© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sports Report: Karl-Anthony Towns Is Unanimous Rookie Of The Year

Karl-Anthony Towns

NBA:

In the NBA, Oklahoma City topped Golden State 108-102 to lead the series 1-0.

The NBA Rookie of the Year award is staying in Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Towns is a unanimous winner of the award after averaging 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks for the Timberwolves this season. The first pick in last year's draft is the second straight Timberwolves player to win the award, following Andrew Wiggins. New York's Kristaps Porzingis finished second in the voting, followed by Nikola Jokic of Denver.

As expected, the Indiana Pacers have named assistant coach Nate McMillan as their new head coach. He replaces Frank Vogel, who was released after the team's first-round loss. McMillan spent 12 seasons as the head coach in Seattle and Portland, going 478-452 in the regular season and 14-20 in the playoffs. He was hired by Vogel in 2013 and spent the past three seasons with the Pacers.

Kenny Atkinson has been introduced as the new Brooklyn Nets coach, nearly a month after being hired.  He was an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks and remained with them until their season ended with a second-round loss to Cleveland. He then accompanied the Nets to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago last week. Atkinson spent four seasons as an assistant with the Hawks and four with the New York Knicks, Before that, he was the Houston Rockets' director of player development for a year.

Terry Stotts has been rewarded after taking the Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference semifinals. A person with knowledge of the negotiations says Stotts has agreed to a three-year contract extension that goes into effect following the season and runs through 2020. The Blazers are 182-146 in four seasons under Stotts.

The Philadelphia 76ers have become the first team in the NBA to put a sponsorship logo on player uniforms. The club has worked out a deal with StubHub, a website that connects ticket buyers and sellers. The logo will appear on the front left of the jersey in 2017-18 for the start of a three-year trial period.

The Philadelphia 76ers lost plenty the previous two seasons, though never managed to lose the most. This season, they finally fell all the way to the bottom. The potential payoff comes today, when the 76ers have the best chance to win the NBA draft lottery — and could walk away with two top-four picks if the pingpong balls bounce their way. The Lakers and Celtics, the NBA's most storied franchises, have the next-best odds of getting the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft the type of player who could get them back to the lofty positions they used to occupy. Both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks will be on the sideline, having traded away their shots at the top pick to Boston and Denver.

The NBA Draft Lottery begins tonight at 8 p.m.

NHL:

In the NHL, Pittsburgh edged Tampa Bay 3-2 to tie the series at 1 game apiece.

MLB:

In baseball, in the American League, Tampa Bay beat Toronto 13-2, Detroit won against Minnesota 10-8, and it was Oakland over Texas 3-1. Boston's game at Kansas City was postponed because of rain and will be made up as part of a split doubleheader today. 

In the National League, Pittsburgh topped Atlanta 8-5, and it was Miami over PHiladlephia 5-3.

In interleague play, Arizona blasted the Yankees 12-2, Cleveland bested Cincinnati 15-6, ands it was the Angels over the Dodgers 7-6.

The developers of Hartford's new $65-million minor league baseball stadium has until the end of Tuesday to get the park ready for delivery to the Double-A Yard Goats, or face more than $2 million in financial penalties. DoNo LLC and Centerplan construction signed that deal in January after it became apparent they would not be able to finish the park by opening day, or within the original $55 million budget.

The team, which is currently playing home games 40 miles away in Norwich, hopes to have its home opener on May 31, but has said it needs at least two weeks to prepare for the game. The Eastern League also must deem the park ready for play. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin says he's hopeful the deadline will be met.

A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that the Los Angeles Angels are close to signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum (LIHN'-seh-kuhm), who has been a free agent since undergoing hip surgery. Lincecum went 7-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 15 starts last season, missing the final three months with a hip problem. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2008 and 2009 and has made four All-Star Game appearances.

Olympics:

One of the leaders of Tokyo's winning bid for the 2020 Olympics has told the Japanese parliament that he cannot reveal the details of a contract with a Singapore firm that has enmeshed the bid in accusations of bribery. Tsunekazu Takeda said Tuesday the contract is confidential, so he cannot disclose it without the approval of the other party.

French prosecutors are investigating the apparent transfer of 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) to the Singapore account of a company called Black Tidings. The account holder has been closely tied to the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges. Takeda described the payments last week as legitimate consulting fees for services that included bid planning, international lobbying advice and media analysis.

PGA:

Tiger Woods has told reporters that there is still no timetable for his return to competitive golf. The former No. 1 player spoke at a news conference ahead of the Quicken Loans National, a tournament that he hosts. Woods says he's getting stronger and hitting the ball better after undergoing two back surgeries last fall. But it was apparent he has a ways to go after he put three balls in the water hitting ceremonial shots on a par 3 hole. The tournament at Congressional will be played June 23-26, the week after the U.S. Open, and it appears that Woods will attend only in a noncompetitive role.

NFL:

Broncos' quarterback Mark Sanchez will miss the first few days of team workouts next week after undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his left, non-throwing hand. Sanchez injured his left thumb in a weight room mishap on Thursday while participating in team-wide strength and conditioning work. Sanchez, a seven-year pro acquired in a trade with Philadelphia earlier this offseason, is expected to return to action the following week.

Elsewhere around the league:

— Bills officials say first-round draft pick Shaq Lawson will have surgery on his right shoulder and wide receiver Sammy Watkins had an operation for one of his feet. A person familiar with Watkins' injury has told The Associated Press it is a small stress fracture. Watkins is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in July. The Bills say Lawson tweaked the shoulder last week and would undergo a procedure on Tuesday. No word on how long he'll be sidelined.

Obit:

Former NBA forward Jim McMillian has died from complications of heart failure at a hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, according to his sister-in-law Denise Sheridan. He was 68. McMillian was selected by the Lakers with the 13th overall pick in the 1970 draft out of Columbia. He spent three years in Los Angeles, averaging 15.3 points and helping the 1971-72 Lakers reel off an NBA-record 33-game winning streak and the championship. McMillian later played for the Buffalo Braves, New York and Portland.

The Tigers have announced that long time Detroit infielder Dick McAuliffe died Friday at the age of 76. McAuliffe joined the Tigers as a 20-year-old in 1960, and was a fixture in the middle of the infield until 1973. He played in three straight All-Star Games from 1965-67, and led the American League with 95 runs scored in 1968. McAuliffe finished his career with 1,530 hits, 197 home runs and 697 RBIs.

WNBA:

The WNBA says it will offer detailed box scores after each game. They will include such categories as effective field goal percentage, player impact estimate, true shooting percentage and defensive rating. The box scores will be available on WNBA.com shortly after each game. The league is also updating its archive with regular box scores from every game over its 20-year history. Currently every game since 2007 is available on the website. Soon every game from 1997-2006 will be added. The league felt it was an important project with the league celebrating its 20th season. The WNBA has also launched a video vault that will feature highlights.

©2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Related Content