NBA PLAYOFFS
Now this was finally a role Julian Strawther could sink his teeth into, even if it cost him one. Playing meaningful extended minutes for first time in the series, the Denver Nuggets guard provided a spark off the bench as he scored all 15 of his points in the second half Thursday night. It helped propel Denver to a 119-107 win over the Thunder and force a decisive Game 7, which is set for 3:30 Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City. Strawther had his prosthetic tooth pop out in the fourth quarter when he took contact from an Oklahoma City player.
The Oklahoma City Thunder went 68-14 in the regular season and swept Memphis in the first round of the playoffs. But the Denver Nuggets, who won it all two years ago, have forced a Game 7 Sunday in Oklahoma City. The teams have played 10 times this season and split them five games each. That tie gets broken Sunday with the winner advancing to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.
Jayson Tatum had just been carried off the court with a season-ending injury minutes before the Celtics were pushed to the brink of elimination when they played at Madison Square Garden earlier this week. The players were decidedly down. The defending NBA champions are certainly not out. They return to New York at 8 tonight for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, believing they can extend the series and the Knicks’ 25-year wait to get back to the conference finals. The Celtics are trying to become the 14th team to overcome a 3-1 deficit. If they win Friday, Game 7 would be in Boston on Monday.
WNBA
There are no shortages of challengers to the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty or star power across the league. A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are some of the veterans who will share the spotlight with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers as the league, in its 29th season, hopes to continue its rise in popularity. The WNBA season tips off today with expansion team Golden State playing its first game tonight. On Saturday the New York Liberty will host the Aces. receive their rings and raise the first championship banner in the franchise’s history.
NHL
Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years. Captain Jordan Staal got his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin. After a give and go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a game that was back and forth. Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining.
Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Thursday night to force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal series- set for 8 Saturday night in Dallas. With Edmonton awaiting the winner in the conference final, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets avoided elimination to send the series back to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night. Nikolaj Ehlers had two goals and Mark Scheifele and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored to back Hellebuyck. Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots for Dallas. Stars captain Jamie Benn sucker-punched Scheifele during a late scrum, with Benn given a misconduct penalty and possibly facing a suspension for Game 6. Scheifele opened the scoring at 6:17 of the second period with a shot that deflected off two Dallas players.
Elly De La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain homered, Nick Martinez pitched seven shutout innings and the Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Martinez gave up two hits and walked none while striking out three. He has not given up a walk in his last three starts. De La Cruz’s homer was his eighth of the season and third in five games. Benson’s was his first and McLain’s his sixth. Those three and Gavin Lux had two hits apiece with Benson driving in three. Chicago's Bryse Wilson went 5 1/3 innings and gave up the three homers.
Shohei Ohtani had quite a game on his bobblehead night. Two home runs, six runs. Then Jhonny Pereda struck out him out. The Athletics’ backup catcher faced Ohtani in the eighth inning Thursday night. Pereda gave up three straight hits against the bottom of the Dodgers’ order. With Los Angeles leading 17-2, Ohtani came up with a chance to pile on. Pereda’s first four pitches were between 62 and 68 mph. Ohtani took a called first strike and fouled off another pitch. Then Perada threw an 89-mph fastball. Ohtani’s foul tip was caught and one of the major leagues’ home-run leaders went down swinging. Perada kept the ball as a souvenir.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton hit Minnesota’s first back-to-back homers this season, Chris Paddack pitched seven shutout innings and the Twins extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The win streak is the fourth-longest in Twins history. The record is 15 straight in 1991. They had a 12-game winning streak last season. The Twins swept the season series 6-0 after being swept by the Orioles 6-0 last year. Paddack gave up three hits and one walk. Baltimore's Tomoyuki Sugano went 6 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three.
Josh Lowe had a homer among his three hits in his first game since getting injured on opening day, Brandon Lowe homered twice and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3. Josh Lowe, recovered from an oblique strain, scored on Brandon Lowe’s sixth and seventh homers of the season and hit his first of the season in the fifth inning. Brandon Lowe finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs and Kameron Misner hit his fourth homer. Addison Barger, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Nathan Lukes homered for Toronto.
Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got Jake Burger’s solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros. It was an anticipated pitchers' duel that certainly lived up to expectations. DeGrom struck out seven and walked one. The 26-year-old Brown, who is 10 years younger, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. He entered the game tied for the major league lead with six wins.
AJ Smith-Shawver allowed only two hits and no earned runs in six strong innings, Nick Allen drove in a run with two hits and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 5-2. The Braves won three of four games in the series, leaving the Nationals with eight losses in their last nine games. Washington snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 win on Wednesday night. Smith-Shawver relied on his splitter for six strikeouts. He has won his last three decisions. C.J. Abrams had two hits, including a homer off left-hander Dylan Lee in the eighth.
Meantime, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Phillies were all off last night. The two New York teams face off in the first of a three-game set at 7:05 tonight at Citi Field. Boston is home, playing the first of three against Atlanta at 7:10 tonight. Philadelphia plays the first of three against the Pirates at 6:45 tonight at home.
GOLF
The PGA Championship has the strongest field of the majors. It was just hard to find them at Quail Hollow. Jhonattan Vegas birdied five of his last six holes for a 64. That gives the Venezuelan a two-shot lead over PGA Tour rookie Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis of Australia. Masters champion Rory McIlroy shot 74. Scottie Scheffler had a 69 and Xander Schauffele a 72. For the first time in at least 30 years, no one from the top 10 in the world was in the top 10 on the leaderboard after one round of a major.
NFL
Pittsburgh Steelers executives aren’t the only ones eagerly awaiting a decision from Aaron Rodgers on whether he plans to play football this season. The NFL schedule makers also were following the Rodgers saga very closely. Rodgers has had talks about signing with Pittsburgh but hasn’t made a final decision if he wants to play in 2025, leaving the Steelers with Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard currently at the top of the depth chart. The league still gave the Steelers four prime-time games, banking that the team’s strong following and history of success under coach Mike Tomlin will make them an attractive team for networks no matter what Rodgers decides.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams wanted nothing to do with the team as last year’s NFL draft approached. A forthcoming book describes how the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and his father explored options that would allow him to have a hand in which team selected him. In “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” author and ESPN reporter Seth Wicksham wrote about how the Williamses sought a workaround to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. The book says they also explored signing with the UFL and considered publicly ripping Chicago and the Bears to create an untenable situation for the team.
CRICKET
Pakistan’s premier Twenty20 cricket tournament resumes Saturday after a ceasefire between India and Pakistan with a handful of foreign players returning for the remaining eight games. The Pakistan Super League was suspended on May 9 but last weekend Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire after talks to defuse their most serious military confrontation in decades. The Indian Premier League, also suspended due to the outbreak, will also resume this weekend. PSL organizers first proposed moving the tournament to Dubai but later decided to postpone it after foreign players showed their reluctance to participate in the tournament due to security concerns.
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