Boeser has hat trick, last-place Canucks overcome blowing 4-goal lead to beat NHL-leading Avs
Marcus Pettersson scored with 5:39 remaining, Brock Boeser had a hat trick and the last-place Vancouver Canucks blew a four-goal lead before beating the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 8-6 on Wednesday night.
The Canucks, who entered the game 58 points behind the Avalanche, scored in all sorts of ways, including 29 seconds into the game, short-handed, on the power play and into an empty net to snap a six-game slide.
They led 6-2 in the second only to see Colorado tie it up with 6:02 left. Just 23 seconds later, Pettersson knocked in his first goal since November. Boeser sealed it by lining the puck down the ice and into an empty net.
Teddy Blueger scored twice, while Max Sasson and Jake DeBrusk also added goals to spoil a night in which Nathan MacKinnon became the first player this season to reach 50 goals. Vancouver took advantage of the Avalanche juggling their defensive pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves.
KINGS 2, BLUES 1, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift Los Angeles to a victory over the St. Louis.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
SHARKS 4, DUCKS 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg’s winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as San Jose beat Anaheim.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Trevor Moore’s overtime goal lifts Kings to 2-1 win over Blues and into playoff position
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
Moore sped up the right side, outskated Jonatan Berggren, centered the puck and snapped a shot past Binnington for the victory. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty assisted on the goal.
With the Kings leading 1-0, Thomas went to the front of the net and Philip Broberg's shot deflected off Thomas' skate and past Forsberg to tie it.
After a scoreless first period, Jared Wright nearly put the Kings ahead midway through the second, but his goal was waved off for goaltender interference.
Los Angeles got one that counted on Kempe's power-play goal on a wrister with 3:01 left in the second period to put the Kings up 1-0.
Up next
Blues: Play at Anaheim on Friday night.
Kings: Host Nashville on Thursday night.
—-
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Los Angeles Kings Pass Nashville Predators For Final Wild Card Spot Ahead Of Matchup
Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Nashville Predators just got a lot more important.
After losing three straight games and leaving six points on the table, the Predators have been passed by the Kings in the Western Conference Wild Card race with eight games left in the regular season.
The Kings picked up a massive 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, another team trying to move up in the Wild Card race, to bump their season total to 78 points. Nashville has 77 points.
To add salt to the wound, the San Jose Sharks also tied the Predators in points following their 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks have the tiebreaker as they have played one fewer game than the Predators.
ALL THE WAY FROM THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA, IT'S TREVOR MOORE pic.twitter.com/jhkHM4DTVt
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 2, 2026
Winnipeg is also now a point behind Nashville after an overtime win against Chicago, 4-3, on Tuesday. Seattle also trails Nashville by two points.
Thursday is another massive day, with the Predators getting a chance to take back the Wild Card spot if they defeat Los Angeles on the road. If Nashville loses, Winnipeg can pass the Predators with a win over Dallas, and the Sharks can do the Same with a win over Toronto.
Seattle can also tie the Predators in points if it defeats Utah. Another loss could really set Nashville back in the playoff race.
The Western Conference Wild Card race has been heavily criticized for the quality of the teams competing for the final spot. All six teams have a win percentage hovering just above 50%.
While Los Angeles is the only team among the six that doesn't have more than 30 regulation losses this season, the Kings have an NHL record 19 overtime losses.
For Nashville, the games in this final road trip are critical. It faces Los Angeles twice (Thursday and Monday), San Jose (Saturday) and Utah (April 9). Coming home for the final three games of the season, the Predators see the Sharks once more.
Rinkside Recap: League-leading Avs fall to league’s worst Canucks 8-6
DENVER, CO — It was first vs. worst tonight at Ball Arena, and we were in the barn to offer live and in-depth coverage!
The Avalanche would go at it without stud-defender Cale Makar, who sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s last contest against the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver came to town looking to get back into the win column after dropping their last six games. It was a team with a -90 goal differential vs. a team with a +93 goal differential. What could go wrong?
Turns out the answer to that question was a lot, with Vancouver establishing an early lead, netting a shorthanded goal, then full-on taking over, averaging three goals a period through two frames and holding off Colorado’s third-period comeback effort to walk out of Ball Arena with 2 points.
