SPORTS N STUFF

Mesas status as the Chicago Cubs spring training home is in jeopardy now that the state Legislature has adjourned without passing legislation needed to keep the team in Arizona.

An agreement between the team and Mesa officials allows the Cubs to negotiate with other cities if Arizona lawmakers dont pass legislation by July 12. Lawmakers ended their session Thursday, and a special session is unlikely.

The move could reopen the door for Florida to lure baseballs highest-drawing spring training team.

Lawmakers considered adding surcharges to car rentals and spring-training baseball tickets. But the plan faltered after Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig came out against it.

Dontrelle Willis insists he had confidence in his comeback.

He mightve been the one of the few.

In his first two years with the Detroit Tigers, Willis was 1-6 with an 8.27 ERA and more walks than innings pitched.

This season he is starting to perform like the pitcher the Tigers wanted when they acquired him along with Miguel Cabrera in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Marlins in December 2007.

The Tigers have had to wait a long time to get a positive return on their $29 million, three-year investment. Theyre not complaining, though, because it looked as if his career couldve ended with a thud.

Willis struck out six – his highest total since 2007 – gave up just four hits and two walks while pitching into the seventh inning of a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. It was his first win in nearly a calendar year and just the second in two-plus seasons with the Tigers.

Even in the darkest days of his career, Willis said he didnt have a doubt he would bounce back.

“The sun shines on anybody,” he said. “If you work hard and humble yourself, I like your chances. Its a good feeling, but Im not content. I think I can put together a nice season.”

Early in his career, Willis had two good seasons, earning the National League rookie of the year award and finishing as a Cy Young runner-up.

He burst on the scene in the majors as a 21-year-old rookie with a high leg kick, helping Florida win the 2003 World Series and winning an NL-high 22 games two years later.

Willis slipped from stardom the following two seasons, losing more than he won as he struggled to find the plate.

He thought his problems were mechanical and the Tigers claimed their were mental, putting him on the disabled list twice last season with an anxiety disorder.

Willis didnt agree with the diagnosis – and still doesnt.

“Im not on any kind of medication,” he said. “So, whats the differential now? God has a funny way. If something goes wrong in one aspect, it seems to be going right in another. The worse I played, the closer me and my family got. But I always believed Id be in this position, but Im hungry for my next start.”

Willis next scheduled outing is Tuesday night in Minnesota, where he will get a chance to win consecutive games for the first time in more than three years. Hell go into the start with a 1-1 record and 3.75 ERA.

While Willis doesnt buy that he had an anxiety disorder, he does think some soul-searching did him some good.

“Sometimes when you struggle, you have to humble yourself and take a step back and think about what makes you good,” he said. “Me having fun makes me good. Theres no amount of money that can provide joy. I love playing this game.”

Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski refused to discuss what led to the lefty being put on the DL with an anxiety disorder, but Willis agent doesnt think the move had anything to do with the Tigers trying to save money.

“I dont know if they got any relief from his contract with insurance, but I dont think thats why they did it,” Matt Sosnick said. “Dave went through a lot, setting up appointments for him to be evaluated by different people, and Im 100 percent sure Dave didnt do that for show. The Tigers had experts tell them Dontrelle had an anxiety issue.”

The gregarious Willis is often the loudest voice in the clubhouse, making teammates laugh, and regularly sports an ear-to-earn grin that makes others smile.

His personality and up-and-down career have created a “neat situation,” according to Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

“I dont think Ive ever seen teammates pull for a guy harder than theyre pulling for him,” Leyland said. “Everybody is pulling for him to get back. I think he feels that. I think he understands that and feels the vibes of it. I do.”

Willis agrees.

“The biggest thing is the team is confident behind me,” he said. “Its key for our team for me to be in the back of the rotation as the elder statesman at 28.” Twins pitcher Carl Pavano was a teammate when Willis was a 21-year-old Marlin and marvels at how little has changed about him as a person and believes his pitching future can be bright again.

“Every time I come to this park, I see the same kid that I won a World Series with in 2003, and that I watched dominate the National League and win rookie of the year,” Pavano said. “That kid hasnt changed, and I really think hes on his way to turning all of this around.”

Joe Pavelski got th and for a change, a playoff series.

Pavelski scored the first of three goals in a 1:19 span in the first period and added a second power-play goal early in the third to lead San Jose to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday in Game 1 of the second-round series.

Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi added first-period goals of their own to help the Sharks end a string of four straight home losses in series opene a couple quick goals bang bang,” Setoguchi said. “Its a little bit of a buzz-killer for them. We wanted to jump early. We were ready to go.”

The Sharks were the more rested team having had four days off since knocking off Colorado in six games. The Red Wings opened the series less than 48 hours after winning Game 7 in the first round at Phoenix but showed no signs of fatigue.

Game 2 will be Sunday night in San Jose.

“It was a good game and its going to be a good series,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We didnt play poorly, they just shot it to the net and we made a couple of mistakes.”

After breaking out to a 3-0 lead, the Sharks entered the third period ahead by only one goal. But with Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula in the penalty box to open the third, Pavelski made it 4-2 when he beat Jimmy Howard with a shot from the side of the net 50 seconds into the period.

“We needed to score that goal,” said Dan Boyle, who got his third assist of the night on that goal. “If we dont score, it could have changed the momentum of the game. That was a huge goal on the 5-on-3 there.”

The Red Wings were upset about the first penalty, claiming Franzen was hit with a high stick before being called for a trip.

Brian Rafalski got it back to a one-goal game a few minutes later when he converted off a blind pass from Pavel Datsyuk.

Howard turned away numerous good chances on a power play midway through the third. But the Red Wings were unable to get the equalizer on their own power play right after that and Evgeni Nabokov stopped a late flurry in front of the net to preserve the lead in the closing seconds. Detroit finished 0 for 5 on the power play.

“No lead is safe, especially against them,” Nabokov said. “They werent going away. They were coming and they were coming. But we stood our ground.”

San Jose hadnt taken a 1-0 series lead since winning in Detroit three years ago. But the Red Wings came back to win that second-round series in six games. That was just one of many recent playoff disappointments for the Sharks, who have the second best regular season record to Detroit over the past five years but havent made it past the second round.

Nothing would help the Sharks shed their label of playoff underachievers more than knocking off the two-time defending Western Conference champion Red Wings, who are viewed by many as the favorites in this series against the top-seeded Sharks despite finishing fifth in the conference.

“We won the first game, but thats pretty much all it is,” Boyle said. “I know Im Debbie Downer sometimes. Thats it. We won Game 1. Theres so much work left to be done.”

The Sharks were without their leading goal scorer in the regular season as Patrick Marleau was scratched because of an illness. He is day to day.

But San Jose has been carried this postseason by Pavelskis line with Setoguchi and Ryane Clowe, instead of the gold medal trio of Marleau, Heatley and Joe Thornton.

The Sharks got production from both lines in Game 1. They put together their fastest flurry of three goals ever in a playoff game midway through the first period.

Pavelski started the spree when he beat Howard with a wrist shot from the slot on a power play, continuing his strong postseason after scoring five goals in the first round.

The Sharks then got a goal from a player who hadnt produced yet in the playoffs when Heatley knocked in a pass from Thornton 56 seconds later. Before the fans had time to stop celebrating, Setoguchi picked up a loose puck in the slot and beat Howard 23 seconds after that to make it 3-0.

“They got a quick jump on us,” Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “The first goal came on a power play and then we turned the puck over and they made a nice play from behind the net. They got the headstart. We battled back but could never catch up. We played a solid game.”

The three goals in 1:19 were the fastest ever for the Sharks, beating the 2:02 they needed in Game 3 against Calgary two years ago. But in a potentially bad omen, San Jose lost that game to the Flames 4-3. They hung on this time, despite allowing the Red Wings to cut it to 3-2 on goals by Cleary and Franzen.

Notes

Lidstrom played his first game as a 40-year-old. He scored two goals in game 7 against Phoenix on Tuesday and turned 40 Wednesday. Cleary was helped off late in the second period when he collided with teammate Justin Abdelkader and then got kneed in the head by Sharks captain Rob Blake while falling to the ice. He returned in the third period. Heatley had no goals in nine career regular season games against Detroit before converting in his first postseason meeting.

In a basketball world bubbling with anticipation over the prospect of icons meeting in the NBA Finals, the little team that could (and has) sent a message that it is good enough to do it again.

The San Antonio Spurs have the perfect team colors. In the glamorous, hi plain black and white with, like the old-time rabbit ears, a touch of silver.

