Rose banks 3 at buzzer, lifts Bulls over Cavs
NBA: Derrick Rose banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer and scored 30 points to give the Chicago Bulls a 99-96 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Cleveland had just tied it on a 3-pointer by J.R. Smith with 10.8 seconds left when Rose came through with the winner.
He took the inbounds pass from Mike Dunleavy Jr. on the sideline after Chicago called time with 3 seconds remaining. Rose then dribbled past the top of the key before burying a wild shot over Tristan Thompson, drawing a mob from his teammates and a deafening roar from the crowd.
LeBron James scored 27 points for Cleveland and passed Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Larry Bird for fourth on the career playoff assists list.
• Rivers propels Clippers past Rockets: Austin Rivers scored a career playoff-high 25 points, sparking a decisive run to end the third quarter, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the visiting Houston Rockets 124-99 for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Chris Paul returned from a hamstring injury to bolster the Clippers with 12 points and seven assists after he missed the first two games of the series. J.J. Redick had a career playoff-best 31 points and Blake Griffin added 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Rivers scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in a dominating offensive outburst that extended the Clippers’ lead to 99-76 going into the fourth.
James Harden had 25 points and 11 assists for the Rockets.
Game 4 is Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
• Wizards’ Wall unsure for series versus Hawks: John Wall doesn’t know if he will be available for the Washington Wizards’ game today or the remainder of the series with the Atlanta Hawks.
The All-Star point guard has five non-displaced fractures in his left wrist and hand. Wall said Friday the injury news announced the day before was “devastating. I was excited about playing.”
Wall was hurt in Game 1 of Washington’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks, but kept playing in the Wizards’ win.
He sat out Game 2 as the Hawks evened the series.
• NBA fines Clippers’ Barnes, Bulls’ Noah: Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes was fined $50,000 by the NBA for directing inappropriate language at a courtside fan who turned out to be Houston star James Harden’s mother.
Barnes made the comments to Monja Willis during the Clippers’ Game 2 loss in Houston on Wednesday night.
The NBA also fined Chicago center Joakim Noah $25,000 for pushing a fan at halftime of the Bulls’ loss to Cleveland in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Rangers stay alive with overtime win
Hockey: Ryan McDonagh scored 9:37 into overtime and the New York Rangers kept their Stanley Cup hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.
Chris Kreider scored with 1:41 left in regulation to force the overtime.
The Capitals lead the series 3-2. Game 6 is Sunday night in Washington.
Braden Holtby made 41 saves for Washington. Curtis Glencross scored for the Caps.
• Ducks take 3-1 series lead over Flames: Matt Beleskey broke a tie on a power play early in the third period and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 in Calgary, Alberta, in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal.
Anaheim leads the series 3-1. Game 5 is Sunday night in Anaheim.
Jakob Silfverberg, Andrew Cogliano and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Ducks, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves.
• Blackhawks’ Rozsival out for rest of playoffs: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival will miss the rest of the playoffs because of a broken left ankle.
Rozsival was hurt when he lost his balance and fell backward in the second period of Chicago’s 4-3 series-ending victory at Minnesota on Thursday night.
The Blackhawks will face Anaheim or Calgary in their third consecutive appearance in the Western Conference finals.
• U.S. beats Denmark at ice hockey worlds: The United States rebounded from a loss to Belarus with a 1-0 victory over Denmark at the ice hockey world championship in Prague to stay on course for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Americans took the lead in Group B with 12 points from five games in the eastern Czech Republic city of Ostrava, two points ahead of Belarus and three ahead of Russia and Finland. Slovakia is fifth with seven.
The top four teams in each of the two groups of eight will make the quarterfinals
• Rockets beat Wheat Kings to take Game 1 of WHL final: Leon Draisaitl’s late second-period goal proved to be the difference as the Kelowna Rockets edged the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3 in Brandon, Manitoba, in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League final.
Tyson Baillie, Justin Kirkland and Chance Braid also scored for the Rockets.
Rihards Bukarts scored twice for the Wheat Kings.
Jackson Whistle made 24 saves for his 10th win of the post-season for the Rockets.
Game 2 is today in Brandon.
Na, Kelly share lead at The Players
Miscellany: Jerry Kelly and Kevin Na go into the weekend at The Players Championship in Ponte Vidra Beach, Florida, with another chance at winning the PGA Tour’s biggest event.
Na was the 54-hole leader three years ago until he faded on Sunday. He had a 69.
The 48-year-old Kelly had a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods in 2001. Woods went on to win The Players that year in a Monday finish.
Kelly had eight birdies for a tournament-best 65.
• Williams, Sharapova both lose in Madrid semis: Serena Williams was beaten in the Madrid Open tennis semifinals, a short time after Maria Sharapova also lost.
Petra Kvitova defeated the top-ranked Williams 6-2, 6-3, while Svetlana Kuznetsova ousted Sharapova 6-2, 6-4.
The victory for Kvitova was her first over Williams, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, in six matches.
In the men’s tournament, Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4.
• ESPN, Simmons will part ways: ESPN says that it is parting ways with Bill Simmons, one of its top personalities who created the Grantland website and was instrumental in the network’s documentary series.
Network president John Skipper said that he decided not to renew Simmons’ contract. He said ESPN was negotiating an extension, but that “it was clear it was time to move on.”
ESPN suspended Simmons for three weeks last year after he called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a liar in a profane podcast.