Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 21

TO CONTACT US Delivery: (727) 895-1181 Sports desk: (727) 893-8123 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 8123 Sports fax: (727) 903782 Mon-Frl: 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat-Sun: 6 p.m,-10 p.m. By e-mall: sptsnewssptlmes.com SECTION MONDAY, MAY 2, 2005 THE TIMES SIDELINE Hears casts Metis wiHbdairdl wm A INSIDE The Suns sweep Memphis to reach the second round for the first time since 2000. 6C HEAT 110, NETS 97: Guard Dwyane Wade carries the scoring load for Miami, which sweeps New Jersey and earns some rest for Shaq.

Guard Dwyane Wade, who finished with 34 points, drives on Jason Collins in Game 4 of the Heafs series-clinching playoff victory over the Nets. Wade has averaged 26.3 points and 8.8 assists to help fill a scoring void during Shaquille O'Neal's injury. Adoolatad Pran least a full week to rest his legs before the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs begins. The layoff could last nine days, depending on other series. "I'm a little more confident," Wade said in comparing himself to his rookie season.

"I know my teammates depend on me a lot more. I know what to do more now than last year." The Heat cruised past the Nets because it hit shots and received contributions up and down the lineup from the likes of Eddie Jones, Damon Jones, Udon-is Haslem, Keyon Dooling and Alonzo Mourning, the former Net who was booed unmercifully the past two games. "Everybody stepped up, some nights Please see HEAT 6C second-half points as Miami completed a first-round sweep of New Jersey with a 110-97 win Sunday. "He's been a superstar, even last year," O'Neal said of Wade. "It's just now you guys are recognizing it" Wade has put up spectacular numbers with O'Neal hobbled, averaging 26.3 points, 8.8 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, a block and 42.5 minutes.

His big game Sunday in Miami's seventh straight win over Jason Kidd and the Nets guaranteed that O'Neal will have at AP EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. Until Shaquille O'Neal's sore thighs get better, guard Dwyane Wade is quite capable of leading the Heat past anyone in the playoffs, even sweeping them. Wade more than filled the void of O'Neal's scoreless first half by scoring a postseason career-high 34 points and setting up the big guy for most of his 17 Qtttyhnagtt wrata somofes Yaladkp J1 rv Nv" -s -if 'f. 1 BREAKTHROUGH: Dade City's Tim Petrovic, above, drains a 4-footer on the first playoff hole to win the Zurich Classic, his first PGATourvictory.6C DERBY FROMTRUNNER: Yankees owner George Steinbren-neKs horse, Bellamy Road, likely will be the betting favorite in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. BC PITCHING STREAK ENDS: The 1 7-game winning streak ends for Twins ace Johan Santana, who gives up two homers in a 2-1 loss to the Angels.

4C ROOKIE CAMP: Coach Jon Gru-den is thrilled with the latest crop ofBucs.2C MAKING NEWS Esposito no longer with World Hockey Lightning founder Phil Esposito said he quit an effort to stage a six-team tournament that is supposed to help launch the World Hockey Association because he was not paid a promised promotional fee. But WHA president Rick Smith said Esposito was fired because he did not provide expected services. Esposito, one of the NHL's greatest goal scorers, joined the project in February after the 2004-05 NHL season was canceled because of a labor dispute. Esposito said he received his first monthly fee of $33,000 but quit after the next payment was missed. "He just didn't pay me and that's the fact, and I never heard from him again," Esposito said Sunday.

Smith said he remembers things differently. "I said, 'I've given you a month to do something, and where is it7 he said. Smith said Esposito's organizational failures were one reason the tournament, originally scheduled later this month, was pushed to June 1 3-1 5 in Hamilton, Ontario, and Vancouver. DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Tlmat staff writar QUESTION OF THE DAY Who was used as the model on the official NBA logo, the silhouetted player you see on all NBA uniforms? Answer below. QUOTABLE "There are only three sports kids play in Detroit.

Baseball, basketball and grand: theft auto." ALICE COOPER, longtime rock star and Detroit native, explaining how he took up golf as an adult and how he has played fanatically since he quit drinking 23 years ago CHECK IT OUT GOLD RELIEF: Olympic swimming champion Anthony Ervin of Valencia, will use eBay to auction his gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle from the 2000 Sydney Games to raise money i for tsunami victims in Asia. "It's the least I can do to help give back a little of the good fortune I've experienced through the sport of swimming," Ervin told the Contra Costa Times. No start date for the auction has been set ANSWER Jerry West. AP Cars spin through the smoke in Turn 1 on Lap 133 of the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Twenty-five cars were knocked out of the race in the first of two notable crashes.

