NBA:
In the NBA playoffs, Toronto bested Miami in overtime 96-92 to even the series at 1 game each.
The Indiana Pacers will have a new head coach next season. The team has announced that Frank Vogel will not return following the team's first-round playoff exit. Vogel was 250-181 in five and a half seasons with the Pacers and led the team to the playoffs five times. Team president Larry Bird said he believes it's time for a new voice to lead the Pacers, keeping with his long-held philosophy on short shelf lives for coaches.
NHL:
In the NHL playoffs, Dallas edged St. Louis 3-2 to tie the series at 2 games apiece and it was Nashville over San Jose 4-3 in triple overtime to tie the series 2-2.
Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr (YAH'-roh-meer YAH'-gur) is prepared to play through his 45th birthday. The NHL's No. 3 goal-scorer has signed a one-year contract with the club after leading the Panthers with 66 points this past season. Jagr will become the 10th player in NHL history to play at least 23 seasons.
Barry Trotz is one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year after leading the Washington Capitals to the league's best regular-season record. The Caps were 56-18-8, setting club records for total victories and road wins. Florida's Gerard Gallant (gah-LAHNT') and Lindy Ruff of Dallas are the other finalists after guiding their teams to division titles. The winner will be announced June 22 during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
MLB:
In baseball, in the American league, Boston beat the White Sox 7-3, Baltimore blanked the Yankees 1-0 in 10 innings.
In the National League, San Diego topped the Mets 5-3.
Hartford's new minor league baseball team will play its first home games in Norwich as it waits for its stadium to be completed in Connecticut's capital. The Eastern League says the Hartford Yard Goats will open the first of 10 games at Norwich's Dodd Stadium on May 12th. That will follow a 37-day road trip for the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Norwich is about 40 miles from Hartford.
NASCAR:
NASCAR has decided that Talladega Superspeedway won't be an elimination race in next year's championship Chase. The Alabama track swapped its date with Kansas Speedway in the most significant change to the 2017 schedule released Thursday.
Tennis:
The U.S. Tennis Association has chosen the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton, Oregon, to host the Americans' Davis Cup quarterfinal against Croatia on July 15-17. The USTA announced the site on Thursday and says it will construct a 6,000-seat stadium around the center's current main court. These are the first Davis Cup matches in the area since the United States beat Russia in 2007 to win its most recent championship in the international competition. Tickets will go on sale June 3rd.
NFL:
The Seattle Seahawks have placed Marshawn Lynch on the NFL's reserve/retired list after the running back indicated in February that he was ready to end his football career. Lynch concluded his career with 9,112 yards rushing and 74 touchdowns in the regular season, and another nine TDs in the playoffs. The Seahawks will save $6.5 million with Lynch's retirement.
The New York Giants have waived tight end Jerome Cunningham and safety G.J. Kinne. The Giants announced the moves on Thursday, a day before opening a minicamp for rookies and free agents. Cunningham played in nine games with three starts for the Giants last season. He had eight receptions for 59 yards, with a long of 16 yards.
A former free agent, Cunningham spent most of the 2014 on the practice squad. Last season, he was waived on October 18th, signed to the practice squad three days later, and to the active roster on Nov. 5. A former University of Tulsa quarterback, Kinne spent most of last season on the practice squad. The Giants selected tight end Jerell Adams and safety Darian Thompson in last week's draft.
The New York Jets have signed punter Lachlan Edwards, their seventh-round draft pick, and waived wide receiver Joe Anderson, who made headlines by standing outside Houston's stadium with a sign looking for an NFL job last season. Edwards, from Sam Houston State, is the first of the Jets' seven picks to sign. He will compete with fellow Australian Tom Hackett, who signed as an undrafted free agent.
Anderson was signed to the Jets' practice squad in December, about six weeks after he posted a picture of himself holding a piece of cardboard box with the words "Not homeless ... but STARVING for success" on Instagram that quickly went viral. He was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Texas Southern in 2012. His 2013 season ended with an abdominal and groin injury that landed him on injured reserve. He was with Philadelphia in the 2014 offseason and spent time in the CFL.
PGA:
Steve Wheatcroft and Andrew Loupe share the lead through the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship following 7-under 65s. Rickie Fowler shot 71 and Rory McIlroy a 73 despite having their rounds interrupted by a spectator. The fan threw a golf ball with an earplug attached to it toward the golfers as McIlroy was hitting his tee shot on the 6th hole. The police threw the spectator out. No one was injured.
Laetitia Beck took the first-round lead in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic with a bogey-free 7-under 65. The first Israeli player to qualify for the LPGA Tour was in the first group of the day off the 10th tee. She birdied four of the final five holes on her opening nine and had three more on the second nine. Annie Park and Minjee Lee were tied for second at 67.
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