Warriors’ Curry was fouled on game-tying 3, league says
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry was fouled while making his tying 3-pointer on Thursday night against the New Orleans Pelicans and should have been awarded a potential game-winning free throw, the NBA said.
The game went into overtime after the no-call before the Warriors came away with a 123-119 victory for a 3-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Curry made the quick shot from the corner with 3.5 seconds left in regulation after receiving a pass from teammate Mareese Speights, who had grabbed an offensive rebound.
But after reviewing the play, the NBA said in its report that Pelicans forward Anthony Davis made contact with Curry before he landed, meaning that the nocall was incorrect. slammed nose-first into a concrete wall unprotected by SAFER barriers during a NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day before the Daytona 500.
“Depends on when he comes back, of course,” France said, “but it’ll be more likely than not that we’re going to try to figure out how to accommodate him, which is the beauty of our playoff system. What happened to him was on us. We’ll balance a lot of things at that point, when we have to make a decision, but we’re inclined to want to figure that out for sure.”
Also: Six days after Joey Logano led all 300 laps in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol, Tenn., Denny Hamlin led 248 of 250 laps in winning the Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va.
The only two laps that spoiled a perfect night were Brian Scott’s dive bomb off Turn 4 to lead Lap 154 by inches and Elliott Sadler’s contrarian fuel strategy, which allowed him to lead lap 226 during a cycle of green-flag pit stops before Hamlin, on fresh tires, roared back past him on lap 227.
Aside from those fleeting moments, however, it was no contest.
In winning the 12th Xfinity Series race of his career, his first of the season and his third at Richmond, Hamlin held leads as large as 6.5 seconds and crossed the finish line 3.719 seconds ahead of Logano, with just eight cars on the lead lap.
Regan Smith was third, followed by Erik Jones, Chase Elliott and rookie Daniel Suarez, as Joe Gibbs Racing placed three drivers in the top six (Hamlin, Jones and Suarez).
The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms on a one-year contract with wide receiver Hakeem Nicks.
Nicks, 27, caught 311 passes for 4,622 yards and 27 touchdowns in five seasons with the New York Giants. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts last year and caught 38 passes for 405 yards and a touchdown.
The NCAA placed Oklahoma State on probation for one year following an investigation into alleged violations committed by the football program.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced that the university did not follow its drug-testing policy and allowed the Orange Pride student group to engage in impermissible hosting activities during prospects’ official and unofficial visits.
Oklahoma State’s yearlong probation will run from Friday until April 23, 2016.
Penalties include one year of probation, $8,500 in fines, suspension of the Orange Pride program and university-imposed recruiting restrictions.
Oklahoma State will not lose any scholarships or face a postseason ban.
The Seattle Mariners placed right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma on the 15-day disabled list and recalled left-hander Lucas Luetge from Triple-A Tacoma.
Iwakuma, who has a strained right lat, will be eligible to return May 6. The Mariners had not yet decided who will replace him in the rotation Sunday against the Minnesota Twins.
Iwakuma, 34, has struggled in three starts this season, going 0-1 with a 6.61 ERA.
The Miami Marlins placed left fielder Christian Yelich on the disabled list with a lower back strain and recalled first baseman Justin Bour from Triple-A New Orleans.
Ichiro Suzuki, 41, will continue to play left field in Yelich’s place.
Hudson Swafford and Boo Weekley shared the second-round lead at 11 under when play was halted by the threat of storms at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Avondale, La.
Swafford completed the second round with a 6-under 66, and Weekley was 3 under through 15 holes.
Seventeen-year-old Brooke Henderson of Canada broke a tournament record with a 7-under-par 65 and took a two-shot lead over Na Yeon Choi of South Korea at 9-under 135 after two rounds of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco.
Henderson, playing this week on sponsors’ exemptions after she failed to qualify for the tour, eagled the par-5, 475-yard No. 14 and also collected six birdies.
Tiger Woods will make his next start in The Players Championship on May 7-10 at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The 39-year-old tied for 17th in the Masters earlier this month after a nineweek layoff.
UNLV’s Mountain West baseball game against Air Force was suspended in the eighth inning because of inadequate lighting due to a light malfunction at Wilson Stadium.
The Rebels (16-23, 3-15) held a 6-2 lead over the Falcons (19-20, 10-11) at the time of the suspension.
The game was rescheduled to resume at noon today. The second game of the three-game set will begin 45 minutes after the completion of the suspended game.