INDIANAPOLIS — After being announced as the WNBA’s most valuable player earlier Thursday, Tamika Catchings had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help the Indiana Fever defeat the Atlanta Dream 82-74 in Game 1 of the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals.
Catchings, runner-up for the award in 2003, 2009 and 2010, sealed the victory with one of her signature late-game gems. She stole the ball from Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry, then drove more than half the length of the court, spun through contact and made a behind-the-head layup off the backboard that gave the Fever a 74-66 lead.
“She’s just a hustle player, she just outworks everybody,” said Tangela Smith, who led Indiana with 25 points. “We needed that stop at that time. That’s what Catch does.”
• Seimone Augustus had 21 points and seven assists to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 95-67 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in Minneapolis.
Boxing probes corruption allegations
LONDON — Amateur boxing’s ruling body said it will investigate allegations that millions of dollars have been paid to guarantee that Azerbaijan wins two gold medals at next year’s London Olympics.
The International Amateur Boxing Association said it will look into the allegations made by BBC-TV’s “Newsnight” that money from Azerbaijan was paid to World Series Boxing, a franchised league supported by AIBA, which organizes boxing at the Olympics.
Ching-Kuo Wu, AIBA’s president, said the BBC claims were “totally untrue and ludicrous” but added he would investigate them — a move welcomed by the International Olympic Committee.
Flyers forward Shelley suspended
NEW YORK — Philadelphia Flyers forward Jody Shelley has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason and the first five games of the regular season for his hit on Toronto’s Darryl Boyce on Wednesday.
Brendan Shanahan was busy in his first season as the NHL’s dean of discipline. He also banned Calgary Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond for the rest of the preseason and the Flames’ first game of the regular season for hitting Vancouver forward Matt Clackson from behind Tuesday.
• Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford received a four-year contract extension through the 2015-16 season.
Footnotes.
Former Nuggets center Marcus Camby is free on a $2,000 bond after police in suburban Houston arrested him on a charge of marijuana possession.
• The exhibition basketball game featuring LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul as teammates, dubbed the “Battle of I-95,” will be streamed online by Sports Illustrated on Sunday night.
• The political career of nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis has been declared a false start after a federal appeals panel ruled he should be removed from a state Senate ballot because he does not meet the New Jersey’s four-year residency requirement. The Associated Press
