April 25
1950 — Charles Cooper, an All-American from Duquesne playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, becomes the first black to be picked in the NBA draft when he’s taken by the Boston Celtics.
1952 — The Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan’s 22 points, beat the New York Knicks 82-65 to win the NBA title in seven games.
1964 — The Toronto Maple Leafs win their third straight Stanley Cup with a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh game.
1965 — The Boston Celtics score 42 points on a record 21 field goals in the final quarter of Game 5 to post a 129-96 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers and win their seventh consecutive NBA championship.
1974 — The NFL adopts the 15-minute, sudden-death overtime to avoid ties. The league also moves the goal posts to the back of the end zones.
1989 — Mario Lemieux ties NHL playoff records with four first-period goals, five overall and eight points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia 10-7 to take a 3-2 lead in the Patrick Division finals.
1993 — Micheal Williams sets an NBA record for consecutive free throws with 84. He makes 10 straight as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Utah 113-111. Calvin Murphy held the previous mark of 78 for Houston in 1981.
1993 — Pittsburgh’s NHL-record 14-game playoff winning streak and its overall 21-game unbeaten string are snapped as the New Jersey Devils beat the Penguins 4-1.
1995 — Major league baseball returns after a 257-day players’ strike as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 8-7.
1997 — Phoenix’s Rex Chapman makes a playoff-record nine 3-pointers en route to career-high 42 points in a 106-101 win at Seattle. Chapman broke the old playoff mark of eight treys set by Dan Majerle of Phoenix against Seattle on June 1, 1993.
2000 — The San Jose Sharks, the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed, eliminate the NHL’s regular-season champions, the St. Louis Blues, with a 3-1 victory in Game 7. The Blues are the second NHL regular-season champion to get knocked out in the first round, joining the 1991 Chicago Blackhawks.
2006 — Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams is suspended for the 2006 season by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the fourth time.
2009 — San Antonio’s Tony Parker matches George Gervin’s franchise playoff record for points in a half, scoring 31 by halftime of the Spurs’ 99-90 loss to Dallas in Game 4 of their series. Parker makes 12 of 17 shots, including two 3-pointers, to help the Spurs take a 55-51 halftime lead. Parker finishes with 43 points.
2010 — Dwyane Wade sets franchise playoff records with 46 points, 30 in the second half, and Miami staves off elimination by beating Boston 101-92 in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.
2013 — Miami’s Ray Allen scores 23 points and breaks the NBA career playoff record for 3-pointers, and the Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks 104-91 for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series. Allen’s five 3-pointers against the Bucks gives him 322 for his career, two more than Reggie Miller.
2014 — In a historic vote, Northwestern University football players casts secret ballots on whether to form the nation’s first union for college athletes — a decision that could change the landscape of American amateur sports.
2015 — Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko easily outpoints a game-but-outclassed Bryant Jennings in the champion’s first fight in the United States in seven years, defending his heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2017 — In a swift response to increasing debates over television reviews, golf’s ruling bodies issue a new decision on the Rules of Golf that limits the use of video evidence and could spare players from being penalized even if they violated a rule. The decision issued — and effective immediately on all tours around the world — has two standards. Players can avoid a penalty if the violation could not be noticed with the naked eye. Rules officials also can eliminate penalties if they feel players made a “reasonable judgment” in taking a drop or replacing their golf balls on the putting green.
2017 — Trea Turner hits for the cycle and drives in a career-high seven runs, helping Washington to a 15-12 win over Colorado.
