A Sports Filled Weekend

The good news? Stephen Curry was back in the Golden State Warriors’ lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury. The bad news? He suffered a sprained right knee on the final play of the first half Sunday of an eventual 121-94 victory over the Houston Rockets. Curry is due to have an MRI exam on Monday.

The San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers finished off their opponents on Sunday to sweep their respective series in four games. The Spurs pounded the Memphis Grizzlies 116-95 and the Cavs dumped the Detroit Pistons 100-98.

Saturday’s 96-80 win by the Charlotte Hornets over the Miami Heat snapped the Hornets’ 12-game playoff losing streak. They play again on Monday night, with the Heat up 2-1 in the series. And if this weekend wasn’t filled with enough NBA drama to top it off the Los Angeles Lakers fired coach Byron Scott after two dreadful seasons for which he was hardly responsible, given the personnel.

NHL

The New York Islanders’ John Tavares scored the tying goal with less than 54 seconds left in regulation and added the game-winner in the second overtime in a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. The Islanders won a playoff series for the first time since 1993, eliminating the Panthers in six games. … The Washington Capitals’ 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers ended that series after six games. And on Saturday the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 6-3 to win that best-of-seven series in five games. The San Jose Sharks also moved on after eliminating the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

MLB

Bryce Harper hit his first career pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning to force extra innings and Chris Helsey homered in the 16th as the Washington Nationals beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5. … The Los Dodgers squandered a 7-1 lead, fell behind 10-7 and then scored five times in the fifth inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 12-10.

ELSEWHERE
Carl Edwards bumped Kyle Busch, his teammate on Joe Gibbs Racing, on the last lap and won the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Speedway. It was the fourth straight victory FOR JGR, but there are bad feelings between the drivers over the finish. … Charlie Hoffman’s 9-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole allowed him to avoid a playoff with Patrick Reed and win the Valero Open in San Antonio. It was his fourth PGA Tour victory.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman