Thursday Roundup

 SPORTS

Kevin de Bruyne and Citizens Too Much For Wolves

At Wolverhampton, England:

A four-goal performance from Kevin de Bruyne (7', 16', 24', 60') lifted Manchester City to a 5-1 English Premier League road fistbeating of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday as the Citizens drew closer to locking up the EPL title.

More Soccer Leftovers

At Amsterdam, Netherlands:

Five different scorers, starting with Nicolas Tagliafico in the 19th minute each tallied once as Ajax Amsterdam locked up the Dutch Eredivisie title on Wednesday (and a group-stage berth in next season's UEFA Champions League) after destroying visiting Heerenveen 5-0.

At Dundee, Scotland:

Giorgos Giakoumakis' goal in the 53rd minute enabled Celtic to lock up the Scottish Premiership title and a berth in next season's UEFA Champions League (due to UEFA's ongoing ban on Russian clubs) with a 1-1 Wednesday Championship Group  1-1 road draw with Dundee United.

Dylan Levitt equalized for the hosts in the 72nd minute.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Four different goal scorers each tallied once on Wednesday as Rangers dominated visiting Ross County 4-1 in Scottish Premiership Championship Group action.

At Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain:

Gonzalo Escalante scored the game winner in the 59th minute on Wednesday as Alves kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive after their 2-1 home win over Espanyol in the Spanish Primera Division.

Giants Top Rockies Again

At Oracle Park, San Francisco:

Brandon Crawford homered on Wednesday as the San Francisco Giants (19-12) defeated the visiting Colorado Rapids (16-15) for the tenth successive time, 7-1.

The Giants picked up their fifth straight victory overall.

NBA Playoffs:  Bucks Come Back To Shock Celtics For A 3-2 Series Lead; Grizzlies Stay Alive By Devouring Warriors In Memphis

The NBA Playoffs continued with two games on Wednesday.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

At Boston:

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks came back from down 14 points and upended the homestanding Boston Celtics 110-107 in game five of their conference semifinal series.

Jrue Holiday helped the Bucks' cause by scoring 24 points, grabbing eight boards, and dishing up eight assists as well as turning in two key defensive stops in the final moments.

Jayson Tatam paced the Celtics with 34 points while Jaylen Brown added 26 (to go with his eight rebounds).

Milwaukee, now up three games to two, can close out the series at home on Friday with a game-six victory.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

At Memphis, Tennessee:

Tyus Jones (with nine assists), Desmonde Bane, and Jaren Jackson, Jr. (with eight rebounds) each scored 21 points as the Memphis Grizzlies, with seven players scoring in double figures, and minus the injured Ja Morant, avoided elimination by crushing the visiting Golden State Warriors 134-95 in their conference semifinal series.

The 134 points are a Grizzlies single-playoff game record.

Kyle Thompson led the Warriors with 19 points.

Golden State, still up three games to two, can still advance to the Western Conference Finals with a game-six victory back home in San Francisco on Friday.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Panthers, Flames Lead Respective Series 3-2; Rangers Cut Penguins Advantage To 3-2 With Critical Home Win

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued on Wednesday with three games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

At New York:

Filip Chytil scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as the New York Rangers held off the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 in game five of their conference quarterfinal series.

The Penguins, still up three games to two, can still close out the Rangers on Friday with a game-six victory back home in Pittsburgh.

At Sunrise, Florida:

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and assisted thrice as the Florida Panthers defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 5-3 in game five of their opening-round series.

The Panthers, now up three games to two, can win their first playoff series since 1996 with a game-six victory in DC on Friday.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

At Calgary, Alberta:

Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane, and Trevor Lewis each scored once in the third period as the Calgary Flames came from behind to defeat the visiting Dallas Stars 3-1 in game five of their series, which Calgary now leads three games to two.

The Flames can finish off the Stars with a game-six victory in Dallas on Friday.