NBA PLAYOFFS
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 17 points and the Boston Celtics staved off elimination in the Eastern Conference finals by running away in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4 last night. Derrick White had 16 points, Grant Williams scored 14, Al Horford added 12 and Marcus Smart scored 11 for the Celtics, who still trail the series 3-1 — but sent it back to Boston for a Game 5 on Thursday. Jimmy Butler scored 29 for Miami, which led by nine in the second half before getting outscored 48-22 in a 14-minute stretch that turned the game and perhaps the series completely around.
LeBron James didn’t meet with the media on the day after the top scorer in NBA history said he needed time to think about his basketball future following the Los Angeles Lakers’ elimination from the Western Conference finals. James has skipped his team’s postseason media exit interviews before, but his decision Tuesday left Lakers fans hanging about his intentions with his enigmatic comments following a four-game sweep by the Denver Nuggets. General manager Rob Pelinka and head coach Darvin Ham say they’ll speak with James soon about his future.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Jonathan Marchessault and the Vegas Golden Knights are one more win from reaching another Stanley Cup Final. Marchessault had the first of three goals in the game's first 7 1/2 minutes for Vegas in (shutout the Dallas Stars a 4-0 to take a 3-0 series lead in theW estern Conference Final. Game 4 is tomorrow night at 8 in Dallas. The Knights are looking to advance to their second Cup final in the franchise's six seasons. Adin Hill stopped 34 shots for his first career playoff shutout. The Knights knocked Jake Oettinger out with three goals on their first five shots.
Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at 8 in the third round of the NHL Playoffs with a 3-0 lead in the series.
MLB
Aaron Judge hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and rookie Anthony Volpe drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th as the streaking New York Yankees rallied past the Baltimore Orioles 6-5. Harrison Bader homered to begin New York’s comeback from an early 4-0 deficit, and Judge took Gerrit Cole off the hook for his first loss in 11 starts this season. Back home from a 6-1 trip, the Yankees won their fifth straight in a series opener between AL East rivals who both entered on a roll. They improved to 15-5 in their last 20 games, moving 10 games above .500 for the first time this season. Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson homered for Baltimore.
Christopher Morel, Matt Mervis and Seiya Suzuki homered and the Chicago Cubs cooled off the New York Mets with a 7-2 victory. Mervis had three RBIs for the Cubs in the opener of a nine-game homestand. Morel extended his homer streak to five games with a solo shot against Stephen Nogosek in the seventh inning. He became the first player with such a streak for the Cubs since Sammy Sosa in June 1998. New York had won five in a row — all by one run. But Tylor Megill turned in his worst start of the season, sending manager Buck Showalter to the loss on his 67th birthday.
Mickey Moniak homered in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Angels won for the fourth time in five games, beating the Boston Red Sox 2-1. Moniak drove a changeup from Kutter Crawford over the wall in right field to lead off the eighth. Masataka Yoshida had two hits and an RBI for the Red Sox, who have dropped two straight after winning four in a row. Angels’ right-hander Jaime Barria tossed five shutout innings in his first start in two years. Chase Silseth got the win, working two scoreless innings.
Corbin Carroll singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for his third hit and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Tuesday night for their ninth victory in 11 games. At 29-20, Arizona moved nine games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 11, 2018, when it was 77-68. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. extended his hitting streak to 16 games — the longest active run in the majors — with a leadoff double in the eighth off Seranthony Dominguez (1-2). After advancing to third on a passed ball by J.T. Realmuto, Gurriel scored on Carroll’s single to left field through a drawn in infield. Gabriel Moreno hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks Jose Ruiz (2-0) got the win.
