NBA:
The Golden State Warriors trailed by 25 before taking Game 1 of the NBA's Western Conference finals, a 113-111 decision over the visiting San Antonio Spurs. Stephen Curry scored 19 of his 40 points in the third period and hit a game-tying 3-pointer before Draymond Green followed with a three-point play that put Golden State ahead to stay.
Kevin Durant scored 10 straight during a key fourth-quarter stretch on his way to 34 points. The Spurs finished Sunday's playoff game without forward Kawhi Leonard, who re-injured his ankle in the third quarter. Leonard originally sprained the ankle during the conference semifinals and re-injured it after providing 26 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes. Leonard's status for the remainder of the best-of-seven series is in question.
Washington goes up against Boston tonight at 8 p.m. in Game 7.
NHL:
The Anaheim Ducks have evened the NHL's Western Conference semifinals at a game apiece. Nick Ritchie scored the game-winner and Ryan Getzlaf had three assists as the Ducks downed the Predators, 5-3. Nashville led 3-2 midway through the second period before Ondrej Kase and Ritchie scored about 6 ½ minutes apart to give Anaheim its first lead in the series. John Gibson stopped 30 shots for the Ducks, who head to Nashville for Game 3 on Tuesday.
Ottawa faces Pittsburgh tonight at 8 p.m. in Game 2. The Senators lead the series 1-0.
MLB:
The New York Yankees retired Derek Jeter's jersey No. 2 before Sunday's game against the Houston Astros. Jeter captained the Yankees during much of a 20-year career that ended in 2014 and included five World Series titles and a team-record 3,465 hits. The Yankees also unveiled a plaque in his honor that will be placed in Monument Park behind center field. Houston ended up beating the Yankees 10-7.
The Rays crushed the Red Sox, 11-2 as Steven Souza Jr. hit a three-run homer and Jesus Sucre drove in three runs. The Rays beat the Red Sox for the second time in three games after winning just four of their previous 17 meetings. Tampa Bay starter Matt Andriese gave up two runs over five innings for his third win.
Manny Pina hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, capping the Milwaukee Brewers' comeback from a six-run deficit for an 11-9 win Sunday over the New York Mets.
The New York Yankees have placed closer Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list with rotator cuff inflammation in his left shoulder. The Yankees announced the move Sunday before the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Houston Astros. They called up right-hander Chad Green from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Yadier Molina homered twice and had three RBIs as the Cardinals won for the eighth time in nine games, 5-0 over the Cubs. Matt Carpenter added a two-run blast to back Adam Wainwright, who allowed four hits over seven innings. The Cubs have dropped seven of nine to fall one game under .500.
— The Rockies salvaged a four-game split against the Dodgers as Pat Valaika homered twice and drove in four runs to carry Colorado to a 9-6 win over Los Angeles. Rookie Antonio Senzatela improved to 6-1 while pitching on Mother's Day for the first time since his mom died of breast cancer last July. Nolan Arenado also homered for the Rockies, who failed to go deep in the first three games of the series.
— Jose Osuna hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning to help the Pirates earn a 6-4 victory and a four-game split of the Diamondbacks at Arizona. Tony Watson worked two scoreless innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 10th. Josh Bell and Andrew McCutchen hit home runs during the Pirates' three-run third, and Paul Goldschmidt went deep twice for the Diamondbacks.
— The Giants have their first three-game winning streak of the season after Brandon Belt homered for the third time in four games to help San Francisco whip the Reds, 8-3. Joe Panik and Eduardo Nunez drove in two runs apiece to back Jeff Samardzija, who was 0-5 before allowing three runs and fanning eight over 6 2/3s. Scooter Gennett had two ribbies for Cincinnati.
— The Phillies scored three times off Shawn Kelley in the ninth inning to earn a 4-3 win at Washington in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader. Aaron Altheer started the rally with a homer and Cameron Rupp added an RBI double before scoring on Ty Kelly's single. The Nationals lost despite Bryce Harper's 12th homer of the season and Trea Turner's two-run blast.
— The Nats also blew a late lead in the nightcap before Michael Taylor's two-run homer in the eighth gave them a 6-5 victory over the Phils. Bryce Harper was 3-for-4 with two RBIs as the Nationals stretched their lead in the NL East to 7 ½ games over the Mets. Freddy Galvis put Philadelphia ahead with a two-run triple in the eighth.
— The Marlins halted a five-game losing streak by beating Atlanta, 3-1 on pinch-hitter Tyler Moore's three-run homer in the seventh. Kyle Barraclough got the victory after working out of a bases-loaded situation in the seventh. Lefty Justin Nicolino made his Miami season debut and allowed one run over six innings following his recall from Triple-A New Orleans.
— Mike Moustakas slammed a three-run homer and had four RBIs as Kansas City won its fourth in a row, 9-8 over Baltimore. Jorge Soler and Drew Butera also homered after the Royals fell behind 5-0. Chris Davis and Caleb Joseph homered for the Orioles, who have dropped four in a row since a 22-10 start.
— Jason Kipnis was 4-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs as the Indians slammed Minnesota, 8-3 in Cleveland to end a three-game skid. Kipnis hit a solo blast and a three-run shot in his first game as Cleveland's leadoff hitter this season. Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall also homered for the Indians, who had scored one run in 24 innings before Kipnis ripped a leadoff blast in the first.
