NBA PLAYOFFS:
The Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns were last year’s NBA finalists. Neither team managed to advance to the upcoming conference finals.
The Celtics are in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals after knocking out the defending champs, 109-81 over the Bucks.
Boston did it with a 3-point barrage in the Game 7 victory, nailing 22 from beyond the arc. Grant Williams was the Celtics’ long-range master, hitting seven treys and scoring a career-high 27 points.
Jayson Tatum had 23 points for the Celtics, who will face the top-seeded Heat in Miami on Tuesday.
The Celts trailed early but took control by outscoring the Bucks, 61-38 in the second half.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee. But he was just 3 of 11 in the paint in the second half, including 1 for 6 the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks cruised into the Western Conference finals by building a 30-point halftime lead in a 123-90 blowout over the top-seeded Suns in Phoenix.
Luka Doncic , Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson accounted for 89 points, with Doncic delivering 35 with 10 rebounds. Dinwiddie poured in 30 points, doubling his previous series high. Brunson chipped in 24 points for the Mavs, who held the Phoenix starting lineup to 37 points.
Dallas shot a blistering 57 percent, including 19 of 39 from 3-point range. Doncic and Dinwiddie were a combined 11-for-18 from downtown.
Backup Cameron Johnson paced the Suns with just 12 points. Devin Booker was held to 11 on 3 of 14 shooting, and Chris Paul took just eight attempts while scoring 10 points.
The Warriors will host the Mavericks in Game 1 of the conference final series on Wednesday.
MLB:
The Dodgers have ended their first four-game losing streak since last August.
Gavin Lux atoned for an early fielding mistake with a walk-off, two-run double in the ninth inning as the Dodgers avoided a four-game sweep by the Phillies, 5-4. Cody Bellinger got a two-out triple off Corey Knebel and Chris Taylor walked before Lux drove them both home.
Lux made a two-out error on a routine grounder in the second inning, allowing the Phillies to score four unearned runs. Aaron Nola left with a 4-3 lead after throwing seven innings of four-hit ball
Also on major league diamonds:
Yadier Molina homered and drove in four runs in the Cardinals’ 15-6 thrashing of the Giants. Winning pitcher Adam Wainwright was reached for just two runs over six innings, but DH Albert Pujols surrendered four runs on two homers in the first mound appearance of his career. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado added two-run homers for the Cardinals, who took two of three in the series.
The Pirates came away with a 1-0 win over the Reds despite being no-hit. Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI grounder in the eighth inning helped the Pirates become the sixth team in big league history since 1901 to win despite not getting any hits. Hunter Greene, the prized Reds rookie, struck out nine and was pulled after one-out walks in the eighth to Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez.
Cal Raleigh added a go-ahead, two-run drive and reliever Diego Castillo struck out Mets star Pete Alonso with the bases loaded to complete the Mariners’ 8-7 win at New York. Rookie Julio Rodríguez hit a tying homer as part of a four-hit game, helping Seattle become the first team to take a series from the Mets this season. J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo became the first pair of Mets in the team’s 61-season history to hit two-run triples in the same inning.
Ha-Seong Kim supplied a tiebreaking double to ignite the Padres’ four-run 11th in a 7-3 downing of the Braves. Will Myers added a two-run single to cap the scoring in the big inning. Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer off Joe Musgrove gave the Braves a 3-0 lead in the fourth before San Diego took the rubber match.
The Brewers took a 7-3 win against the Marlins behind Kolton Wong, who homered, singled, walked three times and stole two bases in his 1,000th big league game. Jace Peterson and Rowdy Tellez also homered to back Brandon Woodruff, who was reached for three runs and five hits in his five-inning outing. Aaron Ashby relieved Woodruff and pitched four hitless innings while striking out eight for his first save, helping Milwaukee finish 4-5 on its road trip.
Frank Schwindel hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning to lift the Cubs past the Diamondbacks, 3-2. Patrick Wisdom and Rafael Ortega homered for the Cubs, who have won four of six after a 3-14 stretch. Chicago starter Justin Steele struck out a career-high 10 and gave up one earned run and three hits in six innings.
Justin Verlander tossed two-hit ball over five innings of the Astros’ 8-0 thumping of the Nationals. Houston took two of three in Washington, with Yuli Gurriel getting three hits in the finale to finish 8-12 with two homers and four RBIs in the series. Gurriel, Jose Altuve, Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick also homered to support the Astros’ fourth shutout win of the year.
The Angels earned a 5-1 win over the Athletics as Shohei Ohtani homered for the second consecutive day. Patrick Sandoval pitched into the sixth inning and got back on track after a pair of rocky outings, helping the Angels move 11 games above, 500 for the first time since July 2015. Anthony Rendon had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles.
