NFL
The 2024 NFL draft kicked off yesterday. In the first round, the Patriots took North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye third, LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers went sixth overall to the Giants, the Jets selected Penn State offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu, and the Eagles took Toledo centerback Quinyon Mitchell. The Buffalo Bills have the first pick when the second round kicks off at 7 tonight.
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades. Five other teams selected quarterbacks among the top 12 picks, setting a record with five in the top 10 and tying a record for the most in the first round. The Bears selected Williams at No. 1 overall in the NFL draft on Thursday night after deciding weeks ago to bank on the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from USC. The Washington Commanders followed up by taking 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels from LSU and the New England Patriots took North Carolina’s Drake Maye at No. 3, making it the fourth draft with quarterbacks going with the first three picks.
The Chicago Bears picked USC quarterback Caleb Williams to open the 2024 NFL draft, the first of six QBs in the top 12 picks. The Commanders selected Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 pick overall. With the first pick since parting ways with Bill Belichick, the Patriots picked quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3 overall. The Falcons made the first stunning pick of the NFL draft by taking quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick overall. Then Minnesota traded up to take J.J. McCarthy at No. 10, and Bo Nix went to Denver at No. 12.
Quarterbacks went off the draft board at a record-setting pace. This was the fourth time in the common draft era starting in 1967 that QBs went with the top three picks, with three more going in the top 12 in the fewest number of picks for six QBs to be drafted. This marked the first time five quarterbacks were drafted in the top 10 and matched the famed 1983 class with six first-rounders in all as teams throughout the league were in search of a big-time passer who can turn the fortunes of a franchise.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he thinks the league will dramatically increase its number of international games in the next decade. The NFL will host five games abroad this season. Goodell says during an ESPN interview at the draft that he thinks the league will go up to 16 international games by 2034. Goodell also says the draft will continue to rotate to different locations. This year's draft is in Detroit. Next year's is in Green Bay.
UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player selected in the NFL draft, going No. 15 overall to Indianapolis to snap a record streak of 14 straight offensive players taken. The previous latest a defensive player was drafted came in 2021, when the Carolina Panthers took cornerback Jaycee Horn eighth overall. Not only were the 14 straight offensive players to start the draft a record, it was the first time 14 straight offensive players were taken at any point in the draft.
The Atlanta Falcons provided the first major surprise of the NFL draft by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. of Washington with the No. 8 pick. The Falcons extended their recent trend of selecting offensive skill players in the first round by drafting Penix one month after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. Using a draft slot normally targeted for players expected to make an immediate impact, the Falcons chose Penix as the apparent long-term successor to the 35-year-old Cousins. The Falcons had been expected to use the pick to boost their pass rush.
NBA
Joel Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in a potential series-shifting third quarter last night to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 125-114 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Embiid boldly stated “we’re going to win this series” after the 76ers dropped Game 2. With one of the finest postseason efforts of his career, Embiid became the third player to ever score 50 points against the Knicks in the postseason and kept the hope of a Philadelphia series comeback very much alive. The Knicks lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Denver Nuggets moved to the brink of the second round with a 112-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the first-round series. Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Jamal Murray added 22 points and Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists as the defending NBA champion Nuggets won their 11th consecutive meeting with the Lakers since 2022. Anthony Davis had 33 points and 15 rebounds, and LeBron James added 26 points and nine assists in the Lakers’ seventh consecutive postseason loss to Denver over the past two years.
Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Orlando Magic handed Cleveland the worst playoff loss in franchise history, winning 121-83 on Thursday night to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2020 and the first on their home floor since April 26, 2011. Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers.
NHL
Defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov got Carolina off to a fast start and the Hurricanes held on to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 last night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series. Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists. Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots. Brock Nelson and Pierre Engvall scored for the Islanders. They are a loss away from being eliminated by Carolina in the first round for the second straight year. Ilya Sorokin, getting the start after Semyon Varlamov went in the first two games, was pulled in the second period after giving up three goals on 14 shots. Game 4 is Saturday in New York.
Elsewhere, the N.Y. Rangers take a 2-0 series lead to Washington to face the Capitals tonight at 7.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart and Steven Lorentz also scored for the Panthers, who will seek a sweep Saturday night in Tampa. Tkachuk had a first-period goal and added an empty-netter with 32 seconds left. Steven Stamkos, Tyler Motte and Nicholas Paul scored for Tampa Bay, with Paul cutting it to 4-3 with 5:10 left. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots.
MLB
Mason Miller retired Aaron Judge with a runner on for his first four-out save, and the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 3-1 for a four-game split. Nick Allen and Tyler Nevin homered in the third inning off Nestor Cortes (1-2), and Alex Wood escaped bases-loaded trouble in the first and fourth innings. New York was 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners. Judge flied to right on a slider as Miller remained perfect in six save chances.
