Luke Walton will become coach of the Sacramento Kings, just a day after parting ways with the Los Angeles Lakers following three losing seasons, said a person with direct knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Walton’s next step hadn't been finalized. A formal announcement is expected in the next couple of days. Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac fired coach Dave Joerger on Thursday.
Budenholzer honored
Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer won this season's coach of the year award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association. Budenholzer led the Bucks to an NBA-best 60-22 record this season . . . Phoenix police did not find probable cause for charges against former NBA player Mike Bibby following an investigation into accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of a teacher at a suburban high school. Bibby denied the allegations . . . Patrick Ewing, who joined the New York Knicks when they won the first NBA draft lottery in 1985, will represent the team on stage when it attempts a turnaround by landing the No. 1 overall pick May 14 in Chicago.
Hockey
Kucherov suspended
NHL leading scorer Nikita Kucherov was suspended for Sunday’s Game 3 of the Tampa Bay Lightning's first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kucherov was suspended for boarding Columbus defenseman Markus Nutivaara late in Tampa Bay’s 5-1 loss Friday in Game 2 to trail, 2-0, in the series . . . Connor McDavid will not need surgery for a small posterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee sustained in the Edmonton Oilers regular-season finale, and is expected to recover in time for training camp next season.
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US women go for gold
The United States soared into the gold-medal game at the women’s world hockey championship by routing Russia, 8-0, behind two goals each by Hilary Knight and Kelly Pannek. The undefeated Americans will be going for their fifth straight title Sunday against host Finland, which upset Canada, 4-2, in the other semifinal.
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Colleges
BC stays undefeated
The No. 1 Boston College women’s lacrosse team (15-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) stopped a late second-half rally from No. 21 Virginia Tech (8-8, 1-5) with a full-team effort as the Eagles won, 16-13, in Blacksburg, Va. Graduate student Kenzie Kent, seniors Sam Apuzzo and Dempsey Arsenault, and junior Cara Urbank each tallied three goals . . . Thousands of fans turned out in Charlottesville to celebrate Virginia’s first national championship in basketball, an 85-77 overtime victory over Texas Tech five days ago. The crowd was estimated at 21,000 . . . Montreal’s McGill University dropped the name Redmen from its varsity sports teams after receiving complaints that the name is a racial slur.
Horse racing
Omaha Beach rules
Omaha Beach moved ahead early before holding off favored Improbable to win the Grade 1 $1 million Arkansas Derby by a length at Oaklawn Park, earning 100 points and vaulting himself into second place on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard . . . At Keeneland in Kentucky in the other Derby prep race, Owendale rallied to take charge entering the stretch and went on to win the $200,000 Lexington Stakes by 1¾ lengths over Anothertwistafate to earn 20 points. Though the bay colt is outside the points cutoff for the Derby, he earned his second win in three starts this year and first stakes triumph.
Miscellany
Calvin ban lifted
European marathon silver medalist Clemence Calvin will be authorized to run the Paris marathon after a French court lifted her provisional ban. Calvin was provisionally suspended by the French anti-doping agency for allegedly obstructing a doping test last month in Morocco . . . FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for a crackdown on racism at soccer games after several high-profile incidents, and encouraged referees to abandon matches in the worst cases . . . Wimbledon junior champion Iga Swiatek advanced to her first WTA tour final by beating Kristyna Pliskova, 6-0, 6-1, in the Samsung Open semifinals in Lugano, Switzerland. In Sunday's final, Swiatek will face Slovenia's Polona Hercog, who won, 7-5, 6-4, against Fiona Ferro.
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