The 2018 NBA playoffs are finally underway, and one of the biggest Eastern Conference matchups will be the Washington Wizards facing the Toronto Raptors.

Raptors vs. Wizards Round 1 Playoff Series

The Raptors became the top team in the East this year for the first time ever after going 59-23, also a franchise record for victories.

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Meanwhile, the Wizards finished 43-39 to place eighth in the Conference. The team lost star point guard John Wall to a knee injury for a long period. Additionally, Washington forward Mike Scott is in concussion protocol, and the team announced earlier this week that it has signed veteran guard Ty Lawson just in time for the postseason.

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Last year, Toronto was eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Washington was also knocked out of the second round by the Boston Celtics.

The first game of the series between the Wizards and Raptors will be played in Toronto on Saturday night.

Here is the preview for the full series:

• Game 1 in Toronto: Saturday, April 14, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
• Game 2 in Toronto: Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m. ET, NBA TV
• Game 3 in Washington: Friday, April 20, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN 2
• Game 4 in Washington: Sunday, April 22, 6 p.m. ET, TNT
• Game 5 in Toronto: TBA (if necessary)
• Game 6 in Washington: TBA (if necessary)
• Game 7 in Toronto: TBA (if necessary)

The Golden State Warriors will host the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday for Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs, and here is what you need to know.

NBA Playoffs, Game 1 Preview: Warriors vs. Spurs

Game 1 at Oracle Arena will begin at 3pm EST and will air on ABC.

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The defending champion Warriors (58-24) finished second in the Western Conference after being thrashed by the Utah Jazz 119-79 on Tuesday.

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Meanwhile, the Spurs (47-35) finished seventh in the West after defeating the Sacramento Kings 98-85 on Monday.

Golden State’s string of injuries that include Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala has hurt the team in recent games.

Here is the full schedule for the Warriors/Spurs first-round playoff series: (all times are in Eastern)

Game 2: at Oracle on Monday at 10:30 p.m.

Game 3 will be on Thursday, April 19, 9:30 p.m. in San Antonio

Game 4 will be on Sunday, April 22 3:30 p.m. in San Antonio.

(If necessary) Game 5 will be on Tuesday, April 24 at Oracle Arena (TBD)

(If necessary) Game 6 will be on Thursday, April 26 in San Antonio (TBD)

(If necessary) Game 7 on Saturday April 28, at Oracle. (TBD)

The Dubs beat the Spurs in 2017 to win the NBA championship.

By the end of the first day (Thursday) at the 2018 Masters Tournament, Jordan Spieth led all golfers at Augusta National at -6 following a performance that included five consecutive birdies.

Masters 2018 Round 1 Recap, Leaderboards, Highlights

Spieth, 24, won the 2015 Masters at the age of 21, his first major tournament victory that made him the second-youngest player to ever claim the trophy and wear the elegant green jacket behind only Tiger Woods.  Spieth shot a 66 in the opening round on Thursday, and his five-straight-birdie run began on the 13th hole.

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Woods is seven strokes behind Spieth at +1, and tees off at 1:27pm EST on Friday (Round 2) alongside Marc Leishman and Tommy Fleetwood. Spieth teed off at 10:53am on Friday with Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen. 

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Here’s how Spieth did in Round 1:

From: Forbes.com.

Woods, a four-time Masters champion, last played at Augusta National in 2015. The 42-year-old last won the Tournament in 2005. On Thursday, he finished with a score of 73, one above par. Woods ended Round 1 tied for 29th place with 13 other golfers.

Sergio Garcia, the defending Masters winner, ran into some water hazard-related problems on Hole No. 15 on Thursday. The 38-year-old Spaniard — ranked ninth in the PGA Tour World standings — earned a score of 13 on the 15th hole to finish with a 9-over par score of 89. Garcia was in a tie for last place at the end of Round 1.

Besides Spieth, another impressive player on Thursday was Tony Finau. The 28-year-old Salt Lake City native played through an ankle injury, which he sustained after celebrating a hole-in-one. Finau — who is 34th in the PGA Tour World Rankings — shot a surprising 68 (-4) to finish second at the end of Round 1.

