May 08, 2008 08:50 pm Kobe Bryant added another honor to go with his MVP award, becoming the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team. The Lakers star was voted to the first team for the third straight season and sixth time in his career. He led Los Angeles to the best record in the Western Conference and was presented with the MVP trophy Wednesday before helping the Lakers to a 120-110 victory over Utah in Game 2 of the conference semifinals. Joining Bryant on the first team were New Orleans guard Chris Paul, who was three votes shy of being a unanimous pick, along with Boston's Kevin Garnett, Cleveland's LeBron James and Orlando center Dwight Howard. Garnett was a first-team pick for the fourth time and James made his second appearance. Paul and Howard were first-timers. Voting was done by a panel of 127 sports writers and broadcasters, with points being awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash of Phoenix were voted to the second team along with San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Utah guard Deron Williams and Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki. The third team consisted of Houston's Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, plus Utah's Carlos Boozer, Boston's Paul Pierce and the Spurs' Manu Ginobili, the league's top sixth man. Pro baseball: Schilling tests ailing shoulder again Boston Red Sox starter Curt Schilling played long toss before last night's game against Detroit, continuing his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury. Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that the session went well, although progress hasn't been as quick as the 41-year-old pitcher would like. "He wants to feel like he's 24 again, and I don't know how likely that's ever going to be," Francona said. "He did what we wanted him to do, and now we'll get him back on his exercise program and have him do it again on Saturday." Schilling threw 25 balls from 60 feet away on Tuesday, testing the ailing right shoulder for the first time. He repeated the exercise yesterday. AL roundup: Giambi, Yankees slug way past Cleveland Jason Giambi and the sluggish New York Yankees suddenly turned sluggerish. The Yankees played home run derby, with Giambi, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit connecting in a 6-3 victory over Cleveland. Mike Mussina (5-3) won his fourth straight start and earned his 255th career victory, holding on for five innings. Joba Chamberlain pitched an easy eighth and Mariano Rivera closed for his ninth save. ... Jermaine Dye homered for the third straight game and Juan Uribe added a go-ahead two-run drive in the fifth to help the struggling White Sox beat the Twins, 6-2. NL roundup: Webb improves to 8-0, Diamondbacks pound Phillies Brandon Webb became the first pitcher to win his first eight starts in three years, tossing his 13th career complete game to help the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies, 8-3. The 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner struck out four and didn't walk a batter in his first complete game of the year. He hit one batter. ... Adam LaRoche hit a go-ahead single in a three-run seventh inning, and the Pirates rallied to beat the Giants, 5-4. ... Matt Diaz hit a bases-loaded single to drive in the winning run and the Braves beat the Padres, 5-4. ... Matt Holliday had four singles, Jorge De La Rosa scattered five hits over 52/3 innings and the Rockies beat the Cardinals, 9-3. Pro hockey: Flyers defenseman Timonen likely out of East finals with blood clot Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen will likely miss the Eastern Conference finals against the Penguins because of a blood clot in his ankle. Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren said Timonen was hit with a shot in Game 4 against Montreal. The Flyers won that series in five games and will open the next series at Pittsburgh tonight. "We have to view this that he's not a player for us in the series, and march on," Holmgren said. Golf roundup: Garcia builds an early lead at The Players Championship Sergio Garcia put together his third straight impressive round at The Players Championship. The first two gave him a runner-up finish last year. The 6-under 66 yesterday was only a great start. With growing confidence in his balky putting stroke and superb ball-striking that has become his hallmark, Garcia birdied all the par 5s and picked up a bonus birdie with a 50-foot putt on the 14th hole to take the lead on the Stadium Course among early starters. It was a good step toward ending an 0-for-53 drought on the PGA Tour, the longest of his career. Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos each had a 68 among those who teed off early in a mild breeze on a perfectly conditioned course. The group at 69 included two-time Players champion Steve Elkington, Ian Poulter and Heath Slocum. ... The booming drives were there, but more often than not, Michelle Wie didn't know where they were going in her first round on the LPGA Tour since February. The best scores, as usual, belonged to just about everyone else — a course record-tying 63 by Scotland's Mhairi McKay, and a potential battle looming between Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam in the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Cycling: Armstrong urges Congress to renew war on cancer Seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong is calling on Congress to renew the nation's war on cancer. "It's time for our country to refocus and relaunch a comprehensive war on this disease," Armstrong said. America's aging population and younger people who are less physically active than they should be make it more urgent than ever to find better ways to combat cancer, Armstrong said. "This opponent is probably tougher than anything we'll ever face," he said.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.