BASKETBALL
Kawhi Leonard had 33 points and 14 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers eliminated Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks from the playoffs with a 111-97 victory Sunday in Game 6 of the first-round series.
Doncic capped a superb first postseason with 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, keeping it interesting into the fourth quarter even while playing without injured teammate Kristaps Porzingis.
But with Leonard reaching the 30-point mark for his career-best fifth straight playoff game and a strong defensive effort, the Clippers simply had too many answers.
• Jamal Murray extended his torrid run with 50 more points, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 119-107 victory over the Utah Jazz to force a Game 7 in their first-round series.
Murray had his second 50-point game of the series to equal Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 44 in this one.
They will go at it one more time Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to face the Los Angeles Clippers.
WNBA: DeWanna Bonner had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Alyssa Thomas added 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics, 76-63.
• Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Diana Taurasi had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Minnesota Lynx 83-79 for their third victory in a row.
• Brittney Sykes scored 15 points, Chelsea Gray had 14 – including back-to-back baskets in the final minute – and the Los Angeles Sparks clinched a playoff spot with their ninth straight win – 84-79 over the Atlanta Dream.
HOCKEY
NHL: Radek Faksa had a goal and two assists, Roope Hintz scored the last of three power-play goals by Dallas and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
John Klingberg had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who can get to their first conference final since 2008 with another win Monday night.
• Jean Gabriel Pageau scored the go-ahead goal 7:18 into the third period, and the New York Islanders moved within one win of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Brock Nelson scored twice, both set up by Josh Bailey, and the Islanders gained a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series, with Game 5 set for Tuesday night. New York is seeking to make its first conference finals appearance since 1993.
AUTO RACING
INDYCAR: Josef Newgarden raced to his second victory of the season, holding off rookie Pato O’Ward before a late caution ended the race under a yellow flag at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
In the second of two weekend races at the short oval outside of St. Louis, Indy 500 champion Takuma Sato brought out a caution with four laps remaining when he hit the wall. The pace car picked up the field with three laps remaining and IndyCar did not have enough time to restart the race.
FORMULA ONE: Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish Sunday at the Belgian Grand Prix to clinch his 89th career win and move two behind Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record.
The world champion was untroubled from pole position, beating his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, by eight seconds and finishing 15 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton’s fifth win in seven races also extended his championship lead over Verstappen to 47 points.
TRUCKS: Sheldon Creed beat Sam Mayer on a restart with 13 laps to go at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, to earn his third win of the season and a $100,000 bonus.
Brett Moffitt finished second and was followed by Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Stewart Friesen.
GOLF
LPGA: Austin Ernst rallied to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Arkansas, for her second LPGA Tour title, closing with an 8-under 63 for a two-stroke victory over Anna Nordqvist.
Ernst joined 2014 champion Stacy Lewis as the event’s only American winners.
Nordqvist closed with a 69 after opening with rounds of 64 and 62 to take a three-shot lead into the final day.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Danish teenager Rasmus Hojgaard rallied from a five-shot deficit with a 7-under 65 and won the U.K. Championship in Birmingham, England, on the second playoff hole against Justin Walters of South Africa.
Hojgaard, 19, won for the second time this season, following his victory in the Mauritius Open late last year that made him the first European Tour winner born after 2000.
Walters closed with a 70 to match Hojgaard at 14-under 274.
SOCCER
SPAIN: In another sign that Lionel Messi’s time with Barcelona is coming to an end, he did not report for required coronavirus testing scheduled for the whole squad on Sunday.
Barcelona said Messi was the only player who did not undergo the tests at the club’s training center. The team is set to resume training Monday for the upcoming season.
Messi last week expressed his desire to leave the club, but Barcelona wants him to play out the contract that ends in June.
MLS: Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen will sell his soccer teams in the wake of reports that he made racist comments, Major League Soccer said.
Hansen’s Utah Soccer Holdings includes his MLS club, the Utah Royals of the National Women’s Soccer League and the United Soccer League’s Real Monarchs.
Both MLS and the NWSL had said they were investigating Hansen after a report Friday in The Athletic quoted former employees and others who said Hansen had made racist statements and used a racial slur. The Salt Lake Tribune also reported on comments made by Hansen, who took a leave of absence amid the investigations.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Ohio State defensive tackle Haskell Garrett was wounded in a shooting early Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, police said.
Officers responding to a report of a shooting just before 12:30 a.m. found blood in the street and one shell casing near the blood, police said.
They said the officers followed a trail of blood to an apartment where the 22-year-old Garrett was found with a “through-and-through” gunshot wound to the cheeks. He was taken to Ohio State University Hospital in stable condition.
No arrests were immediately announced.
The 6-foot-2, 299-pound senior played in 11 games last year for the Big Ten champions, totaling 10 tackles and 2 1/2 tackles for loss.
• Auburn expects to return to practice Monday minus 16 players sidelined after positive COVID-19 tests.
Coach Gus Malzahn said the Tigers had five positives early last week and four more after additional testing Thursday. With contact tracing, seven others who had close contact with them face a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.