The final act of the NBA Finals: 2 teams, 1 game, 1 trophy. Pacers at Thunder will decide a champion
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — It started with 30 teams, most of them fairly optimistic about their chances when the season began eight months and 1,320 games and 35,543 3-pointers and 299,608 points ago. Only two teams remain. For one game. Game 7. The NBA season ends on Sunday night when the Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder to decide which team will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, take over for the Boston Celtics as champions and become the league’s seventh different title-winner in the last seven years. It’s the first winner-take-all game in the NBA since 2016, when Cleveland beat Golden State.
Fleetwood seizes control after Scheffler blowup and leads Travelers by 3
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Tommy Fleetwood has a three-shot lead at the Travelers Championship and his best chance to finally add a PGA Tour title to his impressive worldwide resume. He shot a 63 in extreme heat. That wasn’t a surprise with so many low scores. The shocker was Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas having one hole wreck their rounds. Scheffler celebrated his 29th birthday by making triple bogey on his opening hole. Thomas took a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 13th hole. They were out of mix. Keegan Bradley shot 63 and Russell Henley had a 61 to share second place behind Fleetwood.
Minjee Lee has 1st bogey-free round at windy Women’s PGA to take 4-shot lead into final day
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Two-time major champion Minjee Lee has taken over the lead with the first bogey-free round for anyone during a windy week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Her 3-under 69 in the third round Saturday put her four strokes ahead of Jeeno Thitikul. Lee — , the Australian who lives in nearby Irving — got to 6-under 210 after beginning the round three strokes behind Thitikul, the world’s No. 2-ranked player who led after each of the first two days. Lee and Thitikul are the only players still under par.
Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins NASCAR national series debut as crew chief at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his NASCAR national series debut as a crew chief in Saturday’s Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet and they both landed in victory lane. Earnhardt made a pit stop from his day job as team owner at JR Motorsports with normal crew chief Mardy Lindley suspended one race because of a lug nut infraction earlier this month at Nashville.
Braves place reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sale on injured list with fractured rib cage
MIAMI (AP) — The Atlanta Braves placed reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list because of a fractured left rib cage. Manager Brian Snitker said before the Braves’ game Saturday that Sale felt discomfort while doing exercises Friday. Tests revealed the fracture that sidelined Sale. In his previous start, Sale sprinted off the mound and made a diving stop of a grounder hit by the Mets’ Juan Soto and threw him out for the first out in the ninth. He then struck out Pete Alonso and was lifted after allowing a single to Brandon Nimmo. Sale is 5-4 and has a 2.52 ERA through 15 starts this season.
Lefty Shota Imanaga will rejoin the Cubs next week in St. Louis
CHICAGO (AP) — Left-hander Shota Imanaga will rejoin the Chicago Cubs early next week in St. Louis following a sharp Triple-A rehab start on Friday. Manager Craig Counsell wasn’t sure when Imanaga would be slotted into Chicago’s rotation, but he said before Saturday’s game against Seattle that the 31-year-old “is gonna make his next start in the big leagues.” Imanaga, who went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA as a rookie last season, is coming back from a left hamstring strain. He got hurt covering first base during a May 4 loss at Milwaukee. He is 3-2 with a 2.82 ERA in eight starts for the Cubs this season.
Lexi Thompson has a top and a shank to start windy third round at Women’s PGA with triple bogey
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Lexi Thompson nearly got blown over to start the third round of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship. She topped her second shot out of the fairway, then had a shank on the way to a triple bogey on the first hole in windy conditions Saturday. After her second shot on the 517-yard par-5 first hole went only 117 yards, Thompson indicated to her caddie that the wind knocked her out of balance. She then shanked her third shot to the right into a thick native area. The semi-retired Thompson began the third round in fourth place, four strokes off the lead.
Club World Cup crowds have wildly fluctuated, from swathes of empty seats to ‘hostile’ atmospheres
MIAMI (AP) — The opening week for the monthlong Club World Cup has seen some wildly fluctuating attendances across the United States. A crowd of 3,412 watched Mamelodi Sundowns and Ulsan in Orlando. At the other end of the spectrum, more than 80,000 watched Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadenam California. While there was not a sellout game in the opening week, 10 of the first 24 matches have seen crowds in excess of 40,000, for an average of around 36,000. But optics, not just numbers, matter for a tournament FIFA hopes will become one of the most important in sport.
Clarke Schmidt pitches seven hitless innings, Yankees lose no-hit bid vs. Orioles in the eighth
NEW YORK (AP) — Clarke Schmidt exited the mound after getting through his seventh hitless inning and exchanged a glance with manager Aaron Boone in the dugout as an indication he was not continuing. While Schmidt was disappointed, he certainly understood not going beyond the seventh inning to continue his no-hit bid. Schmidt was pulled after tying a career high with 103 pitches and the New York Yankees lost a no-hit bid against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday when Gary Sánchez singled to start the eighth against J.T. Brubaker.