AP Saturday Sports Roundup

NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Harden pours in 42 as Rockets gain 3-0 stranglehold...Wizards up 3-0 on Raptors...Spurs up 2-1

UNDATED (AP)__ James Harden scored a playoff career-high 42 points, Dwight Howard had his postseason best with 26 rebounds to go with his 13 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 130-128 a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

The Rockets are on the verge of their first playoff series victory since Howard joined Harden two years ago. They go for the sweep Sunday night at Dallas.

The high-scoring game was Dallas' first without effectively banished point guard Rajon Rondo. Monta Ellis had a playoff career-high 34 points to match Dirk Nowitzki, but no other Dallas player had more than 15.

In other NBA playoff series:

__ Washington has a 3-0 edge on Toronto after beating the Raptors 106-99. John Wall was one of six Wizards in double figures with 19 points and 15 assists. Center Marcin Gortat added 24 points and 13 rebounds. Their 37-year-old forward Paul Pierce's 18 points included two big 3-pointers late.

__ San Antonio took a 2-1 series lead on the L.A. Clippers with an impressive 100-73 rout. Kawhi Leonard had a postseason career-high 32 points and San Antonio never trailed. The Clippers scored a franchise postseason low and their 11 points in the third were their fewest in any quarter this season.

NBA PLAYOFFS-INJURIES

Mirotic, Afflalo recovering

UNDATED (AP) — Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic's bruised left knee is feeling better, though coach Tom Thibodeau is unsure whether the rookie will be available for Game 4 of the team's first-round playoff series at Milwaukee on Saturday. Mirotic sat out Game 3 Thursday after getting hurt during a scrum for a loose ball in Game 2 this week in Chicago. Mirotic also strained his quadriceps.

Portland guard Arron Afflalo is expected to play Saturday when the Trail Blazers host the Grizzlies in Game 3 of their playoff series. He's been sidelined with a right shoulder strain that kept him out of the first two games of the series, both Portland losses in Memphis.

NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Rangers eliminate Penguins in 5

UNDATED (AP)— Carl Hagelin scored at 10:52 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a series-clinching 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh that eliminated the Penguins in five games. Henrik Lundqvist turned back 37 shots between the pipes for the defending Eastern Conference-champion Rangers.

The Rangers advanced despite scoring just 11 goals in five games against Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. All four Rangers victories were by 2-1 scores.

That's the seventh consecutive overtime playoff loss for the Penguins.

The Rangers now await the winner of the Washington-New York Islanders series.

In other first-round NHL playoffs:

— Ottawa cut Montreal's series lead to 3-2 with a 5-1 victory on the Canadiens' home ice. Craig Anderson made 45 saves. The Senators are trying to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0.

— Devan Dubnyk had a strong bounce-back effort in goal and the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference first-round series. After allowing six goals in Game 4, Dubnyk turned away 36 shots in this one.

NHL-PREDATORS

Preds lose Weber

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Defenseman Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators will miss the rest of the team's Western Conference quarterfinal series with Chicago. The defenseman is suffering from a lower-body injury. Weber, the Predators' team captain, hasn't played since getting hurt last week in Game 2 of the series.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Yanks end Mets' 11-game streak...Cruz's ninth homer helps King Felix

UNDATED (AP) — Mark Teixeira hit a pair of two-run homers and Michael Pineda pitched impressively into the eighth inning to help the New York Yankees end the crosstown rival Mets' 11-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory in the Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium.

Jacoby Ellsbury also connected off Jacob deGrom, who fell to 2-2 with the loss. Pineda is 3-0.

In other baseball:

__ Seattle blanked Minnesota 2-0 as Nelson Cruz hit his major league-leading ninth homer. Felix Hernandez tossed a five-hitter for his first complete game victory since August 2012.

— Brock Holt hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Darren O'Day in the eighth inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat Baltimore 7-5. That's the Orioles' fifth straight loss.

__ Gerrit Cole pitched into the eighth inning for his third win this season, and Josh Harrison and Neil Walker each drove in two runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1.

__ The L.A. Angels nipped Texas 3-2. David Friese hit a two-run homer for the Angels. Garrett Richards pitched seven effective innings for his first win since injuring his knee last year.

__ The L.A. Dodgers blanked San Diego 3-0. Zack Greinke and three relievers combined on the shutout.

__ Robbie Grossman's two-run single in the 11th inning drove in the go-ahead runs in Houston's 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

— Tampa Bay scoured Toronto 12-3. James Loney, Rene Rivera and Tim Beckham each hit two-run homers.

__ Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta homered and the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0. Carlos Martinez fanned eight in seven innings and combined with two relievers on the five-hitter.

— Brandon Moss homered twice and drove in seven runs, Danny Salazar struck out a career-high 11 and the Cleveland Indians routed the Detroit Tigers 13-1.

