MAVS BUY TIME WITH DONCIC AS SERIES SHIFTS TO UTAH
The Dallas Mavericks bought some time to get Luka Doncic involved in their first-round series against Utah by winning Game 2 at home without their star.
If Doncic does return from a calf injury this week, it will be in one of the NBA’S toughest arenas for opposing teams. The series, tied 1-1, resumes Thursday night in Salt Lake City where the Mavericks have lost 11 in a row.
“We need Luka back. We want him back ASAP,” said Maxi Kleber, who played a huge role in evening the series with a career-high eight 3pointers and a playoff-best 25 points in Dallas’ 110-104 victory Monday night. “But obviously we want him back healthy so he stays healthy and helps us because we know he’s our best player.”
That’s the question the Mavericks aren’t answering beyond the generic “he’s getting better.”
North Carolina’s Fox loses appeal, out for 2022.
CHAPEL HILL, N. C. » North Carolina won’t have defensive end Tomari Fox this season after he lost an NCAA appeal of his punishment for consuming a banned substance.
Coach Mack Brown announced Tuesday that Fox is ineligible. The player drank a non-approved overthe-counter pre-workout beverage last year in what Brown described as an inadvertent mistake.
Ronaldo gets support from United, Liverpool fans at Anfield.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND » Cristiano Ronaldo received an outpouring of solidarity from Manchester United fans and their Liverpool counterparts during a Premier League match he missed on Tuesday after the death of one of his newborn twins.
The boy’s death was announced on Monday by Ronaldo and his partner, Georgina Rodriguez.
The show of support for United’s No. 7 came when the clock at Anfield hit seven minutes.a chant of “Viva Ronaldo” was started by the United fans. There followed a brief rendition from Liverpool supporters of their club anthem — “You’ll Never Walk Alone” — and applause around the stadium.
Seahawks re- sign QB Geno Smith at start of offseason program.
RENTON, WASH. » The Seattle Seahawks re-signed quarterback Geno Smith on Tuesday as the team began its offseason program. Smith’s oneyear deal became official on the first day players were back in the building for the offseason program. Smith started three games last season while Russell Wilson was recovering from finger surgery.
Kyrie Irving fined $50K for obscene gesture to Celtics fans.
BOSTON »
Nets guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $50,000 for making obscene gestures and directing profane language toward the crowd during Brooklyn’s Game 1 playoff loss to the Celtics. Cameras captured Irving flipping his middle finger toward fans as he ran down the court after making a shot in the third quarter.
5-time Grand Slam champ Maria Sharapova says she is pregnant.
Maria Sharapova says she is pregnant. The five-time Grand Slam tennis champion, who retired from the sport in February 2020, delivered the news via a social media post on Tuesday — her 35th birthday.
“Precious beginnings!!!” Sharapova wrote, adding: “Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty.”
All-female Indycar team announces 3- race schedule, no 500.
INDIANAPOLIS » Indycar team owner Beth Paretta announced Tuesday she intends to bring back her all-female team for three races this season but doesn’t intend to compete at next month’s Indianapolis 500.
Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro will pilot the No. 16 Chevrolet at all three stops — June 12 at Road America in Wisconsin, July 3 at Mid-ohio and Aug. 7 on the streets of Nashville.