The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 42

CIO SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2007 FN SPORTS James, Cavs out to match Jri -rlriT7vPP ovil noli OH stye in til 4 I "it; v. A. Cavs vs. Wizards Today: Washington at Cleveland, 12:30 p.m. Wednesday: Washington at Cleveland, 8 p.m.

Saturday: Cleveland at Washington, 5:30 p.m. Monday: Cleveland at Washington, TBD Wednesday, May 2: Washington at Cleveland, TBD, if necessary Friday, May 4: Cleveland at Washington, TBD, if necessary Sunday, May 6: Washington at Cleveland, TBD, if necessary clothes, Arenas, who severely sprained his knee last month, is trying to have an influence on the series. Over the past few days he has called several of the Cavaliers, and as Cleveland guard Larry Hughes put it, told them "it's not going to be easy" against the Wizards. James said he only listened to Arenas' trash talk. Silence was his only response.

"I don't talk trash, only when somebody talks trash a little bit to me. But he (Arenas) isn't playing," James said, grinning. "I can't talk trash to him. It Digest Red Wings take 3-2 lead in a nasty series Enquirer stuff and wire reports The Calgary Flames aren't going down without a fight. Daniel Geary converted the first successful penalty shot ever in Detroit during the playoffs, and Henrik Zet-terberg had two goals and an assist in the Red Wings' 5-1 win over Calgary Saturday.

When the Flames knew they'd fall behind 3-2 in the first-round series, they weren't satisfied with just some scrums and trash talk. The lopsided game took an ugly turn with a few minutes left when Calgary backup goalie Jamie McLennan slashed Johan Franzen in the midsection. "It doesn't belong in hockey," said FYanzen, who said the slash shocked him more than it hurt. The slash might lead to a stiff suspension from the NHL, which gave the Islanders' Chris Simon a 25-game suspension for viciously swinging his stick last month. McLennan didn't talk to reporters after the game.

"1 think the league will take a look at a few things that happened," Zetterberg Bj Tom Withers 7he Vs CLEVELAND With a year of playoff experience under their belts, LeBron James and the Cavaliers will open what they hope is a lengthy postseason run today by hosting injury-riddled Wasliington in Game 1 of their best-of-7 Eastern Conference series. Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday. It's a rematch from last year's opening round, when the Cavaliers outlasted the Wizards in six games. Tliree of those were divided by one point and Games 5 and 6 went into overtime -with Cleveland winning both. This series doesn't figure to be nearly as tight.

The second-seeded Cavaliers are expected to breeze past the ailing Wizards, who are missing All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butier. Arenas' absence means he and James can't reprise their scoring duel from last April when they matched juniper for jumper. In Game 5, James outscored Arenas 4544. Although hell be wearing street NBA playoffs Actor Ray Uotta (right, with Pattie Mikita) changed the expectations for "Chasing 3000" when he took a role in the film. 3000: Area man's film slated for Tribeca debut wbww wwwwiwi mi wiii.imn iiimiii i.hiiujm.-'ww' wwmwvwmmwmvwtm wmmHmmwnwm v.

i '-A -At I V- I al hiitiimMaf aX. iiii, fa.ift.tii- ii.ii JL doesn't make sense." James' playoff debut in 2006 was similarly dumbfounding. He averaged 35.7 points in leading the Cavaliers to their first series victory in 13 years. In the opener against the Wizards, he had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to become just the third player to get a triple-double in his first playoff game. Even for a player who has continually met or exceeded expecta tions, it was special.

"Honestly, I was a little nervous be fore Game 1, he said. James went on to post the third- highest scoring average in a playoff debut series, bettered only by Wilt Chamberlain (38.7 in 1960) and Ka- reem Abdul-Jabbar (36.2 in 1970). "What made him so good," center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said, "was that he had a great timing of when to take it and when to pass it and that made us dangerous not only dangerous him self, but us as a team. For tne Wizards to have any chance, they have to stop James. "He's a beast," said Washington's Jarvis Hayes.

after practice." The Bulls appeared to be in control late in the third quarter. Tyrus Thomas blocked consecutive shots by Gary Payton and Antoine Walker, then broke the other way for an al-ley-oop dunk that made it 70-59. That brought the fans to their feet and sent Miami into a timeout. Gordon's 19-foot jumper made it 72-59 with 38 seconds left in the quarter. O'Neal and Wade headed to the sideline with their fifth fouls about 3 minutes into the fourth.

Nets 96, Raptors 91: Richard Jefferson scored 28 points, Jason Kidd had 15 assists and 10 rebounds, and New Jersey held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat Toronto in Game 1 of their first-round series. Vince Carter, the former Raptors star who was jeered throughout the afternoon, scored 16 points but shot just 5-of-19. But Jefferson stepped up to make 11 of 21 shots, including eight of his first 10. He scored 11 points in the first quarter. Pistons 100, Magic 92: Detroit demonstrated why they could return to the conference finals for a fifth consecutive season.