So while network executives and marketing puppeteers salivate at the possibility of LeBron vs. Kobe in the Finals, the Spurs are hovering in the shadows, going about their business quietly, positioning themselves for a run at their fifth championship since 1 Thursday night when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks 97-87 to win the first-round playoff series 4-2.

The NBA instituted best-of-7 series for the first round of the playoffs in 2003 but until Thursday night, no seventh-seeded team had won a first-round matchup.

It would be inaccurate, however, to characterize the victory as an upset. The Spurs finished the regular season only five games behind the Mavericks and Tony Parker missed 26 games because of injuries.

“Were even,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the game. “Nobody is better than anybody else. The whole Western Conference seems to be that way.”

Parker is healthy now and has flip flopped with Manu Ginobili, coming off the bench while Ginobili is starting alongside second-year guard George Hill, who played a monumental role in the series.

In Game 4, the Mavericks did their best defensive job of the series, limiting Duncan, Parker and Ginobili to a combined 31 points.

Hill had 29 however, and the Spurs won the game by three points.

In Game 6, the Spurs pounced on the Mavericks, limiting Dallas to eight points in the first quarter and building a lead at 41-19 in the second period.

But the Mavericks came back and not only caught up, but also took the lead briefly in the third period.

San Antonio rebuilt its lead to nine points in the fourth quarter, but when Dallas came back to within two, it was Hill and Antonio McDyess who recaptured the game for the Spurs.

Those two combined for nine consecutive Spurs points and Hill finished with 10 in the final period to add an important fourth dimension to the Spurs big three.

“I worked all summer on being able to make open shots and try to take my game to another level,” Hill said, “and I think it paid off this year. Having a little bit of confidence from your veterans is always going to give you more confidence. They start to believe in you and set you up with plays that are easy for you.”

In the six games, Ginobili led the Spurs with 114 points, Duncan had 109, Parker had 95 and Hill had 86.

Manu Ginobilis gritty play epitomizes the Spurs old-school mantra. (Getty Images) The Spurs have been successful, however, because of their defense. When they were focused on defense during the series, they won. When they were not, they did not.

In their four victories, the Spurs limited Dallas to 88, 90, 89 and 87 points, respectively.

In their two losses, the Spurs allowed 100 and 103 points, respectively.

“I was real pleased with our teams overall defense,” Popovich said. “They were covering for each other and guarding a team thats hard to guard.”

For the Mavericks, it was a disappointing end. They came into the series fe even better than the team that went to the 2006 Finals and the 2006-07 team that won 67 games.

When Dallas won Game 1 100-94 behind 36 points from Dirk Nowitzki on a 12-of-14 performance, it appeared that the Mavericks might be the superior team.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban was optimistic. It seemed that the major investments that he had made the last two years would pay off.

When Cuban traded for Jason Kidd in February 2008, Cuban had to take on $17 million in contracts and luxury tax to complete the deal.

During the last offseason, Cuban gave Kidd a $25 million deal, Shawn Marion a $40 million package and then took on at least $30 million of contracts and tax to bring Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas in February.

For those keeping count, thats a commitment of $112 million.

Cuban said after that Game 1 victory that his team was good enough to win a title. And he was correct.

But meeting a team with the pedigree of San Antonio in the first round was everyones nightmare. Sev who have been the foundation of three titles. (Duncan has four but his first came before the other wanted to play the Spurs in the first round.

That misfortune fell to the Mavericks, who simply could not cope with the Spurs defense for long enough periods to win. In their four losses, the Mavericks had at least one period when they didnt score 20 points. And in Game 6, they didnt even make it to 10 in the first period.

“The first quarter has been a big story in this series,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said, “and it was our undoing tonight.”

Nowitzki averaged 26.7 points in the series but Jason Kidd and Jason Terry had severe shooting problems. Kidd made only 14 of 46 field-goal attempts (30.4 percent) and Terry made only 26 of 62 (37.7 percent).

Instead of competing for a championship, the Mavericks added to their list of dubious achievements. Thursday, they became the first two seed to lose a seven-game first-round series.

In 2007, they became the first top seed to lose to an eight seed in a seven-game series.

And in 1987, they became the first two seed in history to lose in the first round to a seven seed.

The Spurs, meanwhile, have a chance to become only the fourth team in NBA history to win five titles, joining the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls in that stratosphere. And if they needed any extra incentive, they should know that no seventh seed has ever won an NBA title.