José Ramírez belted his sixth career grand slam and had three hits, Will Brennan had a solo homer and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Boston Red Sox 6-4. Cleveland has the best record in the American League at 18-7 and matched the second-best mark in franchise history through 25 games on Thursday. Rafael Devers had three hits and Rob Refsnyder tripled in a run for the Red Sox. Jarren Duran had an RBI single in the sixth for Boston. Ramírez’s slam off Chase Anderson came one pitch after he appeared to strike out to end the second, but Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire couldn’t hold onto the foul tip.
Bryce Harper homered in his return to the lineup following the birth of his third child, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 for their second shutout win in splitting a four-game series. Zack Wheeler allowed one hit in six innings, a third-inning single by Santiago Espinal. He struck out eight and walked four, extending his scoreless steak to 13 1/3 innings. Philadelphia has won eight of 10 and leads the major leagues with five shutouts, one more than the Phillies total in all of last season.
Gary Sánchez hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the eighth inning to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a series split. Sánchez drove an 0-2 sinker at 101.9 mph from Aroldis Chapman to right with two outs, putting the Brewers ahead 6-5 on Thursday. Two of his three home runs came this series, including on Tuesday when he produced Milwaukee’s lone run in a 2-1 loss. The Brewers have won six of eight after taking the final two of the four-game series. The Pirates have lost eight of 10 after an 11-5 start.
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for his first major league hit, and the Chicago Cubs swept the Houston Astros with a 3-1 victory. Nico Hoerner had three hits and Mike Tauchman went 1 for 1 with three walks as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games. Hayden Wesneski pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings for the win in relief of Javier Assad. Houston has lost a season-high five straight and eight of nine overall. At 7-19, it is off to its worst 26-game start since it was 6-20 in 1969.
The Chicago White Sox dropped to 3-22, wasting a two-run lead and stretching their losing streak to a season-high seven with a 6-3 defeat to Minnesota as Edouard Julien hit two of the Twins’ five solo home runs. Chicago matched Cincinnati in 2022, Detroit in 2003 and Washington in 1894 as teams that opened 3-22. Baltimore began 2-23 in 1988. Julien and Ryan Jeffers homered off Michael Soroka in a three-run sixth inning, Julien homered again off John Brebbia in the seventh and Carlos Santana and Jose Miranda went deep against Steven Wilson in the eighth.
Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Cole Ragans held Toronto in check long enough for the storms to arrive, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Blue Jays 2-1 in a game called after five innings due to rain. Cole Ragans gave up the lone Toronto run on three hits and three walks while striking out four to earn the win. José Berrios had his streak of 22 1/3 scoreless innings snapped when Perez, following Vinnie Pasquantino’s two-out walk, deposited the first pitch he saw into the left-field bullpen to give Kansas City a lead it would never surrender. The game was delayed 3 1/2 hours before it was called.
Ty France and Luis Urías hit two-run homers, Luis Castillo pitched six solid innings and Seattle beat the Texas Rangers 4-3. The 13-12 Mariners took two of three in the series and leave with first place in the AL West. Texas starter Andrew Heaney struck out seven in his six innings, but allowed both two-run homers. Castillo struck out six and walked two. Andrés Muñoz, the third Seattle reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his third save. Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Smith hit solo homers for reigning World Series champion Texas, which is 13-13.
Elias Díaz capped Colorado’s six-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking RBI double, and the Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 10-9. Elehuris Montero and Hunter Goodman homered for Colorado, which earned a split of the four-game series. Brenton Doyle and Brendan Rodgers each had three of the Rockies’ 14 hits. Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar homered for Padres, who had won three of four. Xander Bogaerts had two hits and drove in a run.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six shutout innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals 2-1 to complete a three-game sweep. Teoscar Hernández homered for the Dodgers, who matched a season high with four straight wins. Joey Meneses had three hits for Washington, which was swept for the first time this season. The Nationals scored four runs in the series and went 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position. Los Angeles designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was 0 for 4, stopping a nine-game hitting streak and dropping his batting average from a major league-leading .371 to .358.
NCAA
Reggie Bush says the return of his Heisman Trophy is the biggest step yet in his fight against the NCAA to restore his reputation and his records from his incredible career at Southern California. Bush and his family celebrated the restoration of his Heisman honors Thursday during a news conference atop the venerable Coliseum, where Bush played three outstanding seasons with the Trojans. Bush and his attorneys made it clear their fight against the NCAA has not ended. Bush indicated he doesn’t plan to drop his defamation lawsuit filed last year against the NCAA over the governing body’s characterization of the circumstances that led to Bush’s troubles.
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