NBA
Jayson Tatum had 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and the Boston Celtics pulled away after Magic star Paolo Banchero went to the bench with five fouls, beating Orlando 120-89 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The defending NBA champions will play either the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons in the second round. The Knicks lead their series 3-2 despite falling 106-103 earlier Tuesday in New York. Franz Wagner scored 25 points, Banchero had 19 and Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic.
Cade Cunningham had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and the Detroit Pistons stayed alive in their first postseason appearance since 2019 by beating the New York Knicks 106-103 last night in Game 5 of their first-round series. Ausar Thompson added 22 points and Tobias Harris had 17 for the Pistons, who will have a chance to even things up at home in Game 6, which is set for 7:30 Thursday night. If they win that, the deciding game would be back at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Detroit, though, has lost an NBA record-tying nine straight home games since 2008.
Jamal Murray erupted for 43 points and Russell Westbrook chipped in 21 in his return from a foot injury, sparking the Nuggets’ 131-115 win over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night that gave Denver a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Nuggets also got 23 from Game 4 hero Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic’s 21st career playoff triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers stole one from the Milwaukee Bucks. Indiana forced two turnovers in the final 29 seconds of overtime, and Haliburton blew past Giannis Antetokounmpo for the go-ahead layup with 1.3 seconds left to give the Pacers a 119-118 victory and a 4-1 series win. The Pacers closed the game with an 8-0 run over the final 40 seconds of OT to eliminate the Bucks in the first round for the second straight season. Haliburton had 26 points and 10 assists as he improved to 9-0 in home playoff games. This chippy series ended fittingly with a shoving match between the teams at midcourt.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was so excited about Indiana’s improbable overtime rally that he didn’t realize what led to the postgame scuffle between his teammates and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. Then he got to the locker room, watched the replay and winced when he saw his father, John, on the court, confronting two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Haliburton says he had a talk with his dad and doesn't agree with what happened. He adds, “I don't think my pops was in the right at all.” Antetokounmpo says John Haliburton's behavior was disrespectful.
The San Antonio Spurs have back-to-back rookie of the year award winners. After Victor Wembanyama got all the first-place votes last year, Spurs guard Stephon Castle was named the winner of the rookie award this season. Castle prevailed in one-sided voting over fellow finalists Zaccharie Risacher of Atlanta — the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft — and Jaylen Wells of Memphis.
NHL
Sebastian Aho hammered a one-timer past Jacob Markstrom at 4:17 of the second overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 5-4 on Tuesday night to clinch their first-round playoff series. The score came with the Hurricanes on a four-minute power play on a double-minor high-sticking penalty by Dawson Mercer. Aho's capper marked the only lead for the Hurricanes in a wild game that pushed them into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Markstrom finished with 49 saves for the Devils while facing a deluge of shots in the third period and first OT.
Brett Howden scored 4:05 into overtime Tuesday night to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild and put Vegas one game away from advancing out of the Western Conference first round. The Golden Knights take a 3-2 series lead back to St. Paul for Thursday night’s Game 6. Vegas will try to advance to at least the second round for the fifth time in their eight-year history. Minnesota will attempt to avoid another first-round series exit. The Wild’s last series victory occurred in 2015 when the Wild made the second round.
Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the first playoff shutout of his career as Ottawa edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Tuesday night to cut the deficit in the teams’ first-round matchup to 3-2. Thomas Chabot and Dylan Cozens gave the Senators a 2-0 lead before Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk added empty-net goals for Ottawa, which once again staved off elimination after picking up a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 at home Saturday. Tkachuk and Stutzle added two assists each for three-point performances. Anthony Stolarz stopped 15 shots for the Leafs. Game 6 is Thursday in Ottawa.
Brett Howden scored 4:05 into overtime Tuesday night to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild and put Vegas one game away from advancing out of the Western Conference first round. The Golden Knights take a 3-2 series lead back to St. Paul for Thursday night’s Game 6. Vegas will try to advance to at least the second round for the fifth time in their eight-year history. Minnesota will attempt to avoid another first-round series exit. The Wild’s last series victory occurred in 2015 when the Wild made the second round.
MLB
Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice led off the game with consecutive home runs, and the New York Yankees battered Baltimore’s beleaguered pitching staff in a 15-3 victory over the Orioles. Carlos Rodón retired the first 15 Orioles he faced and eventually yielded two runs and two hits in six-plus innings. Kyle Gibson allowed five home runs in the first two innings in his first big league start of the season. He was finally pulled with two outs in the fourth after allowing nine runs and 11 hits.
Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte each hit an early two-run homer, and the New York Mets put on a dazzling display of sparkling defense in their 8-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pete Alonso also went deep off an ineffective Eduardo Rodriguez as the Mets improved to 21-9, the top record in the majors. They are 13-1 at Citi Field, the best home start in franchise history. Handed a 7-0 cushion after the third, David Peterson yielded one run over five innings to help hand the Diamondbacks their fifth loss in six games. He was boosted by highlight-worthy fielding plays from Tyrone Taylor in center field, Lindor at shortstop and Alonso at first base.
Wilyer Abreu hit a three-run homer, one of five longballs for the Boston Red Sox in a 10-2 win over the struggling Toronto Blue Jays. Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran and Kristian Campbell all had solo homers as the Red Sox won their third straight. Boston homered three times in Sunday’s 13-3 win at Cleveland. The Red Sox lead the majors with 142 runs scored in April. Garrett Crochet struck out six in seven innings to win for the first time in three starts. The left-hander allowed two runs and four hits. Bowden Francis allowed all five Boston homers.