The Game
The puck dropped, and twenty-nine seconds later, Max Sasson would net a goal for the Canucks that beat Blackwood via the five-hole.
It would take just about a minute for Nathan MacKinnon to announce his arrival as he hit the brakes upon entry, watched a Canuck lose his skates and fly by, before creating enough space to rip home a wrister. MacKinnon’s tally would make 50 on the season and put him just one goal shy of his previous career high of 51 goals.
The Avalanche would get its first power play of the evening, but it only resulted in the worst-case scenario. Vancouver would take a 2-1 lead after the Avalanche allowed the 13th shorthanded goal against.
The Canucks would find another way to score this time on a power play of their own. Jake DeBrusk was left all alone in the slot and logged his 17th of the season, with 14 of those coming on the power play. Just like that, it was 3-1 Canucks.
Frustration among the fanbase started to set in, but Gabe Landeskog would ease the pain after he deflected Brent Burns’ point shot past Kevin Lankinen, bringing his side back to within one goal at 3-2 Vancouver.
The period would end with Vancouver on the power play, and Colorado would kill the first 26 seconds and head to the locker room.
The second period would start with Colorado killing off the rest of Vancouver’s man-advantage, but that wouldn’t stop the Canucks from extending their lead to two goals after Teddy Blueger was alone in front and beat Blackwood via the five-hole yet again to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of the visitors.
Nick Blankenburg was thrust into the lineup tonight with Cale Makar tending to his wounds and had a tough night.
He sank too deeply to the point where he was into the crease, and Blackwood, who couldn’t do anything to stop what basically turned into a screened two-on-none. Brock Boeser would log that tally, and another five minutes later, bringing the score to a whopping 6-2 Canucks.
Finally, Jared Bednar pulled MacKenzie Blackwood.
Sam Malinski would get one back for Colorado before the second period ended. Vancouver challenged for goalie interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful despite Jack Drury making contact with Kevin Lankinen outside the blue paint.
We’d head to the second intermission at 6-3 Canucks.
We did have a little scare right before the second period let out, with Martin Necas getting hit away from the play and going down in a heap. He would stay down and immediately head off to the room despite the remaining time in the period.
Fortunately, he would return for the third period, but seemed to be reaching for his wrist, which has been an area of concern this season.
The Avalanche wouldn’t go quietly into the night.
Scott Wedgewood was asked if this game felt out of reach before the third, and he responded, “Never with this team.”
Parker Kelly would log his 19th of the season just 116 seconds into the third and final frame, and the comeback and whale watch were on! It was a two-goal game at 6-4 with essentially the entire third period left for the Avalanche to mount a comeback.
Next, it was Brent Burns’ turn as his point one timer, assisted by Brock Nelson, went straight in, and the tide officially had shifted.
It was Sam Malinski who set Ball Arena off with his game-tying goal (6-6) with just over five minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, that goal would quickly be answered by Vancouver’s Marcus Pettersson, who gave Vancouver a 7-6 lead.
Colorado did make a push to get things under control in this game, and had they started as they finished, they would have beaten the Canucks handily.
Takeaways
The slow start tonight should have been more anticipated, as it’s typical for a team to come out flat after putting up 5 plus goals in the first half of a period. That said, there’s no excuse for starting so poorly against the league’s worst team and giving up a shorthanded goal to a historically bad penalty kill unit.
It was pretty clear that the freedom of having nothing to play for benefited the Canucks, who likely had no problem getting up to play the best team in the league. In a season where you are -90 in goal differential, you have to take it game by game, and tonight, Vancouver passed the test.
This wasn’t a great performance by the Avalanche defensively, but MacKenzie Blackwood also looked a little lost at times. It’s feeling more and more clear that Scott Wedgewood is the number one goalie in Colorado these days.
When Bednar was asked if he was concerned with not knowing who the starter is so close to playoff time, he quickly snapped, “No.”
It’s been abundantly clear that Colorado can ill afford to lose a defender from its group of six, as Nick Blankenburg hasn’t looked great and, in a game against the league’s worst team, struggled. I don’t know that the Avalanche have a set-and-forget 7D.