Nathan Eovaldi pitched a complete game for the second time in five starts after throwing just two in the first 226 of his major league career, leading the Texas Rangers over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. Eovaldi (6-2) allowed six hits, struck out five and walked one, his fifth straight start of at least seven innings. The 33-year-old right-hander, a 12-year big league veteran. pitched a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over the Yankees on April 29. Texas has won four of five.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had six RBIs and the Toronto Blue Jays stopped a five-game losing streak with a 20-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays, scoring their last 10 runs off position players. Guerrero put Toronto ahead with an RBI single off Taj Bradley in the first, had a run-scoring single in the fifth that opened a 10-0 lead and hit a 423-foot grand slam in a nine-run ninth against Luke Raley. All 12 Toronto batters in the game had hits, and the Blue Jays finished with 27 hits.
NFL
The NFL has pushed the kickoff return further toward irrelevance with a priority on player safety. League owners voted for a one-year trial of an enhanced touchback rule that will give the receiving team the ball at its own 25 with a fair catch of a kickoff anywhere behind that yard line. The proposal passed despite coaches and players across the league saying they didn't like it. They argued that it will create uglier plays with squib and corner kicks that are impossible for fair catches.
Aaron Rodgers never made it past warmups in his first New York Jets practice in front of the media. The 39-year-old quarterback strained a calf while participating in conditioning drills Tuesday. Rodgers watched quarterback drills and remained on the field during practice, but was without his helmet and threw no passes. Rodgers downplayed the injury and said it's not too serious. New York acquired Rodgers from Green Bay on April 26. Organized team activities began Monday and Rodgers participated. The session Tuesday marked the first with media in attendance.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin eased his way back onto the practice field by taking part in individual drills and stretching sessions during the team's voluntary minicamp some five months after having a near-death experience on the field. Coach Sean McDermott said the team is taking things one day at a time when asked of Hamlin’s status. McDermott did not provide any timetable as to when Hamlin can begin on-field sessions a month after being cleared to resume his career. The 25-year-old Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2.
Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL have agreed on the framework of a three-year contract extension that will keep him in place until 2027. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay confirmed the development on Tuesday at the league meetings in Minnesota. Goodell’s current deal expires in 2024. He has been commissioner of the league since replacing Paul Tagliabue in 2006. Irsay says he’s under the impression Goodell will retire after the extended contract expires and be involved in the development of his successor.
WNBA
Alyssa Thomas had 22 points and 10 rebounds while DeWanna Bonner added 15 points to help the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics 88-81 last night. Connecticut created some separation midway through the fourth quarter by going on a 10-2 run, capped by a three-point play by Brionna Jones for a 75-67 lead. Tiffany Hayes started the run by making a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down and a transition take foul led to a four-point possession after Bonner’s free throw and Jones’ 3-pointer.
Elena Delle Donne made a putback to get Washington within 81-79 but Bonner answered at the other end with a layup in traffic for a four-point lead with 52 seconds left. The Mystics turned it over on their next possession and Hayes made one of two free throws. All five starters for Connecticut (3-0) scored in double figures. Hayes and Natisha Hiedeman each scored 13 points and Jones finished with 12. Delle Donne led Washington (1-2) with 27 points.
Allisha Gray scored 26 points, Aari McDonald gave Atlanta its first lead of the game in the final minute and the Dream scored the last 11 points of the game to rally past the Minnesota Lynx 83-77. Atlanta, which trailed by 19 midway through the third quarter outscored the Lynx, who had one basket in the last 6-plus minutes, 24-10 in the fourth quarter, and 14-2 in the last 3:33. Rookie Naz Hillmon, a second-round pick out of Michigan, added 13 points, all in the second half, for the the Dream. Napheesa Collier scored 20 points for Minnesota but fouled out with 2:23 to play.
LA LIGA
Repeated racist insults against Brazilian soccer star Vinícius Júnior have unleashed a heated debate in Spain about tolerance for racism in a society that is becoming rapidly more diverse on and off the field. Since the season began in September, Vinícius Júnior has suffered racist abuse by fans of at least five rival teams, including the hanging of an effigy depicting the Black player from a bridge by a group of Atletico Madrid fans in January. Through his social media presence, the Real Madrid winger has repeatedly called out racist attitudes that he says prevail in a southern European country where a third of children are now born to foreign parents, the majority from Latin America and Africa.
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