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Sports by the Numbers Stat of the Week

12 The number of assists (12) for Chris Paul during the Hornets 102-84 drumming of the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Paul, who led the NBA with 11.6 assists per game during the regular season, also scored 30 points as New Orleans became the first team to go up 2-0 in a playoff series against the Spurs since the Lakers did it in 2001. He later said, "These are some of the best moments of my life that we're experiencing right now."

Honorable Mentions

4 The final four (4) in the quest for the Stanley Cup: the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, and the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit swept their series against Colorado with an 8-2 shellacking last Thursday, and the Flyers beat Montreal 6-4 on Saturday to win their series in five games. The Penguins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on Sunday to take their series in five games, and the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in four overtimes on Sunday to win their series in six games. Next up: Dallas at Detroit, and Philadelphia at Pittsburgh.

31 The starting position (31) for Clint Bowyer during the running of the Crown Royal 400 this past weekend in Richmond, Virginia. Only four drivers held the lead during the race: Denny Hamlin (381 laps), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (15 laps), A.J. Allmendinger (1 lap), and Bowyer, who led only 13 laps but was there at the end to take the checkered flag for his second career victory. Bowyer got plenty of help - Hamlin got a flat tire with 17 laps left in the race, and Junior got spun into the wall on the third turn of lap 398 by Kyle Busch.

48 The amount of time (4.8) in seconds when the game clock came to a halt at the end of the third quarter of the Magic-Pistons game two match-up on Monday night. Pistons guard Chauncey Billups brought the ball up the court, passed the ball, got the ball back, and then made a three-pointer to give Detroit a 78-76 lead - but the clock was not running. Replays show it took him 5.2 seconds to get the shot off and the play should not have counted, but NBA officials are barred from using a television replay for that particular situation, and so the play stood. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy later said, "It's almost funny." Not quite though - Detroit went on to win the game 100-93.

71 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has not won for (71) consecutive races. You have to go back two years for his last victory, which came at the 2006 running of the Crown Royal 400. Junior was in a great position to break that dry spell on Sunday until the driver he replaced on the Hendrick team - Kyle Busch - intervened. Earnhardt later said of Busch, "He's going to need security from all of us."

354 The number of career victories (354) for Roger Clemens. On Monday, Clemens said, "I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and I apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right." Rusty Hardin, a lawyer for Clemens, said that Clemens is "getting pummeled" in the press. Richard Emery, a lawyer for Brian McNamee, who Clemens is suing for defamation of character, said that Clemens "apparently admits he cheated on his wife and family - and if he cheated on them, I think it's reasonable to assume that he cheated his fans and baseball." Roger truly was the best pitcher of his generation - too bad this is what the young fans of today will remember.

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