NBA:
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Houston Rockets guard James Harden have been selected to the NBA All-Star First Team and are joined by were Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard and New Orleans' Anthony Davis. James is a first-teamer for a record-tying 11th time after finishing eighth in the league in scoring and sixth in assists. Harden was the lone unanimous First Team selection, while James and Westbrook each received 99 of 100 votes.
Cleveland's LeBron James has been named to the All-NBA first team for a record-tying 11th time, and Houston's James Harden is the lone player to be a unanimous first-team selection this season. Golden State's Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were second-team choices, joined by Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Utah's Rudy Gobert and Boston's Isaiah Thomas.
NHL:
Corey Perry scored off a deflection at 10:25 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win over the Predators in Nashville, tying the NHL's Western Conference finals at two games apiece. Perry fired a shot that banked in off Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban's stick and past goaltender Pekka Rinne. The Ducks blew a 2-0 lead in the last 6 ½ minutes of regulation before ending the Predators' 10-game home playoff winning streak.
The New York Islanders have hired Luke Richardson as an assistant coach on Doug Weight's staff. The team announced the hire on Thursday and confirmed that assistant Bob Corkum won't be back. The 48-year-old Richardson returns to the NHL after being head coach of the AHL's Binghamton Senators for four seasons and leading Canada to a Spengler Cup championship last year.
Hockey World Championship:
The United States was a 2-0 loser to Finland in the quarterfinals of the ice hockey world championship in Cologne, Germany. Jimmy Howard stopped 18 shots for the Americans, who had won six straight games to capture Group A. Canada edged Germany 2-1 to set up a semifinal showdown with Russia, which defeated the Czech Republic 3-0.
Olympics:
There still appears to be a slight chance of having NHL players at the next Olympics. The head of the Pyeongchang Olympics organizing committee says the NHL isn't being "greedy" preventing hockey stars going to the 2018 Games and he was willing to be flexible to meet their demands. Organizing committee president Lee Hee-beom told The Associated Press on Thursday that "we are ready to cooperate." Lee says he doesn't know what the NHL's conditions are, "but whatever they ask — if it is acceptable for us — we will do our best."
NFL:
The opening date for the $2.6 billion football stadium under construction in Inglewood, California, has been pushed back one year to 2020. The stadium will be shared by the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers and was scheduled to open before the 2019 NFL season. The Rams are likely to stay in the Coliseum for the 2019 season, while the Chargers play that year at the 30,000-seat StubHub Center in 2019.
A pair of first-round picks signed their first NFL contracts. The Bills have inked first-round draft pick cornerback Tre'Davious White, who was selected with the 27th pick out of LSU. The Colts have signed former Ohio State safety Malik Hooker, the 15th overall pick in last month's draft.
NCAA:
UMass head baseball coach, Mike Stone is retiring after today’s noon game. Stone coached the Minutemen for 30 seasons.
In men’s Division 1 lacrosse, No. 1 Maryland takes on No. 8 UAlbany on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Earlier, No.2 Syracuse will face Towson at noon.
CBS Sports, Army and Navy have agreed to a 10-year contract that extends the network's media rights for the military academies' annual football rivalry game through 2028. The new agreement starts in 2019. CBS has been the broadcast home of Army-Navy since 1996. In 2009, the game was moved to the second Saturday in December to make it the only Football Bowl Subdivision game scheduled for that day and the final major college football game before bowl season. Last year's Army-Navy game was the most watched in 24 years. Army broke a 14-game losing streak to Navy. The 118th Army-Navy game is scheduled for December 9th at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Army-Navy will be streamed on CBSSports.com. CBS Sports Network will continue to broadcast the Army-Navy basketball rivalry.
MLB:
Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis hit first-inning homers to spoil Hector Velazquez's major league debut and the Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox 8-3 Thursday night. Chad Pinder added a homer in the fourth inning.
Plans unveiled this week for a new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium are already meeting resistance in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello tells WPRO-AM it might be "too late" to consider the team's request for state help for the $83 million project unless Governor Gina Raimondo, a fellow Democrat, has already done the foundational work and introduces legislation soon. The team is seeking a $23 million state investment to help build a downtown Pawtucket ballpark for the minor league team.
