Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns spoiled Nikola Jokic’s M-V-P celebration with a 116-102 victory over Denver in Game 3. Booker scored 28 points and teamed with Chris Paul to lead a steady offensive onslaught that countered Jokic’s triple-double of 32 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.
Joel Embiid scored 27 points and the Philadelphia 76ers rode a dominant third quarter to a 127-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Embiid, playing with a cartilage tear in his right knee, added nine rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots. Tobias Harris had 22 points. The 76ers ended Atlanta’s streak of 13 home wins.
Alex Verdugo hit a line drive off the Green Monster to drive in the game-winning run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5. Vladimir Guerrero Junior had three of Toronto’s 16 hits, including his major league-leading 19th homer of the season, to help the Blue Jays open a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning.
Christian Yelich hit a bases-loaded double and Pittsburgh relievers issued three consecutive bases-loaded walks in a five-run seventh that sent the Brewers past the Pirates, 7-4. The Brewers tied a franchise record by drawing six walks in the five-run rally that put them ahead for good.
Two of the National League’s best pitchers had to leave their starts early due to injuries. Jacob deGrom was pulled from another fantastic start after six innings of the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Padres. DeGrom allowed just one hit and faced the minimum number of batters before leaving with right flexor tendinitis. DeGrom lasted longer than Max Scherzer, who was able to throw just 12 pitches in Washington’s 1-0 loss to the Giants. Scherzer came out of the game with an apparent lower-body injury.
Chesson Hadley shot a 5-under 66 for a two-stroke lead over Dustin Johnson in the Palmetto Championship in South Carolina. Hadley was at 11-under 131 at Congaree Golf Club, his lowest total through 36 holes since the The R-S-M Classic in 2016. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B-C was the top Canadian at 2 under.
Friday’s Games
NBA Playoffs – Second Round
Philadelphia 127 Atlanta 111 (Philadelphia leads series 2-1)
Phoenix 116 Denver 102 (Phoenix leads series 3-0)
MLB
American League
Tampa Bay 4 Baltimore 2
Cleveland 7 Seattle 0
Chicago White Sox 5 Detroit 4 (10 innings)
Boston 6 Toronto 5
Houston 6 Minnesota 4
Oakland 4 Kansas City 3
National League
Chicago Cubs 8 St. Louis 5
San Francisco 1 Washington 0
N.Y. Mets 3 San Diego 2
Cincinnati 11 Colorado 5
Miami 4 Atlanta 3
Milwaukee 7 Pittsburgh 4
Interleague
L.A. Dodgers 12 Texas 1
L.A. Angels 6 Arizona 5 (10 innings)
Euro 2020
Italy 3 Turkey 0
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NBA Playoffs – Second Round
Utah at Los Angeles Clippers, 8:30 p.m. (Utah leads series 2-0)
MLB
American League
Kansas City (Kowar 0-1) at Oakland (Kaprielian 2-1), 4:07 p.m.
Baltimore (Lopez 2-6) at Tampa Bay (Hill 5-2), 4:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Cease 4-2) at Detroit (Urena 2-5), 4:10 p.m.
Seattle (Kikuchi 3-3) at Cleveland (McKenzie 1-3), 4:10 p.m.
Toronto (Matz 6-3) at Boston (Pivetta 6-1), 4:10 p.m.
Houston (Garcia 5-3) at Minnesota (Berrios 6-2), 7:15 p.m.
National League
San Francisco (Gausman 7-0) at Washington (TBD), 2:05 p.m., 1st game
San Francisco (Cueto 4-2) at Washington (Ross 2-6), 7:15 p.m., 2nd game
Atlanta (Fried 3-3) at Miami (TBD), 4:10 p.m.
Colorado (Marquez 4-5) at Cincinnati (Miley 5-4), 4:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Kuhl 0-3) at Milwaukee (Burnes 3-4), 4:10 p.m.
San Diego (Musgrove 4-5) at N.Y. Mets (Stroman 5-4), 4:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Gant 4-3) at Chicago Cubs (Alzolay 4-5), 7:15 p.m.
Interleague
N.Y. Yankees (Taillon 1-4) at Philadelphia (Velasquez 2-1), 4:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Cobb 4-2) at Arizona (TBD), 4:10 p.m.
Texas (Allard 1-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Bauer 6-4), 10:10 p.m.
Euro 2020
Wales vs. Switzerland at Baku, Azerbaijan, 9 a.m.
Denmark vs. Finland at Copenhagen, Denmark, noon
Belgium vs. Russia at Saint Petersburg, Russia, 3 p.m.