Category: Basketball

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anthony Mantha scored twice, Sidney Crosby made it three in an early 37-second span and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 on Thursday night.

The 37-second spree was the fastest three goals in Penguins history and the fastest three allowed by the Oilers.

The Penguins scored on three of their first four shots. Just 2:20 in, Justin Brazeau made a nifty pass through a defender’s legs to Mantha, who deflected it in. Twenty-two seconds later, Mantha scored on a breakaway. Crosby struck 15 seconds after that, deflecting a pass from the slot into the net.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, Rickard Rakell, and Egor Chinakhov also scored and Arturs Silovs made 30 saves. The Penguins have won three straight and are 10-2-2 in their last 14 to get to 25-14-11.

Jake Walman and Matthew Savoie scored for Edmonton, and Tristan Jarry made 16 saves against his former team. The Oilers have lost two in a row and four of six to fall to 25-19-8.

Connor McDavid was held pointless in consecutive games are the first time this season. The last time he went two games without a point was Feb. 7 and Feb. 22, 2025, a pair of matches broken up by the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Up next

Penguins: At Vancouver on Sunday.

Oilers: Host Washington on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored six of his 36 points in overtime, Joel Embiid had 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Houston Rockets 128-122 on Thursday night.

Kelly Oubre Jr. added 26 points for the 76ers, who evened their home record at 12-12. Paul George returned to the lineup for Philadelphia after missing two straight games due to left knee injury management and had 10 points.

Kevin Durant scored 36 points for the Rockets, who had won three in a row. Amen Thompson added 17 for Houston.

The 76ers scored the first five points of the extra session, on George’s 3-pointer and VJ Edgecombe’s follow from close range after he grabbed an offensive rebound, to take control.

Philadelphia had a chance to win it in regulation, but Durant blocked Maxey’s driving layup attempt with 13.2 seconds left. Maxey added 10 assists.

The 76ers opened up a 94-88 lead early in the fourth quarter, but it took 3:23 for Philadelphia to score another point. Reed Sheppard’s third 3-pointer of the quarter put Houston up 105-96 with 6:25 remaining. The 76ers tied it twice late in regulation, the last on Maxey’s layup with 40.1 seconds left.

HORNETS 124, MAGIC 97

ORLANDO (AP) — LaMelo Ball returned to Charlotte’s starting lineup and had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a win over Orlando.

Ball, who a night earlier had one of the worst shooting performances of his career when he came off the bench as part of a plan to manage his minutes, went 6 for 12 from the field and 4 for 8 from 3-point distance against Orlando. In a loss to Cleveland on Wednesday, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft finished with two points on 1-of-15 shooting, including 0 of 10 from 3-point range.

Brandon Miller scored 20 points to lead Charlotte’s balanced effort. Collin Sexton came off the bench and scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half, Kon Knueppel and Tidjane Salaunadded added 13 apiece, and Miles Bridges, Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner each scored 10.

Paolo Banchero scored 23 points, and Desmond Bane added 21 for the Magic. Moritz Wagner scored 14, Noah Penda added 13 and Jeff Howard 10.

NUGGETS 107, WIZARDS 97

WASHINGTON (AP) — Peyton Watson scored a career-high 35 points to lead short-handed Denver to a victory over Washington.

Jamal Murray added 24 points for the Nuggets, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points in his return after missing 11 games with a strained calf. Aaron Gordon also scored 16 points.

Nikola Jokic missed his 13th consecutive game for Denver with a hyperextended left knee.

Kyshawn George scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Washington, which lost its eighth in a row. Tre Johnson added 19 points for the Wizards, who dropped 14 consecutive games from late October to early December.

Washington shot a season-worst 38.1% (32 of 84) to sink to 10-33, one game ahead of last-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards never never led after halftime, but pulled into an 83-all tie after Alex Sarr’s free throw early in the fourth quarter.

MAVERICKS 123, WARRIORS 115

DALLAS (AP) — Naji Marshall tied his season highs with 30 points and nine assists, and Dallas beat Golden State, winning a season-best fourth consecutive game while dropping the Warriors to 0-2 since Jimmy Butler’s season-ending knee injury.

Stephen Curry scored 38 points and was 8 of 15 from 3-point range on the night the Warriors’ superstar became the first in NBA history to attempt 10,000 shots from beyond the arc. He’s now 4,222 of 10,007 from deep.

Cooper Flagg had 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in 30 minutes when Dallas’ rookie No. 1 pick was supposed to be limited to 20-25 minutes in his second game back since missing a pair with a sprained left ankle.

Max Christie also had 21 points, Brandon Williams scored 19 off the bench and Dwight Powell had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Klay Thompson hit two first-half 3s for six points against his former team.

