Thursday Sports in Brief

NBA

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - Damian Lillard sent Portland into the NBA’s first play-in series with 42 more points and a crucial steal, helping the Trail Blazers escape with a 134-133 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night.

The Trail Blazers secured the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference only after Brooklyn’s Caris LeVert, who scored 37 points, missed a jumper just before time expired. Portland will play ninth-seeded Memphis on Saturday. If the Grizzlies win, the deciding game would be Sunday.

The winner of the play-in series gets the final spot in the West and a first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

BASEBALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mookie Betts hit three home runs Thursday night for the sixth time in his career, matching a major league record held by Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famer Johnny Mize.

The star outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers launched a two-run shot in the second inning against the San Diego Padres, then added a solo homer in the fourth and another two-run drive in the fifth.

With a chance to tie the big league mark of four home runs in one game, Betts reached on an infield single in the seventh.

CHICAGO (AP) - St. Louis’ series opener against the Chicago White Sox has been postponed to Saturday, giving the Cardinals an extra day to recover from a coronavirus outbreak.

The Cardinals, who haven’t played since July 29, were set to resume their season Friday night in Chicago. But the series opener was pushed back to a straight doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, the beginning of an extended stay in the Windy City for the Cards.

NHL

TORONTO (AP) - Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien experienced chest pains Wednesday night, was taken by ambulance to a Toronto hospital and is expected to be out the remainder of his team’s first-round playoff series.

General manager Marc Bergevin explained Julien’s absence from practice Thursday and confirmed the situation is not COVID-19 related. Julien, 60, remained in the hospital Thursday afternoon while more tests were being conducted to determine the cause of his condition.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

The NCAA called off fall championship events - a move Thursday that does not affect major college football - because not enough schools will be competing in sports such as men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball during the first semester.

NCAA President Mark Emmert made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter, but it has been clear this was coming as conferences canceled fall sports seasons because of the coronvirus pandemic.

Emmert also said NCAA officials have begun work on contingencies for the NCAA basketball tournaments, possibly moving dates and looking into creating bubbles in which the teams can compete.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A group of senators led by Cory Booker of New Jersey and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on Thursday released a plan for reforming college sports with an athletes bill or rights.

The legislative plan calls for college athletes to have the ability to earn money for their names, images and likenesses with “minimal restrictions,” and much more.

The senators also want to ensure for the athletes long-term medical coverage and treatment, enforceable medical standards, academic freedom and revenue sharing agreements.

TENNIS

Novak Djokovic announced Thursday he will enter the Grand Slam tournament and the hard-court tuneup preceding it in New York.

Djokovic initially complained about the U.S. Tennis Association’s plans to try to protect people from the coronavirus pandemic with such measures as limiting the size of players’ entourages, going so far as to say he didn’t know whether he would participate.

“It was not an easy decision to make with all the obstacles and challenges on many sides,” said the No. 1-ranked Djokovic, who tested positive for COVID-19 in June, “but the prospect of competing again makes me really excited.”

NEW YORK (AP) - Reigning U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu pulled out of the Grand Slam tournament Thursday, saying the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from properly preparing for competition.

Andreescu joins 2019 men’s champion Rafael Nadal in skipping the U.S. Open.

A year ago at age 19, Andreescu became the first woman in the professional era to win the championship in New York in her tournament debut.

SOCCER

The owners of FC Dallas came to the defense of player Reggie Cannon after he expressed disgust at the fans who booed players who knelt during the national anthem - and then faced a backlash on social media that included threats.

Cannon made comments following the game between Dallas and Nashville SC on Wednesday night. Players from both sides as well as the officials took a knee during the anthem at Toyota Stadium, prompting a smattering of boos.

“I think it was absolutely disgusting,” Cannon said. “You’ve got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in?”

The response against Cannon was swift on social media, including comments that were racist and threatening. That prompted a statement from team owners Clark and Dan Hunt.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The newest Major League Soccer team will be called St. Louis City SC when it debuts in 2023, team officials announced Thursday.

The team’s name and logo were unveiled nearly a year after the city was given an MLS franchise. St. Louis City SC will join Sacramento as the 29th and 30th teams when they begin play. The name was selected from more than 6,000 submissions.

The team colors will be “City Red,” “River Blue,” “Energy Yellow,” and “Arch Steel Gray.” The logo will include a representation of the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles FC forward Adama Diomande announced Thursday that he is leaving the club for family reasons.

Diomande cited the “many family priorities in my life” as the reason for his decision, writing, “I have decided to terminate my contract with immediate effect in order to best care for my loved ones.”

Diomande was a valuable backup striker for LAFC in 2018 and again in 2019 when the club finished with Major League Soccer’s best record. The 30-year-old Norwegian veteran scored 12 goals in just 18 games during LAFC’s inaugural season in 2018, and he added eight regular-season goals last year.

HORSE RACING

DUBLIN (AP) - A horse running at odds of 300-1 became the longest-priced winner in the history of racing in Britain and Ireland on Thursday.

He Knows No Fear won the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Leopardstown, prompting bookmakers to express their astonishment that many people tipped the 3-year-old horse for victory.

The longest-priced winner in Britain had previously been Equinoctial, a 250-1 shot, at Kelso in November 1990. In Ireland, the biggest outsider to win a race was Killahara Castle at 200-1 in December 2017.

OBITUARY

Robert Ryland, the first Black professional tennis player and later a coach to such stars as Arthur Ashe and Serena and Venus Williams, has died. He was 100.

Ryland died Aug. 2 at his stepson’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, his wife, Nancy Ingersoll, confirmed to The New York Times. She said the cause was aspiration pneumonia.

Born in Chicago in 1920, Ryland began playing tennis at age 10 and won the Illinois state and junior American Tennis Association singles titles in 1939. He received a scholarship to play tennis at Xavier University in New Orleans but departed after a year to serve in the Army during World War II.

After the war, he was awarded a scholarship by Wayne State University in Detroit. Ryland became one of the first two Black players to compete in the NCAA national championships, reaching the quarterfinals in 1945 and the third round a year later.

After college, Ryland began teaching the game.

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