon Stoudamire, Shareef Abdur-Rahiwith Ruben Patterson, Nick Van Excel and Darius Miles corning off the bench? Well, it's not. Not in the Western Conference, How about this one SteVe Nash, Quentin Richardson, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire and Jake Voskuhl, with Joe Johnson and Leandro Barbosa and Casey Jacobsen off the bench? That isn't, either. Portland and Phoenix are good, but not good enough to make the playoffs. If you don't want to wait until April to figure out who will make the playoffs from the West-- v ern Conference, I've got your covered. You might want to write these down. Does I Schilling will have ankle examined: Red Sox ace Curt Schilling will have his right ankle examined on Friday, and could have surgery early next week. Red Sox spokesman Glenn Geffner said Schilling's ankle was irritated by a lotion doctors used while performing a procedure to enable him to pitch in the World Series. Doctors need to wait until the inflam- mation goes away to examine the ankle. I Backman's arrests, bankruptcy won't affect job status; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Wally Back-ma- n will keep his new job despite revelations of two arrests and financial problems in his past. "I've made a few mistakes in my life, and I think everybody has," Backman told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "It's a matter of whether you learn from' your mistakes and move on. That's what I'm doing." The Diamondbacks were unaware of his problems until they surfaced in a New York Times story on Tuesday. Backman met with Diamondbacks owners and other management personnel about the issues and was told he still had the job, he said. 6 p.m. 8:30 p.m. ESPN BASEBALL KJZZ, ESPN ' Kuhn 5:30 p.m. UAB ESPN2 ' 8:30 p.m. 1320 Lakers at Utah at home following heart surgery Bowie Kuhn is home following heart surgery and planning to attend the home opener of Washington's new major league baseball team in April. former baseball commissioner had The surgery Oct. 25 to repair a heart valve and bypass two arteries. He had another operation two days later to receive a pacemaker, and was released Saturday from St. Luke's Hospital, Mayo Clinic, in Jacksonville, Fla. Radio Basketball FOOTBALL , AM . prove their team in the offseason. San Antonio still has Tim Dun- can and Shaq is in Miami. Last year the Spurs were second in the west with a 5 record. This year the Spurs not only win the west, they have the best record NBA and win the title. Predicted record: 8 2. Sacramento last year The Kings were and lost Vlade Drvac, but they have enough depth to take a few hits. Last year, the Kings were the first team to lead the NBA in field goal percentage (.462) and percentage (.401). They still have Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Brad Miller and the glue that holds the team together, Mike Bibby. . Predicated record: 56-2-6 Jaguars quarterback out indefinitely JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwid. is out indefinitely after spraining his lateral collateral ligament in his left knee in Sunday's 20-- 6 loss to Houston. Sports orthopedist James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., examined Leftwich on Tuesday and determined the quarterback will not need surgery. He has been PA R I S Second-seede- d I.leyton Hewitt defeated French teenager Gael Monfils (3) at the Paris Masters on Tuesday, then heaped praise on the former junior champion. A day earlier, the Monfils ousted Thomas Enqvist at the $3.1 million tournament. He traded shots for most of the e match with Hewitt, a Grand Slam winner, to the delight of a packed crowd at the Bercy indoor arena. "He had nothing to lose and he is a great player. I. knew it would be tough and he could 6-- take the set and won the first five games of the second set. . "Lisa Raymond is a very good player ... she did not beat herself," said Williams, who said she hopes to improve the consistency of her game. "This year reminds me kind of my first year on tour. I don't have enough matches under my belt to have my play where I want to be." Seventh-seede- d Nadia Petro-v-a fired serves up to 120 mph and beat Tatiana Panova Petrova finished with eight aces and lost just six points on serve in the victory. In other matches, Jelena Jankovic defeated Maria Jelena Kostenic outlasted Anne Kre-mand Meghann 64, Shaughnessy rallied to beat lAUDlPfSS 7-- 6 two-tim- handle the pressure," Hewitt said. "He is going to become a very, very big player in the future." Monfils was playing only his fifth match on the main ATP tour, following a junior career that" included three Grand Slam titles and a No. ranking. He said he was. surprised his match against Hewitt had not been more difficult. "I thought the score would be bad for me," he said. "I still have a lot of work to do but, in fact, the gap between him and me is not that large." Also Tuesday, defending champion Tim Henman defeated Paradorn Srichaphan Robin Soderling rallied to 1- beat Davide Sanguinetti Ueyton Hewitt serves Monfils on Tuesday. Press to Gael 6 (6), in another 6-- 0 4-- 6, 7-- 6-- 1, I Advanta Championship: At d Villanova, Pa., Venus Williams advanced the second round of the Advanta Tennis Championships, beating local favorite Lisa Raymond Williams, who lost to Raymond in the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year, allowed just two points in the first set and raced to a 0 lead. Raymond won the next two games, but Williams claimed three straight games to 6-- 1. 