SPORTS SECTION E
Friday, May 1, 2026
PHERON CHARLTON - E3
Stayin’ Alive Rookie guard Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe Jr and Philadelphia 76ers force Game 7 vs Celtics By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points, a resurgent Paul George had 23 points and a Philadelphia 76ers’ team that lost by 32 points twice in this first-round playoff series played their most complete game of the season and forced Game 7 with a 106-93 win over the Boston Celtics last night. Rookie guard Valdez “VJ” Edgecombe Jr scored 14 points with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 38 minutes on the floor. He shot 5 for 11 field goals and one for six three pointers with no turnovers. The decisive game is Saturday in Boston. Uplifted by Joel Embiid’s early return from an appendectomy, the Sixers rebounded from two blowout losses to win Game 5 in Boston and were buoyed by a throwback effort from George to keep a comfortable lead in Game 6. Embiid did his part in Game 6 with 19 points. The play of the game — and maybe the series — came in the third when Kelly Oubre Jr. blocked Jaylen Brown, Maxey scooped the loose ball and fed to George on the break who then dazzled with a behind-the-back pass to VJ Edgecombe who finished with a thunderous dunk for a 69-54 lead. A night after the Flyers won in overtime to advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs, Sixers fans cut loose after that slam. The 76ers will only go as far as Embiid can take them on his injury-prone 7-foot
frame and Maxey is a bona fide All-Star. Edgecombe's youthful exuberance made a fan favourite in Philly and an NBA Rookie of the Year finalist. Lost in the shuffle at times is the 35-year-old George — in large part this season because of a 25-game suspension for flunking a drug test — who has deferred to the other three Sixers when needed yet can still flash that All-Star form. George hit a team-high five 3s that all stretched the lead and the offense ran through him when Embiid — still recovering from his early April surgery — was on the bench. George signed with the Sixers in the summer of 2024 on a four-year, $212 million free-agent contract and was expected to form a 1-2 championship punch with Embiid. George was instead derailed by injuries, personal issues and the suspension that had him forgotten at times by fans and in the offence. Not against Boston. He keyed Philadelphia's game of the season, a stunner given how the Celtics toyed with them in their three wins this series. The Celtics never led in Game 6. Brown was hampered by three fouls in the first half and finished with 18 points. Jayson Tatum had 17 for the Celtics and left in third quarter with an apparent calf injury. The Celtics went more than four minutes without a point to close the third and the Sixers stormed into the final quarter with an 82-63 lead.
ABOVE THE RIM: Philadelphia 76ers’ Valdez “VJ” Edgecombe Jr goes up for a dunk past Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, centre, and Luka Garza during the first half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Philadelphia. INSET: Tyrese Maxey (0) and VJ Edgecombe celebrating last night. (AP Photos/Matt Slocum)
golfer Lemon Ayton posts double double - Pro Gorospe making a 18 points and 17 rebounds name for himself on But Rockets beat Lakers 99-93 in Game 5, avoiding LOS ANGELES (AP) playoff elimination for the second straight game
By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer
— Jabari Smith Jr scored 22 points, Tari Eason added 18 and the Houston Rockets avoided playoff elimination for the second straight game with a 99-93 victory over the Lakers in Game 5 on Wednesday night, trimming Los Angeles' lead in the first-round series to 3-2. Alperen Sengun had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the fifthseeded Rockets, who sent the series back to Houston for Game 6 tonight with a gritty performance to overcome Austin Reaves' return to the Lakers. Houston has won two straight even without top scorer Kevin Durant, who has missed four of the series' five games with injuries. “We put ourselves in a bad position, but we can still make history and come back one game at a time,” Sengun said. “Play at home, come back here, just do the same thing we're doing.” No team has ever recovered from an 0-3 deficit to win an NBA playoff
LAKERS centre Deandre Ayton (5) plays against the Warriors on April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) series, but the Rockets are halfway. Only four of the 159 teams to start a series down 0-3 have ever even forced a Game 7. LeBron James scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and added seven assists, but Los
Angeles lost its second straight after stealing Game 3 with an improbable rally in the final seconds of regulation. Deandre Ayton had 18 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles, which is still without Luka Doncic. The
NBA scoring champion doesn't appear to be close to a return from a strained hamstring. James’ teams have never blown a 2-0 series lead in his entire 23-year NBA
AYTON - SEE Page E6
international scene By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN professional golfer Lemon Gorospe is now back on the international scene, making a name for himself, this time on the senior circuit. The 53-year-old former golf director played in the US Senior Open Qualifying Round at the River Landing (River Course) in Wallace, North Carolina, on Wednesday. Gorospe shot an even-par 72 to finish in a four-way tie for ninth place to join the top 14 golfers out of a field of 80 players to qualify for the final stage of the US Open on June 15 in Maryland. There was a three-way tie for the top qualifying spots with 69, two tied for fourth and fifth with 70 and three others tied at 71 for sixth, seventh and eighth places. After falling short in his first appearance in the tournament last year, Gorospe said he made sure that history didn't repeat itself as he shot a three-under in the
LEMON GOROSPE front nine and three-over in the back nine to clinch his qualifying spot. "This is my second season playing out there again," said Gorospe, who played on the pro circuit before he ventured into golf administration here. "But I feel comfortable and I feel pretty confident about playing now." While it's different from playing as a regular pro, Gorospe said he is thrilled to be performing at the senior level and proving to everybody that he can still play at a high level.
GOLF - SEE Page E6