Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 38 points, playing 55 minutes in place of injured starter Jalen Brunson, and the New York Knicks outlasted the Boston Celtics 131-129 in two overtimes for their season-high ninth straight victory. Quickley had seven points in the second overtime and added eight rebounds and seven assists with Brunson sidelined because of soreness in his left foot. Julius Randle had 31 points and nine rebounds, and RJ Barrett finished with 29 points and 11 boards for the Knicks, who held on when Boston’s Al Horford front-rimmed a 3-pointer from the right corner just before the final buzzer.
Mikal Bridges went 9 for 9 in a 19-point first quarter, finishing with 33 to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 102-86 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Two nights after coming from 28 down to beat Boston in the biggest comeback in the NBA this season, the Nets led by as much as 37 after Bridges’ fast start in the highest-scoring quarter of his career. Spencer Dinwiddie added 24 points for the Nets, who have won two straight. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 17 points and Mark Williams added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost three consecutive games.
NHL
Nicolas Deslauriers, Noah Cates and Scott Laughton scored goals for the Philadelphia Flyers and Carter Hart stopped 24 shots in a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. David Perron scored his 16th goal for the Red Wings and Ville Husso had 34 saves. Deslauriers and Cates both scored in the second period. Flyers forward Brendan Lemieux made his debut after he was acquired from the Los Angles Kings in a trade deadline deal. General manager Chuck Fletcher did not make any major moves. Flyers brought signs and wore shirt encouraging the team to fire Fletcher.
NBA
Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins says there's no timetable for Ja Morant to return to the team. The two-time All-Star wasn't in Los Angeles for games against the Clippers and Lakers while the NBA investigates a social media post in which Morant appeared to be holding a gun. Jenkins describes the video as a “very tough moment.” The coach says Morant knows he's made “difficult decisions and poor choices” that he has to be accountable for. The 23-year-old guard was the subject of another league investigation in recent weeks, but nothing came of it.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The America East women's basketball final is set. Vermont will host UAlbany Friday at 5. The two were regular season co-champions. UAlbany, last year's conference tournament champion, defeated Maine Sunday, while UVM got past UMBC in the semis.
MLB
Major League Baseball says it won't impose any discipline against Chicago White Sox right-hander Mike Clevinger after completing an investigation of domestic abuse allegations. In a statement, the commissioner’s office says its investigation included interviews of more than 15 people, including Clevinger and a woman who said she is the mother of Clevinger’s child, as well as thousands of electronic communications and other documents. Clevinger has voluntarily agreed to submit to evaluations by the joint treatment boards under the CBA and to follow any recommendations.
TENNIS
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming BNP Paribas Open after losing his bid to enter the United States unvaccinated to play in the Southern California event. Play in the combined ATP-WTA event begins Wednesday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden and runs through March 19. Djokovic had requested a vaccine waiver to enter the U.S., but Homeland Security denied it. The U.S. is ending its COVID-19 emergency declaration on May 11, which is too late for Djokovic to play at Indian Wells and Miami.
SOCCER
Liverpool has brought Manchester United crashing down to earth with a stunning 7-0 rout in the Premier League at Anfield. It was United's worst competitive defeat in more than 90 years. Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah struck twice and Roberto Firmino scored the other with six of the goals coming in an explosive second-half performance. The score also eclipsed Liverpool’s previous best victory against United, which was a 7-1 win in 1895. Liverpool took advantage of losses for top four rivals Newcastle and Tottenham on Saturday to strengthen its own bid to qualify for the Champions League.
GOLF
Kurt Kitayama kept finishing one shot behind the game's best players. He beat them all at Bay Hill on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory. Kitayama made a triple bogey on the ninth hole to let everyone back into the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And then he beat them with a clutch birdie putt on the 17th hole, and a 50-foot lag putt to an inch for par on the 18th. He finished with a 72 and a one-shot win over Rory McIlroy and Harris English. Jordan Spieth, defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Tyrrell Hatton were two behind. Kitayama moves to No. 19 in the world.
INDYCAR
Marcus Ericsson outlasted the carnage on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg for a surprise victory for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was the fourth career IndyCar victory for the Swedish former Formula One driver. But it was a messy opener in which Jack Harvey was taken to a hospital for observation. Helio Castroneves needed an ice pack and X-rays. A pair of cars went airborne, the leaders crashed each other and the entire Andretti Autosport fleet was eliminated.
NASCAR
William Byron took the lead on the second-to-last lap of overtime to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas and put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron beating teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas. This is Byron’s fifth career victory in his six seasons. He led 176 laps and won both stages.
TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech has suspended coach Mark Adams over “an inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment” he made to a player. Athletic director Kirby Hocutt says he was made aware of the incident Friday. The school says Adams was encouraging a player to be more receptive to coaching in a meeting. Adams referred to a Bible verse that addresses slaves serving their masters. The school says Adams addressed the matter with his team and apologized. The school hasn't said who will fill in for Adams at the Big 12 Tournament.
© 2023 Associated Press
