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#SportsReport: Celtics Down Pacers; Nets Beat Lakers

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The Boston Celtics have clinched an NBA playoff berth for the sixth consecutive year despite blowing a 19-point, second-half lead. Marcus Smart's basket with 49.7 seconds left gave the Celtics a 111-109 lead in a 114-111 victory at Indiana.

Smart scored in the lane over Domantis Sabonis, who led the Pacers with 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points for Boston while Gordon Hayward added 27, 10 boards and five assists in his home state. Victor Oladipo finished with a season-high 27 points to power a stunning comeback for the Pacers, who fell into an 85-66 hole late in the third quarter.

Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 23 points and hit the tiebreaking jumper with 28.3 seconds to play to send the Nets past the Lakers, 104-102. LeBron James had 29 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers, who had a chance to get their fifth straight win until Anthony Davis missed a wide-open 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Bradley Beal scored 27 of his 40 points in the second half of the Wizards' 122-115 victory against the Knicks. Beal shot just 5-for-15 in the first half before reaching the 25-point plateau for the 22nd time in 23 games.

Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points before he and the rest of the Clippers starters sat out the fourth quarter of a 131-107 rout of the Warriors. Paul George and Patrick Beverley scored 15 points apiece as Los Angeles had seven players in double figures.

James Harden poured in 37 points and the Rockets snapped a four-game skid with a 117-111 win over the Timberwolves. Russell Westbrook finished with 27 points as Houston expanded its lead in the Southwest Division to two games over Dallas.

The Mavericks wasted Luka Doncic's 38 points in a 119-109 loss to the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points in his return from injury, and Trey Lyles added 14 points with 11 rebounds.

Terrence Ross furnished 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter of the Magic's 120-115 downing of the Grizzlies. Michael Carter-Williams added 20 and teammate Nikola Vucevic finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Orlando.

Damian Lillard delivered 25 points and the Trail Blazers stopped a two-game skid with a 121-105 victory over the Suns. Trevor Ariza and CJ McCollum had 22 points apiece and Hassan Whiteside added 16 with 14 rebounds for Portland.

Coby White made his first career start and scored 20 points to help offset his career-high nine turnovers in the Bulls' 108-103 downing of the Cavaliers. Wendell Carter Jr. added 17 points as Chicago won for just the third time in 16 games.

In NBA news, the Cleveland Cavaliers and coach J.B. Bickerstaff have agreed to terms on a multi-year contract. Bickerstaff took over the Cavs when former Michigan coach John Beilein (BEE'-lyn) suddenly resigned last month. Bickerstaff had been serving as an associate head coach under Beilein, who cited personal health issues as one of his reasons for stepping down after 54 games. The Cavs are 5-6 under Bickerstaff.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In men’s college basketball, Vermont and Hartford advanced to the America East championship final Tuesday, after Vermont topped UMBC 81-74, and Hartford bested Stony Brook 64-58. The final is this Saturday. Meanwhile, in the MAAC tournament, Niagara defeated Marist 56-54. Siena takes on Manhattan in the quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m.

In men's top-25 basketball, second-ranked Gonzaga recaptured the West Coast Conference tournament title by thumping a long-time rival. Drew Timme scored 17 points and Filip Petrusev had a double-double in the Bulldogs' 84-66 win over Saint Mary's. Petrusev had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Zags, who bounced back from a middling performance in the semifinals to win their eighth WCC tournament title in 10 years. Joel Ayayi also had 17 points for Gonzaga.

NHL

Tuukka Rask and the Boston Bruins reached milestones while ending the Philadelphia Flyers' nine-game winning streak. Rask picked up his 50th career shutout and the Bruins became the NHL's first 100-point team this season by topping the Flyers, 2-0. He turned back 36 shots to become the sixth active netminder with at least 50 shutouts. Matt Grzelcyk and Patrice Bergeron did the scoring as the Atlantic Division leaders moved eight points ahead of the Lightning. Philadelphia remains one point behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals.

Mika Zibanejad reached the 40-goal mark for the season by scoring for the 10th time in five games to carry the Rangers to their 10th win in 11 road games, 4-2 against the Stars. Kaapo Kakko scored twice and rookie Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves as New York sent Dallas to its sixth straight loss.

The Canucks had dropped five of six before J.T. Miller furnished the lone shootout goal to give them a 5-4 triumph over the Islanders. Brock Nelson scored twice for New York, whichi suffered its seventh straight loss and fell a point out of an Eastern Conference playoff slot.

Evgeni Malkin scored twice and set up another to lead the slumping Penguins to just their third win in 11 games, 5-2 against the Devils. Evan Rodrigues and defensemen Justin Schultz and Kris Letang also tallied as Pittsburgh pulled within four points of the Metropolitan Division lead.

Tampa Bay failed to keep pace with Boston as Auston Matthews scored his 47th goal of the season and Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in the Maple Leafs' 2-1 win over the Bolts. Mitch Marner and John Tavares put up two assists each for the Leafs, who had star defenseman Morgan Rielly back in the lineup for the first time since breaking his foot on Jan. 12.

The Hurricanes earned their third straight win as Sebastian Aho provided two goals and an assist in a 5-2 decision over the Red Wings. Morgan Geekie tallied for the third time in two NHL games and Justin Williams broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal 1:38 into the third period.

Filip Forsberg scored twice while the Predators built a 4-0 lead in a 4-2 victory at Montreal. Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok also hit the net to back Juuse Saros, who made 32 saves.

Nicolas Deslauriers scored twice while the Ducks were taking a 4-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of a 5-2 verdict over the Senators. Brady Tkachuk and Colin White each had a goal and an assist for the winners.