Danny Duffy tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 5-1 Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep. The Royals scored twice in the second off Jordan Montgomery before Moustakas deposited his pitch into the bullpen in right in the fifth inning to break the game open.
Help may be on the way for the hobbled New York Mets. Steven Matz and Seth Lugo made their first minor league rehab appearances Thursday night, pitching to Travis d'Arnaud in a game with Class A St. Lucie. The Mets have dropped seven straight and are seven games under .500 for the first time since September 2014.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred remains hopeful the sport can play regular-season games in Europe for the first time in 2019. Major League Baseball had hoped to have European games in 2018, possibly between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London's Olympic Stadium, but decided there was not enough time to get plans in place.
Meanwhile Manfred says the two groups bidding to buy the Miami Marlins from Jeffrey Loria are relatively even in their price offers. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush leads one group, which includes former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter. The other group includes Hall of Famer Tom Glavine and is led by businessman Tagg Romney, son of the former Republican presidential nominee.
Under Armour will take over from Majestic Athletic as the supplier of Major League Baseball uniforms in 2019, a year earlier than previously scheduled. Fanatics Incorporated and MLB announced an agreement in December that gave the company licensing rights to manufacture and distribute merchandise starting in 2020. Fanatics signed a deal last month to buy VF Corp.'s Licensed Sports Group and with it the 600-worker Majestic Athletic plant in Easton, Pennsylvania, where team jerseys and fan apparel are manufactured.
Baseball fans can like their team's games with a click starting Friday. Major League Baseball announced Facebook will carry a live game nationally each Friday starting with Colorado at Cincinnati this week. The Facebook package of 20 games will use the broadcast feed of one of the involved teams.
Chicago police are investigating the death of a 42-year-old man who fell over a railing at Wrigley Field. Authorities say Richard E. Garrity of Wheaton fell and suffered head trauma as he was leaving the ballpark after Tuesday night's game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.
The Atlanta Braves say first baseman Freddie Freeman will miss two months after suffering a fractured left wrist. Freeman was hit by a pitch during the fifth inning of Wednesday's 8-4 win over the Blue Jays. He was the top hitter in the Braves' lineup, batting .341 and tied for the major league lead with 14 home runs.
In other major league news:
— The Toronto Blue Jays have suspended center fielder Kevin Pillar (pee-LAHR') for two games without pay after he yelled an anti-gay slur at a Braves pitcher on Wednesday. Pillar apologized in a statement, saying he was "completely and utterly embarrassed" by the word he directed at Jason Motte.
— A South Korean court has upheld a suspended prison sentence for Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang over a drunken driving conviction. Kang's lawyers say the suspended prison term issued in March has led to visa issues that have prevented him from rejoining the Pirates. Kang had 21 home runs and 62 RBIs in 2016.
— The Tigers are expecting to be without Miguel Cabrera for two or three days after the star slugger was a late scratch Wednesday night because of a strained oblique. Cabrera is hitting only .248 this season with four home runs and 15 RBIs.
WNBA:
Maya Moore scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half to lead a balanced Minnesota offense and help the Lynx beat the New York Liberty 90-71 Thursday night. All five of the Lynx starters were in double figures, with Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles each adding 12 points.
PGA:
Ricky Barnes and James Hahn are go-leaders through 18 holes of the Byron Nelson Classic near Dallas. Barnes and Hahn opened with 6-under 64s that put them two strokes in front of Matt Kuchar, Jason Kokrak, Cameron Tringale and Jhonattan Vegas. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson is part of a group at 67.
There's a four-way tie for the lead through one round of the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala. Lee Janzen, Jeff Sluman, Scott McCarron and Miguel Angel Jimenez each fired 7-under 65s to begin the PGA Tour Champions event. Kenny Perry is one shot back and one ahead of five others.
LPGA:
Lexi Thompson fired a 6-under 65 to grab the first-round lead at the LPGA's Kingsmill Championship in Virginia. Thompson had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch after playing her opening nine holes at even par. She's one shot ahead of Gerina Piller, Brittany Lincicome, and Angel Yin.
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