U.S./World Sports category

INDIANAPOLIS — A rookie driver for a brand-new team won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 on a strange day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Team Penske was disqualified before the final two rounds of qualifying. Prema Racing’s Robert Shwartzman, a 25-year-old with dual nationality in Israel and Russia, became...

INDIANAPOLIS — The only laps two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden turned during qualifying Sunday were on foot after Team Penske was disqualified from making a run at the pole. Scott McLaughlin crashed, Newgarden and Will Power failed inspection, and the three Penske drivers who swept the front row...

INDIANAPOLIS — Marco Andretti made the field for the Indianapolis 500 in last-chance qualifying Sunday, while Rinus Veekay sweated out a last-minute run by Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jacob Abel to earn the final spot on the 33-car starting grid. Marcus Armstrong, who wrecked during practice a day earlier, also...

The parity era continues in the NBA. The New York Knicks haven’t won an NBA championship since 1973. The Indiana Pacers won their most recent title that year — in the ABA. The Oklahoma City Thunder franchise has one title in its history, that coming in 1979 when the team...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled into the Western Conference finals, beating the Denver Nuggets, 125-93, in Game 7 on Sunday. The top-seeded Thunder will host the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves starting Tuesday. It’s Oklahoma City’s first trip to...

INDIANAPOLIS — Scott McLaughlin crashed his Team Penske car in Sunday afternoon practice and ruined his chance to repeat last year’s Indianapolis 500 pole-winning run. McLaughlin qualified Saturday inside the top 12 and was eligible to run for the pole later Sunday. But he spun at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and...

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark opened the season with the third triple-double of her career, and the new-look Indiana Fever dominated the final 16 1/2 minutes Saturday to pull away from the revamped Chicago Sky, 93-58. Last season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10...

BALTIMORE — Journalism jostled with horses down the stretch, burst through after the contact and came from behind to win the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The odds-on favorite was bumped by Goal Oriented near the quarter pole, and it looked like another second-place finish was coming...

The fate of the NASCAR All-Star Race largely rests on the whims of Marcus Smith, who is giving few hints about how he will deploy a new “Promoter’s Caution.” It’s the latest goofy gimmick in an event defined by annual format changes designed to goose the competition in the name...

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks nearly ended their lengthy Eastern Conference finals drought last year, only to lose on their home floor to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the second round. With two new starters and much better health, the Knicks finally made it this season...

BALTIMORE — Leave it to two seasoned, Hall of Fame trainers with 15 combined Preakness Stakes victories to turn up the heat on a competitor a few days before the big race. D. Wayne Lukas said to Michael McCarthy, “I think, Mike, it’s your race to lose.” Bob Baffert jokingly...

OKLAHOMA CITY — Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves met in the play-in tournament to determine which would get the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Now, they’ll face off for a trip to the NBA Finals. Minnesota won that play-in game in 2023,...

INDIANAPOLIS — As the latest round of Team Penske cheating allegations swirled through Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the president of the IndyCar team stood outside the garage to address the illegal modifications discovered on two of its cars. Lurking over Tim Cindric’s shoulder was a random race fan wearing what appeared...

There are no shortages of challengers to the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty or star power across the league. A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are some of the veterans who will share the spotlight with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers as the league, in its...

BALTIMORE — Sovereignty is not running out of that starting gate in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, two weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby. Yet he is still the talk of Pimlico Race Course this week. That is because owners and trainer Bill Mott opted to skip the Preakness and...

BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon that will sideline him for the remainder of the playoffs, the team announced. The Celtics announced the extent of Tatum’s injury and the surgery a day after the six-time All-Star went down in...

CHICAGO — The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg might be headed to Dallas to start his NBA career. And a fan base that lost Luka Doncic this season might have a new star to cheer. The Mavericks won the NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night, giving them the No....

HALETHORPE, Md. — Journalism is the morning line favorite for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes. The Kentucky Derby runner-up to Sovereignty opened at odds of 8-5 on Monday night when post positions were drawn for the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Journalism again is set to...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of his second straight spring victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway. After putting his No. 5 car on the pole for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson led 221 of 267 laps, winning both stages and cruising to his third NASCAR Cup...

DENVER — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally outplayed Denver in crunch time, beating the Nuggets, 92-87, on Sunday to knot their second-round series at two games apiece. The Thunder trailed 69-63 after three quarters and fell behind by eight when Peyton Watson started the...

Patrick Ewing was poised to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft 40 years ago when commissioner David Stern began the first draft lottery by pulling a logo of the Golden State Warriors out of an envelope, indicating they would select seventh. Pat O’Brien, announcing for CBS, proclaimed:...