NBA
Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and the Boston Celtics withstood a 42-point night by LeBron James to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-94 Tuesday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Terry Rozier added 18 points, while Al Horford finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Boston improved to 8-0 this postseason at TD Garden. The Celtics have never blown a 2-0 series lead in the playoffs.
James added 12 assists and 10 rebounds. He scored 21 of Cleveland's 27 points in the first quarter, tying his playoff career high for points in a period. His 42 points marked his fifth 40-point game of this postseason. James had just 15 points and missed all five of his 3-point attempts in the Cavs' Game 1 loss.
Cleveland hosts Game 3 is Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
Phoenix has won the No. 1 pick in next month's NBA Draft.
It's the first time the Suns will have the chance to make the first overall selection. The Suns had the right combination of ping-pong balls pop up for them at the Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, a reward of sorts after a season where Phoenix had the NBA's worst record at 21-61.
Phoenix lost a coin flip for the top pick in 1969 to Milwaukee. The Bucks took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Suns took Neal Walk.
Sacramento will pick No. 2 and Atlanta got the No. 3 pick — both of them moving up to get there. The top three spots were determined by the lottery, and then spots 4-14 fell in line of reverse order of record. The rest of the slots, in order, went to No. 4 Memphis, No. 5 Dallas, No. 6 Orlando, No. 7 Chicago, No. 8 Cleveland, No. 9 New York, No. 10 Philadelphia, No. 11 Charlotte, No. 12 and No. 13 both went to the Los Angeles Clippers and No. 14 Denver.
The draft will be held on June 21.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
At a press conference Wednesday Colleen Mullen was introduced as the 12TH women’s basketball coach for the University at Albany in program history.
Mullen spent the previous six years as associate head coach at the United States Military Academy, where she helped guide the Black Knights to two trips to the NCAA Tournament and a 138-51 overall record.
Mullen said she plans to continue the fast-paced style that has led UAlbany to 6 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last seven seasons.
Athletic Director Mark Benson says Mullen “is a leader whose values align perfectly with our mission to develop Great Leaders, Great Champions, Great Danes.”
She takes over for Joanna Bernabei-McNamee who took a job as the head coach at Boston College in April.
NHL
Victor Hedman scored his first goal of the playoffs and added two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night and cut their series deficit to 2-1.
Hedman had the primary assist on power-play goals by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and was a key part of three big penalty kills that gave Tampa Bay some much-needed momentum.
Vasilevskiy was on top of his game as the Capitals put 38 shots on net. He made seven saves on the penalty kill alone to save a beleaguered unit that came in ranked 13th out of 16 playoff teams.
The Lightning would still like to cut down on the quality chances Vasilevskiy has to stop in Game 4 on Thursday and beyond, like the one Brett Connolly scored on after a turnover by Ondrej Palat. They also surrendered a six-on-five goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov with 3:02 left that made things interesting in the final minutes.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
The Colorado Avalanche are bringing back defenseman Mark Barberio on a two-year deal.
Barberio is coming off a season in which he had three goals and 10 assists. He was limited to 46 games due to a lower-body injury, but returned at the end of the regular season and played in all six games during the first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators.
MLB
Right-hander Jordan Lyles came within five outs of the first perfect game in San Diego Padres history before allowing a single to Trevor Story in a 4-0 victory against the Colorado Rockies.
Lyles, who moved into the rotation last week, retired the first 22 Rockies batters before Story's single with one out in the eighth inning landed just in front of left fielder Franchy Cordero.
Lyles then walked Pat Valaika and made way for Kirby Yates after 85 pitches. Lyles matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. The Rockies hit only two balls out of the infield before Story singled.
San Diego is the only major league that without a no-hitter. The Padres have played 7,858 games since their expansion season of 1969.
In other big league action:
Daniel Descalso singled home Jarrod Dyson with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 to snap a six-game losing streak. The Diamondbacks opened the game with the worst batting average in the majors and learned earlier in the day they had lost A.J. Pollock for four-to-eight weeks with a fractured left thumb. They then managed just three hits against starter Jhoulys Chacin and three relievers.
Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead, three-run double in the eighth inning, and the Houston Astros rallied from a late two-run deficit for a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Josh Reddick threw out two Los Angeles runners from right field, and he also got a leadoff double in the eighth. Altuve eventually cleared the bases against Angels reliever Jose Alvarez (2-1), who wasted seven stellar innings by rookie Jaime Barria.
Brandon Crawford continued his strong May with four more hits, Brandon Belt homered and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3. Pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval hit a tying two-run single in the fourth inning, Andrew McCutchen drove in the go-ahead run with a grounder and five relievers combined for five scoreless inning for San Francisco.
Stephen Piscotty homered in his first at-bat after being reinstated from the bereavement list and saluted his late mother as he crossed home plate, helping lead the Oakland Athletics to a 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night in a game delayed almost two hours because of weather. The series will conclude Wednesday at 7:10 p.m.
Tyler Austin hit a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly as the Yankees rallied from a three-run deficit, and a game between New York and the Washington Nationals was suspended with the score 3-3 after 5½ innings because of rain. The teams waited for more than an hour but play did not resume. The game is scheduled to continue at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday before the finale of the two-game interleague series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers and were beaten by a last-place team for the fifth game in a row, losing at Miami 4-2. Los Angeles managed only five hits after being swept in a four-game series at home by woeful Cincinnati.
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras helped Chicago throw out two runners at home plate and another at third base before rallying for two runs in the ninth, pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. After Ronald Acuna Jr. broke a 1-1 tie with a mammoth homer in the eighth, the Cubs bounced back to hand the Braves a loss that really stung.
JaCoby Jones homered and doubled, and the Detroit Tigers rallied against Andrew Miller during a five-run seventh inning to beat the Cleveland Indians 9-8. The Indians led 4-0 and 8-4 before Detroit's breakthrough seventh for its third straight win.
Trevor Williams scattered six hits in seven innings, Adam Frazier homered to start a four-run first, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the White Sox 7-0 to send Chicago to its worst 38-game start since 1948. Chicago has lost eight of nine and 12 of 14, dropping to a major league-worst 10-28.
Joey Wendle singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays over the Kansas City Royals 6-5. Johnny Field and Jesus Sucre led off the inning with singles against Kelvin Herrera. Herrera retired the next two batters before Wendle laced a single to left. Jonny Venters got two outs for his first victory since Sept. 27, 2012 while with Atlanta against the Mets.
Bobby Wilson hit his first home run in more than a year, Jose Berrios bounced back with strong effort on the mound, and the Minnesota Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 Tuesday night. Wilson hit a two-run homer off St. Louis reliever Luke Gregerson into the left field stands to cap a three-run seventh inning. It was Wilson's first major league home run since Sept. 21, 2016.
Right-hander Jordan Lyles came within five outs of the first perfect game in San Diego Padres history before allowing a single to Trevor Story in a 4-0 victory against the Colorado Rockies. Lyles, who moved into the rotation last week, retired the first 22 Rockies batters before Story's single, with one out in the eighth inning, landed just in front of left fielder Franchy Corder.
Noah Syndergaard won for the first time in five weeks, knocking in two early runs against the team that traded him to rouse a sluggish New York Mets offense during a 12-2 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays. Missing injured sluggers Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier from a slumping lineup, the Mets finally broke through anyway against Jaime Garcia and the skidding Blue Jays after an 86-minute rain delay at the start. The three-game series will conclude Wendesday at 1:10 p.m.
The interleague matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies has been postponed by rain. Anticipating a thundershower that would ultimately come within the hour and never let up, the grounds crew covered the field with a tarp after the national anthem and minutes before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start. The game was finally postponed after a delay of more than three hours.
