NBA PLAYOFFS:
Al Horford and Jayson Tatum scored 30 points each and led the Boston Celtics’ fourth-quarter comeback in a 116-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that tied their Eastern Conference semifinal at two games apiece.
The best-of-seven series continues Wednesday with Game 5 in Boston. Horford scored 16 points and Tatum 12 in the fourth quarter alone to help the Celtics outscore the defending NBA champion Bucks 43-28 in the final period. Horford’s 30 points were a career playoff high for the 35-year-old veteran.
In other NBA action:
Stephen Curry converted eight free throws over the final 45.7 seconds on the way to 32 points, leading the Golden State Warriors’ fourth-quarter comeback for a 101-98 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies and a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. Curry also dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds as Golden State rallied to win without coach Steve Kerr after he tested positive for COVID-19 less than two hours before tipoff. Tyus Jones had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as Memphis missed injured All-Star Ja Morant.
Monty Williams now has the honor that his Phoenix Suns players have been clamoring that he receive for two years: NBA’s Coach of the Year. Good luck getting him to take credit.
The 50-year-old Williams won the award on Monday after leading the Suns to a franchise-record 64 wins during the regular season. They were NBA’s best team by far, finishing with eight more wins than any other team. Williams joins Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988-89) and Mike D’Antoni (2004-05) as coaches who have won the award with the Suns.
Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins was second with 17 first-place votes and 270 points. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Boston’s Ime Udoka also received a first-place vote.
In other NBA news:
A person familiar with the decision says Denver’s Nikola Jokic has won his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, after a season in which he finished with numbers never before seen in league history. The NBA was preparing to make the announcement official in the coming days, likely this week, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams says the NBA should consider having a special section in the stands reserved for the families of visiting teams in the wake of Chris Paul’s family being harassed during a playoff game in Dallas. The incident happened Sunday during Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Dallas Mavericks and Suns. The Mavericks said the fan was ejected.
The Sacramento Kings have officially announced the hiring of Mike Brown as their new head coach with hopes he can end the NBA’s longest playoff drought ever. General manager Monte McNair says Brown was picked to replace interim coach Alvin Gentry.
Former Michigan State basketball standout and NBA player Adreian Payne has died in a shooting in Orange County, Florida. He was 31. A suspect has been charged., Payne played with the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic over four seasons.
NHL PLAYOFFS:
Sam Reinhart tied it late in regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored his second of the game in overtime and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 4 to tie the first-round series.
Verhaeghe scored 4:57 into overtime to keep the NHL’s best regular-season team from getting pushed to the brink of elimination much earlier in the playoffs than expected. It’s a best-of-three series now with Game 5 Wednesday night at Florida. The Panthers were just over two minutes away from facing the prospect of getting knocked out at home before Reinhart scored with 2:04 left in the third period.
In other Monday NHL playoff action:
Valeri Nichushkin scored the game-winning goal with 7:58 left, and the Colorado Avalanche became the first team to advance to the second round by finishing a sweep of the Nashville Predators 5-3. The Avalanche now are in the Western Conference semifinals for a fourth straight season and second consecutive after sweeping their first-round opponent. They now get to wait for either St. Louis or Minnesota to wrap up. Nashville was swept for the first time in franchise history in its 15th playoff appearance. Filip Forsberg gave Nashville its first lead of this series at 3:58 of the third.
Rasmus Andersson scored Calgary’s first power-play goal since early in the playoff opener, Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves and the Flames beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 4 to even their first-round series. Johnny Gaudreau converted a penalty shot with 12:13 left to make it 2-0 Calgary. He later assisted on Elias Lindholm’s third goal of the series as the Pacific Division champions regained home-ice advantage over the wild-card Stars. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Calgary. Tyler Seguin scored on a power play for Dallas.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to become the sixth player in NHL history to reach 200 career playoff points and the Pittsburgh Penguins throttled the New York Rangers 7-2 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The New York Islanders have fired coach Barry Trotz after missing the playoffs in his fourth season with the team. General manager Lou Lamoriello made the surprising announcement more than a week after the regular season ended. Trotz coached the Islanders to playoff appearances in each of his first three years with them.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
The San Jose Sharks have locked up two of their potential free agents early in the offseason, agreeing to two-year deals with forward Alexander Barabanov and defenseman Jaycob Megna. Barabanov’s deal is worth a reported $5 million over two years and Megna’s is worth a reported $1.625 million.
MLB:
Nestor Cortes took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before Eli White singled, and Anthony Rizzo doubled in a run in the bottom half to lift the New York Yankees over the Texas Rangers 1-0 for their sixth straight series win.
A 27-year-old left-hander making his 22nd big league start and sixth this season, Cortes pitched a career-high 7 1/3 innings, walked four and struck out 11. White, the Rangers’ No. 9 batter lofted a 1-2 fastball into short center field for a clean hit on Cortes’ final pitch.
In other MLB action:
Carlos Rodón matched his season high with 12 strikeouts in six innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5. Mauricio Dubón had three hits, including his second homer in three days, and drove in three runs as the Giants won their eighth straight against the Rockies dating to last season. Austin Slater added a pair of singles. Yonathan Daza had two RBIs for Colorado. Connor Joe and José Iglesias each got three hits. The Rockies have lost three of four.
Shohei Ohtani hit his first grand slam in professional baseball on a two-homer night, and the surging Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-3. The AL MVP hit two homers in a game for the second time this season and eighth in the majors. Ohtani had a solo shot in the sixth inning off Jalen Beeks. In the seventh, he connected on a 3-1 cutter from Calvin Faucher and sent it over the wall in left field for the Angels’ third grand slam this season. Mike Trout and Jared Walsh also went deep and drove in three runs each for the Angels, who have won five of six.