The new boss of restrictor-plate racing stays in front of two crashes and the few contenders that manage to avoid the pileups. By BRANT JAMES Tlnw Staff Wrltor pin this one on him. And as much as they hated to give the four-time Nextel Cup champion his due, they had to admit Gordon or more specifically, his No. 24 Chevrolet had just finished a dominating performance, the kind Earnhardt Jr. had so often given them at Talladega Superspeedway.

So as Gordon crossed the finish line in a greenwhitechecker conclusion, most of the Earnhardt faithful could do little more than leave Gordon to his smoke-raising crash on Lap 133 was caused when Earnhardt, Mike Wallace and Jimmie Johnson got together, and 25 cars were knocked off the track before a 43-minute delay. Another crash came two laps from the planned finish, this one involving six cars, and laps were added to ensure a racing finish. The unsettling news for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and its fans is Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team may have Please see NASCAR Back page spoils, unlike last spring when Gordon edged ahead of Earnhardt late to win under caution and the track was pelted with beer cans and debris. Gordon won for the fourth time at Talladega, beating runnerup Tony Stewart by .193 seconds, followed by Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and Jamie McMurray.

In a race featuring 33 lead changes, Gordon led 139 of 194 laps. Gordon didn't have as many challengers at the finish as he might have. A TALLADEGA, Ala. There was no tinder for their anger this time. Jeff Gordon had scorched it all away and left them with nothing but resignation and disdain.

The cult of Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't claim it was wronged. Their hero had wrecked out of the Aaron's 499 and their mortal enemy was so far in front at the time they couldn't possibly Jeff Gordon beats Tony Stewart for his third win in four restrictor-plate races. Counting on another second chance JOHN ROMANO SPORTS COLUMNIST Rays sound the same sour notes ORIOLES 7, RAYS 4: Players don't mince words after Tampa Bay caps an 06 trip with its seventh straight loss. By MARC TOPKIN T1mt Staff WrHar BALTIMORE Devil Rays manager Lou Pi-niella and general manager Chuck LaMar plan to have lunch today to discuss what, if anything, can be done to improve their struggling team.

With luck, they'll be done talking by gametime tonight The Rays are in a brutal downward spiral that' seems to have no limits, Sunday's 74 loss to the Orioles capping a miserable 0-6 road trip, extending their losing streak to seven games and dropping their overall record to 8-17, matching the worst 25-game start in their sorry history. "I feel like we (stink) right now," shortstop Julio Lugo said. "That's the way I feel." John McLaren, who managed the weekend games as Piniella served a three-game suspension, said the problems are the result of teamwide failure. "We're playing just good enough to stay close," McLaren said. "We're not playing winning baseball.

We don't feel good about ourselves. We don't have Please see RAYS 3C TAMPA Who's to say where fate ends and responsibility begins? Who can tell what is meant to be, and what is determined by our decisions? Is it fate that a phantom fire alarm forever changes the life of a freshman football player at the University of Tennessee? Is it destiny that a family of five in Oklahoma was rescued from a vehicle fire because a stranger's car broke down in Texas? Is it possible Lynn McGruder's biggest mistake was predestined to become his greatest blessing? As he sits on a porch stoop overlooking the Buccaneers' practice field, McGruder does not claim to have all the answers. Just a hunch. A feeling that maybe he is more fortunate than he once realized. Today, McGruder is a fledging NFL player.

A 300-pound defensive tackle trying to make an impression as an undrafted free agent in a minicamp. His is a story of second chances. Both received and given. W-f- i "i 1 1 III It was the first week of June in 2001 when a University of Tennessee official supposedly went in search of a suspected fire in a dorm room. There was no fire, but there was a strong smell of marijuana coming from the room of a certain defensive lineman.

Authorities were notified and McGruder's room was searched. Seven small bags of marijuana were found. Months after finishing his freshman season, he was arrested and kicked off the team. His scholarship was revoked and Please see ROMANO 2C TONIGHT Rays vs. Yankees, 7:15, Tropicana Field, St Petersburg TVRADIO: Pax; 1250-AM RAYS or www.devilrays.com Tlmas photo WILUE J.

ALLEN JH. Bucs hopeful Lynn McGruder, a 300-pound defensive tackle from Oklahoma, tries to impress during minicamp drills. Despite high hopes, the 23-year-old free agent was not drafted last month..