OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points a day after being named the NBA’s MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Minnesota Timberwolves again, winning 118-103 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals. Gilgeous-Alexander made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 15 free throws after receiving his MVP trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before the game. He also had eight assists and three steals. Jalen Williams had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Chet Holmgren added 22 points for the Thunder. Anthony Edwards scored 32 points for the Wolves but it took him 26 shots to get them.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final. Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists. Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina’s end prolonged by Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov scored midway through the third as punctuation.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision that would make the Ivy League school ineligible for international student visas. Large portions of the men's rowing and squash and women's soccer and golf rosters list international hometowns on the school's website. Sportico reported last month that 21% of the players on Harvard athletic rosters for the 2024-25 seasons had international hometowns. The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, saying the school has not adequately protected Jewish students from antisemitism on campus.
PARIS (AP) — Play in the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament is scheduled to begin at the French Open on the red clay courts of Roland-Garros on Sunday. Matches are held over 15 days and will wrap up with the women's singles final on June 7 and the men's singles final on June 8. The defending champions are Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz. The No. 1 seeds are Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner. Sabalenka and Alcaraz are the betting favorites. This is the first French Open to be held since 14-time champion Rafael Nadal’s retirement. He will be honored in a ceremony Sunday.
MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid has made it official that Carlo Ancelotti is leaving the club after the Spanish league ends this weekend. Ancelotti had already been announced as the next Brazil coach but the Spanish club had yet to make any announcement about his departure. Ancelotti had another year left on his contract. Madrid will pay tribute to the Italian on Saturday during the team’s final match of the league season against Real Sociedad in the Spanish league at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
DALLAS (AP) — It's really not as bad as it sounds for the Dallas Stars that Mikko Rantanen has gone four playoff games in a row without scoring a goal. That just means they are starting to get more points from other players. Dallas won three of those games, the latest 6-3 on Wednesday night in the opener of the Western Conference final rematch against Edmonton. Game 2 is Friday night in Dallas. The Stars scored a franchise playoff-record five goals in the third period, with three of those coming. on power plays. They are the only team in NHL history to twice overcome a multigoal deficit in the third period and win in regulation in the same postseason.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Roger Penske personally told Will Power about the firings of Team Penske’s top three executives and the decision came after a sleepless night of contemplating how to handle a cheating scandal ahead of the Indianapolis 500. Penske cleaned house after the cars for both Power and two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden failed inspection ahead of Sunday’s final round of qualifying. The cars were found to have modified a spec part. IndyCar said it has found no evidence the modification provided a competitive advantage. But it was the second major technical violation for Team Penske in just over a year.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton’s father cut loose at an Indianapolis bar when his son hit the tying jumper at the end of regulation to cap a furious comeback and the Pacers beat the New York Knicks in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. John Haliburton watched from Tom’s Bar as Tyrese helped the Pacers rally in New York, three weeks after the team announced he would not be attending his son’s games for the foreseeable future following a confrontation with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo. John Haliburton was seen pointing at a large screen as a replay showed Tyrese’s jumper at the end of regulation fell through the net.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler and John Pak enjoyed the same start to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial with eagles on their respective first holes. The world No. 1 couldn’t keep up with the PGA Tour rookie from there. A week after winning his third major at the PGA Championship, Scheffler opened his attempt at three consecutive victories with a 2-under 68. Pak shot 63 for a three-shot lead over nine players, J.J. Spaun the highest-ranked among them at 27th. Tommy Fleetwood and 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman were among nine players four back of Pak. Another nine players, headlined by Scheffler, are five strokes back.
THURSDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Toronto 7 San Diego 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore at Boston 1:35 p.m. (Postponed)
Final N.Y. Yankees 1 Texas 0
Final L.A. Angels 10 Athletics 5
Final Cleveland 7 Detroit 0
Final Houston 9 Seattle 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 2 Colorado 0
Final Milwaukee 8 Pittsburgh 5
Final Washington 8 Atlanta 7
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Oklahoma City 118 Minnesota 103
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Florida 5 Carolina 0