BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Miami Heat 118-84 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Boston will face the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series. The Cavaliers lead 3-2, with Game 6 in Orlando on Friday night.
Brown also had six assists, and White hit five 3-pointers. Sam Hauser added 17 points and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 12 rebounds, The top-seeded Celtics never trailed and led by 37 points. They also got a measure of revenge a year after the Heat routed them in Game 7 of the conference finals in Boston.
Bam Adebayo scored 23 points and Tyler Herro had 15 for Miami, which made its first exit from the playoffs prior to the conference finals since 2021. The Heat struggled throughout, going 3 of 29 from 3-point range.
MAVERICKS 123, CLIPPERS 93
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, propelling Dallas to a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 and a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for the Mavericks, who clamped down on the Clippers defensively and won decisively in Los Angeles for the second time in the series. Dallas moved to the brink of its first playoff series victory since 2022 and only its third since winning the NBA title in 2011.
Doncic is playing on a sprained right knee that limited him at times in the series, but the Slovenian superstar clearly got more comfortable and more dangerous as Game 5 went on. He had 14 points in the third quarter while the Mavs stretched their lead to 25 and eventually took an 89-69 advantage into the fourth, where the Clippers never threatened to do an imitation of Dallas’ rally back from a 31-point deficit in Game 4.
Game 6 is Friday night in Dallas. If necessary, Game 7 will be back in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) drives to the basket past Miami Heat guard Delon Wright, center rear, during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian professional soccer was rocked Friday by accusations that the captain of A-League club Macarthur FC paid two younger teammates up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,600) to deliberately receive yellow cards in a scheme set up by a South American gambling connection.
Local media identified Macarthur team leader Ulises Davila and fellow players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis as the players arrested over their alleged involvement in the match-fixing scheme, which police say led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings.
Authorities still want to interview a fourth player allegedly involved in the scheme, threatening to extradite him if he does not return to New South Wales state to face questioning.
Investigators allege yellow cards were manipulated during games played on Nov. 24 and Dec. 9. They also allege unsuccessful attempts were made to do similar during matches on April 20 and May 4.
Macarthur played out a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory on Nov. 24 before beating Sydney FC 2-0 on Dec. 9. All three players were given yellow cards in the Dec. 9 game against Sydney.
The team beat Sydney 1-0 on April 20 before being beaten 4-0 by Sydney FC in a playoff elimination game on May 4. Macarthur finished in fifth place during the regular season.
Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the players had “betrayed the trust of their supporters and the code."
“Yellow cards and the subsequent penalties that arise out of those yellow cards could change the result of that game,” he said a media conference Friday. ”$10,000 may seem a lot of money to a young sports person, (but) that is incredibly insignificant when you consider the damage that being charged with this offense and convicted results in.”
No further information was given about the South American gambling connection.
The southwest Sydney club said it was “shocked” by the allegations, which came after a six-month police investigation.
State police said the probe was launched in December 2023 with the help of Britain-based officials after suspicious betting patterns were identified.
Macarthur FC chief executive Sam Krslovic said the club was caught off-guard by the arrests but it would work with authorities, adding: "Integrity of our game is a foundation pillar and we will work closely with all relevant agencies on this matter.”
Australian Associated Press reported that Davila was arrested on Friday at South Coogee, in Sydney’s east, when police executed a search warrant as part of the investigation. Lewis was arrested in Parramatta and Baccus was arrested in Campbelltown, both western Sydney suburbs.
Davila is expected to be charged with two counts of engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event and two counts of facilitating conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event. The other two players will be charged with engaging in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event.
Authorities said on Friday the players were yet to be charged and were still at police stations, but they were likely to be given bail before initial court appearances.
Football Australia said it was made aware of the arrests on Friday morning and was cooperating with the investigation.
Macarthur FC has been in the A-League men’s competition since the 2020-21 season. The league has 11 clubs based in Australia and one in New Zealand, with this season's grand final championship match scheduled for May 25.
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Macarthur FC player Clayton Lewis heads the ball during an A-League match against Sydney FC in Sydney, May 4, 2024. Lewis and fellow players Kearyn Baccus and Ulises Davila have been arrested, Friday, May 17, 2024, over their alleged involvement in a the betting fix, which police say has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings. (Mark Evans/AAP Image via AP)
Macarthur FC player Kearyn Baccus passes the ball during an A-League match Brisbane Roar in Brisbane on Jan. 18, 2024. Baccus and fellow players Ulises Davila and Clayton Lewis have been arrested, Friday, May 17, 2024, over their alleged involvement in a the betting fix, which police say has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings. (Darren England/AAP Image via AP)
Macarthur FC player Ulises Davila passes the ball during an A-League match against Melbourne City in Sydney, March 1, 2024. Davila and fellow players Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis have been arrested, Friday, May 17, 2024, over their alleged involvement in a the betting fix, which police say has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid out in winnings. (Mark Evans/AAP Image via AP)
Macarthur FC players prepare for the start of an A-League Men Elimination Final match against Sydney FC in Sydney, May 4, 2024. Three A-League players, believed to be from Macarthur FC, were arrested Friday, May 17, 2024, for alleged betting corruption after police claimed they manipulated the number of yellow cards they received in games last year, Football Australia said. (Mark Evans/AAP Image via AP)
