Tuesday's Sports Briefs

Updated Oct. 7, 2020 3:00 a.m. ET

Associated Press

NBA

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Davis punched his chest in celebration. LeBron James let out a huge scream.

The Los Angeles Lakers are on the cusp of what they want most — the franchise’s first championship in 10 years.

Davis’ 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left was the backbreaker, James finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the Lakers beat the Miami Heat 102-96 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers lead 3-1 and can win the title when the series resumes Friday.

MLB

LOS ANGELES (AP) — George Springer hit two home runs and Houston kept making more noise in the playoffs, beating Oakland to take a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series.

Martin Maldonado also went deep for the Astros, who need one win to reach their fourth straight AL Championship Series. Game 3 is Wednesday, when Houston becomes the home team in the neutral-site matchup.

Springer put the Astros ahead to stay with a two-run drive in the third inning on a second straight 90-degree day at Dodger Stadium.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows hit home runs, and Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 to set a postseason record for the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat the New York Yankees 7-5 to even their AL Division Series at one game apiece.

The Rays had enough pop to overcome a huge game by Giancarlo Stanton, who had two home runs and four RBIs. His impressive power display included a 458-foot, three-run homer that landed under the giant video board in left field at Petco Park.

Stanton has three homers in the series and five in four postseason games. The Yankees have 13 homers in four playoff games.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19.

Family friend Kim Shiff, Bowden’s former publicist, told the AP in a text message that the 90-year-old college football Hall of Famer was “very fatigued,” but had no other symptoms.

Bowden was being treated treated at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

Bowden’s wife, Ann, told the Tallahassee Democrat her husband was scheduled to undergo a chest X-ray and other tests.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who had a record-breaking season last year in leading the Bison to the FCS championship but only played one game this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he will bypass the spring season and enter the NFL draft.

Lance announced his decision Tuesday on Twitter. Last year as a redshirt freshman, he set an NCAA record for all divisions by throwing 287 passes without an interception while throwing 28 touchdown passes and running for 14 more scores.

Coach Matt Entz said Tuesday he has spoken recently to several NFL executives. Many experts have predicted that Lance will be a top-five pick in the draft.

Lance would be the third North Dakota State quarterback drafted in a five-year span. Carson Wentz was selected second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 and Easton Stick was drafted in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan is out indefinitely after having surgery on his right foot.

School officials announced that Coan had undergone surgery earlier in the day.

Coan injured the foot in practice Saturday. Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said Monday it was a non-contact injury that occurred as the senior from Sayville, New York, was dropping back.

Coan’s surgery means that redshirt freshman Grahaam Mertz is the most likely candidate to open the season as the 16th-ranked Badgers’ starting quarterback. Chryst said Monday that Mertz had been receiving the first-team reps that Coan hadn’t taken.

Wisconsin begins the season Oct. 24 by hosting Illinois.

NHL

The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Tuesday night.

Lafreniere was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked North American skater. He becomes the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor McDavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.

From suburban Montreal, the 6-foot-1 playmaking left wing was the first to earn both Canadian Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP honors in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby in 2004 and ’05, when he also played for the Oceanic.

Lafreniere joins a young, developing Rangers team that features one of his favorite players, Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin. The Rangers also have up-and-coming youngsters such as Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, and defenseman Adam Fox, who finished fourth in the rookie of the year voting this season.

WNBA

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 26 points, and the Seattle Storm won their second WNBA championship in three season, sweeping the Las Vegas Aces with a 92-59 rout.

It’s the fourth title in franchise history for the Storm, who also won in 2004, 2010 and 2018. Seattle had pretty much the same core group that won the 2018 championship back for this year, led by Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd. The Storm joined Minnesota and Houston as the only franchises to win four championships.

Seattle has now won a record 11 games in a row in the WNBA Finals, dating to the team’s first championship in 2004. Bird has been a part of all of them. The veteran guard, who turns 40 next week, was once again a catalyst for the Storm. She finished with five points and seven assists. She finished the finals averaging 11 assists in the three games.

SOCCER

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s legal fight with a woman who accuses the international soccer star of raping her in his suite at a Las Vegas resort more than 10 years ago is heading toward a trial before a federal judge in Nevada.

No date was immediately set, but U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey said she will hear arguments and decide herself whether Kathryn Mayorga was mentally fit to enter a 2010 hush-money agreement with Ronaldo’s representatives that paid Mayorga $375,000.

Ronaldo’s attorney, Peter Christiansen, declined to comment.

Mayorga’s lawyers, led by Leslie Mark Stovall, did not immediately respond to email and telephone messages about the judge’s ruling, issued Sept. 30.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Phoenix Rising midfielder Junior Flemmings received a six-game suspension from USL Championship for using a homophobic slur during a match against the San Diego Loyal.

The slur was directed at Loyal midfielder Collin Martin, who is gay. San Diego players walked off the field and forfeited the Sept. 30 match in protest.

Flemmings is currently on leave and could face further discipline by the Rising. The league suspension includes all the league’s playoff games.

The USL Championship’s action comes after an investigation that included interviews with 11 people, including players and match officials.

The Loyal, coached by former U.S. national team star Landon Donovan, was leading 3-1 when the players decided to leave the field in support of Martin.