NBA:
LeBron James poured in 35 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the third straight year by clobbering the Celtics, 135-102 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. James drained a 3-pointer in the third quarter to pass Michael Jordan as the NBA's all-time scoring leader in postseason play. Kyrie Irving finished with 24 points to help the defending champs earn a third straight finals meeting with the Golden State Warriors, the 2015 titlists.
Game 1 is next Thursday in Oakland.
In other NBA news:
— The Hawks have hired Travis Schlenk as general manager and head of basketball operations, giving the former Golden State assistant GM control of personnel decisions. Schlenk succeeds Wes Wilcox, who resigned May 5 as part of the restructuring of the Hawks' front office.
— Warriors coach Steve Kerr is not yet ready to return to the bench as the franchise prepares for its third straight trip to the finals. General manager Bob Myers made the announcement Thursday, though he didn't rule out Kerr coming back at some point if he somehow is healthy enough to do so. The 51-year-old Kerr underwent a procedure May 5 to repair a spinal fluid leak stemming from complications after a pair of back surgeries in 2015.
NHL:
Chris Kunitz scored at 5:09 of double-overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win over Ottawa and a berth in the Stanley Cup finals against Nashville. Kunitz sandwiched goals around a third-period tally by teammate Nick Schultz, but the Pens squandered a pair of one-goal leads before taking Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. Senators netminder Craig Anderson was terrific while stopping 39 shots.
Game 1 is Monday.
The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Victor Antipin to a one-year, entry-level contract. New general manager Jason Botterill announced the deal Thursday. The Sabres had been linked to the 24-year-old free agent for some time. Antipin, a native of Kazakhstan who plays internationally for Russia, spent the past five seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. He had six goals and 18 assists in 59 regular-season games last season.
In other NHL news:
— Nashville captain Mike Fisher says he feels a lot better and his goal is to be available during the Stanley Cup finals. Fisher skated with his teammates Thursday for the first time since being injured May 18 late in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
— Anaheim Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen need shoulder surgeries that will sideline them into next season. Lindholm will out for four to five months, and Vatanen will be sidelined "longer."
MLB:
The scheduled game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees has been postponed by rain. The announcement was made on a wet Thursday morning in New York City about five hours before the teams were supposed to play the finale of a four-game series.
Dinelson Lamet overpowered the Mets in his major league debut, New York's Rafael Montero labored on short notice and the San Diego Padres won 4-3 on a rainy Thursday night. Scattered showers soaked Queens all day, and thunderstorms were forecast for midgame, although heavy rain never came. Mets manager Terry Collins pushed back scheduled starter Jacob deGrom to try avoiding an abbreviated outing, instead telling Montero around 3:45 p.m. that he'd start the 7:10 p.m. contest.
The Houston Astros now lead the AL West by eight games over the Angels and Rangers following their third win in four games. Houston's fourth homer of the day was a game-winner as Jake Marisnick spammed an Alex Wilson pitch in the eighth inning to push the Astros past Detroit, 7-6. Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and Juan Centeno all homered off Justin Verlander in Houston's five-run fourth.
The Colorado Rockies' four-game winning streak is over after the Phillies rallied for a 2-1 win over Colorado. Tommy Joseph tied it with a seventh-inning homer and ended it with a walk-off single in the 11th, preventing the Rockies from completing a four-game sweep. The Rockies still own the best record in the National League despite falling to 31-18.
Red Sox pitcher David Price is set to make his season debut Monday against the White Sox in Chicago. The 31-year-old lefty has been recovering from a strained pitching elbow. He allowed six earned runs and 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings during a pair of rehab starts at Triple-A Pawtucket.
Drew Pomeranz pitched six strong innings and tied his career high with 11 strikeouts to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers Thursday night. Xander Bogaerts and Deven Marrero hit their first home runs of the season helping Boston to their fourth straight win.
A school district in western Michigan has settled a lawsuit with four young women who say they were inappropriately touched by a former Major League Baseball player who worked at Lakewood High School. A federal judge signed an order Thursday dismissing the Lakewood district from the case. Chad Curtis remains in the lawsuit. The women say they were inappropriately touched by Curtis when they were students at Lakewood High in Barry County. Curtis was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 2013. He could be released from prison in three years.
North Carolina is responding to the third set of charges it received from the NCAA in the long-running academic fraud case. The 102-page document released Thursday marked the latest step in the seven-year investigation. UNC faces five top-level charges, including lack of institutional control, in the multiyear probe centered on irregular courses in an academic department. North Carolina is challenging the NCAA's jurisdiction to pursue charges for issues the school says "are academic in nature" and "lie beyond the reach of the bylaws belatedly invoked" by the NCAA.
NCAA:
Ashton McGee, Kyle Datres and Zack Gahagan each knocked in two runs, and five North Carolina pitchers combined to hold Boston College to just two hits in a 10-0 rout that was stopped after seven innings Thursday in the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament. Right-hander Tyler Baum allowed just two first-inning hits before four relievers shut out BC over the final six innings and combine for six strikeouts.
A grand jury has declined to indict an escort and a former Louisville men's basketball staffer in a sex scandal that engulfed the program. The Jefferson County grand jury decided Thursday there wasn't enough evidence for charges of prostitution and unlawful transactions with a minor against Katina Powell and Andre McGee. The announcement by the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office comes as the school awaits discipline in early June by the NCAA after an investigation. Louisville has imposed its own penalties, including a postseason ban in 2015-16 and reductions in scholarships and recruiting visits by coaches.