Among the other golfers who finished Round 1 above par were Adam Scott (+4), Jason Day (+3), Jon Rahm (+3), Justin Thomas (+2), Dustin Johnson (+1) and Bubba Watson (+1). 

Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler were three players who had trouble with the first hole. The former two missed the fairway, while Fowler missed the green on his second stroke. Mickelson and Kuchar both made par, but Fowler failed to sink a 10-foot shot and fell to 1-under par. Fowler and Mickelson finished with a Round 1 score of 70 (-2), both tied with Leishman for 11th.

Here are some more highlights from Round 1 at Augusta:

Here is what the top of the Round 1 Leaderboard looked like:

From: Forbes.com

And further down:

From: Forbes.com 

The No. 5-seed Kentucky Wildcats won their challenging first-round NCAA Tournament game against No. 12 Davidson on Thursday thanks to an impressive outing from Kevin Knox. 

Kentucky vs. Davidson NCAA Round 1 highlights

The freshman forward scored 25 points for SEC Tournament champions Kentucky, (25-10) which finished 0-6 in 3-point shooting in the game against another team also named the Wildcats.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also provided much help for Kentucky’s offense: he logged 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

Kentucky hasn’t lost a first-round NCAA Tourney contest since 2008. Wildcats coach John Calipari wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s performance on Thursday, however, as one ESPN.com reporter noted:

Davidson (21-12) shot 29.4 percent from the field in the first half, including 3-of-15 from three-point range.

Several Kentucky players on offense, however, put on fine displays of athleticism:

Davidson tied it up at 52 with nine minutes remaining, but Kentucky ultimately used a 9-0 run to pull away. Knox secured his team’s victory with a big jump-shot:

Kentucky will next face the winner of No. 4 Arizona and No. 13 Buffalo in the South Regional’s second round on Saturday. That game will begin at 5:15pm EST and air on CBS.

Virginia Tech’s men’ basketball team has earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight year, and their first-round matchup will be against Alabama in Pittsburgh.

Virginia Tech vs. Alabama NCAA Round 1 preview

The Hokies (21-11) received one of 36 at-large bids to the tourney in Sunday night’s selection. They took the No. 8 seed in the East Region and will face the ninth-seeded Crimson Tide at around 9:20pm Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. The game will air on TNT.

This marks the first time Virginia Tech has made back-to-back NCAA appearances since the 1985 and 1986 tournaments.

“You come into a team where they finish last place. In my case, we finish last place again. You want to take it up to the highest show in college basketball, which is the NCAA Tournament,” fifth-year senior guard Devin Wilson said after the team watched the selection show. “That’s what you come to Virginia Tech for.”

If Virginia Tech wins Thursday, they could face No. 1 seed Villanova in the second round.

Maria Sharapova may have been playing her first major tournament in 18 months on Monday, but she looked as powerful as ever in securing a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 first-round victory over No. 2 seed Romanian Simona Halep at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

US Open Day 1 recap, Round 2 preview

The 30-year-old Russian was granted a wild-card entry into the 2017 U.S. Open after she returned from a 15-month doping suspension in April. Sharapova received the ban for testing positive for the prohibited heart drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. She later claimed that the positive test occurred because of a miscommunication as a result of the drug being added to the World Tennis Association’s banned substances list earlier in 2016.

Halep — who has now lost all seven matches against Sharapova — struggled with her first serve and couldn’t handle her Russian opponent’s incredible display of power.

During the first set alone, Sharapova — the World No. 146 and a five-time major champion — recorded 18 forehand winners and ten backhand winners.

In the final set, Sharapova again took advantage of Halep’s weak second serve.

Sharapova has suffered from several different injuries since her return from her doping ban, including a forearm injury last month that forced her to withdraw from the Bank of the West Classic after just one match, but seemed in fine shape on Monday.

The Russian — who won the U.S. Open in 2006 — will next face Hungarian Tímea Babos in the second round in Flushing on Wednesday. Babos defeated Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic on Monday.

Meanwhile, No. 9 seed Venus Williams also reached the second round by defeating 19-year-old Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on Monday.

