Two people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that the Cincinnati Bengals acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants for the 10th overall pick in next week’s NFL draft. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the deal is pending a physical. The Giants now have the fifth and 10th picks in the first round. They’re heading into their first draft under new coach John Harbaugh. The Bengals paid a hefty price for the 28-year-old Lawrence, who asked for a trade because he wanted a new contract. He’s in the middle of a 4-year, $90 million extension signed in 2023.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luke Kennard scored a career playoff-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers capitalized on Kevin Durant’s injury absence for a 107-98 victory over the Houston Rockets in the opener of their first-round playoff series. Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers. Alperen Sengun scored 19 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who finished one game behind Los Angeles in the regular season. Amen Thompson added 17 points.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 28 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 of his 25 in the second half and the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-102 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. OG Anunoby added 18 points and Josh Hart had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks in their first postseason game under Mike Brown after making four trips in five years under Tom Thibodeau, capped by their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2000 last year. The No. 3 seed in the East again this season hosts Game 2 on Monday night.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell has more support on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster going into this year’s postseason run. But even with the deeper roster, Mitchell still has the mentality of delivering the statement in the first game of a series. The All-Star guard did that again Saturday with a game-high 32 points in the Cavaliers’ 126-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. It is an NBA-record nine straight games in which Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in a series opener. Mitchell is 5-4 during this run in series openers, including 3-3 with Cleveland since coming over in a trade from Utah in September 2022.
DALLAS (AP) — Matt Boldy had two goals with an assist, Joel Ericksson Ek scored two power-play goals and rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 shots in his postseason debut to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 6-1 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series. Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists and Mats Zuccarello had three helpers for the Wild. The Stars have been to the West final the past three years but are 1-7 in Game 1s at home during that span. Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — It’s a huge day in the Premier League title race with Arsenal travelling to Manchester City in a meeting between the top two. A win for Arsenal and the long-time league leaders will regain a nine-point advantage, leaving them in a strong position to become English champions for the first time since 2004. A win for City and the gap would be reduced to three points. City would also have a game in hand, at next-to-last Burnley on Wednesday. A draw would suit Arsenal more because it keeps a six-point cushion between the teams. Everton hosts Liverpool in the Merseyside derby in one of three other matches.
MADRID (AP) — A 48-year-old American coach who studied mathematics at Columbia and grew up watching Diego Maradona play for Napoli is now part of the history of Spanish club Real Sociedad in the Basque Country. Pellegrino “Rino” Matarazzo led Sociedad to its fourth Copa del Rey title on Saturday with a penalty-shootout win over Atletico Madrid. It was the first career title for the coach who left the United States to try to play soccer professionally and ended up becoming a manager in Germany.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick had a slow start that let Scottie Scheffler back into the mix at the RBC Heritage. But Fitzpatrick rallied late with two shots from off the green. One dropped for birdie, the other for eagle and he wound up with a 68. That gives him a three-shot lead over Scheffler. The world's No. 1 player closed ground quickly with five birdies in his opening six holes. He birdied two of the last three holes for a 64. Brian Harman had a 63 and was in the group of players four shots behind at Harbour Town Golf Links.
PHOENIX (AP) — Golden State coach Steve Kerr isn’t sure about his future, saying after the Warriors saw their season end Friday night that he’ll take some time to decompress before gathering with the team’s leadership and figuring out what’s next. He suggested that there is at least a chance that he might not return. Kerr has guided the Warriors to four NBA titles and six Western Conference titles in his 12 seasons with Golden State.
The NFL is not investigating Mike Vrabel’s behavior after published photos of the New England Patriots coach and former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort prompted her resignation and an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday the league isn't looking into the matter. The Patriots didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether the team has launched its own review of Vrabel’s actions. The New York Post last week published the photos of Vrabel and Russini at the Sedona hotel and said they were taken before the annual NFL meetings that began in Phoenix on March 29.
Finals
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 5 Minnesota 4
Final Tampa Bay 8 Pittsburgh 7
Final St. Louis 7 Houston 5
Final Arizona 6 Toronto 2
Final San Diego 4 L.A. Angels 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 13 Kansas City 4
Final Detroit 4 Boston 1
Final Athletics 7 Chicago White Sox 6
Final Cleveland 4 Baltimore 2
Final Seattle 7 Texas 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 4 N.Y. Mets 2
Final Milwaukee 5 Miami 2
Final San Francisco 7 Washington 6
Final Atlanta 3 Philadelphia 1
Final Colorado 4 L.A. Dodgers 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Cleveland 126 Toronto 113
Final Denver 116 Minnesota 105
Final New York 113 Atlanta 102
Final L.A. Lakers 107 Houston 98
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Carolina 2 Ottawa 0
Final Minnesota 6 Dallas 1
Final Philadelphia 3 Pittsburgh 2