Jared Bednar was clearly not pleased in the post-game presser and made no excuses for his club. When asked what went wrong, he responded, “The list is too long.”
Brock Nelson had an item that likely landed on the list, saying, “Couple unfortunate bounces where they end up with two-on-ones with some pretty clear looks that we’d like to not give up.”
Upcoming
The Avalanche will head to Dallas for a matinee contest against Mikko Rantanen and the Stars on Saturday.
Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!
Celebrini ties it late then sets up Wennberg's winner as the Sharks beat the Ducks 4-3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg's winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Troy Terry scored 4:04 into the third period to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.
Celebrini tied it with 1:39 to play.
Ryan Poehling and Alex Killorn also scored for Anaheim, which has lost three straight games but remains atop the Pacific Division. Drew Helleson had a pair of assists and Lukas Dostal made 16 saves and also got his first assist of the season on Poehling's goal.
The Ducks played without their leading goal scorer, Cutter Gauthier, who suffered an upper-body injury in Monday night's 5-4 loss to Toronto.
Nathan Gaucher made his NHL debut for the Ducks. He was selected 22nd overall by Anaheim in the 2022 draft.
San Jose now has a 2-1 lead in the four-game regular-season series between the teams.
Up next
Ducks: Return home to play St. Louis on Friday night.
Sharks: Host Toronto for the third game of a six-game homestand on Thursday night.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Charge season ends in dissapointing loss to Go-Go
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Charge’s magical season came to an end with a 126-123 loss to the Capital City Go-Go in the first round of the NBA G League playoffs. The Charge fought hard, but an inability to grab crucial rebounds late ultimately did them in.
Point guard Darius Brown II was the only constant in a Charge season that was characterized by six NBA call-ups. And in many ways, he’s symbolic of why this season has been so successful for the team. His steady hand at the point allowed various roster configurations to work. He was doing so again against the Go-Go until his body finally gave out.
In the first quarter, he bloodied his knee diving for a loose ball. In the third, he hurt his hamstring after being fouled. And midway through the fourth, he rolled his ankle while forcing an eight-second violation.
By the end of the game, Brown could hardly move, but that didn’t keep him from making a positive impact on the game. He hustled back to stop a fastbreak layup with a minute and a half left in a three-point game. Then, he converted a fastbreak layup of his own to make it a one-point game.
Brown wouldn’t use that as an excuse. “Everyone is playing through something,” he said. But most aren’t gutting it out like he was.
“It just says everything about who he is,” head coach Eli Kell-Abrams said. “He’s been in a walking boot for a month, and the way he’s been able to fight through pain, fight through adversity, fight through off-court stuff and still not make it about him, and be able to galvanize and lead the group is really impressive.”
The Charge had a chance to win what was a back-and-forth game late. In the last minute, they missed two crucial defensive rebounds and had two bad turnovers. The Go-Go took advantage of those miscues to put the game away.
“It’s one of the tough things about a single-elimination tournament,” Kell-Abrams said. “Sometimes, if you just don’t have it, you don’t have it. I think defensively we weren’t able to guard the ball and rebound, which we knew were going to be big keys to the game.”
Cleveland didn’t have an answer for Alondes Williams. He poured in 39 points and four assists while going 12-21 from the field. This included contributing 24 in the second half to help the Go-Go erase a seven-point deficit at the break. Former Cleveland Cavaliers two-way player Chris Livingston also supplied 27 points and nine rebounds in the victory.
The Charge were led by 25 points from Brown on 8-15 shooting to go along with 10 assists and seven boards. Cavs two-way player Olivier Sarr finished with 22 points on 8-10 shooting with four rebounds and a block.
Even though this wasn’t the way the Charge wanted the season to end, they aren’t going to remember this season for what happened on Tuesday.
“A couple missed helps, a couple tough switches, and a couple of offensive rebounds shouldn’t define what’s been one of the most successful years in Charge history,” Kell-Abrams said. “With the development we’ve had, headlined by Tristan Enaruna. … We knocked the development part out of the park.”
The Charge did knock that out of the park. They had six call-ups (seven if you want to count Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who didn’t play with the Charge, but started on a two-way deal). That includes losing Killian Hayes, who was having an MVP-caliber season, before he was signed by the Sacramento Kings.
