NBA
HOUSTON (AP) - Stephen Curry scored all 33 of his points in the second half and the Golden State Warriors overcame Kevin Durant’s absence to finish off Houston in six games, beating the Rockets 118-113 on Friday night to advance to the Western Conference finals.
Klay Thompson added 27 points to help the two-time defending champion Golden State reach the conference finals for the fifth straight year and eliminate Houston for the fourth time in five seasons. The Warriors did it with Durant sidelined by a calf injury sustained in the second half of their Game 5 victory.
James Harden had 35 points, and Chris Paul added 27 for Houston.
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Bucks center Pau Gasol will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs after surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.
The Bucks said Friday that the surgery done a day earlier was successful and Gasol is expected to make a full recovery.
The 38-year-old Spaniard was signed by the Bucks on March 3 after he reached a buyout agreement with the San Antonio Spurs. The two-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star averaged 4.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 12.2 minutes in 27 games for the Spurs this season, his 18th in the NBA. He averaged 10.1 minutes in three games for the Bucks, all during the regular season.
BASEBALL
TORONTO (AP) - Blue Jays right-hander Clay Buchholz has been scratched from Friday’s start against the Chicago White Sox and placed on the 10-day injured list because of a sore shoulder. The move is retroactive to May 9.
Right-hander Daniel Hudson will open for Toronto against the White Sox.
Buchholz is 0-2 with a 6.57 ERA in five starts.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the Los Angeles Dodgers for $100,000.
D’Arnaud was traded Friday, a week after the Dodgers signed him following his release by the New York Mets. The 30-year-old d’Arnaud was 0 for 1 in one game for the Dodgers after going 2 for 23 in 10 games for the Mets.
PHOENIX (AP) - The Atlanta Braves have activated left-handed reliever Jonny Venters from the injured list and sent former closer A.J. Minter to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Atlanta made the moves before Friday night’s game at Arizona.
Minter is 0-4 with a 9.82 ERA. The lefty had three saves in four opportunities after replacing injured closer Arodys Vizcaino early in the season, but right-hander Luke Jackson had taken that role in late April.
Venters, who had been out since April 15 with a right calf strain, and Jackson could be used in save situations, manager Brian Snitker said.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NCAA men’s basketball rules committee is proposing moving the 3-point line to the international distance and changing the shot-clock resets reset following offensive rebounds.
Both rules could take effect next season in Division I. College basketball’s other two divisions would wait until 2020-21 to move the 3-point line because of the cost.
The Playing Rules Oversight Panel will vote on the recommendations June 5.
If approved, the shot clock would reset to 20 seconds, rather than 30 seconds, following an offensive rebound to improve the pace of the game.
The committee also proposed assessing Flagrant 2 fouls, which include ejections, if derogatory epithets are used, allowing coaches to call live-ball timeouts during the final two minutes of regulation or overtime; and expanding replay reviews to include basket interference or goaltending calls in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma set a single-season Division I softball record with its 39th consecutive win, defeating Texas Tech 8-0 in six innings Friday in a Big 12 Tournament opener.
The Sooners (49-2) had tied the mark South Carolina set in 1997 with a victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday. They didn’t make much of a fuss over the record - the program that has won two of the past three national titles has bigger things in mind.
Arizona holds the overall Division I mark of 47 straight wins that spanned the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
OLYMPICS
MONACO (AP) - Olympic race walk silver medalist Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez has been banned for four years for doping.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which prosecutes cases for the IAAF, says the Mexican walker’s ban for taking anabolic steroids took effect on Nov. 16.
Gonzalez’s results have been disqualified from Oct. 17, but she will keep her silver medal from the 20-kilometer walk at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and silver from the 2017 world championships in London.
SOCCER
LOS ANGELES (AP) - LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been found guilty of diving by Major League Soccer’s Disciplinary Committee.
The league said Friday that Ibrahimovic has been fined an undisclosed amount for embellishment during Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Columbus Crew. Ibrahimovic went to the ground in the penalty area without being touched as Columbus goalkeeper Zack Steffen made a play for the ball in the 23rd minute.
It is the third time the Swedish superstar has been fined by MLS disciplinarians since he joined the league.
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