West in spotlight on NBA’s last day
Three teams have shot at top seed
The final day of the NBA’s regular season should be wild.
All 30 teams will be in action, with nine playoff seeds still to be decided.
Not the least of the nine seeds is No. 1 in the West. Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Denver all have a shot at No. 1.
Minnesota gets the No. 1 seed with a win and a loss by either the Nuggets or Thunder. Denver gets it with a win and losses by both the Timberwolves and Thunder. Oklahoma City gets the No. 1 seed if all three teams win, if all three teams lose or with a win and a Timberwolves loss.
Boston long ago locked up the No. 1 seed in the East, the best record in the league and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Soccer
Eric Dick made three saves and the Riverhounds SC recorded its second consecutive shutout in a draw against Rhode Island FC in what was the first USL match between the clubs. While it was tough to find any shots on target in the first half, the second was intense as eight yellow cards were issued. The best opportunity for the Riverhounds came in the 77th minute after Babacar Diene tried to set up Edward Kizza and Kizza was stunted by
Morning briefing
Rhode Island’s goalkeeper Jackson Lee.
Auto racing
Kyle Larson will be the pole sitter for the third NASCAR Cup race in a row after a fast lap of 190.369 mph in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the 250th pole ever for Hendrick Motorsports and the team’s fourth in a row. That stretch started when William Byron, the winner at TMS last year, won from the pole at the Circuit of the Americas road course three weeks ago in Austin, Texas. It is the 19th career pole for Larson. Ty Gibbs also will start on the outside of the front row.
• Sam Mayer made a lastlap pass and held on to win by a matter of inches and less than a second ahead of Ryan Sieg at Texas Motor Speedway in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR Xfinity Series history. The final margin of .002 seconds matched the second-closest finish in series history.
Women’s hockey
Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots for her fourth shutout in five games, and Laila Edwards scored a natural hat trick as the United States beat Finland 5-0 in the semifinal round of the women’s world championships in Utica, N.Y. The United States will face Canada in the final Sunday. Canada defeated Czech Republic, 4-0, as Emily Clark and Jocelyne Larocque had a goal and assist each, The U.S. and Canada have now met in the final of 22 of 23 world championships.
College hockey
JaredWright and Rieger Lorenzscored second-period goals,Matt Davis had 35 savesand Denver beat No. 1 overallseed Boston College 2-0to win the 10th national championshipin program history.No. 3 seed Denver (32-9-3)moved past Michigan (nine) for most titles all time.
Tennis
Stefanos Tsitsipas stayed on course for a third Monte Carlo Masters title after beating Jannik Sinner 6-4, 36, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Monaco Open. The loss for Sinner was only his second of the season. Tsitsipas, seeded 12th, will face Casper Ruud in the final. Ruud defeated Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Djokovic still has not won a title this year and remains stuck on 98 career titles in his bid for 100.
• The United States advanced to the final round of the Billie Jean King Cup in November as Jessica Pegula gave the U.S. an insurmountable 3-0 lead against Belgium with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Hanne Vandewinkel in Orlando, Fla.
Colleges
Don Donoher, the winningest basketball coach at Dayton and a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, has died. He was 92. Donoher went 437-275 in a 25-year coaching career, all with the Flyers. He led Dayton to the NCAA tournament nine times and to the NIT seven times. The Flyers played UCLA in the 1967 final. They won the NIT the next season.