AP Sports Summary for Sunday, May 21st
Nuggets on brink of NBA Finals with 119-108 win over Lakers in Game 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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. Anthony Davis had 28 points and 18 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who hadn't lost three straight games since early February. LeBron James had 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
Baffert back from ban, wins Preakness with National Treasure after another horse euthanized
BALTIMORE (AP) — Bob Baffert's National Treasure has won the Preakness Stakes, hours after another of the Hall of Famer's horses was euthanized on the track with a racing injury. The sport was already facing questions after a tumultuous leadup to the Kentucky Derby that included seven horses dying of various causes over a 10-day span at Churchill Downs. Derby winner Mage finished third in the Preakness. His defeat means there will not be a Triple Crown winner for a fifth consecutive year. Blazing Sevens finished second by a head. Baffert won the Preakness for a record eighth time.
One Baffert horse euthanized on track on undercard before another Baffert entry wins Preakness
BALTIMORE (AP) — A horse trained by Bob Baffert has been euthanized on the track after going down with injury and unseating his jockey during a race on the undercard at Pimlico hours before a different Baffert horse won the Preakness Stakes. Havnameltdown buckled forward and threw jockey Luis Saez off his back during the sixth race Saturday and continued running around the final turn in some distress. The horse was looked at by veterinary staff before being out down. Saez taken to a hospital with leg pain. Baffert later won his record eighth Preakness when National Treasure crossed the finish line first.
Tkachuk scores another OT winner, lifting Panthers to 2-0 series lead vs Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — 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. Aleksander Barkov had a highlight-reel goal for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky again befuddled Carolina with 37 stops. Jalen Chatfield scored for Carolina, while Antti Raanta had 24 saves.
Koepka a tough customer on a tough day to lead PGA Championship
PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The PGA Championship was plenty tough at rainy Oak Hill and so was Brooks Koepka. He shot 66 and has a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners going into the final round. Koepka had the low score for the second straight round. He still needed some help from Conners. The Canadian lost the lead when his bunker shot on the 16th plugged into the lip and led to double bogey. This is the second straight major Koepka has the 54-hole lead. He lost it at the Masters when he played it safe. He says he won't do that again.
Haney retains lightweight titles with unanimous decision over Lomachenko
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney retained his titles by winning a controversial unanimous decision over former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden. Lomachenko dominated the latter rounds and outpunched Haney, 124-110. But much to the dismay of the 14,436 fans in attendance, all three judges had Haney winning. Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland scored the fight 115-113, while Dave Moretti had it 116-112
Judge's 4th hit puts Yanks ahead in 7-4 win over Reds after Hicks cut
CINCINNATI (AP) — Aaron Judge had a go-ahead single in the 10th inning for his fourth hit of the game, and the New York Yankees beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 after cutting Aaron Hicks with $27.6 million on the outfielder's contract. New York overcame a 4-1 deficit in a three-run fifth inning against Luke Weaver on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's homer, Judge's RBI double off the left-field wall and Anthony Rizzo's run-scoring single. Judge is hitting .378 with seven homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.402 OPS in 11 games since returning from the injured list on May 9.
Chevrolet, McLaren soar as Rahal struggles on 1st day of Indy 500 qualifying
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Arrow McLaren Racing paced the first day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 by placing all four of its cars in the fast 12 shootout for the pole on Sunday. Felix Rosenqvist posted the third-fastest qualifying effort in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history to close the day atop the speed chart. He bumped McLaren teammate Alexander Rossi from the top spot. Chevrolet had three of the fastest four cars and landed eight in Sunday's shootout. The four entries from Chip Ganassi Racing will represent Honda in the top-12 shootout Sunday. Rahal Letterman Lanigan had a terrible day and three of its cars will battle Sunday to avoid being bumped from the Indy 500 field.
Man City's treble bid up and running after winning English Premier League
Manchester City's bid for a treble of major trophies is up and running. The first was secured without City even playing as the team clinched a third successive English Premier League title and a ninth top-flight crown in its 143-year history thanks to another slip-up by second-placed Arsenal. Arsenal losing at Nottingham Forest 1-0 capped an end-of-season meltdown for the once long-time leader and left City with an unassailable four-point lead. Pep Guardiola's squad has its sights on becoming just the second team to capture the Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League treble and still has two finals to play in June.
Arsenal stumbles in EPL title race to add to list of late-season collapses
Arsenal's late-season stumble will likely go down in the annals of the English Premier League's most memorable collapses simply because of the level its players were performing at to get themselves in position to win the title in the first place. Only six top-flight teams in the history of English soccer have amassed more points by the halfway mark of the season than Arsenal's haul of 50. Arsenal then built an eight-point lead with nine games remaining and even City manager Pep Guardiola accepted there was nothing his team could do to stop the long time leader in this kind of form. City has stormed back as Arsenal's young team wilted because of inexperience, pressure and some key injuries.