AP Sports in a Minute for April 21st, 2024:
Nikola Jokic leads NBA champ Denver Nuggets past LeBron James and Lakers 114-103 in playoff opener
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets powered past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 114-103 in their Western Conference playoff opener. Two other Nuggets posted double-doubles — Jamal Murray (22 points, 10 assists) and Aaron Gordon (12 points, 11 rebounds) — and Michael Porter Jr. came close with 19 points and eight boards. James scored 27 points for L.A. and Anthony Davis had 32 points and 14 rebounds, but the Lakers lost to the Nuggets for the ninth consecutive time and Denver handed James just his fourth loss in 17 first-round openers.
Knicks beat 76ers 111-104 in Game 1 of playoffs. Brunson and Hart score 22 points and backups star
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points, Deuce McBride led a huge effort by New York's backups with 21 and the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. McBride outscored the 76ers by himself with 13 points in the second quarter, when Joel Embiid had to leave after appearing to reinjure his surgically repaired left knee on a dunk. He returned and rallied the 76ers into the lead in the second half, but Hart hit a couple big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks pull it out. Hart also had 13 rebounds for the No. 2-seeded Knicks, who host Game 2 on Monday.
Donovan Mitchell scores 30, Cavaliers open playoffs with tough-minded 97-83 win in Game 1 over Magic
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, Jarrett Allen had 18 reounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 97-83 in Game 1 of their playoff series. Evan Mobley added 16 points for Cleveland, which got bullied and bounced in just five games by the New York Knicks in the 2023 postseason. That experience scarred the Cavs, who entered these playoffs more confident and relatively healthy after a regular season filled with injuries. Paolo Banchero scored 24 points for the Magic, but he had nine turnovers in his playoff debut. Orlando shot just 33%v from the floor, and made just 8 of 37 3-pointers.
Timberwolves take down Suns 120-95 in Game 1 behind 33 points from Anthony Edwards
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and had nine rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves in a tone-setting 120-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns to start the first round of the playoffs. The Wolves got their first Game 1 home win in the playoffs in 20 years. Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 11-for-17 shooting to lead the Suns, whose disadvantages in depth and size were exploited. They were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint by the Wolves.
Zack Wheeler has no-hit bid for 7 1/3 innings as Phillies beat slumping White Sox 9-5
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler pitched no-hit ball for 7 1/3 innings, Brandon Marsh homered and the Philadelphia Phillies extended their winning streak to five by beating the struggling Chicago White Sox 9-5. Wheeler didn't give up a hit until rookie Korey Lee's one-out single on a hard grounder into right field that just eluded diving first baseman Bryce Harper. The 33-year-old right-hander struck out eight, walked two and allowed no runs while throwing 75 of 106 pitches for strikes. Chicago is batting a major league-low .190 and extended its franchise-worst start to 3-17. The White Sox have lost eight of their last nine games.
Mutiso Munyao gives Kenya another London Marathon win after tribute to Kiptum
LONDON (AP) — Alexander Mutiso Munyao denied 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele a first London Marathon victory by pulling away from the Ethiopian great with about 3 kilometers to go for his biggest career win. Mutiso Munyao and Bekele were in a two-way fight for the win until the Kenyan made his move as they ran along the River Thames, quickly building a six-second gap that only grew as he ran toward the finish in front of Buckingham Palace. He finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 1 second, with Bekele finishing about 14 seconds behind. Emile Cairess of Britain was third, nearly three minutes back.
Chinese doping case sparks unusually harsh spat between global and US drug-fighting agencies
DENVER (AP) — Revelations of nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers whose positive doping tests went unpunished have sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the head of the U.S. drug-fighting organization. WADA says it will turn to legal counsel to address a statement released by Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Tygart says WADA and anti-doping authorities in China failed to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.