Bryson Stott scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth to cap a zany final inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 7-6. Johan Rojas made up for a defensive miscue in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly off Kyle Finnegan that tied the game at 6-all. Rojas homered in the third, and Kyle Schwarber also went deep for the Phillies, who have won three straight. Trea Turner contributed four hits. Nathaniel Lowe hit a go-ahead three-run homer for the Nationals on a 1-2 pitch from Orion Kerkering with two outs in the ninth.
Caleb Durbin hit a two-run single in Milwaukee’s four-run sixth inning, helping the Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2. Isaac Collins hit his first career homer for Milwaukee, and Freddy Peralta pitched six innings of two-run ball. Chicago used an opener for the fourth consecutive game, tying Tampa Bay in September 2018 for the longest such streak in major league history, according to STATS. Tyler Gilbert became the first pitcher to start three times in a four-game stretch since Zack Greinke for Milwaukee in 2012, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi homered for the lowly White Sox.
Kyle Manzardo homered to right field to lead off the ninth inning as the Cleveland Guardians snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. Manzardo connected on a changeup down the middle by Louis Varland (1-2) for his eighth homer of the season and the first walk-off hit of his career. It was the second walk-off win for the Guardians this season. They won their home opener on April 8 over the Chicago White Sox on a bases-loaded walk. Emmanuel Clase (4-0) got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Freddy Fermin had three hits and an RBI, Kyle Isbel and Salvador Perez each drove in a run and Michael Lorenzen pitched six strong innings for his 50th career win as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1. Perez’s two-out double drove in Jonathan India in the first. One inning later, Fermin poked a single to right that allowed Drew Walters to advance from first to third, setting up Isbel’s sacrifice fly. Fermin, who nearly left the game in the seventh after fouling a pitch off his hands, singled home Maikel Garcia to give Kansas City a two-run cushion in the ninth. Lorenzen (3-3) halted the Rays’ five-game winning streak, his only blemish a solo homer to Junior Caminero in the fourth.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom struck out seven over six scoreless innings for his first win in more than two years and the Texas Rangers had their best offensive game this season to beat the Athletics 15-2. The 36-year-old deGrom had gone 737 days since also beating the A’s on April 23, 2023, then made only more start in his debut season with the Rangers before Tommy John surgery. The Rangers set season highs with their 15 runs and 18 hits. They had scored only 12 total the previous six games. Jacob Lopez (0-1) took the loss.
Yainer Diaz had a run-scoring single in back-to-back innings, rookie Ryan Gusto matched a season high with six strikeouts and the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 6-4. The Astros scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings — all with two outs — for a 6-2 lead. Josh Hader struck out Zach McKinstry to end the game as Houston won for the eighth time in its last nine home games.
Jorge Polanco hit two home runs and drove in five runs as the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-3. The first blast from Polanco was a three-run shot in the second to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Polanco then had a two-run shot off reliever Jose Fermin — his ninth homer of the season — to make it 5-1 in the seventh. Seattle starter Bryce Miller gave up two hits in five scoreless innings and struck out six. Miller needed to be sharp, considering Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz was solid over six innings outside of yielding Polanco’s first homer. Logan O’Hoppe had a solo homer in the top of the seventh for the Angels, and they scored two in the eighth on run-scoring doubles by Nolan Schanuel and Jorge Soler.
Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run homer and fell a single short of the cycle as the Chicago Cubs went deep four times in a 9-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shota Imanaga (3-1) gave up six hits with three strikeouts in five scoreless innings before leaving with leg cramps after a leadoff double from Andrew McCutchen in the sixth. Carson Kelly, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson also homered for the Cubs, who lead the majors with 181 runs through 30 games. Pirates starter Andrew Heaney (2-2) allowed four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Matt Olson had a season-high three hits, Michael Harris II drove in three runs and the Atlanta Braves defeated Colorado 8-2 on Tuesday night for the Rockies 16th loss in 17 games. Austin Riley and Nick Allen had two RBIs apiece while Eli White had a pair of extra-base hits — a triple and a double — for the Braves, who have won nine of their past 11 games after a 5-13 start. The loss was the Rockies’ eighth in a row. It’s the first time in franchise history that Colorado has gone 1-16 over a 17-game stretch.
Xander Bogaerts went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, Nick Pivetta struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings and the San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 7-4. Bogaerts singled up the middle with two outs in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Bogaerts extended the lead to 7-4 with a two-run shot in the seventh — his first homer of the season. Pivetta (5-1), who entered with 30 strikeouts in 30 innings, allowed five hits and three earned runs. Robert Suarez retired the side in the ninth for his 11th save of the season. Willy Adames homered for the Giants.
Teoscar Hernández had two RBI doubles and two RBI singles to take over the major league lead with 31 RBIs, Andy Pages homered among his three hits, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 15-2. The Dodgers finished with 18 hits while winning their fourth straight game. Los Angeles turned a 3-1 game into a blowout with three runs in the third, a rally Mookie Betts capped with a two-run single, and four in the sixth on two-run doubles by Will Smith and Tommy Edman. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer, recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier Tuesday, gave up one run and five hits in five innings in relief for his first big-league win.
NFL
The prank call to Shedeur Sanders during the NFL draft wasn’t related to the ones other players received, according to a person familiar with the league’s investigation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Tyler Warren, Kyle McCord, Mason Graham and Chase Lundt also have reported receiving prank calls. The call to Sanders, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, made headlines when the Atlanta Falcons said defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son was responsible. Sanders received a prank call on the second day of the draft while waiting after entering the draft expecting to be a first-round pick.
George Kittle agreed to a four-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers that will make him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. Kittle announced the deal on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, saying the extension was worth $76.4 million over four years with $35 million guaranteed at signing. The deal keeps Kittle under contract with San Francisco through the 2029 season. The 49ers confirmed the deal with the only remaining member of the original draft class under coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
© 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
