Pro basketball
WIZARDS WIN NBA DRAFT LOTTERY: The Washington Wizards won the NBA's draft lottery and will have the No. 1 pick in next month's draft.
With Irene Pollin wearing the 1978 Bullets championship ring of her late husband, longtime owner Abe Pollin, the Wizards moved up Tuesday from the No. 5 spot, where they had only a 10.3 percent chance of winning.
The New Jersey Nets, which had an NBA-worst 12-70 record, fell to third. It's the sixth straight year the team with the best chance to win didn't land the top pick in the NBA draft.
The Philadelphia 76ers have the No. 2 pick. The Pacers go 10th.
Pro boxing
GRIFFIN HEADS MAY 29 CARD AT THE VENUE: Hitz Boxing will be hosting a night of boxing on May 29 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, as former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Montell Griffin (49-8, 30 KOs) will face off against former world title challenger Ross "The Boss" Thompson (27-14-2, 14 KOs)
The "Quest for 50" undercard includes veterans and up-and-coming young contenders from the Chicago area. Scheduled to appear in separate bouts are middleweight Henry "Western Warrior" Coyle (10-2, 9 KOs) from Chicago via Ireland. Also on the card are Chicago welterweight Achour Esho (7-0, 5 KOs); cruiserweight and former UFC fighter Terry Martin (4-0, 4 KOs); Chicago middleweight Mike Kurzeja (3-0, 3 KOs); Chicago super middleweight Ninos Abraham (4-0, 1 KO); and Chicago light welterweight Russell Fiore (3-0, 3 KOs).
For more information, visit www.hitzboxing.com.
Pro hockey
FLYERS GO UP 2-0: Michael Leighton stopped 30 shots and recorded his second straight shutout, and Philadelphia beat Montreal 3-0 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Ville Leino scored for the Flyers. Game 3 is Thursday at Montreal.
The Flyers have scored 13 straight goals in the postseason since trailing 3-0 in Game 7 against Boston in the East semifinals.
College sports
NEW MARKETS DRIVING BIG TEN TALKS: The head of the Big Ten Conference said Monday that gaining a foothold in the South and extending the reach of the league's lucrative television market are the two biggest factors as it decides whether to expand.
Commissioner Jim Delany also said the Big Ten is not "looking to achieve a championship game" in football even though it could mean millions more for a conference that already shares a reported $22 million each year with its member schools. A title game like those held in the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference would also shorten the lengthy bowl-game layoff for some teams, which has been a point of contention for at least a few of the conference's coaches.
"That's not the motivation," Delany said at league meetings in Chicago. "If it was, we could have done that many times over the past 20 years."
Delany said the Big Ten is basically sticking with the timeframe he laid out in December, when he said the league would explore its options over the next 12 to 18 months. Any decision on whether to expand is "months away."
College soccer
VALPO'S JOHNSON VERBALS TO ISU: Valparaiso sophomore Kate Johnson has verbally accepted a scholarship offer to play soccer for Indiana State.
"I've always wanted to go in-state, somewhere not too far away," Johnson said. "I decided before (my unofficial visit April 10-11) that if I loved everything, I would accept, and everything was great. It just seemed perfect. I loved the coaches. I loved the campus. Everything."
Johnson, a forward, has played club soccer since she was 10, spending five years with the Chicago Magic before joining the Carmel United Soccer Club last year.
"I've wanted to play college soccer since I was like 12," she said.
Around the horn
Grinnell College in Iowa says a pole vaulter on the school's track team has died from injuries suffered in a fall at a meet in Illinois last week. Sophomore Robert Zhongjie died Tuesday at a Springfield hospital. The college says Zhongjie, of Rockville, Md., fell during a vault last Friday at the Midwest Conference Meet at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill. ... Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett has apologized for posting an online streaming video of him taking a shower. Dockett, a second-team All-Pro selection and Pro Bowl starter last season, took a shower live on the Ustream site to win a $1,000 bet. ... Venezuela's E.J. Viso has ended the fourth day of Indianapolis 500 practice with a hard crash coming out of he first turn. Viso spun as he went through the turn and slid up the track and hit the outside wall. He was taken off the track on a stretcher. Track officials said he was complaining of back pain but there was no further word on his condition.
