Lineup
FEATURES
NBA PLAYOFFS
36 The Champ Is Here
Sorry, Pistons, but the NBA title will be decided in the Suns-Spurs series
by Jack McCallum
HORSE RACING
42 Street Cred
Calvin Borel had the ride of his life aboard Street Sense to win the Derby
by Tim Layden
TENNIS
46 Your Court or Mine?
The top two men played on a half-clay, half-grass court. Advantage ... Nadal?
by L. Jon Wertheim
BOXING
48 Failure to Launch
Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s victory had it all—except for thrills inside the ring
by Richard Hoffer
NHL PLAYOFFS
52 Can He Win a Cup?
Don't dismiss undersized Ducks center Andy McDonald. He plays big
by Austin Murphy
CENTERFIELD STAR
One Sizemore Fits All
In throwback style, Grady Sizemore has already made history with his unique skill set
by TOM VERDUCCI
• page 56
Departments
6 Leading Off
12 Letters
14 Players
• First Person: Larry Hughes
• The Rocket's reentry
• Kim Clijsters calls it quits
• On the road with Mike Tyson
• The Nationals honor their moms
• Frank Deford's new novel
31 Faces in the Crowd
76 Life of Reilly
The campaign to hold China's feet to the fire, using the Olympic torch
by Rick Reilly
Inside ...
68 Baseball
• Ranking the best young arms
• The Royals' Rule 5 keeper
72 The NFL
• Cleveland's second-round gamble
• Four rookie sleepers
74 NASCAR
• Keep an eye on Matt Kenseth
• Hendrick's CoT supremacy
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY AL TIELEMANS
INSET PHOTOS: Jeff Zelevansky/Reuters (Clemens); Bill Frakes (Street Sense); John Iacono (Mayweather)
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FEATURED COLUMNS
JON HEYMAN
> Rocket Fuel
Roger Clemens's pay will work out to about $1 million per start—a per-game record—and believe me, no one with the Yankees, least of all owner George Steinbrenner, is complaining. Considering New York's current need, that is what's known as a bargain.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/heyman.
PETER KING
> Chief Concerns
The Dolphins have a slight edge in their trade talks for quarterback Trent Green because the Chiefs won't want to pay Green his money this year ($7.2 million on their salary cap). I still think Green will be a Dolphin. Just not very quickly.
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THROWDOWN
FanNation
The Big Fight's over. Can boxing cash in?
> SI WRITERS FACE OFF
CHRIS MANNIX
VERSUS
RICHARD O'BRIEN
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PHOTO
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (DUNCAN)
36 SQUEEZE PLAY With a Game 1 win in Phoenix, Tim Duncan and the Spurs got a grip on their Western Conference semifinal.
PHOTO
THOMAS E. WITTE (SIZEMORE)
PHOTO
BOB MARTIN (FEDERER)
PHOTO
FRED VUICH (WOODS)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (HEYMAN)
PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS (CLEMENS)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (KING)
PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS (GREEN)
PHOTO
TODD ROSENBERG (QUINN)
PHOTO
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (NOWITZKI)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (MAYWEATHER JR.)
ILLUSTRATION