CORONAVIRUS

Major League Baseball continues to deal with the virus outbreak. A person familiar with the deliberations told The Associated Press that if MLB can't play in front of fans at a team's home ballpark because of the outbreak, the sport's first preference likely would be to switch games to the visiting team's stadium if possible. The Mariners are scheduled to host the Rangers when MLB opens the season on March 26, but the Seattle area has been hit hard by the virus. MLB anticipates government officials will decide whether it is safe to play in front of fans in each city. If changes to the schedule are necessary, MLB would make determinations at the point when a ballpark has been ruled out.

The Ivy League is canceling its men's and women's basketball tournaments scheduled to be played Friday through Sunday in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The league says it will award its automatic NCAA Tournament bids to regular-season champions Princeton women and Yale men. Ivy officials also announced that it will limit spectators at all other sporting events for the rest of the spring season

The Sharks and the NHL are still determining how to proceed with three scheduled games in San Jose this month. Santa Clara County health officials have banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people in response to the spread of the coronavirus. The games could be moved to a neutral site, be postponed or played without fans in the arena.

Ohio's governor is calling for all indoor sports to be played without fans. Mike DeWine's decision would affect the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Members of Arsenal's playing squad have gone into two weeks of self-isolation in a precautionary move. That has forced the immediate postponement of the Gunners' game at Manchester City Wednesday.

All upcoming professional soccer games in Spain, France and Portugal and some others in Germany will be played in empty stadiums because of the outbreak. But, UEFA is asking governments across the continent to ensure the European Championship goes ahead in three months despite the coronavirus outbreak. UEFA says it's "completely untrue" that European football federations had requested the 24-team tournament is moved to next year.

NFL

The deadline for applying franchise and transition tags to NFL free agents has been moved from Thursday to Monday by the league and the players' union. The decision comes because the NFL Players Association's members are still voting on a proposed labor agreement the owners already have approved. That deadline was extended by two days to just before midnight on Saturday. The last time to use the tags at Thursday made little sense. There would be different tag requirements under each collective bargaining agreement.

Ravens guard Marshal Yanda is retiring after 13 seasons in which he was named to the Pro Bowl eight times and helped Baltimore win the 2012 Super Bowl. The 35-year-old Yanda played in 191 games, including playoffs, and has been an anchor on the Ravens offensive line since being picked out of Iowa in the third round of the 2007 NFL draft. He was a first-team AP All-Pro twice and named to the second team four times, including last season.

The Patriots will have the maximum four compensatory picks in next month's draft. New England has two spots in the sixth round after selecting twice in the third, the highest possible round for compensatory selections. Denver, Houston, Minnesota, the New York Giants, Philadelphia and Seattle each get three picks, while Baltimore and Miami will each have two.

The Texans have signed free agents Ka'imi Fairbairn and Darren Fells to contract extensions. Fairbairn has hit 83.7% of his field goal attempts during his three seasons with the team. Fells set career highs with 34 receptions, 341 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season, his first with Houston.

The Browns have released Christian Kirksey after six seasons after the veteran linebacker and the team couldn't agree on re-working his contract. The 27-year-old made 54 starts for Cleveland but has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons. A chest injury last year kept him out of all-but two games.

The Panthers have signed quarterback Kyle Allen to a one-year contract extension. The 24-year-old Allen replaced Cam Newton in Week 3 last season. He started off his second NFL season by leading Carolina to four straight wins, but struggled down the stretch and was eventually replaced by rookie Will Grier.

Two teams have suggested changes to game officiating, including a "sky judge" utilized by colleges. That is among seven rules proposals that will be presented to team owners later this month. The Ravens and Chargers are seeking what they call a booth umpire as an eighth game official, as well as adding a senior technology adviser to the referee to assist the officiating. Also proposed is revamping overtime to minimize the coin toss impact and returning OT to its original 15-minute length and providing alternatives to the onside kick for a scoring team to attempt to keep the ball.

MLB

Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer was scratched from his scheduled start against Miami because of fatigue on his right side. The 35-year-old right-hander said his right side has lagged behind the rest of his body as he attempts to build strength in preparation for the season. Scherzer had made three spring training starts. He expects to pitch Sunday against the Mets and remain on track to start the World Series champions' opener on March 26 at New York. Nationals manager Dave Martinez has not announced his opening day starter.

Mets outfielder Michael Conforto has strained an oblique muscle on his right side, but it's too early to determine whether he will be able to play on opening day against World Series champion Washington on March 26. Conforto was injured Saturday while catching a flyball against the Nationals and returned to New York on Monday night to meet with Mets medical staff. Conforto was an All-Star in 2017 and set career highs last season with 33 homers and 92 RBIs while batting .257 with an .856 OPS in 151 games.

THOROUGHBRED RACING

Owner Gary West is removing all of his horses from Jason Servis' barn after the trainer was indicted on multiple counts of administering illegal substances and performance-enhancing drugs. That includes last year's 3-year-old champion Maximum Security, who will be trained by two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert.

A report released by the California Horse Racing Board on a spate of horse deaths at Santa Anita found that no illegal medications were used on the animals and 39% of the 23 fatalities occurred on surfaces affected by wet weather. The long-awaited report focused on 23 deaths as a result of racing or training between Dec. 30, 2018, and March 31, 2019. The fatalities roiled the industry and led track owner The Stronach Group to institute several reforms involving safety and medication. The 77-page report found no evidence of animal welfare violations.

© The Associated Press 2020. All Rights Reserved.