NBA-STERLING
NBA bans Clippers owner for life
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Sterling’s days as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers could be numbered.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has given the Clippers owner a lifetime ban and fined him $2.5 million for making racist comments in a recorded conversation. It’s the first step toward forcing a sale of the club and permanently removing Sterling from the league.
The penalties come just three days after the phone conversation was made public and hours before the Clippers hosted the Golden State Warriors.
Silver says he “fully” expects to get the support of the necessary three-fourths of NBA owners to remove Sterling from the league. A majority of NBA ownership groups reached Tuesday by The Associated Press say they will vote to force embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell his club.
When asked by AP if they would vote to remove Sterling, 16 ownership groups said they would, eight declined to reveal their stance and five others could not be reached. None of the 24 teams contacted said they would side with Sterling.
The Clippers immediately issued a statement on the team’s website saying it “wholeheartedly” supports the commissioner’s actions. Sterling issued no comment.
Miami Heat forward LeBron James tweeted, “Commissioner Silver thank you for protecting our beautiful and powerful league!!” Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan said Silver sent a powerful message that there can be zero tolerance for racism and hatred in the NBA. Former NBA star Magic Johnson says Silver “showed great leadership” in banning Sterling for life. Johnson was referenced in the taped conversation.
Union officials said that if the league’s punishment hadn’t included a mandate for Sterling to sell the team, players were considering boycotting playoff games, including Tuesday’s Warriors-Clippers matchup,
The discipline is based on the commissioner’s conclusion that Sterling violated league rules through his comments.
NBA-PLAYOFFS
Clippers beat Warriors…Wizards advance…Grizzlies back in control
UNDATED (AP) — The Clippers were able to concentrate on basketball again last night as they took a 3-2 lead in the NBA’s Western Conference quarterfinals.
DeAndre Jordan shot 8-for-10 and produced team highs of 25 points and 18 rebounds in the Clippers’ 113-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Chris Paul had 20 points, seven assists and six boards for the Clippers, who were greeted with a standing ovation when they came out for pregame warmups following commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to ban owner Donald Sterling for life.
Warriors guard Stephen (STEH’-fehn) Curry had 17 points for the Warriors but took just 10 shots and had eight turnovers. Klay Thompson scored a team-high 21 points for the Warriors, who host Game 6 on Thursday.
The Washington Wizards have won a playoff series for the first time since 2005, and for only the second time in 32 years.
The Wizards have advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals after John Wall scored 24 points and Nene (nay-NAY’) added 20 in a 75-69 stifling of the Bulls in Game 5 at Chicago. The Wizards didn’t hit a field goal after Wall nailed a jumper with 2:37 remaining, but they also grabbed five offensive rebounds in the final two minutes to maintain the lead.
The Bulls went the final 2:18 without scoring as they were ousted in the first round for the second consecutive in three years. Kirk Hinrich (HYN’-rihk) and Jimmy Butler each had 16 points to lead Chicago.
Memphis owns a three-games-to-two lead in its conference quarterfinal series. Mike Conley hit a tiebreaking with 1:02 remaining before Kevin Durant missed a free throw and a 3-point try in the closing seconds of the Grizzlies’ 100-99 overtime win at Oklahoma City.
Serge Ibaka (ih-BAH’-kah) almost won it for the Thunder with a tip-in of Durant’s missed 3-point attempt, but the officials determined through replay that Ibaka’s shot came after the horn sounded.
Mike Miller shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range and finished with a team-high 21 points off the bench. Zach Randolph chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Memphis, which can wrap up the series at home on Thursday.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had a triple-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, while Durant added 26 points.
NBA-MAVERICKS/BLAIR
Blair suspended for Game 5
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks center DeJuan Blair has been suspended for Game 5 of the first-round series against San Antonio for kicking the Spurs’ Tiago (tee-AH’-goh) Splitter in the head.
Blair and Splitter got tangled up and fell to the court in the fourth quarter of San Antonio’s 93-89 victory in Dallas on Monday night.
NHL PLAYOFFS
Flyers beat Rangers to force Game 7
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have stretched their Stanley Cup first-round series to the limit and will take on the Rangers in New York on Wednesday night.
The Flyers forced a Game 7 by getting a hat trick from Wayne Simmonds in a 5-2 win over the Rangers. Simmonds completed his three-goal output with his second power-play tally to put Philadelphia ahead 4-0 late in the second period.
Steve Mason stopped 34 shots and blanked the Rangers until Carl Hagelin (HAG’-lihn) beat him with 6:34 remaining.
Erik Gustafsson and Claude Giroux (juh-ROO’) also scored for the Flyers, who are 2-1 since Mason returned from an upper-body injury.
NHL-PANTHERS
Florida dumps coach
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers have parted ways with interim coach Peter Horachek, who replaced Kevin Dineen (duh-NEEN’) as Panthers’ coach on Nov. 8. The Panthers went 26-36-4 with Horachek in charge. Florida finished with the second-lowest point total in the NHL this season and missed the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 seasons.
