NBA
Jalen Brunson scored 34 points and Miles McBride added a career-high 29 to lead the New York Knicks to their fourth straight win, 119-112 over the Golden State Warriors. The Knicks raced out to an 18-4 lead early in the game and never trailed as they earned just their fifth win in their last 19 meetings against the Warriors. Josh Hart had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double in the past 21 games for New York. Stephen Curry scored 27 points to lead Golden State. The Warriors fell to 17-18 at home this season.
Jaylen Brown scored 31 points in three quarters, Derrick White posted his first career triple-double and the NBA-best Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 119-94. Boston star Jayson Tatum missed the game because of a right ankle injury, but the Celtics had more than enough to make up for his absence. White had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He completed his triple-double when he passed to Payton Pritchard, who hit a 3-pointer with 6:25 to play. Pritchard had 23 points in the Celtics’ sixth straight victory. Jaden Ivey led Detroit with 21 points.
Tyrese Maxey had 30 points and 10 assists and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help the Philadelphia 76ers hold off the Miami Heat 98-91 Monday night in a potential preview of an NBA play-in tournament game. Kyle Lowry survived a hard tumble over the scorer’s table and scored 16 points for the Sixers in his first game against the Heat since they traded him in January. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat. Terry Rozier III scored 20 points. The Heat trailed by 14 entering the fourth but went on a 20-8 run and tied the game at 85. The 76ers hit a pair of 3s to push ahead and win the game.
Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each scored 23 points and the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers fended off a late push from the Indiana Pacers for a 108-103 win. Cleveland played Monday night without three regular starters, including star guard Donovan Mitchell, as the Cavs fight to hold onto a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference. LeVert had 11 assists and eight rebounds. Allen had nine rebounds. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points and 12 rebounds. All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 14 points and 12 assists. Reserve guard T.J. McConnell scored 14.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Nikola Vucevic made a key hook shot with 9.3 seconds left, helping the Chicago Bulls edge the Portland Trail Blazers 110-107. Vucevic had 22 points and nine rebounds in Chicago’s third win in four games. Ayo Dosunmu finished with 23 points and 10 assists. Anfernee Simons scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter for Portland. Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 15 rebounds. The Blazers lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Anthony Edwards threw down a thunderous dunk over John Collins of the Utah Jazz on Monday night, helping the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 114-104 victory but leaving both players banged up after a play that immediately went viral on social media. Timberwolves veteran point guard Mike Conley said it might have been the best dunk he’s ever witnessed in person. Edwards dislocated his left ring finger after his hand collided with Collins’ cheekbone. He raced back to the locker room during a subsequent timeout, popped the finger back in place, got it taped up and returned to action. Collins was ruled out for the entire fourth quarter while being evaluated for a possible concussion. His injury was later confirmed to be a head contusion.
LeBron James had 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points while tying the Lakers’ single-season record for 3-pointers in a 136-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Russell’s six 3-pointers against the Hawks gave him 183 this season, passing Kobe Bryant’s 180 in the 2005-06 season and tying Nick Van Exel’s franchise record set in 1994-95. Anthony Davis had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who snapped a two-game skid with their 13th win in 20 games since losing in Atlanta in late January. Jalen Johnson scored 25 points in the Hawks' fourth loss in five games.
Malik Monk scored 12 of his 28 points in overtime, Domantas Sabonis had his 50th straight double-double and the Sacramento Kings beat the Memphis Grizzlies 121-111. Monk added six rebounds and six assists as the Kings improved to 5-1 in overtime. Sabonis finished with 25 points and 18 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox had 23 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 25 points on 8-of-27 shooting. Desmond Bane added 24 points, and GG Jackson had 22.
NHL
Jeff Skinner had a hat trick, with his first goal coming during a three-goal outburst in the first six minutes to chase Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord, and the Buffalo Sabres cruised to a 6-2 victory. Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch also scored in the first period for the Sabres, who earned their first win in six tries against the third-year Kraken. With 71 points, Buffalo is four behind Washington for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with 13 games left. Owen Power had Buffalo’s other goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves. The three-goal barrage came after Jordan Eberle gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead just 24 seconds into the game. Seattle lost its fifth straight, all at home.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice and became the third player in NHL history to have at least 20 goals in 19 consecutive seasons as the Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames 5-2. The 38-year-old Ovechkin had two power-play goals in the second period as Washington won its third straight game. He joined Gordie Howe (22) and Brendan Shanahan (19) as the only players to achieve the goal-scoring feat. Dylan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington. Kevin Rooney and MacKenzie Weegar scored for Calgary.