— Freddie Freeman mishandled Ben Revere's ground ball to first, allowing Freddy Galvis to score in the ninth to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.

— Jonathan Herrera singled home the tiebreaking run in the 11th inning, and David Ross followed with a bases-loaded double that sent the Chicago Cubs to a 7-3 victory over Cincinnati.

— Colorado beat the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants 6-4. Pinch-hitter Rafael Ynoa snapped a sixth-inning tie with an RBI double.

— Miami handed the Washington Nationals their third straight loss, 3-2. Martin Prado delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth.

__ One night after a benches-clearing brawl led to five ejections, the Royals and White Sox were tied at 2 when Friday's game was suspended by rain heading into the ninth inning. They'll finish it up Saturday afternoon before the regularly scheduled game.

MLB-INJURIES

Yelich and Flaherty head to DL

UNDATED (AP) — Left fielder Chris Yelich of the Miami Marlins has been placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Monday because of a lower back strain. Yelich, who is hitting just .200 with 13 strikeouts in 11 games, also spent a two-week stint on the disabled list last season with a similar injury.

The Orioles have placed infielder Ryan Flaherty on the 15-day disabled list with a right groin strain. He sustained the injury running the bases on the final play in a 4-2 loss to Toronto on Wednesday night. Flaherty was batting .300 with two homers and four RBIs in nine games this season.

NASCAR-QUALIFYING

Defending champ earns pole

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) —Defending champion Joey Logano earned the pole for tonight's Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway with a fast lap of just over 127 miles per hour.

The pole is the season-best third of the season for Logano in nine races. He will begin the 400-lap race 30 points behind Kevin Harvick for the series lead. Denny Hamlin runs from the outside of the front row. Kurt Busch and A.J. Allmendinger comprise the second row.

Mother Nature could be a factor in this race. Rain is forecast for tonight in Richmond. Last Sunday, rain caused repeated delays in running the spring race at Bristol International Speedway.

NASCAR-XFINITY

Hamlin wins

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Denny Hamlin returned from last week's injury-shortened weekend and led almost from start to finish last night to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

NFL-LOS ANGELES

Commissioner says LA may yet land a team

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the two stadium projects in the Los Angeles area look promising enough to lead to the return of the NFL to the nation's second-largest city. Goodell tells the Associated Press Sports Editors group that he thinks the projects in Englewood and Carson are "viable," and have a "great deal of potential to be successful."

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is involved in the Englewood project, while the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have combined to work on the Carson proposal.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Sooners retain guard

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — There's good news for fans of the Oklahoma men's basketball team as Big 12 player of the year Buddy Hield has announced he's coming back for his senior season. The 6-foot-4 Hield averaged 17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season while shooting 41 percent from the field. With Hield's return, Oklahoma will return four starters from a team that finished with a 24-11 record and reached the Sweet 16.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Probation for Oklahoma State

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The NCAA has put Oklahoma State's football program on a year of probation for failing to follow its own drug-testing policies. The Committee on Infractions also ordered Oklahoma State to suspend its Orange Pride student group after determining its all-female membership violated recruiting rules.

The penalties follow a Sports Illustrated expose in 2013 that included allegations of widespread misconduct. The NCAA and Oklahoma State said last October that the allegations were "fundamentally unfounded."

PGA-ZURICH CLASSIC

Swafford has overnight lead

AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Threatening weather has suspended the second round of the Zurich Classic. Hudson Swafford is the overnight clubhouse leader after his 6-under 66 put him at 11-under par for the 36 holes. First round leader Boo Weekley is also 11 under with three holes to play. Among those that completed their rounds, Brendon de Jonge and Cameron Tringale are tied for second just a shot back. De Jonge shot a 70, while Tringale came in with a 65. Marc Leishman is 10-under par for his round through 17 holes. That leaves him 8-under for the tournament.

PGA-WOODS

Former world No. 1 to play the TPC

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods has added The Players Championship to his schedule. After a good showing at the Masters the former world No.1 has announced he will play in the TPC, an event he won two years ago. He missed last year's tournament recovering from back surgery.

Jack Nicklaus said earlier this week that Woods told him he would be at the Memorial, which is June 4-7.

LPGA-SWINGING SKIRTS

Canadian teen sets record

DALE CITY, Calif. (AP) — Canada's Brooke Henderson shot a tournament-record 7-under 65 to take the 36-hole lead at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. The 17-year old stands at 9-under for the 36 holes. That's two shots better than Na Yeon Choi. World No. 1 and defending champion Lydia Ko shot an even-par 72 to celebrate her 18th birthday. She trails by four shots.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Cook, Sindelar team up to lead Legends of Golf

RIDGEDALE, Mo. (AP) — Former Ohio State teammates John Cook and Joey Sindelar shot a 10-under 60 in better-ball play to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf.

The teams of Jay Don Blake-David Frost and Mark Brooks-John Huston were tied for second.