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Weekend Sports in Brief

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NBA

The pairing are set for the NBA's conference finals, and they don't include the defending NBA champions or the team with the best record through the regular season.

Defending champion Milwaukee was eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics on Saturday. On Sunday, the Dallas Mavericks eliminated top-seeded Phoenix.

In the East, Boston faces Miami in the best-of-seven series that starts Tuesday in Florida.

In the Western Conference finals, the Mavericks will face the Golden State Warriors in a series that begins Wednesday in California.

NHL

The matchups for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are set.

The New York Rangers will play the Carolina Hurricanes, and the NHL also will get the Battle of Alberta for the first time in 31 years with the Calgary Flames facing the Edmonton Oilers.

The Rangers and Hurricanes last played in the postseason during the expanded 24-team bubble playoffs in 2020.

Connor McDavid was almost six years away from being born during the last Calgary-Edmonton series.

The other East series is a Sunshine State rematch between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. And the Western Conference top-seeded Colorado Avalanche are facing off against the St. Louis Blues.

MLB

CINCINNATI (AP) — Reds starter Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter — or even a win — because the Pittsburgh Pirates eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 1-0 win Sunday.

It was the sixth time in big league history since 1901 that a team has won despite not getting any hits. It last happened in 2008, when Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo of the Angels lost while holding the Dodgers hitless.

By Major League Baseball record-keeping rules, Cincinnati’s accomplishment isn’t an official no-hitter because its pitchers didn’t go at least nine innings.

Greene, the prized Reds rookie, was pulled with one out in the eighth. Warren gave up an RBI groundout to Ke’Bryan Hayes for the only run.

TENNIS

ROME (AP) — Novak Djokovic raised his first trophy of the year at the Italian Open and showed that he’s back in top form exactly a week before the French Open starts.

The top-ranked Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6 (5) Sunday for his sixth Rome title after missing a large portion of the season because he wasn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Djokovic hadn’t won a tournament since raising the Paris Masters trophy in November.

Iga Swiatek defended the women’s title by overwhelming Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to 28 matches.

AUTO RACING

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kurt Busch moved past Kyle Larson for the lead with eight laps to go, then drove his gaudy Jordan Brand-styled car away from the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to win Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

It was the second win for the up-and-coming 23XI Racing team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who followed the two leaders and Kyle Busch across in fourth place.

Bubba Wallace won the team’s first race last year at Talladega.

The race was marked by tire problems that hampered the hopes of many contenders, including Chase Elliott and William Byron.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Zane Smith drove away from pole-sitter John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Majeski on a restart with nine laps to go at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his third NASCAR Truck Series victory of the season.

Smith chose the inside lane and launched away from the pack to add to his season-opening win at Daytona and his victory at Circuit of the Americas in March.

Majeski was second and Grant Enfinger third while Nemechek, the winner last weekend at Darlington, got a terrible jump on the final restart and wound up sixth.

GOLF

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — K.H. Lee shot a 9-under 63 Sunday for a one-shot victory over Jordan Spieth at birdie-besieged Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch.

Spieth shot a 67 to finish a stroke ahead of Hideki Matsuyama (62) and Sebastián Muñoz (69), who held or shared the lead the first three rounds. Xander Schauffele had a career-best 61 and tied for fifth with Ryan Palmer (66) and Justin Thomas (67).

The 30-year-old Lee joined Sam Snead (1957-58), Jack Nicklaus (1970-71) and Tom Watson (1978-80) as the only repeat winners at the Nelson. Lee finished at 26 under, one shot better than last year.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Steve Stricker completed at a wire-to-wire victory in the Regions Tradition, closing with a 4-under 68 for a six-stroke margin and his fourth PGA Tour Champions major title.

Stricker’s second Tradition win at Greystone Golf & Country Club came in his third event since returning from a six-month absence for health reasons. Two straight birdies punctuated the dominant performance.

He finished at 21-under 267 for his eighth victory on the 50-and-over tour. Paidrag Harrington finished second, birdieing the final two holes for a 68.

CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — LPGA scoring leader Minjee Lee made her only three birdies on the back nine and held off Lexi Thompson by two strokes in the Cognizant Founders Cup for her first victory of the year and her seventh career win.

The 25-year-old Australian took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 14th hole at Upper Montclair Country Club. She closed with a 2-under 70 for a total of 19-under 269 in the event that honors the 13 founding members of the LPGA Tour.

Thompson closed with six straight pars for a 69. Angel Yin (67) and Madelene Sagstrom (72) tied for third at 16 under.

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Sam Horsfield won the Soudal Open for his third European tour title, closing with a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory.

Horsfield finished at 13-under 271. Third-round leader Ryan Fox of New Zealand and Yannik Paul of Germany tied for second place. Fox shot a 71, and Paul had a 69.

SOCCER

LONDON (AP) — Liverpool beat Chelsea in the first-ever FA Cup final penalty shootout at Wembley on Saturday to stay in contention for, potentially if unlikely, a quadruple of trophies.

Just like in the League Cup final in February, the showpiece ended 0-0 before Liverpool prevailed again. This time the Reds were helped by Chelsea midfielder Mason Mason’s penalty being saved before Konstantinos Tsimikas clinched the 6-5 shootout win with his first-ever goal for the club.

It was Liverpool’s first FA Cup final triumph since 2006 — one of the two previous shootouts that settled the cup final that both happened in Cardiff while Wembley was being rebuilt.

CFL

TORONTO (AP) — Three Canadian Football league teams canceled their opening training-camp practices Sunday, a day after the league and players union broke off negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts canceled practices, with more teams expected to follow suit.

The previous CBA expired at midnight, with the CFL Players’ Association directing players from seven of the nine teams to participate in a work stoppage beginning at 12:01 a.m. EDT Sunday. Players with the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders reported to their camps because they will not be in a legal strike position under Alberta laws until later this month.

BOXING

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Jermell Charlo became the first undisputed super welterweight champion in the four-belt era when he stopped Argentina’s Brian Castaño in the 10th round of their rematch Saturday night.

After an outstanding bout with ample toe-to-toe action, Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) dropped Castaño twice in rapid succession in the 10th. Charlo leaped onto the ropes in celebration while the referee was still counting out his opponent, celebrating the addition of Castaño’s WBO 154-pound title to his WBC, WBA and IBF belts.

Charlo survived several impressive early rounds by Castaño (17-1-2) in the rematch of the fighters’ split draw 10 months ago in Texas. Charlo is only the seventh fighter to simultaneously hold every major title in any weight class since the four-belt era began in 1988.

OBITUARY

Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds, a big-hitting allrounder who built a credible test career and was an exemplar of Australian sport’s prized larrikin tradition, died after a single-vehicle auto accident. He was 46.

Cricket Australia reported details of Symonds’ death on its website, citing a police statement with details of the accident late Saturday night near the northeastern city of Townsville, Queensland state.

It described Symonds as “a cult hero” and a “larger-than-life figure who drew a widespread fan base during his peak years for not only his hard-hitting ways but his larrikin persona.”

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