NBA PLAYOFFS
Joel Embiid, limping throughout the game and perhaps lucky not to have been ejected for kicking a Nets player in the groin area, blocked a potential tying basket with 8.8 seconds left and the Philadelphia 76ers beat Brooklyn 102-97 to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series. Tyrese Maxey made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 44 seconds left for the 76ers, who can sweep their way into the second round with a victory Saturday in Brooklyn. Mikal Bridges scored 26 points and Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 for the Nets.
James Harden was thrown out for hitting a Brooklyn player in the groin area, after teammate Joel Embiid dodged an ejection for a kick near the same spot of another player Thursday night in Philadelphia’s 102-97 victory in Game 3. Harden was dribbling while defended closely by Royce O’Neale when he swung out his arm and hit O’Neale, who fell to the court in pain. Referees reviewed the play and called Harden for a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection. Two quarters earlier, the 76ers were perhaps lucky the same penalty wasn’t given to Embiid. He was given only a flagrant 1 after kicking his leg up toward Nets center Nic Claxton’s groin.
Stephen Curry scored 36 points, Kevon Looney matched his career high with 20 rebounds to go with nine assists, and Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors got right back in their first-round playoff series by thumping the Sacramento Kings 114-97 to pull to 2-1. As suspended star Draymond Green watched from home, the defending champions dominated without him as they have done so many times before. The fiery forward was suspended without pay for stepping on the chest of Domantas Sabonis in the fourth quarter of Monday’s Game 2 at Golden 1 Center. The Warriors also were without key defensive stopper Gary Payton II after the guard became ill Wednesday.
Devin Booker scored 45 points, Kevin Durant added 28 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Kawhi Leonard-less Los Angeles Clippers 129-124 to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference series. Leonard sat out because of a sprained right knee, the same injury that has sidelined fellow star Paul George since March 21. Leonard was hurt in Game 1, and played through it in Game 2, but afterward his condition didn’t improve. Norman Powell led the Clippers, scoring a career playoff-high 42 points on 15-of-23 shooting. Russell Westbrook added 30 points and 11 assists. Game 4 is Saturday in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile,
The Boston Celtics are at Atlanta tonight at 7
And Cleveland is in New York to play the Knicks at 8:30 p.m.
Denver is at Minnesota at 9:30 p.m.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Chris Kreider scored two power-play goals in a three-goal second period and the New York Rangers stunned the New Jersey Devils 5-1 to a take a 2-0 lead on the road in their first-round playoff series. Patrick Kane added a goal and two assists and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the second straight game as the Rangers had their way with the young Devils. Kaapo Kakko also scored and Adam Fox added two more assists to give him six in two games. Igor Shesterkin had a relatively easy night, making 21 saves. Erik Haula scored for New Jersey.
John Tavares had his first playoff hat trick (and) the Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded from a poor playoff start with a lopsided 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night to even the teams’ first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, William Nylander added a goal and an assist, and Zach Aston-Reese also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves for Toronto after being pulled in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss. Ian Cole and Corey Perry scored for the Lightning.
Devon Toews scored with 7:01 remaining to complete Colorado’s rally from two goals down as the Avalanche beat the Seattle Kraken 3-2 to even their first-round series at a game apiece. Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin scored 48 seconds apart to tie the game. It set the stage for Toews, who knocked in a rebound for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Justin Schultz and Brandon Tanev scored for the Kraken. Alexandar Georgiev was tested all night and finished with 27 saves. Philipp Grubauer stopped 38 shots against his former team.
Mark Stone scored two third-period goals and assisted on another in just his second game since returning from back surgery to give the Vegas Golden Knights (had) a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night to even the first-round series. Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, Jack Eichel scored his first career playoff goal and Phil Kessel and Alex Pietrangelo each had two assists. Laurent Brossoit made 31 saves. Adam Lowry and Kevin Stenlund each scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 34 stops.
Meanwhile,
Carolina is at the N-Y Islanders tonight at 7
Boston is at Florida at 7:30
Dallas at Minnesota 9:30 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles 10 p.m.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Nestor Cortes kept Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout off the bases, Jose Trevino hit a three-run double in a five-run first inning and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-3 to take two of three. Ohtani and Trout each went 0 for 3 against Cortes, a fellow All-Star. Aaron Judge singled to help spark the first-inning rally. Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a pair of diving catches in center and hit a two-run single in a three-run seventh, and Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 3 with a pair of walks, raising his average to .344. New York has won five of its first six series.
Jarren Duran lined a ball off Kenta Maeda’s ankle to knock the Twins starter from the game and hit another one off the Green Monster in Boston's 11-5 victory over Minnesota. Maeda allowed a home run to Alex Verdugo and left after Duran's 111 mph line drive hit his left ankle for the last out of the second inning. Emilio Pagan relieved him and gave up five straight hits as Boston opened a 7-0 lead. Tanner Houck scattered four hits over his first six innings but gave up Willi Castro’s two-run homer in the seventh. Castro also came in to pitch, getting one out.
