Bjorkgren fired as coach of Pacers after a 34-38 season
Kevin Pritchard hired Nate Bjorkgren to take the Indiana Pacers in a new direction. They went the wrong way.
A season filled with defensive struggles, missed chances and locker room drama resulted Wednesday in the firing of Bjorkgren, 45, after only one season as coach.
Indiana went 34-38 before finishing the season with an embarrassing 142-115 loss to Washington in the play-in tournament — a fitting end to an abysmal season.
Brooklyn’s James Harden will miss Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals because of the right hamstring injury that forced him out of the series opener against Milwaukee . ... Miami Heat President Pat Riley was fined $25,000 by the NBA for being too clear that he’d eagerly welcome a reunion with LeBron James.
U.S. breezes vs. Costa Rica
Brenden Aaronson scored in the eighth minute, Daryl Dike and Reggie Cannon added their first international goals and the United States defeated Costa Rica 4-0 in an exhibition at Sandy, Utah, to complete a grueling stretch of four games in 11 days.
Gio Reyna added a penalty kick in the 77th, three minutes after entering, in the last preparation match for most front-line American players before the pandemic-delayed start of World Cup qualifying in September.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter changed nine starters from the lineup he used to beat Mexico 3-2 in extra time Sunday to win the first CONCACAF Nations League.
American national team defenders Steve Cherundolo and Christie Pearce were elected to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame along with Bolivian forward Jaime Moreno and former D.C. United general manager Kevin Payne.
Jocelyn Alo hit a goahead homer in the sixth inning, and Oklahoma beat Florida State 6-2 to force a decisive Game 3 for the Women’s College World Series title at Oklahoma City. The final game will be played Thursday afternoon. Oklahoma (55-4) is seeking its fifth national championship. Florida State (49-12-1) is trying for its second title in four years.
USC’s Davonte Burnett ran 10.12 seconds in the 100meter heats at the NCAA track and field championships, third among the qualifiers. The Trojans’ Cameron Samuel won his heat in the 400 hurdles.
Texas A&M hired Jim Schlossnagle as its baseball coach after his 18 seasons at Texas Christian that included five trips to the College World Series.
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier reported to jail early to begin serving his sentence for child endangerment in a case stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal . ... Matt Schembechler, son of legendary Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, was among the hundreds of men who were sexually assaulted by a campus doctor, lawyers said.
Defensive tackle Jay Toia, a four-star prospect from Grace Brethren High in Simi Valley, is headed across town, going from USC to UCLA to make his college debut. Toia committed to USC and participated in spring practice. — Eric Sondheimer
Meet At Dudley’s became the 10th racing or training death at Santa Anita when the 3-year-old filly broke down during training and was euthanized. The meeting has six racing days remaining before racing moves to Los Alamitos and then the summer meet Del Mar. During the 2019 meeting, Santa Anita had its 10th death on Jan. 23.
The filly was trained by Erick Kruljac, who had his third training death at Santa Anita since January 2020. Meet At Dudley’s was a $100,000 purchase as a yearling who had run one race. — John Cherwa