NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Miami Heat 105, Detroit Pistons 98
Memphis Grizzlies 135, Indiana Pacers 102
Heat 105, Pistons 98 – Strus leads late rally, Heat hold off Pistons 105-98
Max Strus scored all of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, Tyler Herro finished with a game-high 29 off the bench and the Miami Heat escaped with a 105-98 win over the Detroit Pistons. Strus, playing in the second half after Jimmy Butler left the game with a sprained ankle, scored 13 of his points in a span of 2:55 of the final quarter to help Miami rally. Jerami Grant led the Pistons with 22 points. Isaiah Livers scored 16, while Marvin Bagley III and Saddiq Bey each had 13 for Detroit, which closed the third quarter on a 19-0 run to put a scare into the Eastern Conference leaders.
Grizzlies 135, Pacers 102 – Grizzlies roll without Morant, beat Pacers 135-102
Desmond Bane scored 21 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 19 and the Memphis Grizzlies rolled without All-Star Ja Morant, beating the Indiana Pacers 135-102. De’Anthony Melton added 18 points while Morant sat out with back soreness. The Grizzlies made the decision to hold him out after he went through pregame warmups. The Pacers have lost two in a row and five of their last six games. Jalen Smith scored 15 points for Indiana.
Tonight
Chicago Bulls at Utah Jazz, 9:00 p.m.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Boston Bruins 2, Chicago Blackhawks 1 – OT
Edmonton Oilers 7, Detroit Red Wings 5
Bruins 2, Blackhawks 1 – OT – Grzelcyk scores in OT to lift Bruins over Blackhawks 2-1
Matt Grzelcyk scored at 1:40 of overtime and the surging Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1. After taking a cross-ice feed from Taylor Hall, Grzelcyk whipped a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to end it on Boston’s 48th shot of the game. Hall had two assists as Boston won its third straight to start a four-game trip and improved to 10-1-1 in its last 12 overall. Fleury sparkled in net, making 46 saves to keep the Blackhawks in it as the Bruins dominated play. Fleury wasn’t beaten until Patrice Bergeron snapped a scoreless tie early in the third on Boston’s 40th shot. Brandon Hagel had his 21st goal midway through the period to tie it.
Oilers 7, Red Wings 5 – Kane scores twice in Oilers’ 7-5 win over Red Wings
Evander Kane had a pair of goals and the Edmonton Oilers ended up with a 7-5 victory over the Detroit Red Wings after having an early 3-0 advantage. Devin Shore, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele also scored for the Oilers, who have won three straight as they try to solidify their playoff position. Marc Staal had a pair of goals and Sam Gagner, Filip Zadina and Lucas Raymond also scored for the Red Wings, who’ve lost six straight.
NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – NCAA First Four
UD Arena, Dayton, OH (Seeds in superscipt)
Last Night
16 Texas Southern 76, 16 Texas A&M Corpus Christi 67 Midwest Region – First Four
12 Indiana 66, 12 Wyoming 58 East Region – First Four
Tonight
16 Bryant vs. 16 Wright State, 6:40 p.m. South Region – First Four
11 Notre Dame vs. 11 Rutgers, 9:10 p.m. West Region – First Four
NCAAMBKB – Big Ten lands three players on AP All-America first team
Keegan Murray has given Iowa a first-team Associated press All-American for the third straight year. He is joined on the first team by Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe and Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji. Drew Timme of Gonzaga led the AP second team for the second straight year and was joined by freshman teammate Chet Holmgren. Jaden Ivey of Purdue, Jabari Smith of Auburn and Benedict Mathurin of Arizona rounded out the second team.
NCAAFB – Michigan hires Big Ten’s 1st female football grad assistant
Michigan has hired Milan Bolden-Morris to be the first female graduate assistant football coach in the Big Ten. The former college basketball player, who started for Georgetown this past season, will start June 1 and work with quarterbacks. Graduate assistants usually receive a stipend and have their tuition covered by the school. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh says Bolden-Morris will work with the quarterbacks. She is a Florida native who played three seasons at Boston College before transferring as a graduate student to Georgetown. She played guard and led Georgetown in scoring at 12.3 points per game.
NFL – Lions sign UFA Tracy Walker to 3-year deal, RFA Evan Brown
The Detroit Lions have signed unrestricted free agent Tracy Walker to a $25 million, three-year deal and he is determined to be part of the team’s turnaround. The Lions also signed restricted free agent Evan Brown, keeping the center off the market with a $2 million, one-year deal. Detroit made the moves on Tuesday, a day before NFL free agency officially begins. Walker started in all 15 games he played last season and led the team with 108 tackles. Brown started 12 games last season in place of standout center Frank Ragnow, who had a season-ending toe injury.
NFL – Cap concerns limit Packers’ options heading into free agency
The Green Bay Packers can breathe a little easier heading into free agency now that MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers has signed a contract extension. The Packers also placed a franchise tag on All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams to keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent. But the Packers still have an unsettled situation at receiver because of the possibility Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard and Equanimeous St. Brown could depart. The Packers could have trouble keeping All-Pro linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and cornerback Rasul Douglas after both raised their stock with breakthrough seasons.
