NBA
Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Mikal Bridges had 25 points and OG Anunoby added 22 to lead the New York Knicks to a 116-113 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night and into the second round of the NBA playoffs. The third-seeded Knicks will face second-seeded Boston, trying to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Cunningham was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers and his backcourt mate Tim Hardaway Jr. was 1 of 6 beyond the arc and scored seven points.
James Harden had 28 points and eight assists in an outstanding bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard added 27 points and the Los Angeles Clippers forced a seventh game in their first-round NBA playoff series with a 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday night. Norman Powell scored 24 points for the Clippers, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with an impressive effort at new Intuit Dome. Los Angeles took control in the second half while playing tenacious defense on Nikola Jokic, who scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half. Game 7 is Saturday in Denver.
JJ Redick already says the Los Angeles Lakers need to be in better shape next season after the coach watched his team fade in its first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Redick apparently felt fitness was an issue in the Lakers’ inability to execute in the fourth quarters against Minnesota. The Wolves outscored LA 127-85 in the final periods of the first-round matchup, rallying past the Lakers to win the final three games in a row. A day after the Lakers were eliminated, general manager Rob Pelinka also said he plans to find a top-flight center during the offseason.
NHL
Max Pacioretty scored a tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining in the third period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching (secured a ) series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of the first-round matchup. William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-net score in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves and Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves. The Maple Leafs advance to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Connor Brown had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers punched their ticket to the second round of the playoffs with a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman and Trent Frederic each had a goal and an assist and Adam Henrique also scored for the Oilers, who won four straight to take the best-of-seven series in six games. The Oilers will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Jordan Spence and Anze Kopitar replied for the Kings, who have been eliminated by the Oilers in the first round in four consecutive seasons.
Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give the Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights onto the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota Wild. Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone also scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of Edmonton-Los Angeles series. Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.
Nathan MacKinnon received credit for a go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining after the puck bounced off the shoulder of a Dallas player and the Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination by rallying to beat the Stars 7-4 in Game 6. The first-round playoff series heads to Dallas for Game 7 on Saturday. On the winning goal, MacKinnon sent a pass into traffic in front of the net that Sam Steel tried to clear. But it hit the shoulder of Colin Blackwell and caromed toward the net. Goaltender Jake Oettinger couldn’t corral the fluttering puck with his glove. Valeri Nichushkin scored twice for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas also added goals, while Josh Manson and Cale Makar had empty-net goals.
MLB
Shelby Miller never developed into the ace the Arizona Diamondbacks envisioned following a blockbuster trade in December 2015. Perhaps he can become the Diamondbacks’ closer almost a decade later. Miller earned his first save for Arizona on Thursday, working a perfect ninth inning in a 4-2 win over the New York Mets.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put Toronto ahead with a three-run homer in the eighth inning, Daulton Varsho had a solo shot and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2. Toronto trailed 2-0 through six innings before Varsho connected off Tanner Houck in the seventh, his second homer in two games. Varsho was activated off the injured list Tuesday after missing the start of the season while recovering from right shoulder surgery. Mason Fluharty retired all four batters he faced for the win and Yimi Garcia finished for his second save.
Luis Garcia Jr. singled, doubled and drove in a run, Brad Lord pitched effectively into the sixth inning for his first major league win and the Washington Nationals avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Nathaniel Lowe also drove in a run for Washington, which had lost three in a row overall. Lord allowed two runs and six hits in five-plus innings. The rookie right-hander struck out four and walked one. Jose A. Ferrer fanned three in two scoreless innings of relief, and Kyle Finnegan got three outs for his 10th save. Trea Turner had three hits for Philadelphia, which had won four straight.
Miguel Vargas hit a three-run home run, Luis Robert Jr. had four RBIs and the Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-0. Sean Burke (2-4) gave up two hits and three walks over six scoreless innings. Mike Vasil, Brandon Eisert and Jared Shuster each threw an inning of no-hit relief. The Brewers lost by shutout for the first time this season. Burke walked three batters in the top of the first to load the bases with two outs before Robert made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Rhys Hopkins of grand slam. Chase Medroith then hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning and scored on a single by Robert to make it 1-0.
Bobby Witt Jr. homered to extend his hitting streak to 22 games and had three RBIs, Seth Lugo pitched solid six innings and the Kansas City Royals earned a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays with an 8-2 victory. Vinnie Pasquantino had a single, a double and two RBIs for the Royals, who have won nine of their past 10. Lugo gave up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.
