NBA
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Miami Heat 118-84 in Game 5 last night. Boston will face the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series. The Cavaliers lead 3-2, with Game 6 in Orlando on Friday night. Brown also had six assists, and White hit five 3-pointers. Sam Hauser added 17 points and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 12 rebounds, The top-seeded Celtics never trailed and led by 37 points. They also got a measure of revenge a year after the Heat routed them in Game 7 of the conference finals in Boston. Bam Adebayo scored 23 points for Miami.
The New York Knicks hold a 3 games-to-two lead heading into game 6 in Philadelphia against the 76ers tonight 9.
Luka Doncic scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, propelling the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 and a 3-2 lead in the first-round series. Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for the Mavericks, who clamped down on the Clippers defensively and won decisively in Los Angeles for the second time in the series. Paul George and Ivica Zubac scored 15 points apiece for the Clippers. They played their second straight game and third of the series without Kawhi Leonard.
NHL
The Bruins are in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs for Game 6 tonight at 8. Boston leads the series 3-2
Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal to put Dallas ahead late in the second period after Tyler Seguin took a shot to the face and the Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 5. The Stars are the first home team to win in this opening-round series that they now lead. Evgenii Dadonov and Matt Duchene also scored goals for Dallas on Wednesday night. Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots, including a nearly full-split save with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game. Adin Hill had 22 saves for the Knights, while Mark Stone and William Carrier scored their goals. Game 6 is Friday night in Las Vegas.
Leon Draisaitl scored twice, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in Game 5 to win their first-round NHL playoff series. Edmonton eliminated Los Angeles in the opening round for the third straight year. Zach Hyman -- with his seventh goal of the post-season -- and Evander Kane also scored for Edmonton. Evan Bouchard added three assists, and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two each as Edmonton’s offense broke out at Rogers Place. McDavid extended his points total to a playoff-leading 12 (one goal, 11 assists). Stuart Skinner made 18 saves after posting a shutout in Edmonton’s 1-0 win at Los Angeles in Game 4. Adrian Kempe, Alex Laferriere and Blake Lizotte scored for Los Angeles, and David Rittich stopped 22 shots in his second straight start.
MLB
Luis Gil outdueled Corbin Burnes, Oswaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and the New York Yankees topped the Baltimore Orioles 2-0. Gil allowed two hits and a walk over a career-high 6 1/3 innings in another low-scoring game between the top two teams in the AL East. Baltimore began this four-game series with victories of 2-0 and 4-2, but Gil’s performance helped the Yankees ensure they weren’t swept. The game was significant enough that New York used closer Clay Holmes for the final five outs in his longest outing of the season.
Shota Imanaga continued the historic start to his big league career, throwing seven innings to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 1-0 win over the New York Mets. Imanaga who improved to 5-0, allowed three hits and walked one with seven strikeouts to lower his ERA to 0.78. That's the fourth-lowest mark by a pitcher through his first six career starts since earned runs became official in 1913. The Cubs ended the game with a controversial double play. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to score Matt Mervis. New York starter Jose Butto fell to 0-2.
Kutter Crawford pitched a career-high seven innings, Connor Wong had three hits and the Boston Red Sox beat the San Francisco Giants 6-2. Crawford allowed two runs on four hits — including a home run — and two walks with six strikeouts as the Red Sox won their fourth straight. It was Crawford's second win of the season. The right-hander’s previous career high was 6 1/3 innings on April 17, 2023, against the Los Angeles Angels. San Francisco's Tom Murphy led off the third with his first home run of the season. Dalton Jefferies took the loss in relief.
Johan Rojas hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning moments after Nick Castellanos’ tying shot, sending the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Trailing 5-4 with one out and nobody on base in the ninth, the Phillies avoided only their second back-to-back losses since March with three extra-base hits on five pitches from Angels closer Carlos Estévez. Luis Rengifo hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning for the Angels, who began another chapter of life without Mike Trout with an appropriately gut-wrenching defeat. Los Angeles has lost 10 of 12.
