NBA
The Toronto Raptors have a two-games-to-none lead in an NBA playoff series for the first time in team history.
DeMar DeRozan matched his career playoff high with 37 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 19 with 14 rebounds as the Raptors outscored the Wizards, 130-119 in Toronto. C.J. Miles finished with 18 points, including a big 3-pointer right after the Wizards trimmed a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to five with 7:52 remaining.
Miles' long bucket ignited a 17-4 run that put the Raptors in control.
Toronto set team playoff records with 44 points in the first quarter and 76 points by halftime.
John Wall had 29 points for the Wizards, who face the Raptors again in Game 3 Friday at Washington.
The Celtics also enjoy a 2-0 advantage following Jaylen Brown's playoff career-high 30-point performance in a 120-106 downing of the Bucks. Brown nailed a 3-pointer to cap an 11-2 run that put Boston ahead 118-99. Terry Rozier added 23 points for the second straight game, while Marcus Morris added 18 points off the bench. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Milwaukee, which hosts Game 3 Friday.
And the Pelicans are coming home with a two-games-to-none lead in their first-round series after Jrue Holiday torched the Trail Blazers for a playoff career-high 33 points in a 111-102 victory at Portland. Rajon Rondo had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for New Orleans, which blew an 11-point lead in the second half before Holiday's pull-up jumper and Rondo's layup put the Pelicans ahead to stay. CJ McCollum had 22 points for the Blazers, who resume the series on Thursday.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George and Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell are uncertain for Game 2 on Wednesday because of injuries.
George scored a team-high 36 points in the opener and set a team playoff record with eight 3-pointers in Oklahoma City's 116-108 win. He missed the final minute of the game to get treatment for a bruised right hip.
Mitchell suffered a left foot bruise in Game 1 and still finished with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Also in the NBA:
Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks will play a pair of preseason games against the 76ers in China, 10 years after the forward played for Germany in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Nowitzki will become the first player in NBA history to play 21 seasons with the same franchise. The games are slated for Oct. 5 in Shanghai and Oct. 8 in Shenzhen.
A Michigan company has filed a federal lawsuit against Cavaliers forward LeBron James, claiming his digital media platform stole an idea. Adventure Enterprise is suing "Uninterrupted," for use of a "Shop Talk," concept. Uninterrupted was co-founded by James with business partner Maverick Carter and Cree Nix.
NHL
The last team to enter the NHL has become the first team to advance to the second round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.
Marc-Andre Fleury handled 31 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights completed a four-game sweep by blanking the Kings, 1-0. Brayden McNabb provided the series-winning goal by beating former teammate Jonathan Quick just over four minutes into the second period.
The Knights became the second team to win their first four playoff games, joining the 1970 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Elsewhere in the opening round:
Lars Eller scored 4:12 into double-overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 win at Columbus, cutting the Blue Jackets' series lead to 2-1. Alex Ovechkin assisted on go-ahead goals by Tom Wilson and John Carlson, but Artemi Panarin tied it early in the third period. Braden Holtby stopped 33 shots after replacing Philipp Grubauer in the starting lineup. Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves for the Blue Jackets, who are home for Game 4 on Thursday.
The Jets are one win away from a spot in the second round after Mark Schiefele and Connor Hellebuyck led a 2-0 win at Minnesota in Game 4. Schiefele scored with 28 seconds left in the opening period and added an empty-netter to help Winnipeg take a 3-1 series lead. Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots in his first career playoff shutout and seventh of the season, one game after being pulled. Devan Dubnyk stopped 26 shots for the Wild, who will try to stave off elimination in Game 5 Friday at Winnipeg.
Wednesday Pittsburgh goes against Philadelphia at 7 p.m. and Tampa Bay faces off against The New Jersey Devils at 7:30 p.m.
In other hockey news:
The Wild say Zach Parise is week to week with a broken sternum suffered late in their Game 3 win over the Jets.
Parise took a hard hit to the chest area when he was sandwiched by Jets center Mark Scheifele and defenseman Ben Chiarot. The left wing will miss at least the rest of the first-round series and likely more games if Minnesota advances.
The Calgary Flames have fired head coach Glen Gulutzan after two years with the club. The Flames went 17-20-4 at home and fell from eighth to 12th in the Western Conference standings by winning just two of their last 11 regular-season games. Gulutzan has a 146-125-23 NHL coaching record that also includes two seasons with the Stars.
MLB
Shohei Ohtani brought a 2-0 record and a 2.08 ERA into his third major league start last night. Mookie Betts greeted him by leading off the game with the first of his three home runs as the Red Sox blasted the Angels, 10-1 at Anaheim.
Ohtani didn't last very long, yielding three runs and four hits on 66 pitches before exiting with a blister on his pitching hand. The bullpen didn't do much better as Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt and Rafael Devers went deep to turn the game into a rout.
David Price yielded three hits and four walks over five innings as the Red Sox improved to 14-2, extending the AL's best start since 1987.
The Angels ended a seven-game winning streak and dipped to 13-4.
Also on yesterday's major league schedule:
Patrick Corbin pitched no-hit ball into the eighth inning and allowed only a checked-swing single in pitching the Diamondbacks to a 1-0 shutout of the Giants. Brandon Belt had the lone hit off Corbin, who struck out eight and threw 100 pitches in his first career shutout. Arizona and the Mets share the NL's best record at 12-4.
Gio Gonzalez surrendered eight hits but just two runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Nationals beat the Mets for the second straight night, 5-2. Trea Turner doubled twice, singled and walked while scoring twice to back Gonzalez, who is 11-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 16 starts lifetime at Citi Field.
Chad Bettis worked into the eighth inning and combined with three relievers on a five-hitter as the Rockies blanked the Pirates' 2-0 to improve to 5-1 on their seven-game road trip. Rookie Ryan McMahon chipped in an RBI single after entering the game batting .074.
Kenley Jansen blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning before Yasmani Grandal and Kyle Farmer lined two-run doubles to give the Dodgers a 7-3, 12-inning win at San Diego. Jansen wasted a strong performance by Alex Wood, who held the Padres to an unearned run and two hits with seven K's over 5 1/3 innings.
Matt Carpenter's two hits and three RBIs helped the Cardinals win their first meeting with the Cubs this season, 5-3. Adam Wainwright was sharp in 35-degree weather with a 10 mph wind, limiting Chciago to an unearned run and four hits over five innings.
Rhys Hoskins had struck out three times before providing a two-out, two-run double in the 10th inning of the Phillies' 5-1 win at Atlanta. Maikel Franco added a two-run double to secure Philadelphia's seventh win in eight games.
Eric Thames launched a two-run homer and Junior Guerra combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Brewers shut out the Reds, 2-0. Reds starter Sal Romano had a two-hit shutout in the sixth until Lorenzo Cain walked and Thames slammed his team-leading sixth home run.
J.T. Realmuto crushed a three-run homer and had four RBIs as the Marlins followed Monday's 12-1 loss by clobbering the Yankees, 9-1. Miami was already up 4-0 when the Marlins' catcher went deep in the fifth inning off Masahiro Tanaka. Realmuto came off the disabled and made his season debut after being out since March 11 because of a bruised back.
The Astros earned a 4-1 win at Seattle behind Lance McCullers Jr., who fired one-hit ball with 11 strikeouts over seven innings. Brian McCann hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the sixth inning.
The Indians were 6-1 winners over the Twins in the majors' first regular-season game in Puerto Rico since 2010. Francisco Lindor hit one of Cleveland's four home runs in his homeland to back Corey Kluber's one-run ball over 6 2/3 innings. Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez smacked consecutive homers in the sixth and finished with three hits apiece.
Yangervis Solarte belted a two-run homer and collected four RBIs in Toronto's 11-3 pounding of the Royals in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader. Randal Grichuk also homered for the Blue Jays, who scored six times while sending 11 batters to the plate in the sixth inning.
