(SAN FRANCISCO) — The Golden State Warriors are just one win away from another championship title after beating the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday night.
The Warriors topped the Celtics 104-94 in San Francisco to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Both teams will now head to Boston for Game 6 on Thursday. Tip off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Should the Warriors win, it will mark the team’s seventh championship title and its first since 2018.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
NY Yankees 18, Chicago Cubs 4
Houston 9, Miami 4
NY Mets 4, LA Angels 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 6, Oakland 3
Toronto 6, Detroit 0
Tampa Bay 6, Minnesota 0
Baltimore 10, Kansas City 7
Texas 8, Chi White Sox 6
Boston 2, Seattle 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 5, Pittsburgh 3
Milwaukee 4, Washington 1
Arizona 13, Philadelphia 1
Cincinnati 7, St. Louis 6
Colorado 4, San Diego 2
San Francisco 2, LA Dodgers 0
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Chi 88, New York 86
Seattle 84, Dallas 79
Phoenix 99, Washington 90 (OT)
Indiana 84, Minnesota 80
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New England 2, Sporting Kansas City 1
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1
Atlanta 13, Oakland 2
Tampa Bay 11, St. Louis 3
LA Dodgers 4, Chi White Sox 1
Chi Cubs at Baltimore (Postponed)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City 8, Toronto 4
Cleveland 4, Texas 0
Seattle 6, Houston 3
Minnesota 8, NY Yankees 1
Boston 1, LA Angels 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Arizona 7, Cincinnati 0
Miami 2, Washington 1
Philadelphia 10, Milwaukee 0
San Diego 13, NY Mets 2
Colorado 1, San Francisco 1 (Bot 9th)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Boston 116, Golden State 100 (Boston leads 2-1)
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 88, Indiana 69
Washington 84, Chicago 82
(NEW YORK) — As the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors face off in the 2022 NBA Finals, players are calling attention to the case of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who has been detained in Russia for more than three months.
“She needs to be home, she needs to be safe, she needs to be with her family,” Warriors point guard Steph Curry told ESPN on Tuesday.
“Right now it’s just about getting her home and everybody just joining that effort … to make sure she’s talked about and all hands are on deck and all resources are thrown at getting her home as soon as possible,” he added.
Some have argued that if NBA stars like Curry or Lebron James were wrongfully detained in a foreign country, more would be done to get them back home.
“There’s something to that,” Curry said when asked about how Griner has been treated.
“It is an unfortunate situation and it is a tragedy,” he said.
The Boston Celtics raised awareness about Griner’s case on the court this week by wearing “We Are BG” T-shirts — a slogan that has become a rallying cry in the WNBA and beyond this season to show support for the Phoenix Mercury star.
“As a collective we wanted to come out and show our support for Brittney Griner,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said, according to ESPN. “She’s been over there for an extended amount of time, and we feel like enough is enough.”
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said that he got to spend time with Griner when they competed in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which took place last year due to COVID-19 delays.
“It’s extremely tough seeing what she’s going through,” Tatum said earlier this week, according to ESPN. “I know everybody sees and feels that, and obviously we’re all together in support trying to bring her back to her family and things like that. Yeah, wearing those shirts today in support of her.”
Griner, a WNBA superstar, has been detained in a Russian prison for more than 110 days. She was visiting Russia in February to play basketball during the off-season when she was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow for allegedly having vape cartridges in her luggage that contained hashish oil — an illegal substance in Russia.
She was charged with “large-scale transportation of drugs” and could face up to 10 years in prison, according to The New York Times.
The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained” in Russia, which means that the U.S. would work to negotiate her release. The State Department did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment on Griner.
Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, told “GMA” co-anchor Robin Robertslast month that the support her wife has received from the league has brought the WNBA star “comfort” amid her detention.
The WNBA, which kicked off its 2022 season on May 6, is honoring Griner with a floor decal bearing her initials and jersey number (42) on the sideline of all 12 WNBA teams.
“Things like that matter, like, it has her hopeful,” Cherelle Griner told Roberts. “It lets her know she’s not forgotten.”
“Those small moments, I know, give her some type of hope,” she added.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began one week after Griner was detained on Feb. 17. Some officials are concerned that Americans jailed in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing conflict.
Cherelle Griner said that she would like to speak with President Joe Biden.
“I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power. She’s a political pawn,” she said. “So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said last month that a U.S. consular officer was able to meet with Griner on May 19.
Price said the officer “found her continuing to do as well as could be expected under these exceedingly challenging circumstances.”
“But again, our message is a clear and simple one — we continue to insist that Russia allow consistent and timely consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees,” he added. “One-off visits are not sufficient, and we will continue to call on Moscow to uphold its commitments under the Vienna Convention for consistent and timely access, as well.”
