NBA
The Cleveland Cavaliers have squared the NBA's Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece with a dominant first quarter against the Boston Celtics.
The Celts shot just 7-for-26 while the Cavaliers outscored them 34-18 in the first period of Cleveland's 111-102 triumph at Quicken Loans Arena. LeBron James poured in 44 points and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals in playoff history. James also recorded his 25th career postseason game with at least 40 points, six coming in these playoffs.
The first-quarter assault came on the heels of Saturday's 31-point win over Boston.
Kyle Korver finished with 14 points, while Tristan Thompson added 13 with two rebounds.
Jaylen Brown had a team-high 25 points for the Celtics, who outscored the Cavaliers in each of the last three quarters but couldn't recover from a 19-point deficit.
The series shifts to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Elsewhere on the court:
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala is listed as doubtful for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday against Houston because of a sore left knee. Golden State is 14-4 in postseason games started by Iguodala since 2015.
Also Monday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the team plans to speak to the league regarding Draymond Green's double-technical with Trevor Ariza issued midway through the fourth quarter when Ariza shoved Green as they traded words.
NHL
The NHL's Eastern Conference final is going to a seventh game after the Washington Capitals blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning.
T.J. Oshie scored twice and Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots as the Caps beat the Bolts, 3-0. Oshie snapped a scoreless tie by beating Andrei Vasilevskiy on a power play with 4:48 left in the second. Devante-Smith Pelly scored to make it 2-0 with 9:58 remaining. Oshie iced the victory with an empty-netter.
Holtby notched his first shutout of this postseason and the fifth of his career.
Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots for the Lightning, who host Game 7 on Wednesday.
Also in the NHL:
Lou Lamoriello is about to join the New York Islanders' front office.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Associated Press that the Hall of Fame executive has been hired by the Isles, although it's not clear whether Lamoriello's title will be director of hockey operations, general manager or a hybrid. However, it's expected that he'll be in charge.
It was also uncertain how his hiring would affect current president and general manager Garth Snow, who has four years left on his contract but has led the team to just four playoff appearances in 12 years at the helm.
Paul Fenton is the new general manager of the Minnesota Wild after 20 seasons in the Nashville Predators organization. The 58-year-old Fenton spent the last 12 seasons as assistant GM for the Predators and helped mold last year's Western Conference champions. He replaces Chuck Fletcher, whose contract was not renewed last month.
MLB
The New York Yankees took advantage of one of their four games in hand on Boston to move ahead of the Red Sox for first place in the American League East.
Gleyber Torres hit two of the four Yankees homers off Bartolo Colon in a 10-5 thumping of the Rangers in Texas. Aaron Judge and Neil Walker also went deep off the right-hander, three days before his 45th birthday.
Aaron Hicks added a two-run homer in the ninth for New York, which had a season-high 10 extra-base hits.
Masahiro Tanaka limited the Rangers to three hits over five innings, but he surrendered homers by Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor.
The Bombers now lead their division by a half-game.
Game 2 of the 3 game series is Tuesday at 8:05 p.m.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Jose Berrios struck out nine while scattering three hits over eight innings as the Twins doubled up the Tigers, 4-2. Max Kepler tied the game with a two-run double in the fifth, three innings before Logan Morrison worked out a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded to put Minnesota ahead.
Manny Machado smacked his 15th homer of the season and Andrew Cashner picked up his first win since April 5 by allowing two runs over five-plus innings of the Orioles' 3-2 victory over the White Sox. Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo also went deep as Baltimore improved to 2-3 on their 11-game road trip.
Philadelphia is within a half-game of the NL East lead after Nick Pivetta threw four-hit ball while striking out seven over seven innings of the Phillies' 3-0 shutout of the first-place Braves. Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr homered, and Hector Neris worked the ninth for his ninth save.
Jason Vargas worked five innings and combined with five relievers on a five-hitter as the Mets won their fourth in a row, 2-0 over the Marlins. Asdrubal Cabrera doubled home Amed Rosario with the game's first run, one day after Cabrera hit the tiebreaking, two-run homer and Rosario delivered a pair of solo shots. The series continues Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Juan Soto crushed a three-run homer in his first career start, Mark Reynolds went deep twice and Bryce Harper added his 14th round-tripper of the season as the Nationals hammered the Padres, 10-2. Gio Gonzalez gave up two runs and just two hits over seven innings to help Washington end a three-game skid.