JJ Bleday hit a go-ahead home run with one out in the fifth and a two-run drive in the seventh for his first career multi-homer game, leading the Oakland Athletics past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2. Mitch Spence struck out two over three scoreless innings for the win in relief of starter Alex Wood. The left-hander is still winless over four starts in Oakland since joining the club as a free agent Feb. 2 — and he is yet to pitch more than 5 2/3 innings having made seven 2024 starts. Connor Joe homered in the first and singled in the fifth for the Pirates.
Kenta Maeda got his first win for Detroit, allowing four hits over six innings in a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals as the Tigers took two of three games in the series. Matt Vierling had three RBIs for the Tigers, who are 31-16 against St. Louis in interleague play. The teams also met in three World Series, with the Cardinals winning in 1934 and 2006, and Detroit taking the title in 1968. Maeda allowed a fourth-inning home run to Willson Contreras that landed in shrubbery above the center-field fence. He struck out five and walked none.
Willy Adames homered twice with four RBIs and Colin Rea pitched six scoreless innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 in the finale of a contentious three-game series. Milwaukee reliever Abner Urib, starter Freddy Peralta and manager Pat Murphy were suspended by Major League Baseball for their roles in a brawl on Tuesday night along with Rays outfielder Jose Siri. Adams hit a solo homer in the third off Zach Eflin and a three-run drive in the seventh against Erasmo Ramírez for his fifth big league two-homer game.
Chris Sale allowed one run over five innings and struck out nine, Austin Riley had the big blow at the plate with a two-run triple, and the Atlanta Braves salvaged the final game of a three-game series with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners. The Braves rebounded after suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time this season with another strong start from Sale and Atlanta’s offense taking advantage of an error to score four unearned runs off Seattle starter Emerson Hancock. Sale used his assortment of arm angles and pitch shapes to reach a season high in strikeouts.
Trevor Williams escaped two bases-loaded, none-out jams while pitching five scoreless innings, four relievers finished off Washington’s shutout and Alex Call singled home the game’s only run as the Nationals beat the Texas Rangers 1-0. Washington recorded its third shutout of the season, all since April 17. The Nationals are 15-15 and have a chance to move above .500 for the first time since July 1, 2021. Call's single in the second inning came against Rangers starter Andrew Heaney. That was the only run he allowed in a season-high seven innings, but he fell to 0-4.
Max Kepler and José Miranda hit run-scoring singles to put Minnesota ahead in the seventh, and the Twins rallied late for their 10th straight win, 10-5 over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. Miranda added his third hit for another RBI in a four-run ninth that put it away for the Twins, whose winning streak is their longest since June 2008 and the longest in baseball this season. Willi Castro added an RBI single to cap a three-hit day. Alex Kirilloff hit a solo shot, and Ryan Jeffers knocked in two runs with a double for Minnesota. Tommy Pham hit his first homer with the White Sox and added an RBI double.
Seth Lugo pitched seven strong innings to win for the fifth time in seven starts, Michael Massey hit a three-run home run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Wednesday. Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits, scored once and also drove in a run as the Royals won for the fifth time in seven meetings with Toronto. Salvador Perez had an RBI single and extended his career-best streak of reaching base safely to 21 games. His 27 RBIs lead the American League. Massey homered off right-hander Nate Pearson in the eighth, his second in two games. He finished with four RBIs.
Steven Kwan gave Cleveland the lead with his RBI double in the 10th inning and made a diving catch to start a double play in the bottom of the inning to lead the Guardians to a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros. Shawn Dubin (0-1) walked Brayan Rocchio to start the 10th before Kwan doubled down the left field line to score the automatic runner and put the Guardians on top 3-2. There was one out in the 10th when Mauricio Dubón hit a fly ball into shallow left field where Kwan made a diving catch before throwing to second to retire the automatic runner.
Jake Cronenworth hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning and Jurickson Profar had four hits for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-2 to take two of three. Cronenworth hit his third career grand slam and the second for the Padres this season. It came after Tyler Wade opened the inning with a bunt single over the head of reliever Fernando Cruz, followed by Profar’s single and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s walk. Cronenworth connected to right on the first pitch he saw from Cruz. Profar extended his hitting streak to eight games. He had a two-run single in the fourth.
