Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia maintained his innocence and his new team said it supported him after a 1996 sexual assault allegation resurfaced.

The Detroit News reported that Patricia and a friend of his were indicted 22 years ago by a Texas grand jury [url=http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/cody-whitehair-jersey]Cody Whitehair Jersey[/url] , on one count each of aggravated sexual assault for an alleged incident involving a woman on South Padre Island. The accuser did not testify and the case was dismissed 10 months later.

The Lions hired Patricia after last season to replace Jim Caldwell as coach. He had previously been an assistant with the New England Patriots.

The Lions said a ”standard pre-employment background check” did not turn up the incident. But the team said it was standing by Patricia.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Philadelphia Eagles have signed running back Matt Jones to a two-year contract and also agreed to terms on four-year deals with all five of their draft picks.

Jones was a third-round pick by the Washington Redskins in 2015. He had 950 yards rushing and six touchdowns while averaging 3.9 yards per carry in two seasons with the Redskins. He played for the Colts in 2017 and only carried five times. After Indianapolis selected two running backs in the draft, Jones was cut on May 1.

Jones will get a chance to earn a roster spot with the Super Bowl champions in a crowded backfield that includes Jay Ajayi, veteran Darren Sproles and Corey Clement.

NBA

BOSTON (AP) – Jayson Tatum caught a pass underneath the basket, shook off a hit and went up for the go-ahead layup with 23 seconds left and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-112 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Tatum scored 25 points, Jaylen Brown had 24 and Terry Rozier 17, sinking a pair of free throws after forcing Joel Embiid’s turnover in the final seconds. Al Horford added 15 points and eight rebounds for Boston, which will play Cleveland for the second straight year for a spot in the NBA finals.

Game 1 is Sunday in Boston.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George has had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.

George is expected to returning to normal offseason activities in six to eight weeks. He averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists [url=http://www.dallascowboysteamonline.com/geoff-swaim-jersey]Geoff Swaim Jersey[/url] , 2.04 steals and 36.6 minutes in 79 games this season, his first with the Thunder.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The Sacramento Kings have promoted Peja Stojakovic to assistant general manager.

General manager Vlade Divac announced the move to put Stojakovic in a role where he will assist in management of player development, talent evaluation and oversight of the team’s G League affiliate.

Stojakovic spent the past three seasons as an executive with the Kings. He most recently served as vice president of basketball and team development.

Stojakovic was an All-Star three times in seven-plus seasons as a player in Sacramento. He also played for Indiana, New Orleans, Toronto and Dallas in his 13-year career. He was a reserve on the Mavericks‘ championship team in 2011.

NEW YORK (AP) – The Toronto Raptors‘ Dwane Casey was the NBA’s best coach this season, according to his fellow NBA coaches.

Casey was announced as the coach-of-the-year selection by the National Basketball Coaches Association. The award, named for longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on only by the league’s head coaches.

A media panel voted separately for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award [url=http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/darius-leonard-jersey]Darius Leonard Jersey[/url] , which will be announced June 25.

BASEBALL

NEW YORK (AP) – Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 for their 17th victory in 18 games.

Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.

Judge followed with his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.

Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his ninth save as New York (26-10) broke a tie with Boston for first place in the AL East and has sole possession of the best record in the majors for the first time since July 27, 2012.

HOCKEY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Alex Krushelnyski scored 6:48 into the fifth overtime period and Alex Lyon made 94 saves to lead the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to a 2-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers in the longest game in the American Hockey League’s 82-year history.

The Phantoms, the top affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, took a 3-1 series lead in the Atlantic Division finals by outlasting the Carolina Hurricanes’ farm team in a game that began shortly after 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday night and ended at 1:09 a.m. after more than seven periods and 146 minutes and 48 seconds of play.

The seemingly endless game surpassed the Philadelphia Phantoms’ 3-2 win over the Albany River Rats that took 142:58 to decide in 2008.

It's far too early to judge an NFL player based off of their first season [url=http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/johnny-unitas-jersey]Johnny Unitas Jersey[/url] , but many fans and pundits often forget this.

Many have already labeled a handful of the top 2017 draft picks as busts, believing teams will forever regret the players they selected. However, let's remember that the likes of John Elway, Peyton Manning and Antonio Brown didn't exactly have great rookie seasons. It's just too early to go that route with some of last year's draft selections.

But on the flip side, some people get a little too excited about a player shining in his rookie year. Take recent Rookie of the Year winners like Robert Griffin III, Sam Bradford, Aldon Smith, Shawn Merriman, Vince Young and Percy Harvin. See? A great rookie year doesn't mean you're going to have a phenomenal NFL career. Not even close.

When we take a look at how the 2017 rookies fared [url=http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/marvin-harrison-jersey]Marvin Harrison Jersey[/url] , you'll see a handful of them made immediate impacts. This included New Orleans Saints stars Marshon Lattimore and Alvin Kamara, who won DPOY and OPOY awards, respectively. Deshaun Watson and Leonard Fournette also had excellent rookie seasons, but can all these guys really take it to another level, or was it simply beginners luck?

The 2018 NFL season will be home to some breakout campaigns from second-year players, while others will struggle to build off the success of their first seasons. Here are 10 NFL sophomores that will break out in 2018, and 10 that will actually regress.

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