Nuggets won’t quit, rally to take Clippers to Game 7
Flights home from the NBA’s bubble are planned whenever a team is on the cusp of elimination, just in case they’re needed.
Denver is in no hurry to board that plane.
The never-say-die Nuggets pulled off another season-saving comeback — and, after rallying from 19 points down with 22 minutes remaining, they’ll see the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 on Tuesday night in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, for a berth in the Western Conference finals.
Nikola Jokic had 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and the Nuggets topped the Clippers 111-98 on Sunday to even their West semifinal series at three games apiece. The Nuggets will try to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a pair of 3-1 deficits in the same postseason, after doing so against Utah in the West first round.
Jamal Murray scored 21 for Denver, which got 16 from Gary Harris, 13 from Michael Porter Jr. and 10 from Monte Morris.
Paul George had 33 points, Kawhi Leonard scored 25 and Lou Williams had 14 for the Clippers, who are now 0-7 in games where they could clinch a trip to the conference finals. HEAD COACH D’ANTONI SAYS FAREWELL TO ROCKETS >> Mike D’Antoni told the Houston Rockets that he will not be back as coach with them next season, essentially choosing free agency over a return to the club with whom he has spent the last four seasons.
D’Antoni told the Rockets on Sunday — not even a full day after the team’s season ended with a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers — that he would seek coaching options elsewhere for next season and not return to Houston. Team owner Tilman Fertitta confirmed the move later Sunday.
“I would like to thank Mike D’Antoni and his wife, Laurel, for their incredible contributions to the Houston Rockets organization and the Houston community,” Fertitta said. “Mike is a true professional and an amazing basketball mind. He is a winner, and we have been blessed to have such an outstanding coach and leader to work with the past four seasons.”
NHL
QUICK-STRIKE LIGHTNING BEAT ISLANDERS, ON VERGE OF FINAL >> Blake Coleman tied it 15 seconds after the New York Islanders took the lead, Ondrej Palat scored the go-ahead goal 12 seconds later, and the Tampa Bay Lightning moved within a victory of the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final in Edmonton, Alberta.
Brayden Point added a goal in the third period in his return after missing Game 3 with injury.
Game 5 is Tuesday.
Golf
47-YEAR-OLD STEWART CINK RALLIES TO WIN SAFEWAY OPEN >> Stewart Cink won the season-opening Safeway Open at 47 years old for his seventh PGA Tour victory and first since the 2009 British Open.
Cink closed with a 7-under 65 — rebounding from a bogey on the 17th with a birdie on the 18th — for a twostroke victory over Harry Higgs at Napa’s Silverado Resort.
Cink’s last victory came at the expense of then-59-year-old Tom Watson at Turnberry, with Cink winning a four-hole playoff.
Cink one-putted 10 times on his way to a 21-under 267 finish. Higgs shot a 68.
Doc Redman closed with a 62 to tie with Brian Stuard (70), Chez Reavie (66) and Kevin Streelman (67) at 18 under.
MIRIM LEE WINS A STUNNER IN A PLAYOFF AT THE ANA INSPIRATION >> Mirim Lee chipped in three times, the last one for eagle on the final hole that got her into a three-way playoff at the ANA Inspiration that she won on the first extra hole with a birdie.
Lee was never in the lead at any point until she calmly holed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th to beat Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson in Rancho Mirage, who each had the lead on the back nine. All three ended regulation at 15-under 273.
College football
ARMY TAKES PERSONAL APPROACH TO FIND DATE FOR SATURDAY >> Only in 2020. In a strange college football season, Army athletic director Mike Buddie tweeted a seemingly appropriate message on Sunday as he seeks to fill out his football team’s schedule.
“Undefeated, COVID negative college football team from NY looking for like minded, disciplined team for a date next Saturday... must also be COVID negative!,” Buddie wrote. “Twitter, do your thing!”
Army originally had a date with BYU this Saturday, but that was called off out of COVID-19 concerns among the Cougars.
The teams announced the game’s postponement following what both said was a “small number” of positive tests in the BYU program. CLEMSON A CLEARCUT NO. 1 IN RESHUFFLED TOP 25 POLL >> Clemson is the clear No. 1 in the first Associated Press Top 25 college football poll of the 2020 regular season. The rest of the deck was shuffled, with nine teams from the preseason poll leaving the rankings because their conferences aren’t playing and 10 new schools joining the party.
Motorsports
HAMILTON WINS CRASH-MARRED TUSCANGP>> Lewis Hamilton won a hectic Tuscan Grand Prix to clinch his 90th Formula One win and move one behind Michael Schumacher’s record.
The first F1 race on a Mugello, Italy, track with super-fast corners usually used by MotoGP riders was incident-packed throughout. Two crashes on the first seven laps saw six drivers go out, and a red flag suspended the race for the first time after the second one. A second red flag late on following Lance Stroll’s heavy crash meant another grid restart — on Lap 46 of 59 — and gave Valtteri Bottas another chance to beat race leader Hamilton if he made a strong start from second.
Hamilton held firm and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo overtook Bottas, who passed him back to finish second but is now 55 points behind Hamilton in the title race.
HERTA LEADS ANDRETTI SWEEP AT MID-OHIO RACE 2 >> Colton Herta won from the pole and spearheaded a podium sweep by Andretti Autosport on the second day of an IndyCar doubleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
The 20-year-old Herta led 57 of 75 laps to claim his third career checkered flag, followed by Andretti teammates Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
It was the first win of the season for the Andretti team, and the team’s first 1-2-3 sweep since 2005.
Tour de France
POGACAR WINS STAGE 15 AT TOUR DE FRANCE, ROGLIC RETAINS LEAD >> Tadej Pogacar beat yellow jersey-holder Primoz Roglic in a dramatic mountaintop finish to Stage 15 in Grand Colombier, France, as the Tour became all about the fight between its two star Slovenian riders.
Last year’s winner Egan Bernal plummeted down the standings, as did his fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana, leaving Pogacar the only challenger within 90 seconds of Roglic in the overall standings.
WNBA
ACES EARN TOP SEED IN PLAYOFFS >> Dearica Hambry and A’ja Wilson each recorded 23 points and seven rebounds as the Las Vegas Aces earned the No. 1 seed in the WNBA Playoffs with an 86-84 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday in Bradenton, Florida.
Each team finished at 18-4 but the Aces won both regular season contests against the Storm.
MYSTICS GRAB FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT >> Ariel Atkins scored 26 points and the Washington Mystics clinched the eighth and final seed to the playoffs with an 85-78 win over the Atlanta Dream.