NBA
Immanuel Quickley scored 24 points, Quentin Grimes had 23 and the New York Knicks moved closer to a postseason berth and sent the Miami Heat closer to the play-in tournament with a 101-92 victory. Josh Hart added 13 for the Knicks, who overcame the loss of Julius Randle to a sprained left ankle to win their second straight and remained firmly in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets and opened a four-game gap over the seventh-place Heat. The top six teams are guaranteed postseason spots. The Heat’s third straight loss dropped them 1 1/2 games behind the Nets.
Cam Johnson had 31 points, Mikal Bridges scored 12 of his 27 in the fourth quarter and the Brooklyn Nets rallied to beat the Houston Rockets 123-114 on Wednesday night. Johnson and Bridges came over together from Phoenix in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Suns. Durant finally made his home debut for Phoenix on Wednesday night. Nic Claxton added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points. The Nets won for the second time in three games to snap a four-game home losing skid. Kevin Porter Jr. had 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Houston, and Alperen Sengun had 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Rockets have lost seven in a row.
Joel Embiid had 25 points and nine rebounds, James Harden added 15 points and 12 assists and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-108 on Wednesday night. Embiid flashed his MVP credentials when he powered the Sixers back in the fourth against Luka Doncic and the Mavs. Embiid hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 103 and followed with a 16-footer the next time down for what ended up the winning basket. Doncic had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points for the Mavericks. Tyrese Maxey added 22 points to help the 76ers snap a three-game losing streak.
De’Aaron Fox had 18 points and the Sacramento Kings clinched their first playoff berth since 2006 with a 120-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Kevin Huerter added 17 points in the win which also earned the Kings home-court advantage to open the postseason. The team’s 16-year playoff drought was the longest in NBA history and the longest active postseason dry spell among teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball. Kings rookie Keegan Murray hit his 188th 3-pointer of the season with 6:44 to go in the third quarter to set an NBA 3-point record, passing Donovan Mitchell’s mark of 187 set in 2017-18.
Devin Booker scored 29 points, Kevin Durant had 16 points and eight rebounds in his home debut and the Phoenix Suns won their third straight game, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-100. The Suns are 4-0 with Durant in the lineup. The teams are in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race, fighting to stay in the top six so they don’t fall to the play-in tournament. Durant — playing in his first home game with the Suns since being traded from Brooklyn in February — missed his first six shots from the field. He finished 5 of 18, hitting a couple of important 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 31 points.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he's hopeful that a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players can get done by the end of this week, though he stopped short of predicting that a deal would actually get struck. The league and the National Basketball Players Association are facing a midnight Friday deadline for either side to decide that they will opt out of the deal and end the current CBA on June 30. That opt-out deadline already has been extended twice, and Silver said the NBA’s plan is to exercise that option if there is no deal by Friday night.
Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 51 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points in a triple-double and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 149-136 on Wednesday night. Antetokounmpo added 17 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Bucks improve to 55-21. He returned after sitting out Monday night in a victory at Detroit because of a sore knee. Holiday had 18 points in the third quarter, when the Bucks scored a season-high 46 points to build a 12-point lead. He was 20 of 30 from the field with three 3-pointers and hit 8 of 10 free throws. His previous best was 40 points in an overtime victory over visiting Boston on Feb. 14. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana with 29 points.
NHL
Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves in regulation and two more in the shootout to help the New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 2-1. Trade deadline pickup Pierre Engvall scored his second goal in two games. Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri scored in the shootout. The Islanders strengthened their hold on the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They're now five points up on Pittsburgh and six ahead of Florida with five games left to play. The Capitals have lost five of six to fall out of the playoff race.
Final OT Florida 3 Toronto 2
Final Minnesota 4 Colorado 2
MLB
It’s opening day today in Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees will host the San Francisco Giants for their season opener at 1:05 p.m.
In Boston, the Red Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park in their season opener this afternoon at 2:10
The Miami Marlins host their season opener against the New York Mets this afternoon at 4:10
And The Texas Rangers host the Philadelphia Phillies for their season opener in Arlington this afternoon at 4:05.
Meanwhile, new rules take effect today where there will be clocks at stadiums to hurry along pitchers and hitters, and there are restrictions on defensive shifts for fielders. The full slate of 15 games includes matchups at Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge will aiming at his own home run record, Shohei Ohtani will be trending with every pitch and swing and Houston manager Dusty Baker is trying to win another World Series ring.
Major league pitchers and batters aren’t the only ones going on the clock this season. Big league broadcasters have also been using spring training to adjust to baseball’s new rhythm amid a series of rules changes. When the season opens Thursday, Major League Baseball will usher in an age of sharper, quicker and more concise commentary. For a generation of play-by-play pros who grew up idolizing loquacious storytellers like Hall of Famer Vin Scully, it’s been an adjustment. But not necessarily an unwelcome one.
MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Minor league baseball players reached a historic initial collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball on Wednesday that will more than double player salaries, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced. The sides reached the five-year deal on Wednesday, two days before the start of the minor league season and hours after a federal judge gave final approval to a $185 million settlement reached with MLB last May of a lawsuit filed in 2014 alleging violations of federal minimum wage laws. Under the new deal, minimum salaries in Triple-A will rise from $17,500 to $45,800.
MARCH MADNESS
A toxic cauldron on social media is one of the minefields players in the NCAA Tournament must navigate. In an era of increased sensitivity to athlete mental health, never have there been more outside voices scrutinizing their every move. In the third part of a series on social media's impact on March Madness, The Associated Press found that turning off social media is an option but not really a practical one. It's unrealistic with the way society interacts in the 21st century. And many athletes need to use social media for endorsement deals. All of that, the AP found, comes with a toll best illustrated by spikes among athletes in anxiety and depression over the past two years.
UNDER-20 WORLD CUP
Indonesia has been stripped of hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation. FIFA says Indonesia was removed from staging the 24-team tournament scheduled to start on May 20 “due to the current circumstances." The decision comes after a meeting in Doha between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir. Israel qualified for its first Under-20 World Cup in June. Israel's participation in scheduled official draw for tournament groups in Bali on Friday provoked political opposition this month. The draw had to be postponed. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
NFL
The NFL took another step at the owners’ meetings to increase diversity throughout the league while continuing to face criticism and a lawsuit for lack of representation among head coaches. Each team is now required to have a person in charge of diversity, equity and inclusion. Currently, 15 clubs have a DEI head and two others have someone leading that department and another one. The league has reached milestone points in diverse hirings in the front office but critics point to the sidelines where there are only three Black head coaches in a sport that had 56.4% Black players in 2022.
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