Sports: Sunday Sports Round-Up

Big sports day in Los Angeles.

Lakers take on Miami in game two of the NBA finals at Staples Center in downtown LA. Coverage on ABC-TV. Some fans think the Lakers have this thing in the bag. Not so fast. It was just one game. In any case, observers like Adande are saying that the Laker's Odom might be a key piece to winning it all. Excerpt:

In his past three games, which have gone down as the Lakers' three best performances of the playoffs, Odom had 19 points and 14 rebounds in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, 20 and eight in Game 6, then 11 and 14 in Game 1 of the Finals. Money-making time, right?
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"If [money] was the case, I would just shoot; I would try to get 20 points," Odom said. "Right now, it's not really what's important. What's important is for us to win the championship. Everybody's happy after that."

Sometimes it takes another player to appreciate just what it's like to compete under these circumstances. Lakers guard Derek Fisher went through it in 2004, losing his starting job to Gary Payton before leaving the Lakers to sign with the Golden State Warriors.

"This may be your last big free-agent contract," Fisher said. "You want to maximize it. Now you're in this limited role. It is a tough spot to be in. When you're on a championship-caliber team like we have, it makes it easier for you to accept your circumstances."

So much has been made of Kobe's burning desire to win this championship. You don't think Odom, at age 29, wants one badly as well? Now he's three victories against the Orlando Magic from making it happen.

"This is it," he said. "I've been playing basketball for a long time."

He broke it down, from AAU to high school at Christ the King in New York; college in Rhode Island; and a decade in the NBA with the Clippers, Heat and Lakers.

"For my family, for my friends, everybody that grew up around me, this is big," Odom said. "This is what it's all about."

Meanwhile, up the Pasadena freeway, the Dodgers take on last year's MLB champion Philadelphia in a Sunday night game of the week on ESPN. Weisman of Dodger Thoughts points out that Dodger pitching has been doing pretty well. Excerpts:

Before this season began, there was considerable faith in the Dodgers offense but considerable worry (though not really from me) about whether Los Angeles had enough pitching to win.
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The Dodgers have allowed 2.0 runs a game in the last four games, 2.8 runs in their last 10 games and 3.5 in the 28 games since the day after the Suspension Day meltdown. (Yes, I'm leaving the 11-9 loss out.)

You can sit around waiting for Randy Wolf to get hurt (like Hiroki Kuroda was) or Ramon Troncoso to come back to Earth (like Cory Wade kind of did) or Chad Billingsley to stop fulfilling his All-Star potential (like Clayton Kershaw still looks to do), but the fact is that for nearly 60 games in 2009, the Dodgers pitching has not only been adequate, it's been the best in the National League.

In other sports news, the Detroit Red Wings took game 5 to take a three games to two lead in the Stanley Cup. Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports summed up game five this way:

DETROIT – Red in the stands, blood in the water.

In a show of force, a sign of dominance, Detroit took one look at Pittsburgh tying the Stanley Cup Finals at two games a piece and mocked their young opponent’s ambition.

No, they won’t say such a thing – too disciplined, too polite, too Swedish they are.

And by the time Pittsburgh turned the third period of Game 5 into a slash and high stick parade, what did it matter? The point was made. If using a critical game to leave Pittsburgh in critical condition thanks to a 5-0 bludgeoning doesn’t say it, nothing will.

The Red Wings are 60 minutes from their 12th Stanley Cup – and fifth in 12 seasons – because when the Penguins dared to turn this from a coronation into a series, Detroit wasn’t unnerved as much as annoyed.

Lastly, Team USA took a positive step toward qualifying for the World Cup in winning against Honduras after getting rolled on Wednesday by Costa Rica in an embarrassment. Excerpt:

CHICAGO -- Clint Dempsey flubbed a backheel five minutes in, Honduras pounced on it and the United States fell behind early for the second time in four days.

"Here we go again," U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra thought.

Only this time, for the first time in 24 years, the Americans came from behind to win a World Cup qualifier.

Landon Donovan converted a penalty kick in the 43rd minute and Bocanegra scored on a diving header off Dempsey's knock-down header in the 68th Saturday night for a key 2-1 victory over Honduras.