NBA
Jaylen Brown scored 37 points, Jayson Tatum added 26 and the Boston Celtics powered past the Phoenix Suns 127-112 on Thursday night. Al Horford finished with 24 points, including six of Boston’s season high-tying 25 3-pointers to help the Celtics down the Suns for the second time in week. Boston improved to an NBA-best 52-14 and became the first team to clinch a playoff berth. Devin Booker led the Suns with 23 points. Bradley Beal finished with 22 points and seven assists. Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen both added 20 points. Meanwhile, Boston’s All-Star duo of Tatum and Brown combined for 43 of the Celtics’ 65 first-half points.
Jalen Brunson scored 45 points and the New York Knicks rolled past the Portland Trail Blazers 105-93 last night. Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby had 12 points apiece for the Knicks, who have won four of their last six as they jockey for playoff position in the Eastern Conference with 16 games left in the season. Deandre Ayton had 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers, playing the second of a back-to-back and the last of a six-game homestand.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks past the Philadelphia 76ers 114-105 on Thursday night. Brook Lopez added 19 points and seven rebounds and Damian Lillard had 17 points and nine assists for the Bucks, who won at home after losing three of four on a West Coast swing, which included a 129-94 drubbing against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points for the 76ers, who closed out a 1-2 road trip. Tobias Harris added 15 points and Cam Payne had 13.
Paul George made six 3-pointers and scored 28 points, Kawhi Leonard added 27 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Chicago Bulls 126-111. Los Angeles regrouped after a 20-point lead late in the third quarter dwindled to eight in the fourth and stopped a two-game skid, beating Chicago for the second time in six days. Norman Powell scored 18 points and Bones Hyland added 17 points and 11 assists for the Clippers. DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 21 points.
Jalen Green had a season-high 37 points as the Houston Rockets built a big lead early and cruised to a 135-119 win over the Washington Wizardson Thursday night. Fred VanVleet added 27 points for the Rockets, who won their fourth straight game. All of Houston’s starters scored in double figures in the second game since star big man Alperen Sengun injured his knee and ankle Sunday. Jordan Poole scored 25 points off the bench for the Wizards, who dropped their second game in a row after winning their previous two.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points and nine rebounds to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 126-119. Dallas guard Luka Doncic missed the game with a sore left hamstring. Kyrie Irving had 36 points and a season-high 12 assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points and Daniel Gafford added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Mavericks. Gafford missed a putback attempt in the first minute of the game, ending his streak of consecutive made field goals at 33. He ended up two short of Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record of 35.
NHL
Ukko-Pekko Luukkonen stopped 21 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders 4-0 to match a season high with their third straight win. Victor Olofsson, Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson scored 5:13 apart during a second-period surge as Buffalo outshot the Islanders 29-11 through two periods and 37-21 overall. Benson added an empty-net goal with 4:54 remaining. Buffalo improved to 8-3-1 in its past 12. The Islanders, coming off a 3-0 loss at Los Angeles on Monday, were blanked for the sixth time this season, and haven’t scored in a span of 121:48, dating the final minutes of a 6-1 win at Anaheim on Sunday. Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots in dropping to 8-3-2 in his past 13.
Brayden Point had three goals and three assists, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and four assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to beat the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers 6-3. Steven Stamkos and Anthony Duclair also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves as the Lightning came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. Point got his fourth hat trick his six points were a career high and also tied the team record. Kucherov, second in the NHL with 112 points, joined Edmonton’s Connor McDavid as the only active players with three or more 70-assist seasons. Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist, and Artemi Panarin and Braden Schneider also scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin had 22 saves as New York fell to 14-3-1 in its last 18 games.
Jake DeBrusk scored 25 seconds into overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. DeBrusk was set up by Bruins captain Brad Marchand, ending a high-energy night at the Bell Centre. It was DeBrusk’s 16th goal of the season. Danton Heinen scored in the first period for Boston, which was coming off a 5-1 loss to St. Louis on Monday. Linus Ullmark made 18 saves in his second straight win. Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal. Sam Montembeault stopped 22 shots.
Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier and Tomas Nosek all scored in the first 5:12 of the second period and the New Jersey Devils broke open a close game for a 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Jake Allen had 35 saves in his first start for New Jersey since being acquired from Montreal last week. Chris Tierney, Erik Haula and Alexander Holtz also scored for the Devils. Wyatt Johnston and Craig Smith scored for the Stars while goalies Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood combined for 14 saves.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored the first of three first-period goals for Toronto that helped chase goalie Samuel Ersson and the Maple Leafs scored three more in the third in a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Six players scored for Toronto. The Maple Leafs are up to 84 points in the Eastern Conference while the Flyers remained stuck at 76. Auston Matthews and William Nylander scored just eight seconds apart in the third. Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster scored goals for the Flyers.
