AP Sportlight

April 25

1950 - Charles Cooper, an All-American from Duquesne playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, becomes the first black to be picked in the NBA draft when he’s taken by the Boston Celtics.

1952 - The Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan’s 22 points, beat the New York Knicks 82-65 to win the NBA title in seven games.

1964 - The Toronto Maple Leafs win their third straight Stanley Cup with a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh game.

1965 - The Boston Celtics score 42 points on a record 21 field goals in the final quarter of Game 5 to post a 129-96 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers and win their seventh consecutive NBA championship.

1974 - The NFL adopts the 15-minute, sudden-death overtime to avoid ties. The league also moves the goal posts to the back of the end zones.

1989 - Mario Lemieux ties NHL playoff records with four first-period goals, five overall and eight points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia 10-7 to take a 3-2 lead in the Patrick Division finals.

1993 - Micheal Williams set an NBA record for consecutive free throws with 84. He made 10 straight as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Utah 113-111. Calvin Murphy held the previous mark of 78 for Houston in 1981.

1993 - Pittsburgh’s NHL-record 14-game playoff winning streak and its overall 21-game unbeaten string are snapped as the New Jersey Devils beat the Penguins 4-1.

1995 - Major League Baseball returns after a 257-day players’ strike as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 8-7.

1997 - Phoenix’s Rex Chapman makes a playoff-record nine 3-pointers en route to career-high 42 points in a 106-101 win at Seattle. Chapman broke the old playoff mark of eight treys set by Dan Majerle of Phoenix against Seattle on June 1, 1993.

2000 - The San Jose Sharks, the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed, eliminate the NHL’s regular-season champions, the St. Louis Blues, with a 3-1 victory in Game 7. The Blues are the second NHL regular-season champion to get knocked out in the first round, joining the 1991 Chicago Blackhawks.

2006 - Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams is suspended for the 2006 season by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the fourth time.

2009 - San Antonio’s Tony Parker matches George Gervin’s franchise playoff record for points in a half, scoring 31 by halftime of the Spurs’ 99-90 loss to Dallas in Game 4 of their series. Parker makes 12 of 17 shots, including two 3-pointers, to help the Spurs take a 55-51 halftime lead. Parker finishes with 43 points.

2010 - Dwyane Wade sets franchise playoff records with 46 points, 30 in the second half, and Miami staves off elimination by beating Boston 101-92 in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.

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April 26

1905 - Jack McCarthy of the Cubs became the only outfielder in major league history to throw out three runners at the plate, each the second out of a double play. The victims were the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 2-1 loss.

1950 - The University of Miami ends the longest winning streak in college tennis by defeating William & Mary 8-1. William & Mary, unbeaten in five years, had won 82 consecutive meets.

1964 - The Boston Celtics capture their sixth consecutive NBA title with a 105-99 victory over the San Francisco Warriors in Game 5 of the finals.

1995 - The Colorado Rockies defeat the New York Mets 11-9 in 14 innings, tying the NL record for innings played in a season opener.

2002 - Odalis Perez of Los Angeles faces the minimum 27 batters in his first career shutout. Perez was perfect for six innings in a 10-0 win over the Cubs at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

2005 - Alex Rodriguez hits three home runs and drives in a career-high 10 runs to lead the New York Yankees over the Los Angeles Angels 12-4.

2008 - Michigan tackle Jake Long is selected by the Miami Dolphins with the top pick in the NFL draft. St. Louis selects Chris Long of Virginia second.

2009 - France’s Frederick Bousquet sets a world record in the 50-meter freestyle, becoming the first to break the 21-second barrier. His mark of 20.94 comes at the French championships.

2012 - Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is selected first overall in the NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He is followed by Baylor QB Robert Griffin III, who is taken by the Washington Redskins.

2012 - The Charlotte Bobcats finish with the worst winning percentage in NBA history after a 104-84 loss to the New York Knicks. The Bobcats’ 23rd consecutive loss leaves them with a winning percentage of .106 (7-59) in the lockout-shortened season. The record was set 39 years ago, when the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers finished 9-73 (.110) in a full regular season.

2014 - Wladimir Klitschko toys with Alex Leapai and knocks him out in the fifth round to retain his four heavyweight belts in Oberhausen, Germany.

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April 27

1956 - Rocky Marciano retires as the undefeated heavyweight boxing champion. He finished with a 49-0 record, including six title defenses and 43 knockouts.