MLB News:
Seattle Mariners All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano has been suspended 80 games for violating baseball's joint drug agreement. The league announced Cano's suspension Tuesday in a stunning development for the stalwart in the middle of the Mariners' lineup and a club expected to contend for a postseason spot in the American League. Cano tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic. In a statement released through the players' association, Cano says, "This substance was given to me by a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic to treat a medical ailment." He said he didn't realize it was banned. It's the first major strike in a career that has Hall of Fame potential. Cano was trending toward being one of the few current players with a chance to reach 3,000 hits in his career and has been a consummate defensive standout. Cano is an eight-time All-Star, five of which was with the New York Yankees from 2005-2013.
In other Major League news:
The Texas Rangers have placed Adrian Beltre on the 10-day disabled list after he aggravated his left hamstring injury over the weekend. The move is retroactive to Monday and marks the fourth time in the past two seasons he's landed on the DL. The Rangers purchased the contract of infielder Hanser Alberto from Triple-A Round Rock to fill Beltre's spot.
Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes is out of the lineup because of a strained right hip flexor and could be headed to the disabled list. The team says Cespedes had a precautionary MRI that showed a mild strainy. Brandon Nimmo was set to play left field in Cespedes' place against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Arizona center fielder A.J. Pollock is set to see a hand specialist after spraining his left thumb diving for a ball Monday. The slumping Diamondbacks lost their sixth straight shortly after Pollock was pulled, and they'll have a hard time getting on track without him. He leads the club with a .293 average, 44 hits, 11 home runs and 33 RBIs.
The St. Louis Cardinals have placed Adam Wainwright back on the 10-day disabled list after the right-hander struggled with velocity in his last start and said he needed "to pause and get it right." The 36-year-old Wainwright also was on the DL with elbow inflammation before returning Sunday in San Diego. But he lasted just 2 1/3 innings in the Cardinals' 5-3 loss to the Padres. Wainwright is 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA in four starts this season.
The San Diego Padres have placed rookie left-hander Joey Lucchesi on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hip. The Padres also recalled infielder Carlos Asuaje from Triple-A Albuquerque before tonight's game against Colorado.
NFL
People familiar with the situation say hedge fund manager David Tepper has agreed to buy the Carolina Panthers from team founder Jerry Richardson for a record $2.2 billion.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team has not yet announced the sale. The purchase is subject to a vote at the NFL owners meeting next week in Atlanta.
Richardson announced in December he was selling the team amid an NFL investigation for sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace.
The $2.2 billion eclipses the $1.4 billion the Pegula family paid to purchase the Buffalo Bills in 2014.
Tepper, 60, is a part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund based in Miami.
In other NFL news:
Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Christian Kirk took the field Tuesday for the first time since a report surfaced about his arrest in the months before the team chose him in the second round of the NFL draft. Kirk ran routes, caught passes and took part in special teams work. He was not made available to reporters. Kirk was arrested the night of Feb. 3 outside the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament on charges of disorderly conduct and property damage. According to police, Kirk was with a group that was intoxicated and throwing rocks at cars.
The Tennessee Titans now have three of their four draft picks under contract with linebacker Rashaan Evans, the No. 22 pick overall out of Alabama, agreeing to terms. The 6-foot-3 Evans played in 53 games at Alabama where he had 15 sacks and 152 tackles.
GOLF
The wife of former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover is facing domestic violence charges stemming from an altercation with Glover and his mother after he missed the 54-hole cut at The Players Championship. Krista Glover was arrested Saturday night and taken to the St. Johns County Jail. She was released on $2,500 bond on Sunday. According to the offense report, Glover and his wife were having an altercation, and when Glover's mother tried to intervene, Krista Glover began attacking her. She faces a May 31 court date on the misdemeanor charges.
Doug Ford, the oldest surviving Masters champion and a former PGA player of the year, has died. He was 95. The PGA Tour announced Ford's death, saying Ford's family informed the tour that he died Monday night. Details of his death were not immediately available. Ford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He won the 1955 PGA Championship, and then two years later won the Masters when he shot 66 in the final round to rally from a three-shot deficit to Sam Snead.
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