Pete Alonso hit his major league-leading ninth homer and drove in four runs, Eduardo Escobar added a two-run drive to back a milestone night for rookie pitcher Kodai Senga and the New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4. Jeff McNeil also connected for his first homer of the season and had an RBI single for New York. The Mets are 6-1 on their 10-game road trip. Senga allowed four runs and five hits, struck out four and walked four in five innings to become the second pitcher in franchise history to begin his career 3-0. Blake Sabol and LaMonte Wade Jr. homered for San Francisco.
Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Cincinnati Reds 4-3. Joe hit a three-run blast to center field off Luke Weaver to open the scoring. Suwinski followed with a shot into the right-field stands to put the Pirates ahead 4-0. That was all the runs the Pirates needed as they won for the 12th time in 17 games since losing two of three games to the Reds in Cincinnati to open the season. Roansy Contreras took a shutout into the seventh inning before the Reds broke their streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings.
Ryan Feltner tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, C.J. Cron homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Justin Lawrence struck out four in 2 1/3 strong relief innings and Pierce Johnson tossed a scoreless ninth to complete the shutout. Mike Moustakas had an RBI double for the Rockies, who rebounded from getting shelled in a three-game sweep by the Pirates at home in which Pittsburgh outscored the Rockies 33-9 while accumulating 43 hits. The Rockies had no such trouble against the defending National League champs. Trea Turner doubled for the Phillies, who had six hits.
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday following his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand during a game. Scherzer initially appealed the suspension but dropped his appeal hours later. In exchange, his fine was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000, according to a person familiar with negotiations between MLB and the players’ union. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced. Scherzer was ejected on Wednesday during the fourth inning of a game at Dodger Stadium. He claimed the stickiness was caused by rosin and sweat and not by a foreign substance.
Trent Grisham had two doubles and four RBIs, Xander Bogaerts added a two-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-5 in Fernando Tatis Jr.’s return from a PED suspension. Tatis was 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in his first regular-season game since 2021. He batted leadoff and played right field. His highlight came on defense in the eighth, when he sprinted back and to his left before snagging a line drive and robbing Josh Rojas of an extra-base hit. The 24-year-old Tatis missed all of last season first because of a broken left wrist and then an 80-game PED suspension.
The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a new retractable roof ballpark in Las Vegas after being unable to build a new venue in the Bay Area. Team president Dave Kaval said Wednesday night that the team finalized the deal to buy the 49-acre site last week where the A’s will plan to build the stadium that will seat between 30,000 and 35,000 fans close to the Las Vegas Strip. The A’s will work with Nevada and Clark County on a public-private partnership to fund the stadium. Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground on the stadium by next year and would look to hope to be able move into their new home by 2027.
Many Oakland fans already were heartbroken about the state of their struggling team. The crowds have been small and the baseball has been bad. In the offseason, fans watch the team trade away top players or watch them walk in free agency year after year. Now, the greatest disappointment yet. The A’s are leaving for Las Vegas. Longtime fan Ryan Thibodaux says he's “more saddened than I thought I would be.” Jason Bressler says he was at Game 4 of the 1989 World Series and that the impending move feels like ”a big piece of my childhood is going with them."
LPGA TOUR
Peiyun Chien shot a 5-under 67 on a rainy Thursday in the transplanted Chevron Championship to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year. Unable to find a sponsor willing to add to the half-century run at Mission Hills, the tournament bolted the California desert for the woods of suburban Houston. The 32-year-old Chien, who is from Taiwan, had six birdies — including four in a five-hole span on Nos. 4-8 — at The Club at Carlton Woods. Second-ranked Nelly Korda was among six players and three Americans tied for second at 68. Korda is fully healthy after missing four months and a lot of momentum last year with a blood clot in her arm that required surgery.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
Transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male would be barred from competing on girls or women’s sports teams at federally supported schools and colleges under legislation pushed through by House Republicans on Thursday. It's the latest sign of the newly empowered GOP checking off a high-profile item on their social agenda. The legislation is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. Supporters say their effort is designed to protect fair competition in sports. Democrats criticized the push as targeting a vulnerable group of young people for political gain.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
A women’s soccer team from Mariupol rose from the ashes last year in August when a new season started. After their city was devastated and captured by Russian forces, they formed a new team in Kyiv. With five of the original players from Mariupol, they recruited new members from across the country. Despite significant challenges, including a shortage of funding, the team decided to take a risk and continue to compete in the top league. Their goal? Not only to keep their place in the league but also to remind everyone that despite the occupation that will soon hit the one-year mark, Mariupol remains a Ukrainian city.
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