Today is
Sunday May 12, 2024
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Denver Nuggets were simply too determined, too experienced, too proud and too talented to let their flop in the first two games define this series against the surging Minnesota Timberwolves.
This is what defending NBA champions do — quiet a raucous crowd, embrace the boos and take the momentum right back.
Jamal Murray rebounded from a rough start to the Western Conference semifinals with 24 points to lead the Nuggets on a 117-90 romp Friday night in Game 3 that made the Timberwolves the last team in the NBA to lose this postseason.
“It honestly just kind of makes you better because you have to respond,” said Murray, who was roundly booed each time he touched the ball. “It just makes you have to lock in and be there for your teammates.”
Nikola Jokic, the three-time league MVP, had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and the Nuggets sliced Minnesota’s series lead to 2-1 on the strength of their 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point range.
Anthony Edwards had a quiet 19 points to lead the Wolves, who went just 10 for 32 from deep even with a 4-for-5 effort from Karl-Anthony Towns. They failed to get Towns (14 points) enough shots and played slower than they did in the first two games in Denver while falling behind by as many as 34 points.
“I’ll take the blame for this loss. I came out with no energy at all. I can’t afford to do that for my team. I let my team down, coaches down, fans down,” Edwards said. “I’ll be ready Sunday.”
The Nuggets became the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five have rallied to win.
“You’re always testing and finding out about human nature and what guys are made of,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
This was the step forward Denver badly needed, breaking the 100-point barrier for the first time in three games against Minnesota’s NBA-best defense.
“Everything was sharp. Everything was fast,” Jokic said.
Murray, who totaled just 25 points on 9-for-32 shooting with a minus-38 rating over the first two games, drew a $100,000 fine from the NBA for chucking a heat pack onto the floor from the bench.
The stone-faced point guard thrived on a mix of spot-up jumpers and fadeaways set up by dribble-handoffs, clearly with more spring in his step after three days to rest the strained left calf muscle that has hampered him over the last few weeks. Jokic and Aaron Gordon helped initiate the offense, alleviating the ball-handling load on Murray.
“His teammates freed him up, but he was aggressive and saw the ball go in early,” Malone said. “I think he does kind of relish those moments where he’s the bad guy.”
The defending champions not only brought the energy they promised would return after their no-show at home, but they hit enough of their shots to help keep the Wolves and their active rotations honest. The whistles tightened and Wolves defensive ace Jaden McDaniels was limited by foul trouble.
After sweeping Phoenix and dominating Denver in the first two games, the Wolves received their first reality check after their head-turning Game 2 dominance in Denver. The “Wolves in 4!” chant that erupted right before the opening tip was quickly ditched.
The Nuggets controlled the noise by creeping to a 28-20 edge after the first quarter, their largest lead of the series to date, and they didn’t stop there. They were up by 20 points late in the second quarter.
The Wolves got NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert back after he missed Game 2 for the birth of his son, but the Nuggets zipped the ball around so well outside of the paint so well that his long arms were largely a nonfactor.
Gordon swished back-to-back 3-pointers and Porter hit one on the next possession midway through the third quarter to make it 72-50 and thwart another mini-Wolves rally.
By early in the fourth, fans began to file out of their seats. Frustrated by the accumulation of calls against them on the night, Wolves reserves Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kyle Anderson each were slapped with technical fouls during a timeout with 5:54 left for arguing with the officials.
“We earned the right to be talked about, but at the end of the day, we knew they were going to try and make it a series,” Alexander-Walker said.
DENVER (AP) — Charlie Blackmon hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 4-2 victory against the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
The Rockies earned consecutive victories for the first time this season. They had been the only team yet to win back-to-back games and the 37-game streak without consecutive victories was the longest drought in franchise history.
“They weren’t going to come in here and feel bad for us,” Rockies starter Austin Gomber said. “That’s kind of been the sentiment: Nobody feels bad for us. If we’re playing bad, these teams aren’t coming in here and they’re not going to feel bad for us.
“It’s nice to just kind of feel like we’ve got a little bit of momentum going.”
Blackmon had just 12 hits in his previous 69 at-bats — an average of .174 — when he came up against Yerry Rodríguez with runners on first and second and two outs and the game tied at 2. He hit a sharp line drive to center field that brought home Brenton Doyle and Jake Cave to break a 2-2 tie.
“I try to help keep my center, try to keep things in perspective,” Blackmon said. “(Zero) for 2 or 3 in the sixth inning feels terrible at the time, but that’s one of those things where I tell myself I can still help us win this game. It only takes one pitch.”
Elías Díaz had two hits and an RBI for the Rockies, his 13th multihit game of the season and his 20th RBI, both team highs. Doyle and Brendan Rodgers each added two hits for Colorado.
Jake Bird (1-1) earned the win in relief for the Rockies, while Grant Anderson (0-1) took the loss for the Rangers.
Jalen Beeks retired the side in order in the ninth for his second save of the season.
The loss temporarily halted a recent hot streak for the defending World Series champion Rangers, who had won five of their last six and eight of 11.
“We just have a tough time against lefties putting runs on the board,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
Corey Seager hit his fourth home run for Texas, a sharp 403-foot shot to right field that came off his bat at 108.2 mph. Seager, who drove in both of the Rangers’ runs, entered the game with hits in just 10 of his previous 66 at-bats.
Gomber was sharp, giving up one earned run and striking out five in 6⅔ innings. His 14-inning scoreless streak, which was snapped by Seager’s home run, was the longest by a Colorado pitcher since 2021.
Texas starter Jon Gray, who pitched for the Rockies for six seasons and was drafted by the franchise with the No. 3 overall pick in 2013, gave up eight hits in six innings, but held Colorado to just one run while recording six strikeouts.
“It’s a good confidence builder,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “I think any time you win, especially with how we’ve started this season, it’s a huge lift. The guys hopefully can gain some confidence with a win like this against the world champions.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: Anderson was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock before the game. … LHP Kolton Ingram was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals on a waiver claim.
UP NEXT
Colorado RHP Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.54 ERA) will face Texas LHP Andrew Heaney (0-4, 4.50) Saturday in Denver in the second game of a three-game series.
BOSTON (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe scored on the same Bruins double-minor, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 14 shots and the Florida Panthers beat Boston 6-2 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Evan Rodrigues scored twice, and Brandon Montour also connected for the Panthers, who have won back-to-back games after dropping the opener at home. A 6-1 winner Wednesday night, Florida scored 10 straight goals before Jakub Lauko made it 4-1 early in the third and Jake DeBrusk followed with 11:31 left to make it a two-goal game.
But Boston, which played the final 20 minutes without captain and No. 2 scorer Brad Marchand, could get no closer before Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter with 1:24 left. Rodrigues scored again — Florida’s fourth power-play goal of the game — in the final minute.
Now the Bruins need a win at home on Sunday night to avoid a 3-1 deficit heading back to Florida for Game 5.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots for Boston, which was outshot 13-3 in the first period and 33-16 overall. Things got worse when Marchand, who seemed to struggle after a first-period hit by Sam Bennett, did not return for the third period.
After splitting the first two games on their home ice, the Panthers made it 1-0 after eight minutes when Rodrigues knocked a puck out of the air and past Swayman. It stayed that way until Mason Lohrei drew a double-minor for high-sticking late in the second.
With 23 seconds left in the first half of the penalty, Tarasenko beat Swayman with a wrist shot from the left circle. Verhaeghe scored a minute later to make it 3-0.
Early in the third, Lauko was sent off for interfering with the goalie. The Bruins howled that he was shoved into Bobrovsky by Aaron Ekblad, and fans threw water bottles and giveaway towels onto the ice, delaying the game for a few minutes.
But when the debris was clear, Montour scored to give Florida a 4-0 lead.
(NEW YORK) -- Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, has agreed to plead guilty to bank fraud in relation to stealing nearly $17 million from the star player in order to cover gambling debts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mizuhara, 39, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison, and one count of subscribing to a false tax return, which carries up to three years in prison, according to the U.S Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. He is expected to enter a plea in the coming weeks, with an arraignment scheduled for May 14, the DOJ said.
"The extent of this defendant's deception and theft is massive," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "He took advantage of his position of trust to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani and fuel a dangerous gambling habit. My office is committed to vindicating victims throughout our community and ensuring that wrongdoers face justice."
According to the plea agreement, Mizuhara helped Ohtani, who does not speak English, set up a bank account in Phoenix in 2018, during which he interpreted the login information for the player's account. In September 2021, Mizuhara started placing sports bets with an illegal bookmaker to whom he quickly became indebted, according to the plea agreement.
"Unable to pay his gambling debts, Mizuhara orchestrated a scheme to deceive and cheat the bank to fraudulently obtain money from the account," the DOJ said in a release.
Mizuhara accessed Ohtani's bank account and updated security information so bank employees would contact him, not Ohtani, when attempting to verify wire transfers from the account, according to the plea agreement. He also impersonated Ohtani on 24 occasions in calls to the bank, according to the agreement.
From November 2021 to March 2024, Mizuhara transferred nearly $17 million from the account to associates of the bookmaker in more than 40 wires without Ohtani's permission, according to the plea agreement.
Mizuhara also admitted in the plea agreement to falsely claiming that his total taxable income for 2022 was $136,865 when, in fact, he failed to report an additional $4.1 million in income.
"The source of the unreported income was from his scheme to defraud the bank," the DOJ said, noting that he owes approximately $1,149,400 in additional taxes for the tax year 2022, plus additional interest and penalties.
Estrada previously stressed that Ohtani is a victim in the case and has cooperated "fully and completely" in the investigation.
The Dodgers announced they had fired the Japanese interpreter on March 20, after the gambling controversy surfaced. The team did not provide a specific reason for Mizuhara's termination.
Mizuhara was charged in the matter last month. Following his initial appearance in federal court on April 12, his attorney, Michael Freedman, said in a statement to ABC News that Mizuhara is "continuing to cooperate with the legal process and is hopeful that he can reach an agreement with the government to resolve this case as quickly as possible so that he can take responsibility."
"He wishes to apologize to Mr. Ohtani, the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and his family," the statement continued. "As noted in court, he is also eager to seek treatment for his gambling."
Ohtani addressed the scandal for the first time on March 25 during a press conference. In a prepared statement, Ohtani said through an interpreter, "I am very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this."
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