NBA PLAYOFFS
Jayson Tatum scored 51 points with 13 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. Tatum’s total is the most in a Game 7 in NBA history. Tatum had a slow start in the past two games but he scored 25 in the back-and-forth first half and 17 more in Boston’s 33-10 third quarter that turned a three-point lead into a runaway. The Celtics will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals starting on Wednesday in Boston.
Memphis guard Ja Morant has been suspended by the Grizzlies after another social media video in which he appears to be holding a gun. The NBA is looking into the matter. The Grizzlies say Morant is suspended from all team activities “pending league review.” The video shows Morant in the front seat of a vehicle, appearing to hold the gun while someone filmed him and broadcast it live over Instagram. Morant was suspended by the NBA for eight games this season after the All-Star guard was seen on video holding a gun at a club in the Denver suburbs. The league said the March suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the league.”
The Phoenix Suns fired Monty Williams on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year. Williams had great success in his four regular seasons in Phoenix, winning 63% of his games. But three consecutive years of playoff frustration was likely too much for the Suns to overlook — especially after two straight years of Phoenix trailing by 30 points at halftime of elimination games at home.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his second career postseason hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series to advance to the Western Conference final. Reilly Smith and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ivan Barbashev had two assists. Adin Hill finished with 39 saves. Connor McDavid and Warren Foegele scored early in the first period for Edmonton, which led 2-1 less than three minutes into the game. Stuart Skinner gave up four goals on 17 shots through two periods, and Jack Campbell stopped all four shots he faced in the third. Vegas will next face the winner of the series between Dallas and Seattle, which heads to a Game 7 tonight.
MLB
Max Scherzer pitched five steady innings in his return from neck spasms and the New York Mets finally broke loose for eight runs in the fifth to beat the Washington Nationals 8-2. Slumping outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha both had two hits and two RBIs during New York’s biggest inning this season. After losing 3-2 hours earlier in the completion of a game suspended Saturday because of rain, the scuffling Mets improved to 6-14 in their last 20. The 38-year-old Scherzer allowed one run and two hits against his former team, striking out six and walking two. He threw 83 pitches and lowered his ERA to 4.88. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was scratched from his scheduled start last Tuesday in Cincinnati due to neck spasms.
Taylor Walls hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the fifth inning, Jose Siri caught Aaron Judge’s fly in front of the center-field wall for the final out and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 8-7 for a four-game series split. Walls fell a double shy of the cycle after going 3 for 15 in his first five games against New York. Major league-leading Tampa Bay is 4-3 against the Yankees, with six of the games decided by one run. The teams don’t meet again until July 31.
Nolan Arenado and Andrew Knizner each hit a two-run homer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1 to complete a three-game sweep. Paul DeJong added a solo shot and Arenado drove in four runs for the Cardinals, who won for the sixth time in seven games since an eight-game losing streak. The previous two wins came on ninth-inning rallies against closer Kenley Jansen at Fenway Park. Lars Nootbaar had three hits and scored three times for St. Louis, and Paul Goldschmidt added two hits and an RBI. Rafael Devers had an RBI single for Boston, which lost for the fifth time in six games. It was the first series sweep this season for St. Louis, which has the NL’s worst record at 16-25.
Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper was ejected for charging Colorado’s dugout, and Kyle Freeland dominated for six innings on his 30th birthday in the Rockies’ 4-0 win. Harper appeared to respond to Colorado reliever Jake Bird, who clapped a hand against his glove and said something toward the Philadelphia dugout after the last out of the top of the seventh. Harper was initially restrained by Rockies catcher Elias Díaz, then Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan prevented the two-time NL MVP from entering a group of players and coaches gathered near the first-base line.
Colorado pitcher Ryan Feltner has a skull fracture and concussion after getting hit by a line drive off the bat of Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos. Feltner was injured Saturday night and was discharged from Swedish Medical Center on Sunday. He will not need surgery. Feltner was put on the 15-day injured list. When asked whether the 26-year-old right-hander will be out for days, weeks or months, Black said “probably on the longer end of that.”
Mitch Keller struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings and the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates won for only the second time in 13 games, 4-0 over the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates avoided a sweep after dropping the first two games of the series. Pittsburgh was 20-8 after a 16-1 win at Washington on April 29. Then the Pirates scored just 18 runs in their next 12 games. They managed four Sunday without a single extra-base hit, and that was plenty the way Keller was pitching. Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, who has played in every game this season, pinch-hit in the ninth and popped out to end the game.
PGA TOUR
Jason Day has his first PGA Tour victory in five years at the Byron Nelson. The Australian shot a 9-under 62 for a one-shot victory over Austin Eckroat and Si Woo Kim. Hometown favorite Scottie Scheffler finished three shots back. Day broke a tie with Scheffler with a chip-in birdie at the par-4 12th. Day finished at 23 under playing on Mother's Day a little more than a year after losing his mom to cancer. Day's win came the week before the PGA Championship. The only major among the 35-year-old's 13 victories was the 2015 PGA.
SOCCER
Barcelona has won its first Spanish league title after the departure of Lionel Messi with a 4-2 victory against Espanyol. Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead the Catalan club to its first league title in four years. The title was secured with four rounds remaining and two years after Messi left amid the club’s financial struggles. Alejandro Balde and Jules Koundé also scored for Barcelona. It now has 27 league titles, eight fewer than Real Madrid. The victory over city rival Espanyol gave Barcelona an insurmountable 85 points from 34 matches. It has 14 points more than Madrid.
Manchester City is one win away from a third successive Premier League title and a fifth in six seasons under Pep Guardiola. English soccer’s dominant force was tested by a new rival in the form of Arsenal. But Mikel Arteta’s team has buckled under the pressure of trying to keep pace with Guardiola’s relentless trophy-winning machine. The race is not over yet but it would take a remarkable collapse for City to throw it away after Arsenal's 3-0 loss to Brighton. It was the fifth time in seven games that Londoners have dropped points in the closing weeks of the season. City’s 3-0 win against Everton extended its unbeaten run to 21 games and 11 straight wins in the league.
U.S. MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final LA Galaxy 2 San Jose 1
HORSE RACING
A horse has died after a race at Churchill Downs, making it the eighth fatality in recent weeks at the home of the Kentucky Derby. Rio Moon died after the sixth race. According to Equibase chart notes on the race, the 3-year-old colt “suffered a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg a few strides after the wire.” The notes say Rio Moon was euthanized. The colt was trained by Dale Romans and was winless in six career starts with earnings of $11,621. Two horses were euthanized after being injured in races on the Kentucky Derby undercard on May 6. Five others were euthanized after training and racing incidents at the track in the days leading up to the Derby.
GOODYEAR 400
William Byron avoided a wreck between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson on a restart six laps from the end and held on to win the Goodyear 400 in overtime at Darlington Raceway. Byron was pushed out of the lead by eventual winner Joey Logano two laps from the end here a year ago. This time, Byron watched as Chastain and Larson collided, then drove away from Kevin Harvick for his third win this year and the seventh of his career. It was the 100th win for the No. 24 car of Hendrick Motorsports.
© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
