The Los Angeles Lakers have given themselves three chances to win their first NBA championship in a decade. Anthony Davis drained a game-clinching, 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left as the Lakers downed the Miami Heat, 102-96 to take a three-games-to-one lead in the Finals.
The long bucket made it 100-91, starting the celebration that took the Lakers all night to earn. LeBron James finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in helping L.A. bounce back from Sunday's 115-104 loss to Miami. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 and Danny Green added 10 for the Lakers, who didn't trail at any point in the final 20-plus minutes. Jimmy Butler scored 22 points for Miami, which got 21 from Tyler Herro and 17 from Duncan Robinson. Bam Adebayo delivered 15 points in his first game since missing two straight with a neck injury. The Lakers can wrap up the series on Friday.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart scored 26 points and the Seattle Storm won their second WNBA championship in three seasons, sweeping the Las Vegas Aces with a 92-59 victory. It’s the fourth title in franchise history for the Storm, who also won in 2004, 2010 and 2018. Seattle had pretty much the same core group that won the 2018 championship back for this year, led by Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd.
MLB
The Rays were able to even their AL Division Series at a game apiece despite two more long home runs by Giancarlo Stanton. Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows hit home runs for Tampa Bay in a 7-5 downing of the New York Yankees. Rays pitchers compiled 18 strikeouts, with Tyler Glasnow setting a team-record with 10 while allowing four runs and just three hits over five innings. Glasnow was twice victimized by Stanton, who has three home runs in the series and five in his last four postseason games. The Rays knocked around J.A. Happ, who entered for Deivi Garcia in the second inning. Happ surrendered Zunino's two-run shot off the façade of the second deck in left with two outs in the second for a 2-1 lead. Happ also served up Manuel Margot's two-run homer to straightaway center with one out in the third, making it 5-1 and allowing Tampa Bay to withstand Stanton's three-run blast.
The Houston Astros are one win away from reach the American League Championship Series for the fourth straight year. Not bad for a team that finished two games under .500 during the truncated regular season. George Springer homered twice and the Astros grabbed a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series by downing the Oakland Athletics, 5-2. Springer put Houston ahead to stay with a two-run blast in the third inning. The Astros closed the scoring on back-to-back solo shots by Martin Maldonado and Springer in the fifth. Framber Valdez shook off solo homers by Khris Davis and Chad Pinder to get the win, allowing just three other hits over seven innings. Losing pitcher Sean Manaea was pulled after Maldonado's homer, charged with four runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Astros can complete the sweep on Wednesday.
The Dodgers opened their NL Division Series with a strange 5-1 win over the Padres. The Dodgers walked nine times before Mookie Betts supplied their first hit, a double in a four-run sixth. Corey Seager lifted a sacrifice fly that put L.A. ahead later in the inning. Justin Turner was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Dodgers. Walker Buehler worked the first four innings in the Dodgers' combined three-hitter. Dustin May followed Buehler and tossed two scoreless innings to get the win. Starting pitcher Mike Clevinger made it only two pitches into the second inning before getting hurt in his postseason debut for the Padres. Manager Jayce Tingler says Clevinger will be re-evaluated today.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves have taken the opener of their NL Division Series. The Braves trailed 4-1 and 4-3 before erupting for six runs in the seventh inning of a 9-5 victory over the Miami Marlins. Travis d'Arnaud put Atlanta ahead with a three-run homer right after Marcell Ozuna tied the game with an RBI single. Dansby Swanson capped the rally with a two-run blast that put the Braves ahead, 9-4. Ronald Acuña Jr. became the youngest player to lead off the first inning with a home run. But Miguel Rojas answered back with a solo blast before Garrett Cooper's two-run double highlighted the Marlins' three-run third. Ozuna and d'Arnaud each provided run-scoring doubles in the bottom of the third to jumpstart the Braves. The Marlins are without left fielder Starling Marté, who continues to recover from a broken hand suffered in Game 1 of their Wild Card Series with the Cubs. Game 2 is Wednesday at Houston.
In MLB News:
New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán was reinstated from the restricted list by the commissioner's office after completing an 81-game suspension under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. The 28-year-old right-hander is not eligible to pitch in the postseason because he was on the restricted list on Sept. 15, the last date for postseason eligibility. He will be eligible to pitch next year.
The Cleveland Indians expect manager Terry Francona to return for the 2021 season after he missed 48 games in 2020 due to health reasons. Team president Chris Antonetti said the 61-year Francona is back home in Arizona resting and recovering. Francona was hospitalized this season after undergoing surgery for a gastrointestinal issue and then dealing with blood clotting complications. First-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. filled in for the Indians, who were beaten by the New York Yankees in the wild-card round.