Kell-Abrams attributes Brown for being a big reason why they were able to keep things on the rails and attract more talent — like Riley Minix, Malaki Branham, and Sarr — to replace the guys they lost to call-ups.
“[The G League] encourages you to be selfish,” Kell-Abrams said. “You think points will get you called up. You think, ‘How many shots am I getting?’ And D.B. says, ‘You know what, I’m going to pass the ball. I’m going to pass the ball in a league that doesn’t want to.’ And that’s why everybody wants to come play with him. That’s why we were able to get Riley Minix here to play with him. That’s what we were able to get Malaki Branham…Olivier Sarr. Like, these guys want to come be here.”
While many will remember this season for the on-court success that the Charge had, Brown will remember it for how special this group was.
“The stuff I remember most is always the stuff off the court,” Brown said. “I’ll just remember things from after team dinners, going out to Top Golf or doing stuff like that with the staff and everybody. That’s the stuff I’ll remember more than anything we did on the court, although that was very successful.”
Before the season, Kell-Abrams laid out two goals. He wanted to develop NBA talent and be successful on the court. He did both. The Charge finished with their second-best winning percentage for a regular season in their history and had numerous players called up. This was a successful season, even though it didn’t end how they wanted it to.
“Forty-eight minuts of not our best basketball doesn’t define us,” Kell-Abrams said.
Williams outpitches Yamamoto, and Ramírez hits 1st homer of season as Guardians top Dodgers 4-1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin Williams struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings, outpitching World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and José Ramírez hit his first home run of the season to lead the Cleveland Guardians past the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 on Wednesday.
Gabriel Arias also went deep for the Guardians, who took two of three games in the series from the two-time defending champions.
Williams (1-1) walked three and allowed only two hits, both singles by Andy Pages. Freddie Freeman homered off Cade Smith with two outs in the ninth, spoiling Cleveland's shutout bid.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Knicks close out four-game road trip with wire-to-wire win over Grizzlies
The Knicks salvaged their four-game road trip with a convincing 130-119 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Here are the takeaways...
-- Without top scoring threat Jalen Brunson in the game due to right ankle soreness, New York needed its other players to step up and make some shots and make shots they did. It was an all-out team effort in the first quarter with the Knicks putting up 48 points in the opening 12 minutes of the game, the most points they've scored in any quarter this season.
-- Nine players saw the court in the first quarter and all nine made at least one field goal, including Ariel Hukporti, who saw extended minutes for the first time since March 13 against the Indiana Pacers.
Mikal Bridges led the way by going 3-for-3 from the field and drilling his only three-point attempt. But it wasn't just Bridges as New York shot 81 percent from the field in the first and 100 percent from downtown (5-for-5). They also didn't miss from the free-throw line, going 9-for-9.
-- Overall, the Knicks missed just four shots in the opening frame and were getting anything they wanted offensively. Still, it wasn’t their best defensive effort as they allowed the Grizzlies to score 30 points.
-- The second quarter saw more of the same as Bridges continued his scoring barrage with Karl-Anthony Towns also heavily involved. New York wasn't able to keep up its first-quarter field-goal percentage in the second, but it still shot 71 percent from the field (70 percent from three) going into halftime and still didn't miss from the charity stripe (14-for-14). Along with the starters, it also got some nice contributions from Tyler Kolek and Landry Shamet.
-- Given their ridiculous offensive production, the Knicks outrebounded Memphis 21-6 at the break and had more offensive rebounds (eight) than the Grizzlies had total rebounds. Regardless, Memphis shot a more than respectable 56 percent from the field in the first half and had 62 points at halftime, even outscoring New York 32-31 in the second quarter. Of course, it was outshone by the Knicks' 79 points and 17-point lead at the half.
-- What felt like a clear and obvious win for New York for the entirety of the first half came crashing back down to Earth in the third quarter when the Grizzlies just kept chipping away and made it a game, relying on players like GG Jackson II, who led his team with 20 points, and Javon Small.
After an Adama Bal three-pointer with 2:48 left in the quarter made it 90-87, what was once a Knicks lead as large as 22 points was shriveled to three points.
