SMART FINED $50,000 FOR SHOVING EMBIID
YORK» Boston Celtics guard Marcus NEW Smart was fined $50,000 by the NBA for forcefully shoving Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid to the floor.
Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, noted Smart’s repeated acts of unsportsmanlike conduct during games this season in handing down the penalty Thursday. Smart has been fined for two prior incidents in 2018-19.
Smart shoved Embiid from behind with 7:06 remaining in the third quarter of the 76ers’ 118-115 victory on Wednesday. He received a flagrant foul 2 and was ejected.
Raiders’ lease for Coliseum gets final approval.
CALIF.» The OAKLAND,
Raiders have gotten final approval for their lease to remain in Oakland for at least one more season.
The Oakland City Council voted Thursday to approve the lease for 2019 with an option for 2020.
The Raiders will pay $7.5 million in rent for the Coliseum and the practice facility in Alameda in 2019 and have a $10.5 million option for 2020 in case their new $1.8 billion, 65,000seat stadium in Las Vegas isn’t ready by then.
Snell, Rays agree to $50 million, 5-year contract.
PORT CHARLOTTE,
AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a $50 million, five-year contract that covers three seasons of arbitration eligibility plus one year after he could have become a free agent.
The team announced the deal Thursday, less than two weeks after renewing the left-hander’s contract at a salary of $573,700 for the upcoming season. That would have been a raise of just $15,500 from 2018, when he led the league with 21 wins.
Cowboys, Rams announce Aug. 17 preseason game in Hawaii.
CALIF.» The Los Angeles THOUSAND OAKS, Rams and Dallas Cowboys will travel to Hawaii for a preseason game on Aug. 17.
The two defending division champions will meet in Aloha Stadium’s first NFL preseason game since 1976, the teams announced Thursday.
The stadium hosted the Pro Bowl almost every year between 1979 and 2016, when it moved to Orlando.
Patriots owner wants prostitution video blocked from public.
FORT
FLA.» The attorneys representing LAUDERDALE, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and other men charged in a Florida massage parlor prostitution investigation are asking a judge to block the release of video recordings that police say shows them engaging in sexual acts.
They also say the prosecutors’ conditions for the men entering a diversion program in exchange for dropping misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution are too harsh.
Dahmen, Straka share early lead at Innisbrook.
PALM HARBOR, FLA.
» The PGA Tour event that doesn’t have Tiger Woods this year instead has the Leaping Cougar.
That’s a childhood nickname for Joel Dahmen, who took advantage of gentle conditions on a tough golf course for a 5-under-par 66 to share the early lead with Sepp Straka in the Valspar Championship.
The tournament allowed players to put whatever name they wanted on the back of their caddie’s bibs. Dahmen, a cancer survivor who keeps golf light, went with the nickname he was given in a scouting group as a young boy in Washington state.
Wyoming, Denver advance in WNIT.
The Wyoming women defeated Northern Colorado 68-60 on Thursday night in the first round of the WNIT in Laramie. The Cowgirls’ Bailee Cotton recorded 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
In Albuquerque, the University of Denver women made history, winning the first postseason game in the school’s Division I history with a 87-75 victory over New Mexico. Madison Nelson led DU with 27 points.