AP Sports Summary for Wednesday Morning
2 teams, 2 chances at titles: Heat, Panthers ready for their finals tests
DENVER (AP) — They were No. 8 seeds. They barely got into the playoffs after up-and-down regular seasons. They had to face the No. 1 overall seeds in Round 1 of the postseason. They had to win Game 7s in Boston just to keep their seasons alive. They are Eastern Conference champions. They are four wins from a championship. This is the story of the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers. And it could have an ending like none other.
The NBA Finals are set: It's the Heat and the Nuggets for the Larry O'Brien Trophy
Cancel that flight plan, Denver. Turns out, the NBA Finals are starting in the Mile High City after all. And Jimmy Butler was proven right. Finally, we have a title-series matchup: The Miami Heat, champions of the Eastern Conference even after getting in as only the No. 8 seed, will take on the Western Conference champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The series starts in Denver on Thursday night. The Heat got there by winning Game 7 of the East title series in Boston on Monday night. It came one year to the day after the Celtics won a Game 7 on Miami's floor to win the East title a year ago.
The Stanley Cup Final between Vegas and Florida will end with a first-time NHL champion
Stanley isn't just getting a tan. He's getting a new home. The Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers pits teams against each other who have never won the NHL championship. It's the first time that has happened since 2018 when Vegas made it in its inaugural season before losing to Washington. While ratings aren't expected to be stellar, the series is a chance to for the league to show off its expansion beyond traditional hockey hotbeds. Game 1 is Saturday in Las Vegas.
Nuggets run to the NBA Finals stirs up memories of wonderful wackiness in the ABA
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets are the last of the four ABA teams that merged with the NBA to reach the Finals. It's stirring up fond memories of the defunct league. Dan Issel, David Thompson and Bobby Jones helped guide the Nuggets to the 1976 ABA Finals. It was the last one before the league was absorbed by the NBA. But many of the ABA concepts still impact the game today. Up-tempo play. The 3-point shot. The first slam-dunk contest, hosted by Denver and included a concert. The Nuggets will host the Miami Heat on Thursday in Game 1.
Browns' Watson makes pitch for DeAndre Hopkins to reunite with him in Cleveland
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (AP) — Standing a few feet from a golf green, Deshaun Watson made a pitch for DeAndre Hopkins to join him in Cleveland. The Browns quarterback said that he has spoken to Hopkins, his close friend and former Houston teammate, and encouraged the three-time All-Pro wide receiver to consider a reunion. Hopkins is a free agent after the Arizona Cardinals released him last week. Watson said he has been in contact with Hopkins, his teammate for three seasons. The Browns appear to be a longshot to land the 30-year-old Hopkins because of a lack of salary cap space. But Cleveland wasn't expected to get Watson either until they lured him with a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
SEC coaches' opinions on schedule debate range from overrated to undecided to ambivalence
DESTIN, Fla. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference began four days of meetings on the Florida Gulf Coast for a second straight year, debating what to do with its football schedule. Texas and Oklahoma join the conference next year to make it a 16-team league that is abandoning divisions. The options are sticking with an eight-game slate, but shifting to one annual rivalry game instead of the current two, or going to nine games with three annual rivals. Georgia coach Kirby Smart called the great schedule debate the "most overrated conversation in the world." And there is still no guarantee a decision will be made this week.
French Open's No. 2 seed, Daniil Medvedev, loses to 172nd-ranked qualifier, Thiago Seyboth Wild
PARIS (AP) — Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev has lost in the first round of the French Open in five sets to an opponent who is ranked just 172nd and was playing only his second match in the main draw of any Grand Slam tournament. Thiago Seybolt Wild is a 23-year-old from Brazil who needed to go through qualifying rounds at Roland Garros just to earn a spot in the men's bracket. He looked very much like he belonged on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday. He hit big forehands and kept his nerve down the stretch to win 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
A's score winning run on a Braves fielding error for 2nd 2-game win streak of season
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Seth Brown scored on a fielding error by Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley in the ninth inning, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Braves 2-1 on Tuesday night, recording consecutive victories for the second time this season. Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias (1-2) walked three of the first four Oakland batters in the ninth. Jonah Bride hit a sharp grounder that Riley bobbled. Bride easily beat Riley's throw to first as Brown scored, giving the A's their fifth walkoff win of the season and first back-to-back victories since May 5-6 in Kansas City. Oakland moved to 12-45 with the win in front of 5,116, the 21st time in 30 home games that the attendance has been under 10,000. Kevin Pillar hit his sixth homer of the season for the NL East-leading Braves.
Column: A year later, LIV Golf is fitting into golf landscape as an island
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — LIV Golf executives are fond of saying that "We're not going anywhere." That much is true. The Saudi-funded league is not about to disappear. But is it going anywhere? The rival league in just one year has managed to blend in with the golf landscape. AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson says it still feels as though it's on an island because it doesn't look like the other tours. The problem going forward is having the same 48 players every tournament all year long. It's been one year since LIV announced its first roster of players. And they aren't the only ones getting rich. The PGA Tour also has benefited.
Blue Jays' Bass apologizes for sharing anti-LGBTQ+ social media post
TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass apologized for expressing support on social media for anti-LGBTQ+ boycotts of Target and Bud Light. Bass shared a post on his Instagram stories Monday urging others to spurn the American companies over support for they showed for the LGBTQ+ community. Both companies are dealing with fallout from those campaigns, which have included hostile and homophobic criticism and calls from LGBTQ+ activists not to cave to anti-LGBTQ+ groups. The right-handed reliever made a brief statement on the field but did not take questions before the Blue Jays hosted Milwaukee.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
___
INTERLEAGUE
Final Toronto 7 Milwaukee 2
Final St. Louis 2 Kansas City 1
Final Cincinnati 9 Boston 8
Final Chicago Cubs 2 Tampa Bay 1
Final Oakland 2 Atlanta 1
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Texas 10 Detroit 6
Final Baltimore 8 Cleveland 5
Final Houston 5 Minnesota 1
Final Chicago White Sox 7 L.A. Angels 3
Final N.Y. Yankees 10 Seattle 2
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 2 Philadelphia 0
Final San Diego 9 Miami 4
Final Arizona 5 Colorado 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 9 Washington 3
Final Pittsburgh 2 San Francisco 1
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WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Connecticut 81 Indiana 78
Final Atlanta 83 Chicago 65
Final Dallas 94 Minnesota 89
Final New York 86 Seattle 78
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Tampa Bay at Chi Cubs 2:20 p.m.
Atlanta at Oakland 3:37 p.m.
Milwaukee at Toronto 7:07 p.m.
Cincinnati at Boston 7:10 p.m.
___
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas at Detroit 1:10 p.m.
L-A Angels at Chi White Sox 2:10 p.m.
Cleveland at Baltimore 3:05 p.m.
Minnesota at Houston 8:10 p.m.
N-Y Yankees at Seattle 9:40 p.m.
___
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh at San Francisco 3:45 p.m.
Washington at L-A Dodgers 4:10 p.m.
San Diego at Miami 6:40 p.m.
Philadelphia at N-Y Mets 7:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona 9:40 p.m.
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New England at Atlanta 7 p.m.
Colorado at Columbus 7:30 p.m.
CF Montréal at D.C. United 7:30 p.m.
New York at Miami 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at New York City FC 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at Philadelphia 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Toronto FC 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Austin FC 8:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at Sporting Kansas City 8:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Real Salt Lake 9:30 p.m.
Saint Louis City SC at Los Angeles FC 10:30 p.m. (Postponed)
San Jose at Seattle 10:30 p.m.
Houston at Vancouver 10:30 p.m.
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