LOS ANGELES >> Alijah Arenas, a Los Angeles high school basketball star who’s committed to playing for the University of Southern California next season, was in an accident early Thursday, the university said.

The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded shortly before 5 a.m. to single-vehicle collision in the Reseda area of the San Fernando Valley. The LA Fire Department further said the vehicle was a Tesla Cybertruck that crashed into a tree.

An 18-year-old man was transported to the hospital in stable condition, police said. The police department did not identify the driver.

Multiple news outlets including the Los Angeles Times and ESPN said Arenas was the driver, citing unnamed sources.

USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman said in a statement on X: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Alijah and his family following this morning’s accident. Please keep him, his teammates and friends, and the entire Arenas family in your prayers.”

Arenas is a son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas. He attends Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles and played for them in the Division II state championships this year, making it all the way to the finals.

NHL playoffs

Panthers 2, Lightning 0 >> Nate Schmidt scored his third goal in two games, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and Florida beat Tampa Bay to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Sam Bennett added an empty-netter with 4 seconds left. Bobrovsky got his fourth career playoff shutout, and his first since Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Cup final against Edmonton.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves for Tampa Bay.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be Saturday at Sunrise.

Schmidt, who scored twice in Game 1, got the Panthers on the scoreboard 4:15 into the game following an icing call against Tampa Bay. Aleksander Barkov won the faceoff clean back to Sam Reinhart who passed it over to Schmidt for a one-timer from the right circle that beat Vasilevskiy.

Maple LEafs 3, Senators 2 (OT) >> Simon Benoit scored on a slap shot from the point at 1:19 of overtime to give Toronto a victory over Ottawa and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Auston Matthews won a faceoff back to Benoit at the left point, and the defenseman fired a low shot through traffic that beat goalie Linus Ullmark to far post.

Toronto also won 3-2 in overtime — on Max Domi’s early goal — at home Tuesday night. Game 4 is Saturday night in Ottawa.

Matthews and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves.

Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Ullmark stopped 17 shots.

NBA

Cleveland’s Evan Mobley wins NBA Defensive Player of the Year award >> Evan Mobley said his goal coming into the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers was to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Cavs consider Mobley to be their best defensive player, and the league thought even more highly of him. Mobley held off fellow finalists Dyson Daniels of Atlanta and Draymond Green of Golden State for the award, the results being announced in a broadcast on TNT.

Green won the award in 2017, was a top-three finisher for the fifth time, and was bidding to become the 11th player in NBA history to win it at least twice. Mobley won it for the first time, after finishing third in the voting in 2023. Daniels was a finalist for the first time.

Celtics list Tatum as doubtful for Game 3, Mazzulla tells radio station wrist bruise is ‘severe’ >> Jayson Tatum remains listed as doubtful for the Boston Celtics, meaning the reigning NBA champions do not expect him to play Friday when they visit the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.

Tatum is dealing with a bone bruise in his right wrist, an injury suffered on a hard fall after getting fouled in Game 1 of the series.

Tatum did not play in Game 2, when the Celtics prevailed for a 2-0 series lead.

Wednesday’s game was the first playoff contest Tatum has missed in his career. He appeared in 114 consecutive postseason games for Boston since joining the franchise in 2017 as the No. 3 pick in the draft.

Tennis

Swiatek avoids another upset against Eala at Madrid Open, Gauff recovers from 0-6 start >> This time, Iga Swiatek had the answers against teenage sensation Alexandra Eala.

After a quarterfinal loss to the rising star from the Philippines last month in Miami, Swiatek rallied to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory in the second round of the Madrid Open on Thursday.

The second-ranked Swiatek, who is the defending Madrid champion, is trying to reach her first final of the season.

Coco Gauff got off to a poor start but came back to defeat Dayana Yastremska 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a second-round match.

In the men’s side, former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori defeated Alexsandar Vukic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for his 450th tour-level win. The 64th-ranked Japanese was a 2014 finalist in Madrid.

Joao Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian who has become a sensation on tour this year, defeated Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-3 on center court to set up a second-round meeting against 11th-seeded Tommy Paul.

David Goffin had to retire while losing 1-0 in the third set against Alexandre Muller, while Lorenzo Sonego beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament on Thursday, citing muscle injuries.

Motor sports

Larson begins second try at racing’s ‘double’ with bad luck as he hits the wall in Indy 500 testing >> Kyle Larson survived his first Indianapolis 500 unscathed.

His luck ran out Thursday.

The 2021 NASCAR champion and defending Brickyard 400 winner spun coming out of the first turn on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval, hit the wall, bounced down the track to the warmup lane, then went back up the track and tapped the wall again before his No. 17 Chevrolet rolled to a stop. It was his first IndyCar crash at the venerable Brickyard.

Horse racing

Smarty Jones captured hearts on the 2004 Triple Crown trail. He’s been elected to the Hall of Fame >> Twenty-one years after Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the chestnut colt has been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame announced Thursday that he was the lone candidate in the contemporary category to appear on the majority of ballots, with 50% plus one vote required for election. It was his first year on the ballot.

Bred in Pennsylvania, Smarty Jones won eight of nine career starts and won the Eclipse Award for 3-year-old males in 2004.

Soccer

Soccer player gets 14-month jail sentence for causing death of cyclist in England >> A soccer player from a third-division English club was sentenced to 14 months in prison for causing the death of a cyclist three years ago, West Yorkshire police said.

Lucas Akins, a forward for League One team Mansfield, was driving a Mercedes when it struck 33-year-old cyclist Adrian Daniel at an intersection near Huddersfield on March 17, 2022. Daniel died 10 days later.

College football

Division II expands football playoffs from 28 to 32 teams to accommodate automatic qualifiers >> The NCAA Division II football playoffs will expand from 28 to 32 teams beginning this season to accommodate the format change that will award 16 conferences automatic bids.

According to Division II policy, bracket expansion must be considered when automatic qualifiers make up more than 50% of the field. That prompted the expansion to 32 teams, the NCAA announced Wednesday.