In Brief: Thunder rally past Spurs for 3-2 series lead
NBA: Russell Westbrook had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-91 on Tuesday night in San Antonio, taking a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Kevin Durant added 23 points as the Thunder won for the second time in San Antonio in the series. Oklahoma City can close out the series Thursday in Game 6 at home.
Westbrook sealed the victory with a three-point play with 6.3 seconds remaining, scoring after the Spurs weren’t able to foul him intentionally and he drove for a layup while being fouled.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 26 points for San Antonio, which lost at home once in the regular season and has dropped two straight there now.
The Thunder took a 92-90 lead with 54 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Durant after Spurs guard Danny Green fell into his legs when he appeared to be tripped by Steven Adams on an attempted screen.
Tony Parker missed the second of two free throws to make it 92-91. Parker then missed a 12-foot jumper on the Spur’s next possession, before Westbrook sealed the win.
Whiteside out for Game 5: Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat will not accompany his team to Toronto for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series there on Wednesday night.
Before departing, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Whiteside will remain home to continue getting therapy on his injured right knee.
Whiteside did not play in Game 4 of the Heat-Raptors series on Monday. He sprained the medial collateral ligament in the knee while taking an awkward fall in Game 3.
Penguins win in OT
to take the series
hockey: Nick Bonino put a rebound past Braden Holtby 6:32 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals, in Pittsburgh to wrap up the hotly contested Eastern Conference semifinal in six games.
The Capitals rallied from a three-goal deficit over the final 22 minutes of regulation, but Bonino’s second goal of the playoffs sent the Penguins to the Eastern Conference final against Tampa Bay.
Holtby made the initial stop on Carl Hagelin but Bonino, camped right outside the crease, tapped in the winner.
Brandon gets overtime win at home: Tanner Kaspick scored the winning goal in overtime as the Brandon Wheat Kings edged the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2, in Tuesday night WHL play.
AHL approves sale of Coyotes’ affililate: The American Hockey League board of governors has granted conditional approval to the Arizona Coyotes to buy the Springfield Falcons and relocate the franchise to Tucson, Arizona.
The board unanimously approved the sale and move however, the Coyotes still must work out a deal with Tucson and get City Council approval before the franchise can be relocated from Springfield, Massachusetts.
Williams opens with win in Italian Open
miscellany: Serena Williams got her clay-court season off to a strong start with a 6-4, 6-3 win over 51st-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome.
Having missed the Madrid Open last week due to a fever, top-ranked Williams showed no signs of illness, sending down crushing returns of serve for winners and dictating the long rallies.
WADA to probe claims of Sochi doping: The World-Anti Doping Agency is expanding its investigation into doping inside the Russian sports system after a whistleblower alleged four of the country’s gold medalists from the Sochi Olympics were on steroids.
WADA announced the long-called-for expansion of the probe, two days after Vitaly Stepanov told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he had conversations with the former director of the Moscow anti-doping lab, who told him there was a “Sochi List” that included four champions from the 2014 Games.
Man United loses after team bus attacked: Manchester United’s hopes of Champions League football took a hit with a 3-2 defeat at West Ham, in London, following an attack on the visiting team’s bus as it arrived for the match.
Objects were thrown as the bus reached the stadium for West Ham’s last ever game at the Boleyn Ground, ahead of its move to the Olympic Stadium.