NBA PLAYOFFS
Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Philadelphia 76ers 121-87, spoiling the return of reigning league MVP Joel Embiid. The Celtics tied the series at one game apiece as the Eastern Conference semifinals series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 tomorrow night at 7:30. Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points, connecting on six of Boston’s 20 3-pointers. Derrick White and Marcus Smart added 15 points apiece. Jayson Tatum played most of the game in foul trouble and was held to seven points. Boston ratcheted up its defense and limited a 76ers team that hit 17 3-pointers in its Game 1 win to just 6 of 30 from beyond the arc on Wednesday.
Joel Embiid finally said that winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award has been a dream ever since he belatedly started playing basketball. Embiid says the award validates all the work that he's put into learning the sport after belatedly taking it up at the age of 15. Embiid missed Game 1 of Philadelphia’s second-round series against Boston and is officially listed as doubtful with a sprained knee for Game 2. Embiid said “it’s a possibility” he would play on Wednesday night. He did some light shooting with the team in the morning.
Meanwhile, the L.A. Lakers are at Golden State for game 2 tonight at 9.
NHL PLAYOFFS
The Carolina Hurricanes got goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis alongside a suffocating defensive performance in the opening period to jump quickly on the New Jersey Devils for a 5-1 win last night to open their second-round playoff series. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brady Skeji and Jesper Fast added scores for the Hurricanes. Carolina allowed just one shot on goal in the opening period. Frederik Andersen finished with 18 saves for Carolina. Nathan Bastian scored the Devils' lone goal. Devils netminder Akira Schmid lasted just a few minutes into the second period after giving up three goals for New Jersey. Game 2 is tomorrow night at 8.
Ivan Barbashev scored two goals and the Golden Knights overcame Leon Draisaitl’s four goals to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-4 in Game 1 of the second-round series. It was the second night in a row a team had won despite allowing an opposing player to score four goals. In addition to Barbashev, the Knights also received goals from Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, Mark Stone and Jack Eichel. Eichel and Stone also each had an assist. Zach Whitecloud had two assists. Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Zach Lyman and Connor McDavid each had two assists for the Oilers. Game 2 is Saturday night at 7.
Meanwhile, Florida is at Toronto tonight at 7 for game 2.
Seattle is at Dallas tonight for game 2 at 9:30.
MLB
Willie Calhoun hit a tying single in the ninth inning and pinch-hitter Jose Trevino came through with a game-ending single in the 10th, giving the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians as two more New York players got hurt. Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader, back from the injured list just a day earlier, left after a ninth-inning collision with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Oswald Peraza limped off after hurting an ankle as a pinch runner. Calhoun and Jake Bauers homered in the fifth off Shane Bieber as the Yankees erased an early 2-0 deficit.
Enmanuel Valdez, Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida each drove in two runs and the Boston Red Sox extended their winning streak to five games with an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Nick Pivetta went six innings and gave up three runs, including solo home runs by Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. whose shot in the third cleared the Green Monster and left Fenway Park. Alek Manoah allowed five runs, including two earned, and eight hits in five innings.
Eric Haase homered in both games of a doubleheader, driving in six runs, and the Detroit Tigers tagged Max Scherzer in his return from a suspension to sweep the New York Mets with an 8-1 victory. Haase had five RBIs in the first game, including a go-ahead single in the eighth inning of a 6-5 comeback win, and then added one of Detroit’s two homers off Scherzer in the nightcap. The slumping Mets have lost eight of 10. They were playing their second consecutive doubleheader in three days after getting rained out three times since Saturday. New York had gone 25 doubleheaders without getting swept, since Washington took both games from the visiting Mets on Sept. 26, 2020. That was the second-longest such streak of the expansion era.
New York Mets ace Max Scherzer struggled in his return from a suspension Wednesday night, allowing six runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers during the second game of a doubleheader. Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on April 20 after getting ejected for having a foreign substance on his pitching hand during his April 19 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was facing the Tigers for the third time since leaving the team after the 2014 season. He gave up home runs to Eric Haase and Matt Vierling before getting lifted in the fourth. The right-hander received a drama-free check for sticky substances by first base umpire Adam Beck after the second inning.
Drafted out of Siena College in the 26th round in 2019, Brendan White was called up to the Tigers yesterday. White served as an extra bullpen arm in a doubleheader. He was returned to Triple-A Toledo afterwards without making an appearance. This was the righty’s first big league call-up.
Max Muncy hit a game-ending grand slam and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 10-6, extending their winning streak to a season-high six games. Bryce Harper doubled to start a four-run third inning and reached base five times in his second game of the season for the Phillies, who lost their fourth straight. Los Angeles swept the three-game series, outscoring the defending NL champions 36-11 and reaching double digits in every game. Pinch-hitter Austin Barnes gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead with a two-run single in the eighth, but Philadelphia tied it in the ninth on Bryson Stott's RBI single. Muncy connected off Craig Kimbrel for his major league-leading 12th home run.
Shane McClanahan became baseball’s first six-game winner and the Tampa Bay Rays routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1. In a matchup of small-budget teams off to big starts, the major league-best Rays topped the NL Central-leading Pirates for the second consecutive day. McClanahan gave up one run on five hits over six innings, striking out nine and lowering his ERA to 2.03. Josh Lowe and Wander Franco homered off Pittsburgh relievers as the Rays improved to 25-6. Since 1961, only the World Series-winning 1984 Detroit Tigers, at 26-5, had more wins through 31 games. Tampa Bay has outscored its opponents 207-94. The Rays lead the majors with 64 home runs. Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the fourth.
Brittney Griner balanced the start of the Phoenix Mercury's training camp with consecutive trips to the East Coast. The WNBA star attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, returned to the Arizona desert for basketball practice, then went to New York for the Met Gala. The added exposure Griner has gotten since being detained for nearly 10 months in Russia has given her a larger platform for activism. Griner will continue to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and has teamed with an organization to help bring home Americans still being detained abroad.
NFL
Aaron Rodgers was sitting alone in the dark two months ago and pondering his future while many speculated about his next move. Now, the New York Jets quarterback is the toast of his new town, bonding with the Big Apple and his excited teammates. The four-time NFL MVP has been participating in voluntary practices this week. Rodgers has also been to Madison Square Garden three times since joining the Jets while taking in a Rangers playoff game and two Knicks games. The four-time NFL MVP was formally introduced by New York last Wednesday after acquiring him from Green Bay.
Jackson Mahomes, the brother of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was briefly jailed on aggravated sexual battery charges over an alleged altercation at a restaurant in late February. Online court records show that 22-year-old Jackson Mahomes was charged Tuesday with three counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of battery. He was released on Wednesday after posting $100,000 bond. During a brief virtual court appearance, a judge set another court date for May 11. His lawyer said in a statement that the court prohibited him and his client from commenting. The investigation stems from accusations against Jackson Mahomes regarding an alleged Feb. 25 incident at a restaurant in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas.
HORSE RACING
The death of four horses at Churchill Downs has overshadowed preparations for the Kentucky Derby. Two horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. collapsed on the track and died over the past week. Two others also died as either a result of racing or training, including Derby entrant Wild On Ice. Joseph is set to saddle Lord Miles in the first jewel of the Triple Crown on Saturday. But he has said he’s unsure of plans after the two deaths from his barn. Churchill Downs, in a statement, expressed concern over the deaths and said officials would press for answers.
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