DENVER — Welcome back to the playoffs , New York Islanders. Same goes for you, St. Louis, Dallas, Carolina and Calgary.
All five teams are returning to the post-season after at least one season off (or nine, for the Hurricanes). It’s a familiar number: In 12 of the last 14 seasons, the playoff lineup has included at least five teams that hadn’t been there one year earlier.
MINNEAPOLIS—It was an easy question to ask, even if the answer was tough to absorb.
“Why?”
It dogged Virginia for a year and three weeks—following the Cavaliers through sweat-soaked practices, hostile arenas up and down the East Coast, on talk radio and pundit-driven TV, and in their own, doubt-filled, uncertain minds.
HOUSTON—Jose Altuve hit the ball a really long way. Carlos Correa did just the opposite to win the game for the Houston Astros.
Altuve homered to the train tracks above left field to get the Astros on the board, and Correa's broken-bat RBI infield single in the eighth inning helped them rally past the New York Yankees 4-3 last night for their fourth-straight victory.
BALTIMORE — Chris Davis has tied the major league record for the longest hitless streak by a position player, going 0 for 46 during an unproductive run that began last year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Now that, Virginia, is the way to close out a season.
And quiet those critics, too.
GLENDALE, Ariz.—The Winnipeg Jets got the victory they wanted in the regular-season finale.
Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist as the Jets beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 Saturday night to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“We knew what was going on,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
TORONTO—A week before the Toronto Raptors tip off the much-anticipated NBA post-season, their strong finish yesterday against a desperate Miami team gave a glimpse of what playoff opponents might expect.
CLEVELAND—Toronto was no match for Mike Clevinger, who was stopped yesterday only by upper back tightness that forced him from the game after five scoreless innings.
Clevinger struck out 10 and allowed one hit to lead the Cleveland Indians over the struggling Blue Jays 3-1 for a four-game sweep.
Clevinger felt the back tighten up on his second pitch of the fifth.
NEW YORK — Authorities say a spectator faces assault and trespassing charges after tackling wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart while he was giving a speech during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Brooklyn.
NEW YORK—Fighting desperately to get back in the game, the Brooklyn Nets kept going smaller and smaller until they essentially had four perimeter players on the floor.
Good luck stopping Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka with that.
