NBA PLAYOFFS
Pacers silence Wizards
UNDATED (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have taken control of their Eastern Conference semifinal series by stifling the Wizards in Washington.
Paul George contributed 23 points and eight rebounds as the Pacers hammered the Wizards 85-63 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Roy Hibbert added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Pacers, who outscored the Wizards 51-30 in the second half.
Washington set franchise playoff lows for points and field goals, hitting just 24 of 73 to finish below 33 percent. Bradley Beal scored a team-high 16 points for the Wizards, who host Game 4 on Sunday.
Oklahoma City also enjoys a two-games-to-one advantage in the Western Conference semifinals. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 59 points as the Thunder downed the Clippers 118-112 in Los Angeles. Durant finished with a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Westbrook added 23 points, 13 assists and eight boards in Oklahoma City’s second straight win.
The Thunder also received 20 points from Serge Ibaka (ih-BAH’-kah) and 14 apiece from Reggie Jackson and Caron (kah-RAHN’) Butler.
Blake Griffin had a team-high 34 points for the Clippers, who closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead.
Chris Paul had 21 points and 16 assists for the Clippers.
Game 4 is Sunday in Los Angeles.
NBA-CLIPPERS-CEO
NBA appoints Clippers CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has selected former Citigroup and Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons as interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers. Parsons will oversee the management of the franchise and represent it at owners meetings while the league tries to force owner Donald Sterling to sell following his lifetime ban for making racist remarks.
NHL-PLAYOFFS
Rangers stay alive, Wild draw even
UNDATED (AP) — The New York Rangers stayed alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals while matching their goal output for the first four games of the series. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild have knotted their Western Conference semifinal series with Chicago at two games apiece.
Derick Brassard scored twice and had an assist as the Rangers thumped the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 in Game 5. The Rangers even got a pair of power-play goals after going 0-for-36 with the man advantage in their previous nine games. Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh provided the power-play goals, Mats Zuccarello had three assists and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots for the Rangers.
Game 6 is Sunday in New York.
The Wild earned their second straight win as Nino Niederreiter (NEE’-dur-eye-tur) scored the go-ahead goal in the second period of a 4-2 triumph against the Blackhawks. Minnesota blew a pair of one-goal leads before Niederreiter beat Cory Crawford 7:12 into the middle period, less than a minute after Michael Handzus (HAND’-zoos) tied the game.
Jared Spurgeon added a power-play goal and had one assist to support Ilya Bryzgalov (EEL’-yah brihz-GAH’-lahv), who faced just 20 shots.
The two teams head back to Chicago for Game 5 on Sunday.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Darvish silences Bosox…Reds get walkoff win
UNDATED (AP) — David Ortiz got between Yu Darvish and the first no-hitter of the season.
Darvish was within one out of his first major league no-hitter until Ortiz singled through the shift on the right side of the infield to end the gem. Darvish left after the single before Alexi Ogando retired the final batter to complete the one-hitter in the Texas Rangers’ 8-0 rout of the Boston Red Sox.
Leonys Martin (lee-OH’-nees mahr-TEEN’) hit a two-run homer, Alex Rios drove in two runs and Elvis Andrus (AN’-droos) went 4-for-5 with three runs scored.
Darvish struck out 12 and improved to 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA.
Also in the majors:
— Joey Votto (VAH’-toh) launched a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to end Cincinnati’s 4-3 win over Colorado. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado went 0 for 3, snapping his hitting streak at a club-record 28 games, the longest in the majors this season.
— Pittsburgh beat St. Louis 6-4 on Neil Walker’s go-ahead, three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. Walker had three hits and four RBIs in the Pirates’ third straight win.
— Atlanta pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Craig Kimbrel couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the ninth after Julio Teheran allowed only one hit – Mike Olt’s homer – in eight innings.
— Marlon Byrd lined an RBI double in the 11th inning to lift Philadelphia past the New York Mets 3-2. Dominic Brown hit a pair of RBI singles against the Mets, who’ve dropped four straight and seven of eight since a 15-11 start.