Masters champ Scottie Scheffler posts a 63 and leads the RBC Heritage by 1 shot
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is not letting up. He won the green jacket last week. Now he's in position to add the plaid jacket from Harbour Town in the RBC Heritage. Scheffler was bogey-free for a 63. That took him from a three-shot deficit to a one-shot lead over Sepp Straka. Collin Morikawa was another shot back and Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg was among those three behind. Scheffler is going for his fourth win in his last five tournaments. He's trying to become the first player since Bernhard Langer to win in the next week after winning the Masters.
DeBrusk nets 2 power-play goals, Swayman saves 35 as Bruins win 5-1 to open series with Toronto
BOSTON (AP) — Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves to lead the Boston Bruins to a 5-1 victory over the the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Jake DeBrusk scored a pair of power play goals, and Bruins rookie Jonny Beecher scored on his first postseason shot on goal. Brandon Carlo added a goal for Boston about a minute after Matthews caught Swayman away from the crease but banged the puck off the near goalpost. David Kampf scored for Toronto and Ilya Samsonov stopped 23 shots for the Maple Leafs. Game 2 is Monday night.
Another race, another victory for Red Bull's Max Verstappen at Chinese GP
SHANGHAI (AP) — The three-time defending F1 champion Max Verstappen has won the Chinese Grand Prix. He started from pole for his fourth victory in five races this season and his 23rd in the last 27 extending through last season. Only a brake failure last month in the Australian GP in Melbourne probably kept him from winning all five. Lando Norris of McLaren was second followed by Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Washington 5 Houston 4
Final Boston 4 Pittsburgh 2
Final Philadelphia 9 Chicago White Sox 5
Final Cincinnati 7 L.A. Angels 5
Final Atlanta 5 Texas 2
Final Seattle 7 Colorado 0
Final Toronto 5 San Diego 2
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 2 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final Minnesota 4 Detroit 3
Final Cleveland 6 Oakland 3
Final Baltimore 9 Kansas City 7
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Miami 3 Chicago Cubs 2
Final Milwaukee 12 St. Louis 5
Final San Francisco 7 Arizona 3
Final N.Y. Mets 6 L.A. Dodgers 4
Final Chicago Cubs 5 Miami 3
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Cleveland 97 Orlando 83
Final Minnesota 120 Phoenix 95
Final New York 111 Philadelphia 104
Final Denver 114 L.A. Lakers 103
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 3 N-Y Islanders 1
Final Boston 5 Toronto 1
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final Cincinnati 2 Atlanta 1
Final tie Portland 2 Columbus 2
Final Miami 3 Nashville 1
Final tie Orlando City 2 CF Montréal 2
Final New York City FC 2 D.C. United 0
Final Toronto FC 1 New England 0
Final Real Salt Lake 4 Chicago 0
Final Austin FC 1 Houston 0
Final tie St Louis City 3 Sporting Kansas City 3
Final Colorado 2 FC Dallas 1
Final tie New York 2 Los Angeles FC 2
Final Vancouver 2 Seattle 0
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Boston at Pittsburgh 1:35 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Philadelphia 1:35 p.m.
Houston at Washington 1:35 p.m.
L-A Angels at Cincinnati 1:40 p.m.
Seattle at Colorado 3:10 p.m.
Toronto at San Diego 4:10 p.m.
Texas at Atlanta 7:10 p.m.
Seattle at Colorado 8:10 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay at N-Y Yankees 1:35 p.m.
Oakland at Cleveland 1:40 p.m.
Baltimore at Kansas City 2:10 p.m.
Detroit at Minnesota 2:10 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee at St. Louis 2:15 p.m.
Miami at Chi Cubs 2:20 p.m.
Arizona at San Francisco 4:05 p.m.
N-Y Mets at L-A Dodgers 4:10 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Miami at Boston 1 p.m.
Dallas at L.A. Clippers 3:30 p.m.
Indiana at Milwaukee 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Oklahoma City 9:30 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Tampa Bay at Florida 12:30 p.m.
Washington at N-Y Rangers 3 p.m.
Colorado at Winnipeg 7 p.m.
Nashville at Vancouver 10 p.m.
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Minnesota at Charlotte FC 6 p.m.
San Jose at LA Galaxy 8:15 p.m.
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