Williams — who  helped inaugurate Ashe, reaching the first women’s final played in the venue in 1997 — has now won 50 three-set matches over her 22-year Grand Slam career, tied with Chris Evert for second most by a woman in the Open era.

“It’s been a beautiful 20 years,” said the 37-year-old American. “I love this game.”

Williams will next face 20-year-old French qualifier Océane Dodin in Round 2 on Wednesday at 11 am EST. Dodin advanced by beating countrywoman Pauline Parmentier 3-6, 6-0, 7(8)-6(6) on Monday.

On the men’s side, 17th ranked American Sam Querrey will face Israel’s Dudi Sela on Wednesday at 11 am EST following the cancellation of his first-round match against compatriot Tim Smyczek.

American Steve Johnson will face Britain’s Kyle Edmund, while fourth-seeded German 20-year-old Alexander Zverev will play Croatian Borna Ćorić after a first-round victory over Barbardian Darian King. 

Here is the TV schedule for Round 2 on Wednesday:

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 27: Maria Sharapova of Russia in action during a practice session prior to the US Open Tennis Championships at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

This year’s NBA Draft will kick off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday night (June 22), and here is all the info you need:

NBA Draft 2017 Round 1 Info/Preview

When: Thursday, June 22, 7 p.m. EST

Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Predictions:

The Philadelphia 76ers are widely projected to select Washington guard Markelle Fultz as the No. 1 overall pick from the Boston Celtics, who are expected to take Kansas swingman Josh Jackson at No. 3 overall. Fultz could likely prove to mesh well with the Sixers’ young core of guards like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric. Philadelphia is also predicted to take the Lakers’ first-round pick from next year as part of their trade for Fultz.

According to the New York Times, the Lakers will likely choose hometown star Lonzo Ball — a powerful point guard who played one season for UCLA — as the No. 2 overall pick on Thursday. Ball’s father LaVar is a former college basketball star and former tight end who played in the World League of American Football and as a practice squad member for the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers of the NFL.

The top international prospects, per the Times, are Frenchman Frank Nitikina and Latvian center Anzejs Pasecniks. In total, the NBA boasts 20 French-born players, while only four come from Latvia — three of whom have joined the league in the last three years.

Here is the full team selection order for the first two rounds of the 2017 Draft:

