AP Sports

After completing first quest by reaching NBA Finals, Celtics can begin thinking about championship

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Boston Celtics completed one quest Monday night by making it back to the NBA Finals. Now comes the No. 1 goal they’ve been pursuing for more than a decade — bringing home the franchise’s 18th league championship. Despite playing for six conference titles in eight seasons, this is only the second time Boston has advanced to The Finals during that span. And since winning their first NBA crown in 1957, the Celtics’ current 16-year drought between titles is the second-longest in franchise history. This time, the team that finished the regular season with the league’s best record, that has won seven straight playoff games, all six road games in the postseason and all three close-out games, seems poised to — finally — win another ring.

Bill Walton, Hall of Fame player who became a star broadcaster, dies of cancer at 71

Bill Walton, who starred for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins before becoming a Hall of Fame center for his NBA career and one of the biggest stars of basketball broadcasting, has died. The league announced that Walton died Monday after a prolonged fight with cancer. He was 71. Walton was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, a two-time champion and a member of both the NBA’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he was a two-time champion at UCLA and a three-time national player of the year.

Casper Ruud and Aryna Sabalenka advance to the second round of the French Open

PARIS (AP) — Casper Ruud beat Felipe Meligeni Alves 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open. Ruud was the runner-up in Paris the past two years and is coming off a clay-court title in Geneva and a runner-up finish in Monte Carlo. He also leads the ATP tour with 36 wins this season. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina also advanced Tuesday. Heavy rain delayed the start of play on most courts for nearly five hours early in the day. Defending champion Novak Djokovic is set to play Pierre-Hugues Herbert later in the day.

Lexi Thompson, a 15-time winner on the LPGA Tour, is retiring from full-time golf at 29

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Lexi Thompson is retiring from full-time competition at age 29. Thompson announced her decision Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open. She is playing the Women’s Open for the 18th time despite still being in her 20s. Thompson is known for her prodigious length off the tee and also her misfortune in majors. She has won 15 times on the LPGA Tour but has only one major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She set records for youngest to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 12 and youngest LPGA winner at age 16. Both records have since been broken.

All change! Premier League undergoes postseason managerial upheaval with Maresca set for Chelsea

There is unprecedented managerial upheaval in the English Premier League. Five of the top 11 teams potentially will have new coaches at the start of next season and another of them changed managers just three months ago. Liverpool and West Ham have acted quickly by replacing Jurgen Klopp and David Moyes with Arne Slot and Julen Lopetegui, respectively. Chelsea is reportedly in negotiations with Leicester manager Enzo Maresca about replacing Mauricio Pochettino after he left the position last week. Brighton is looking for a new manager to replace Roberto De Zerbi. Manchester United is conducting a review to assess whether to keep Erik ten Hag.

Analysis: All we know about Rafael Nadal’s future is that we really know nothing at all

PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal has not announced his retirement just yet. It’s really not clear what comes next for him after he exited the French Open in the first round on Monday. The owner of 22 Grand Slam titles turns 38 in a week and has been dealing with injuries for quite some time. He probably won’t be back at the tournament where he’s collected a record 14 trophies, but he would not completely rule out the possibility immediately following the 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 loss to Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros that gave the Spaniard the first losing streak of his career on clay courts. He probably won’t enter Wimbledon in July. He hopes to go to the Olympics later that month but needs time to figure that out, too.

Scorned umpire Ángel Hernández, who unsuccessfully sued MLB for racial discrimination, retires

NEW YORK (AP) — Longtime umpire Ángel Hernández, who unsuccessfully sued Major League Baseball for racial discrimination, is retiring immediately. During a career that lasted more than three decades, the 62-year-old Hernández was often scorned by players, managers and fans for missed calls and quick ejections — some in high-profile situations. Hernández issued a statement through MLB on Monday night saying he has decided he wants to spend more time with his family.

Closers Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have Mavs on verge of sweeping Wolves in West finals

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have been the closers for the Dallas Mavericks, who have a chance to sweep Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Dallas co-stars are coming off another big fourth quarter in a victory that gave the Mavs a 3-0 series lead. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Dallas. The Mavs can reach the NBA Finals for the first time since winning their only title 13 years ago. Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves face some long odds. No team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs. Fifteen of the 20 teams that have lost the first three games while starting the series at home have been swept.

WNBA teams start Commissioner’s Cup play this week with new in-season tourney format

The WNBA annual Commissioner’s Cup gets underway this week using a new format for the in-season tournament. The league tweaked the tourney format this year with teams playing five games against conference opponents over a two-week period. In the past, teams would play a home and home set against each team in their conference. The championship game will be played on June 25 at the home of the team with the best overall record in tournament play. Connecticut moved into the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA power poll, jumping past Las Vegas and New York. The Sun are the only undefeated team in the league. The Aces fell one place to second while the Liberty dropped to fourth.

Supreme Court leaves in place Avenatti conviction for plotting to extort up to $25M from Nike

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has left in place lawyer Michael Avenatti’s conviction for plotting to extort up to $25 million from Nike. The justices did not comment Tuesday in rejecting an appeal from the California-based lawyer, who represented porn actor Stormy Daniels in litigation against ex-President Donald Trump. The timing of the court’s action, while Trump is on trial in New York over a hush money payment to Daniels, is coincidental. Avenatti’s lawyers argued the fraud statute under which he was convicted is unconstitutionally vague. The lawyers also contended Avenatti cannot be criminally charged with plotting to extort money from Nike because he was engaged in settlement negotiations. The conviction and sentence had been upheld by the federal appeals court in New York.