Dylan Samberg scored in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 4-3 to finish the group stage with a perfect record at the ice hockey world championship. Samberg’s winner from the slot 1:37 into overtime clinched first place for the United States in Group A, two points in front of Sweden, ahead of Thursday’s quarterfinal games. The Americans face the Czech Republic next while Sweden faces co-host Latvia.
Jacob Wilson disagrees with the modern baseball notion that striking out does not necessarily represent failure. The Grand Canyon shortstop is a projected top-10 overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft partly because of his uncanny ability to put the ball in play. Wilson has been the toughest player in the country to strike out for two years.Â
The WNBA tipped off its 27th season this past weekend with the return of Brittney Griner, a historic effort by Breanna Stewart and a dominant performance by the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. But not everything went according to the early season script.Â
The Denver Nuggets are going to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Nikola Jokic had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists as the Nuggets swept the Western Conference finals with a 113-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4. Jamal Murray scored 25 points for the top-seeded Nuggets, who overcame LeBron James’ 31-point first half and a 15-point halftime deficit to earn their first conference title in 47 seasons in the NBA.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots for his first career playoff shutout, Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal midway through the second period and the Florida Panthers moved one win away from a most improbable trip to the Stanley Cup Final by blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0. Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett had the assists on Reinhart's goal for Florida, which now leads the Eastern Conference final 3-0.Â
Rookie quarterbacks will get much of the attention this week when most NFL teams hit the field for non-contact practices. Twenty teams kicked off their voluntary organized team activities on Monday and 10 more will do so on Tuesday. Only the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the AFC runner-up Cincinnati Bengals aren’t holding workouts this week.
NFL teams will be allowed to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game. The rule change was approved by league owners and stemmed from San Francisco's depth-chart challenge in the NFC championship game. The emergency activation can only occur after injury or disqualification, not for a performance-related decision or other conduct. The 49ers had to send Brock Purdy back into the NFC title game with an injured elbow after fourth-stringer Josh Johnson suffered a concussion.
Brooks Koepka now has five major championships with his two-shot win at the PGA Championship. That's one major for LIV Golf. No one is keeping score that way, least of all Koepka. He says it should boost the Saudi-funded rival league. Certainly it should put to rest the notion that playing for guaranteed riches has taken off the edge to compete. That was never the case with Koepka. He only wanted to be healthy. He was every bit of that at Oak Hill. Koepka becomes the 20th play in golf history to win at least five majors.
Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA, announced his retirement on Monday. Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history. Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal scored more than Anthony. He finishes his career with 28,289 points.
Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat are now just one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series. Caleb Martin scored 18, Jimmy Butler finished with 16, Bam Adebayo had 13 and Max Strus added 10 for Miami, which leads the series 3-0.
Viktor Hovland endured another near miss at a major at the PGA Championship. The 25-year-old finished in a tie for second behind winner Brooks Koepka following a 2-under 68 that left him at 7 under for the tournament. Hovland's chances at catching Koepka disappeared when a shot out of a fairway bunker on the 16th hole plugged into the lip. He double-bogeyed the hole but salvaged a runner-up finish when he birdied the 18th.Â
Viktor Hovland endured another near miss at a major at the PGA Championship. The 25-year-old finished in a tie for second behind winner Brooks Koepka following a 2-under 68 that left him at 7 under for the tournament. Hovland's chances at catching Koepka disappeared when a shot out of a fairway bunker on the 16th hole plugged into the lip. He double-bogeyed the hole but salvaged a runner-up finish when he birdied the 18th.Â
Brittney Griner shined in first regular-season home game since being detained for nearly 10 months in a Russian prison. The Phoenix Mercury center finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, but the Mercury lost 75-69 to the Chicago Sky. The loss came after a rousing welcome home from Mercury fans. Just before player introductions, a poet paid tribute to Griner while being surrounded by the Mercury’s dancers.
Chandler Stephenson jumped on a rebound 1:12 into overtime and hit the back of the net to complete a rally and give the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final. Jonathan Marchessault forced overtime with a shot from the slot with just 2:22 left in the third period. Stephenson, Marchessault and Mark Stone each had a goal and an assist for Vegas, and Adin Hill saved 26 shots.
The United States has routed France 9-0 to keep its perfect record at the ice hockey world championship. Cutter Gauthier led with a hat trick at Nokia Arena for the Americans to dominate Group A with six wins from six games. Goaltender Cal Petersen made 13 saves for the shutout. Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 4-2 to lead Group B with six victories from six games.
