BASKETBALL

The Celtics have signed guard Josh Richardson to a contract extension, the latest in a flurry of moves by Boston as it tries to shore up its roster before training camp.

“We feel fortunate to be able to extend Josh,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement Tuesday. “He is a talented offensive player, a versatile defender, and plays with an edge and toughness that Boston fans will love.”

Acquired in a trade with Dallas last month, the 27-year-old Richardson saw his offensive numbers dip last season with the Mavericks, but he is just two seasons removed from averaging a career-high 16.6 points with Miami in 2018-19.

Richardson’s deal comes days after the Celtics announced a contract extension for veteran guard Marcus Smart, which is for a reported four years and $77 million. The team also signed point guard Dennis Schroder earlier this month to a one-year, $5.9 million deal.

The hope is that all three players, along with the return of big man Al Horford, can help fortify the roster behind All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Ime Udoka’s first season taking over for Stevens as head coach.

• Milwaukee Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer received a contract extension after guiding the team to its first NBA title in a half-century.

The Bucks announced they had signed Budenholzer to an extension. Details weren’t disclosed.

The Bucks won their first championship since 1971 by beating the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the NBA finals.

Milwaukee erased 2-0 deficits against the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals and against Phoenix in the league finals. The Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference finals after losing the opening game in that series.

The Bucks have posted an NBA-best 162-65 regular-season record since Budenholzer took over in 2018. Budenholzer was named the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2018-19 season.

AWARDS: Pete Gillen, Len Elmore and Nancy Lieberman will be this year’s recipients of the Joe Lapchick Character Award.

Gillen helped the Xavier Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament seven times and won 202 games. He was the winningest coach in school history until Chris Mack passed him in 2018. Gillen then went to Providence and led the team to the Elite Eight in 1997, upsetting Marquette and Duke and beating Chattanooga before losing in overtime to eventual national champion Arizona.

Elmore played at Maryland and was the school’s all-time leading rebounder. He then played in the NBA for 10 years before becoming a commentator for CBS and ESPN.

Lieberman has been a trailblazers as both a coach and player. She became the first woman to coach a men’s professional basketball team when she led the Texas Legends in the NBA G League in 2009. She later became the second female to be an assistant in the NBA when she was hired by the Sacramento Kings. She also became the oldest player to play in the WNBA when she signed a seven-day contract with the Detroit Shock in 2008, when she was 50. She broke her own record set when she was 39 and playing in the inaugural year of the WNBA in 1997.

This is the 13th year the award will be presented. It’s recognizes those who have shown the character traits of Lapchick, who coached at St. John’s and with the New York Knicks. It wasn’t presented last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

WNBA: Sylvia Fowles scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the host Minnesota Lynx to a 76-70 win over the Seattle Storm.

Fowles had 19 points and 13 rebounds to help Minnesota take a 40-33 lead at the half. The 13 rebounds were a franchise record for a half.

• Myisha Hines-Allen scored 19 points and Elena Delle Donne added 18 to help the Washington Mystics beat the visiting Los Angeles Sparks 78-68.

The Mystics jumped to a 56-23 advantage by halftime behind 18 points from Delle Donne and 14 by Hines-Allen. Delle Donne only played eight minutes in the second half – and attempted two shots – in her second game back after missing nearly the last two seasons because of back issues.

• Allie Quigley scored 21 points and Candace Parker added 18 to help the visiting Chicago Sky beat the Atlanta Dream 86-79.

Quigley was 8 of 11 from the field, including making all three of her 3-point attempts. Parker, who came back after missing a game with a sprained left ankle, passed Temeka Johnson for 11th on the WNBA career assists list.

• Briann January scored a season-high 19 points, DaWanna Bonner added 18 and the host Connecticut Sun clinched a playoff berth with a 76-62 win over the Las Vegas Aces in a showdown between the top two WNBA teams.

The Sun were up four to start the fourth quarter before Bonner scored the first four points and assisted on a Jonquel Jones layup to push the lead to 64-54 with 6 1/2 minutes to play. Bonner hit a 3-pointer and after a Las Vegas basket, January assisted on a Kaila Charles 3 for a 70-58 lead midway through the quarter. The Aces never threatened down the stretch.

Brionna Jones scored 15 for the Sun (18-6).

Chelsea Gray scored 15 points to lead Las Vegas (17-7).

HOCKEY

WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Hilary Knight became the all-time scoring leader in women’s world hockey championship history with her 45th goal as the United States beat Russia 6-0 at Calgary, Alberta.

