Sports Weekend in Review: NBA, Horse Racing, Tennis and More

NBA The Cleveland Cavaliers tied the NBA Finals at one game apiece on Sunday night, defeating the Golden State Warriors 95-93 in overtime in Oakland. Both games in the...

NBA

The Cleveland Cavaliers tied the NBA Finals at one game apiece on Sunday night, defeating the Golden State Warriors 95-93 in overtime in Oakland. Both games in the best-of-seven series have gone to overtime, and the Cavaliers squandered late leads in both.

LeBron James scored posted a triple-double for the injury-wracked Cavs, with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in 50 minutes. The series moves to Cleveland for two games on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

HORSE RACING

American Pharoah ran away from the field in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1977. He’s just the 12th horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont and the first since Affirmed.

The heavy favorite captured the 1½-mile race with a winning time of 2:26.65, holding off Frosted and Keen Ice down the stretch to win by 5 ½ lengths. Trainer Bob Baffert had saddled three horses previously with a shot at the Triple Crown and finally had a colt who could handle the treacherous stretch at Belmont Park.

 

TENNIS

Serena Williams battled the flu all week and still triumphed at the French Open, winning her 20th major on Saturday at Roland Garros.

She defeated Lucie Safarova in four sets. Her 20 major victories rank third all-time among women behind Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22). On the men’s side, Stan Wawrinka upset Novak Djokovic in four sets to win his second Grand Slam title. Djokovic had won 28 consecutive matches.

 

HOCKEY

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning resume play in the Stanley Cup final on Monday night in Chicago with their series tied 1-1. Game 3 is Wednesday night, also in Chicago.

 

ELSEWHERE

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Martin Truex Jr. posted a sterling win in Sunday’s Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400, leading 97 of 160 laps, including the final 27 at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. It was his third career victory, snapping a streak of 69 winless races. … David Lingmerth prevailed over Justin Rose in a 3-hole playoff at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, notching his first PGA Tour win. “Winning is surreal,” said Lingmerth, who had previously lost twice in playoffs.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .