Durant, Westbrook shine in Thunder win
NBA: Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 120-109 on Saturday night in Game 7 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Westbrook had 27 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. His assist total tied the franchise record for a playoff game set in 1987 by Nate McMillan when the team was still in Seattle.
• Pacers win Game 7, advance past Hawks: Paul George scored a playoff career-high 30 points and Roy Hibbert finally came up big to lead the Indiana Pacers past the Atlanta Hawks, 92-80 in Game 7 in Indianapolis.
Indiana staved off elimination for the second time in three days. It’s the first time since mid-March the Pacers’ regular starters have won back-to-back games.
• Clippers hold on to defeat Warriors: Blake Griffin scored 24 points, Chris Paul had 22 points and 14 assists, and the host Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 126-121 in Game 7 to win their thrilling first-round playoff series.
Jamal Crawford scored 22 points for the third-seeded Clippers, who won just the franchise’s third playoff series in 38 years after persevering through two tumultuous weeks for their franchise.
• NBA to choose CEO to oversee Clippers: The NBA says it will appoint a chief executive officer to supervise the Los Angeles Clippers’ operations.
Mike Bass, the NBA executive vice president of communications, released a statement saying: “The best way to ensure the stability of the team during this difficult situation is to move quickly and install a CEO to oversee the Clippers organization. The process of identifying that individual is underway.”
Bruins even series with Canadiens
NHL: Reilly Smith scored to break a third-period tie with 3:32 left, and the Boston Bruins rallied from two goals down to beat the visiting Montreal Canadiens 5-3 and tie the Eastern Conference semifinals at one game apiece.
• Kings score remarkable win versus Ducks: Marian Gaborik scored with 7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then scored 12:07 into the extra period to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks in Anaheim, California, in the opener of the first playoff series between the Southern California teams.
• Montreal’s Subban doesn’t hold grudge: Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban says he doesn’t blame the Boston Bruins or their fans for racist tweets directed at him after Game 1 of their NHL playoff series.
Subban scored two goals in Game 1, including the winner in double overtime. Subban said after the game that what is posted on Twitter is not a reflection of the league or the Bruins.
Mickelson trails at Wells Fargo
Golf: Phil Mickelson’s best round of the year wasn’t enough for him to stay in the lead in the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, just enough to give him a chance to end his slowest start to a season in 11 years.
J.B. Holmes held a one-shot lead when Martin Flores made his only bogey on the final hole. Mickelson had a 63 and was two shots behind.
• Lewis tied with Lee at Shootout: Stacy Lewis shot a 2-under 69 even while missing several makable putts to grab a share of the lead with Meena Lee after three rounds at the North Texas LPGA Shootout in Irving, Texas.
• Langer up three at Insperity Invitational: Bernhard Langer shot a 4-under 68 to open a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational in The Woodlands, Texas. Colin Montgomerie was second after a 66, the best round of the day.
Fan killed by hurled toilet bowl
Soccer: Police say a soccer fan was killed when he was struck in the head by a toilet bowl hurled from stadium stands as supporters of rival clubs clashed in northeastern Brazil.
A police officer in the city of Recife said that the clash occurred Friday night at the Arruda stadium after a match between Santa Cruz and Parana.
• Napoli wins violence-marred Italian Cup: In a soccer final that started 40 minutes late because of pregame violence, Lorenzo Insigne scored in the 11th and 17th minutes, and Napoli defeated Fiorentina 3-1 Saturday night to win the Italian Cup. A fan was in serious condition following a shooting on the outskirts of Rome before the match.
Marquez sets track record
Miscellany: Marc Marquez continued to impress in the defense of his MotoGP title by winning his fourth straight pole position with a track record at the Spain Grand Prix in Jerez, Spain. Marquez pushed his Honda through a late flying lap of 1 minute, 38.120 seconds to record the fastest lap ever at the 2.7-mile Jerez Circuit.
• Albasini picks up third stage win: Michael Albasini of Switzerland sprinted to his third Tour of Romandie stage win, holding off Thomas Voeckler of France in a three-rider break in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Overall leader Simon Spilak of Slovakia retained his 1-second margin over defending champion Chris Froome of Britain.
• Klizan reaches BMW Open final: Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan defeated defending champion Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-2 Saturday to set up a BMW Open tennis final against top-seeded Fabio Fognini in Munich.
• Suarez Navarro wins Portugal Open: Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain won her first career title at tennis’ Portugal Open, outlasting Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the final in Oeiras, Portugal.