-- The near total collapse by New York came from turnovers, continued bad defense and not having a player to defer to to put an end to a run. That changed in the fourth quarter when OG Anunoby put the team on his back and killed any thought the Grizzlies may have had to come back and win the game.
-- Entering the fourth quarter with just eight points, Anunoby scored 17 in the final frame, in which the Knicks needed every bit of it as Memphis continued to apply pressure. Anunoby finished with a game-high 25 points and led everybody with 13 rebounds.
-- Meanwhile, Towns had a triple-double (20-11-11) and Bridges finished with 24 points in Brunson's absence. New York's bench had a good game, scoring 41 points and dishing out 11 assists (seven via Kolek).
Game MVP: OG Anunoby
Even though KAT finished with a triple-double, Anunoby made some big shots when it looked like the Knicks might blow their massive lead and had a double-double in his own right.
Highlights
Mikal 👌 pic.twitter.com/oMqKRVZbH4
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 2, 2026
48 points in the first quarter for the Knicks! pic.twitter.com/GUCVVuGfep
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 2, 2026
KAT finds Bridges! pic.twitter.com/k4Q9Y7Ikys
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 2, 2026
Landry and-one from the corner! pic.twitter.com/CtGEGaHaVe
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 2, 2026
KAT whips it in to OG and then he throws it down! pic.twitter.com/mBozYuzVun
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 2, 2026
What's next
The Knicks return home for a Friday night showdown with the Chicago Bulls starting at 7:30 p.m.
Portland fined $100,000, two executives suspended for illegal pre-draft contact with Yang Hansen
The Portland Trail Blazers have been fined $100,000, and two of their assistant general managers — Sergi Oliva and Mike Schmitz — have been suspended for two weeks without pay, all for making illegal pre-draft contact with Yang Hansen in December of 2023, the NBA announced.
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/qwS5bJogse
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 1, 2026
The Trail Blazers released this statement (via Sean Highkin of the must-read Rose Garden Report):
"When this was brought to our attention the Portland Trail Blazers self reported to the NBA. The team cooperated fully with the investigation and accept the league's determination."
Hansen was a surprise No. 16 pick of the Trail Blazers last June, and when asked about the unexpected selection at the time, the Trail Blazers responded they had been watching him closely for years. Apparently, that's true. The 20-year-old, 7'1" center out of China has been compared to Nikola Jokic because he has a similar skill set in many ways, including being a gifted passer.
Hansen has shown flashes of that skill set but has a lot of development — both physically and with his game — before he is ready for rotation NBA minutes. Hansen has shown more of that potential with the Rip City Remix — Portland's G League affiliate — where, in 14 games, he has averaged 17.1 points and 9.1 rebounds. He has played in 41 Trail Blazers games but is averaging just 7.2 minutes and 2.3 points per game.
Thursday's Time Schedule
All Times EDT
Thursday, April 2
MLB
Minnesota at Kansas City, 2:10 p.m.
Atlanta at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.
N.Y. Mets at San Francisco, 9:45 p.m.
NBA
Minnesota at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m.
Cleveland at Golden State, 10 p.m.
New Orleans at Portland, 10 p.m.
San Antonio at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
NHL
Boston at Florida, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Washington at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Winnipeg at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Chicago at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
Calgary at Vegas, 10 p.m.
Toronto at San Jose, 10 p.m.
Utah at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Nashville at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
_____
Sheppard scores 27 points on a career-high 9 3s in the Rockets' win over the the Bucks
HOUSTON (AP) — Reed Sheppard scored 27 points on a career-high nine 3-pointers, Alperen Sengun added 25 points and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 119-113 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory.
Kevin Durant finished with 19 points and nine assists, Amen Thompson had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 12 points for the Rockets. They shot 47% from the field, going 18 of 42 on 3-pointers.
Houston had 30 assists on 41 field goals and forced the Bucks into 15 turnovers that they converted into 18 points.
Ousmane Dieng had a career-high 36 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists for Milwaukee. Cormac Ryan had a season-high 25 points, Pete Nance added a career-high 23. AJ Green had 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Bucks shot 47% and were 17 of 40 on 3-pointers. They made 10 3-pointers in the third as they cut Houston’s 20-point lead to seven by the end of the quarter.
