NBA PLAYOFFS
Mikal Bridges scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter before making his second straight game-clinching steal, and the New York Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit again to beat the Boston Celtics 91-90 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for New York and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum then couldn’t get to the rim and Bridges moved in to bat the ball away and recover it. Josh Hart had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who will host Game 3 at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Denver Nuggets 149-106 in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Oklahoma City set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87 on its way to evening the series at a win apiece. The Thunder tied the record for points in any half of a playoff game. Milwaukee had 87 in the second half against Denver on April 23, 1978. Nikola Jokic, who had 42 points and 22 rebounds in Game 1, had 17 points and eight rebounds on Wednesday before fouling out. Game 3 is 10 tomorrow night in Denver.
The Golden State Warriors are planning to play without Stephen Curry for at least the next three games of their second-round series against Minnesota. An MRI on Wednesday confirmed a mild strain of the star guard’s left hamstring. The Warriors said Curry would be sidelined at least a week after the injury forced him out early in the second quarter of the Game 1 win. He had 13 points in 13 minutes to help Golden State take home-court advantage away from the Timberwolves. Game 2 is Thursday. The earliest return for Curry appears to be Game 5 on May 14.
A woman is suing former Los Angeles Lakers player and coach Byron Scott, accusing him of sexually assaulting her during a team event at a high school in 1987, when he was 26 and she was 15. The lawsuit was first filed in December 2022 and amended May 1. The amended complaint names Scott publicly for the first time and accuses him of sexual battery and false imprisonment. It says the alleged victim was attending summer classes when she was assaulted by Scott in a janitor’s closet. Scott said through an attorney Wednesday that he doesn’t deny that sexual contact occurred, but maintains he thought she was of legal age.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Mitch Marner scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series. Max Pacioretty and Max Domi each had a goal and an assist, William Nylander also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll had 25 saves in place of the injured Anthony Stolarz. Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 16 saves. The best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Game 3 is set for 7 Friday night.
Mikko Rantanen had a natural hat trick in the second period, Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots and the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series. Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who had won four in a row at Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves. Scheifele returned after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 5 in the first round against St. Louis. Dallas forward Jason Robertson was back after injuring a knee in the final game of the regular season. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is 9:30 tomorrow night in Winnipeg.
The NHL team in Salt Lake City is now known as the Utah Mammoth. Owners Ryan and Ashley Smith unveiled the franchise’s permanent name Wednesday after more than a year of fan input and voting. Mammoth replaces the inaugural season placeholder name Utah Hockey Club, which was also one of the three finalists, along with Outlaws. Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name could not come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership. The Mammoth are maintaining the same black, light blue and white color scheme and the road jerseys with UTAH diagonally down the front.
MLB
Pinch-hitter J.C. Escarra came through with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees rallied past the San Diego Padres 4-3 after being held hitless into the seventh. Cody Bellinger homered with one out in the seventh for New York’s first hit off Padres starter Dylan Cease, who exited moments later with a cramp in his right forearm. Max Fried tossed seven splendid innings in a pitchers’ duel with Cease before San Diego scored twice against the Yankees’ bullpen to build a 3-1 lead in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Trent Grisham tied it in the bottom half with a two-run homer off Jason Adam.
Juan Soto homered in consecutive at-bats, Kodai Senga overcame early control problems to pitch six scoreless innings and the New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1. Soto hit a solo homer off Merrill Kelly in the seventh inning and added another off Jalen Beeks in the eighth, his seventh of the season. Soto also followed Francisco Lindor’s two-run double in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to put New York up 7-1. It was Soto's 25th career multihomer game. Senga allowed two hits, struck out four and walked five to lower his ERA to 1.16. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll hit his 11th homer in the eighth.
Alex Bregman hit a tiebreaking two-run single and had a solo homer, Wilyer Abreu added two solo shots and the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 to snap a three-game losing streak. Bregman and Abreu each drove in three runs for Boston, which was just 1-4 against the Rangers this season before pulling out the victory. Adolis García and Josh Jung each hit a solo homer for the Rangers, who have dropped eight of 11. Brennan Bernardino (2-1) worked a perfect inning of relief for the victory and Aroldis Chapman got the final three outs for his fifth save. Jacob Webb (2-2) took the loss.
Boston Red Sox first baseman Romy Gonzalez left the game after colliding with Texas Rangers first baseman Josh Smith while trying to beat out an infield hit on Wednesday. Both players were down on the ground for a bit, being attended to by their team’s trainers. Gonzalez was down the right-field line, while Smith was next to the bag. There was no word on Gonzalez’s injury.
Cristopher Sánchez allowed one hit over six innings, Trea Turner, Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper each drove in two runs, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0. Sánchez (4-1) finished with three walks and five strikeouts and lowered his ERA from 3.45 to 2.89. Kyle Schwarber singled in the first to reach safely in a 42nd consecutive game, the longest active streak in the majors. Taijuan Walker retired nine of the 10 batters to earn his first career save. Shane Baz (3-2) took the loss.
Carlos Santana kick-started an eight-run sixth inning with a bases-clearing double, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Nationals 8-6 on Wednesday to win two of three at Washington in a 24-hour span. The Guardians sent 13 men to the plate in the sixth against Michael Soroka and relievers Jorge Lopez and Andrew Chafin. The first seven reached, and all of them scored. Leadoff man Steven Kwan scored twice in Cleveland’s biggest inning of the season. Before the sixth, the Guardians had just two hits and eight strikeouts against Soroka, who made his second start for the Nationals after straining his right biceps on March 31.
Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and Jeremy Peña homered and drove in four runs as the Houston Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1. Houston earned just its second victory in seven games Wednesday to snap Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak and leave both teams with .500 records. The Brewers were attempting to sweep a series from the Astros for the first time since 2012. The Astros led 3-1 before Peña broke the game open by delivering a three-run homer to left off reliever Elvin Rodriguez with two outs in the sixth inning.
Spencer Torkelson hit a go-ahead double in the 10th inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the stumbling Colorado Rockies 8-6 to give A.J. Hinch his 900th win as a big-league manager. Torkelson hit a liner to right-center off Zach Agnos (0-1) that brought in Riley Greene, who began at second base under baseball’s extra-innings rule. Javier Báez hit a pair of two-run singles to help make it a milestone night for Hinch, who became the 75th major league manager to reach 900 wins. The Rockies dropped to a major league worst 6-29.
Leody Taveras hit a game-tying two-out single in the eighth inning of his debut with Seattle before scoring the go-ahead run on Dylan Moore’s base hit and the Mariners rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Athletics 6-5 and win their ninth straight series. Andrés Muñoz earned his 13th save. Muñoz hasn’t allowed an earned run in 18 innings. Taveras drove in pinch runner Miles Mastrobuoni with one out then stole second before scoring on Moore’s two-out single off Noah Murdock (1-1). Eduard Bazardo (1-0) got four outs for the win.
Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run homer to give Michael Wacha all the support he needed as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox 2-1. It was the third straight quality start for Wacha who allowed just three hits in seven innings, walked one and struck out five. The Royals won for the 14th time in their last 16 games and lead the majors with 18 quality starts. The White Sox got a run in the ninth off Carlos Estevez on a single by Luis Robert, but left the tying run stranded at third. Jonathan Cannon (2-4) took the loss, allowing two runs and nine hits in six innings.
Byron Buxton homered for a third straight game and Harrison Bader had a pinch-hit homer to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles for their fourth consecutive victory. Buxton hit a three-run shot to the second deck in left field off Orioles starter Charlie Morton in the bottom of the third inning. Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win. Jhoan Durán earned his fifth save with a clean ninth inning. Ramón Laureano hit a solo homer off Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson.
Jorge Soler lined a double into the left-field corner with the bases loaded to drive in three runs in the ninth inning and lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Trailing 4-2, the Angels loaded the bases with no outs against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman when Kyren Paris drew a four-pitch walk and Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel singled. Hoffman struck out Taylor Ward for the first out, but Soler drove a ball that rolled into the corner and past left fielder Jonatan Clase for the comeback win. Paris and Yoan Moncada homered for the Angels.
Sonny Gray pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 for their fifth straight victory. Gray struck out eight and walked one in his first win since April 14. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in his previous three starts. The Cardinals returned to .500 at 18-18, including a 15-6 record at home. They are 4-2 against the Pirates this year after finishing a three-game sweep. Masyn Winn hit two RBI doubles. Lars Nootbaar had three hits, and Victor Scott II scored all the way from first twice. The Pirates have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11 overall.
Robbie Ray pitched six sparkling innings, Wilmer Flores had three hits and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1. Ray allowed one run and three hits in his second straight win. Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers each got three outs before Ryan Walker handled the ninth for his seventh save. San Francisco took two of three at Chicago to improve to 24-14. The Giants scored nine runs in the 11th inning in a wild 14-5 victory over the Cubs on Tuesday night. Nico Hoerner had two of Chicago’s four hits. Ben Brown struck out nine in five innings, but was charged with three runs and six hits.
Freddie Freeman singled twice and hit a bases-loaded triple and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 10-1. Freeman drove in four runs and extended his hitting streak to 12 games as the MLB-leading Dodgers took two of three at Miami and won their fourth straight series. Freeman went 8 for 13 in the series with six RBIs and two home runs. Landon Knack allowed four hits and no runs while striking out five after being called up earlier Wednesday from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Miami starter Valente Bellozo allowed just one hit and struck out seven over 5 1/3 scoreless innings.
TJ Friedl hit two home runs and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 to snap a four-game losing streak despite losing right-hander Hunter Greene to a right groin injury after only three innings. Greene struck out six batters in three scoreless innings. He was unable to complete his warmup before the fourth inning. Greene threw only two warmup pitches, including a pitch that hit the dirt, before stopping his routine. The Reds provided no immediate details on the severity of the injury. He left with the Reds leading 4-0.
NCAA
Pending approval, the $2.8 billion House settlement will allow schools to share revenue with athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness. That could secure generational wealth for some but not others, and replacing scholarship caps with roster limitations is expected to leave walk-ons, partial scholarship earners, nonrevenue sport athletes and high school recruits at risk. There are deep concerns about the potential impact on sports that feed the U.S. Olympic teams. Some athletes say they have little knowledge of what's happening now, much less what's ahead.
Attorneys handling the $2.8 billion NCAA settlement are proposing a massive do-over when it comes to roster limits. They want schools to offer athletes who lost their spots a chance to be on teams without counting against the new caps for as long as they have eligibility. Those players can be invited back to compete for roster spots or go to new schools. The proposal would also give this exemption to high school recruits who were promised spots that were later rescinded and would last for as long as those players are eligible in college.
NFL
The Pittsburgh Steelers have run out of patience with wide receiver George Pickens. The team has agreed on a trade that sends the talented but mercurial 24-year-old to the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers will get a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a fifth-rounder in 2027. The Cowboys get a sixth-round choice in two years. Pickens has spent his first three seasons in the NFL being equal parts productive and petulant, mixing highlight-reel catches with bouts of immaturity along the way. Pickens joins a Cowboys offense that could use another downfield threat to pair with star CeeDee Lamb.
NCAA TOURNAMENT LACROSSE
Ryan Doherty had a hat trick and Silas Richmond added two goals and three assists to lead the University at Albany men's lacrosse team to a 11-9 victory over Siena in the NCAA Tournament opening-round game on last/Wednesday night in front of 3,527 fans at Casey Stadium. Conor Hufnagel had a hat trick and Pratt Reynolds scored twice for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Siena, which finished its season 11-5. UAlbany advances to a first-round game at top-seeded Cornell at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Ithaca. The Big Red beat the Great Danes 18-11 on April 1, but UAlbany has won seven straight since then.
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