Josh Naylor hit a tying grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning and a three-run homer in the 11th, powering a huge comeback that carried the Cleveland Guardians to a wild 12-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Naylor also had a run-scoring double in the eighth and finished with eight RBIs for the Guardians, who stunned Chicago by rallying from an 8-2 deficit in the ninth aided by two White Sox errors. Andrés Giménez led off the inning with a homer and then doubled home a run in the 10th as the Guardians snapped Chicago’s six-game winning streak. They have won eight of 10 following a seven-game skid.
Kyle Hendricks came within one out of three-hit shutout for the Chicago Cubs, who beat the listless San Diego Padres 6-0 to snap a season-high five-game losing streak. Manager David Ross came out to get Hendricks after he got Jurickson Profar to fly out to left on his 116th pitch. Hendricks struck out rookie José Azocar to open the ninth and walked Jake Cronenworth on six pitches before going to a full count against Profar. Scott Effros came on and retired Manny Machado. Hendricks (2-3) didn’t allow a runner to reach scoring position as he continued his mastery of the Padres.
Jean Segura and Rhys Hoskins hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning, Ranger Suárez tossed six strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Seattle Mariners 9-0. Segura’s fourth homer of the season was a line drive out to left-center field against the team he played for in 2017 and 2018. Hoskins followed by golfing a shot down the left-field line off starter Chris Flexen for his third long ball. The Phillies had dropped five of six before opening their West Coast swing with a victory on their first visit to Seattle since 2017. Philadelphia had a season-high 17 hits.
Ketel Marte hit a go-ahead solo homer, Daulton Varsho and Christian Walker each added two hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks kept rolling with a 4-3 win over the slumping Miami Marlins. The Diamondbacks have won six of seven. The Marlins have dropped eight of nine and lead the majors in one-run losses with 10. Marte broke a 3-all tie in the sixth when he smashed a 438-foot homer into the right-center seats. It’s been a tough start to the season for the 2019 All-Star, who came into the game hitting just .206 after signing a $76 million, five-year deal during spring training that will keep him with the team through 2027.
Jose Quintana pitched six scoreless innings for his first win since 2019 and the first victory by a Pittsburgh starting pitcher this season as the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1. The Pirates also ended a 16-game losing streak against the Dodgers dating to 2018 and snapped Los Angeles’ six-game winning streak. Quintana allowed four hits and four walks while striking out five.
Paul Blackburn threw 6 2/3 strong innings to improve to 4-0 as the Oakland A’s beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Monday night to snap a season-high nine-game losing streak.
Tyler Wells pitched six strong innings to earn his first victory of the season and the Baltimore Orioles used a six-run fifth inning Monday afternoon to surge past the Kansas City Royals 6-1. Baltimore has won four of five for the first time this season and finished its homestand 6-4.
Colin Moran homered in his third straight at-bat, Brandon Drury and Kyle Farmer each hit a three-run homer, and the Cincinnati Reds won two straight games for the first time this season, rallying past the Milwaukee Brewers 10-5.
Major League Baseball plans to play regular-season games in London in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox split two games at London’s Olympic Stadium in June 2019. The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were scheduled to play there in June 2020, but those games were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Cardinals and Cubs are the leading candidates to play in London next year.
MLB plans to hold a Home Run Derby at London’s Crystal Palace Park on July 9 this year.
Elsewhere in the majors:
The Reds placed infielder Mike Moustakas on the injured list without designation, the latest Cincinnati player apparently sidelined by COVID-19 issues on the last-place club. Moustakas became the 14th player on the Reds’ injured list. First baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Jonathan India are also out for COVID-19-related reasons.
NFL:
The New York Giants have released veteran cornerback James Bradberry. A starter for the team the past two seasons, including making the Pro Bowl in 2020, Bradberry would have been a $21.9 million cap hit, so cutting him Monday will save about $10 million.
Elsewhere in the league:
Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who had cancer and made a full recovery, has been selected as the 2022 George Halas Award recipient by the Professional Football Writers of America. The Halas Award is given to an NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes adversity to succeed.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay will auction off a favorite guitar from Kurt Cobain to help support the team’s mental health initiative. Cobin used the Fender Mustang electric guitar in Nirvana’s music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Irsay has offered $2 million to keep the item.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services is suing retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre, three former pro wrestlers and several other people and businesses to try to recover millions of misspent welfare dollars that were intended to help some of the poorest people in the nation. The lawsuit says the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million.
NCAA:
College sports leaders are trying to send a warning to schools and boosters when it comes to paying athletes for endorsement and sponsorship deals: There are still rules and they will be enforced.
The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors has approved guidance clarifying the types of payments and booster involvement that could be considered recruiting violations. It is not clear whether the NCAA will clamp down on boosters offering money to recruits or whether it will be taken to court over it.
NEW ERA CAP:
The head of the company that makes baseball caps for the country’s biggest sports leagues was arraigned on a felony charge in Buffalo, New York.
The CEO of New Era Cap, Christopher Koch, was charged with reckless endangerment. Prosecutors say he drove his vehicle toward his girlfriend’s ex-husband during an argument over the weekend.
OBIT:
The Alabama promoter who helped found the bass fishing industry has died.
A longtime aide says Ray Scott died late Sunday of natural causes. He was 88. Scott founded the first professional bass fishing tournament in the late 1960s. Scott became a fishing buddy to presidents while also popularizing the practice of catching and releasing fish, now a standard practice for anglers.
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