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 to 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.
In other MLB news:
—Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was activated from the 10-day injured list to start for the Washington Nationals against the Baltimore Orioles. Strasburg had been on the injured list since April 15 with right shoulder inflammation. He is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in two starts this season. Strasburg made one injury rehabilitation start for Triple-A Rochester, allowing two hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings on May 16. To make room for Strasburg on the roster, Washington optioned right-handed pitcher Kyle McGowin to Rochester. Martinez also said right-handed pitchers Erick Fedde and Tanner Rainey remain in quarantine in Chicago.
—New York Mets infielder Pete Alonso has been placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Wednesday because of a sprained right hand that has bothered him for more than two weeks. Alonso has been nursing the injury since he was hit by a pitch. The move was made before the start of the Mets’ weekend series at Miami. Alonso said he hopes he can return as soon as he is eligible to come off the IL. The 2019 NL home run champion is batting .236 with six homers and 19 RBIs, and is 5 for 40 since May 5.
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.
In other NFL news:
— Jacksonville Jaguars special teams coordinator Brian Schneider is stepping away from the NFL for the second time in eight months. The Jaguars declined to say why Schneider was leaving the team for personal reasons, but they will fully support him and his family during this time. Schneider left Seattle for personal reasons last September and did not return. Assistant Larry Izzo filled in during the season. Schneider spent 11 seasons with the Seahawks.
—The Patriots have signed veteran safety Adrian Colbert and running back Tyler Gaffney, bringing them to the maximum of 90 players on their roster in advance of the start of their offseason training program. Colbert, 27, joins his fourth team since being drafted by the 49ers in 2017. Gaffney, 30, is returning to New England after spending three seasons with the Patriots from 2014 to 2017. He never appeared in a regular-season game, but earned two rings with the Patriots
DUKE-KING
Duke’s King embraces being role model as Black woman AD
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) —Nina King says she feels a “great responsibility” as she prepares to take over as Duke’s athletics director later this year.
She will become only the third Black woman to work as an athletic director in a power conference when she takes over officially in September. The others are Virginia’s Carla Williams and Vanderbilt’s Candice Lee. During her introductory news conference Friday, King said she’s “happy to kind of be the next step toward progress.” King also said she wants to ensure that more women and people of color “have opportunities like I do.”
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.
PGA-MEMORIAL FANS
Memorial to open waiting list to fans
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The Memorial Tournament is opening its waiting list for tickets.
That means it likely will have the biggest crowd since the return of golf from the COVID-19 pandemic nearly a year ago. The tournament run by Jack Nicklaus created a waited list It says it will allow those on the list buy weekly badges. The tournament is June 3-6. The number of ticket sales was not disclosed. A tournament spokesman says capacity is expected to be more than 50%, without being a complete sellout.
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Major champions near top at PGA championship
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Louis Oosthuizen (WUHST’-hy-zehn) holds the lead heading on the back nine at the Ocean Course at the PGA Championship. Below him is a group of m major champions including Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama and Bryson DeChambeau. Four-time major winner Koepka had a pair of eagles as he moved to 6-under to catch up to Oosthuizen near the end of the second round. Matsuyama won the year’s first major last month at the Masters.
Today’s round had a nightmare ending for Cameron Tringale (trihn GAH’-lee). He was in a strong position, just two shots in back of the leader at 3-under par. That’s when things fell apart for the longtime PGA Tour member. Tringale lost 13 shots over his next five holes and finished 10-over par, missing the cut.
