Washington slowed Brooklyn's playoff push as Bradley Beal scored 31 points and Trevor Ariza had 23 with 10 rebounds in the Wizards' 125-116 victory against the Nets. Backup Thomas Bryant had 18 points to help the Wizards end a four-game skid and halt the Nets' two-game winning streak.
The Trail Blazers have a season-high five-game winning streak after Damian Lillard scored 21 of his 33 points in the second half of a 97-92 win at Boston. Maurice Harkless had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Blazers improved to 18-4 versus Eastern Conference opponents. The Celtics have dropped four in a row.
Checking out the NBA's other games, Miami Heat president Pat Riley issued a video message Wednesday to season ticket holders saying that he will not give up hope of reaching the playoffs this season. His players backed him up by defeating the two-time NBA champions. The Heat wasted a 24-point lead before Dwyane Wade nailed a 3-pointer at the horn to give Miami a 126-125 win against the Warriors. Wade scored 25 points and Goran Dragic had a team-high 27 off the bench as the Heat snapped a six-game home losing streak. Josh Richardson added 21 points and the Heat made 18 3-pointers while overcoming Klay Thompson's 36 points. Kevin Durant added 29, but missed a free throw with 14 seconds left that kept the Heat within two points. The Heat are tied for ninth in the Eastern Conference at 27-33, but they are just a half-game behind the Southeast Division-leading Charlotte Hornets. Golden State's lead in the Western Conference is down to a half-game over Denver.
Eric Bledsoe scored five of his 26 points in overtime and provided 13 assists and 12 rebounds to help the Bucks get their sixth straight win, 141-140 at Sacramento. Malcolm Brogdon had 25 points while Khris Middleton and Nikola Mirotic scored 21 apiece as Milwaukee improved to a league-best 47-14.
Clint Capela had 23 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as the Rockets beat the Hornets, 118-113. James Harden missed his first eight shots before finishing with 30 points in his first action since ending his streak of 32 straight 30-point games.
Luka Doncic had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his final game as a teenager to lead the Mavericks' 110-101 verdict over the Pacers. Fellow rookie Jalen Brunson scored a season-high 24 points as Dallas stopped a five-game slide.
Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert combined for 52 points in Utah's fourth consecutive home win, 111-105 over the Clippers. Mitchell finished with a team-high 32 points and Gobert added 20 with 13 rebounds as the Jazz moved 1 ½ games ahead of the Clippers and Spurs for sixth place in the West.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and the Spurs bounced back from their just-completed 1-7 road trip by downing the Pistons, 105-93. DeMar DeRozan had 17 points and 13 points for San Antonio.
The Lakers earned a 125-119 win over the Pelicans as LeBron James scored 33 points and Brandon Ingram added 23. Julius Randle's game-high 35 points couldn't stop New Orleans from losing for the fifth time in seven games.
Trae Young matched the career high he set earlier in the week with 36 points, and John Collins had 33 as the Hawks beat the Timberwolves, 131-123 in overtime. Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 37 points and 17 rebounds.
Zach LaVine scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bulls fend off the Grizzlies, 109-107. Lauri Markkanen finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Chicago's fourth win in five games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In men's basketball, New Hampshire beat UAlbany, 62-58, and Hartford topped Binghamton, 96-76.
In women's basketball, UAlbany took down New Hampshire, 78-53, UMass topped Richmond, 64-38, and Hartford defeated Binghamton, 63-50.
In top-25 basketball, Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett went with a new starting lineup for the third straight game, and it paid early dividends. The second-ranked Cavaliers took command with a 25-4 first-half run and ripped Georgia Tech, 81-51. Ty Jerome scored 19 points and De'Andre Hunter had 18 for the Cavs, who trailed 11-7 before their big run. Hunter had eight points during the spurt to help Virginia improve to 25-2 overall and 13-2 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets shot 37.5 percent and lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Grant Williams capped his 21-point performance by hitting the go-ahead basket with four seconds left, to lift No. 7 Tennessee over Mississippi, 73-71. Lamonte' Turner added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.