NFL
A person with knowledge of the move says the Dallas Cowboys are slightly reducing quarterback Dak Prescott’s massive salary cap hit by reworking his contract going into the final year of the deal. A $5 million roster bonus has been converted into a signing bonus to reduce the 2024 cap hit by $4 million. It's now at $55 million. The Cowboys can create more salary cap relief with an extension for Prescott. He is coming off a wild-card loss at home to Green Bay that dropped his playoff record to 2-5.
MLB
The Dodgers are paying $700 million for Shohei Ohtani. That means his loyal fans in Japan will be paying big time for his merchandise. A store called Selection in Tokyo's Shijuku area sells gear for all 30 MLB teams, but store employees say about 60-70% of the sales are for Dodgers gear, or Ohtani-specific gear. And it's not cheap. One Dodgers cap with Ohtani's signature on the side and his No. 17 goes for $150. A Dodgers uniform top sells for about $500. If you want a baseball that Ohtani threw last year in an MLB game, that will be $22,000.
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and the San Francisco Giants have agreed to a $62 million, two-year contract. Snell has the right to opt out after this season and become a free agent. A 30-year-old left-hander, Snell is 71-55 with a 3.20 ERA in 191 starts over eight major league seasons, winning Cy Youngs in 2018 with Tampa Bay and last year with San Diego.
GOLF
Golf is always searching for the next Tiger Woods. Scottie Scheffler is the next candidate. The world's No. 1 player left little doubt when he became the first back-to-back winner of The Players Championship. His lead atop the world ranking is the biggest in seven years. His consistency and nine worldwide wins in the last 25 months is what gets people talking. Scheffler was quick to point out that while he has been No. 1 for a total of 78 weeks, Woods was No. 1 for just over 13 years. Scheffler says to be mentioned alongside Woods is special.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In a season where fans marveled at the sustained excellence of NCAA all-time career scorer Caitlin Clark of Iowa, there's a stellar group of freshmen who've made an impact as they prepare to dazzle in their first NCAA Tournament. Newcomer JuJu Watkins at Southern Cal has surpassed Clark's points output as a freshman. Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame, MiLaysia Fulwiley at South Carolina and Madison Booker at Texas were all named MVPs in their first conference tournaments. And all are ready for what's next.
Opposing coaches will try again to keep Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark under control in the NCAA Tournament. They all know it's hopeless to completely shut down Division I’s all-time leading scorer. She's been slowed. Kansas State had two players switch off on Clark and varied its coverages off screens when it beat Iowa early in the season. Indiana got physical with her and used variations of man and zone defenses in a February win. Nebraska threw a box-and-one at Clark and held her scoreless in the fourth quarter of a win last month.
Bettors expect a lot of upsets in this year's NCAA Tournament. They are placing wagers on long shots to win. The First Four is Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. The tournament begins in full Thursday. Recent history has shown some of those fliers can turn into big money. Saint Peter’s made the Sweet 16 two years ago as a No. 15 seed. Last year’s Final Four included a very un-blue-blooded San Diego State, Florida Atlantic and Miami.
Although the Great Danes fell in the conference tournament semifinals, the season isn't over for the University at Albany women's basketball team. UAlbany goes up against Colgate on Thursday in the WNIT bracket. The winner advances to face Providence, which has a bye. Also beginning play in the second round is Vermont, which lost the America East title game to Maine after knocking out UAlbany.
UConn is the betting favorite to win a second straight national title, but repeating is not easy. Houston has now been tested by a power-conference schedule after joining the Big 12. Purdue will be eager to put aside last year's loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. Here's a quick early prediction: UConn, Houston, Gonzaga and longshot Michigan State reach the Final Four. Then Houston denies UConn a repeat in the championship game.
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