NBA
The Miami Heat were 0.1 seconds away from a trip to the NBA Finals. Thanks to Derrick White, the Boston Celtics are 48 minutes from becoming the first team in NBA playoffs history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. A total of 150 teams have failed, with only three other teams in that position even forcing a Game 7. But none of those three teams had the deciding game on their home floor. The Celtics are 27-9 in Game 7s and have won their last four. The Heat are 6-5 all-time in Game 7s, losing their last two. Miami is 0-2 when facing such a game on the road. Game 7 is tonight at 8:30 in Boston.
ESPN reports that the NBA has opened an investigation into longtime referee Eric Lewis involving a Twitter account that responded to numerous posts on league officiating, also defending Lewis and other NBA referees. League rules dictate that referees cannot publicly comment on officiating without permission. If it is proven that Lewis was making those statements, he could face disciplinary action.
MLB
Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a game-ending single with one out in the 10th inning as the New York Yankees beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 (in ten innings). After Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge hit into double plays in the eighth and ninth, the Yankees got their fifth walk-off win when Kiner-Falefa sent Nick Martinez’s 2-0 pitch down the line just past the glove of third baseman Rougned Odor to score Greg Allen. DJ LeMahieu homered off Padres starter Michael Wacha to tie it in the seventh as the Yankees avoided a fourth straight loss.
Ryan McMahon homered for the third straight game and drove in five runs, Charlie Blackmon also went deep and the Colorado Rockies outslugged the New York Mets 11-10. McMahon had a three-run double in a four-run fourth inning against Tylor Megill and hit a 437-foot, two-run homer to center field off Stephen Nogosek (0-1) an inning later when the Rockies scored five more times. Colorado erased a 6-2 deficit to take two of three in the series and complete a 5-2 homestand. Francisco Alvarez hit a three-run homer in six-run fourth, Francisco Lindor hit a solo shot and Tommy Pham drove in four for the Mets.
Merrill Kelly struck out 10, Corbin Carroll hit a two-run homer and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2. Carroll hit a two-run homer off Tanner Houck in the first inning and Geraldo Perdomo added a solo shot in the second to stake Kelly to a 4-0 lead. Kelly allowed a run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. Justin Turner hit a solo homer in the eighth for Boston.
Ronald Acuña Jr. drove in three runs with four hits, including a two-run single in Atlanta’s seven-run first inning, and the Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-4 to split the four-game series. Matt Olson hit a pair of two- run homers for Atlanta. Acuña added a run-scoring triple in the fifth before Olson’s second homer to center. Acuña had two singles in the first when the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate and took a 7-0 lead. Spencer Strider recorded nine strikeouts and became the fastest pitcher in modern history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season.
Liam Hendriks is ready to rejoin the Chicago White Sox after recovering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The White Sox posted a video on Twitter welcoming Hendriks back to the team and the eccentric closer confirmed his return in an Instagram post that read “See you soon Southside,” along with Monday’s date. The 34-year-old Hendriks had no record and a 10.80 ERA in six rehab appearances with Triple-A Charlotte. The Australian right-hander allowed one run and one hit in one inning in his last game with the Knights on May 16.
NHL
The Western Conference Final isn't over yet, and suddenly feels much different. The Dallas Stars are back home for Game 6 tonight at 8 after staving off elimination two games in a row since the Vegas Golden Knights won the first three games in the series. Jason Robertson has five goals in this series for the Stars, and Jake Oettinger has stopped 64 of 68 shots since getting pulled early from Game 3, when he allowed three goals on five shots in just more than seven minutes. The Stars also get captain Jamie Benn back from his two-game suspension.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
NaLyssa Smith scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help the Indiana Fever end a WNBA record-tying 20-game losing streak with a 90-87 win over the Atlanta Dream. The Fever had lost 20 in a row dating back to last season to tie the Tulsa Shock for the most consecutive losses all-time. Indiana lost its final 18 games last season before dropping its first two this year. After an Indiana miss, Alyssa Gray took the long rebound quickly downcourt and drove on Kelsey Mitchell. A foul was called but Fever coach Christie Sides challenged it. After a review, officials determined there wasn’t enough contact to warrant a foul.
Marina Mabrey had season highs with 23 points and eight assists, Alanna Smith had her first career double-double and the Chicago Sky beat the Dallas Wings 94-88. Smith scored six of her 14 points in the final two-plus minutes and finished with 12 rebounds and six assists — both career highs. Kahleah Copper scored 16 points, Dana Evans 14 and Courtney Williams had 12 with 11 rebounds and five assists for Chicago. Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points and Satou Sabally had 24 points and eights rebounds for Dallas. Natasha Howard added 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and Dangerfield finished with 11 points and five assists.
