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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