Corey Davis Jr. matched his career high with 26 points to help eighth-ranked Houston clobber East Carolina, 99-65. Fabian White Jr. added 16 points for the Cougars, who shot 60 percent and improved to 27-1.
Jermaine Samuels scored a career-high 29 points and Villanova snapped a three-game losing streak with a 67-61 win over No. 10 Marquette. Samuels was averaging only 4.1 points per game this season before hitting five 3s and shooting 10 of 19 overall from the floor for the defending national champs.
Davide Moretti had 20 points, including four free throws in the final 18 seconds of overtime to push No. 11 Texas Tech to an 84-80 win over Oklahoma State. Jarrett Culver had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Raiders, who moved into a share of the Big 12 lead.
Caleb Martin scored 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting as part of 12th-ranked Nevada's 89-73 victory against in-state rival UNLV. Cody Martin added a season-high 23 points and eight assists for the Wolf Pack, while teammate Jordan Caroline had 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 16th double-double this season.
No. 15 Purdue picked up its fourth straight win as Carsen Edwards broke out of a shooting slump to score 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting in a 73-56 rout of Illinois. Matt Haarms had 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and five blocks for Purdue.
Lamar Stevens scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and Penn State led for all but 51 seconds into a 78-61 win against No. 17 Maryland. Myles Dread had 17 points and Myreon Jones added 10 in the Nittany Lions' third straight victory.
Rashawn Fredericks put No. 23 Cincinnati ahead to stay with his only two field goals to send the Bearcats to a 52-49 win against SMU. Jarron Cumberland had a team-high 12 points for the Bearcats, who won for the 12th time in 13 games despite shooting a season-low 26.6 percent from the field.
In college basketball news, Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery has been suspended for two games by the Big Ten for berating an official during last night's 90-70 loss to Ohio State. He will miss games against Rutgers and Wisconsin after he and his son, point guard Connor McCaffery, received technical fouls in the second half. Hawkeyes play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin has been suspended for the rest of the season after likening Maryland's Bruno Fernando to "King Kong" during a game last week.
NHL
The Calgary Flames have widened their lead in the NHL's Western Conference by extending their season-high winning streak to seven games. Johnny Gaudreau set up second-period goals by Elias Lindholm and Mark Giordano in the Flames' 2-1 victory at New Jersey. David Rittich made 19 saves in improving to 22-5-5. The outcome leaves the Flames with a seven-point lead over San Jose in both the West and Pacific Division races. The game was delayed about 10 minutes early in the third period after Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller crashed into the end boards on a rush and had to be taken on the ice on a stretcher. The team said after the game that Mueller had full range of motion and was sitting up before going to a hospital for evaluation.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning claimed their team-record 10th consecutive win as Victor Hedman scored 3:25 into overtime to complete their 4-3 win over the Rangers in New York. Nikita Kucherov had three assists for Tampa Bay, which blew a 3-1 lead in the second period before improving to a league-best 49-11-4. Tyler Johnson, J.T. Miller and Dan Girardi tallied for the Bolts.
Elsewhere on NHL ice, Andreas Johnsson supplied a pair of goals while Toronto scored four times in a seven-minute stretch of a 6-2 romp over the Oilers. Mitch Marner added a goal and two assists, while John Tavares, William Nylander and Patrick Marleau all had a goal and an assist for Toronto.
Carl Soderberg scored in the sixth round of the shootout and Semyon Varlamov was superb while stopping 30 shots as the Avalanche outlasted the Canucks, 3-2. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and Nathan MacKinnon added his 33rd goal in Colorado's fifth win in six games.
The Blackhawks pulled out a 4-3 win at Anaheim on Patrick Kane's goal with 16.1 seconds left in regulation. Alex DeBrincat scored two goals, including the tying tally with 4:54 to play.