Jackie Young scored 23 points, including four 3-pointers, Chelsea Gray added 19 points and 10 assists and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Minnesota Lynx 94-73. The Aces tied the franchise record for consecutive wins to open a season with four. The organization, which started as the Utah Starzz (1999-2005) before moving to San Antonio (2006-17) and finally relocating to Las Vegas in 2018, also won first four games of the 2011 season. Minnesota has lost its first four games in each of the last three seasons. A’ja Wilson scored 21 points for the Aces. Napheesa Collier had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota and Diamond Miller, picked No. 2 overall in the 2023 WNBA draft, scored a season-high 14 points.
FRENCH OPEN
Aryna Sabalenka initially thought the boos and derisive whistles coming from the French Open crowd were directed at her after a first-round victory. Instead, the negative reaction was aimed at her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, for not participating in the usual postmatch handshake at the net. Kostyuk, who is from Ukraine, avoided so much as any eye contact with Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, after the match, instead walking directly over to acknowledge the chair umpire. It’s something Kostyuk has been doing whenever she has faced any opponent from Russia or Belarus since her country was invaded by Russia, with help from Belarus, in February 2022. Sabalenka won 6-3, 6-2.
PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER
Seven years after the most improbable Premier League title triumph of all Leicester has been relegated from English soccer’s top division. Everton staged another last-day escape act to extend its 69-year stay in the top flight and Leeds was also consigned to the drop as the league season reached its conclusion. Bottom-place Southampton had already been relegated. Everton’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth meant Leicester’s 2-1 victory against West Ham was ultimately meaningless. Leeds’ miserable campaign ended in a 4-1 loss at home against Tottenham.
COCA-COLA 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway has announced the Coca-Cola 600 has been postponed until today due to wet weather. The Cup Series race will begin at 3 p.m. ET. NASCAR has moved the Xfinity Series up to an 11 a.m. start. The Xfinity Series race had been scheduled to run Saturday but was also postponed. Cup Series points leader William Byron will start on the pole for the Cup Series race after qualifying was rained out Saturday night. It marks the first time the race has been moved to Memorial Day due to weather since 2009.
INDIANAPOLIS 500
The four cars from Arrow McLaren were among the favorites to win the Indianapolis 500, and Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O'Ward were near the front with 20 laps to go. Rosenqvist crashed three laps later, O'Ward on the restart, and the team's best chances to win the Borg-Warner Trophy were suddenly out of the race. Alexander Rossi wound up finishing fifth for the team, which was trying to win the Indy 500 for the first time since Johnny Rutherford carried its colors in 1976. Tony Kanaan came home 16th in what he said will be his
Josef Newgarden won his first Indianapolis 500 with an audacious pass of defending race winner Marcus Ericsson in a 2.5-mile sprint to the finish. Newgarden gave team owner Roger Penske his 19th win and first since buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race had been red-flagged for the third time in the closing laps, setting up a one-lap race to the end. The two-time IndyCar champion slingshotted around Ericsson and held him off the rest of the way. They were followed by Santino Ferrucci, who gave 88-year-old A.J. Foyt his team’s best finish since Kenny Bräck won it in 1999.
FORMULA ONE
Fernando Alonso has five podiums in six races in a remarkable season for Aston Martin yet still feels he’s no closer to catching Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The two-time Formula One champions now head to a race with special significance for both of them. Next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix is where Verstappen won his first race as an 18-year-old on his Red Bull debut in 2016. It’s also where Alonso last won a race in 2013 so it would be the perfect place for the 41-year-old Spaniard to end his winless run. But he's realistic and says that Red Bull looks “untouchable” after winning every race so far this season.
SURFING
A prominent Hawaiian waterman wants to build another Hawaii wave pool facility using the latest technology to simulate the ideal conditions top-notch surfers need to stay competitive. But some people, including fellow Hawaiians, want to stop the project. They say another wave pool is a waste of water and pointless in Hawaii, the birthplace of surfing where a good break is often just minutes away. A lawsuit filed in state environmental court by a group of Hawaiians and residents near the proposed site not far from a popular surfing beach alleges the project will cause damage to nearshore limu, or seaweed, and desecrate iwi kupuna, or ancient Hawaiian remains.
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