1960 - The Minneapolis Lakers announce that they will relocate to Los Angeles.

1968 - Jimmy Ellis won the world heavyweight boxing title with a 15-round decision over Jerry Quarry in Oakland, Calif. This is the final bout of an eight-man elimination tournament to fill Muhammad Ali’s vacated title.

1994 - Scott Erickson, who allowed the most hits in the majors the previous season, pitched Minnesota’s first no-hitter in 27 years as the Twins beat Milwaukee 6-0.

1994 - Dave Hannan scores 5:43 into the fourth overtime to keep the Buffalo Sabres going in the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils, the sixth-longest game in NHL history.

2001 - Jamal Mashburn of Charlotte sets an NBA playoff record by making all 25 of his free throws during the three-game sweep of Miami. Mashburn is 10-for-10 in Charlotte’s 94-79 victory.2002 - Derek Lowe pitches a no-hitter against Tampa Bay. Brent Abernathy is the only baserunner Lowe allows in Boston’s 10-0 victory.

2003 - Kevin Millwood pitches his first career no-hitter to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Francisco Giants 1-0.

2007 - Kirk Radomski, a former New York Mets clubhouse employee, pleads guilty to distributing steroids to major league players for a decade and agrees to help baseball’s steroids investigators.

2008 - Ashley Force becomes the first woman to win a national Funny Car race. The 25-year-old beats her father, drag racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals to deny him his 1,000 winning round in his 500th NHRA tour event.

2009 - West Virginia State’s Bo Darby hit home runs in five consecutive at-bats over two games, including four in one contest. The sophomore outfielder homers in his first four trips to the plate against Salem International. He also connects in his final at-bat two days earlier against the University of Charleston. Darby homers twice more in the second game of the doubleheader, giving him six for the day with 14 RBIs.

2009 - The Denver Nuggets match the biggest victory in playoff history with their 121-63 rout of New Orleans in Game 4 of their first-round series. The Minneapolis Lakers had the other 58-point postseason victory, beating the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956. The Hornets record playoff lows in points, field goals made (17), field goals attempted (54), assists (10) and second-half points (24).

2011 - Nathan Horton scores 5:43 into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series. Boston had never won a playoff series after trailing 0-2 in 26 tries.

2011 - Dwayne Roloson makes 36 saves as Tampa Bay completes a big series comeback and eliminates Pittsburgh with a 1-0 win in Game 7. Roloson becomes the second goalie to go 6-0 in elimination games. He allowed only four goals in winning the final three games as the Lightning erased a 3-1 series deficit.

2013 - The Detroit Red Wings make the playoffs for the 22nd straight season after Henrik Zetterberg had two goals and an assist in a 3-0 victory over Dallas. The Red Wings own the longest active playoff streak in major professional sports, six years longer than the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs’ stretch of postseason play.

2014 - Three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh wins her record 47th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour title, teaming with April Ross to beat Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta Silva and Maria Antonelli 21-11, 21-18 in the Fuzhou Open final.

2014 - Lydia Ko birdies the final hole for her third LPGA Tour victory and first as a professional, holding off Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shin in the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. Ko earns $270,000, celebrating on the 18th green three days after celebrating her 17th birthday.

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April 28

1966 - Boston edges the Los Angeles Lakers 95-93 in Game 7, giving the Celtics and coach Red Auerbach eight straight NBA titles. Auerbach, who announced his retirement earlier, is replaced by center Bill Russell, the first black head coach of a major U.S. sports team.

1967 - Muhammad Ali refuses induction into the U.S. Armed Forces. He is arrested and the New York State Athletic Commission suspends his boxing license and strips him of his heavyweight title.

1987 - The NBA awards expansion franchises to Charlotte, N.C. and Miami for 1988, and Minneapolis and Orlando, Fla., in 1989. Each paid a $32.5 million entry fee.

1990 - Boston set single-game NBA playoff records for scoring and shooting accuracy in a 157-128 rout of the New York Knicks to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

1995 - Michael Jordan, in his first playoff game since his return from retirement, scored 48 points in the Chicago Bulls’ 108-100 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

1995 - The Orlando Magic give the Boston Celtics their worst defeat in team history, 124-77, in a playoff opener.

