AP National Sports

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Scoring was up in the NBA this season, to a level not seen in more than a half-century. NBA teams averaged 114.7 points per game. That’s the ninth-highest figure in the league’s 77 seasons and the most since teams averaged 116.7 per game in 1969-70. It represents a jump

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jon Rahm slipped into the green jacket on Sunday to wrap up a memorable Masters. It began with questions about how LIV Golf players and their PGA Tour counterparts would get along at Augusta National. It was played through searing heat and humidity early, driving

By NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer The Tampa Bay Rays are on such a roll, the only question is which of their stats is most impressive. They’re the first team to start 9-0 since the 2003 Kansas City Royals. They’ve scored the most runs in baseball and allowed the fewest. They’ve won every game by

By PAOLO BANCHERO For The Associated Press Paolo Banchero’s rookie year with the Orlando Magic is over. In the sixth and final installment of his rookie diary with The Associated Press, Banchero talks about his plans for the summer and how excited he and the Magic are to keep building on their successes from this

BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) — Hilary Knight scored to help the United States beat the Czech Republic 6-2 in the women’s world hockey championship. Megan Keller, Tessa Janecke, Abby Roque, Eden Lacey and Hayley Scamurra also scored for the U.S. Aerin Frankel stopped 22 shots in the victory. The U.S. improved to 3-0 in Pool A.

By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, scoring on the power play with 44.3 seconds left in overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied for a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists and J.T. Compher also scored to

By GEORGE HENRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer and drove in six runs, and the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 10-2 for their third consecutive victory. At 42 years and 282 days, Cruz became the second-oldest player to homer for the Padres, just one day younger

By PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer Dirt-racing star Christopher Bell held on through a restart eight laps from the end and outran Tyler Reddick to win the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bell was a whiz-kid dirt sensation growing up and that experience helped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to his fifth victory in

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout in the second quarter against New Orleans. Anderson and Gobert had a heated discussion before Gobert raised his arm toward Anderson and appeared to hit him in the chest with his

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — David Pastrnak posed with the puck he used to score his 60th goal of the season in front of the whiteboard in the locker room that had “63 WINS” written in blue marker. It’s not the Boston Bruins’ biggest goal, but they now own the NHL

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Brooks Koepka struggled on a long day at the Masters, beginning with the conclusion of a third-round postponed by weather and ending with a final-round collapse. The four-time major champion shot 75 while Jon Rahm cruised to a closing 69, giving the Spaniard a four-shot

By STEVE HERRICK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez slid past catcher Cal Raleigh’s tag to score the winning run in the 12th inning, giving the Cleveland Guardians a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Teoscar Hernández’s two-out single gave the Mariners a 6-5 lead in the top of the 12th, but Seattle’s bullpen

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a one-year contract with receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The Ravens announced the move Sunday. The 30-year-old Beckham did not play last season following ACL surgery. He joins a Baltimore team that used the franchise tag on quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has asked to

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Tim Mayza retired Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded for the final out, and the Toronto Blue Jays got five RBIs apiece from Matt Chapman and Kevin Kiermaier to beat the Los Angeles Angels 12-11 in 10 innings. Chapman hit a grand slam in the

By JACK THOMPSON Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Josh Rojas had his second straight three-hit game, Pavin Smith drove in three runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks got 16 hits in an 11-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-6. Every Arizona starter had at least one hit as the Diamondbacks followed a 12-run, 17-hit effort

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks are now turning their attention to re-signing Kyrie Irving. They sat the eight-time All-Star in the final two games, both losses. The reserve-filled finale was a 138-117 loss to San Antonio. Fellow All-Star Luka Doncic and five other regulars also didn’t play in

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 26 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks to lead Minnesota past New Orleans 113-108. The Timberwolves passed the Pelicans in the play-in tournament seeding after losing a pair of starters to anger management problems. Rudy Gobert threw a punch at teammate

By DENNIS GEORGATOS Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Elías Díaz had three hits, including his first home run of the season, Jurickson Profar hit his first home run with Colorado and the Rockies weathered shaky pitching to beat Washington 7-6 Sunday.Ryan McMahon drew a bases-loaded walk in Colorado’s four-run sixth for the go-ahead run, allowing

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jon Rahm turned the longest day into his sweetest victory, starting Sunday with a four-shot deficit in the morning chill and finishing in fading sunlight as the fourth Spaniard to become a Masters champion. Rahm closed with a 3-under 69 to pull away from mistake-prone

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Golden State is in the playoffs. LeBron James is heading to the play-in tournament. And the Minnesota Timberwolves lost Rudy Gobert to a fight with a teammate, then won a battle to improve their playoff hopes. The final day of the NBA season was predictably wild — with tons