AP Monday Sports Roundup

Thunder square series...Cavs advance

UNDATED (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder have turned their Western Conference semifinal series into a best-of-3.

The series is tied 2-2 after the Thunder dominated the second half of a 111-97 triumph against the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs carried an eight-point lead into the third quarter before Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio 66-44 the rest of the way, including 34-16 in the final period.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 41 points, hitting 14-for-25 from the field. Durant scored 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the second half.

Russell Westbrook overcame a poor shooting night by contributing 14 points and 15 assists. The Thunder received excellent production from Dion Waiters, who came off the bench to add 17 points in 29 minutes. Steven Adams provided 16 points and 10 rebounds, for the Thunder, who shot 51 percent from the field.

San Antonio had three players with at least 20 points, but Tim Duncan failed to score a point while playing 12 minutes. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 22 points, Kawhi Leonard finished with 21 and LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 for the Spurs.

Game 5 is Tuesday at San Antonio.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have swept themselves into the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs have followed their four-game elimination of Detroit by taking four straight from Atlanta for the second consecutive year.

Kevin Love drained eight 3-pointers while scoring a team-high 27 points in the Cavaliers' 100-99 victory over the Hawks. Love also had a team-leading 13 rebounds, while Kyrie Irving contributed 21 points. LeBron James delivered 21 points and 10 rebounds to help himself reach the conference finals for the sixth consecutive season.

The Cavs were 16-for-37 from 3-point range, but they trailed 97-96 with 1:31 remaining until James hit consecutive jumpers to put Cleveland ahead by three.

Dennis Schroder's final basket cut the gap to one point, and James missed a 3-point attempt to give the Hawks a chance to win. James followed with a great defensive play by tying up Schroder for a jump ball with 2.8 seconds left before easily winning the tip and swatting the ball out of harm's way.

Schroder had a team-high 21 points for the Hawks, who are 0-12 lifetime against Cleveland in the postseason.

The Cavaliers next face the winner of the Miami-Toronto series. Toronto leads 2-1.

NBA-HEAT/RAPTORS SERIES

Valanciunas out, Whiteside iffy for rest of conference semis

MIAMI (AP) — The Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat have injury issues as the two teams try to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas will miss the rest of the conference semifinal series with a sprained right ankle suffered in the third quarter of Saturday's victory in Game 3. Valanciunas has averaged 15 points and 12.1 rebounds in these playoffs.

The Heat may have to play the rest of the series without center Hassan Whiteside, who is listed as day-to-day with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Game 4 is Monday at Miami.

NHL PLAYOFFS

Lightning wrap things up

TAMPA (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning are four wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the second straight year.

The Lightning have advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a stifling 4-0 win over the New York Islanders at Tampa this afternoon. Victor Hedman scored twice and Nikita Kucherov notched his league-leading ninth goal of the postseason to ice the Game 5 victory. Ben Bishop handled 28 shots in his fifth career postseason shutout.

Tampa Bay took control of the series with back-to-back overtime wins at Brooklyn. The Lightning also held Islanders star John Tavares without a point over the final four games after he scored the eventual game-winner in the series opener.

NHL-SENATORS

New coach in Ottawa

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Guy Boucher (gee boo-SHAY') has been hired as the 12th head coach in Ottawa Senators history.

The 44-year-old Boucher spent parts of the past three seasons as head coach of SC Bern in Switzerland. His previous NHL head coaching stint was with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2010-13, going 97-79-20 with a berth in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Cubs sweep away Nats, while Chisox win again

UNDATED (AP) — Jake Arrieta endured his worst regular-season start since last July, yet the Chicago Cubs won anyway.

The Cubbies completed a four-game sweep of Washington and improved to a major league-best 24-6 as Javier Baez belted a solo homer in the bottom of the 13th to give Chicago a 4-3 win over the Nationals. Arrieta left the game trailing 3-1 after surrendering two earned runs on six hits and four walks in five innings. He was in line for his first loss since July 25 against Philadelphia until Kris Bryant knotted the score with a two-run single in the seventh.

The Cubs have won seven straight to open a seven-game lead in the National League Central.

Nationals slugger Bryce Harper was walked a major league record-tying six times in the game. The reigning NL MVP walked 13 times in the series.

Things were just as rosy on the south side of Chicago. The White Sox are 22-10 after completing their fourth series sweep of the season. Jose Quintana is 5-1 with a 1.38 ERA after yielding one run and six hits in seven innings of the White Sox's 3-1 triumph over Minnesota. Austin Jackson doubled home the go-ahead run in the fifth, two innings before Dioner Navarro added an RBI double. Avisail Garcia supplied two of Chicago's six hits and scored twice to help the Pale Hose retain their five-game lead in the AL Central.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Steven Wright went the distance on a three-hitter and Boston earned a four-game split by downing the Yankees 5-1 in New York. David Ortiz cracked two of the Red Sox's four home runs to back Wright, who had a two-hit shutout until Brett Gardner homered with two out in the ninth. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Boegaerts also hit round-trippers for the Bosox.

