Local sports headlines with Rob Dreher:
AP Sports in a Minute Report for April 22nd, 2024:
Nelly Korda ties LPGA Tour record with 5th straight victory, wins Chevron Championship for 2nd major
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Nelly Korda etched her name in the LPGA Tour record books, winning her record-tying fifth straight tournament with a two-stroke victory in the Chevron Championship for her second major title. Korda joins Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events. Her previous major victory was in 2021 at the Women's PGA Championship. The top-ranked Korda shot a 3-under 69 in the final to outlast Maja Stark of Sweden, who birdied her final two holes to shoot 69 and pull within one. Korda stayed aggressive on the par-5 18th, easily clearing the lake in front of the green and setting up an easy up-and-down birdie for a two-shot victory.
Lillard's unusual night in Bucks' win includes 35 points in first half and 0 in second half
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Damian Lillard couldn't be stopped in the first half and couldn't score a point in the second. It all added up to one of the most unusual dominant performances in recent playoff history. Lillard scored all 35 of his points before halftime in the Bucks' 109-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday to open their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Lillard set a Bucks record for points in either half of a postseason game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 28 points as top-seeded Thunder edge Pelicans 94-92 in Game 1
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 94-92 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series. New Orleans' CJ McCollum missed an off-balance 3-pointer in the closing seconds and the Thunder held on to win their first home playoff game since 2019. Jalen Williams scored 19 points and Chet Holmgren added 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder. Trey Murphy III scored 21 points and McCollum added 20 for the Pelicans.
Jayson Tatum triple-double, 3s lead Celtics past Butler-less Heat 114-94 in playoff opener
BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics past the Miami Heat 114-94 to open their first-round playoff series. Derrick White added 20 points and four assists for Boston, which finished with six players in double-figures. Miami spoiled the Celtics' NBA finals dreams last season. But Boston fed off the energy of the TD Garden crowd, knocking down 22 3-pointers and outscoring the Heat 31-14 in the third quarter. The Celtics' lead grew as high as 34 points in the fourth. Bam Adebayo scored 24 points for the Miami, which played without star Jimmy Butler following his right knee injury during the play-in round.
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani passes Hideki Matsui for most MLB homers by a Japanese-born player
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani has broken Hideki Matsui's record for the most homers hit by a Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball. Ohtani crushed a two-run homer deep into the right field bleachers off Adrian Houser of the New York Mets in the third inning at Dodger Stadium. The homer was the 176th of Ohtani's six-plus seasons in the majors. That's one more than Matsui, who played the final 10 seasons of his 20-year pro career in North America. The homer was Ohtani's fifth for the Dodgers, who signed the two-time AL MVP to a $700 million contract last winter.
MJ for the win: Reddick pulls off a Talladega buzzer-beater for Michael Jordan
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Tyler Reddick stole a victory at Talladega Superspeedway when front-runner Michael McDowell, swerving up and down the track trying to block Brad Keselowski, wound up crashing with the finish line in sight. It was a typical Talladega finish — and set off a raucous celebration on pit road with Reddick's team owner, Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. McDowell was the pole-sitter and in position to give Ford its much-needed first victory of the year. But his topsy-turvy efforts to block Keselowski — another Ford driver — wound up costing them both. McDowell crashed, Keselowski had to check up and Reddick sped by to win by 0.208 seconds.
Scottie Scheffler builds 5-shot lead at Hilton Head. Rain forces a Monday finish
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is on the verge of another victory. He just has to wait one day because of the rain. Scheffler chipped in for eagle and was comfortably ahead in the RBC Heritage when storms arrived. Heavy rain stopped play for 2 1/2 hours. By the time play resumed, there was no way to finish. Scheffler was 20-under par and leading by five shots. Wyndham Clark finished with a 65 and posted 15 under. Patrick Cantlay and J.T. Poston also are at 15 under but didn't finish the 18th hole. Scheffler has three holes left to play.
Damian Lillard's 35-point 1st half helps Bucks beat Pacers 109-94 without Giannis in playoff opener
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Damian Lillard scored all 35 of his points before halftime and the Milwaukee Bucks withstood the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo to defeat the Indiana Pacers 109-94 in their Eastern Conference playoff opener. Antetokounmpo sat out with a strained left calf while Lillard set a Bucks record for points in either half of a playoff game. Pascal Siakam had 36 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who hadn't scored fewer than 99 points in the regular season. Khris Middleton had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, while Bobby Portis added 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks led 69-42 at halftime.
Panthers score twice in the third period and beat the Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of NHL playoffs
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe tapped in a pinpoint pass from Aleksander Barkov for the lead 58 seconds into the third period, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series opener. Barkov had two assists, Sam Reinhart also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky had 17 saves for the Panthers, who won a Game 1 on home ice for the first time since 1997. Brandon Hagel got the goal for Tampa Bay, which now trails Florida in a series for the first time. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops for the Lightning.
Scott Dixon stretches fuel to inch closer to A.J. Foyt on IndyCar's all-time win list
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Scott Dixon moved closer to A.J. Foyt on IndyCar's all-time win list by picking up his 57th career victory with a Sunday fuel-saving master class on the downtown streets of Long Beach. Foyt is IndyCar's winningest driver with 67 career wins. Dixon's win is his second career victory in the most prestigious street course race in the United States and gave Chip Ganassi Racing a sweep of the weekend. Ganassi's sports car team of Renger van der Zande and Sebastian Bourdais won the IMSA race on Saturday. Dixon used fuel saving strategy that his rival drivers could not figure how the New Zealander made it to the finish.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Washington 6 Houston 0
Final Philadelphia 8 Chicago White Sox 2
Final Cincinnati 3 L.A. Angels 0
Final Boston 6 Pittsburgh 1
Final Colorado 2 Seattle 1
Final San Diego 6 Toronto 3
Final Texas 6 Atlanta 4
Final Seattle 10 Colorado 2
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 Tampa Bay 4
Final Cleveland 6 Oakland 2
Final Detroit 6 Minnesota 1
Final Baltimore 5 Kansas City 0
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 2 St. Louis 0
Final Miami 6 Chicago Cubs 3
Final L.A. Dodgers 10 N.Y. Mets 0
Final Arizona 5 San Francisco 3
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final Boston 114 Miami 94
Final L.A. Clippers 109 Dallas 97
Final Milwaukee 109 Indiana 94
Final Oklahoma City 94 New Orleans 92
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Florida 3 Tampa Bay 2
Final N-Y Rangers 4 Washington 1
Final Winnipeg 7 Colorado 6
Final Vancouver 4 Nashville 2
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final Minnesota 3 Charlotte FC 0
Final LA Galaxy 4 San Jose 3
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland at N-Y Yankees 1:05 p.m.
Detroit at Tampa Bay 6:50 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Minnesota 7:40 p.m.
Toronto at Kansas City 7:40 p.m.
Baltimore at L-A Angels 9:38 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee at Pittsburgh 6:40 p.m.
Philadelphia at Cincinnati 6:40 p.m.
Miami at Atlanta 7:20 p.m.
Arizona at St. Louis 7:45 p.m.
San Diego at Colorado 8:40 p.m.
N-Y Mets at San Francisco 9:45 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Orlando at Cleveland 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at New York 7:30 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Denver 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Toronto at Boston 7 p.m.
N-Y Islanders at Carolina 7:30 p.m.
Vegas at Dallas 9:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Edmonton 10 p.m.
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