Justin Morneau says hes not concerned about a back injury that kept him out of the Minnesota Twins lineup for the second straight day.

Morneau said Thursday morning he “tweaked” his back on the first swing of his last at-bat Tuesday night at Detroit. The 2006 AL MVP insisted the injury is unrelated to the back ailment that led to him missing the final few weeks of last season.

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said Morneau wouldnt swing a bat Thursday, but would take some cuts during an early batting practice in Cleveland before the series opener Friday night.

Gardenhire kept catcher Joe Mauer out of the lineup against the Tigers to rest his legs and didnt start shortstop J.J. Hardy because of a toe injury.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler is back in the Texas Rangers clubhouse, though his return to the lineup will have to wait another day.

Kinsler was back with the team Thursday after completing a three-day rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Frisco without any setbacks. Kinsler has been on the disabled list all season after sustaining a high right ankle sprain during spring training.

Even though Kinsler tried to persuade manager Ron Washington to let him make his season debut in the homestand finale Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, the Rangers are sticking with their plan. Kinsler will be activated Friday before the team plays in Seattle and be in the lineup then.

Rookie Joe Sacco, who led the Colorado Avalanche on a surprising run to the playoffs, along with Phoenixs Dave Tippett and Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators, were selected as finalists Wednesday for the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year.

Sacco went 43-30-9 in his first year behind the bench and helped the Avalanche reach the postseason one year after they finished last in the Western Conference. Since the current playoff format was established for the 2000-01 season, the Avalanche are the first to go from the worst in the West to the playoffs.

Tippett had an impressive run, too, after taking over the Coyotes less than a week before the regular season. Despite organizational turmoil after the team went into bankruptcy, Tippett led the club to the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Phoenix (50-27-5) set franchise records for wins and points in a season, along with home wins (29). The Coyotes 28-point increa two points better than Colorados jump.

Nashville (47-29-6) reached the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons under Trotz, the only coach in team history. The Predators went 14-6-1 after the Olympic break, the fourth-best mark in the NHL. Trotz became the sixth coach to reach 900 games with one team – joining Adams, who did it with Detroit.

All three of this years finalists were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Voting was completed at the end of the regular season.

The Jack Adams Award is voted on by members of the NHL Broadcasters Association. The winner will be announced as part of the leagues awards ceremony on June 23 in Las Vegas.

Carmelo Anthony hung out the big “Help Wanted” sign after Denvers last game and he got plenty of responses.

The Denver Nuggets avoided elimination with a 116-102 victory against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night when Anthonys supporting cast finally came up big.

“I think tonight we responded as a unit to the challenge at hand,” said Anthony, who had complained after the Nuggets loss Sunday night that he couldnt beat the Jazz by himself, comments he later clarified to show he meant everybody, including himself, had to do more.

And they did.

J.R. Smith found his long-range touch. Chris Andersen and Johan Petro filled in admirably when center Nene went out with a potentially serious knee injury in the first half. Kenyon Martins 18 points were the most he has scored in the playoffs since 2005. Arron Afflalo was perfect from the floor, and reserve Ty Lawson provided a spark with his speed.

“Everybody stepped up tonight and did their part,” Anthony said. “With Nene going down early, Frenchie came in and stepped up, Bird played the way he is supposed to be playing. Everybody played their role tonight. Thats how we won.”

The Nuggets, trying to become the first team in four years to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs, sent the series back to Salt Lake City for Game 6 on Friday night despite losing Nene to a sprained left knee.

“We know its going to be a tough game up there, tough arena, Utah fans are pretty tough,” Nuggets acting coach Adrian Dantley said. “But were glad we did what we did tonight.”

Anthony had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 21 points, and Smith made four big 3-pointers among his 17 points for Denver, which won a game in which it was facing elimination for the first time since Game 6 of the 1994 Western Conference semifinals against Utah.

The Nuggets had lost eight consecutive elimination games, six since Anthony joined the team in 2003.

After infighting and insults dominated their locker room in the aftermath of their two losses at Salt Lake City, the Nuggets were a much more cohesive group even in the face of another outstanding performance by Utahs Deron Williams, who declared after shootaround that he was the best point guard in the NBA right now.

The Nuggets wont disagree.

After watching him average 27.6 points and 12.0 assists during the first four games of the series, the Nuggets put Billups on Williams from the start instead of Afflalo.