— Bobby Wilson launched a grand slam in the eighth inning against his former team to lead Texas to an 8-3 victory and a three-game sweep of Detroit. Delino DeShields added a solo homer in a seven-run eighth that was mounted after Justin Verlander held the Rangers to three hits in seven scoreless innings.

— Manny Machado belted a two-run homer and a grand slam to finish with a career-high six RBIs in Baltimore's 11-3 pounding of Oakland. Pedro Alvarez, Jonathan Schoop, Mark Trumbo and Joey Rickard each hit one of the Orioles' season-high six home runs to back Chris Tillman's fourth win.

— Collin McHugh held the Mariners to a run and five hits in seven innings of the Astros' 5-1 victory over Seattle. Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano hit a solo shot that gives him five homers and 17 RBIs in seven games versus Houston this season.

— Brad Miller smacked a two-run homer and Curt Casali added a solo shot as Tampa Bay downed the Angels 3-1. Matt Andriese held Los Angeles to a run and four hits in seven innings to help the Rays complete a three-game sweep and climb over .500.

— Cleveland got solo homers from Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli (NAP'-oh-lee) in a 5-4 decision over Kansas City. Josh Tomlin improved to 5-0 despite allowing four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings.

— Joc Pederson hit a solo homer and Howie Kendrick singled home the tiebreaking run as the Dodgers downed the Blue Jays 4-2 in Toronto. Los Angeles starter Ross Stripling allowed just one hit in six innings but left the game trailing 1-0.

— The New York Mets are atop the NL East after Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo homer and Asdrubal Cabrera added a pair of RBIs singles in a 4-3 triumph at San Diego. Winning pitcher Matt Harvey had his best outing of the season, striking out 10 and holding the Padres to a pair of runs and four hits in six innings.

— Eddie Butler worked six innings and combined with four relievers on a six-hitter in Colorado's 2-0 shutout of San Francisco. Nolan Arenado tripled home the game's first run in the opening inning before Gerardo Parra added an RBI single in the third off Giants starter and loser Jeff Samardzija.

— Arizona blew a 3-0 lead in the eighth before Chris Hermann smacked his second homer of the afternoon, a tiebreaking, two-run blast in the 11th inning to lift the Diamondbacks past the Braves 5-3 in Atlanta. The Braves absorbed a three-game sweep to fall to 7-23, their worst 30-game start since 1900.

— Pittsburgh doubled up St. Louis 10-5 as Gregory Polanco ripped a three-run homer and John Jaso went 3-for-4 with a two-run blast. Chris Stewart also had two RBIs to back Gerrit Cole, who gave up two runs while fanning seven in six innings.

— Tyler Goeddel and Andres Blanco delivered run-scoring doubles in the eighth inning to push Philadelphia past Miami 6-5. Cesar Hernandez had two hits and an RBI to help the Phillies win the rubber match of the three-game set.

— Jonathan Lucroy supplied an RBI double and a tiebreaking, solo homer as Milwaukee rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat Cincinnati 5-4. Lucroy also nailed Billy Hamilton on a stolen base attempt for the final out to wrap up the Brewers' second straight comeback win.

MLB-TIGERS

Griffin heads to DL

DETROIT (AP) — Rangers pitcher A.J. Griffin has been placed on the 15-day disabled list and will be examined Monday.

Griffin left his start Saturday with stiffness in his throwing shoulder. He is 3-0 with a 2.94 ERA in six starts this season.

PGA-WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP

Hahn wins in a playoff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — James Hahn won the PGA's Wells Fargo Championship in a one-hole playoff with Roberto Castro.

Hahn bogeyed the 18th in regulation for a 2-under 70 that left him minus-9 for the tournament. He had missed the cut in his previous eight tournaments before earning his second PGA victory.

LPGA-YOKOHAMA TIRE CLASSIC

First LPGA win for Thai player

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn has her first LPGA Tour title, closing with a 1-under 71 at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Jutanugarn finished 14-under-par and one stroke in front of Stacy Lewis, Morgan Pressel and Amy Yang.

Lewis had her 10th runner-up finish in 49 events.

CHAMPIONS TOUR-INSPERITY INVITATIONAL

Parnevik continues to lead

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Jesper Parnevik closed with a 5-under 67 to win the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club near Houston.

Parnevik was 12-under in the Champions Tour event, four strokes ahead of David Frost, Mike Goodes and Jeff Maggert.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UAB player dies

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Alabama-Birmingham running back Gregory Bryant has been declared brain dead, a day after he was found shot in a car on Interstate 95 in South Florida. A statement from the West Palm Beach, Florida, police says the shooting of the 21-year-old recruit is now classified as a homicide.

Bryant started his career at Notre Dame and spent last season attending ASA College, where he played in just one game.