— The Rays crushed the Red Sox, 11-2 as Steven Souza Jr. hit a three-run homer and Jesus Sucre drove in three runs. The Rays beat the Red Sox for the second time in three games after winning just four of their previous 17 meetings. Tampa Bay starter Matt Andriese gave up two runs over five innings for his third win.
— Nomar Mazara had the go-ahead hit for the second game in a row and the Rangers extended their winning streak six with a 6-4 win over Oakland. Mazara hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the seventh following a run-scoring double by Elvis Andrus. The Athletics lost despite homers by Trevor Plouffe, Adam Rosales and Matt Joyce.
— Mike Trout homered in his third straight game and Alex Meyer pitched three-hit ball into the seventh to send the Angels past the Tigers, 4-1. Danny Espinosa hit a tiebreaking homer off Justin Verlander to help the Angels win for the fourth time in 12 games. Andrelton Simmons added an RBI single to chase Verlander in the seventh.
— The Blue Jays completed a four-game sweep by beating Seattle, 3-2 on Kevin Pillar's walk-off homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Pillar also made a jumping catch in center to take away a potential run-scoring hit from Danny Valencia in the fourth inning. Justin Smoak added a two-run homer in Toronto's fifth straight win and seventh in eight games.
— Pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera had a go-ahead, two-run single while the White Sox exploded for eight runs in the eighth inning of a 9-3 win against San Diego. Padres shortstop Luis Sardinas committed an error on a potential double-play ball that could have made it a scoreless inning. The White Sox rallied after Jered Weaver held them to a run and five hits over six frames.
In other MLB news:
— The Indians have placed outfielder Brandon Guyer on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left wrist.
— The Diamondbacks have placed catcher Chris Iannetta on the 7-day concussion disabled list after he was hit in the face by a pitch during Friday's game. Iannetta suffered a split top lip, cracked teeth and a broken nose.
— Former big league umpire Steve Palermo has died at age 67 after being in poor health. Palermo broke into the majors late in 1976 and was still calling balls and strikes until 1991, when he was shot trying to break up a robbery in Dallas. The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down, but he remained in baseball as an umpire supervisor for MLB.
Sports Media:
A memorial service has been set in Connecticut for the wife of longtime ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. Sixty-seven-year-old Katherine Ann Berman, of Cheshire, was killed in a two-vehicle traffic crash Tuesday in Woodbury. The Hartford Courant reports Berman's family is holding a memorial service for family and friends Wednesday at the Seymour St. John Chapel at Choate Rosemary Hall School in Wallingford.
ESPN reporter Shelley Smith says she's doing well and undergoing tests at a hospital for stroke symptoms after a scare in the Golden State locker room following the Warriors' 113-111 victory over San Antonio in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last night. Fortunately, a Golden State team doctor was nearby and Smith was immediately moved to the training room to be attended to by the medical staff.
NFL:
The Buffalo Bills have hired Miami Dolphins player personnel director Joe Schoen to be their assistant general manager. The hiring was announced Sunday in Brandon Beane's first move since taking over as the Bills' general manager last week. Schoen spent the past eight years serving in various amateur and professional scouting roles with the Dolphins.
PGA:
South Korea's Si Woo Kim has become the youngest winner of The Players Championship. The 21-year-old Kim was nearly flawless in his final round at TPC Sawgrass, closing with a 3-under 69 with no bogeys for a three-shot victory over Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen. Kim gets $1.89 million for his second PGA Tour victory, and a three-year exemption to the Masters.
NCAA:
In men’s college lacrosse, No. 8 UAlbany and No. 1 Maryland will face-off at 2:30 p.m. in Newark, Delaware on Sunday.
In softball, UAlbany will be in the double elimination regional with Louisiana Tech, Minnesota and Alabama. The Great Danes go up against Alabama first at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Zach Prendergast threw a no-hitter in Seton Hall's 1-0 victory over Villanova on Sunday, striking out a career-high 10. Prendergast needed only 82 pitches and faced one batter over the minimum in the second game of a doubleheader. Villanova (13-30, 4-11 Big East) had its only base runner reach on an error in the sixth inning.
MLS:
Thomas McNamara scored a spectacular goal before crashing into the back of the net and New York City FC tied FC Dallas 1-1 on Sunday night. David Villa earned a free kick in the 68th minute, sending his shot off the crossbar. With goal keeper Jesse Gonzalez falling to the ground after a leaping attempt to block the shot, the ball deflected straight down and bounced into the air. McNamara raced in at full speed and got his head on the ball as he leaped through the flailing legs of Gonzalez before landing in the back netting of the goal.
Romain Alessandrini scored two early goals a minute apart and the Los Angeles Galaxy beat New York 3-1 on Sunday night, ending the Red Bulls' 19-game home unbeaten streak. Los Angeles (3-5-2), which had scored the first goal just once this season and had only scored three times in the first half, led 2-0 before the game was 10 minutes old.
Hockey World Championships:
The United States has defeated Slovakia 6-1 to stretch its winning run at the ice hockey world championship to five games ahead of its Group A showdown with Russia. The U.S. is now at the top of Group A, a point ahead of Russia. The two teams meet Tuesday in Cologne. The Russians first face Latvia on Monday, when the U.S. is not in action.
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