In Brief: Cavs blow out Raptors 115-84 in Game 1
NBA: LeBron James hardly missed and scored 24 points in three quarters, Kyrie Irving scored 27 and the Cleveland Cavaliers picked up where they left off before a long layoff by thumping the Toronto Raptors 115-84 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
James made his first nine shots – one an arena-rattling powerhouse dunk – and the Cavs shot 67 percent from the field in the first half while improving to 9-0 this postseason. Cleveland is the first team to start the playoffs with nine straight wins since San Antonio reeled off 10 in a row in 2012.
But unlike their second-round series when they made 77 3-pointers and swept Atlanta, the Cavs did most of their damage from close range. Cleveland made just 7 of 20 3-point attempts.
DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points and Bismack Biyombo added 12 for Toronto.
Kyle Lowry, who scored 35 points in the Raptors’ Game 7 win over Miami, was held to just eight as he and the Raptors were roughed up in their first appearance in the conference finals.
Celtics’ Olynyk undergoes surgery: The Celtics say Kelly Olynyk has undergone successful surgery on his injured right shoulder which bothered him late in the season.
The team said that the 7-footer had arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder, Monday in Boston. The procedure was for recurrent subluxations, or when the shoulder partially slips in and out of the socket.
76ers win NBA draft lottery: The Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA draft lottery and will have the No. 1 pick in June.
The Los Angeles Lakers finished second but also felt like winners, as they would have dealt their pick to Philadelphia had they fallen out of the top three.
The Boston Celtics, with a pick dealt to them by the Brooklyn Nets, remained in the No. 3 slot.
Nobody moved up in the lottery, which sets the top three picks. The remainder of the 14 teams are slotted in the inverse order of their won-loss record.
Zika shouldn’t stop Summer Olympics
Olympics: Despite increasing worries about the Zika outbreak, an international health official says the 2016 Summer Olympics should not be postponed, canceled or moved from Rio de Janeiro.
Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, addressed the issue at a briefing in Geneva.
Researchers suspect the mosquito-borne virus, which has been around for decades, may be linked to neurological disorders or, in cases where pregnant women become infected, severe birth defects.
31 caught in retests of Beijing Olympic samples: In a major doping crackdown stretching back eight years, 31 athletes in six sports were caught in retesting of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and other positive cases could emerge from the 2012 London Games, according to the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC opened disciplinary proceedings against the 31 unidentified athletes from 12 countries who competed in Beijing and were planning to take part in the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.
Sharks even series with shutout win
NHL: Brent Burns scored San Jose’s first two power-play goals of the Western Conference finals and Martin Jones stopped 26 shots for his second shutout of the postseason as the Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues 4-0 in St. Louis, to even the series at a game apiece.
Tommy Wingels and Dainius Zubrus also scored and Logan Couture had two assists to help the Sharks bounce back from a tight loss in the opener.
Game 3 is Thursday night in San Jose.
Ciccone soloes to 1st stage victory at Giro
Miscellany: Bob Jungels moved into the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia in Sestola, Italy, while neo-professional Giulio Ciccone soloed to victory on the mountainous 10th stage in his debut Grand Tour.
An emotional Ciccone shook his head in disbelief as he crossed the line, after nearly six hours on the 219-kilometer (136-mile) ride from Campi Bisenzio to Sestola, with no flat sections after the first 25 kilometers, and an uphill finish.
Ivan Rovny was 42 seconds behind the Italian, and Darwin Atapuma third, 80 seconds off the pace.
Man United absent again: Manchester United’s absence from the Champions League for the second time in three years was confirmed after a 3-1 win over Bournemouth in an English Premier League game hastily rearranged because of a bomb scare.
Wayne Rooney scored one goal and played a part in the other two, scored by Marcus Rashford and substitute Ashley Young, as United finished in fifth place to qualify for the Europa League group stage.
United’s win took away the potential for having to play in the Europa League’s third qualifying round on July 28.
Gun Runner skips Preakness: Gun Runner, third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will skip the Preakness, leaving a likely field of 11 for the middle leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday at Pimlico. Preakness post positions will be drawn Wednesday evening.
Trainer Steve Asmussen said Gun Runner, the Louisiana Derby winner, would remain at Churchill Downs.
“We plan on a serious summer of 3-year-old races with him,” Asmussen said. “He’s been in tremendous physical condition going into the Derby, and coming out of it, and we expect for him to continue to physically develop.”
Finland beats Canada at hockey worlds: Finland was the only unbeaten team left in the ice hockey world championship after routing Canada 4-0, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Canada, like Finland, won all six of its games going into the group decider, and conceded just four goals.
In what was effectively a tuneup between two teams already quarterfinal bound, the shot count was 21-19 to Canada as Finland’s Mikko Koskinen made the difference in net.
Alaphilippe climbs to Stage 3 win: French phenom Julian Alaphilippe attacked inside the final mile of the grueling climb up Gibraltar Road to win Stage 3 of the Tour of California in Santa Barbara, to assume the overall race lead.
The 23-year-old Alaphilippe bridged a 24-second gap to Peter Stetina in one big push, then rode away from his American rival to the finish. He thrust his arms in the air after crossing the line to celebrate a stage victory that could make him the man to beat when the race concludes on Sunday.