NBA:
In the NBA, Cleveland topped Boston 114-91, Golden State won against Phoenix 120-111, the Clippers bested Dallas 112-101, the Lakers bet San Antonio 102-95, Miami defeated Charlotte 112-99, Toronto won against Detroit 105-102, Oklahoma City edged Memphis 103-100, and it was Houston over Denver 110-104.
Derrick Rose has had his latest knee surgery and the New York Knicks say he could resume basketball activities in three weeks. Rose had arthroscopic surgery Wednesday to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. The former MVP has been plagued by knee problems in recent years and has had surgery on both knees.
Atlanta Hawks player Thabo Sefolosha has settled his lawsuit against New York City that stemmed from a police fracas outside a trendy Manhattan nightclub. The Daily News reports Wednesday that Sefolosha will get $4 million. Sefolosha was arrested in 2015 when authorities say he disobeyed orders to clear the street after another NBA player was stabbed outside the club.
A federal appeals court has upheld the nine-year prison term for former NBA player and University of Connecticut star Tate George for running a real estate Ponzi scheme. George raised multiple issues, including claims prosecutors withheld evidence proving his innocence and that an FBI agent provided false testimony. His arguments were rejected by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
NHL:
In the NHL, Buffalo skated by Montreal 2-1 and it was Washington over the Rangers 2-0.
The Washington Capitals have won their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy, and their third in the last eight seasons. That gives them the No. 1 seed throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs as they try to win it all for the first time in team history.
The Canadiens' five-game winning streak is over after Rasmus Ristolainen and Tyler Ennis did the scoring for Buffalo in a 2-1 win against Montreal. Robin Lehner stopped 31 shots and blanked the Habs until Tomas Plekanec tallied in the third period.
Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly called it "pathetic" that his under-achieving Buffalo team will miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive year. O'Reilly referred to the Sabres as not being a very good hockey team and said he's tired of losing during a six-minute session at his locker before Buffalo's home finale against Montreal on Wednesday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been dealt a blow as they try to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Defenseman Kris Letang (leh-TANG') will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. The three-time All-Star is expected to need four to six months to recover. Letang had five goals and 29 assists in 41 games this season.
MLB:
In Major League Baseball, Boston shut out Pittsburgh 3-0 in 12 innings, Tampa Bay beat the Yankees 4-1, and Atlanta edged the Mets 3-1 in 12 innings.
The New York Mets have signed outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. The team announced the move yesterday. The 30-year-old Jennings has played seven seasons in the majors with Tampa Bay. He hit .195 in 18 games for Cincinnati during spring training this year before being released.
Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly says Derek Jeter, his successor as captain of the New York Yankees, has "always talked about" owning a major league team one day. Mattingly was asked before Miami's game at the Washington Nationals on Wednesday about a report on FoxBusiness.com that said Jeter and former Florida governor Jeb Bush were among those who could try to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria.
PGA:
Wednesday was supposed to be the final practice round at the Masters, but the biggest news coming out of Augusta had to do with the world's No. 1 golfer.
Dustin Johnson was trying to stay immobile Wednesday after taking a serious fall down a staircase at the home he is renting during the Masters. His agent said Johnson landed very hard on his lower back and was treating it with ice and medication.
Johnson is scheduled to tee off with the last group on Thursday. One betting house immediately dropped the odds of Johnson winning from 11-2 to a share of the top billing at 7-1 with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
The final Masters practice was suspended early in the afternoon with severe storms bearing down on Augusta National. The weather washed out the popular par 3 contest, two days after the course was forced to close because of heavy rains. Fans were ordered to leave the course as a line of dangerous storms and the threat of tornados swept across the Deep South.
The forecast is more promising through the rest of the week, though high winds Thursday and Friday could make the playing conditions challenging.
Play gets under way this morning starting at 8 a.m.
Meanwhile a prosecutor has urged a New York jury to find a professional Las Vegas gambler linked to golfer Phil Mickelson guilty of earning tens of millions of dollars illegally in the stock market. Prosecutor Brooke Cucinella told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday evidence they'd seen over the last three weeks proves the guilt of William "Billy" Walters. Walters has pleaded not guilty.
Olympics:
Two wrestlers and a weightlifter have been stripped of Olympic medals for doping at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Games. The International Olympic Committee took away medals won by Uzbek wrestler Artur Taymazov, Ukrainian wrestler Vasyl Fedoryshyn and Russian weightlifter Svetlana Tzarukaeva. Taymazov won gold and Fedoryshyn claimed silver in 2008. Tzarukaeva captured silver in 2012. The IOC reanalyzed more than 1,000 samples from Beijing and London with improved techniques that can detect the use of steroids going back weeks and months, rather than days.
Russia is hoping to take advantage of the NHL's decision to skip the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea. The Russian Hockey Federation says it will try to keep KHL players from leaving for North America and attempt to bring NHL free agents back this summer. Such contracts would allow Russian players to play in the Olympics, although agent Jay Grossman doesn't believe the enticement will persuade many players to leave the NHL this summer. The list of pending unrestricted free agents included Andrei Markov and Alexander Radulov of the Canadiens.
NFL:
The New England Patriots have re-signed veteran running back Brandon Bolden. The signing was announced yesterday by the team. Bolden has spent all five of his NFL seasons in New England and has primarily been used on special teams. He has 20 career special teams' tackles and one blocked punt.
The defense has rested its case in the double-murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez. Lawyers for Hernandez called their final witnesses without having the ex-New England Patriot testify in his own defense. The former tight end is charged in the fatal shootings of two men after a brief encounter in a Boston nightclub in July 2012. Hernandez already is serving a life sentence in the 2013 killing of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
NCAA:
Patrick Ewing says "it's great to be back" at Georgetown as its basketball coach in hopes of creating a "new era," 33 years after leading the school to a national championship as a shot-blocking center. During an on-campus news conference Wednesday, Ewing recreated the image from when he announced he would attend Georgetown out of high school, raising a pennant with the university's name overhead just the way he did all those decades ago.
A national basketball powerhouse in New Jersey is closing. St. Anthony's, the school that bears the stamp of Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, will shut its doors in June. Hurley and other school officials announced the expected decision Wednesday after meeting with the Archdiocese of Newark and then informing staff and faculty.
Southern California men's basketball coach Andy Enfield has received a contract extension through the 2023 season. Enfield has led the Trojans to the last two NCAA tournaments and won a school-record 26 games this past season. USC also advanced to the Sweet 16 last month.
In other college basketball news:
— Patrick Ewing says "it's great to be back" at Georgetown as its basketball coach in hopes of creating a "new era," 33 years after leading the school to a national championship as a shot-blocking center. This is Ewing's first head coaching job at any level, after 15 years as an assistant in the NBA.
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