Digest: Sharks blow 3-goal lead, but rally to eliminate Kings 6-3
NHL: Joonas Donskoi broke a tie with his second goal early in the third period, and the San Jose Sharks blew a three-goal lead before rallying to wrap up their first-round playoff series with a 6-3 victory over the host Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 on Friday night.
Chris Tierney and Matt Nieto scored early goals and Joe Pavelski got another late score for the Sharks, who stared down the demons of their past playoff failures against Los Angeles and advanced to the second round for just the second time since 2011.
San Jose led 3-0 early in the second period before the Kings scored three goals in nine electric minutes. But after Donskoi broke the tie with the second playoff goal of his rookie season, Pavelski added his fifth goal of the series.
Wild tops Stars in OT: Mikko Koivu redirected Ryan Suter’s shot from the left point 4:55 into overtime and the Minnesota Wild beat the host Dallas Stars 5-4 on Friday night to stay alive in their first-round series.
Koivu scored the last two goals for the Wild, who go home still down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Sunday night.
Jason Spezza and Alex Goligoski scored goals 28 apart almost midway through the third period, giving the Stars their first lead on the game.
But the Wild forced overtime when Koivu went top shelf for the tying goal with 3:09 left in regulation. Koivu, the Wild’s leading scorer in the regular season with 56 points, had only one goal without an assist in the series until then.
Flyers stay alive: Michal Neuvirth made a playoff career-high 44 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the host Washington Capitals 2-0 in Game 5 to stay alive in their first-round series.
Neuvirth was dominant, carrying the team on his shoulders and blunting Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals’ every charge to cut the series deficit to 3-2 and send it back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Sunday. Ryan White scored the lone goal for the Flyers against Braden Holtby, with the puck deflectingin off Washington defenseman Taylor Chorney and past the goalie.
Spurs one win from first-round sweep
NBA: Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 96-87 in Memphis, Tennessee, to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series. The Spurs are a win away from their ninth postseason series sweep and third against Memphis. They finished the game on a 13-6 run in the final 3:41, and Leonard, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, scored 13 points in the quarter as he shot 11 of 22 for the game and 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
James leads Cavs: LeBron James had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving made a pair of big 3-pointers down the stretch to help the Cleveland Cavaliers move within a game of a first-round sweep with a 101-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The Cavs lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 coming up Sunday night.
McCollum wins MIP: Portland guard CJ McCollum won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in his first season as a starter for the Trail Blazers, dramatically improving his scoring average by more than 14 points over last season.
“In my mind I always felt like I was a good player, so when you hear `most improved’ you think, he was sorry, and he got better,“’ McCollum said Friday. “But now I understand that it comes from hard work. It’s based on perception, not having played, not having the body of work to show for it.”
McCollum more than tripled his scoring average from 2014-15 and helped the Trail Blazers finish fifth in the Western Conference after losing four starters last summer. He averaged 20.8 points per game in his third season.
His 14-point improvement is the most since Tony Campbell improved from an average of 6.2 points to 23.2 points from the 1988-89 to 1989-90 seasons.
McCollum also finished this season with 197 3-pointers, to rank him ninth in the league, and fourth-most for the Blazers in a single season. He joins Zach Randolph and Kevin Duckworth in winning the most improved award as Trail Blazers.
“This isn’t the last award he’s going to get in his long career,” said Portland general manager Neil Olshey.
McCollum’s surge started in the opening game of the season, when he scored 37 points with 6-three pointers in a 112-94 victory over New Orleans. He said it was reminiscent of his first game on the varsity team in high school, when he scored 42.
NBA says refs missed Harden foul: The NBA said Friday that Houston’s James Harden should have been given an offensive foul for pushing Golden State’s Andre Iguodala before his winning shot Thursday night in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series. The Rockets trailed by a point when Harden dribbled down the court and pushed Iguodala before stepping back for the shot with 2.7 seconds left that gave Houston a 97-96 win and cut the Rockets’ series deficit to 2-1.
The finding was announced in the NBA’s report on the final two minutes. The report also found four other incorrect calls in the last two minutes, including the failure to call a foul on Golden State’s Draymond Green when he threw Michael Beasley to the ground as Houston was inbounding the ball with a second remaining.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Houston.
Jefferson approved to play for Duke
College basketball: Duke forward Amile Jefferson will be able to play for the Blue Devils next season. The school said the Atlantic Coast Conference approved his medical hardship waiver, which makes him eligible to play this coming season. Jefferson played only nine games last season before breaking his right foot in December. He averaged 11.4 points and 10.3 rebounds, and in his absence, Duke effectively went with a six-man rotation.
The high-energy forward has started 68 of 115 career games with the Blue Devils, averaging 6.1 points and 5.7 rebounds and shooting 62 percent from the field.
Jackson, Meeks declare for draft: North Carolina’s Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks are declaring for the NBA draft but aren’t hiring agents. Both were starters for a 33-win team that won the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and lost in the NCAA championship game on a last-second shot to Villanova.
New draft rules make it easier for players to test the waters and still retain their college eligibility as long as they don’t hire an agent and withdraw by May 25.
Players are allowed to enter the draft multiple times, work out for teams and participate in the scouting combine. The NBA invites roughly 70 players to participate in the combine, which will be held May 10-15 in Chicago.