Williams said nothing would change no matter who was guarding him, and he was right, getting 34 points and 10 assists before fouling out in the final minute. He became the first player in NBA history to register 20 or more points and double-digit assists in five games to begin a playoff series.

“We played good defense on him,” Dantley insisted, “but hes just a great basketball player.”

Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 16 boards for Utah. But backup big man Kyrylo Fesenko, who had played so well in the absence of Andrei Kirilenko (calf) and Mehmet Okur (Achilles tendon) for the previous three games, all Utah victories, finished with three points and six rebounds Wednesday night.

The Nuggets were finally able to capitalize once again on their athleticism and quickness.

“They were a lot more alive, they went after the ball a little harder than we did,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “The players off the bench gave them a big lift. Their bench people killed us.”

Williams backed up his proclamations about being the top point guard in the NBA in the closing minutes of the first half when the Nuggets looked like they were about to take control early.

His two 3-pointers and two free throws highlighted a 12-4 run that sent the Jazz into the locker room with a 52-50 lead.

But he said the Jazz were outplayed and outhustled in the first few minutes of the second half and he put the blame on his shoulders for letting his team lose focus.

Nene was hurt with five minutes left in the first half. He was working under the basket when Boozers left leg slammed into his left knee.

“I dont know how severe his injury is, but if he doesnt play we just have to play without him,” Dantley said. “Utah, they went without two players. We just have to play without him.”

With Nene out, Andersen scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards and Petro chipped in four points and six boards.

“When he went out they picked themselves up,” Sloan said. “They seemed to get a lot stronger.”

Sloan said he wasnt concerned that the injuries to Kirilenko and Okur were catching up to his short-handed roster.

“I would if they were about 40 years old,” he cracked. “I dont have anybody that old so they should be in good enough shape to be able to play.”

One thing the Jazz dont want is to see is the Pepsi Center again in a Game 7.

“Its very important to get this over with on Friday,” Williams said. “But its not going to be easy.”

Notes

Nene will be re-evaluated Thursday. Anthony had his second successive double-double after managing only one in 16 playoff games last year.

Speedy outfielder Roger Bernadina has been recalled by the Washington Nationals and was available for Wednesdays game against the Cubs.

Bernadina hit .377 with two homers, eight RBIs and seven steals at Triple-A Syracuse. This is his second stint this season with the Nationals.

Washington optioned left-handed reliever Jesse English to Syracuse after Tuesday nights game at Chicago.

June 7-9 – Amateur draft, Secaucus, N.J.

June 28-30 – New York Mets vs. Florida Marlins at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

July 13 – All-Star game, Anaheim, Calif.

July 25 – Hall of Fame inductions, Cooperstown, N.Y.

July 31 – Last day to trade a player without securing waivers.

Aug. 15 – Last day to sign selections from 2010 amateur draft who have not exhausted college eligibility.

Sept. 1 – Active rosters expand to 40 players.

Oct. 6 – Playoffs begin.

Oct. 27 – World Series begins.

November – Free agent filing period, first 15 days after World Series ends.

Dec. 1 – Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.

Dec. 7 – Last day for free agents offered salary arbitration to accept the offers.

Dec. 6-9 – Winter meetings, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Dec. 12 – Last day for teams to offer 2011 contracts to unsigned players.

2011

Jan 5-15 – Salary arbitration filing.

Jan. 18 – Exchange of salary arbitration figures.

Feb. 1-21 – Salary arbitration hearings.

Feb. 17 – Voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players.

Feb. 22 – Voluntary reporting date for other players.

March 1 – Mandatory reporting date.

March 2-11 – Teams may renew contracts of unsigned players.

March 16- Last day to place a player on unconditional release waivers and pay 30 days termination pay instead of 45 days.

March 30 – Last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full 2011 salary.

April 3 – Opening day, active rosters reduced to 25 players.

July 12 – All-Star game, Phoenix.

July 31 – Last day to trade a player without securing waivers.

Aug. 15 – Last day to sign selections from 2011 amateur draft who have not exhausted college eligibility.

Sept. 1 – Active rosters expand to 40 players.

Dec. 5-8 – Winter meetings, Dallas.

Dec. 11 – Collective bargaining agreement expires.

Dec. 12 – Last day for teams to offer 2011 contracts to unsigned players.