NFL:
The Chicago Bears added some salsa, signing former New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz to a one-year contract Thursday. An undrafted free agent star for the Giants, Cruz helped Big Blue win a Super Bowl title before being slowed by injuries. Cruz was released after seven seasons in February.
The Buffalo Bills have signed linebacker Gerald Hodges, who started 12 games for San Francisco last season. Hodges is going into his fifth season after being drafted in 2013 by the Minnesota Vikings. He played two-plus seasons with Minnesota before joining the 49ers. He had 83 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble last year. Team officials also said Thursday that cornerback Charles Gaines had been released. Gaines didn't play last season but started four games for Cleveland in 2015.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says his team coming off a Super Bowl title doesn't matter in terms of building success for this season. Belichick said Thursday during organized team activities that players are starting over again among a new group. Belichick said the team's Super Bowl run put the team several weeks behind other teams in preparing for the 2017 season, with the Patriots in the playoffs rather than considering the draft and free agency.
The New York ended their first week of voluntary organized team activities missing two of their biggest stars — wide receiver Odell Beckham Junior and defensive end Olivier Vernon. The workout Thursday was fourth of the week, and Beckham missed them all. The team did not say whether Vernon missed all four, but the veteran who signed an $85 million contract in the offseason last year wasn't there Thursday, the only day workouts were open to the media.
Giants v. Cruz-
New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo has denied doing anything to limit veteran receiver Victor Cruz's catches in the second half of last season. Cruz was released after last season, and signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears on Thursday. Earlier in the week, he raised questions about his role with the Giants in a radio interview on "The Breakfast Club."
"Halfway through the year I'm ballin', the other half I'm not getting the ball," he said. "And you're just like, 'What's going on?' It was like 'Oh, I see what's happening. They don't want me here anymore.'" Cruz had 39 catches for 586 yards and a touchdown last season after missing most of the previous two seasons with injuries. McAdoo said he had no answer when asked about Cruz's suggestion that Eli Manning was instructed not to throw to him. When pushed, McAdoo said: "There's no accuracy to it," the coach said after a Giants' organized team activity Thursday.
Cruz later in the day tried to reconcile things. "I love the @Giants," he tweeted. "They gave me a platform no one else did. I am forever grateful! I never said I was sabotaged, don't believe these headlines."
In other NFL news:
— The New York Giants have signed defensive end Devin Taylor and safety Duke Ihenacho. New York terminated the contract of safety Raheem Moore and waived linebacker Ishaq Williams to make room on their roster.
— The Arizona Cardinals have signed safety Budda Baker, the team's second-round draft pick out of Washington. The Cardinals now have all draftees under contract except their first-round pick, linebacker Haason Reddick.
— Four NFL teams will carry an additional overseas player on their practice squads during the 2017 season: Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans and Tampa Bay. Three players are from Britain and one from Germany. The announcement by the NFL on Thursday is part of a new International Player Pathway program.
Baseball Hall of Fame:
Rachel Robinson will receive the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award from baseball's Hall of Fame on July 29, the day before this year's induction ceremony. She's the wife of late Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color barrier in 1947. Rachel Robinson created the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 1973, a year after he husband's death. Rachel Robinson, who turns 95 in July 19, headed the foundation's board until 1996.
Baseball:
The New Jersey Jackals of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball have been sold to University Sports and Entertainment, LLC for an undisclosed price. University Sports and Entertainment announced Thursday that it had purchased the team from Larry Hall. Under the new ownership, Yogi Berra Stadium, on the campus of Montclair State University, will undergo over $1 million in capital improvements. The Jackals have long-term plans to continue to play at the 5,000 seat stadium, which opened in 1998. The new ownership group Joe Redmon as the team's new general manager. He previously served as the team's director of corporate partnerships.
PGA:
There's a three-way tie for the lead through 18 holes of the PGA's Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Kelly Kraft, Derek Fathauer and PGA Tour rookie J.T. Poston opened with 5-under 65s for a one-shot edge over three others. Kraft and Graeme McDowell had the only bogey-free rounds on a day when only 33 of the 121 players finished under par. Jon Rahm shares fourth place with McDowell and Scott Brown. Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson birdied their last three holes for 67s.
Bernhard Langer (LAHN'-gur) is the first-round leader of the Senior PGA Championship as he seeks his record ninth major on the tour. Langer shot a 7-under 65 that leaves him two strokes and of Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen, Scott McCarron and James Kingston. The 59-year-old German could break Jack Nicklaus' record of eight senior majors.
LPGA:
Stacy Lewis shot a 7-under 65 to share the first-round lead with Wei-Ling Hsu in the LPGA Volvik Championship. Lewis is a former world No. 1 who is winless in 72 events since June 2014. Hsu eagled two of her first five holes and was 6 under through six. She and Lewis ended up a stroke ahead of Nelly Korda.
NASCAR:
Kevin Harvick has claimed the pole for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. Harvick turned a lap of 193.424 mph on the 1 1/2-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval. It's only the second time a Ford has won the pole in the last 16 Cup races at Charlotte. Kyle Busch will start on the front row after winning the All-Star race at Charlotte last weekend. Cup Series point leader Kyle Larson will begin NASCAR's longest race at the rear of the field. Larson's car failed to get through prequalifying inspection in time for him to make a qualifying lap.
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