NHL
The New York Rangers have used the top pick in the NHL Draft to select the No. 1 prospect in North America. Alexis Lafreniere was selected by the Rangers, making him the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor McDavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015. Lafrienere is the first to earn both Canadian Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP honors in consecutive seasons since Sidney Crosby in 2004 and '05. Lafreniere led the QMJHL in scoring with 112 points in just 52 games. Los Angeles used the second pick to land Sudbury center Quinton Byfield. Ottawa came away with center Tim Stuetzle of Germany and U.S. defenseman Jake Sanderson with the third and fifth choices, sandwiching Detroit's selection of Swedish left wing Lucas Raymond at No. 4
In other hockey news:
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league is targeting a Jan. 1 start for next season. That declaration came after recent talks between the league and NHL Players' Association. The new date is a month after the tentative Dec. 1 start. That could mean kicking things off with the Winter Classic that has become a staple of New Year's Day. The Minnesota Wild are scheduled to host the St. Louis Blues in that game at Target Field in Minneapolis. The estimated start for training camps will be announced at a later date. NHL teams are expected to get camps of at least two weeks, just as they did before the expanded playoffs over the summer. It's still unclear what next season will look like, though Bettman has said the league hopes each team plays a full 82 games.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens got the NHL trading started three hours before the first round of the draft began with an intriguing swap of forwards. The Blue Jackets got Max Domi and a third-round pick in this week's draft from the Canadiens for Josh Anderson. Each player is a restricted free agent who needs a new contract for next season. Domi joins Columbus after putting up 44 points during the shortened regular season and three during 10 playoff games.
TENNIS
Reigning U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem has been dispatched in the French Open quarterfinals. Diego Schwartzman was two points from defeat on three occasions in the fourth set before eventually pulling out a 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Thiem. Next up for Schwartzman is 12-time French Open champ Rafael Nadal. The No. 2 seed survived a first set tiebreak before completing a 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Jannik Sinner.
Nadia Podoroska and Iga Swiatek have advanced to the French Open women's semifinals. Podoroska was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over third seed Elina Svitolina before The 54th-ranked Swiatek won 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over qualifier Martina Trevisan. Podoroska is the first women's qualifier to reach the semis at Roland Garros. American Danielle Collins moved into quarterfinals with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 triumph over Ons Jabeur.
In tennis news, the Paris prosecutor's office has opened a police investigation into suspicions of match-fixing at the French Open. The prosecutor's office said the investigation centers on suspicions concerning one match at Roland Garros. It did not specify the match, but German newspaper Die Welt and French sports daily L'Equipe said it concerns a women's doubles match on Sept. 30. Suspicious betting patterns were reportedly from the fifth game of the second set.
NFL
Coach Mike Vrabel says the Tennessee Titans stand by how they've followed the NFL's protocols for the coronavirus pandemic and hope the league will allow the team back inside their building Wednesday. The NFL's first team to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak has had a couple of what Vrabel called "really good days" with testing, and the coach said they hope for more good news Wednesday. That would keep the 3-0 Titans on target to host 4-0 Bills on Sunday. The NFL already has rescheduled two games because of positive tests, including Steelers-Titans and the Patriots-Chiefs. New England lost in Kansas City on Monday night.
In other football news:
The Cincinnati Bengals will be allowed to double their home crowd to 12,000 for the remaining six games at Paul Brown Stadium. And the Minnesota Vikings will play at least one more home game without fans.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will remain the Miami Dolphins' starting quarterback for at least another week, further delaying the NFL debut of Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins announced Tuesday on Twitter that Fitzpatrick will get the nod Sunday at San Francisco. Fitzpatrick has thrown for four touchdowns and five interceptions for the 1-3 Dolphins. Tagovailoa hasn't played since a serious hip injury ended his Alabama career last November.
Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard will miss the remainder of the season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon during Sunday's 38-31 win over the Chargers. The 19th overall pick from the 2017 draft had 11 receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns in four games, helping the Bucs to a 3-1 start.
Falcons safety Damontae Kazee will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in a loss at Green Bay. He is the fifth starter ailing in the injury-depleted secondary for the 0-4 Falcons, but he's the first to go on season-ending injured reserve.
The 49ers have released wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who was signed by the team as a free agent on Sept. 18. He appeared in each of the team's last three games and had one catch for nine yards.
Albany’s defunct arena football team, the Albany Empire, will return to the Times Union Center this April. The National Arena League announced Tuesday that its new team would keep the name of the its predecessor, which went 22-7 and won the ArenaBowl in front of a nationally-televised audience before dissolving with the rest of the Arena Football League last year. Head Coach Rob Keefe also plans to return, saying in a statement: “We are going to do everything possible to win games and continue to build an awesome culture for Albany and the Capital Region." The National Arena League consists of nine teams.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was hospitalized Tuesday for treatment of COVID-19. Family friend Kim Shiff told the AP in a text message that the 90-year-old college football Hall of Famer was "very fatigued," but had no other symptoms. Bowden's wife, Ann, told the Tallahassee Democrat her husband was scheduled to undergo a chest X-ray and other tests. Bowden recently returned home from a lengthy hospital stay for an infection in his leg. He was notified he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
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