NBA PLAYOFFS
Trae Young had 38 points and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key with 2.8 seconds left to help the Atlanta Hawks cap a late comeback and beat the Boston Celtics 119-117 last night. The victory trims Boston’s lead in the first-round playoff series to 3-2 the teams will head back to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday. John Collins added 22 points for Atlanta, who played without Dejounte Murray, who was suspended for one game for bumping official Gediminas Petraitis with his chest while walking off the court after the end of Game 4. Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Jayson Tatum added 19 for the Celtics, who were outscored 37-25 in the fourth quarter.
The top-seeded Denver Nuggets eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 112-109 win in Game 5 of their playoff series at Ball Arena last night. The Nuggets got a triple-double from Nikola Jokic and 35 points from Jamal Murray to hand Michael Malone his 25th playoff win as Denver's head coach. That surpasses the 24 wins Doug Moe won in the playoffs with the Nuggets. The Wolves were led by Anthony Edwards' 29 points, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime hit the back of the iron.
Devin Booker scored 47 points, including 25 in a spectacular third quarter, to lead the Phoenix Suns past the Los Angeles Clippers 136-130 and win the Western Conference first-round playoff series. The Clippers didn’t go quietly, nearly coming back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth. Los Angeles had multiple chances to tie in the final three minutes, but could never convert. Durant made a layup to push Phoenix’s lead to 134-130 and then made two free throws to put the Suns up six with 31.3 seconds left. The Suns play the Denver Nuggets in the second round. Game 1 is on Saturday in Denver.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping there’s truly no place like home. The teams that earned home-court advantage risk having their seasons end Wednesday night on their home floors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Only Sacramento is guaranteed of playing on among the four Game 5s on tap Wednesday night. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said they just have to go home and win a game. The Bucks are trying to avoid becoming the fourth No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs since 1984 to go out in Round 1. Memphis will lean on the NBA's best home record to stay alive against LeBron James and the Lakers.
Meanwhile, The New York Knicks are at Cleveland in Game 5 tonight at 7.
L.A. Lakers at Memphis 7:30 p.m.
Miami at Milwaukee 9:30 p.m.
Golden State at Sacramento 10 p.m.
NHL PLAYOFFS
On the ice, Brock Nelson scored by knocking in an airborne puck that had bounced off the face of Carolina’s Sebastian Aho as the New York Islanders beat the Hurricanes 3-2 last night and extended their first-round playoff series. The Islanders trailed 3-1 in the best-of-seven series before staving off elimination. They scored the first two goals and never trailed. Pierre Engvall and Mathew Barzal each scored off Carolina miscues. Ilya Sorokin had 34 saves. Aho and Paul Stastny scored for Carolina, which had a first-period goal waved off by a successful offsides challenge. Game 6 is Friday in New York.
Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson both had a power-play goal and an assist, Roope Hintz had three assists for the second game in a row and the Dallas Stars topped the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in Game 5 last night. Jake Oettinger had 27 saves in his second career playoff shutout, and first by any goalie in this year's playoffs. Seguin’s fourth power-play goal of the series came only 2:22 into the game, only eight seconds after Wild forward Marcus Foligno’s five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for a knee-on-knee hit on Radek Faksa. The Stars will try to wrap up the series Friday night with Game 6 in Minnesota.
Nick Bjugstad scored twice as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 last night to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series. The Oilers are a win away from advancing to the second round. Game 6 is Saturday in Los Angeles. Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, Zach Hyman and Brett Kulak also scored for Edmonton. Connor McDavid and defensemen Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse had two assists apiece. Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for Edmonton. Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo was pulled for Pheonix Copley in the second period after Edmonton’s fourth goal. Korpisalo stopped 15 of 19 shots before giving way to Copley, who had six saves. Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo scored for the Kings.
Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes and Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers are giving new meaning to the word “faceoff.” Both players were hit in the face by a puck on Tuesday night, and each played an indirect role in goals. The puck that hit Aho was swatted out of the air by New York's Brock Nelson in an eventual 3-2 Islanders win over the Hurricanes. Hyman had a slap shot by teammate Evan Bouchard hit him in the face and ricochet past Los Angeles Kings goalie Pheonix Copley for a score in Game 5 of that series.
Colorado Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar has been suspended one game by the NHL for his hit on Seattle’s Jared McCann in the first period of Game 4. Makar was last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP. He will be a spectator for Game 5 on Wednesday night with the series tied 2-2. The NHL announced the suspension after a hearing with Makar. Seattle coach Dave Hakstol says McCann would miss Game 5 and likely be out longer. He did not specify McCann’s injury.