The Orlando Magic proved they have a ways to go. The Pistons never trailed, while the Magic the only playoff team with a losing record turned the ball over 21 times, missed 18 free throws and never really threatened to win. Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, Rasheed Wallace had 16 and midseason addition Chris Webber added 12 for the Pistons. Provided COST "Chasing 3000" cost less than $3 million to make. According to an article in The New Yorker magazine last January, the average cost of making a big-studio movie is $60 million, and the average cost of marketing one domestically is $36 million.

By comparison, the independent film "Little Miss Sunshine," which recently won national awards for dramatic comedy, cost $3 million to make, according to IMDb.com. It was purchased by Fox Searchlight for $10.5 million at the Sundance Film Festival. Also according to The New Yorker, Fox Searchlight opened "Little Miss Sunshine" at "just seven theaters last July, then gradually enlarged the run, reaching more than (1,600) theatres by the beginning of September. The movie has now grossed more than ($84 million) worldwide." John Erardl Premier, then party Here's another reason to want an invitation to the Tribeca Film Festival: You get your own party. "Chasing 3000" will have its post-premiere shindig at The 4040 Club, 6 W.

25th St, Manhattan, from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., April 29 and 30, according to the Tribeca Film Festival Press Office. The 4040 Club is co-owned by the hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, who also is a part-owner of the New Jersey Nets of the NBA. Margaret McGurk "At first we were going to go straight to DVD (with the movie). But after Ray (Liotta) came in, we wanted a studio release.

Co-writer Bill Mikita on his film, "Chasing 3000." 1972, when the Reds came from behind to beat the Pirates in the fifth and final game of the National League Championship Series and advanced to the World Series. Three months later, on Dec. 31, 1972, Clemente died in a plane crash while taking relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Clemente remains a powerful presence in baseball, especially in Pittsburgh. When Mikita was there to at- tend last year's All-Star Game, -he wore a "Chasing 3000" T-shirt to the Home Run Derby contest the night before the matchup.

The T-shirt was no- ticed by a friend of American League manager Ozzie Guillen of the WTiite Sox, a native of Venezuela who idolized Clemente. Guillen's friend asked Mikita for a T-shirt for Guillen, who wore it when he addressed the American League all-stars in -the clubhouse on national TV -before the game, and then wore it again on national TV several weeks later when the White Sox were playing the New York Yankees. "That's what I mean when I say that doors keep opening up," Mikita said. "Chasing 3000" will premiere at 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at the AMC Loews 34th Street Theater.

The Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 25 to May, 6. Former Vice President Al Gore will host the opening-night gala. From Page CI City." "Chasing 3000" originally was set to premiere at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game last summer in Pittsburgh. Clemente, a native of Puerto Rico who died in a plane crash while on a humanitarian mission in 1972, was a Pirates star and arguably the greatest Latin American player in major-league history. But the movie's makers decided not to chance such a premiere because they did not yet have a distribution deal in place for their film.

A much bally-hooed premiere without a follow-up plan for the movie to be in theaters is not a good combination, they figured, so they decided to hold off. Now they are close to reaching a distribution deal, and it could be announced even before the Tribeca Film Festival, one of the top events potential distributors attend to watch films and award contracts. Typically, distribution of movies such as these start in a limited number of theaters. If a film catches on, its distribution is increased. Sites for the "Chasing 3000" opening run figure to be Cin cinnati (the investors are here), Pittsburgh, some other Mid western cities and possibly places as far west as Utah, where Bill's sister, a TV news anchor, and his brother, who was the inspiration for the screenplay, live.

Making a movie is like building a house," Mikita said. You think you're done, but you're not. There's always something else to do. There's a line in an ACDC song: 'I tell you folks, it's harder than it definitely applies." The average big-studio mov ie costs $60 million to make. Chasing 3000" cost less than $3 million to complete.

But the work didn stop there. Even when a movie is finished, the filmmaker then must sell it to a distributor to get it into theaters. The tipping point for "Chas ing 3000" came when independent producer Ryan Johnson got Mikita and D'Annunzio's script to the business agent of actor Ray Liotta, who's best known for his roles in "Good-Fellas" and "Field of Dreams." Liotta read the script and loved it. He grew up in New Jersey, and he told Mikita he could relate to the story line and wanted a part. "When Ray got involved, it blew up on us," said Mikita.

uotta presence on the proj ect attracted industry attention and brought aboard other actors. At first we were going to go straight to DVD (with the mov ie)," Mikita said. "But after Ray came in, we wanted a studio release." Among the other actors in the film are Lauren Holly, Rory Culkin, Trevor Morgan, and Ri- cardo Chavira of TV's "Desper ate Housewives. Mikita, 52, began writing the screenplay in 1999. He injected Clemente's pursuit of his hit into the plot be cause Bill and his brother Steve who has muscular atrophy and, although in a wheelchair, works as an assistant attorney general in Utah are huge Clemente fans.

"Chasing 3,000" is a coming- of-age tale. Two brothers bond, and one reconnects with his family. Bill Mikita is a Steubenvule native. He was a three-sport star in high school, and he earned his law degree from Ohio Northern. He has been practicing law in Cincinnati for more than 20 years.