3-- 6-- 4. 4-- 7-- Lee-Wate- After three 7-- straight wins, Jimmie in thick of race Paul Newberry THE ASSOCIATED 6-- 3. 4 2 OOnm Garni 4 30pm 3 Gama 3 7 00pm 2 Gam, I 2 Jo " Bn NflVEMBFB WETINFSTIAY ' 5 WvantUa Ulah 6 Naw Hailco Sao Diago vi 7 Alt Forca BYU Stmillnal SamlHul 1. 4:30fm TBD 2, 7:00fn TBD NOVEMBER 6TH ship Gun, 7 00pm TBD SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 4TH THURSDAY, Cham plan n ' V J a sav Th.?- - w- x: i at II rim w 1 ah A PRESS right in the middle of it. Busch leads with only three events to go, but second-place Johnson has closed within 59 points. He knocked 148 points off his deficit in a single day, also jumping two spots in the standings. Third-plac- e Jeff Gordon, No. 4 Martin and No. 5 Dale Earnhardt are all within 98 points of the lead. Johnson doesn't want to stop now. His eyes are firmly on Victory Lane; He sees no reason why he can't close the year with a six race winning streak even though that's never happened in NASCAR's modern era. "It is a whole new world for us," Johnson said. "Nobody can play defense. Everyone is going to have to be on offense." . He was top of the standings most of the summer, building a lead of 232 points with his August victory at Pocono. Then, engine failures in three straight races wiped out his comfortable margin. Looking back, Johnson feels the team got too defensive, intent on protecting its spot in the standings instead of trying to win races, " When we had a lead and we were in a position to defend, it just feel through our fingers," he said. "When we play offense, we're as good any anybody." Despite his engine woes, Johnson began the championship playoff in second place. He really began to plummet in the new format, which bunched up the top 10 drivers for a sprint to the fin- Jimmie HAMPTON, Ga. Johnson is a realist. When he finished 37th at Talladega, then 32nd at Kansas City, he figured that was it. No chance of winning his first Nextel Cup championship this year. Might as well start looking ahead to 2005. Of course, Johnson didn't count on winnjfcg three races in a row. ffii-His latest victory came Sunday, overdoming Mark Martin's dominant ear at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Johnson is the first Cup racer since 1998 to via three straight in a saasoa "It is just amazing," Johnson said. "I thdught three weeks ago, wtb the way that some of the tefms havbeen working ... thre was no way that circumstances would work out to allow us to have ' a shot at it." ' They have. Points leader Kurt Busch had a terrible day in Atlanta, going out with a blown enfinish. gine and a 42nd-plac- e Six others in the championship playoff also had major problems, winding up far behind Johnson. Suddenly, it's a race again ish. for the title with Johnson ; "Sft Press 55-2- 7 5. Utah Jazz Johnson a surprise SOCCER TOURnAMSnT MIAICZ ; 53-2- At Quebec 6-- . FELDAssociated 6-- 2. advanced to the second round of the Bell Challenge, beating Stephanie Foretz 64, 7 (5), 6 Gloria of (2). The Montreal reached the main draw by winning her qualifying match Monday. Gloria will face second-seede- d Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. In another match Tuesday, American Abigail Spears defeated countrywoman Lindsay to ' ; The addition of Kenyon Martin to go with a maturing Carmelo An- - i thony and cast give the Nuggets a chance to become one of the elite ; teams in the west. Denver was 43i- - ; 39 last year. A improve- - . ; ment is not out of the question. Predicted record: 9 Hendridc Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon, right and Brian Vkkers, center, embrace race winner Jimmie Johnson, left, in victory lane after Johnson won the MBNA 500 on Sunday. City; qualifier Melanie Gloria fifth-seede- 6-- 2, Bell Challenge: ; ', RIC match. I ; 4. Denver 6-- 1, 3-- 6, ; . 55-2- 7 Predicted record: 7-- 5, Kelly McCain d ; 3. Minnesota The Timberwolves will win the Northwest Division, but Denver and Utah are rapidly closing the gap. Minnesota better hope Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell stay healthy, because that's something Wally Szczer-bia- k can't do, and the only other help off the bench is Michael Olowokandi. Enough said. er second-roun- i 64-1- ' hi 2-- 1 6-- EULERAssociated MICHEL ; in-th- 6-- 0. 