Update on the latest sports
NBA-PLAY-IN ROUND
Grizzlies outlast Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies are going to the NBA playoffs for the first time in four years.
Ja (jah) Morant made consecutive jumpers in the final 48 seconds of overtime and scored 35 points as the Grizzlies outlasted the Warriors, 117-112. Morant shot 14 for 29 with five 3-pointers as Memphis overcame Stephen Curry’s six treys and 39 points.
Jordan Poole hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:50 left in OT for the Warriors, only to see Xavier Tillman answer with a baseline 3 moments later.
Memphis earned the No. 8 seed and advanced to face top-seeded Utah in the first round of the best-of-seven Western Conference playoffs. Game 1 is Sunday in Salt Lake City.
NHL-STANLEY CUP SCHEDULE
Avs, B’s, Preds and Jets win.
UNDATED (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins have command of their respective Stanley Cup first-round series, while the Nashville Predators are right back in their matchup with Carolina.
Ryan Graves had a goal and two assists as the Avs thumped the Blues, 5-1. Graves opened the scoring two minutes into the second period and set up Alex Newhook’s goal about 11 minutes later.
Tyson Jost (johst) also had a second-period goal before Brandon Saad (sahd) and J.T. Compher tallied in the third.
Philipp Grubauer stopped 31 shots shots and was perfect until Tyler Bozak beat him late in the second.
The Avalanche can complete a sweep Sunday in St. Louis.
The Bruins are one win away from advancing to the second round following a 4-1 victory over the Capitals.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead on a second-period goal by Brad Marchand, Boston broke it open on goals by David Pastrnak (PAHS’-tur-nahk) and Charlie Coyle in the first 63 seconds of the third period. Matt Grzelcyk (GRIHZ’-lehk) capped the scoring with the Bruins’ third power-play goal of the game. Tuukka (TOO’-kah) Rask turned back 19 shots and blanked the Caps until Alex Ovechkin netted a power-play goal 4:54 into the third.
The Bruins can close out the series Sunday in Washington.
The Predators are within two games to one in their first-round series following a 5-4 win over the Hurricanes in double overtime. Matt Duchene lit the lamp at 14:54 of the second extra period, ending the longest game so far this postseason.
Ryan Ellis had a goal and two assists for Nashville while Jusse Saros (YOO’-see SAH’-rohs) tied a team postseason record with 52 saves.
Sebastian Aho (AH’-hoh) had a goal and two assists for Carolina.
Game 4 is Sunday in Nashville.
Meanwhile, the surprising Jets own a 2-0 series lead after Paul Stastny (STAS’-nee) scored 4:06 into overtime to send them to a 1-0 win at Edmonton. Stastny’s screened wrist shot beat goaltender Mike Smith high to the right corner.
Connor Hellebuyck (HEH’-leh-buhk) made 38 saves for Winnipeg, and Smith stopped 35 shots.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid and teammate Leon Draisaitl have been held off the scoresheet in the first two games after finishing 1-2 in the league in scoring during the regular season.
Game 3 is Sunday in Winnipeg.
NHL-NEWS
Leafs’ Tavares out of hospital
UNDATED (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares has been discharged from the hospital a day after suffering a concussion in two collisions during a 2-1 playoff loss to Montreal.
Tavares crashed into Montreal’s Ben Chiarot (shah-RAHT’) midway the first period and was hit in the head by Corey Perry’s knee as he fell. The center gave the thumbs-up sign as he was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
Coach Sheldon Keefe said after practice Friday that Tavares had a concussion and will be out indefinitely.
In other NHL news:
— Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri (NA’-zehm KA’-dree) was suspended for eight games by the league for his head shot on Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday. This marked the sixth career suspension for Kadri, who was acquired by Colorado in a deal with Toronto on July 1, 2019.
— Wild right wing Marcus Johansson has a broken left arm that will take him out of the playoff series against the Golden Knights. Johansson was hurt in the first period of Game 3 on Thursday.
— The Canucks have given coach Travis Green a multiyear contract extension after a season in which the team was battered by the coronavirus and finished last in its division. Green was in the final year of his contract after being hired in April 2017 to replace Willie Desjardins (day-zhar-DAN’).
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Lefty, Oosthuizen share lead
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Phil Mickelson is in position to become the oldest winner of a major championship.
The 50-year-old Mickelson birdied five of his last nine holes for a 3-under 69 that leaves him tied with Louis Oosthuizen (OOST’-hay-zehn) at minus-5.
Lefty has fallen out of the top-100 ranking and hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in three years. His last major title was at the 2013 PGA Championship.
Mickelson is the oldest player to have a share of the lead at the midway point of a major since a 52-year-old Fred Couples in the 2012 Masters.
Oosthuizen’s only bogey of the day came on his final hole. He shot a 68 to grab a share of the lead, one shot ahead of Brooks Koepka (KEHP’-kah).
Branden Grace was in great shape before going double-bogey-bogey on his last two holes, dropping him into a fourth-place tie with Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Hideki Matsuyama (hih-DEH’-kee maht-soo-YAH’-mah) at 3 under.
Those missing the cut include Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele (SHOW’-flee), Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar (KOO’-chur).
PGA-MEMORIAL FANS
Memorial to open waiting list to fans
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The Memorial Tournament is opening its waiting list for tickets.
That means it likely will have the biggest crowd since the return of golf from the COVID-19 pandemic nearly a year ago. Tour officials say it will allow those on the list to buy weekly badges for the event, which will be held June 3-6. The A tournament spokesman says capacity is expected to be more than 50%, without being a complete sellout.
LPGA-PURE SILK CHAMPIONSHIP
Kemp leads while seeking first LPGA win
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Sarah Kemp shot a 4-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend in the LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Championship.
