AP Sports SummaryBrief at 11:45 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press
Updated: April 23, 2025 - 3:51 AM
Published: April 22, 2025 - 4:00 AM

Gilgeous-Alexander scores 27 as the Thunder roll past Grizzlies 118-99 to take 2-0 series lead

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Memphis Grizzlies 118-99 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Chet Holmgren added 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder. Oklahoma City delivered a strong follow-up to its record-setting 131-80 win on Sunday. The Thunder have won all six games against the Grizzlies this season by double digits. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 26 points and Ja Morant added 23 for Memphis. The Grizzlies will host Game 3 on Thursday.

Siakam, Haliburton’s double-doubles lead Pacers past Bucks 123-115 for 2-0 series lead

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Indiana Pacers past the Milwaukee Bucks 123-115 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. Indiana has won five of the last six playoff games between the teams and never trailed in this one. Game 3 will be played Friday in Milwaukee. Two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists, and All-NBA guard Damain Lillard had 14 points in his first game back from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. Lillard was 4 of 13 from the field in 37 minutes. Indiana sealed the win with an 8-2 run to end the game.

Tkachuk stars in his return by scoring twice as the Panthers top Lightning 6-2 in series opener

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist in his first game after a two-month absence and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opener of the teams’ first-round playoff series. Nate Schmidt scored on a power play and finished with two goals, and Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart each added a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves. Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 10 stops. The teams meet for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday at Amalie Arena.

US Center for SafeSport fires CEO Ju’Riese Colón, the latest sign of crisis for the Olympic watchdog

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Center for SafeSport has fired CEO Ju’Riese Colón. Colón’s departure is the latest and most visceral sign of a crisis that began after revelations the center had hired an investigator who would later be charged with rape. The center announced Colon’s departure in an email sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday. It brought an abrupt end to a tenure that began in 2019, when she was hired to help the then-2-year-old center, which was established to combat sex abuse in Olympic sports, bring its operation to full speed.

From 8-man football to competitive CrossFit, some prospects took a different road to the NFL draft

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Virginia safety Jonas Sanker took an unconventional path to the NFL draft. He attended high school in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he emerged as a star in eight-man football. Sanker’s rapid ascension from fast-break style prep games to college captain to the cusp of a pro career sounds more Hollywood than reality but Sanker has made it this far. He’s not alone in this year’s draft class. Several of this year’s class have taken atypical paths to get to this point.

Adam Silver calls NBA ratings for opening weekend of playoffs ‘fantastic’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says television ratings from the opening weekend of the playoffs were the best the league has seen in about a quarter-century. Silver spoke Tuesday at the CAA World Congress of Sports presented by the Sports Business Journal. The commissioner seemed particularly pleased with the ratings numbers from the first eight games. He called them ‘fantastic.’ The NBA released the numbers soon after. The eight games over the weekend averaged 4.4 million viewers for the highest average in 25 years and a 17% increase over the opening weekend of last season’s playoffs.

Manfred eager to see how many fans turn out for the MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Major League Baseball has played at the “Field of Dreams” movie site. Now baseball is eager to see just how big a crowd will show up for a game at a NASCAR bullring of a track. And Bristol Motor Speedway can hold a lot of people. It’s part of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s push to take MLB to new places. MLB played a game at the movie site in Iowa in both 2021 and 2022. The MLB Speedway Classic will be played Aug. 2 between Cincinnati and Atlanta in a track that holds more than 146,000 for racing. Bristol set a college football record with 156,990 fans in 2016.

Celtics’ Payton Pritchard wins the NBA sixth man of the year award

Payton Pritchard came off the bench and changed games for the Boston Celtics this season. He was the only player in the NBA with more than 1,000 points in games that he didn’t start. He set the league record for 3-pointers made by a backup. And the voters took notice of all that and more, picking the Celtics guard as the league’s sixth man of the year this season. Pritchard edged out Detroit’s Malik Beasley and Cleveland’s Ty Jerome for the award. It’s the fifth time that a Celtics player won the award: Kevin McHale claimed it in 1984 and 1985, Bill Walton in 1986 and Malcolm Brogdon won it in 2023.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum listed as doubtful for Game 2 vs. Magic with bone bruise in wrist

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been listed as doubtful with a bone bruise in his right wrist for Game 2 of Boston’s Eastern Conference first-round series against the Orlando Magic. Tatum’s designation was listed on the injury report released Tuesday. He injured the wrist in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 103-86 victory in Game 1. With Boston leading 89-73 with 8:28 remaining, Tatum went up for a dunk and was hit hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as he tried to block it. Tatum landed awkwardly on his right side. Game 2 is on Wednesday.

Cavaliers’ Mitchell, Warriors’ Curry and Celtics’ Tatum in the spotlight going into Game 2s

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Boston’s Jayson Tatum have been the driving forces for their teams throughout the season. It is no surprise that all three are in the spotlight going into their respective Game 2s of the NBA Playoffs on Wednesday night. Mitchell scored 30 points in the top-seeded Cavaliers 121-100 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday night. It was the 26th time in 55 playoff games that the all-star guard has had at least 30 points. Curry needs three points to become the 11th player in league history to reach 4,000 points in the playoffs. Tatum is listed as doubtful against the Orlando Magic with a bone bruise in his right wrist.