Update on the latest sports
APNBA-PLAY-IN-GRIZZLIES-WARRIORS
Warriors, Grizzlies meet again with playoff berth at stake
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors will see some familiar faces Friday night as they try to get back to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2019. The Warriors face Memphis in a play-in game just days after beating the Grizzlies in the teams’ regular-season finale.
The Grizzlies are coming in with some momentum after they eliminated the San Antonio Spurs 100-96 in their first Western Conference play-in game. The Warriors are coming in off an emotional 103-100 loss to the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
NHL-PLAYOFFS
Capitals look to even series with Boston in Game 4
UNDATED (AP) — The first round of the NHL playoffs continues Friday night with four games.
Washington visits Boston for Game 4 of their East Division series with the Bruins up two games to one. All three games so far in the best-of-seven series were decided in overtime.
There are two Game 3s: Carolina takes a 2-0 lead into Nashville and Colorado visits St. Louis with a 2-0 edge over the Blues.
Winnipeg is at Edmonton for the second game of their series. The Jets won the opener.
NHL-NEWS
Leafs’ Tavares out of hospital
UNDATED (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares has been discharged from the hospital a day after leaving the ice on a stretcher following a knee to his head. The team says he will be out indefinitely.
Tavares is now resting at home under the supervision of team doctors. He was examined by the hospital’s neurosurgical team and the club’s medical director.
The 30-year-old center crashed into Montreal’s Ben Chiarot (shah-RAHT’) during the first period of Thursday night’s playoff series opener. He was hit in the head by Corey Perry’s knee as he fell. Tavares gave a thumbs-up as he was wheeled off the ice. The Canadians won 2-1. Game 2 is Saturday in Toronto.
In other NHL news:
— Minnesota Wild right wing Marcus Johansson has a broken left arm that will take him out of the playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Johansson was hurt in the first period of Game 3 on Thursday. He approached the net and appeared to trip on the puck with Golden Knights forward William Karlsson in tight pursuit. Johansson’ crashed into the goal post, dislodging it from the mooring and forcing him out of the game. Wild coach Dean Evason declined to reveal the pick to replace Johansson in the lineup. Game 4 is Saturday night.
— The Vancouver Canucks have given coach Travis Green a vote of confidence. They signed him to a multiyear contract extension Friday after a season in which the team was battered by the coronavirus and finished last in its division. Green was in the final year of his contract after being hired in April 2017 to replace Willie Desjardins (day-zhar-DAN’). General manager Jim Benning says Green is the right coach to develop the team’s young core. The Canucks were sidelined for long stretches by COVID-19. The outbreak started in late March and included 21 players and four coaches, including Green. Canucks games were put on hold for more than two weeks.
MLB-COVID VACCINATIONS
14 MLB teams reach 85% vaccinated, relax COVID protocols
NEW YORK (AP) — Two more Major League Baseball teams have been able to relax coronavirus protocols after 85% of their players and other on-field personnel completed vaccination, raising the total to 14 of the 30 clubs.
The commissioner’s office and the players’ association said Friday that two additional teams had reached the 85% level of having received final doses and would be able to relax protocols within the next week once they are fully vaccinated. The teams were not identified.
Relaxed protocols include dropping the requirements for facemasks in dugouts and bullpens, and loosening restrictions on mobility during road trips.
MLB said 84.4% of all Tier 1 individuals such as players, managers, coaches, trainers and support personnel had been partially or fully vaccinated, up 0.5% from the previous week, and 78.8% had been fully vaccinated, up 1.2% from the previous week.
NFL-BROWNS-SIGNINGS
Browns sign rookie DT Togiai, 4th-round pick from Ohio State
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have signed another player in their Class of 2021.
Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai, a fourth-round pick from Ohio State, signed his deal Friday. He joined fourth-round pick offensive lineman James Hudson, fifth-round linebacker Tony Fields II, fifth-round safety Richard LeCounte III and sixth-round running back Demetric Felton as rookies who have signed.
Cleveland still needs to sign first-round cornerback Greg Newsome II, second-round linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and third-round receiver Anthony Schwartz. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Togiai was the 132nd overall pick.
UCONN-AURIEMMA EXTENSION
Contract extension for UConn’s Auriemma worth $15M
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — UConn has extended women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma’s (aw-ree-EH’-muhz) contract through 2025 in a deal worth $15 million.
The five-year extension for the Hall of Famer is retroactive to April 2020 and includes an annual base salary of $600,000. Auriemma also will get $2.2 million for speaking, consulting and media obligations in the first year, an amount that will increase $100,000 annually.
The 67-year-old coach has led UConn to a record 11 women’s national championships and guided the Huskies to their 13th consecutive Final Four this past season, when they lost to Arizona in the semifinal.
TENNIS-FRENCH OPEN-HALEP
Halep withdraws from French Open with calf injury
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Third-ranked Simona Halep (HAL’-ehp) has withdrawb from the French Open because of a calf injury. The 29-year-old Romanian tore a muscle in her left calf at the Italian Open and said it needs more time to heal.
The French Open begins May 30.
Halep is a three-time finalist at the French Open. She beat Sloane Stephens in the 2018 final in Paris for her first major singles title.
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Tringale goes from in the mix to out of the PGA
Cameron Tringale (trihn GAH’-lee) was in a strong position, just two shots in back of the leader at 3-under par early in his second round at the PGA Championship. That’s when things fell apart for the longtime PGA Tour member. Tringale lost 13 shots over his next five holes, a run that included a triple bogey on No. 14, a quintuple bogey on No. 16 and a quadruple bogey on No. 17. By the time he finished the 18th with bogey, Tringale’s chances were over, as he was at 10-over par and way outside the cut line.