Knight passed former U.S. star Cammi Granato with a goal at 3:17 of the second period. .

The goal also moved Knight into a tie with Granato for the U.S. record of 78 points at worlds, and Brianna Decker became the all-time U.S. assists leader (39) with the pass to Knight.

The U.S. (3-0) has started the tournament with three straight shutouts for the third time (2001, 2009). The U.S. looks to extend a 29-game winning streak on Thursday in a Group A showdown against Canada.

SOCCER

AFGHANISTAN: Players from Afghanistan women’s national soccer team had an “important victory” when they were among a group of more than 75 people evacuated on a flight from Kabul.

Global soccer players’ union FIFPRO thanked the Australian government for making the evacuation of players, team officials and family members possible, with work continuing to help more leave Afghanistan.

“These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world we thank the international community for coming to their aid,” the union said in a statement.

The Afghan team was created in 2007 in a country where women playing sport was seen as a political act of defiance against the Taliban.

Players had been advised this month to delete social media posts and photographs of them with the team to help avoid reprisals since the United States-backed Afghanistan government fell.

“The last few days have been extremely stressful but today we have achieved an important victory,” former team captain Khalida Popal said.

Popal is among a team of FIFPRO lawyers and advisors who have worked with authorities in six countries, including Australia, the U.S. and United Kingdom, to get athletes and their families on to evacuation lists and flights to safety.

GOLF

PGA: Patrick Reed, hobbled by an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw from the Northern Trust last week, is hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia, which puts his availability for the FedEx Cup playoffs and Ryder Cup in doubt.

Reed left Jersey City, New Jersey, where he was preparing to play in the Northern Trust, last Wednesday and returned to his Houston home to have his ankle examined. He was diagnosed with bilateral interstitial pneumonia (or double pneumonia) and was hospitalized at the Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center early Friday morning.

“I just want to update everyone,” Reed said in a statement released by the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “First and foremost – thank you all for your support. The good news is, my ankle is OK. The bad news is I’ve been in the hospital with bilateral pneumonia. I’m on the road to recovery, once I’m cleared from the doctors – I look forward to returning. I wish you all the best and I can’t wait to get back out there!”

Reed ranks 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings and may be outside the top 30 after the BMW at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. That would mean he would miss the Tour Championship the following week.

As for the Ryder Cup, he is ninth in those rankings, a position that means he would not automatically qualify for the event, which begins Sept. 24 at Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits Golf Club. If healthy, he is likely to be selected by team captain Steve Stricker when he names the remaining six golfers on the team Sept. 8.

LPGA: The LPGA Tour said in a statement that the Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament scheduled for mid-October has been canceled due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The tournament was scheduled for the Qizhong Garden Golf Club from Oct. 14-17.

There are two tournaments scheduled for the following weeks in Asia, the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan, South Korea from Oct. 21-24, and the TOTO Japan Classic in Otsu, Japan, from Nov. 4-7.

Another tournament scheduled for the week in between those two events, the Taiwan Swinging Skirts at Taipei, has already been canceled due to similar COVID-19 restrictions.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Michael Storer won his second stage in this year’s Spanish Vuelta on Tuesday in Rincon de la Victoria, Spain, with Primoz Roglic falling in the final descent and losing the overall lead to Odd Christian Eiking. Roglic quickly got back on his bike but he and the other top contenders couldn’t keep up with the breakaway group at the end of the mostly flat 189-kilometer (117-mile) 10th stage that challenged riders with a summit near the end and a quick descent toward the finish line.

Storer, an Australian rider from team DSM, finished 22 seconds ahead of Mauri Vansevenant of team Deceuninck-Quick Step. Eiking was fifth and gained a 58-second lead over Guillaume Martin in the overall standings. Eiking became the second Norwegian to lead the Vuelta, 15 years after Thor Hushovd.

Roglic, the two-time defending champion who crossed the line nearly 12 minutes later, fell to third overall, more than two minutes off the lead. He kept a 28-second gap over Enric Mas, his closest contender for the title. Roglic had made a strong attack to the front but fell back again after going down by himself on a right-handed turn as his bike’s tire lost grip. He wasn’t seriously injured despite crossing the line with part of his shorts torn up.

Storer, who had also dominated in the climb to win the seventh stage, became only the second Australian to win two stages in a Vuelta edition, after Michael Matthews in 2013.

Riders were coming off their first rest day in the three-week Grand Tour race. They will face a winding route and a steep climb in the 133.6-kilometer (83-mile) 11th stage on Wednesday.

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