In a statement, coach Roy Williams said Jackson and Meeks “have our complete support in taking this step.”
Also on Friday, point guard Joel Berry posted on Twitter that he would return for his junior season instead of entering the NBA draft. Berry was second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game.
Players have until Sunday to declare themselves eligible for the draft.
Washington signs
CB Josh Norman
NFL: The Washington Redskins signed cornerback Josh Norman, two days after the Carolina Panthers cut him loose. Norman, one of the NFL’s top corners, became a free agent Wednesday after the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag, which would have paid him $13.9 million next season. The 28-year-old was holding out for a long-term contract.
Norman had a career-high four interceptions, 16 passes defensed and 56 tackles last season for the NFC champion Panthers.
He posted the hashtag “Hail” with several emojis on his verified Twitter account to announce he’d picked the Redskins over other suitors, and several new teammates congratulated him and welcomed him to Washington.
Norman visited the Redskins’ facility in Ashburn, Virginia, on Friday. After signing, he posed for pictures with family members and Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan.
Joining the Redskins was a much happier occasion for Norman than getting shown the door by the Panthers, who wished him well in a terse statement earlier in the week.
Langer-Lehman team take lead at Legends
Golf: Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman teamed to shoot an 11-under 60 in better-ball play to take the first-round lead in the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri.
Langer and Lehman had a 7-under 28 on the front nine on Buffalo Ridge’s Springs Course and added four birdies on the back nine. They teamed to win the 2009 event in Georgia.
Defending champions Billy Andrade and Joe Durant were three strokes back along with the teams of Kenny Perry-Scott Hoch, Paul Goydos-Kevin Sutherland and Corey Pavin-Duffy Waldorf.
Larry Nelson and Bruce Fleisher led the Legends Division for players 65 and older, shooting a 9-under 45 on the par-3 Top of the Rock course. They played nine holes of modified alternate shot and nine of better ball. Jim Thorpe and Doug Tewell were second at 47. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were eighth at 53.
Steele takes three-stroke lead: Brendan Steele completed an 8-under 64 in the morning and shot a 70 in the second round to take a three-stroke lead in the Texas Open in San Antonio. Steele had a 10-under 134 total. Play was suspended because of darkness with 13 players left on the course.
Scott Langley, Stuart Appleby and Charley Hoffman were tied for second. Langley shot a 68,
Applebyhad a 70, and Hoffmana 71. Patrick Reed was in the group at 6 under after a 73.
Defending champion Jimmy Walker missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 77. Phil Mickelson also dropped out, shooting 77-71.
Nomura leads Swinging Skirts: Haru Nomura shot a 2-under 70 at Lake Merced to take the second-round lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in Daly City, California. The 23-year-old Japanese player had a 9-under 135 total for a three-stroke lead over South Koreans So Yeon Ryu and Na Yeon Choi and Australia’s Minjee Lee.
Nomura won the Australian Women’s Open in February, pulling away to beating top-ranked Lydia Ko by three strokes for her first LPGA Tour title.
Ryu, the first-round leader after a tournament-record 63, bogeyed four of her first five holes in rain and wind and shot a 75. Lee, coming off a victory last week in Hawaii, had a 65. Choi shot 70.
Two-time defending champion Ko was four strokes back at 5 under after a 71. She birdied three of the first three holes, but bogeyed two of the last four.
Park recovers from thumb injury: Inbee Park said Friday that she is taking a month off because of a thumb injury, pushing back her LPGA Hall of Fame qualification. The second-ranked Park withdrew from the Swinging Skirts Classic this week because of a ligament injury in her left thumb. She hopes to return to play late next month in the Kingsmill Championship.
Park needs to make three more starts to reach 10 events this year and fulfill the 10-year tour membership requirement for Hall of Fame induction. She missed time this season after withdrawing from the season-opening event in the Bahamas because of back pain after a first-round 80.
Park won five times – including two majors – last season and has 17 career LPGA Tour victories.
Rain gives Harvick pole for Sprint Cup
Auto Racing: Rain washed out qualifying at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, giving Kevin Harvick the pole position Sunday for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race based on being the fastest in an abbreviated morning practice session.
Harvick won the pole with a speed of 129.069 mph, edging Joey Logano for the top spot. Logano’s speed was 128.694. The top five also includes Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and hometown favorite Denny Hamlin.
The race, which traditionally has been run on Saturday night, was moved to Sunday afternoon this year and will be the second in a row in the spring at Richmond run on a Sunday. Last year’s race was rained out on Saturday night, and Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch battled for the victory, with Busch prevailing.
Driver Council agrees to pay Stewart’s fine: Tony Stewart’s peers will pay the $35,000 fine NASCAR levied against the three-time champion for criticizing the series about a potential safety hazard during races. The nine-member driver council said in a statement released by Denny Hamlin it agreed to equally pay the fine. Stewart is a member of the council, which was formed last year and its members are elected by all the drivers in the Sprint Cup Series.
In a statement, the group said it disagreed with the fine levied against Stewart earlier in the day for warning NASCAR that not policing lug nuts on pit road was a safety hazard.
Some teams are not applying all five lug nuts during tire changes for a faster pit stop. It’s led to a rash of loose wheels the last two races.