MLB-SCHEDULE
M’s beat Yanks in Cano’s return to the Bronx
UNDATED (AP) — Robinson Cano (kuh-NOH’) was booed several times in his return to the Bronx, but the former Yankee was smiling after Seattle rolled to a 6-3 victory.
Cano went 1-for-5 with an RBI grounder and a run scored as he faced his ex-team for the first time since signing a $240 million contract with the Mariners last winter. The only time he was cheered was when he struck out twice.
Mike Zunino had a career-high four hits, one courtesy of a replay review that sparked a four-run fifth inning. Corey Hart added a two-run double to back Chris Young, who allowed one earned run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first victory since 2012.
Also in the majors:
— Boston outscored Tampa Bay 7-4 as Shane Victorino had four hits and his first two RBIs of the season. Jackie Bradley Jr. had a pair of doubles and two RBIs to support John Lackey, who gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings.
— Martin (mahr-TEEN’) Perez had tossed 26 consecutive shutout innings over three starts before Derek Norris hit a two-run double in the first inning to spark Oakland’s 9-3 rout of Texas. Norris doubled twice and had three RBIs to help Scott Kazmir improve to 4-0.
— Bryan Holaday bunted home Austin Jackson with two out in the ninth to lift Detroit past the White Sox 4-3 in Chicago. Holaday and Victor Martinez each had two hits and an RBI for the AL Central leaders.
— Salvador Perez homered and had matched a career high with four RBIs in Kansas City’s 10-7 comeback win against Toronto. Perez’s two-run double put the Royals ahead in a six-run eighth.
— Howie Kendrick and Chris Ianetta (eye-uh-NET’-uh) drove in two runs apiece as the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 to move back to .500. Erick Aybar (EYE’-bahr) was 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
— Washington beat Houston 4-3 as Adam LaRoche hit a tying double in the eighth inning and a go-ahead single in the ninth. Jayson Werth homered for the Nationals.
— Khris Davis doubled and scored the tiebreaking run on Lyle Overbay’s single in the 11th inning as Milwaukee topped the Cardinals 5-4 in St. Louis. Carlos Gomez homered and pitcher Kyle Lohse (lohsh) had a two-run single for the Brewers, who are a major league-best 20-7 overall and 11-1 on the road.
— Jose Fernandez allowed just two hits in eight innings as the Marlins ripped the first-place Atlanta Braves 9-0. Fernandez struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 1.59. Giancarlo Stanton opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the third inning, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (sahl-tah-lah-MAH’-kee-uh) also homered and Ed Lucas had three hits.
— Jonathon Niese (nees) pitched seven strong innings and the New York Mets picked up their seventh victory in nine games by downing Philadelphia 6-1. Daniel Murphy had three hits and Ruben Tejada (teh-HAH’-dah) had two RBIs as the Mets improved to 15-11, the first time they’ve been four games over .500 since July 2012.
— Billy Hamilton was 3-for-4 with a solo homer, a stolen base and three runs scored in Cincinnati’s 3-2 verdict over the Chicago Cubs. Alfredo Simon is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA after allowing two runs and five hits in six innings.
— Yusmeiro Petit (yoos-MEHR’-oh peh-TEE’) combined with two relievers on a three-hitter and Hector Sanchez drove in three runs as San Francisco blanked San Diego 6-0. Angel Pagan and Buster Posey hit solo homers in the first inning to back Petit’s six innings of work.
— Drew Stubbs delivered a tiebreaking, solo homer in the ninth inning of Colorado’s 5-4 victory at Arizona. Troy Tulowitzki (too-loh-WITS’-kee) smacked a two-run shot before Stubbs went deep for the first time in 43 at-bats this year.
— Pittsburgh’s game in Baltimore was washed out and rescheduled for Thursday night, previously a day off for both teams.
— The Minnesota Twins had their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers postponed. It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Thursday.
NASCAR-FINES
Ambrose, Mears fined for post-race scuffle
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR has punished Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears for their post-race altercation in the garage at Richmond International Raceway.
Ambrose was fined $25,000, Mears was fined $15,000 and both were placed on probation through May 28.
The two had been racing for a top-20 finish Saturday night when something occurred on the track to anger Mears. He confronted Ambrose in the garage area after the race, and shoved the Australian as Ambrose seemed to be walking away.
Ambrose responded with a right hook to Mears’ eye that drew blood.
TENNIS-WIMBLEDON
Record purse for third major
LONDON (AP) — Officials at Wimbledon have announced that the purse this year will reach 25 million pounds, or $42 million. That’s an increase of 10.8 percent that will mostly favor the early-round losers. The All England Club also says that the men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive $2.9 million, a 10 percent increase on last year’s top prize won by Andy Murray and Marion Bartoli.
The grass-court Grand Slam will be played from June 23-July 6.
