NBA
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Nuggets is tonight at 8:30 in Denver. Miami made it to the finals by topping Boston in seven games, and Denver swept the Lakers to earn their spot. The Nuggets went 2-0 against the Heat during the regular season. Denver is 34-7 at home, and Miami is 17-24 on the road.
The Detroit Pistons have reached an agreement to hire former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams, according to two people familiar with the situation. One of the people told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that Williams agreed to a six-year contract. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced. Phoenix fired Williams two-plus weeks ago, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he won the league’s coach of the year honors.
Wednesday marked the deadline for players who were early entrants to the NBA draft to withdraw and return to college basketball. The list of returnees includes Purdue's 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey after being named Associated Press national player of the year. There's also national champion Connecticut getting back guard Tristen Newton. But Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe is staying in the draft as a former AP national player of the year. UCLA returned Pac-12 freshman of the year Adem Bona. Michigan State retained guards Jaden Akins and A.J. Hoggard. Other returnees included Tennessee's Josiah-Jordan James and Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr.
MLB
Mark Canha homered and drove in four runs to lead Carlos Carrasco and the New York Mets got past the slumping Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. Carrasco pitched six efficient innings to win his second consecutive start. Canha hit a two-run homer in the third and a two-run single with two outs in the fourth off Aaron Nola. Edmundo Sosa homered off Carrasco for the Phillies, who lost their third straight and matched a season low at five games under .500. The defending National League champions went 5-14 against the Mets last season and have dropped the first two meetings this year, mustering only one run over the past two nights. Brooks Raley struck out three in 1 1/3 innings for the Mets, and David Robertson earned his 10th save.
Spencer Steer hit a two-run homer to break a seventh-inning tie and the Cincinnati Reds took advantage of a Rafael Devers throwing error to come from behind and beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4. Kevin Newman, Matt McLain and Nick Senzel had two hits apiece for the Reds. They have won five in a row. Cincinnati took the first two of their three games in Boston to beat the Red Sox in a series for the first time since the 1975 World Series. Masataka Yoshida curled a home run around the Pesky Pole and Emmanuel Valdez landed one on the shelf atop the Green Monster for Boston. Rafael Devers and Jarren Duran had RBI doubles.
Cal Raleigh’s single leading off the bottom of the 10th inning scored pinch-runner Jose Caballero to give the Seattle Mariners a 1-0 (nothing) win over the New York Yankees. Seattle avoided a three-game sweep and snapped New York’s four-game win streak thanks largely to a terrific pitching performance from starter George Kirby and Raleigh’s clutch hit. Raleigh lined a 2-2 pitch from Ron Marinaccio into right field and Caballero scored easily after starting the inning as the runner at second base. Justin Topa earned the win pitching around J.P. Crawford’s error on DJ LeMahieu’s grounder leading off the 10th inning as the Yankees failed to score with the bases loaded and one out.
NFL
Bill McGovern, who was an assistant coach for 39 years in the college ranks and in the NFL, has died. He was 60. McGovern’s career included 13 seasons at Boston College (2000-12) where he was the linebackers coach and later defensive coordinator for four seasons. He also coached at Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, Holy Cross and Penn. In the NFL, McGovern had stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Chicago Bears.
Aaron Rodgers could be back fully practicing with the New York Jets on Friday after straining a calf last week. He was injured while participating in conditioning drills last Tuesday. Coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday that Rodgers' calf is fine and the quarterback is rehabilitating the injury. Rodgers wore a sleeve on his calf throughout the practice and was limited. The team hopes he’ll fully participate by Friday or next week at the latest. New York acquired Rodgers, the No. 15 overall pick and a fifth-rounder in this year’s draft from Green Bay on April 26.
