Sunday, May 14, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)
-- NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was ticketed for reckless driving in a Richmond suburb Wednesday night.
The misdemeanor charge carries up to a year in jail, a $2,500 fine and a driver's license suspension, said Sgt. Don Lambert, with Henrico County police. The charge also calls for a mandatory court appearance; Busch will appear in Henrico County General District Court on May 23.
Lambert said the incident happened at 10 p.m. near Richmond International Airport, a few minutes outside the city.
Neither speed nor alcohol was a factor, though Lambert would not provide further details.
"The officer observed his driving behavior consistent with reckless driving," he told The Associated Press late Thursday night.
The 20-year-old Busch, who drives for the Hendrick Motorsports, grabbed his first series victory on May 14, 2004 at Richmond International Raceway. He went on to four more victories and completed the year with five poles and five wins, becoming the youngest top rookie in series history at age 19.
Tuesday, Busch again appeared at the Richmond raceway for the Virginia kickoff of "Focus on Driving," Sprint Nextel's attentive driving education program.
Busch's older brother and NASCAR star, Kurt, had his own legal problems because of a traffic incident last year.
Kurt Busch was banned from two NASCAR races and authorities ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service after he became belligerent with Phoenix police during a 2005 traffic stop. Police charged him with reckless driving.
Busch later apologized.
Henrico County authorities said the younger Busch, who lives in Mooresville, N.C., was cooperative.
PHOENIX (AP)
-- A late-season swoon has the Dallas Mavericks waving goodbye to any hopes to have the best regular-season record in the West.
Shawn Marion scored 29 points and the Phoenix Suns used a barrage of 3-pointers to beat the Mavericks 117-104 Thursday night.
Tim Thomas added 22 points and Raja Bell 21 -- on 8-for-9 shooting -- to hand Dallas its second road loss in two nights and seventh defeat in the last 14 games. Boris Diaw scored 16 and Eddie House 13 for the Suns.
The Mavericks trail San Antonio by 11/2 games with two to play in the regular season. If Dallas can't catch the Spurs, the Mavericks would slide to the No. 4 playoff spot in the West.
"Our season is not over because of two disappointing losses," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "We pretty much know where we're going to finish now. The only thing that really matters for us is to get guys healthy mentally and physically.
"We'll continue to try to do that and hopefully when we lace them up next Saturday or Sunday we'll be ready to play."
Despite Dallas' 114-102 loss at Golden State on Wednesday night, the Mavericks' hopes for the best record in the West gained life with the Spurs' loss at home to Orlando earlier Thursday.
But the Suns made 8-of-9 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 36-25 and never trailed again. Phoenix made 16 3s -- two shy of its season-high and three short of its franchise record -- in 24 attempts. Thomas made 6-of-7 3s in his second consecutive start. Bell was 5-for-5 from 3-point range, 4-for-4 in the second half.
"We had a lot of guys knocking down shots," Bell said. "That's what happens when you have productivity across the board. It's hard for one guy to go cold. Everybody is going to have their moments of being hot."
Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 for the Mavericks, who gave Jerry Stackhouse the night off to rest.
"We dug ourselves a pretty big hole against a great offensive team," Nowitzki said. "They were shooting the lights out -- Raja and Tim Thomas. They were on fire. Down the stretch Raja hit some big shots when we were right there."
With his team locked into the No. 2 playoff spot in the conference, Suns coach Mike D'Antoni sat Marion, Steve Nash, Bell and Thomas through the first 6:27 of the final quarter, when the Mavericks rallied to cut a 13-point deficit to 100-94 on Nowitzki's drive with 5:33 to play.
All four came back, and with the Suns leading 104-98, Diaw blocked Jason Terry's layup try, Bell made a 3-pointer, then Thomas sank another and it was 110-98 with 2:54 left. Dallas never got it to single digits again.
D'Antoni said he would have preferred sitting all four down for the entire quarter.
"It was a gamble" to bring them back," he said, "and if someone had gone down I would have probably been ran out of town, but they fought too hard to lose. They deserved to win it."
Four flagrant fouls were called in the second half -- two on each team. D'Antoni didn't mind seeing some toughness.
"We got a little testy out there, they got a little testy," D'Antoni said. "I thought it was a nice atmosphehre, and we won a nice game."
The rough play didn't surprise the Mavericks' Jason Terry, who scored 18 points.
"Not at all," he said. "This is a rivalry that's been brewing for two years now."
House's 3-pointer put Phoenix ahead 43-29 with 9:26 left in the first half. The Suns led by 14 four more times in the quarter before taking a 60-45 lead at the break on Marion's soaring, one-handed tip-in off Nash's lob pass with 9.8 seconds left.
Marion made 8-of-9 shots for 19 first-half points, while Thomas added 14.
Things got nasty in the third quarter, when the Bell, Thomas and Dallas' Erick Dampier drew flagrant fouls -- and Nowitzki was called for a technical.
The first of Bell's three 3s in the quarter put Phoenix up 79-61. Bell's flagrant foul came in an 8-0 Dallas run that cut the lead to 69-59 on Nowitzki's 17-footer. But another 3 by Bell triggered a 14-3 Suns surge. Dampier's flagrant on Marion's dunk attempt came near the end of the Phoenix run. Marion made one of two free throws, then sank a 17-footer.
Dallas scored nine in a row after Thomas' flagrant foul on Nowitzki and was down 90-77 after three.
The Suns picked up where they left off in a 123-110 win at Sacramento on Tuesday night, when they outscored the Kings 72-42 in the second half.
Notes: The Suns need nine 3-pointers in their final three games to break their NBA record of 796 set last year. ... The teams split their season series 2-2. ... Thomas sprained his right index finger in the second quarter and played with a brace in the second half. ... Dallas remains one victory shy of its franchise record for wins in a season, 60 set in 2002-03.
