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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, June 5, 2009

On this date: 1977 — Portland Trail Blazers beat Philadelphia 76ers for NBA title


Associated Press

June 5

1925 — Willie McFarlane beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in the second round of a playoff to capture the U.S. Open.

1937 — War Admiral, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, wins the Triple Crown with a three-length victory over Sceneshifter in the Belmont Stakes.

1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Triple Crown with a 25-length romp over Fairy Manhunt in the Belmont Stakes.

1952 — Jersey Joe Walcott scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Ezzard Charles in Philadelphia to retain the world heavyweight title.

1961 — The newly formed American Basketball League adopts the 3-point field goal.

1977 — The Portland Trail Blazers hold off the Philadelphia 76ers 109-107 to win the NBA championship in six games. Portland becomes the first team in the 31-year history of the league to win four straight after losing the first two games.

1990 — At 14, Jennifer Capriati becomes the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist by rallying from a 1-4 deficit in the final set to beat Manuela Maleeva 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the French Open quarterfinals.

1993 — Colonial Affair carries Julie Krone into the record books by winning the Belmont Stakes. Colonial Affair finishes 2¼ lengths ahead of Kissin Kris, making Krone the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race.

1994 — Beth Daniel's 20-under 268 in the Oldsmobile Classic ties the LPGA record for 72 holes by Nancy Lopez in the 1985 Henredon Classic.

1994 — Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Sergi Bruguera produce the best day of tennis in Spanish history. Sanchez Vicario beats Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-4 in the French Open final and Bruguera retains his title by defeating another Spaniard, Alberto Berasategui, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

1998 — Doug Dunakey becomes the fourth player to shoot a 59 — and the second in three weeks on the Nike Tour. Dunakey, in the Miami Valley Open, needing a par on the final hole to shoot a 58, three-putts, missing a 2-footer for par.

1999 — Steffi Graf wins her sixth French Open title and her first Grand Slam championship in almost three years, beating top-ranked Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Graf is the first woman in the open era to beat the top three players in the world at the same event. On her way to the final, Graf beat No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 3 Monica Seles.

2000 — Shigeki Maruyama of Japan takes golf's magic number one notch lower by shooting a 58 during qualifying for the U.S. Open. The score is not recognized as a PGA Tour record because it happened in a qualifying round. Maruyama, carding 29 on both nines, has 11 birdies and an eagle on the par-71 South course at Woodmont Country Club, one of 12 qualifying sites for the U.S. Open.

2004 — Smarty Jones loses his Triple Crown bid and his perfect record when Birdstone runs him down near the finish of a thrilling Belmont Stakes. Birdstone, a 36-1 long shot ridden by Edgar Prado, returns $74, $14 and $8.60.

2005 — Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal beats unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina in four sets to win the French Open men's singles title. The No. 4-seeded Nadal becomes the youngest men's Grand Slam champion since Pete Sampras won the U.S. Open at 19 in 1990.