— Masahiro Tanaka is 5-0 after allowing two runs and seven hits while working into the seventh inning of the New York Yankees’ 5-3 triumph at Milwaukee. Yangervis Solarte hit a three-run homer to help the Yankees pick up their third straight win.
— Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam to highlight the White Sox’s seven-run fourth in a 9-3 rout of Arizona. Jose Abreu (ah-BRAY’-oo) leads the AL with 37 RBIs after going 3-for-4 with a solo homer and a run-scoring single.
— Baltimore has a season-high four-game winning streak after Steve Pearce and Manny Machado homered in a 4-3 victory over Houston. Wei-Yin Chen (way yihn chehn) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings as the Orioles moved a season-high five games over .500 at 19-14.
— Phil Hughes pitched seven scoreless innings and Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single as Minnesota nipped Detroit 2-1 to end a three-game skid. Justin Verlander lost to the Twins for the first time in over four years despite allowing just seven hits in as many innings.
— Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer during a five-run seventh inning that sent Cleveland past Tampa Bay 6-3. Asdrubal (as-DROO’-bul) Cabrera and Michael Brantley hit solo homers to back Corey Kluber, who allowed two runs and struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings.
— Erick Aybar (EYE’-bahr) scored the tiebreaking run on a fly ball by Raul Ibanez in the top of the ninth to lift the Los Angeles Angels past the Blue Jays 4-3 in Toronto. Mike Trout homered and Aybar went 3-for-5 with two runs scored as the Angels ended a two-game skid.
— Tommy Milone (mih-LOHN’) struck out seven and limited his former team to two hits in seven innings of Oakland’s 8-0 laugher against Washington. John Jaso (JAY’-soh), Brandon Moss and Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EH’-nehs SEHS’-peh-dehs) homered off Doug Fister, who was making his season debut after injuring a back muscle during spring training.
— Kansas City beat Seattle 6-1 behind Jason Vargas, who limited the Mariners to three hits and no walks in seven scoreless innings. Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon each had three of the Royals’ 16 hits.
— Miami’s five-game winning streak is over after Jedd Gyorko (JUR’-koh) hit a grand slam and a two-run homer in San Diego’s 10-1 assault on the Marlins. Tyson Ross limited the Marlins to a run and four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.
— Madison Bumgarner was sharp in San Francisco’s 3-1 win at Los Angeles, holding the Dodgers to a run and four hits while fanning eight in eight innings. Brandon Crawford opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the fifth to help the Giants improve to a National League-leading 23-13.
MLB-NEWS
A’s make pitching moves…Cobb tests oblique
UNDATED (AP) — The Oakland Athletics have made a few moves involving their pitching staff, placing reliever Ryan Cook on the 15-day disabled list and sending starter Dan Straily to Triple-A Sacramento while promoting two hurlers. Cook is sidelined with a strained right forearm and Straily was demoted after going 1-2 with a 4.93 ERA in seven starts. The A’s brought up relievers Fernando Rodriguez and Joe Savery to replace Cook and Straily.
Also, Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Alex Cobb has thrown his first simulated game since going on the 15-day disabled list April 13 with a strained left oblique. Cobb threw 49 pitches over three innings before last night’s game against Cleveland. He could rejoin the Rays’ injured depleted rotation late this month.
NFL-DRAFT
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL draft has resumed following the completion of the first round on Thursday.
The Houston Texans opened the second round by choosing UCLA guard Xavier Su’a-Filo (ZAY’-vee-ur soo-ah-FEE’-loh), 24 hours after using the first overall pick to get Jadeveon (jah-DAY’-vee-ahn) Clowney of South Carolina.
Washington traded the second pick of the second round to the Dallas Cowboys, who took Boise State defensive end Demarcus Lawrence. One pick later, Cleveland added a protector for Johnny Manziel (man-ZEHL’) by grabbing guard Joel Bitonio of Nevada. And Oakland grabbed a quarterback with the fourth pick of Round 2, getting Fresno State’s Derek Carr.