Edge rusher Shane Ray refused to give up on himself even at his lowest point, when the only options left for the former first-round draft pick and Super Bowl winner was the Canadian Football League or calling it quits. At 30, Ray’s determination has him one step closer to an NFL comeback after a successful tryout invitation to the Bills rookie camp led to him signing a one-year contract. Ray is reunited with Von Miller in Buffalo, after playing with him in Denver from 2015-18 before a wrist injury derailed his career.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says the team has moved on after losing two days of workouts for violating NFL offseason workout rules. The team announced last week that a scheduled workout that was supposed to be open for reporters to attend had been canceled. Another workout originally slated for this week was also canceled. Belichick confirmed the violations occurred over three days of Phase 2 of the nine-week program in which teams are allowed to conduct workouts on the field. The Patriots were originally allotted 13 days of workouts. They will now hold a total of 11, including next month’s mandatory three-day minicamp.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Tom Barlow scored the lone goal of the match shortly after subbing in in the second half and the New York Red Bulls snapped a 10-match winless streak on the road with a 1-0 (nil) victory over Inter Miami. Neither team scored until Barlow found the net for a second time this season — unassisted in the 52nd minute. It came just six minutes after he replaced Wikelman Carmona. The Red Bulls (4-5-7) entered play with a 0-6-4 record in its previous 10 matches away from home. The win leaves them one shy of the 11-match skid by the 2011 club. Carlos Coronel had to make just one save to earn the clean sheet for the Red Bulls. Drake Callender stopped eight shots for Inter Miami.
Carles Gil scored in the first minute of the match and again in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to rally the New England Revolution (played) to a 3-3 draw with Atlanta United. Gil scored unassisted 30 seconds into the match for the Revolution (7-3-5) and Bobby Wood stretched the lead to 2-0 at halftime when he took a pass from Emmanuel Boateng in the 37th minute and scored for a fifth time this season. Atlanta United (6-4-6) stormed back in the second half.
Luciano Acosta scored a first-half goal, Brandon Vazquez scored on a late penalty kick and FC Cincinnati extended the best start in club history with a 3-1 victory over New York City FC. Cincinnati (11-1-3) posted a 1-0 win in U.S. Open Cup play on May 10 for its first victory over NYCFC after losing the first six meetings. Acosta gave Cincinnati the lead in the 38th minute, using assists from Dominique Badji and Álvaro Barreal to score his sixth goal this season. Barreal stretched the lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the campaign, scoring unassisted in the 59th minute. Braian Cufré got NYCFC (4-7-4) on the scoreboard in the 64th minute, using an assist from Alfredo Morales to score his first goal.
TENNIS
Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka declined to answer questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after she won a match at the French Open. Sabalenka is seeded No. 2 at the Grand Slam tournament. After her first-round win Sunday, Sabalenka had said no Russian or Belarusian athletes support the war, but she was asked Wednesday to personally condemn Belarus’ role in supporting Russia’s invasion. She declined to answer. Sabalenka’s first-round opponent, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, had urged reporters to ask Sabalenka if she personally supports or opposes the war. Sabalenka also refused to answer questions about whether she supports Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
GOLF
The Memorial has another loaded field. That included the pro-am with a cast of athletes and celebrities. The tournament Jack Nicklaus built already was among the best on the PGA Tour. Now it's an elevated event with a $20 million purse. It's part of a crowded PGA Tour schedule that's going to get more compact next year. Tour officials are developing a schedule with $20 million events and majors all bunched together. That's to give space to the other tournaments. As for the Memorial, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler resume their battle for No. 1 in the world.
Individual NCAA champion Fred Biondi beat Hiroshi Tai 1 up with a par on the 18th hole and Florida won its fifth men’s national golf title with a 3-1 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday. Florida’s Yuxin Lin won the opener 4 and 3 over Christo Lamprecht, but the remaining matches went down to the wire in the strongest wind of the week at Grayhawk Golf Club. John DuBois closed out Connor Howe 1 up to put Florida up 2-0. Georgia Tech’s Bartley Forrester then beat Matthew Kress on the second extra hole after blowing a 2-up lead with two holes left. Biondi became the first player to win individual and team championships in the same season since Oregon’s Aaron Wise in 2016.
CAR RACING
A humble Corolla running on liquid hydrogen has made its racing debut, part of a move to bring the futuristic technology into the racing world and to demonstrate Toyota Motor Corp.’s resolve to develop hydrogen vehicles. The Corolla is powered by a combustion engine common in regular cars, and not by a battery and motor that drive electric vehicles. The car won't be appearing in dealerships anytime soon. Toyota officials said the 24-hour race at Fuji Speedway near Mount Fuji was just meant to test the technology. Toyota, a powerhouse for hybrids, has fallen behind in the global shift to battery EVs. But it’s been banking on hydrogen for years.
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