NBA PLAYOFFS
Nikola Jokic got a triple-double in his Finals debut, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 of the title series last night. Jokic finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who waited 47 years to make the finals and didn’t disappoint. Aaron Gordon scored 16 and Michael Porter Jr. added 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as 24. Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which shot 41 percent. Game two is Sunday night at 8 in Denver.
The latest sanctions, if any, that the NBA plans to levy against Memphis guard Ja Morant for his second instance of displaying a gun on social media will be announced shortly after the finals, Commissioner Adam Silver said yesterday. Silver did not say what the penalties were, not even saying if Morant would be available at the start of next season. Morant was suspended for eight games by the NBA in March for an incident where he broadcast himself on Instagram displaying a gun in a suburban Denver club, and was suspended by the Grizzlies last month after another video showed Morant displaying what appeared to be a gun yet again.
Eric Lewis was not selected as one of the 12 referees who will work the NBA Finals, while the league continues to investigate whether he used a Twitter account to defend himself and other referees from online complaints. Lewis had been chosen to work the finals in each of the last four seasons. But after some now-deleted tweets were revealed last week, the league opened an investigation into whether Lewis violated NBA rules by speaking about officiating in an unauthorized manner. It has not been determined if Lewis was using the account.
The San Antonio Spurs have the No. 1 pick and there is no mystery about who Gregg Popovich and company are going to bring in to revive the Alamo City. Victor Wembanyama could have started packing for Texas the night of the NBA draft lottery. The 7-foot-3 phenom from France will be San Antonio-bound minutes after the NBA draft begins at 8 p.m. June 22. Intrigue begins with the No. 2 pick, when the Charlotte Hornets will likely decide between Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson. A pair of twin brothers and a number of freshmen should also go in the top 10.
NHL
The Vegas Golden Knights will play the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final beginning Saturday. This is Vegas' second Cup Final appearance in its six seasons as an NHL franchise. Its other trip occurred in 2018. The Golden Knights have six players left over from the first team to advance that far. They have helped the Knights reach at least the NHL semifinals four times in the past six years. Their remaining team goal is capturing the Cup.
MLB
Mark Canha hit a go-ahead, two-run homer, Max Scherzer settled down from a shaky first inning to win his third straight decision and the New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of the defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-2 victory. New York trailed 2-0 before Jeff McNeil hit an RBI single in the third and Canha homered in the fourth against former Met Taijuan Walker. Canha is 6 for 10 with four homers and 11 RBIs in his last three games against the Phillies dating to last season.
Rafael Devers doubled to break an eighth-inning tie and the Boston Red Sox overcame Chris Sale’s early exit because of shoulder soreness to beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-2. Sale came out with two out in the fourth after walking Nick Senzel, with Boston trailing 1-0. After the Reds tied it off Chris Martin (1-1) in the eighth, Devers doubled in Alex Verdugo following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning. Devers hit a deep drive to straight away center that nearly went out. Boston added five more runs in the inning, with Connor Wong capping the outburst with a two-run shot into the Green Monster seats.
The Yankees were off last night, they start a three-game series against the Dodgers at 10:10 tonight in LA.
WNBA
Natisha Hiedeman scored 19 points, Alyssa Thomas had 16 points, nine rebounds and a franchise-high 16 assists and the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 89-84. Thomas passed Lindsay Whalen’s single-game mark of 13 for the team record before finishing two shy of Courtney Vandersloot’s WNBA record of 18. Thomas had seven assists in the first quarter and she reached 10 with 3:24 left before halftime to set a franchise record for the most assists in a half, passing Renee Montgomery’s nine in 2010. The Lynx had a chance to take the lead with 1:31 left but Dorka Juhasz missed two free throws. Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound at the other end before making a hook shot to make it 85-82 with 57.7 left.
NFL
The Buffalo Bills have added veteran depth to their offensive line by signing Brandon Shell to a one-year contract. The 29-year-old Shell has seven years of NFL experience. He started 11 games for Miami last season after being promoted off the Dolphins’ practice squad. He spent his first four seasons with the New York Jets and spent two years with the Seattle Seahawks. His great-uncle is Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Art Shell. The Bills opened a roster spot for Shell by releasing defensive tackle Brandin Bryant. The Bills also shuffled their receiver depth by signing Marcell Bateman and releasing Braydon Johnson.
Breece Hall still believes he would have been the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year last season if he had been healthy. A torn ACL in his left knee in Week 7 abruptly ended the New York Jets running back's first NFL season. Hall says he can't think about what could have been. He instead is focused on getting better every day and being a key playmaker in an upgraded offense led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Coach Robert Saleh expects Hall to be a full participant in training camp practices and is optimistic the Iowa State product will be ready to play in the regular-season opener.
GOLF
Davis Riley had a 67 and is atop the leaderboard after one round at the Memorial for the second straight year. And that's where the similarities end. Muirfield Village was hot, dry and a beast. The average score was the highest for an opening round at the Memorial since 2000. Rory McIlroy made triple bogey on the last hole for a 72. It could have been worse. Chad Ramey hit four balls into the water on No. 9 and made a 13, the highest score on any hole in Muirfield Village history. Jordan Spieth was among those two shot backs.
FRENCH OPEN
Mirra Andreeva is the latest teen sensation in tennis, a 16-year-old Russian who is the youngest player to win a match in the women’s main draw at the French Open since 2005. The 143rd-ranked Andreeva made her way through qualifying rounds last week without dropping a set to earn her debut berth in the women’s bracket at a Grand Slam tournament. She is making things look easy so far at Roland Garros. A 6-1, 6-2 victory over Diane Perry of France in 77 minutes on Thursday put her in the third round. Next for Andreeva is a match against 2022 French Open runner-up Coco Gauff.
NCAA
The Southeastern Conference will play eight league games in 2024 when it expands to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, but beyond that the schedule model is to be determined. Commissioner Greg Sankey says the conference’s presidents voted to implement a short-term solution to a scheduling conundrum that has been debated for more than a year. The SEC has been holding its spring meetings on the Florida Gulf Coast this week. Conference leaders have been trying to decide between a nine-game conference schedule that would include three annual rivalry games and an eight-game model with one annual rivalry game.
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