Meanwhile,
Florida is in Boston for game 5 tonight at 7.
Seattle at Colorado 9:30 p.m.
MLB
Jarren Duran hit a grand slam in the third and the Boston Red Sox withstood a five-run ninth inning by Baltimore, holding on for an 8-6 win that snapped the Orioles’ seven-game winning streak. Boston led 8-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth before the Orioles rallied with a leadoff homer by Gunnar Henderson and a one-out grand slam by Cedric Mullins. Kenley Jansen came on and retired the final two hitters for his sixth save. Corey Kluber won for the first time in 10 starts.
Joe Ryan became the first five-game winner in the major leagues this season, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach hit two-run homers in the sixth inning and the Minnesota Twins beat New York 6-2 to clinch their first season series against the Yankees since 2001. Ryan joined Jerry Koosman in 1979 as the only Twins pitchers to win their first five starts since the franchise moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season. Minnesota and New York each had eight hits but the Twins had seven extra-base hits. New York has lost three straight for the first time this season.
Josiah Gray pitched six overpowering innings and batterymate Keibert Ruiz homered to help the Washington Nationals beat the listless New York Mets 5-0. Luis García had a two-run double and Joey Meneses added a pair of RBI singles among his three hits. Ruiz also finished with three hits as the rebuilding Nationals won the first meeting this season between the NL East foes. Gray struck out nine and walked one while allowing four hits in a return close to home. The right-hander grew up in New Rochelle, just north of New York City. Ruiz’s solo homer off José Butto in the second marked the first run Washington scored with Gray on the mound this season.
Chris Taylor hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the eighth inning to help the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome a five-run deficit and rally to an 8-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Taylor took a sinker from Colin Holderman (0-1) deep to left for his fifth homer of the season. He singled his previous two at-bats and reached on an error in the second. Yency Almonte (2-0) struck out two in a scoreless seventh for the win and Shelby Miller sent the side down in order in the ninth for his first save in the majors. It ended the Pirates’ seven-game winning streak, their longest since an 11-game run in 2018.
Jarred Kelenic hit a solo home run, double and single, Teoscar Hernández also went deep and the Seattle Mariners opened a nine-game road trip with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Jose Caballero and J.P. Crawford also drove in runs for the Mariners. Edmundo Sosa homered for the defending NL champion Phillies, who had won three in a row and were trying to reach .500 for the first time this season.
Luis Garcia scattered three hits over six innings and the Houston Astros ended the Tampa Bay Rays' 14-game season-opening home winning streak, 5-0. Only three teams had a longer run than the Rays, who are 20-4 overall. The 1880 Chicago White Stockings, who became the Cubs, hold the MLB record for the longest season-opening home streak with 21. The 1886 Detroit Wolverines had an 18-game stretch, while the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association won 16 in a row, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The announced crowd for the game between the MLB-best Rays and the defending World Series champion Astros at Tropicana Field was just 9,916.
NFL
The Jets' deal to acquire Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers is a franchise-altering move that brings the four-time NFL MVP to a team that has the league’s longest postseason drought at 12 years. General manager Joe Douglas called it an “honor” to have a player of Rodgers’ caliber to want to play for the franchise and credited the culture coach Robert Saleh has cultivated during his two-plus seasons with the team. Rogers is expected to be introduced by the Jets this afternoon at 2.
Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich says he and general manager Scott Fitterer have reached an agreement on which quarterback the team will take with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. But Reich says the team won’t say who that is until Thursday night, when the draft begins. The Panthers are choosing between Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson in an effort to upgrade a quarterback position that has been in transition for the last five seasons. Fitterer said last week he had waited to ask Reich who he preferred at No. 1 so that nothing would cloud either decision maker’s judgement.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING
Eight new members of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs will be inducted in August. The 2023 class announced Tuesday includes jockey Corey Nakatani and horses Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird. Also being inducted via the Historic Review Committee is jockey Fernando Toro, and Pillars of the Turf selections John Hanes II, Leonard Jerome, and Stella Thayer. Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird were elected in their first year on the ballot. The induction ceremony is August 4th.
OLYMPICS
European lawmakers have urged the International Olympic Committee to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games because of the war in Ukraine. Lawmakers at the 46-nation Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe say it's preferable to the IOC continuing to seek ways to let individual athletes from the two countries compete as neutrals in international sport. A PACE committee hearing in Strasbourg, France, will help draft a future report on the question of barring athletes and officials from the Olympic movement because of the military invasion of Ukraine.
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