He notes that Clemente last major-league game came in a losing cause to the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium in The Associated Press Adrian Wyld New Jersey's Vlnce Carter (right), chatting with Toronto's Morris Peterson, scored 16 points in the Nets' 96-91 victory over the Raptors in the opener of their playoff series Saturday at Toronto. Bulls, refs frustrate Shaq as Heat fall said. Flames star Jarome Iginla got into the act. with hooking and cross-checking penal ties with 43 seconds left with aggressive stick work. Stars 2, Canucks 0: Mike Modano finally scored and Marty Turco had another shutout, sending the series back to Vancouver for a de ciding Game 7.

PENGUINS: Scoring cham pion Sidney Crosby played the final 2'4 weeks of the reg ular season ana me piayons with a broken left foot, an injury the Pittsburgh star didn't disclose until Satur day. Crosby revealed the in jury when he explained why he won't play in the world championships in Moscow. ECHL PLAYOFFS: The Cincin nati Cyclones and Dayton Bombers open their best-of-7 division finals series at 5 p.m. today at the Nutter Center in Fairborn. "The series with Dayton has been pretty even this season (with the Cyclones holding a 7-5 edge over the Bombers)," Cyclones coach Chuck Weber said.

"It has been a strong rivalry and one that fans from both cities have been able to get into. "With proximity of the two arenas, it should be a lot of fun for fans of both teams in this area." Tennis MONTE CARLO: Roger Fe-derer gets a fifth chance to beat Rafael Nadal on clay when the world's top two players meet for the second straight year in the final. Both players reached today's final without dropping a set, and neither looked par ticularly troubled in the semifinals. Federer downed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 64, and Nadal followed by beat ing lOth-seeded Tomas Ber-dych f0, 7-5. Federer has lost four straight times to the second- ranked Nadal on clay, including finals last year at Monte Carlo, the Rome Masters and the French Open the only major eluding the 10-time Grand Slam winner.

FED CUP: Russia, France, Italy and the United States each took 2-0 leads in the first round. Ninth-ranked Nadia Petrova and No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova got singles wins for Russia in the series against Spain. Venus Williams struggled early, but gave the Americans the lead by beating Kir-sten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2 on outdoor hard courts in Dclray Beach, Fla. Her sister, surprise Australian Open champion Serena Williams, then easily beat Caroline Maes 6-1, 6-4.

The reverse singles and doubles matches are set for today. Lisa Raymond and Va-nia Fung will face Yanina Wickmayer and Tamaryn Hendler in doubles after the reverse singles. Soccer KINGS LOSE OPENER: The Cincinnati Fangs opened their third season Saturday with a 2-0 loss ad defending division champion Richmond Kickers in USL Second Division action. O'Neal fouls out and blasts inconsistency of officiating The Associated I'ress CHICAGO Shaquille O'Neal's words were sharp and pointed and aimed straight at his target, like those passes he whips to cutters when he is double-teamed. His target this time was referee Eddie F.

Rush. "My intention was to come out and be myself, until Eddie Rush derailed me," O'Neal said after fouling out. Chicago's Luol Deng also played a big part in knocking defending champion Miami off track. So did Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni. Deng scored 33 points, Gordon and Nocioni each hit two free throws in the final 19 seconds, and the Chicago Bulls held off the Heat 96-91 Saturday in Game 1 of their opening-round series.

This game was really big," Deng said. "Now that we have the lead. most of the time the team that loses has to adjust. We did a lot of things today that worked for us." The Heat trailed 92-91 after Dwyane Wade found Udonis Has-lem for a layup with 38 seconds left. but Gordon hit two foul shots with 18 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, like a difficult matchup for a Bulls team that dropped from the second seed to fifth in the Eastern Conference when it lost the finale to New Jersey. Wade missed 23 games late in the season with a dislocated left shoulder and struggled through three quarters. He scored nine in the fourth and finished with 21, while O'Neal had 19 points before fouling out with 3:19 left. He accused the Bulls of flopping and said they had "lot of help out there." "It's just unfortunate that people fall for that," said O'Neal, who scored 10 points in the first quarter before the fouls piled up. "I'm used to just outplaying somebody and just playing hard, but I guess that's what you got to do to stop Shaq." Deng, who enjoyed a breakout season but had struggled against the Heat, made it look easy this time, hitting 14 of 22 shots.

Gordon chipped in with 24 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Nocioni scored 17 points. That was enough to offset a rough outing by Kirk Hinrich, who finished with two points and had five fouls. With Hinrich in foul trouble, Thabo Sefolosha guarded ade and held him to 3-of-10 shooting through three quarters. "More and more as we're going through the playoffs. 111 continue to see my confidence come back in my game," Wade said.

There's stuff I want to do that I'm not able to do, but IU continue to work on it before and Wade missed a 3-pointer and Nocioni hit two more free throws with 9.8 seconds left for the final score. Game 2 is Tuesday in Chicago. The Heat beat the Bulls in six emotional games last year on the way to the championship, but injuries limited them to 44 wins during the regular season. Still, this looked.