Denver's Nikola Jokic is one step closer to winning a third MVP award in the last four seasons. Victor Wembanyama is surely on his way to a trophy — or maybe two. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might get a couple of his own as well. The NBA revealed the finalists for most of the league’s postseason awards Sunday and Jokic was one of the three top vote-getters in the MVP race. The others: Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas' Luka Doncic. Gilgeous-Alexander is also up for clutch player of the year, and Wembanyama could win rookie of the year and defensive player of the year.

Evgeny Kuznetsov wasted no time making a postseason impact for the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a promising sign for what could be ahead in the NHL playoffs. The trade-deadline acquisition bolstered a deep team trying to take the final step in a multi-year run as a Stanley Cup contender. He scored a power-play goal early in his first postseason game with the franchise. Now he's aiming to help Carolina take a 2-0 series lead on the New York Islanders. Monday's schedule also includes Boston trying for a 2-0 lead on Toronto and two Western Conference series opening with Game 1s.

Alexander Mutiso Munyao denied 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele a first London Marathon victory by pulling away from the Ethiopian great with about 3 kilometers to go for his biggest career win. Mutiso Munyao and Bekele were in a two-way fight for the win until the Kenyan made his move as they ran along the River Thames, quickly building a six-second gap that only grew as he ran toward the finish in front of Buckingham Palace. He finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 1 second, with Bekele finishing about 14 seconds behind. Emile Cairess of Britain was third, nearly three minutes back.

The three-time defending F1 champion Max Verstappen has won the Chinese Grand Prix. He started from pole for his fourth victory in five races this season and his 23rd in the last 27 extending through last season. Only a brake failure last month in the Australian GP in Melbourne probably kept him from winning all five. Lando Norris of McLaren was second followed by Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

The Rick Hendrick Express rolls into Talladega Superspeedway, with Joe Gibbs Racing nipping at their bumpers. Good luck to everyone else in the NASCAR Cup series. Just a quarter of the way into the 2024 season, there’s already a sense that this is a two-team sprint to the championship. Through nine races, the top six spots in the standings are split evenly between the Hendrick and Gibbs powerhouses. They’ve hoarded nearly all of the wins, too. Daniel Suarez’s pulsating Atlanta victory is the only race that prevented a clean sweep. The Ford teams have yet to win at all, but Talladega presents a good chance to break that drought. Michael McDowell won the pole for Sunday's race to lead a 1-2-3 showing by Ford in qualifying.

This time of year teams march to the beat of their goaltenders. They want them laser-focused, full of confidence and ready to save the day. There are quite a few teams going into the postseason with big decisions in net. That includes Boston, which could split the goaltending duties, and the Colorado Avalanche, where Georgiev led the league in wins but also surrendered the most goals. Not every team has a Connor Hellebuyck in net. The Winnipeg goaltender is a favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best at turning back shots.

A man has been charged in federal court in Illinois in the transport of millions of dollars worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and memorabilia stolen from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. A document filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois accuses Richard Globensky of transporting the items across state lines to Tampa, Florida, “knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.” The government says the items were taken from the famous golf club and other locations beginning in 2009 through 2022. It adds that, upon conviction, Globensky would have to forfeit any property and cash attained from proceeds traced to the stolen items. Augusta National is home of the Masters golf tournament.

Chase Elliott drove backward on the track after an emotional victory that could really get the 2020 Cup champion headed in the right direction again. It was a lot of relief for the 28-year-old driver who is part of NASCAR’s winningest team. It was also a tribute to Alan Kulwicki, who more three decades ago was an old-school driver much like Elliott’s father was. The younger Elliott had gone 42 races over 18 months without a win before winning in double overtime at Texas on Sunday. The 2020 Cup champion then copied Kulwicki’s trademark celebration with a victory lap driving the opposite way.

Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz scored second-period goals, Matt Davis had 35 saves and Denver beat No. 1 overall seed Boston College 2-0 to win the 10th national championship in program history. No. 3 seed Denver (32-9-3), which finished the season on a nine-game win streak, moved past Michigan (nine) for most titles all-time. Davis had 23 third-period saves in his third shutout of the season. The Pioneers outscored their opponents 82-39 in the second period this season. Boston College (34-6-1), which set the program’s single-season record for wins, had its 15-game win streak snapped and was shutout for the first time this season.

The Atlanta Braves say ace Spencer Strider will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, performed the procedure on Friday. Strider complained about discomfort in his elbow after pitching four innings in Atlanta’s 6-5 win over Arizona on April 5. An MRI the next day revealed damage to his UCL. Braves manager Brian Snitker says the team has been looking at replacement options since Strider initially went down but doesn’t have anyone specific in mind yet.