Today's Sports Headlines

Including: The Raptors got what they wanted out of NBA Bubble Season. Now it’s time to defend the championship [Star Logo] Sports Headlines ANALYSIS [The Raptors got what they wanted out of NBA Bubble Season. Now it’s time to defend the championship]( [The Raptors’ defence was on point in the eight-game seeding schedule — the most efficient among playoff-bound teams. Says coach Nick Nurse: “When the ball goes up, we do our thing.”]( [Read More [arrow]]( ANALYSIS [Maple Leafs report card: C-level seasons don’t win Cups]( [Auston Matthews and the rest of the highly paid star forwards weren’t the problem in a season that ended before the round of 16. Here’s how we rate their performances, and what we think lies in the future.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Rosie DiManno: The Blue Jays launched six more homers on a Rowdy night in Buffalo]( [After Rowdy Tellez caused a bit of a stir by speaking honestly about a host of issues, the first baseman contributed to a blowout win over the Rays that gave the Jays 13 home runs in their last two games. Well, they do know the ballpark.]( [Read More [arrow]]( OPINION [Rosie DiManno: Blue Jay Jordan Romano, heir to the sultan of squat, turned to science for the nasty slider that’s breaking his way]( [The Markham-born reliever has been giving the Jays everything they could have hoped for this season. It’s a pity that, enjoying such a charmed season, his family hasn’t been able to see any of it in person, Rosie DiManno writes.]( [Read More [arrow]]( OPINION [Gregor Chisholm: MLB’s pandemic playbook hasn’t been a universal hit, but some rules are better off broken]( [Expanded playoffs. The universal DH. Taxi squads. The COVID-19 crisis forced baseball to think outside the box, and some of the results have been good for the game, Gregor Chisholm writes.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Mailbag: What is wrong with the Maple Leafs?]( [Was the Maple Leafs early exit on the players, coaches or management?]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Minus head coach Claude Julien, Canadiens dominate Flyers in Game 2]( [The Canadiens dominated from start to finish minus head coach Claude Julien after he was rushed to hospital with chest pains following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in Game 1.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [The playoffs are next for the Raptors after a win-win date with the Nuggets]( [Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam rested. OG Anunoby and Serge Ibaka were still nursing knee soreness. And the defending champions still beat Denver to finish the Bubble Games 7-1. Up next: the Brooklyn Nets, starting Monday.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [NBA photographer banned from bubble for calling Kamala Harris derogatory name in Facebook post]( [Bill Baptist, a veteran photographer who worked with the Houston Rockets, posted the meme on Tuesday and was quickly called out by WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes on social media.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Canada’s top two-year-old filly Curlin’s Voyage picking up where she left off]( [Curlin’s Voyage heads into the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks with a win and second-place finish off her two starts this year.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Serena Williams loses to Shelby Rogers in the Top Seed Open quarterfinals]( [Rogers, who is from South Carolina, took six of the last eight points Friday after trailing 3-1 in the tiebreaker to collect only her third career victory over a top-10 opponent.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Ovechkin finds the net, but Islanders take command in Stanley Cup playoff series]( [Tensions calmed between the teams after a bevy of penalties in Game 1, but there’s no love lost between the Metropolitan Division rivals.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Bo Horvat scores in overtime as Canucks beat Blues in NHL playoff action]( [The Canucks have a 2-0 lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions in their best-of seven first-round series with Game 3 on Sunday.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Tom Hoge in four-way tie for Wyndham lead after two rounds]( [Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10-under par.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Kings suspend mascot actor accused of sexual harassment in lawsuit]( [According to TMZ, a lawsuit recently filed by a former female member of the Kings’ “Ice Crew” in-game entertainment squad alleges Tim Smith harassed her with lewd jokes, inappropriate comments and physical advances after she was hired by the club in 2018.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Indians send down Clevinger, Plesac after virus blunder]( [Last weekend, the pitchers broke the team’s code of conduct implemented during the pandemic by leaving the team hotel and having dinner and socializing with friends of Plesac’s and risking contracting the virus.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [Canadiens coach Claude Julien has stent installed in coronary artery, will return home]( [Julien was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto overnight Wednesday as he was experiencing chest pain and had surgery Thursday.]( [Read More [arrow]]( [The Star]( If you’re not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you’d prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. [Unsubscribe From This Newsletter]( [Manage Your Email Preferences]( [Become a Star Subscriber]( [View in Browser]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON M5E 1E6. 416-367-2000 [PRIVACY POLICY](