CLEVELAND (AP)
-- New York Knicks coach Larry Brown was to be hospitalized overnight after becoming ill in the third quarter of Thursday night's game against the Cavaliers.
The 65-year-old Brown, whose had health issues in recent years, was taken from Quicken Loans Arena on a stretcher following New York's 91-87 loss. He appeared alert and was sitting upright with oxygen tubes in his nose as he was wheeled out to an emergency vehicle. Brown was pale but appeared alert and he was sitting upright with oxygen tubes in his nose as he was wheeled to an emergency vehicle.
Brown didn't say anything while being taken to an undisclosed hospital. The Knicks flew back to New York.
Knicks spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said Brown was examined by Cavaliers team doctors and a Knicks physician after leaving the bench. Brown's vital signs were "stable," but because his symptoms came on so quickly, doctors felt it was best that he be admimtted to the hospital for further tests and observation.
Supranowitz said Brown had an upset stomach.
"All Larry told me to tell you was that, 'I'm fine,"' Supranowitz said.
The Knicks play at home Friday night against Milwaukee, but it is not known if Brown will be on the sideline.
As Brown was being attended to by medical staff in a room down the hallway from the Knicks locker room, assistant coach Herb Williams and other staff members went in to check on him. Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown also stopped by.
Before the game, Brown was his usual self. He held court with reporters in the corridor and had a brief chat with injured Cavs superstar LeBron James, whom Brown coached on the U.S. team in the 2002 Olympics.
Brown has had a tumultuous first season with the Knicks. He has publicly criticized his players and squabbled with star guard Stephon Marbury. The injuries have piled up as high as the losses for the Knicks, who dropped to 22-56 after blowing a nine-point fourth quarter lead to the Cavaliers.
In February, Brown was taken to a Memphis hospital with chest pains but didn't miss any games.
While coaching the Detroit Pistons last season, Brown missed 17 games after having a hip replaced. That operation led to a bladder problem that required surgery in November. Brown needs more surgery for the bladder problem, but he's putting that off until after the season.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Police attempted to search the dorm rooms of Duke University lacrosse players amid an investigation into the alleged rape of an exotic dancer at a team party, the school's president said Friday. President Richard Brodhead said he was just learning about the Thursday night search attempts and didn't have many details, including whether investigators had search warrants and if they actually entered any rooms. "I am aware that police attempted to enter those rooms, and I am now about to leave this news conference to learn the whole story," Brodhead said. There were no warrants for any dorm rooms at Duke among those returned to the Durham County magistrate's office Friday morning, although police have 48 hours after executing a warrant to return it. The court clerk's office was closed for the Good Friday holiday, and police officials did not immediately return calls for comment. The searches would be the third made by police as they investigate allegations that members of the nearly all-white lacrosse team raped a 27-year-old black woman hired to dance at a March 13 team party. The woman, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped and beaten by three white men at an off-campus house. Police previously searched the house where the party was held and the Duke dorm room of lacrosse player Ryan McFayden. The search of McFayden's room came after police obtained a vulgar and graphic e-mail sent from his school account shortly after the alleged assault. Friday morning, Brodhead met with N.C. Central Chancellor James Ammons, Durham Mayor Bill Bell and nearly two dozen other community leaders to discuss the tension in the community. Ammons said the two schools would continue to work together to "strengthen the bonds that tie us." "In times like these, let us remember that justice is served in the courtroom, not in the media or at the hands of individuals," he said. The case has focused intense national scrutiny on Duke and the lacrosse players and has sparked protests on the elite private university's campus and elsewhere in Durham. The school last week canceled the highly ranked team's season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after the release of McFayden's e-mail. In a police recording in the hours following the party, an officer describes the woman from the party as "just passed-out drunk." The taped conversation, obtained by The Associated Press, took place about 1:30 a.m. March 14, about five minutes after a grocery store security guard called 911 to report a woman in the parking lot who would not get out of someone else's car. The officer gave the dispatcher the police code for an intoxicated person and said the woman was unconscious. When asked whether she needed medical help, the officer said: "She's breathing and appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk." No charges have been filed, but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said he believes a crime was committed. Attorneys for the players have said DNA tests failed to connect any players to the alleged attack, and they have urged Nifong to drop his investigation. But several defense attorneys say they expect the district attorney to ask a grand jury Monday to issue charges. Defense lawyers have said time-stamped photographs taken by the players show that the accuser was drunk and already had injuries when she arrived at the party. The recording is consistent with "what I have seen of the photo evidence before," attorney Kerry Sutton said. Those photos, she said, showed that she was "way beyond where you would put somebody behind the wheel of a car." The description of the woman's medical exam -- which Nifong has said is his basis for believing a rape occurred -- does not mention her being drunk. It states only that the woman's injuries and behavior were consistent with having been raped, sexually assaulted and having suffered a traumatic experience. The woman has told police she and another stripper hired to dance at the party arrived at 11:30 p.m. March 13. The pair reportedly left the house a short time later, fearing for their safety. The accuser told police the two were coaxed back into the house with an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when she said she was dragged into a bathroom and raped, beaten and choked for a half hour. At 12:53 a.m., police received a 911 call from a woman complaining that she had been called racial slurs by white men gathered outside the home where the party took place. The defense has said it believes the second dancer at the party made that call. The 911 call from the grocery store security guard was placed at 1:22 a.m. In it, the caller says, "Um, the problem is ... it's a lady in somebody else's car and she will not get out of their car. She's like, she's like intoxicated, drunk or something. She's, I mean, she won't get out of the car, period." Police sp