Gary Trent Jr. exited with a hip contusion with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first after hitting the ground hard while diving for a loose ball at midcourt. He walked to the locker room holding his right side. Trent’s exit left the Bucks with seven available players after Ryan Rollins was ruled out with a right hip strain.
Down 112-100 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the fourth, the Bucks reeled off eight straight to close within four on two free throws by Dieng. Sengun made two free throws to push the lead to six with 1:06 remaining.
After the teams traded baskets, Jericho Sims made 1 of 2 free throws, but after the Bucks stole the ball, Ryan missed a 3-pointer. Houston got the rebound, and Sengun made 1 of 2 free throws with 16 seconds left to push the lead back to six.
Up next
Bucks: Host Boston on Friday night.
Rockets: Host Utah on Friday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Sarah Fillier gets her 1st PWHL hat trick in overtime to help the Sirens beat the Frost 4-3 in OT
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Sarah Fillier scored two goals 14 seconds apart in the third period and she completed her first PWHL hat trick in overtime as the New York Sirens ended a four-game skid with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Wednesday night.
New York (8-1-3-12) won at the Prudential Center for the first time since March 8 when Fillier had two goals and three points.
Minnesota (11-3-4-6) has lost three straight games for the first time this season.
The Sirens fell behind 1-0 just 16 seconds into the game as Taylor Heise scored on the first shot of the game.
Minnesota forward Grace Zumwinkle scored the only goal of the second period and she added another 44 seconds into the third for a 3-1 lead. Five of her 11 goals this season have come against New York.
Fillier started the comeback by jumping out of the penalty box, intercepting the puck and scoring on a breakaway to get within 3-2 with 7:40 to go. Then she sent in a rebound to tie it seconds later.
In overtime, Fillier received a centering pass from Maja Nylén Persson and flicked it over the glove of Maddie Rooney for her seventh goal in the last six games.
Minnesota had won the three previous meetings with New York this season. Zumwinkle scored twice when the teams met in the Denver Takeover Tour game in March. She has seven points in four games against the Sirens this season.
Up next
Minnesota returns home to play the Vancouver Goldeneyes on Saturday.
New York will host the first PWHL game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday against the Seattle Torrent. The Sirens announced the game is sold out, with an arena capacity of more than 18,000.
___
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Pacers beat the Bulls 145-126 to move out of the NBA basement
CHICAGO (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and the Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 145-126 on Wednesday night to move out of the NBA basement.
Coming off a home victory over Miami on Sunday, the injury-ravaged Pacers had their highest-scoring game of the season. They improved to 18-58 to move a game ahead of last-place Washington.
Ethan Thompson added 24 points, and Kobe Brown and Jay Huff each had 17.
Guerschon Yabusele led Chicago with 20 points, and Collin Sexton had 18. The Bulls have lost five straight — the first four on the road — to fall to 29-47.
Up next
Pacers: At Charlotte on Friday night.
Bulls: At New York on Friday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Grizzlies Brandon Clarke arrested in Arkansas for speeding, possession of a controlled substance
Memphis forward Brandon Clarke was arrested in Arkansas on Wednesday on charges that included possession of a controlled substance and fleeing in excess of the speed limit.
"I'm aware of the report, but don't have any comments," Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said prior to his team's game in New York, via the Associated Press.
The Cross County Sheriff’s Department booked Clarke on charges of improper passing, possession of a controlled substance, trafficking a controlled substance, and fleeing in a vehicle exceeding the speed limit. In Arkansas, the difference between possession and trafficking of a controlled substance is about the amount of the drug the suspect is found with. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reached out to the Cross County Sheriff's Department but they refused to comment on the arrest.
Clarke played in just two games this season, missing the start of the season following right knee surgery, then straining his right calf just two games into his return. Last week, the Grizzlies ruled him out for the season.
Injuries have slowed Clarke's career in recent years. He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2020 and was a quality big man off the bench for the Grizzlies for a few years earlier this decade (earning a little Sixth Man of the Year recognition in 2022). However, in 2024 he played in just six games, he bounced back with 64 last season until he injured his knee, then came the two games this season.
Clarke, in his seventh NBA season out of Gonzaga, is under contract for $12.5 million this season and next.