U.S./World Sports category, Page 15
Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau after 1st Eastern Conference finals berth in 25 years
NEW YORK — Tom Thibodeau just took the New York Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals, the deepest playoff march in 25 years for a franchise that re-emerged as a contender after he became their coach. For that, he was fired. The Knicks made what they called a “difficult decision”...
Journalism opens as the Belmont favorite. Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty is the 2nd choiceVideo
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness winner Journalism opened as the 8-5 favorite in the Belmont Stakes when post positions were drawn Monday for the final leg of the Triple Crown. Derby winner Sovereignty was set as the second choice on the morning line at odds of...
French Open: 361st-ranked Frenchwoman Boisson upsets No. 3 Pegula. Gauff, Djokovic and Sinner winVideo
PARIS — Loïs Boisson never had played at the French Open, let alone in the biggest arena at Roland-Garros. Nothing fazed the French wild-card entry, and now she is in the quarterfinals. Boisson, ranked just 361st, threw her head back and roared after beating No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, 3-6,...
Ryan Blaney wins 1st NASCAR Cup Series race of the year at Nashville
LEBANON, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney kicked off the second half of the NASCAR season by running away down the stretch for his first Cup Series race of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2023 Cup champ had been racing well with five top-five finishes over the first half...
Different paths, same NBA Finals destination for Thunder, Pacers
Oklahoma City spent most of the regular season alone atop the Western Conference standings and just kept adding to its lead. Indiana didn’t spend a single day atop the Eastern Conference standings and was still under the .500 mark in early January. Different paths, same destination. It will be the...
PSG holds victory parade in Paris with Champions League trophy after overnight violence
PARIS — Triumphant after its historic Champions League victory, Paris Saint-Germain put on an open-top bus parade through Paris on Sunday for roaring fans, an outburst of joy overshadowed by the deaths of two people and some 200 injuries during overnight celebrations. Brandishing their trophy, the winners of European club...
Elina Svitolina beats 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini, faces 3-time champ Swiatek next
PARIS — Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance. The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon...
British rider Simon Yates wins elusive Giro d’Italia title
ROME — British rider Simon Yates cruised to overall victory in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday — finally winning the race that had eluded him so often. After attacking on the gravel-road climb to take the pink jersey in the penultimate stage on Saturday, Yates finished nearly four minutes ahead...
Pacers beat Knicks 125-108 in Game 6 to reach NBA Finals for the second time in franchise historyVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Pascal Siakam scored 31 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 13 assists and the Indiana Pacers pulled away for a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 6 on Saturday night to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. Obi Toppin...
Ross Chastain returns to Nashville after a thrilling Coca-Cola 600 victoryVideo
LEBANON, Tenn. — Ross Chastain is ready to get back behind the wheel of a race car after a busy week celebrating going from worst to Victory Lane at the Coca-Cola 600 for the first time in his career. He also knows only too well how humbling racing can be....
Pacers eye another bounce-back in Eastern Conference final against KnicksVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers wasted one chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference finals. They don’t intend to let it happen again. On Saturday, two nights after an uncharacteristically poor performance on the road, the Pacers will get their second shot to clinch the franchise’s second NBA Finals appearance,...
Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka reach 4th round of French Open without dropping a setVideo
PARIS — Defending champion Iga Swiatek joined No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open on Friday, and neither player has dropped a set. Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has only once reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros, beat Olga Danilovic, 6-2, 6-3, on Court...
NBA star Zion Williamson accused of raping ex-girlfriend while living in Beverly Hills
LOS ANGELES — New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has been accused of raping and abusing a woman who says she dated the former Duke standout and No. 1 overall draft pick from 2018-23. In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, a woman identified as...
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns carry Knicks past Pacers, trim series lead to 3-2Video
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds despite a bruised left knee and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals by beating the Indiana Pacers, 111-94, on Thursday night in Game 5. The Knicks won on their...
Thunder’s week-long gap between games: Help or hurt NBA Finals chances?
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder have a week off before playing again in the NBA Finals. How the Thunder — who defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-1, in the Western Conference finals — handle that stretch could set the tone for the championship series against either the Indiana Pacers...
French Open 2025: Coco Gauff’s serve is not at its best but she gets the breaks for a win
PARIS — Coco Gauff kept getting herself in some trouble with shaky serving in the French Open’s second round, and she kept putting herself back in position to win by breaking right back Thursday. The second-seeded Gauff, pursuing her first title at Roland-Garros, eliminated 172nd-ranked qualifier Tereza Valentova of the...
March Madness bracket expansion would add value and could be decided in next few months, Baker says
ORLANDO — NCAA President Charlie Baker sees value in expanding the NCAA Tournament by a handful of teams and wants to reach a decision on the matter in the next few months, he said Thursday. Baker spoke during Big 12 spring meetings, where conference leaders are discussing everything from the...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 34 as Thunder top Timberwolves 124-94 to clinch spot in NBA FinalsVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-94, on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. Chet Holmgren had 22 points, seven rebounds and three...
From disappointment to triumph: Giro leader Isaac Del Toro claims statement win on stage 17
BORMIO, Italy — Not content with being the first Mexican cyclist to lead the Giro d’Italia, Isaac Del Toro claimed a statement win on one of the race’s trickiest stages to add some precious seconds to his slender advantage. The 21-year-old Del Toro had time to raise his arms over...
Belmont Park will host the Breeders’ Cup in 2027 after $455M renovation. Keeneland gets 2026 event
The Breeders’ Cup world championships are returning to New York in 2027 at the rebuilt Belmont Park, following a massive renovation project to revitalize one of the most important horse racing tracks in the country. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with officials from the Breeders’ Cup and the New...
Iga Swiatek beats Emma Raducanu to extend her bid for a 4th straight French Open title
PARIS — Iga Swiatek is always quite good against Emma Raducanu. Always quite good at the French Open, too, of course. So it made sense that the latest matchup between these two Grand Slam champions, which came in the second round at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday, would end up with...
Patrick Schulte to miss U.S. matches because of oblique injury
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will miss the United States’ friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of an oblique injury and was replaced on the roster Wednesday by Chicago’s Chris Brady. Schulte was hurt during warmups ahead of Saturday’s Major League Soccer...
Novak Djokovic is bothered by the weather more than anything in French Open 1st-round win
PARIS — Novak Djokovic experienced the lowest of lows — pulling out of the French Open after tearing the meniscus in his right knee — and the highest of highs — winning a long-sought Olympic gold medal for Serbia — at Roland-Garros last year. This trip to the site went...
Berlin presents bid to rehost Olympics with 100th anniversary of 1936 Games looming
BERLIN — Berlin has formally presented its bid to rehost the Olympics in the same stadium where Jesse Owens starred during the 1936 Games under the Nazis. Berlin sports minister Iris Spranger on Tuesday said the city wants to put on a sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040...
Novak Djokovic thought about retirement at Rafael Nadal’s farewell ceremony at French Open
PARIS — As Novak Djokovic chatted at Court Philippe-Chatrier with his greatest rivals in tennis — Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, all of whom have retired — he couldn’t help but think about when his day to walk away might arrive. “Well, I mean, honestly, I was thinking...