John Ludvig and Rickard Rakell scored two minutes apart in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled away from the San Jose Sharks for a 6-3 win. Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter Noel Acciari also scored for Pittsburgh, which won for the first time since dealing star winger Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline last week. Tristan Jarry made 30 saves for the Penguins, who were outscored 17-2 during their losing streak. Fabian Zetterlund, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin scored for San Jose, which lost for the 11th time in 12 games. Magnus Chrona stopped 25 shots.
Rookie Logan Cooley had a short-handed goal in the first period, Michael Carcone broke a tie midway through the second and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. Connor Ingram made 28 stops for Arizona, which also beat Detroit 4-0 last week. Nick Bjugstad put the Coyotes up 3-1 in the third, and Clayton Keller added an empty-netter with 3:04 left. The suddenly slumping Red Wings have slipped out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, losing seven straight games in regulation for the first time since early in the 2019-20 season.
Evgeny Kuznetsov had his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes and Frederik Anderson recorded his first shutout in more than a year as Carolina beat the Florida Panthers 4-0. Kuznetsov, playing in his fourth game since last week’s trade from the Washington Capitals, joined Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov with goals. Jaccob Slavin had two assists, while another newcomer, Jake Guentzel, posted his first assist with the Hurricanes. Andersen stopped 21 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves as the Panthers lost for just the second time in 10 games.
Claude Giroux scored in regulation and the shootout, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Giroux beat goalie Elvis Merzlikins with a slap shot in the third round of the shootout as Ottawa rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win its second straight game following a seven-game skid. Tim Stützle also scored in the win and Anton Forsberg stopped 35 shots. Boone Jenner and Alex Nylander scored for Columbus.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves in his 75th career shutout, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-0. Fleury is 11th on the NHL shutouts list, one behind Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito. The 39-year-old goaltender got plenty of help from his teammates, who were credited with 16 blocked shots. Kirill Kaprizov and Zach Bogosian scored for the Wild, who improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games. Minnesota entered the night six points behind Vegas for the final wild card in the Western Conference. Lukas Dostal stopped 29 shots for the Ducks, who have dropped four in a row.
Blake Coleman scored twice in Calgary’s four-goal third period, and the Flames beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1. Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and an assist, and Matt Coronato also scored for as Calgary snapped a three-game skid. Dryden Hunt added two assists and Dustin Wolf stopped 28 shots to improve to 2-3-1 on the season. Anthony Mantha scored for Vegas, which has lost five of its last seven. Adin Hill finished with 33 saves. The Golden Knights remain in the second wild card in the Western Conference with a four-point lead over Minnesota.
Connor McMichael scored on a breakaway with 8:24 left in the game, and the Washington Capitals gained ground in their bid for a playoff spot by beating the Seattle Kraken 2-1. T.J. Oshie, playing in his 999th NHL game, also scored for the Caps. Washington, now with 71 points, is just one point behind the New York Islanders and Detroit for the East’s second wild-card spot. Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Kraken, who have 68 points and remain nine behind Vegas for the West’s second wild-card berth. Joey Daccord finished with 21 saves.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marist 65 Niagara 59
UConn 87 Xavier 60
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Siena 80 Mt. St. Mary’s 57
NFL
The NFL is reviewing whether the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles violated tampering policies during the legal tampering window, a league spokesman said Thursday. The Falcons agreed to a contract with four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins shortly after teams were permitted to start negotiating with unrestricted free agents on Monday. The Eagles quickly struck a deal with two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley soon after the negotiation period opened at 12 p.m. EDT. Teams are permitted to talk directly with agents during the 52-hour negotiating window, but can’t speak to the player unless he has no agent and represents himself.
MLB
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge could be back in the lineup Saturday after being slowed by abdominal discomfort. Judge hasn’t taken on-field batting practice or hit in a game since Sunday. He had an MRI on Monday. New York manager Aaron Boone intends to have Judge to play center field Saturday against Toronto. Judge is more focused on the March 28 opener at Houston.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole will miss several months of baseball, according to multiple sources. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale says Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician and an expert on elbows, told Cole the injury to his right elbow will keep the Yankees star pitcher out for at least 10 to 12 weeks.
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