A Sports Filled Weekend It Was

Isaiah Thomas played and played well for the Boston Celtics. He scored 33 points in a 106-102 loss Sunday to the Chicago Bulls in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Thomas, however, was playing through a haze of grief. His 22-year-old sister Chyna had died in a car accident in the state of Washington early on Saturday. There was a moment of silence in her honor before the game.

Also notable in the NBA playoffs: James Harden scored 37 points as the Houston Rockets blew out the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-87 and Kevin Durant scored 32 points in his playoff debut with the Golden State Warriors as they topped the Portland Trail Blazers 121-109.

NHL: Two first-round matchups have the look of not going much further. The St. Louis Blues lead the Minnesota Wild 3-0 in their best-of-seven and the Pittsburgh Penguins hold a similar lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus had a 3-1 lead over Pittsburgh on Sunday but fell 5-4 at home.

BASEBALL: The Atlanta Braves clearly like SunTrust Park, their new stadium. They improved to 3-0 there on Sunday by beating the San Diego Padres 9-2. Bartolo Colon, soon to be 43, pitched seven innings to collect the win, allowing just one walk and one hit while striking out six…Sunday night’s 9-3 win gave the New York Yankees not only a sweep of their series with the St. Louis Cardinals but their seventh straight victory. They are 6-0 at home.

GOLF: Wesley Bryan picked up his first PGA Tour win and it was in his home state of South Carolina. Bryan’s 4-under 67 on Sunday enabled him to claim a one-stroke victory over Luke Donald in the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head…Stephen Ames hadn’t won a tournament in eight years but the 52-year-old won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour Champions title, topping Bernhard Langer at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman