AP Sports Summary for April 19th, 2024.
Butler, Williamson injuries are part of story for Heat-Bulls and Kings-Pelicans play-in finales
MIAMI (AP) — All four teams in the finales of the NBA play-in tournament on Friday night are dealing with injury issues. Chicago goes to Miami and then Sacramento plays at New Orleans. The winner of the Bulls-Heat game meets Boston in Round 1 and the Kings-Pelicans winner meets Oklahoma City. The Heat will be without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier for their game against the Bulls, who had guard Alex Caruso go down to a sprained ankle in Wednesday's win over Atlanta. The Pelicans will be without Zion Williamson because of a hamstring injury.
NFL draft has potential to set a record for most players on offense selected in the first round
The 2024 NFL draft has the potential to set a record for most players on offense selected in the first round. No draft has seen more than 19 players on offense chosen in the first round. That happened three times, most recently in 2009. Many draft experts are predicting more than 20 offensive players will go in the first round and some have up to 25. The AP's final mock draft had 22 going in the first round, including 10 offensive linemen, six wide receivers, five quarterbacks and one tight end. Only once in the past 57 years have the first seven picks all been offensive players. That happened in 2021.
GM Mike Dunleavy, Warriors look to regroup after missing the playoffs with Curry, Green, Thompson
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the rest of Golden State's front office staff had a feeling this season would wind up short of the ultimate goal. That's the way the season went for Stephen Curry and Co. — losing big leads, making costly mistakes, repeatedly unable to deliver the big defensive stop when it mattered most. After the Warriors lost at Sacramento in the play-in tournament on Tuesday night, Dunleavy now has to try to improve the team while also fulfilling his stated goal of bringing veteran Klay Thompson back. The Warriors have won four titles in the past decade with their now-aging core of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green.
Utah and Florida clinch final two spots at NCAA championship, denying Oklahoma's bid for three-peat
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Utah and Florida clinched the remaining two spots at the NCAA women's gymnastics championship on Thursday night, denying No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma a chance at a three-peat. Utah took the lead on the first rotation after posting a season-high 49.6375 on the beam — with a 9.950 from Abby Paulson and Malie O'Keefe. Jaylene Gilstrap and O'Keefe also posted 9.950 on the floor to keep Utah in front. The Utes finished with 197.9375 points, while the Gators had 197.8750 for the fifth-highest score in program history at the championships. Defending champion Oklahoma suffered from five falls to place third with 196.6625, followed by Alabama (196.4125). Fifth-seeded Utah and No. 4 Florida join No. 2 LSU and No. 3 California in Saturday's finals.
Soldiers who lost limbs in Gaza fighting are finding healing on Israel's amputee soccer team
RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) — Israel's national amputee soccer team is heading to France for the 2024 European Amputee Football Championships in June. The team lineup includes two Israeli soldiers who were seriously wounded and lost limbs during the war in Gaza sparked when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Another team member was wounded in the militants' attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival. Amputee soccer teams have six field players who are missing lower limbs and a goalkeeper with a missing upper extremity. Sixteen teams, mostly from Europe, will participate in the competition.
Chasing 5th straight win, Nelly Korda is 2 shots back at Chevron Championship after a first-round 68
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Nelly Korda, who is looking to tie an LPGA Tour record with her fifth straight win, shot a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the Chevron Championship. That leaves her two shots behind leader Lauren Coughlin in the year's first major. The top-ranked Korda is seeking her second major after winning the Women's PGA Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events. The 31-year-old Coughlin has never won on the LPGA Tour and shot a bogey-free 66.
Scheffler wiped out from Masters and opens with a 69 at Hilton Head. He trails Poston by 6 shots
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is wiped out from his emotional Masters win and he's already back to work. He hit a shank. He was annoyed by mud balls. He still managed a 69 and trails J.T. Poston by six shots after the first round of the RBC Heritage. Poston ran off six birdies over seven holes for his great start. He leads Collin Morikawa and Seamus Power by two shots. Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg is another shot behind. Scheffler didn't have much time to prepare and says he was giving himself some grace for not playing at his typical level.
Virginia law allows the state's colleges and universities to directly pay athletes through NIL deals
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia's governor has signed a law that allows state colleges and universities to directly pay athletes through name, image and likeness endorsement deals. The law signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin bypasses NCAA rules. It takes effect on July 1. NIL rules, enacted in 2021, allow college athletes to agree to deals with brands and businesses that compensate them for advertising or personal appearances. The NCAA says rules against "pay for play" and schools directly paying their athletes remain in place.
NHL team moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City will have a name starting with Utah
The NHL team moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City will be known as Utah, at least initially. New owner Ryan Smith says the name will begin with Utah and he does not want to rush the process of rebranding the franchise upon relocation. The league's board of governors unanimously approved the sale of the team to Smith Entertainment Group on Thursday. Smith has already contracted with an agency to oversee the process of determining a team name and logo. Former owner Alex Meruelo keeps the Coyotes name and has the chance to reactivate the franchise if he's able to build an arena.
NHL PLAYOFFS: 'It's wide open' is the theme as the race to the Stanley Cup begins
There is no prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup as the NHL playoffs begin this weekend. Carolina gets the slight edge after the Hurricanes won 16 of their final 21 games and look every bit like a team poised for a long run. So did Boston last year after setting league records for the most wins and points in a season. This time it wouldn't be surprising if any one of nearly a dozen teams is the last one left standing in June. That group includes defending champion Vegas, 2023 East winner Florida and Connor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers.
AP-Scorecard
TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 2 L.A. Angels 1
Final Cleveland 5 Boston 4
Final Texas 9 Detroit 7
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami at Chi Cubs 7:40 p.m. (Postponed)
Final San Francisco 5 Arizona 0
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Seattle 4 Minnesota 3
Final Winnipeg 4 Vancouver 2
Final Calgary 5 San Jose 1
Final Colorado 5 Edmonton 1
Final Anaheim 4 Vegas 1
Final OT Los Angeles 5 Chicago 4
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