José Ramírez became the first player in Cleveland franchise history to reach 250 career homers and 250 steals and then scored the winning run in the 10th inning as the Guardians rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Ramírez’s single drove in Steven Kwan to tie it at 3. Ramírez then stole second base to become the 24th player in major league history and only active one to reach the milestone. After Kyle Manzardo was intentionally walked, pinch-hitter Angel Martínez hit a sharp grounder to score Ramírez and give Cleveland its second walk-off win of the four-game series.
Jeffrey Springs gave up two hits over six scoreless innings, Jacob Wilson and Miguel Andujar each had two hits and an RBI and the Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 3-0. Springs (4-3) had allowed at least three runs in each of has last five starts and 19 total over that span. Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth inning and earned his 10th save in as many opportunities this season. Wilson hit a RBI single in the top of the seventh and Luis Urías added another in the eighth for the Athletics. Marcus Semien had a single, two walks and a stolen base for the Rangers. The Rangers have gone seven consecutive games without hitting a homer, matching the club’s longest HR drought since its seven-game drought in July 2021.
Dillon Dingler capped a five-run eighth inning with a three-run homer, Javier Báez and Gleyber Torres each hit a solo shot in the third, and the Detroit Tigers rallied for a 10-4 win over the skidding Los Angeles Angels. Spencer Torkelson added a two-run homer in a three-run ninth as Detroit improved to an American League-best 20-12 and sent the Angels to their sixth straight loss. After the game, the Angels announced that star outfielder Mike Trout will be placed on the 10-day injured list again because of a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. Tigers starter Casey Mize gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings, including Logan O’Hoppe’s solo homer in the second and Jorge Soler’s two-run shot in the third.
Jose Trevino hit a two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore and Spencer Steer added a solo shot as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Thursday afternoon in a game delayed 1 hour, 37 minutes by rain. Steer's homer, his third of the season, off Riley O’Brien made the score 5-1 in the sixth. Santiago Espinal’s two-run single in the seventh pushed the Reds’ lead to 8-1. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Liberatore (2-3) took the loss. Graham Ashcraft (2-2) earned the win with three perfect innings.
Dansby Swanson, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki all took Pirates ace Paul Skenes deep in the fifth inning as the Cubs pulled away for an 8-3 victory. Suzuki later added a two-run shot off reliever Kyle Nicolas as the Chicago took two of three from the last-place Pirates. Skenes had given up one home run total in his first six starts before running into trouble against Chicago. The 22-year-old star dropped to 3-3 on the season. A crowd of 13,633 turned out for the matinee a day after a fan fell from the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall in right field.
A man who fell from the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park during a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs remains in critical condition. Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, posted on X says that the “incident is being treated as accidental in nature.” The man appeared to fall while celebrating as Pittsburgh star Andrew McCutchen delivered a go-ahead two-run single. McCutchen said the team is focusing on the man's health. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel. The Southern Alleghany School District identified the man as 2022 graduate Kavan Markwood.
Jordan Beck hit a tying double in the eighth inning and Hunter Goodman singled home the go-ahead run two batters later as the Colorado Rockies rallied past San Francisco 4-3 to deny Justin Verlander his first win with the Giants. Colorado came back against reliever Tyler Rogers and snapped a 12-game skid at Oracle Park, where San Francisco had owned the longest active home winning streak against one opponent.
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is headed back to the 10-day injured list because of a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. Angels manager Ron Washington made the announcement Thursday night following a 10-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The team said there is no structural damage to Trout’s knee, but Washington said the three-time AL MVP needs rest. The oft-injured Trout missed his first game of the season Thursday night after being removed from Wednesday’s loss in Seattle with left knee soreness. He got hurt on a sprint to first base when his left foot hit the bag as he tried to beat out a third-inning groundout. Trout is hitting .179 this year with nine home runs and 18 RBIs.
CAR RACING
George Russell had a frosty response to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem claiming in an Instagram post he’s received “constructive feedback” from drivers that has the governing body considering relaxing the code of conduct that penalizes for cursing. Formula 1 drivers have been furious about Ben Sulayem’s rule that went into effect this year. When they learned of it last season, the Grand Prix Driver’s Association sent Ben Sulayem an open letter that Russell claims went unacknowledged. So the Mercedes driver seemed surprised to learn Ben Sulayem is claiming there’s been an active dialogue.
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