AP Wednesday Sports Roundup

NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Cavs, Wizards and Rockets go 2-up in their series openers

UNDATED (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers, fresh off their 99-91 victory over Boston, are headed to Beantown with a 2-0 lead in their first round playoff series. Game 3 is Thursday night in the Hub.

LeBron James scored 30 points and Kyrie Irving added 26 to pace the Cavs' scoring. James and Irving scored all of Cleveland's points in the final stanza.

James scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, and moved past Hall of Famer Jerry West on the career playoff scoring list.

In other NBA playoffs:

— John Wall had 26 points and 17 assists, Bradley Beal scored 28 points and the Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors 117-106 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. The series now moves to the Nation's Capital for Game 3 Friday night.

__ The Houston Rockets have a 2-0 lead in their series with Dallas after beating the Mavericks 111-99. Dwight Howard led the Rockets with 28 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. James Harden added 24 points and six assists. Josh Smith had 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

NBA-COACH OF YEAR

Hawks' bench boss honored

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta's Mike Budenholzer has been named NBA coach of the year. In his second year on the bench he led the Hawks to a franchise-best 60-win season. Budenholzer received 67 first-place votes and 513 points overall in balloting by sports writers and broadcasters. Golden State's Steve Kerr, who guided the Warriors to an NBA-best 67-15 record, received 56 first-place votes and 471 points.

NBA-BULLS-MIROTIC

Mirotic hurting

CHICAGO (AP) — The Bulls may be without forward Nicola Mirotic for Thursday's Game 3 of their NBA playoff series against Milwaukee. He suffered a knee injury during the Bulls win Tuesday. Mirotic suffered a strained left quadriceps in a scramble for a loose ball. He has the knee and thigh wrapped and is walking with a noticeable limp.

NBA-HAWKS

Horford is a go

ATLANTA (AP) — Hawks center Al Horford says he's definitely playing tonight's Game 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets. Horford dislocated his right pinky finger in the Hawks' series opening win Sunday. Atlanta's other ailing starter, forward Paul Millsap, practiced without a padded shirt on that he's worn since missing five games with a shoulder injury. He's hoping to go without it in Game 2, believing that will improve his range of motion.

NBA-SUNS-MORRIS BROTHERS-ASSAULT

Morris brothers indicted

PHOENIX (AP) — A Maricopa County grand jury has indicted the Phoenix Suns' Marcus and Markieff Morris on felony aggravated assault charges. Court documents show the twins are accused of joining three other men in beating a man on Jan. 24 at a Phoenix recreation center.

According to a Phoenix police report, 36-year-old Erik Hood says five people including the Morris brothers repeatedly punched and kicked him. Hood says he suffered a fractured nose, abrasions and a large bump on his head.

NFL-SCHEDULE

Steelers-Pats to open 2015 season on a Thursday night

NEW YORK (AP) — The New England Patriots will host the Pittsburgh Steelers to open the NFL season on Thursday night, Sept. 10.

The game will match quarterbacks with six Super Bowl rings and nine Super Bowl appearances: Tom Brady vs. Ben Roethlisberger (RAWTH'-lihs-bur-gur).

Other prime-time matchups on opening weekend will have the New York Giants at Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 13; and Philadelphia at Atlanta, followed by Minnesota at San Francisco in a Monday night doubleheader.

Traditional Thanksgiving Day games will feature Detroit hosting the Eagles, followed by Carolina visiting the Cowboys. The Thanksgiving night game is a renewal of the NFL's longest-running rivalry, Chicago at Green Bay. The Packers reportedly will retire Brett Favre's jersey that night.

NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

Red Wings take series lead...Caps square up the Islanders...Blackhawks survive triple OT in Chicago

UNDATED (AP) — In the NHL playoffs, Pavel Datsyuk, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening scored for Detroit in a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning that gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead in their playoff series. Petr Mrazek made 22 saves for his first postseason shutout between the pipes for the Red Wings.