The Blue Jays completed a sweep of the twinbill by knocking off Kansas City, 5-4 on Luke Maille's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Maille had two hits and three RBIs as the Jays improved to 11-3 since an 0-2 start.
The Rangers upended the Rays, 7-2 as Matt Moore held his old team to an unearned run and five hits over seven innings. Adrian Beltre, Ronald Guzman and Shin-Soo Choo drove in two runs apiece for Texas, while Kiner-Falefa had four hits.
Victor Martinez smacked his first home run since August and the Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory against the Orioles. Martinez hit a two-run shot in the second, and Jeimer Candelario strokeda tiebreaking triple in the fifth in support of Francisco Liriano, who gave up two runs and five hits over five innings.
Jed Lowrie marked his 34th birthday with a go-ahead home run in a five-run first that sparked the Athletics' 10-2 drubbing of the White Sox. Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs apiece and Trevor Cahill scattered five hits over seven shutout innings to win his season debut.
Elsewhere in the MLB:
The Chicago Cubs were a little healthier heading into Tuesday's game against the Cardinals.
Anthony Rizzo was back in the Cubs' lineup following a stint on the 10-day disabled list with lower back tightness. Rizzo is just 3-for-31 with a homer and three RBIs in seven games after going 0-for-3 on Tuesday. Utilityman Efren Navarro was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to make room on the roster.
Other players activated Tuesday include Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (KWAY'-toh) and Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich.
NFL
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson is dismissing reports that general manager John Dorsey has settled on a quarterback and said the top prospects remain in contention to be selected by the team.
The Browns haven't been able to adequately fix their quarterback problem for years and are being thorough in their evaluation of what is considered a very strong QB class. Southern California's Sam Darnold, Wyoming's Josh Allen, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield and UCLA's Josh Rosen remain in contention to be chosen by Cleveland with the No. 1 pick.
Meanwhile, Browns owner Dee Haslam has stepped down as the CEO of a media company to focus more on the team and doing community work in Cleveland.
Haslam announced she is relinquishing duties in running RIVR Media, a Tennessee-based company she co-founded 20 years ago. She will remain as a partner and executive producer with the company.
Haslam and her husband Jimmy bought the Browns in 2012.
In other NFL news:
Former Jets center Nick Mangold has retired after an 11-year career in which he established himself as one of the NFL's best at his position. The 34-year-old Mangold has announced on Twitter he will sign a one-day contract with the Jets to retire as a member of the team. Mangold was a first-round pick in 2006 and didn't play last season after he was released by New York in February 2017.
Ezekiel Ansah has signed his franchise tag, signaling his return to the Detroit Lions. Detroit designated the defensive end from Ghana as its franchise player nearly two months ago. Ansah has 44 sacks in five seasons with the Lions. He had 12 sacks last season, bouncing back from an injury-filled 2016 season in which he had a career-low two sacks.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles has been given a one-year contract extension through 2020-21 after leading the Cornhuskers to their most conference wins in a season. The Huskers were 22-11 and played in the National Invitation Tournament. Their 13-5 record in Big Ten play was good for fourth place, tied with national runner-up Michigan.
In other news:
Wake Forest center Doral Moore says he will skip his senior season and turn pro. The 7-foot-1 Moore averaged 11.1 points and 9.4 rebounds last season and had a team-best 61 blocks while setting a school single-season record by making 68.9 percent of his shots.
GYMNASTICS
Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber (WEE'-bur) is the latest gymnast to sue Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee over former sports doctor Larry Nasssar's sexual abuse.
Wieber was on the "Fierce Five" team that won gold in 2012. She filed a lawsuit in California Tuesday alleging Michigan State and former USA Gymnastics leaders hid Nassar's conduct from the public and law enforcement. She says the abuse spanned between 2006 and 2012, her medical records were destroyed, and she and her teammates "were not protected."
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