In NHL news, the injury-ravaged Pittsburgh Penguins will be without forward Bryan Rust and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel indefinitely after both were injured in Tuesday's victory over Columbus. Coach Mike Sullivan says both Ruhwedel and Rust will be out "longer term." Rust suffered a lower-body injury after colliding with Adam McQuaid in the first period of Pittsburgh's 5-2 win. Ruhwedel suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. The Penguins are already playing without defensemen Olli Maatta, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
The Coyotes have signed forward Conor Garland to a two-year contract extension through the 2020-21 season. Garland started the season with Tucson of the AHL and was called up when a string of injuries hit the Coyotes. The 22-year-old has scored 12 goals with three assists in 36 games.
NFL
The Eagles are prepared to lose their only quarterback to win a Super Bowl with the franchise. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman says the team will not use its franchise tag on Nick Foles and instead will let him become a free agent. Roseman says the decision came after Foles expressed his desire to become a starter during a recent meeting. Foles was Carson Wentz's backup each of the past two seasons but finished both seasons as the starter. He was the Super Bowl MVP after leading the Eagles to their first NFL title since 1960 last February. This year, the defending champs lost in the divisional round. Foles was a third-round draft pick in 2012.
In other NFL news, the Vikings have exercised their option on coach Mike Zimmer's contract for 2020. The Vikings are 48-34-1 including playoffs under Zimmer, with NFC North titles in 2015 and 2017. They went 8-7-1 in 2018 after starting out as one of the Super Bowl favorites.
Authorities say former Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones has been arrested and jailed after an incident at a southeastern Indiana casino. The Indiana Gaming Commission says Jones was arrested for disorderly conduct, public intoxication, intimidation, and resisting arrest.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook has posted on Instagram he intends to transfer after he graduates in May a move that would make him immediately eligible to play. Hornibrook started 32 games for the Badgers and ranks third in school history with 47 touchdown passes and fifth with 5,438 yards passing. He missed four games last season with a concussion and passed for 1,532 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
MLB
Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn has a right oblique strain and plans to have an MRI exam on Thursday. Quinn was hurt while taking batting practice in an indoor cage Tuesday. Outfielder Odubel Herrera remains out with a strained left hamstring, and right-hander Tommy Hunter is sidelined by a right arm flexor strain and may not start throwing again for 10 days.
In other MLB news, Colorado Rockies slugger Nolan Arenado says he wants to emulate Todd Helton and Derek Jeter by spending his entire career with one team. He says he gave up a chance to become a free agent after this season because his heart was with Colorado. The All-Star third baseman spoke a day after agreeing to a $260 million, eight-year contract with the Rockies. The deal's $32.5 million average annual value is second behind the $34.42 million for pitcher Zack Greinke in a $206.5 million contract with Arizona that began in 2016. Arenado's deal allows him to opt out after the 2021 season and become a free agent. He says the cold free-agent market the past two seasons wasn't a big factor but "obviously it's in your head." Manny Machado waited until last week before getting a $300 million, 10-year deal with San Diego, and Bryce Harper remains on the market.
Catcher Matt Wieters has agreed to a minor league contract with the Cardinals. A four-time All-Star with Baltimore from 2009-16, Wieters will compete with Francisco Pena for the backup job behind Yadier Molina, the only catcher on the Redbirds' 40-man roster. Wieters spent the past two seasons with Washington.
Major league players and management appear headed to early labor negotiations. The talks could lead to significant economic changes in the collective bargaining agreement and possibly a new deal past the current expiration of December 2021. Management backed off its desire for a pitch clock this year in a proposal to the players' association on Tuesday, putting off most on-field changes to 2020 at the earliest.
TENNIS
Maria Sharapova says she has undergone a "small procedure" on her right shoulder that will need a few weeks to heal, requiring her to pull out of next month's Miami Open. Sharapova says she has struggled since last summer with shoulder pain caused by a fraying tendon and small labrum tear. The five-time Grand Slam champion hasn't played since pulling out of a tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, in late January after winning her first-round match. She won three matches at the Australian Open and is ranked 29th.
© The Associated Press 2019. All Rights Reserved.