First-round order

1. Philadelphia 76ers (from Celtics via Nets)

2. Los Angeles Lakers

3. Boston Celtics (from 76ers via Kings)

4. Phoenix Suns

5. Sacramento Kings (from 76ers)

6. Orlando Magic

7. Minnesota Timberwolves

8. New York Knicks

9. Dallas Mavericks

10. Sacramento Kings (from Pelicans)

11. Charlotte Hornets

12. Detroit Pistons

13. Denver Nuggets

14. Miami Heat

15. Portland Trail Blazers

16. Chicago Bulls

17. Milwaukee Bucks

18. Indiana Pacers

19. Atlanta Hawks

20. Portland Trail Blazers (from Grizzlies)

21. Oklahoma City Thunder

22. Brooklyn Nets (from Wizards)

23. Toronto Raptors (from Clippers)

24. Utah Jazz

25. Orlando Magic (from Raptors)

26. Portland Trail Blazers (from Cavs)

27. Brooklyn Nets (from Celtics)

28. Los Angeles Lakers (from Rockets)

29. San Antonio Spurs

30. Utah Jazz (from Warriors)

Second-round order

31. Atlanta Hawks (from Nets)

32. Phoenix Suns

33. Orlando Magic (from Lakers)

34. Sacramento Kings (from 76ers via Pelicans)

35. Orlando Magic

36. Philadelphia 76ers (from Knicks via Jazz and Raptors)

37. Boston Celtics (from Timberwolves via Suns)

38. Chicago Bulls (from Kings via Cavs)

39. Philadelphia 76ers (from Mavericks)

40. New Orleans Pelicans

41. Charlotte Hornets

42. Utah Jazz (from Pistons)

43. Houston Rockets (from Nuggets)

44. New York Knicks (from Bulls)

45. Houston Rockets (from Blazers)

46. Philadelphia 76ers (from Heat via Hawks)

47. Indiana Pacers

48. Milwaukee Bucks

49. Denver Nuggets (from Grizzlies via Thunder)

50. Philadelphia 76ers (from Hawks)

51. Denver Nuggets (from Thunder)

52. Washington Wizards

53. Boston Celtics (from Cavs)

54. Phoenix Suns (from Raptors)

55. Utah Jazz

56. Boston Celtics (from Clippers)

57. Brooklyn Nets (from Celtics)

58. New York Knicks (from Rockets)

59. San Antonio Spurs

60. Atlanta Hawks (from Warriors via 76ers and Jazz)

WACO, TX – FEBRUARY 18: Josh Jackson #11 of the Kansas Jayhawks and teammate Landen Lucas #33 celebrate after Kansas defeated the Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center on February 18, 2017 in Waco, Texas. Kansas won 67-65. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Rickie Fowler amazed on Thursday at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin in the opening round of the 117th U.S. Open.

Rickie Fowler Ties U.S. Open Round 1 Record with 7-under 65

The 28-year-old Murrieta, California native finished at seven-under 65, which equalized the record for the tournament’s lowest first-round score.

“It’s always cool to be part of some sort of history in golf,” Fowler said. “But I’d rather be remembered for something that’s done on a Sunday.

“There are a lot of really good players out here that haven’t won a major. So it would be nice to get rid of that at some point. I’m not saying that this is the week or isn’t the week but I like the way this golf course suits me.”

Since the beginning of 2017, Fowler has won the Honda Classic in Florida in February and secured five top-ten finishes. On Thursday, he recorded seven birdies and 11 pars.

Fowler has missed qualifiers in the U.S. Open four times, including each of the past two years. His aggregate score in the five Open rounds prior to Thursday was 27 over par.

Nevertheless, the American knows how arduous attaining this score was. “You don’t get many rounds at the US Open that are stress-free,” Fowler said. “I just did a good job. I knew I needed to drive it well; from there I was able to hit good shots and roll a couple of putts in. So, it was a simple day when you look back on it, and how we kind of pieced our way around the golf course, but it is a lot easier said than done.”

He continued: “The first thing is getting off to a good start Thursday, keeping that rolling and getting ourselves in contention Sunday. There’s a lot of golf to be played but I’m ready to be out there contending.”

Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood and Brian Harman all recorded 67s at five-under par to finish tied for fourth. Little-known American Xander Schaufelle finished tied for second with Englishman Paul Casey with 66s at six-under.

The world’s best five golfers, meanwhile, all disappointed on Thursday as they were unable to break par.

Dustin Johnson finished 75. Jordan Spieth recorded 73, Jason Day scored 79, Rory McIlroy had 78, and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, 74. There aggregate score in Round 1 was a whopping 19 over par.

For McIlroy, Thursday marked his second competitive start since the Masters due to the rib injury that has hindered his season.

“I didn’t hit a fairway after the 10th,” the Northern Irishman said. “You cannot play this golf course if you are not in position off the tee. I paid the price for that today.

“I feel fine, I was hacking around in the rough and didn’t feel the injury one bit. My timing was just a little bit off.”

Round 2 at Erin Hills began at 7:45 am EST on Friday.

Here are the full tee times for the second round:

Six different NHL teams played in their first playoff game on Thursday night, and the three who emerged the winners were the Nashville Predators, the Washington Capitals and the Anaheim Ducks.

NHL Playoffs Round 1: Capitals Top Maple Leafs In OT, Predators beat Blackhawks

Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne stopped 29 shots, and winger Viktor Arvidsson scored a goal at 7:52 of the first period to lift the Predators to a 1-0 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Predators now lead the Western Conference first-round series 1-0.

“We did a really good job messing up their systems and didn’t give them too much flow,” said Rinne, who recorded his second NHL postseason shutout. “They like to play with a lot of speed and puck possession, and we did the right things on the ice. I think that’s a credit for us to interrupt their style of play.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be held Saturday night at 8 pm EST in Chicago.

