Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final. He had scored the winner in a four-overtime thriller less than two days earlier in Game 1. Florida won on the road for the eighth straight time in the playoffs and improved to 6-0 in overtime in the postseason.
Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Bruce Brown scored 15 points for the top-seeded Nuggets, who have never been this close to the NBA Finals in 47 years in the league. No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 playoff series deficit.
In many ways, Jim Brown used his platform as one of the greatest football players of all time to fight for people very much like him. They were people who were unsatisfied with the status quo and tired of the withering degradation of racial inequality. Brown, who died this week, was an activist on par with Olympic fist-raisers John Carlos and Tommie Smith, or with Bill Russell or Muhammad Ali. One of his good friends, longtime civil rights activist Harry Edwards, says Brown will go down as one of the great social warriors due to his unwavering commitment to finding solutions for the problems that wracked inner-city youth.
The United States has shut out Denmark 3-0 to stay perfect at the ice hockey world championship. Alex Tuch scored one goal and added two assists for the U.S. to earn its fifth victory from five games. Goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 22 shots. The Americans lead Group A and have secured a spot in the quarterfinals. Switzerland downed Canada 3-2 in a clash of two undefeated teams in Group B in Riga for a fifth win. The Czechs beat Norway 2-0 to join the Swiss in the last eight.
Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, hitting a pair of buckets to give the Heat the lead after they erased a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit and Miami beat Boston 111-105 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Bam Adebayo had 22 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists, and Caleb Martin came off the bench to score 25 points for eighth-seeded Miami, which won twice in Boston to earn a chance to complete the sweep at home. Game 3 is Sunday. Jayson Tatum had 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for Boston. But the Celtics star went 0 for 3 with two turnovers in the fourth quarter, when Boston blew an 89-77 lead.
Brett Howden scored from behind the net off Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger 1:35 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference final. Jamie Benn forced the extra time when he scored on a 6-on-5 with 1:59 left in regulation. William Karlsson scored two goals for Vegas. Teddy Blueger also scored a goal, Zach Whitecloud had two assists and Adin Hill stopped 33 shots. Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for Stars. Joe Pavelski recorded two assists, and Oettinger made 33 saves. Game 2 is Sunday in Las Vegas.
Congratulations are in order for the good people of Tempe, Arizona. They might've cost themselves an NHL team, but that was a small price to pay to hang on to their wallets. In a rare setback for billionaire owners and their endless scams to get the public to build them new places to play, the Phoenix suburb decisively turned back a $2.3 billion proposal that included a new arena for the Arizona Coyotes. This one was a stunner for the NHL and the Coyotes, who are likely headed to a new city in their endless quest for a new arena.
NFL legend, actor and social activist Jim Brown has died at the age of 87. Brown shattered records during a relatively short NFL career, leading the Cleveland Browns to their last championship in 1964.
Matthew Tkachuk beat Frederik Andersen in the final seconds of the fourth overtime to lift the Florida Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 early Friday to open their Eastern Conference final series. Tkachuck took a feed from Sam Bennett after Florida had won a battle for the puck as Carolina tried to clear the puck. He then whipped a shot from the right circle past Andersen with 12.7 seconds left for the winner. It marked the longest game in either franchise’s history, as well as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals. Nikola Jokic had another triple-double for the Nuggets, who have never been this close to reaching the NBA Finals before. Game 3 is Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, where LeBron James and the Lakers are 8-0 in the playoffs.
Expectations and intrigue surround the WNBA as the league tips off its 27th season this weekend. There are super teams in Las Vegas and New York loaded with star power and championship aspirations. Brittney Griner is set to make her long-awaited return to the league with the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night in a road game at Los Angeles. She missed last season while detained in a Russian jail on drug-related charges before the saga ended with a prisoner swap in December. On Sunday, Griner plays her first regular-season home game since her release when the Mercury face the Chicago Sky at 4 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
Women's boxing has been achieving a lot of "firsts" in recent years and will add to the list when Katie Taylor fights Chantelle Cameron in Dublin on Saturday. Taylor has never fought in her home country of Ireland as a professional and promoter Eddie Hearn says it's the first time two reigning undisputed world champions in the four-belt era will square off. Interest has boomed since women's boxing made its Olympic debut at the 2012 London Games. Taylor and Claressa Shields both won gold medals. Shields repeated her feat in Rio de Janeiro four years later. And the Olympic field is only getting stronger as the pro game moves more into the mainstream.
A major professional team playing in a minor league venue would've been unheard of just a few years ago. That is what the Oakland Athletics likely will do if they move to Las Vegas. There is recent precedent. The Chargers played in an MLS stadium after moving from San Diego to Los Angeles. The Arizona Coyotes call a college arena home while awaiting what they hope is a new building of their own. A's president Dave Kaval has said he would like to break ground next year and move into the Las Vegas stadium in time for the 2017 season.
Jimmy Butler scored 35 points, including 23 after halftime, and the Miami Heat rallied in the second half to beat the Boston Celtics 123-116 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Miami trailed by nine at the half before outscoring Boston 66-50 over the final two quarters. It was Butler's fifth game with 30 or more points this postseason. Bam Adebayo added 20 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent and Max Strus all added 15 points apiece.
Scoot Henderson tried to make the case that he should be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Brandon Miller hoped to convince teams that he learned a lesson after a decision he made played a role in a shooting death in January. The top two prospects not named Victor Wembanyama got their moments in the spotlight at the draft combine on Wednesday. Henderson says he "for sure" has a "possibility of going No. 1." The former G League star says he believes in himself "as any competitor should." Miller wants teams to convince teams he's learned a lesson.
