OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) β Golden State’s Stephen (STEHF’-ehn) Curry is a runaway winner of the NBA MVP award. The Warriors’ point guard picked up 100 of as possible 130 first-place votes to 25 for Houston’s James Harden. Curry led top-seeded Golden State to a franchise best 67 wins and topped his own league record with 286 3-pointers this season.
CLEVELAND (AP) β Cleveland will have the home court advantage but not a full complement of players when they open their NBA Eastern Conference semifinals against Chicago tonight. Starting forward Kevin Love is out for the rest of the playoffs after undergoing shoulder surgery and starting guard J.R. Smith is sitting out a two-game suspension.
MILWAUKEE (AP) β The Brewers have named former infielder Craig Counsell as their name manager and given him a contract through the 2017 season. The former special assistant to general manager Doug Melvin succeeds Ron Roenicke (REHN’-ih-kee) who was first yesterday after Milwaukee lost 40 of their final 56 games under him.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) β Felix Hernandez gets the start for the Mariners in Anaheim tonight, when the Seattle ace has not fared well. He is 3-5 with a 3.11 ERA in Anaheim and has just one decision in his last seven starts at Angel Stadium. Hernandez is 4-0 this season with a 1.82 ERA.
PRAGUE (AP) β Torey Krug’s second period power play goal snapped a 1-all tie and sent the United States to a 4-2 win over defending champion Russia at the ice hockey world championship. The unbeaten Americans top group B with nine points, three more than Russia, which suffered its first loss of the tournament.