NFL-USFL – NFL helping USFL launch in April with officiating crews
The revitalized USFL, which begins play in April, will be using 32 game officials who are in the NFL Development Pipeline. Those crews all have college officiating experience and are part of the more-established league’s program that provides opportunities for college-level officials who are ready to advance to professional football. In all, the USFL will use five crews of seven officials — a referee, umpire, down judge, line judge, field judge, side judge, back judge — with two crews working two games on any given weekend. Of the 35 total officials in the league, which kicks off on April 16 with all games in Birmingham, Alabama, 33 have worked in the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, and SEC).
MLB – Orioles’ Rutschman, Tigers’ Torkelson among top MLB rookies
Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Detroit Tigers infielder Spencer Torkelson are among baseball’s most intriguing rookies this summer. The switch-hitting Rutschman looks ready to lead the Orioles’ revival after 110 losses by the big league club last year. Witt was selected by Kansas City with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 amateur draft, right behind Rutschman. Torkelson, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, batted .267 with 30 homers and 91 RBIs in 121 games in the minors last season.
MLB – Cubs finalize deal with slick-fielding shortstop Simmons
The Chicago Cubs have finalized a $4 million, one-year contract with slick-fielding shortstop Andrelton Simmons. A native of Curacao who was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Braves in 2010, Simmons had his best overall season in 2017 when he batted .278 with 14 home runs, 69 RBIs, 38 doubles and 19 stolen bases. His .981 career fielding percentage ranks third best in baseball among active shortstops, and his long range at a vital position makes him an analytics favorite. The 32-year-old Simmons won the most recent of his four Gold Gloves in 2018. He batted just .223 with three homers for Minnesota last year and is a career .265 hitter over 10 seasons with Atlanta, the Los Angeles Angels and the Twins.
MLB – White Sox starters seeking more endurance, longer season
The Chicago White Sox have a strong starting rotation. But without Al-Star starter Carlos Rodon, who left via free agency for San Francisco, hard-throwing Michael Kopech will step up. Kopech was a big part of the bullpen last year as the White Sox cruised to the AL Central championship. He’ll need to build up to that, which is a challenge with a short spring training.
MILB – California legislation aims to limit minor league contracts
Legislation introduced in the California Legislature would force Major League Baseball to limit minor league contracts to four seasons and would allow those players to profit off name, image and likeness rights. State Sen. Josh Becker introduced a Minor League Baseball Players’ Bill of Rights and said Advocates for Minor Leaguers partnered on it. If enacted, the legislation would apply to players for California minor league teams, those playing for minor league affiliates of California major league clubs and to California residents.
Russia/Ukraine – Wimbledon, British government in talks about Russian players
Wimbledon organizers are having conversations with the British government about whether Russian tennis players should be allowed to compete at the tournament if they don’t distance themselves from President Vladimir Putin over his country’s invasion of Ukraine. British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said Tuesday in London that there should be assurances from Russian tennis players that they do not support Putin. He said the government and the All England Club are in discussions. The All England Club confirmed that. Wimbledon’s deadline for player entries is May 16. The tournament is scheduled to begin main-draw play on June 27.
Russia/Ukraine – Russian request to freeze UEFA ban on its teams denied
The ban on Russian soccer teams from European competition has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The urgent CAS ruling is an interim judgment pending a full appeal hearing in the weeks ahead. It does not apply to Russia’s chances of being reinstated for World Cup qualifying. Russian athletes and teams have been banned from dozens of sports since the country invaded Ukraine last month. The ban by FIFA is part of a similar but separate appeal by the Russian soccer federation which could be decided by CAS this week. Russia had been scheduled to play Poland on March 24 in the World Cup qualifying playoffs.
AHL – American Hockey League
Tonight
Texas Stars at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m.
ECHL – ECHL Hockey
Today
Kalamazoo Wings at Cincinnati Cyclones, 10:35 a.m.
MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Today
Baseball
Lake Michigan College 9, Davenport University 7 – Game 1
Lake Michigan College 7, Davenport University 5 – Game 2
MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls Basketball – Quarterfinals
Division 2 at Wayland
Grand Rapids West Catholic 82, Edwardsburg 27 (Edwardsburg finishes the season at 24-1)
Division 3 at Otsego
Kent City 34, Schoolcraft 33 (Schoolcraft finishes the season at 23-2)
Tonight
Boys Basketball – Regional Championships
Division 1 at Battle Creek Central
Kalamazoo Central vs. Okemos, 7:00 p.m.
Division 2 at Three Rivers
Benton Harbor vs. Edwardsburg, 7:00 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:45
Division 3 at Centreville
Schoolcraft vs. Watervliet, 7:00 p.m.
Division 4 at New Buffalo
Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian vs. New Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
