The Masters:
Jordan Spieth is the leader through one round of the Masters after opening with a 6-under 66, giving him a two-shot edge over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar. Spieth birdied five straight holes and took just 10 putts on the back nine. Phil Mickelson opened with 2 under 70, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson fired a 1 over 73 and Tiger Woods stumbled late in his round for a 1-over 73.
NBA:
The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken control of the third seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference, moving a half-game ahead of the idle Philadelphia 76ers and staying two games in front of the Indiana Pacers. LeBron James poured in 33 points and the Cavaliers erased a 104-87 deficit over the final 7 ½ minutes of a 119-115 win over the Washington Wizards. Bojan (BOY'-ahn) Bogdanovic had 28 points and the Pacers won for the sixth time in seven games by hammering the Golden State Warriors, 126-106.
The Utah Jazz have moved a game ahead of San Antonio for fourth in the NBA's Western Conference and home-court advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Rudy Gobert (goh-BEHR') added 15 with 10 rebounds as the Jazz whipped the Clippers, 117-95 for their fourth straight win. Utah is 27-5 over the last 10 ½ weeks and can wrap up home-court advantage by winning its last three regular-season games.
Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving will need surgery on his left knee and miss the playoffs. The team puts his recovery time at four to five months. In the upcoming surgery, two screws will be removed. They were implanted after his patellar fracture during the 2015 NBA Finals. An infection developed at the site of the screws. Irving hasn't played since March 11 and says he won't dwell on what might have been. He writes on Instagram: "It's simply a test of your perseverance and will."
Allen Crabbe scored 25 points and hit two 3-pointers in the closing minutes of a tight game, and the Brooklyn Nets shot 48 percent from behind the arc to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 119-111. The sharpshooting Nets were 19 of 39 from 3-point range, dealing a blow to the Bucks' hopes of moving up from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
NHL:
The Nashville Predators have wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. Craig Smith scored twice and the Predators clinched the Central Division and the No. 1 seed by nipping the Capitals, 4-3 in Washington. The game was tied 3-3 until Ryan Johansen tallied with 5:27 remaining.
The New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets were able to clinch Stanley Cup playoff berths by earning points on Thursday. The Devils are playoff-bound for the first time in six years after Patrick Maroon set up second-period goals by Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood in a 2-1 verdict over the Maple Leafs. The Jackets reached the postseason despite blowing four leads and losing 5-4 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Phil Kessel's overtime goal.
Thomas Hickey and Anthony Beauvillier scored 2:32 apart in the second period and the New York Islanders kept up their recent mastery of the Rangers with a 2-1 victory over their crosstown rivals. Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 shots as the Islanders won for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings with the Rangers.
Jared McCann scored with 5:37 left and Roberto Luongo got the win in his 1,000th career game, helping the Florida Panthers stay in contention for the playoffs with a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. The Panthers trail the Philadelphia Flyers by four points for the final Eastern Conference wild card and have two games remaining, including a matchup Sunday night with Boston.
MLB:
Hanley Ramirez hit a bases-loaded fly ball over the drawn-in outfield in right to break a 12th-inning tie and the Boston Red Sox, who rallied from a two-run deficit in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 to win their home opener.
New Red Sox manager Alex Cora wanted his Red Sox home debut to feel like a normal game. That's because the first-time skipper says he feels equipped for the opportunity he's been given in an experience-laden place like Boston. So far he's fulfilling expectations following a 3-2 win in 12 innings over Tampa Bay. Boston has now won six straight games after losing its season opener.
Adam Jones hit a go-ahead home run, Andrew Cashner pitched six strong innings and the Baltimore Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak, beating the New York Yankees 5-2. Jones' third homer of the season was a two-run drive off Masahiro Tanaka in a five-run seventh inning. It came shortly after Aaron Judge had given New York a 1-0 lead in the sixth with a solo drive.
Tim Tebow made his Double-A debut with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Eastern League one to remember, slamming a three-run homer on the first pitch he saw. The New York Mets minor leaguer connected on a frigid night at home for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in the Eastern League, facing Portland.
Michael Conforto came off the disabled list to hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Stephen Strasburg, Yoenis Cespedes also went deep against the ace, and Jay Bruce tacked on an insurance grand slam, leading the New York Mets to a 8-2 victory over Washington in the Nationals' home opener. Jacob deGrom wiggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to finish a six-inning outing with a flourish.
NFL:
The New York Giants have signed cornerback William Gay. The team announced the signing less than a week before the start of organized team activities. A Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick in 2007, he played in all 176 regular-season and 15 postseason games through the end of the 2017 season.
The New York Jets have re-signed tackle Ben Ijalana, who has been a backup with the team. Ijalana has been a versatile offensive lineman since the Jets signed him off waivers from Indianapolis at the start of the 2013 season. He played in only three games from 2013-15, then was needed more in 2016, playing in all 16 games for the first time as a pro and starting 13. The first five starts came at right tackle and the last eight at left tackle.
UFC:
UFC star Conor McGregor has turned himself into police in the wake of a backstage melee he instigated that has forced the removal of three fights off UFC's biggest card of the year. Video footage appears to show the promotion's most bankable star throwing a hand truck at a bus full of fighters after a press conference for UFC 223 at Barclays Center. McGregor was being processed and no charges had been filed as of Thursday night.
WNBA:
A week before Lexie Brown goes to the pros, the pros came to her at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The standout Duke guard got some surprising visitors during a pre-WNBA draft workout: Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. The quarterbacks have come to Duke's campus each spring since 2013 to work with their receivers, and they stopped by Cameron Indoor on Thursday along with some of Eli's New York Giants teammates.
NCAA:
Ohio State University is investigating sexual misconduct allegations against a former wrestling team trainer who died in 2005. The university said today that a person recently came forward to accuse Dr. Richard Strauss of sexual misconduct with multiple victims while he was with the team from the 1970s through the 1990s. The university says the allegations involve student-athletes and other instances of sexual misconduct.
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