Kemp rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 fourth, her 13th hole of the day on the River Course. She followed with birdies on the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth Kemp holed a 20-footer on No. 8 to tie Stacy Lewis for the lead at 6 under and finishing with a par on No. 9.
The 35-year-old Australian is winless in her 14-season LPGA Tour career.
Lewis bogeyed her final hole and fell into a second-place tie with Jessica Korda and Ana Belac.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Nats win in Strasburg’s return
UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees won a unique pitchers’ duel against the Chicago White Sox, a game that also included a triple play and a walk-off hit.
White Sox lefty Carlos Rodón and counterpart Jordan Montgomery combined for 24 strikeouts before the Yankees completed a 2-1 victory. Stats says it was the first game since 1900 in which both starters had at least 10 punchouts while permitting no walks or runs.
Rodon fanned a career-high 13 in six innings of two-hit ball. Montgomery scattered four hits and struck out 11 in seven innings.
Gleyber (GLAY’-bur) Torres hit a solo homer and provided a walk-off single in the ninth. The game-winning hit came moments after New York pulled off a 5-4-3 triple-play.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Danny Santana hit a solo homer and Rafael Devers (DEH’-vurz) added a two-run shot as the Red Sox hammered the Phillies, 11-3. Devers and Christian Vazquez drove in three runs apiece and combined to score three times in Boston’s third straight win.
— Francisco Mejía launched a grand slam in the 12th inning to power the Rays to their eighth straight win, 9-7 over the Blue Jays. Brandon Lowe homered twice, and Ji-Man Choi had a pinch-hit homer for Tampa Bay.
— Max Kepler and rookie Alex Kirilloff drove in two runs apiece while the Twins erupted for nine runs in the fourth inning of an 11-0 dismantling of the Indians. Randy Dobnak won his first start since being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul, allowing three hits in six innings.
— Miguel Cabrera doubled his season home run total by furnishing a solo shot and a grand slam in the Tigers’ 7-5 verdict over the Royals. Kansas City led 5-3 in the seventh until Cabrera belted his sixth slam, the 491th home run of his big league career.
— Ramón Laureano homered among his four hits and made a leaping catch above the center-field wall as the Athletics doubled up the Angels, 8-4. Chad Pinder’s seventh-inning blast put Oakland ahead to stay.
— Adolis García crushed a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to send the Rangers past the Astros, 7-5. Texas was about to absorb a 5-4 lead until Garcia’s 12th home run sent the Rangers to their second win in 11 games.
— Austin Riley belted two of the Braves’ seven home runs in a 20-1 assault on the Pirates. Ronald Acuña (ah-KOON’-yah) Jr. and pinch-hitter Ehire (AY’-ray) Adrianza each smacked grand slams in the lopsided win.
— Khalil Lee had struck out in each of his first eight major league at-bats before providing a tiebreaking double in the 12th inning to lift the Mets past the Marlins, 6-5. New York’s Marcus Stroman remains winless since April 18 after allowing two runs while striking out eight over six-plus innings.
— Stephen Strasburg allowed just one hit while pitching into the sixth inning of the Nats’ 4-2 win over the Orioles. Strasburg started for the first time since April 13. He had been sidelined with right shoulder inflammation.
— Joc Pederson homered on the first pitch of the game and Ian Happ got two hits during an eight-run eighth that turned a close game into a 12-3 rout by the Cubs against the Cardinals. Pederson, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and David Bote (BOH’-tee) each drove in two runs.
— Tyler Winker hit three solo home runs while going 4 for 4 in leading the Reds to a 9-4 rout of the Brewers. Tyler Naquin added a three-run homer as the Reds bounced back from Thursday’s 19-4 drubbing by San Francisco.
— The Dodgers posted a 2-1 win San Francisco behind Trevor Bauer, who struck out 11 in his first career start against the Giants. Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer to support Bauer, who was touched for just two hits over 6 2/3 innings while throwing a season-high 126 pitches.
— Fernando Tatis (tah-TEES’) Jr. became the fastest shortstop in history to hit 50 home runs, slamming a three-run shot in the Padres’ 16-1 laugher over the Mariners. Jake Cronenworth homered, doubled and drove in five runs, and Chris Paddack threw six strong innings in San Diego’s eighth consecutive win.
— The Rockies stormed past the Diamondbacks, 7-1 as German Marquez scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings. Ryan McMahon homered twice and drove in three runs to help Colorado stop a five-game losing streak.
MLB-COVID VACCINATIONS
Surgery for Hicks…Alonso on IL
UNDATED (AP) — New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks will have surgery for a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, a procedure that could sideline him for the rest of the season.
Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged that Hicks will be out for months, but the team won’t be sure if the switch hitter has a chance to return this year until after the operation.
The 31-year-old Hicks is batting .194 with four homers, 14 RBIs and a .627 OPS in 32 games.
Also around the majors:
— Mets first baseman Pete Alonso went on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Wednesday because of a sprained right hand that has bothered him for more than two weeks. The 2019 home run champion has been nursing the injury since he was hit by a pitch. Alonso is in a 5-for-40 slump that has dropped his average to .236 with six home runs and 19 RBIs.
— Four Mariners relievers have been placed on the COVID-19 injured list following a positive test within the team. Those placed on the IL were right-handers Robert Dugger, Will Vest and Drew Steckenrider, and left-hander Anthony Misiewicz. The Mariners did not identify who tested positive.
UCONN-AURIEMMA EXTENSION
Auriemma gets extension
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — UConn has extended women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma’s (aw-ree-EH’-muhz) contract through 2025 in a deal worth $15 million.
The 67-year-old coach has led UConn to a record 11 women’s national championships and guided the Huskies to their 13th consecutive Final Four this past season, when they lost to Arizona in the semifinal.