Calls to free Brittney Griner escalated following the release of U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed in April, who was freed from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange. Former Marine Paul Whelan has also been detained in Russia since 2019.
Reed called for Griner and Whelan’s freedom at a rally on Monday in Griner’s hometown of Houston.
“There is no justice in Russia,” Reed said. “Brittney and Paul will not receive justice in Russia. They’re not going to receive a fair trial, they will not receive a fair investigation. They will be there as hostages until the United States gets them out.”
Griner’s trip to Russia has underscored the issue of pay inequality in professional basketball.
Many WNBA players have traveled around the world to play in the off-season because they don’t make enough money during the season — an issue that is not as prevalent for NBA players who are paid more. The top WNBA salary is $228K, whereas star NBA players can make at least $1 million a year.
ABC News’ Conor Finnegan, Courtney Condron and Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report.
(ANAHEIM, Calif.) — A California man has been arrested for the theft of an Olympic volleyball champion’s gold medal last month.
The medal, awarded to U.S. women’s volleyball starting setter Jordyn Poulter during the 2020 Tokyo Games, still has not been found, the Anaheim Police Department said in a statement.
Jordan Fernandez, 31, was charged with first-degree residential burglary, second-degree vehicle burglary, identity theft and possession of narcotics on Tuesday, the statement said.
Fernandez was arrested Friday and arraigned Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty. Court records show that he was being held in custody.
“Subsequent to pursuing several investigative leads, APD investigators arrested Jordan Fernandez, a 31-year-old resident of Anaheim, for the theft of the gold medal,” the police department said.
Poulter is offering a $1,000 reward for the medal’s return with “no questions asked,” Anaheim police said.
According to police, the medal was stolen from Poulter’s car while it was parked in a garage.
The medal, awarded to Poulter as part of the the U.S. women’s volleyball team’s historic first Olympic win, was given after the Americans defeated Brazil in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021.
Poulter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Poulter, 24, was training in California and had been living in Anaheim when the theft occurred. She had left the medal in a bag inside her unlocked car before leaving it in a two-door garage with the door open, police said.
“I really unintentionally forgot to take it out,” Poulter told NBC on Tuesday.
After going inside for a quick Zoom call, Poulter returned to see the car’s center console open and found her bag missing, according to police. The medal, along with several other items, had been taken.
The medal was awarded to Poulter after her first and only Olympic performance so far.
Poulter told the Los Angeles Times she cares more about the emotional value of getting her medal back versus the lost monetary value, citing the medal as being worth less than one might assume.
According to the International Olympic Committee, there are around six grams of gold plating on the 2020 Tokyo gold medals, and the rest is pure silver. The average 2020 gold medal weighs about 556 grams total.
The Anaheim Police Department asks anyone with information on the medal’s whereabouts to contact the department at 714-765-1900 or the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.
(NEW YORK) — Gymnasts and other victims of sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault of minors, as well as other charges, said they plan on Wednesday to file a series of tort claims against the Justice Department and the FBI seeking a collective total of about $1 billion, according to their legal team.
“The FBI knew that Larry Nassar was a danger to children when his abuse of me was first reported in September of 2015,” gymnast Maggie Nichols, a Team USA member and NCAA National Champion, said in a statement. “For 421 days they worked with USA Gymnastics and USOPC to hide this information from the public and allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women and girls. It is time for the FBI to be held accountable.”
The claimants include some of America’s most celebrated Olympic and Team USA gymnasts, including Nichols, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney. This group includes former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy and former gymnast and victim’s advocate Kaylee Lorincz.
The amount of damages sought differs by claimant, but the total claims could exceed $1 billion, according to a group of lawyers from Manly Stewart & Finaldi, Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers, Grewal Law and Drew, Cooper & Anding, and Gruel Mills, the firms representing the clients.
Hundreds of young women and girls came forward to accuse Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, of inappropriate or criminal behavior. Nassar pleaded guilty in 2017 in connection with crimes against several victims and was sentenced to 60 years behind bars for child pornography and other charges. He again pleaded guilty in 2018 and was sentenced to an additional 40 to 175 years for multiple counts of sexual assault of minors.
At a September Congressional hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray expressed outrage and sadness for the victims of Nassar’s abuse and FBI inaction.
A Department of Justice inspector general’s report found the FBI was notified of Nassar’s behavior, but failed to act for more than a year.
“I’m sorry for what you and your families have been through,” Wray told the Senate judiciary committee. “I’m sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over again. And I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in in 2015 and failed.”
Wray said the allegations happened before he was director, but is doing everything in his power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
