SPORTS digest

College Sports

YSU distance runners close out Bison Outdoor Classic

LEWISBURG, PA.

The distance runners closed out a busy weekend for Youngstown State’s men’s and women’s track and field teams as they competed in Day 2 of the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell University.

Natalie Fleming highlighted the day by running the second fastest 800m time in school history after finishing in 2:13.52. Fleming’s time also was the 16th fastest time overall in the event. Nicole Squatrito ran in the final heat and finished with a time of 2:14.98 while Lauren Dolak clocked a personal-best time of 2:16.91.

For the men, Chris Butler finished with a personal-best time of 1:55.05 and freshman Cole Lovett ran a time of 2:03.87.

NBA Playoffs

Bucks 121, Pistons 86

MILWAUKEE

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 17 rebounds in just 24 minutes, and the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks showed they were serious about making a playoff run. The MVP candidate ran and dunked all over the Pistons, who only really caught him when center Andre Drummond shoved him to the ground with both hands late in the third quarter after Antetokounmpo grabbed an offensive rebound with Detroit trailing by 41 points. Drummond was given a flagrant 2 foul and ejected. He threw a kiss to the Fiserv Forum crowd as he was escorted off the court.

Trail Blazers 104, Thunder 99

PORTLAND, ORE.

Damian Lillard scored 30 points and third-seeded Portland opened its playoff series against No. 6 Oklahoma City with a victory. Enes Kanter added 20 points and a career playoff-high 18 rebounds for the Blazers, who were making their sixth straight postseason appearance. CJ McCollum added 24 points. Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his ninth career postseason triple-double. Paul George, who was a game-time decision because of a sore shoulder, added 26 points and 10 rebounds after a slow start.

Celtics 84, Pacers 74

BOSTON

Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris each scored 20 points, and Boston rallied in the second half to beat Indiana in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points. Al Horford added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Gordon Hayward had 10 points. It was the first playoff game since 2017 for Irving and Hayward after each missed last year’s postseason with injuries. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Boston.

NHL PLAYOFFS

Blue Jackets 3, Lightning 1

COLUMBUS

The Columbus Blue Jackets extended their stunning postseason mastery of the Tampa Bay Lightning, beating the NHL’s best team and moving to within a game of sweeping the playoff series.

Matt Duchene, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky fended off a desperate third-period charge to finish with 30 saves for the Blue Jackets, who took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Columbus will try to win a playoff series for the first time in franchise history in Game 4 at home Tuesday night.

Without their top scorer, the suspended Nikita Kucherov, and injured defenseman Victor Hedman, the Lightning and couldn’t find any momentum until late in the final period, and then Bobrovsky rose to the challenge.

Auto Racing

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif.

Alexander Rossi conquered the streets of Long Beach for the second consecutive year.

Rossi became just the eighth driver to win more than once on the temporary street course through the picturesque downtown. The others? Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Alex Zanardi, Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power and Mike Conway.

“This is a special one,” Rossi said.

Rossi won the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole Sunday, same as last year, and had the field covered very early. His margin of victory over Josef Newgarden was more than 20 seconds and the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport across all series.

Rossi was the first driver to win consecutive races at Long Beach since Bourdais won three straight from 2005 to 2007.

Chinese Grand Prix

SHANGHAI

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, beating teammate and pole sitter Valtteri Bottas with a quicker start from his No. 2 spot on the grid. It was his sixth victory in the Shanghai race.

Hamilton, the five-time and defending champion, led for the entire race after the quick start for his 75th career victory. It also moved him into the lead in the overall standings after only three races.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari was third ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.

The 21-year-old Leclerc was clearly upset early in the race when his Ferrari team ordered him to let Vettel pass.

The race was billed as the 1,000th in Formula One history dating from the first race in 1950 at the Silverstone circuit in England.

Hamilton has 68 points after three races followed by Bottas (62), Verstappen (39), Vettel (37) and Leclerc (36).

Staff/wire report