6-- 2, V 57-2- Hewitt tops French teen to advance "Hf ; 1. San Antonio Without question the Spurs are the class ofthe west and the NBA. San Antonio added Brent Barry to an already explosive lineup, but the Spurs didn't have to do much to im- . told to rest the injury. , . : Miami at New Jersey LA Lakers at Utah L.A. 15-mi- ical staff of his conditioa "My lungs were so blocked and stuffed for so long that it was partially deflated and there was fluid in it was fairly serious," the star swimmer said there Tuesday on Australian TV. "It was thought once it cleared up there could be scar tissue on the lungs, but I had a CAT scan about two weeks ago and found it was all clear." Hackett's coach Penis Cotterett said Tuesday that of his lung capacity at Hackett had lost up to Athens. However, they withheld word from the medical staff for fear he might be denied the right to compete. "We didn't tell anyone. We didn't let them know," Cotterell said. Grant Hackett successfully SYDNEY, Australia defended his title in the freestyle at the Athens Olympics while recovering from a collapsed liing, and did not inform the Australian team's med- - NBA Warner , NASCAR fined Nextel DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Cup driver Rusty Wallact $10,000 Tuesday for 1 lonally hitting Ryan Newman's car as the field returned to pit lane after the Oct. 24 race at Martinsville Speedway. Wallace was angry with his Penske Racing South teammate after a run-i- n late in the race and bumped Newman's Dodge to show his disapproval. The two were running second and third to Jimmie Johnson in the Subway 500 when the race went uack to green for the final time with seven laps to go. Wallace, the only one of the three not contending for the season championship, tried a move to the outside of Johnson on the restart, going into a second groove where no one had succeeded all day. Johnson rebuffed his attempt, and Newman, seeing an opportunity to take second, pulled alongside his teammate on the inside. The cars bumped and Newman won the battle, with Wallace remaining high on the track and sliding back into the pack. Newman finished third, behind Johnson and Jamie McMurray, while Wallace wound up 10th. After the race, Newman said his car was faster than Wallace's late in the race and he wasn't going to give anything away to his teammate. Neil 7 p.m. "My doctor wants me to walk 60 minutes a day. I haven quite made that, but I'm getting close," he said Tuesday by telephone from his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Kuhn said he began to feel heavy chest pressure during a visit to New York early List month. He went for tests Oct. 22 "I've had an aortic valve problem all my life," he said. "It was just a matter of time, if I lived long enough, for them to give me a new one I found out not only did I need a new aortic value but I probably needed a couple of bypasses. They said, 'Either you do this or die.' " said he intenKuhn, commissioner from 1969-8tionally scheduled the operation for the off day during the World Series, and he was able to watch Game 3 the following night. The first operation took 41j hours and last Wednesday, doctors informed him he needed the pacemaker, requiring a operation that day. Commissioner Bud Selig called Kuhn and invited him and wife Luisa to attend the first major league game back in Washington on April 15. Baseball's schedule calls for the Expos, who plan to move to the capital, to play their home opener at RFK Stadium against Arizona. .1i Wallace fined for postrace actions College Football South Florida at O LA Lakers at Utah PAGE CoBegeVoleybal Boise State at UVSC If Utah can avoid a breakdown at point guard, and coach Jerry Sloan can get this team to play de- - ' fense, the Jazz could move up even more. If Matt Harpring comes off the bench along with Gordan Giricek, Kris Humphries and Curtis Borchardt, the bench could be as good as any in the West. Predicated record: 50-3-2 6. LA. Lakers Skeptics who think the Lakers will miss the playoffs underesti- mate Kobe's supporting cast. Lamar Odom is a dream teamer, g err, a member of the bronze USA Olympic team. Brian Grant, Chris Mihm and Vlade Drvac are better than most NBA center combos and Caron Butler is show- ing promise. Derek Fisher left for Golden State, but who needs a point guard when you've got Kobe? Predicted record: 49-3- 3 medal-winnin- -- 10-ra- ' 7. Dallas ; J f The Mavs finally got the center they've longed for when they traded for Erick Dampier, filling the team's second-biggeweakness acen-- " ter. But the Mavericks lost point guard Steve Nash and still haven't , ? ? solved its biggest problem chem- istry. Last year Dallas was 5230, fifth in the west. The team isn't any better. '' , Predicated record: 48-3-4 8. Houston and Yao are potentially a . o punch, but the team lacks a point guard and is thin on the bench. Do veterans Jim Jack- - j son and Juwan Howard have any- thing lett? Predicted record: 46-3- 6 Other predictions: The Golden State Warriors will trade Jason Richardson because the Warriors always trade away their good players just when the team is on the verge of getting good. The LA. Clippers will assume their position in the lottery where they will get with the No. 1 pick, even though 'J the Charlotte Bobcats had the worst ; record Somehow the Clippers will lethal'one-tw- ( ' . once again botch the pick. . |