2001 - John Stockton gets his first triple-double in 171 career playoff games with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Utah’s 94-91 loss to Dallas.

2001 - Colorado’s Patrick Roy sets an NHL record with his 16th career playoff shutout, making 20 saves in a 2-0 win over Los Angeles.

2005 - Competing in the Drake Relays decathlon for the last time, Kip Janvrin finishes first in the final four events to run away with the title. Janvrin, 39, who won at Drake for the 15th time and increases his world record for decathlon victories to 38. He finishes with 7,671 points, his lowest winning score since 1988.

2007 - JaMarcus Russell, the big-play quarterback from LSU, is the first pick by the Oakland Raiders in the NFL draft.

2009 - Washington edges the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference series to cap a comeback from three games to one. It is the franchise’s first series victory since the 1997-98 season, when Washington made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.

2010 - Montreal beats Washington 2-1 to complete a come-from-behind 4-3 series victory and eliminate the NHL’s best regular-season team in the first round of the playoffs. The Canadiens are the ninth No. 8-seeded team to knock off a No. 1 in 32 matchups since the NHL went to its current playoff format in 1994 - and the first to come back from a 3-1 series deficit.

2011 - The Carolina Panthers select Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

2011 - Canada’s Patrick Chan wins his first world figure skating title in record fashion. Chan sets world records for the free skate and total points to claim titles at the world figure skating championships in Moscow.

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April 29

1901 - His Eminence, ridden by Jimmy Winkfield, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths over Sannazarro in the only Derby ever raced in April.

1961 - ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” debuts.

1970 - Los Angeles Lakers guard Jerry West hits a 60-foot desperation shot at the buzzer to tie Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. The Knicks outscore the Lakers 9-6 in the overtime for a 111-108 win.

1985 - Tony Tubbs captures the WBA heavyweight title with a unanimous 15-round decision over Greg Page in Buffalo, N.Y.

1986 - Roger Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 batters as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1.

1988 - The Baltimore Orioles end their 21-game losing streak by winning their first game of the season, 9-0 over the Chicago White Sox.

1990 - Pat Riley becomes the winningest coach in NBA playoff history as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 104-100. Riley’s 100th victory put him ahead of Red Auerbach.

1994 - Kirk Rueter of Montreal became the first major league pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to start his career with a 10-0 record as the Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.

1998 - For the first time in the 124-year history of the Kentucky Derby, a redraw is ordered during the post position draw. Churchill Downs officials allowed ESPN to control the announcing of the draw. Commentator Chris Lincoln called the No. 15 pill twice while picking the draft order for post positions.

2000 - Lennox Lewis knocks down Michael Grant three times in the first round and knocks him out at 2:53 of the second at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain his WBC and IBF heavyweight titles. The combined weight of 497 pounds made it the heaviest title fight ever.

2003 - Indiana outscores Boston 5-0 in overtime for a 93-88 victory, cutting the Celtics’ first-round series lead to 3-2. It’s the first overtime shutout in NBA playoff history.

2005 - In the first matchup between 300-game winners in almost 18 years, the Cubs’ Greg Maddux outduels the Astros’ Roger Clemens in Chicago’s 3-2.

2007 - Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has an unassisted triple play in the seventh inning of the Rockies’ 9-7 win over Atlanta. It’s the 13th unassisted triple play in major league history and the first since 2003.

2007 - Phoenix guard Steve Nash has 23 assists, one shy of the NBA playoff record, to help Phoenix to a 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

2010 - The NCAA’s Board of Directors approve a 68-team format for the men’s basketball tournament beginning next season. It’s the first expansion since 2001 when the tourney went from 64 to 65 teams.

2011 - Zach Randolph scores 31 points and grabs 11 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies advance to their first Western Conference semifinals and made NBA history in knocking off the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs 99-91. The Grizzlies becomes the second No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed since the NBA expanded the opening series to a best-of-seven.

2013 - NBA veteran center Jason Collins becomes the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins writes a first-person account posted on Sports Illustrated’s website. The 34-year-old free agent played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons.

2014 - Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is banned for life by the NBA in response to racist comments he made in an audio recording. The Clippers’ owner is also fined $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA Constitution.

2015 - In what is believed to be the first major league game played without fans in attendance, Chris Davis hits a three-run homer in a six-run first inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 8-2. The gates at Camden Yards are locked because of concern for fan safety following recent rioting in Baltimore.

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