Nestor Cortes helped the Yankees turn just two hits in a 5-1 win over the White Sox. Cortes gave up three hits and struck out seven over a career-best eight innings. Joey Gallo slammed a two-run homer in the ninth to secure New York’s 18th victory in 21 games.
Jeffrey Springs combined with four relievers on a five-hitter for the Rays in a 3-0 whitewash of the Blue Jays. A throwing error by Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman sparked Tampa Bay’s three-run sixth. Wander Franco ended an 0-for-18 drought with a sixth-inning single and scored the second run on a wild pitch.
Adolis García and Kole Calhoun each homered twice in the Rangers’ 7-1 victory against the Red Sox. Texas trailed 1-0 and didn’t have a hit until Calhoun led off the bottom of the fifth with an opposite-field homer. Garcia added a three-run blast and Martin Perez worked six innings to get the win.
Joe Ryan threw a career-high 103 pitches while allowing one run over six innings of the Twins’ 3-1 decision over the Guardians. Byron Buxton and Gio Urshela homered for the AL Central leaders. Urshela broke a 1-1 tie and Buxton smacked his 11th round-tripper of the year.
Miguel Cabrera blasted his 505th career home run and Tarik Skubal equaled his career high with 11 strikeouts as the Tigers completed their first series sweep of the season, 5-1 versus the Orioles. Cabrera had two hits, scored twice and knocked in two more for Detroit. Skubal worked six scoreless innings, limiting Baltimore to three hits and two walks.
Kansas City squandered a six-run lead before Salvador Perez singled home a pair in the ninth inning to give the Royals an 8-7 win at Colorado. Bobby Witt Jr., Whit Merrifield and Emmanuel Rivera homered for the Royals, who took two of three from Colorado. Colorado overcame a 6-0 deficit by scoring seven times in the seventh.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS:
The New York Rangers have completed their first-round comeback from a three-games-to-one deficit.
Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal 4:46 into overtime to give the Blueshirts a 4-3 win over the Penguins. Mika Zibanejad assisted on the game-winner after providing the tying goal with 5:45 remaining in regulation. Zibanejad had three points in the Game 7 clincher, giving him seven over the final two games.
Chris Kreider and K’Andre Miller also scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 42 saves.
Evan Rodriguez gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead with a short-handed goal late in the second period.
The Rangers will head to Raleigh for Game 1 of their second-round series with the Hurricanes.
Calgary has set up a battle of Alberta in the second round.
The Flames are on to the second round following a 3-2 win over the Stars. Johnny Gaudreau ended it at 15:09 of OT, giving Calgary a playoff series win for the first time since 2015.
The Flames had to sweat it out despite outshooting Dallas, 65-28. Gaudreau set up Matthew Tkachuk’s tying goal 8:44 into the second.
Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Flames, who will take on the Edmonton Oilers.
Calgary recovered after Jamie Benn’s goal 40 seconds into the game. Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for Dallas.
Jake Oettinger was the hard-luck loser, turning aside 62 shots.
NASCAR:
Kurt Busch pinched his way past Kyle Larson for the lead with eight laps to go, then drove his gaudy Jordan Brand-styled car away from the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
It was the second win for the up-and-coming 23XI Racing team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who followed the two leaders and Kyle Busch across in fourth place. Bubba Wallace won the team’s first race last year at Talladega.
PGA:
K.H. Lee has successfully defended his Byron Nelson title.
Lee fired a 9-under 63 for a one-shot victory over local favorite Jordan Spieth at birdie-besieged TPC Craig Ranch. Lee’s 240-yard shot on the par-5 12th hole stopped less than 5 feet from the pin, and the eagle put him in front for good.
Spieth shot a 67 to finish a stroke ahead of Hideki Matsuyama and Sebastián Muñoz, who held or shared the lead the first three rounds. Matsuyama shot a 62 and Xander Schauffele had a career-best 61 to finish in a tie for fifth.
Steve Stricker completed at a wire-to-wire victory in the Regions Tradition, closing with a 4-under 68 for a six-stroke victory and his fourth PGA Tour Champions major title.
Stricker’s second Tradition win at Greystone Golf & Country Club came in his third event since returning from a six-month absence for health reasons. Two straight birdies punctuated the dominant performance.
Paidrag Harrington finished second, birdieing the final two holes for a 68.
Steven Alker was in the group at 14 under after a 72.
LPGA scoring leader Minjee Lee made her only three birdies on the back nine and captured the Cognizant Founders Cup by two shots over Lexi Thompson.
The 25-year-old Australian took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 14th hole at Upper Montclair Country Club. She closed with a 2-under 70 for a 72-hole total of 19-under 269 in the event that honors the 13 founding members of the LPGA Tour.
Lee won her seventh career title and first since taking her first major at last year’s Evian Championship.