The previous two times the Blackhawks and Predators faced off in the postseason, (2010, 2015) the former eliminated the latter in the first round.

Chicago outshot Nashville 29-20, including 23-9 in the last two periods.

Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane combined for just 10 shots on goal for the Blackhawks, while Jonathan Toews didn’t record a single shot on goal in 20:38 of ice time.

Corey Crawford made 19 saves for the Blackhawks, who were shut out in a home playoff game for the first time since 2012. Meanwhile, it was the Predators’ first road shutout in their nine-year postseason history.

“We’ve just got to keep getting better in this series,” Crawford said. “That was a pretty good game by us, but we have better in us.”

Arvidsson’s goal came off a defensive error from Chicago. Predators centre Ryan Johansen took the puck from Arvidsson and drew three defensemen to him before passing to Filip Forsberg, who passed to Arvidsson.

“I figured Ryan would put it over there [to Forsberg],” Arvidsson said. “I just tried to get lost behind them, and [Forsberg] made a great shot-pass. I just tapped it in.”

Rinne made a sprawling left-skate save against Artem Anisimov with 8:15 left in the second period to stop the Blackhawks from tying the game. Anisimov returned after missing the last 13 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, while Predaotrs forward Calle Jarnkrok came back from his own lower-body injury after missing the regular-season finale. Nashville forward Colin Wilson (lower body) missed his third consecutive game.

In Washington, meanwhile, Tom Wilson scored 5:15 into overtime to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

The Capitals now lead the Eastern Conference first-round series 1-0.

“Lots of emotion,” Wilson said. “Obviously, pretty crazy. Once the puck goes in, it’s a whirlwind. Got to watch it briefly on an interview. You know what? It’s a good feeling. Hopefully we keep building those good feelings and keep it rolling here.”

The winger knocked the puck down with his hand to keep it in the zone on a clearing attempt by the Leafs, and then shot past goalie Frederik Andersen for his first goal in 29 playoff games. Wilson is also the first Capitals player to net his first postseason goal in overtime.

Toronto gained a 2-0 lead 9:44 into the game thanks to goals from Mithcell Marner (at 1:35 of the first period of his first-ever playoff game) and Jake Gardiner. However, Washington tied it with two goals from Justin Williams.

“Everything’s about momentum,” Williams said. “They certainly had it to start, and we kind of calmed down, settled the nerves and we did what we wanted to do: Come back from (down) two goals, and now you keep the pressure on.”

Williams’ first goal came on a power play at 12:24 of the first period, and then his second tied it 2-2 with 4:00 remaining in the middle period. On his second goal, Williams got a puck loose in the crease and scored through Andersen’s legs.

Gardiner’s goal was initially waved off for goaltender interference, although the call was reversed following a coach’s challenge from the Maple Leafs.

“A confidence-builder, for sure,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “I liked our game. I didn’t like that we wouldn’t shoot the puck. We had so many opportunities to shoot and we wouldn’t, we wanted to pass. I thought Wilson did a good job of doing that, you just throw it on net. That’s playoff hockey. Things bounce to somebody and it goes in.”

Andersen stopped 41 shots, while Capitals goalie Braden Hotlby made 35 saves.

Wilson’s goal came after he intercepted Martin Marincin’s clear from near the end boards five minutes into overtime. Wilson then shot past defenseman Morgan Rielly and over Andersen’s shoulder from the right face-off circle to seal the victory.

Andersen made two great saves in succession in overtime: he fell to the ice to block Brooks Orpik’s shot, and then denied Andre Burakovsky with his toe.

Capitals defenseman John Carlson played 19:27 after missing the last four games of the regular season.

The Capitals and Leafs face off again for the second game of the series at 7 pm EST on Saturday at Verizon Center.

Finally, the Ducks beat Calgary 3-2 in Anaheim on Thursday for their 28th straight win over the Flames at Honda Center, including an NHL-record 25 straight regular-season games against Calgary.

Anhaeim now lead the Western Conference first-round series 1-0. The Ducks and Flames will meet for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series in Anaheim at 10:30 pm EST on Saturday.