Raptors’ Nurse named NBA coach of year
IN BRIEF
Nick Nurse was voted NBA coach of the year on Saturday after leading the defending champion Raptors to another 50-win season.
Nurse, who has the Raptors on the verge of the second round of the playoffs, was a runaway winner, receiving 90 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. He finished with 470 points.
Nurse led the Raptors to their first title last year in his rookie season, becoming the only coach to win an NBA championship and a G League championship. He won titles in 2011 and 2013 at the NBA’s minor league level.
The Raptors, despite NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard leaving for the Clippers, rolled to a 53-19 record and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference this season.
The Raptors have a 3-0 lead over the Nets and will try to finish off the sweep Sunday.
Golf: Sophia Popov of Germany shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead after three rounds of the Women’s British Open in Scotland. Popov, 27, reached 4-under 209 at Royal Troon. Minjee Lee of Australia and Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand each shot 69 and were tied for second.
NFL: The Seahawks cut their scrimmage short after DE Branden Jackson was knocked unconscious. Jackson’s helmet collided with that of T Cedric Ogbuehi as the two engaged at the line of scrimmage. Jackson fell to the turf and remained there for several minutes before the team’s medical staff strapped him onto a backboard, with the face mask removed from his helmet, and loaded him into an ambulance. Jackson regained consciousness and has feeling in his arms and legs, ESPN reported. He was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution . ... Browns CB Kevin Johnson was released from the hospital Friday after suffering a lacerated liver in practice. Johnson will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Also, RB Nick Chubb returned to practice Saturday on a limited basis after sustaining a concussion earlier in the week.
NHL: Mike Milbury is stepping away from broadcasting the rest of the NHL playoffs after his on-air comment Thursday night that there were no women in the league’s quarantined bubble to disrupt concentration drew widespread criticism. The 68-yearold former player, coach and GM released a statement Saturday through NBC Sports, saying: “I do not want my presence to interfere with the athletes as they try to win the greatest trophy in sports.” NBC said the analyst remains employed by the network . ... The Canucks eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues with a 6-2 victory in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series Friday night in Edmonton, Alberta.
Tennis: Three-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1 Andy Murray of Scotland beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open in New York. The 33-year-old Murray’s first match in nine months as he resumes his climb back from two hip operations came at the first ATP tournament in five months.