NFL-BILLS-49ERS TRADE
Bills send WR Johnson to Niners
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills have thinned their receiving corps by sending Stevie Johnson to the San Francisco 49ers for an undisclosed pick next year. The trade comes a day after the Bills drafted Clemson wideout Sammy Watkins with the fourth overall selection and a month after they picked up Mike Williams from Tampa Bay. Williams had 52 catches for 597 yards in 12 games last season, missing playing time due to injuries and the death of his brother.
HOCKEY-WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Canadians upset by France
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Hockey-crazy Canada was stunned Friday by the defeat of its national team by France 3-2 at the hockey world championship. Toronto goalie James Reimer (RY’-mur) gave up the only tally of the shootout to send the Canadians to defeat.
Philadelphia Flyers forward Brayden Schenn and Florida Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson netted goals for Canada.
The United States blew past Belarus 6-1 as Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba (TROO’-buh) scored twice for the Americans.
In Saturday action, Norway blanked Italy 3-0 and Germany prevailed in a shootout to beat Kazakhstan 2-1 in their first games at the championship.
TENNIS-MADRID OPEN
Halep beats Kvitova to reach Madrid Open final
MADRID (AP) — Fourth-seeded Simona Halep (HAL’-ehp) rallied in hot conditions Saturday to beat former champion Petra Kvitova (kuh-VIHT’-oh-vuh) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and reach the Madrid Open final.
Kvitova, the 2011 winner, was on course for victory after winning a first set tiebreaker and going 2-0 up in the second against a frustrated Halep.
But Kvitova hit 66 unforced errors and that inconsistency caught up with her as Halep recovered, with the Romanian hitting 22 winners and breaking her Czech opponent four times over the last two sets.
Kvitova struggled in the final set, looking sapped of energy by the close of the match which lasted more than 2 ½ hours on clay at the Magic Box center.
Defending champion Serena Williams withdrew from her quarterfinal match Friday after injuring her thigh in her opening-round match.
PGA-PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Kaymer has lead
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Martin Kaymer (KY’-mur) shot a 3-under 69 early in the second round of The Players Championship and it held up for the lead. The former PGA Championship winner toured TPC Sawgrass in 12-under for the 36 holes. That gave him a one -shot edge over Jordan Speieh (SPEETH), whose 66 was the top round of the day.
Russell Henley holds down third after his 71 left him four off the pace.
NASCAR-KANSAS CITY
Harvick takes Kansas qualifier
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kevin Harvick has captured the pole for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
Harvick posted his record time of 194.658 mph in the second round of NASCAR’s knockout qualifying format. Harvick then hit 194.252 in the third round to win his second pole of the season.
Joey Logano joins Harvick on the front row for the first night race in Kansas history.
Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
INDYCAR-INDIANAPOLIS
Saavedra takes pole
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sebastian Saavedra has won the pole for the IndyCar race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’ll lead the field to the green flag for the first IndyCar road course race at Indianapolis.
Drivers for the first time are running clockwise at the famed speedway, which will run the Grand Prix on Saturday and then revert to the traditional oval Sunday for the opening practice for the May 25 Indianapolis 500.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-OREGON
Three Ducks kicked off team
UNDATED (AP) — Three Oregon basketball players who were investigated but not charged in an alleged sexual assault have been dismissed from the team.
Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin were suspended after the school received a police report concerning allegations made by a student who said she was assaulted by the players in early March. School officials announced the players would not return to the Ducks because of conduct not befitting student athletes.
OLYMPICS-RIO
A sub for Rio?
LONDON (AP) — The IOC is emphatically denying a British newspaper report that London has been approached about replacing Rio de Janeiro as host of the 2016 Olympics.
The London Evening Standard reported that the British capital has been “secretly asked” if it would be able to take over from Rio because of the delays in Brazil’s preparations. London hosted the 2012 Summer Games.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams has told The Associated Press there is “not a shred of truth” to the report.
