PRO BASKETBALLPHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadelphia 76ers team president Bryan Colangelo is denying a report connecting the executive to Twitter accounts that criticized Sixers players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz Max Domi Jersey Womens , among other NBA figures.The accounts also took aim at former Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri and former Sixers players Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, according to a report by The Ringer.The Ringer asked the team about five Twitter accounts it suspected Colangelo was operating. He said in a statement he used one of the accounts to monitor the NBA industry and other current events, but he was ”not familiar with any of the other accounts” brought to his attention and he didn’t know who was ”behind them or what their motives may be in using them.”Embiid told ESPN on Tuesday night that Colangelo called him and denied the story. Yahoo Sports reported Colangelo was standing by his statement to The Ringer. A message was left by The Associated Press seeking comment from the Sixers.Earlier in the day, a person familiar with the situation confirmed the 76ers and coach Brett Brown agreed to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2021-22 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been officially announced.LOS ANGELES (AP) – Just about everything the Ball family does gets attention, and LiAngelo Ball’s pre-draft workout with the Lakers was no exception.About two dozen members of the media watched Ball’s final drills while Magic Johnson and Lakers coach Luke Walton looked on. Lakers guard Lonzo Ball, LiAngelo’s older brother, was there for the workout as well.”I feel like it went good,” the younger Ball said. ”It’s always fun being in here doing things I want to get better at. It was a good workout.”LaVar Ball has been outspoken about his desire for all three of his sons – Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo, the youngest – to play for the Lakers. The Lakers have the 25th pick in the first round next month, though LiAngelo Ball’s draft prospects are uncertain. He wasn’t even scheduled to be a starter at UCLA before leaving the program after being indefinitely suspended for an international incident last year in China. He also had a stint with the professional Lithuanian team Vytautas.LiAngelo Ball confirmed that he has an upcoming workout with the Golden State Warriors. He also said he’ll play in the NBA summer league, but he is not sure which team he’ll play for yet.HOCKEYLAS VEGAS (AP) – The Vegas Golden Knights still think Tom Wilson’s third-period hit on Jonathan Marchessault was very late and probably dirty.They also believe it sparked their comeback victory in the Stanley Cup Final opener.Wilson and the Washington Capitals still insist he did nothing wrong when he leveled the Golden Knights’ top playoff scorer. The NHL agreed with Wilson on Tuesday Mikkel Boedker Jersey Womens , declining to discipline the hard-charging forward.But after the collision and the resulting scrums, Vegas coach Gerard Gallant saw a renewed vigor in his Knights. They quickly got Tomas Nosek’s go-ahead goal and surged one game closer to an improbable championship.Game 2 is Wednesday night on the Strip. Both teams intend to channel their nervous energy more constructively after an entertainingly ramshackle opener.ATHLETE ABUSELANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign into law bills inspired by the Larry Nassar scandal, including one approved Tuesday that would give childhood sexual abuse victims more time to sue.The current cutoff to file a lawsuit in Michigan is generally a minor victim’s 19th birthday, which critics say is out of step with the laws in other states and does not account for how many victims are afraid to report abuse or have suppressed it.On a 34-2 vote, the Republican-led state Senate gave final approval to a measure that would allow people who were sexually abused as children to sue until their 28th birthdays or three years from when they realized they had been abused. Nassar victims would get a 90-day window to sue retroactively, leading some state senators from both parties to reluctantly vote for the legislation after the state House scaled backed the retroactively provision to not include other victims abused as children since 1997.BASEBALLPITTSBURGH (AP) – Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon believes Anthony Rizzo’s slide that upended Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elias Diaz at home plate on Monday is still perfectly legal. So does Maddon’s superstar first baseman.Major League Baseball? Not so much.MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre informed both clubs on Tuesday that Rizzo should have been called for interference for swiping Diaz’s right leg while Diaz attempted to make a throw to first base to complete a potential double play in the eighth inning of Chicago’s 7-0 victory on Memorial Day.Diaz’s throw ended up sailing into right field, allowing two runs to score. The Pirates challenged the call on the field but replay officials opted not to overturn it.Nearly 24 hours later, MLB believes Rizzo violated Rule 6.01 (i), which states ”if a runner does not engage in a bona fide slide, and initiates (or attempts to make) contact with the fielder for the purpose of breaking up a double play, he should be called for interference.”Maddon called it the ”perfect play” on Monday and didn’t back down even after what he called a respectful back-and-forth with Torre. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals overcame a major hurdle by reaching the Eastern Conference final.Just like that Karl Alzner Jersey Womens , they’re in a full-on sprint toward the finish.The Capitals scored in the opening minute of the game and twice in the last 1:02 of the second period Sunday night to pull away to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 2-0 lead in the East final.”It’s huge but it’s not over yet,” Ovechkin said. ”We played hard and played smart. You can see all four lines doing their job.”Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each had a goal and two assists. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist apiece for the Caps, who took the first two games of the best-of-seven matchup on the road. Since 1974-75, teams that take a 2-0 lead in the conference final or semifinal have a series record of 39-2 (95.1 percent).”We didn’t panic. Just stayed to the system and played the right way,” Ovechkin said. ”We stayed calm and waited for our opportunities.”Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly also scored, helping Washington improve to 7-1 on the road this postseason. It’s their first visit to the conference final during Ovechkin’s 13-season career.”You’re on the road and it’s us against them, and this group has really bonded,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”They’ve got a lot of resiliency, and they’re having fun.”Game 3 is Tuesday night in Washington.The Lightning had the best record in the Eastern Conference this season and breezed through the first rounds of the playoffs against New Jersey and Boston.Little has gone right against the Capitals.”For a team that’s been used to being able to make some plays, we sure haven’t made them in these two games. It’s very uncharacteristic of us. That’s the difference. They’ve made plays, we haven’t. And it’s cost us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.”We’ve just played tentative and a little bit slow. We didn’t get 113 points by playing that way. We didn’t win the first two rounds by playing that way,” Cooper added. ”For some reason for two games Joel Armia Jersey Womens , that’s the way we’ve played.”Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos had early power-play goals for Tampa Bay, which rebounded after falling behind on Wilson’s goal 28 seconds into the game.Smith-Pelly’s one-timer finished an odd-man rush and made it 2-2 at 2:30 of the second period. The Caps took control when Eller scored with 1:02 remaining and Kuznetsov – with assists from Ovechkin and Eller – delivered on a power play less than a minute later.Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was called for tripping Andre Burakovsky with 10 seconds left in the period. Kuznetsov scored seven seconds later to make it 4-2, the second time in the series the Caps stunned the Lightning with a power-play goal in the closing seconds of a period.Ovechkin and Connolly finished the rout with third-period goals. Braden Holtby stopped 33 of 35 shots to improve to 10-3 this postseason.”We’ve defended this entire playoffs up until these last couple of games, and that’s why we’ve had success,” Stamkos said. ”We haven’t defended with the same urgency. We’re leaving our goalie out to dry.”Ovechkin also had a goal and an assist in Washington’s 4-2 victory in Game 1.Vasilevskiy was pulled from the opener after facing 25 shots in two periods, but the Lightning didn’t pin the loss on him. Instead, they vowed to play harder in front of the young goaltender, who finished with 31 saves in Game 2.Tampa Bay benefited early from a couple of questionable penalties – Wilson for goaltender interference and T.J. Oshie for high-sticking Victor Hedman, when the Tampa Bay defenseman actually was struck by the puck – to score twice in just over three minutes on the power play for a 2-1 lead.Stamkos and Hedman assisted on Point’s goal at 7:08 of the first. Stamkos’ fourth goal in five games gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the series.The Lightning will have to turn the series around on the road to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015.”We’ll prepare for the toughest game that we’ve played all season,” Stamkos said. ”It’s gut-check time. Let’s see who we really are.”NOTES: Washington’s John Carlson had two assists, giving him 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) this postseason. That’s a club record by a defenseman in one playoff year. He had been tied for the most with Kevin Hatcher (5-7-12, 1988) Xavier Ouellet Jersey Womens , Scott Stevens (1-11-12, 1988) and himself (5-7-12, 2016). … Before Sunday night, the Lightning had won Game 2 of a series five consecutive times after losing Game 1. They’re 4-2 in six previous series in which they lost Game 1, with those series losses coming in the first round in 2014 against Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. … Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who took a shot from Justin Schultz off his right hand in Game 5 of Washington’s second-round series against the Penguins, missed his third straight game. He took part in the morning skate on a limited basis and remains day-to-day. … Hedman has a franchise-record, seven-game point streak (eight assists). Martin St. Louis had a six-game streak in 2004.—
