Nets eyeing Budenholzer
The Brooklyn Nets are closing in on a new head coach, with Mike Budenholzer – who led the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA championship in 2021 – among the candidates, The Athletic reported Saturday.
Associate head coaches Jordi Fernandez of the Sacramento Kings and Kevin Young of the Phoenix Suns also are on the Nets’ short list to replace Jacque Vaughn, per the report. Owner Joe Tsai will meet with all three in person.
The Nets were 21-33 when Vaughn was fired Feb. 19, and interim coach Kevin Ollie has an 11-16 record as the team prepares to close the season Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Ollie was among the candidates considered and has met with Tsai, per The Athletic.
The Nets will miss the playoffs after five consecutive postseason appearances
– four of which ended with first-round losses. Budenholzer, 54, has a 484-317 (.604) record with the Atlanta Hawks (2013-18) and Bucks (201823). He won NBA Coach of the Year awards in 2015 and 2019.
Fernandez and Young never have been head coaches.
The new coach will be the Nets’ fourth head coach since 2016, following Kenny Atkinson, Steve Nash and Vaughn.
MLB
The Pittsburgh Pirates placed left-hander Marco Gonzales on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a left forearm muscle strain.
The Pirates recalled right-hander Ryder Ryan from Triple-A Indianapolis to take the place of Gonzales, who has a 2.65 ERA without recording a decision in three starts this season, his first with Pittsburgh.
Gonzales, 32, allowed two runs on six hits in six innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. He walked three batters and struck out five.
Rangers place Bradford on IL: The Texas Rangers placed left-hander Cody Bradford, the major leagues’ early-season co-leader with three victories, on the 15-day disabled list Sunday because of a low back strain.
Bradford is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA, two walks and 17 strikeouts in 19 1⁄ innings over three starts. He also
3 leads MLB pitchers with a 0.62 WHIP and walks per nine innings at 0.93.
With Bradford out, right-hander Michael Lorenzen will be activated from the 15-day IL and make his Rangers debut Monday in Detroit against the Tigers.
SOCCER
Undefeated Bayer Leverkusen secured its first Bundesliga title on Sunday with a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen, breaking an 11-year stranglehold on the league by Bayern Munich.
Xabi Alonso’s team, which has now gone a league-record 29 matches without defeat this season to secure its first trophy since 1993, has a 16point lead over Bayern with five matches remaining.
Leverkusen left nothing to chance and sealed its title win at the first opportunity with Florian Wirtz bagging a hat-trick in a win that stretched its unbeaten run across all competitions to a remarkable 43 games this season.
TENNIS
Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the Barcelona Open due to a right arm injury that also forced the Spanish world number three to miss this week’s Monte Carlo Masters, the ATP 500 tournament organizers said on Sunday.
The 20-year-old two-times Grand Slam champion won the tournament in 2022 and 2023. He has taken one title this year, at Indian Wells last month.
The main draw of the Barcelona Open starts on Monday.
Tsitsipas wins Monte Carlo title: Stefanos Tsitsipas made short work of Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud as he seized a third Monte Carlo Masters title in four years with a 6-1 6-4 victory on Sunday.
Tsitsipas dominated proceedings against fellow 25-year-old Ruud from the onset, cruising through six consecutive games to wrap up the opening set in 36 minutes.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Brazil’s Alex Pereira pulled off a stunning firstround knockout victory over Jamahal Hill to retain the UFC light heavyweight title while Zhang Weili beat Yan Xiaonan to retain the straweight belt at UFC 300 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Pereira waved off what looked to be a low blow from Hill before landing a left hook that sent the American sprawling backwards onto the canvas. He then pounced to rain down blows and force the stoppage at the 3:14 mark of the first round.
“I told everyone the whole time, he’s a strong guy, I cannot go away from my strategy, and that’s exactly what I was doing … I was gauging the distance and the timing, and everything went perfectly,” Pereira said in a post-fight interview in the cage.