CHICAGO — Bulls guard Alex Caruso exited in the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Bucks after getting hit in the face by an inadvertent elbow from Bucks guard Jevon Carter.

Caruso was fighting through a screen set by Giannis Antetokounmpo when Carter’s elbow hit him on the nose with 1:44 remaining in the second quarter. Caruso fell to the floor and was bleeding from his nose before coming out of the game.

Ayo Dosunmu started the second half in place of Caruso before the Bulls eventually announced that Caruso would not return with a facial injury. Caruso was being examined for a possible concussion during the second half, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Caruso did not score but contributed four assists, four rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 17 minutes during the first half of Game 4.

Earlier this season, Caruso fractured his left wrist after a flagrant foul from Grayson Allen during a Jan. 21 game against the Bucks that would sideline for the next two months.

Read More

Duke freshman A.J. Griffin is heading to the NBA, becoming the fifth Blue Devils player in the past week to declare early for the draft.

The school announced Griffin’s decision Sunday, the last day for players to declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft. Duke said the 6-foot-6, 222-pound wing regarded as a potential lottery draft pick plans to hire an agent.

“It was a dream come true,” Griffin said in statement. “My experiences have helped prepare me for this moment and I am proud to know I will be a Blue Devil for life.”

Griffin’s NBA move follows that of 7-1 sophomore Mark Williams, 6-10 star freshman Paolo Banchero, 6-5 wing Wendell Moore Jr. and 6-5 guard Trevor Keels. Part of one of the nation’s top recruiting classes out of Ossining, New York, Griffin is ranked as ESPN’s No. 8 draft prospect.

2 Related

He averaged 10.4 points while providing size, outside shooting and defensive potential to the wing for the Blue Devils. That production came despite him missing most of his last two high school seasons because of knee and ankle injuries, as well as a preseason knee injury that slowed his process of getting back in rhythm after extended absences.

His role grew as he became more comfortable in returning to full-time action. He moved into the top lineup by mid-January and never left, starting Duke’s last 25 games. He had 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting in his first start at Wake Forest, the first of five 20-point outputs as a starter — the highlight being a 27-point star-making turn in a win at rival North Carolina in early February.

Griffin made 71 of 159 3-pointers (44.7%), including 10 games as a starter with at least three 3s.

Griffin helped Duke reach now-retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski’s record 13th Final Four while winning the program’s first outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 2006.

“A.J. was one of the best shooters in the nation and his skillset is exactly what NBA teams are looking for,” Krzyzewski said in a statement.

While Duke is losing a lot of top-tier talent as Jon Scheyer takes over for Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils will have guard Jeremy Roach — who announced his return earlier in the week and had a strong postseason run — as the team’s top returning scorer (8.6 points, 27 starts).

Duke also has 247sports’ No. 1-ranked recruiting class, featuring top overall prospect Dereck Lively II, fellow big man Kyle Filipowski (No. 3) and small forward Dariq Whitehead (No. 5).

Read More

When NFL free agency opened its doors in March, the Chicago Bears kicked things off by agreeing to terms on a 3-year, $40.5 million deal with former Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi.

First-year general manager Ryan Poles had found the perfect 3-technique for head coach Matt Eberflus’ new defensive scheme, and fans were excited about the energetic, fiery Ogunjobi.

Read More

Read More

Read More

Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez is expected to miss six to eight weeks after suffering a hamstring strain in Saturday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Jimenez landed awkwardly on first base after hitting a ground ball to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez in the second inning. He immediately went to the ground and stayed there until the medical cart came while the training staff attended to his injury.

It is the second straight season Jimenez has landed on the IL with a long-term injury. Last year he was out for nearly four months with a pectoral injury suffered in spring training.

Jimenez, 25, was hitting .229 with one home run entering the game Saturday.

With Jimenez going on the 10-day injured list, the White Sox reinstated right-hander Lucas Giolito from the 10-day IL. Giolito will start Sunday’s game against the Twins.

Information from ESPN’s Jesse Rogers was used in this report.

Read More

MINNEAPOLIS — Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins ripped game officials following the Grizzlies’ 119-118 loss on Saturday in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We’ve got to play better, but in my opinion, [this was] one of the most poorly officiated games I’ve ever seen in my NBA career,” Jenkins said in his postgame news conference. “All five of our starters borderline fouled out in the first quarter. Ten-plus foul difference, 40 free throws. Yeah, some things we’ve got to clean and get better at, but I’ve never seen a more inconsistent and arrogant officiated game.

“So I’ll take whatever hits are coming my way. I gotta protect our guys. We know we’ve gotta get better, but from the get-go, it was foul, foul, foul, foul, foul, inconsistency. There was actually one play where a foul whistle was blown before contact was even made. It’s embarrassing.”

In Game 4, officials whistled Memphis for 33 personal fouls as compared to 23 for Minnesota, with the Grizzlies’ starting five combining for 25.

“I don’t even wanna talk about the officiating,” Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks said. “When I was growing up, when I was in the league the first three years and I watched playoff basketball, there were barely any calls called. They let the players play and figure it out. I felt like they just wanna run the show. They want their name on TV, and their names are all over that TV, all three of them. It should be called out.”

The series, tied 2-2 heading back to Memphis for Game 5 on Tuesday, has been marred by foul trouble for key players. In Game 2, the teams combined to attempt 33 free throws in the first quarter. Grizzlies’ big man Jaren Jackson Jr., one of the team’s standout defenders, has racked up 20 personal fouls in the four games while converting only 14 field goals. He fouled out Saturday night with 4:29 remaining in the game.

Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns also has struggled. He sat considerable time on the bench with foul trouble in Games 2 and 3, both Timberwolves losses.

Read More

Read More

Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez left Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins with a right hamstring injury, the team announced on its Twitter feed. He’s being evaluated after being taken off the field on a medical cart.

Jimenez, 25, landed awkwardly on first base after hitting a ground ball to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez in the second inning. He immediately went to the ground and stayed there until the cart came while the training staff attended to his injury.

The ailment continues a two-year ongoing narrative for the White Sox, who lost Jimenez for nearly four months to a pectoral injury last spring training. Center fielder Luis Robert is currently nursing a groin problem after missing half of last season while third baseman Yoan Moncada hasn’t played this year because of a hip issue. Outfielder AJ Pollock just returned from a hamstring injury.

The team also is down starters Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito, though Giolito is scheduled to start Sunday.

Jimenez was hitting .229 with one home run entering the game on Saturday.

Read More

After losing four straight games, all Chicago Cubs fans wanted to see was them scrape out some kind of win to stop the bleeding. That is especially since they are playing a Pittsburgh Pirates team that has no business beating the Cubs as badly as they had in the series up to that point.

Well, they stopped the bleeding in a big way. The Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of 21-0. It was as incredible of a performance as the team has ever had in a regular-season game. Since 1901, it is the largest shutout victory in the history of the franchise.

Read More