After exit, Bucks fire Budenholzer as coach

The Bucks fired coach Mike Budenholzer just over a week after their stunning first-round playoff loss to the Heat spoiled a season in which they owned the NBA’s best record.

Budenholzer’s ouster comes two years after he directed the Bucks to their first NBA title in half a century. The move also comes three weeks after the NBA finalized Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s purchase of a 25% stake in the team.

The Bucks posted the most combined regular-season and playoff wins of any team during Budenholzer’s tenure and had the league’s best regular-season record in three of his five seasons on the job. But with the notable exception of that 2021 championship season, they couldn’t match their regular-season success in the postseason. „ Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and the secondseeded Celtics rolled past the third-seeded 76ers 121-87 on Wednesday night in Boston, spoiling the return of league MVP Joel

Embiid. The Celtics tied the Eastern Conference semifinals at 1-1. Embiid sat out the 76ers’ Game 1 win with a knee injury.

Golf: England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot an opening-round 6-under 65 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead at the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

NFL: The Giants and All-Pro DT Dexter Lawrence agreed to a four-year, $90 million extension, including $60 million guaranteed, ESPN reported. The deal makes the 25-year-old the thirdhighest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL.

NHL: The Golden Knights overcame Leon Draisaitl’s four goals to beat the visiting Oilers 6-4 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday . ... The host Hurricanes got goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis alongside a suffocating defensive performance in the opening period to jump quickly on the Devils and cruise to a 5-1 win in Game 1 of the East semifinals.