Sorry for missing yesterday! It would have been a Masters day 1 recap.

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NBA

Spurs 104 @ Rockets 103

The San Antonio Spurs held MVP candidate James Harden (who averages nearly 28 points) to 16 points in their 10th straight win, a 104-103 win over the Houston Rockets. The win jumped the Spurs up to the 3 seed in the western conference. Tim Duncan had 29 points and blocked James Harden’s potential game winning layup with 2.9 seconds left.

The Spurs started to employ a “Hack-a-Josh-Smith” strategy in the 2nd half to keep the ball out of the hands of James Harden. At the end of the day Smith was intentionally fouled 12 times and missed more than half of his free throws. When asked about the strategy he answered the following.

“Absolutely, I’d trade it any day rather than have James Harden with the basketball,” Popovich said. “That’s kind of scary.” (quote via ESPN.go.com)

After Harden made a 3 to cut the lead to one, Tony Parker turned the ball over and it looked like Harden would give Houston the lead until Duncan came in to block it.

The close game snapped San Antonio’s NBA-record tying streak of 9 straight 12+ point wins. Josh Smith had 20 points and Dwight Howard added 12 points and 14 boards in a losing effort.

OTHER TOP SCORES

Golf

2015 The Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia

1. Jordan Spieth (USA) -14

2. Charley Hoffman (USA) -9

T3. Justin Rose (ENG) -7

T3. Dustin Johnson (USA) -7

T3. Paul Casey (ENG) -7

6. Phil Mickelson (USA) -6

7. Ernie Els (RSA) -5

T8. Kevin Na (USA) -4

T8. Kevin Streelman (USA) -4

T8.Bill Haas (USA) -4

T8. Ryan Moore (USA) -4

MLB

Nationals 1 @ Phillies 4

Blue Jays 12 @ Orioles 5

Red Sox 6 @ Yankees 5 (19 INNINGS)

Cardinals 4 @ Reds 5

Dodgers 3 @ Diamondbacks 4 (10 INNINGS)

NBA

Celtics 99 @ Cavaliers 90

Wizards 80 @ Nets 117

Suns 75 @ Pelicans 90

Mavericks 144 @ Nuggets 143 (2OT)

NHL

Islanders 3 @ Penguins 1

Sabres 2 @ Blue Jackets 4

MLS

Colorado Rapids 4 @ FC Dallas 0