Roddery Muñoz pitched six strong innings to get his first major league win and the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1. Making his second major league start, the 24-year-old Muñoz (1-0) gave up one run and three hits while striking out seven and walking two. Emmanuel Rivera singled twice and walked, while Luis Arraez and Bryan De La Cruz each drove in a run for the Marlins, who won their first series of the season. Dane Myers drove in two runs with a pinch-hit single in the eighth and has five RBIs over the last two games. The Rockies are the first team since 1900 to have trailed at one point in each of their first 30 games.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw six scoreless innings, rookie Andy Pages hit a two-run homer as part of a five-run second inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-0 on Wednesday night. Yamamoto continues to pitch well in his first big-league season after signing a $325 million, 12-year deal during the offseason. The Japanese star was roughed up in his first outing on March 21 in South Korea, but has been much better over his past six starts and now has a 2.91 ERA. The righty gave up five hits and two walks, striking out five.
Milwaukee reliever Abner Uribe was suspended for six games and starter Freddy Peralta for five for their roles in a brawl during a Brewers’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay outfielder Jose Siri was suspended for three games, a penalty later cut to two, and Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy for two. The suspensions were issued by Mike Hill, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations. All four also were fined. Murphy started his suspension, when associate manager Rickie Weeks led the team against the Rays, and Siri also began his penalty.
WNBA
WNBA teams have started experiencing the Caitlin Clark effect and the top overall draft pick hasn't even played her first game. To capitalize on Clark's popularity, the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have moved games against the Indiana Fever to bigger arenas. When Clark played road games in college last season at Iowa, they were either sellouts or set attendance records at every single one. The two-time reigning WNBA champion Aces relocated their game on May 25 from the 12,000-seat Michelob Ultra Arena to the 18,000-seat T-Mobile Arena. The Mystics game against Indiana on June 7 will be played at Capital One Arena — Washington’s former home.
WNBA star Brittney Griner says she thought about killing herself during her first few weeks in a Russian jail after her 2022 arrest on drug-related charges. Griner spoke for the first time about her monthslong detention in Russia during an hourlong interview that aired Wednesday night on ABC. Her memoir, “Coming Home,” is set to be released on May 7. Griner was detained after arriving at a Moscow airport after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges allegedly containing oil derived from cannabis. She says she had suicidal thoughts “more than once” but decided against it.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Gamers’ appetites for immersive sports video games have not changed much since the heyday of EA Sports' college football. Society, however, has. Video-game developer EA Sports is breaking back into the college football world 11 years after lawsuits over using players’ likeness without compensation froze the franchise. EA Sports announced in 2021 it would be rebooting the game with college athletes receiving the go-ahead to profit from their brand. The developer will seek to differentiate its game from other offerings in the market — sports franchises that have had the advantage of time to evolve.
The Big 12 is about to play its first season without Oklahoma and Texas. The new 16-team conference lacks traditional super powers. And the expanded College Football Playoff’s new revenue structure has created a perception the Big 12 is no longer a peer of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference on the field. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark’s job is to push back against the narrative bigger bank accounts automatically make better football teams. He says he was not happy with the new CFP revenue model, but he's betting on the Big 12's performance in the 12-team playoff to overcome perception.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Two-time reigning national champion UConn is among the teams that have dramatically changed their rosters with transfers during college basketball's open portal window. The deadline for players to enter their names into the portal to signal their intent to change programs is late Wednesday. The Huskies could lose all five starters from their second straight NCAA championship team. But coach Dan Hurley has added former Michigan center Tarris Reed and Saint Mary's guard Aidan Mahaney as replacements. Other teams facing significant changes include marquee names like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Arkansas.
BOXING
Boxer Ryan Garcia denied using performance-enhancing drugs in a video posted on social media Wednesday night after ESPN reported that he had tested positive for a banned substance. Garcia defeated Devin Haney, a former amateur rival, by majority decision on April 20 in New York. Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss but did not win the title because he was over the weight limit. ESPN reported that the 25-year-old Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Ostarine the day before and the day of the fight, citing a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association letter.
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