May 15 in sports history: A Lakers reign ends with pain

2015: In the Warriors' 108-95 win over Memphis in the Western Conference semifinals, Golden State's Steph Curry showed off his range from long distance. Really, really long distance.  The league MVP — who finished with 32 points — closed out the third quarter with a 62-footer as the Warriors advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1976.

“In a close-out game like that, that’s a big turning point and the moment’s magnified,” Curry told reporters about the insane hoop. “I made one in college like that. That’s the last I made anywhere past half court and same kind of shot: Loose ball, grab it, throw it up and knock it down.”

Golden State made 15 from deep, becoming the first team since 1985 to hit 14 or more three-pointers in three consecutive playoff games. The Warriors went on to win the NBA Finals, beating LeBron's Cavaliers in six games.

JOE D'S STREAK BEGINS

1941: Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak began inauspiciously. In the bottom of the first, Joe D singled, driving in the Yankees only run in a 13-1 loss to the White Sox. It was DiMaggio's only hit of the game. The defeat, before 9,040 "hooting and hissing customers," according to the New York Daily News, dropped New York below .500.

DiMaggio, who went on to win AL MVP, would not go hitless in a game again until July 16. New York won the pennant and beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series in five games.

NO-, NO-, NO-, NO-, NO-HITTERS

What an epic date for no-hitters in the big leagues. 

1944: In Cincinnati's 1-0 win over the Boston Braves, the only support Clyde Shoun needed was Chuck Aleno’s lone home run of the season. Shoun walked only one, Braves pitcher Jim Tobin. The previous day, in the first game of a doubleheader, the Reds one-hit the Braves.

1952: In a 1-0 win over the Senators in Detroit, Tigers right-hander Virgil Trucks pitched his first of two no-hitters for the season. Washington's Bob Porterfield, who held the Tigers hitless for 5.2 innings, wept when he told reporters about the game-deciding pitch: a knee-high fastball hit out of the park with two outs in the ninth by Vic Wertz, who was married three days earlier. 

"I've just got to get married more often," he said, joking with reporters. 

Only 2,215 fans at Tiger Stadium witnessed the gem by Trucks, who had pinpoint control.

1960: In beating the Cardinals 4-0 at Wrigley Field, Don Cardwell became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first start after being traded. He had been dealt to Chicago days earlier by the Phillies. Caldwell, who walked one and retired the final 26 batters, needed only 93 pitches.

1973: In four full seasons with the Mets, from 1969-71, Nolan Ryan was more an afterthought than anything on stellar New York pitching staffs. He was unleashed with the Angels after he was traded to California by the Mets in 1971. In 1972, he finished 19-16, and on this date, Ryan pitched his first no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Royals.

"Baseball buffs may quibble about whether Nolan Ryan owns the fastest fastball in history but all agree that the California Angel right-hander's pitches belong in the same class with Hall of Famers [Bob] Feller, Sandy Koufax and Walter Johnson," UPI sports writer Steve Wilstein wrote. 

Royals first baseman John Mayberry agreed. "He's throwing the ball harder than anybody I've seen in my life," he said after Ryan's gem. 

The Express, who pitched his second no-hitter two months later, struck out 12.

1981: Finally, Cleveland's Len Barker capped off this date's MLB no-hitters with the best-pitched game of all of them. The Indians' right-hander beat the Blue Jays, 3-0, with a perfect game.

"I pitched no-hitters in American Legion ball," he told reporters after the game, "but I always walked nine of 10 batters." Known for his fastball, Barker relied more on his curve. A mist in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium helped him too.

AND THEN THINGS GET UGLY

Things started strangely in 1996 in Milwaukee, where the White Sox-Brewers game was delayed two hours by fog. After he was removed from Chicago's 20-8 win, White Sox outfielder Tony Phillips went into the stands to confront a heckling fan, who reportedly was using racial slurs. Phillips, who had already changed into street clothes, wasn't suspended for the incident.

And in 2018, Mariners All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended 80 games for violating MLB's drug policy. Cano tested positive for Furosemide, a banned diuretic. He said he didn't realize the drug, given to him in his native Dominican Republic, was banned. "I would never doing anything to cheat the rules of the game I love ..." he said in a statement.

EPIC GOLF 

1998: At the Nike Tour Dominion Open, Notah Begay III had an epic back-nine as he shot a 59, joining Al Geiberger and Chip Beck as the only players to card that magic number in the U.S. pro tour. In the second round, he went eagle, birdie, ace on consecutive holes en route to a 27 in the final nine holes. 

After the hole-in-one, 59 came into my mind ... an understanding, an enlightenment," the 25-year-old told reporters. "No one's going to care if 1 shot 60-61." Despite the 59, Begay finished sixth in tournament.

Since 1998, Jim Furyk shot a 58 in 2016, joining two other pros who have shot that number in official tournaments.

2005: Future Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam won the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship by 10 strokes, matching the biggest 72-hole win of her career. "I think I did it in style," she told reporters about the victory, although she wouldn't have minded breaking the LPGA record for margin of victory (14 strokes).

Happy birthday ...

• Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett, who starred for 21 seasons with the Kansas City Royals. The 13-time All-Star won one MVP Award and three batting titles and led the Royals to the 1985 World Series crown. (67)
• Sports broadcaster Dan Patrick, host of “The Dan Patrick Show.” Patrick has also anchored ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and co-hosted NBC’s “Football Night in America.” (64)
• Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, the 1996 Cy Young Award winner and an eight-time All-Star. Forced into the reliever role due to injury, Smoltz became the only pitcher to record at least 200 wins and 150 saves (53).
• Embattled former Astros manager AJ Hinch, who led Houston to its first World Series title in 2017 but was recently fired amid the sign-stealing scandal. (46).
• Josh Beckett, three-time All-Star who won a World Series with the Marlins and Red Sox. (40). 
• Emmitt Smith, Hall of Fame running back and all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Smith, a first-round draft pick in 1990, helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins (51).
• Desmond Howard, a first-round draft pick of the Redskins and one of only four players to win both the Heisman Trophy and the Super Bowl MVP (with the Packers)  (50).
• Legendary Hall of Fame Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. A first-round pick, he was  MVP of Super Bowl XXXV and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year (45).
• Tennis champion Andy Murray, two-time Wimbledon champ and winner of the U.S. Open (33).

R.I.P.

2015: Longtime Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian, who is best remembered for one of the worst plays in Super Bowl history, a botched attempt to pick up a blocked field goal that turned into a fumble recovery and touchdown for the Redskins. He was 70.

May 14: A final act for Magic