The Rockies have moved into first place in the NL West by getting an tiebreaking, RBI single from Carlos Gonzalez in the eighth inning to beat the Dodgers, 2-1. German Marquez improved to 3-5 by holding Los Angeles to two hits over seven innings, including Max Muncy's fourth-inning homer.
The Brewers doubled up the Diamondbacks, 4-2 as Travis Shaw, Domingo Santana and Lorenzo Cain homered off Zack Greinke. Chase Anderson was reached for only three hits over six innings to help Milwaukee hand Arizona its fifth straight loss and 11th in 12 games.
The Brewers' lead in the NL Central is 1 ½ games over the Cardinals after Miles Mikolas tossed his first career shutout and Tyler O'Neill homered for the third straight game to carry St. Louis past Kansas City, 6-0. O'Neill slammed a three-run homer and had four RBIs to back Mikolas, who is 6-0 after firing a four-hitter.
Boston had the night off. The Red Sox go against Tampa Bay Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Elsewhere in the MLB:
Major League Baseball has extended the administrative leave of Toronto closer Roberto Osuna for a third seven-day period through May 28 as it investigates an assault charge filed against the All-Star.
Osuna was put on administrative leave by MLB on May 8. The pitcher was charged with one count of assault, according to a Toronto Police constable. The Meixcan-born Osuna is scheduled to appear in court June 18.
NFL
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says Congress should enact uniform standards for any states that plan to legislate sports betting.
Goodell reiterated the NFL's stance that legalized sports gambling in the United States should be governed by federal law rather than state law. The Supreme Court ruled last week to strike down a 1992 law that barred most state-authorized sports gambling.
Goodell also is seeking consumer protections as well as fan access to official and reliable league data.
In other NFL news:
The NFL says sexual assault allegations against Lions coach Matt Patricia from 1996 are not subject to its personal conduct policy. The league says it has completed its review of the team's interviewing process. Patricia has said he was falsely accused of allegations that resurfaced earlier this month in a Detroit News report. The accuser did not testify and the case was dismissed. The Lions have said a pre-employment background check did not reveal the incident.
Veteran guard Richie Incognito is free to resume his career after the Bills released him from their reserve/retired list on Monday. The move came six weeks after Incognito abruptly announced on his Twitter account that he was retiring. Incognito cited health concerns as one of the reasons he was retiring, although he was also unhappy with taking a pay cut in restructuring the final year of his contract with Buffalo this offseason.
OLYMPICS
Olympian Ariana Kukors Smith has sued USA Swimming, alleging it knew her former coach sexually abused her as a minor but failed to protect her and covered it up. Kukors Smith alleges Sean Hutchison groomed her for sexual abuse when she was 13, started touching and kissing her when she was 16, and engaged in sexual activity with her when she was 17. Hutchison began coaching her at a swim club near Seattle and previously denied the allegations when Kukors Smith posted an emotional essay on line earlier this year.
The U.S. Olympic Committee has hired an FBI executive as its senior director of athlete safety, in charge of strengthening sex-abuse policies that are being rewritten in the wake of cases involving Olympic athletes. Wendy Guthrie comes to the USOC after spending the past six years as senior executive of human resources at the FBI. Before that, she held high-ranking jobs at the Northwest and West Coast Conferences in college sports. The USOC has commissioned an independent investigation into its handling of abuse allegations, with results expected this summer.
GOLF
French Open organizers will not give Serena Williams a seeding. The French Tennis Federation said in a statement to The Associated Press that tour officials will establish the list and ranking of the women's seeds based on the WTA ranking. That leaves Williams out of the seedings, since she is currently ranked No. 453 due to her lengthy maternity leave. The three-time French Open champion hasn't played a Grand Slam event since last year's Australian Open.
Two-time LPGA major champion Carol Mann has died at age 77, according to the tour. Mann won 38 LPGA titles, including the 1964 Women's Western Open Invitational and the 1965 U.S. Women's Open. She won 10 tournaments in 1968 and served as LPGA president from 1973-76. Mann was inducted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977.
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