In other first-round hockey playoffs:

— The Washington Capitals have evened their first round NHL playoff series at two games apiece by nipping the New York Islanders 2-1 on Nicklas Backstrom's goal 11:09 into overtime. Alex Ovechkin also scored and assisted on the decisive goal. The series now moves to Washington for Game 4 Thursday night.

— In Chicago, the Blackhawks and Predators also went overtime, three in fact. In the longest game of this year's playoffs, the Blackhawks outlasted Nashville 3-2. Brent Seabrook ended it with a goal one minute into the third OT. It was the longest game in Predators history. Chicago leads the series 3-1 heading to Thursday's Game 5 in Nashville.

— In Calgary, the Flames took a 3-1 advantage by beating Vancouver 3-1. Jiri Hudler had a goal and an assist. Calgary can clinch this series with a road win at Vancouver on Thursday.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Torrid Mets keep hot streak going

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Mets remain the hottest team in baseball.

Catcher Kevin Plawecki made an impressive big league debut as the banged-up Mets won their ninth straight game by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1. Plawecki grounded a single to left field for his first hit that fueled the Mets' four-run fifth inning. He later scored.

The Mets extended their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2008. The team record is 11 in row, last done in 1990.

Curtis Granderson drove in four runs. Jonathon Niese pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning to improve to 2-0. The Mets are 8-0 at Citi Field.

In other baseball:

— Wade Miley and four relievers combined on a four-hitter and the Boston Red Sox took advantage of an error to beat Chris Archer and the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0. Boston has scored 19 unearned runs this season.

— Ryan Howard hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Freddy Galvis also went deep and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 7-3.

— Edwin Encarnacion smashed a pair of home runs and Jose Bautista added another to power the Toronto Blue Jays to a 13-6 win over Baltimore.

— Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer, then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning in the Kansas City Royals' 6-5 win over Minnesota.

— Chris Young and Stephen Drew homered in a three-run seventh and Nathan Eovaldi earned his first win with the New York Yankees, 5-2 over the Detroit Tigers.

— Cleveland downed the Chicago White Sox 6-2. Carlos Carrasco struck out eight in five innings. Carlos Santana and David Murphy smacked solo homers.

— Yunel Escobar delivered a walkoff 10th inning home run in the Washington Nationals' 2-1 victory over St. Louis.

__ San Diego beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6. Derek Norris hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning.

__ Prince Fielder homered and drove in three runs to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7-1 victory over Arizona.

— The L.A. Angels routed Oakland 14-1. Johnny Giavotella hit a three-run shot for his first homer with the Angels. Kole Calhoun tied a career-best with four hits, including a three-run homer.

__ The Houston Astros doubled up Seattle 6-3. Jose Altuve helped Collin McHugh win his 10th straight decision with a go-ahead three-run double in the eighth inning.

— The World Series champion San Francisco Giants topped the first-place L.A. Dodgers 6-2. Justin Maxwell hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and San Francisco won for just the second time in 11 games. Tim Lincecum won his first victory in three starts.

— Starlin Castro went 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs, including a game-tying two-run single in the ninth, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 9-8 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

__ In a slugfest, Cincinnati bopped Milwaukee 16-10. That's the Brewers' seventh straight loss. Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier each hit two-out grand slams. Zack Cozart hit two homers for the Reds, whose offense has reawakened for 22 runs in two games in Milwaukee after manager Bryan Price went on a profanity-laced tirade on Monday.

MLB-REDS-PRICE

Manager sorry for language, sticks with sentiment

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cincinnati manager Bryan Price says he's sorry for using bad language. But he's standing firm on his stance that reporters are divulging too much information when reporting on team developments.

Price apologized to reporters in Milwaukee before the Brewers-Reds game Tuesday for a profanity-laced tirade during a pregame meeting a day earlier. The apology echoed sentiments of an earlier apology issued through the team's Twitter account.

However, Price said the "content between the profanity" is exactly how he felt, adding: "I won't apologize for that under any circumstances."