The Warriors were up one midway through the fourth quarter when Draymond Green was called for a flagrant foul that had him arguing with the officials. Less than a minute later, another foul by Green was reviewed but not called flagrant.

Green argued anyway as he went to the bench after the second foul, and the Mavs continued on an 11-0 run that started after the flagrant foul. Green fouled out with 3:50 remaining.

BULLS 120, TIMBERWOLVES 115

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Coby White scored 22 points, Josh Giddey added 21 off the bench, and Jalen Smith converted two clutch free throws late to lift Chicago to a win over Minnesota.

Chicago overcame a 14-point, first-half deficit and also withstood a 13-0 run from Minnesota in the fourth quarter. White hit a clutch 3-pointer from the corner to keep it a one-point game with 1:06 to play.

After White’s corner 3-pointer, Minnesota committed a pair of costly turnovers in the final minute. Jaden McDaniels lost the ball out of bounds for Minnesota, and Chicago’s Tre Jones made a layup at the other end with 31.1 seconds to play. Smith then converted at the line with 11 seconds remaining, and Minnesota failed to hit a shot in its next possession.

Julius Randle, who was on the injury report with left foot soreness, had a team-high 30 points for Minnesota, but also committed a late turnover. Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid each added 20 points, and McDaniels scored 16 in the loss.

After White was whistled for a travel with 2:08 to play, both teams traded baskets in the ensuing possessions. Edwards hit a shot in the lane and Smith responded with a dunk. McDaniels then converted a corner 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 115-111. But that ended up being the last points scored by the Timberwolves. Chicago went on a 9-0 run in the final 1:06.

The loss was a season-high fourth in a row for Minnesota. Chicago has won three straight.

SPURS 126, JAZZ 109

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 31 points, Victor Wembanyama had 26 points and 13 rebounds and San Antonio defeated Utah.

Fox shot 10 of 13 from the field with six 3-pointers. Wembanyama — along with five blocks — shot 9 of 14 with four 3s one game after a 5-of-21 performance in a loss to Houston.

Keldon Johnson added 21 points and Stephon Castle had 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as the Spurs won their fourth game in their last five.

Utah’s Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for his second triple-double in as many games, and third of his career. The Jazz went more than 15 seasons (2008-24) without a single triple-double until the consecutive performances by Nurkic.

The center became the first Jazz player to have back-to-back triple doubles since Pete Maravich in January 1975.

Most of Nurkic’s 14 career-high assists came on back-door passes from the high post and resulted in dunks and layups for his teammates — but they didn’t do enough on the defensive end.

Ace Bailey scored a career-high 25 points and Keyonte George had 23, but none in the fourth quarter as the Spurs finished on a 27-10 spurt and handed the Jazz their fifth loss in the last six games.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart beat Connor Hellebuyck in a shootout to help give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

Winnipeg shooters Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele came up empty against Daniil Tarasov in the tiebreaker.

Sam Bennett scored in regulation, and Tarasov stopped 17 shots for two-time defending champion Florida. Matthew Tkachuk had an assist for his first point of the season in his second game back from adductor muscle surgery.

The Panthers are 4-2-0 in their last six to improve to 26-20-3.

Cole Perfetti scored for Winnipeg, and Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots. The Jets are 5-1-2 in their last eight to get to 20-23-7.

Bennett scored his 18th of the season with a one-timer with 1:11 left in the second. Perfetti tied it at 5:24 of the third.

Up next

Panthers: At Minnesota on Saturday night.

Jets: Host Detroit on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — American-born players Richy Ledezma and Brian Gutiérrez made their debuts and helped the Mexican national team break a six-match winless streak with a 1-0 win over Panama in a warmup match Thursday for this year's World Cup.

Defender Richard Peralta scored an own goal in the 92nd minute to give Mexico its first win since last July, when it beat the United States in the Gold Cup final.

Ledezma, who was born in Phoenix to Mexican parents, made the one-time switch with FIFA after playing official matches with the United States. He started the match and played all 90 minutes.

Gutierrez, who was born in Berwyn, Illinois, did not have to apply for a country switch because he only played friendlies for the U.S. against Venezuela and Costa Rica in January 2025.

“Those were good minutes, I’m taking it one step at a time and now I’ll continue to grow,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, who also was a starter and left the match in the 57th minute, was also on the CONCACAF Nations League roster last March but never got into a game.

Obed Vargas, who was born in Anchorage, Alaska, also was a starter for Mexico.

“Those three guys that were born in the United States and decided to play for Mexico, and for that reason alone they deserve my respect,” said Mexico’s coach Javier Aguirre. “The three started off well, they’re kids with a future, I’m happy.”

Vargas, a midfielder, earned his first cap with the Mexico senior team in October 2024 with a substitute appearance against the United States in a 2-0 victory.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos broke a tie with 2:13 left with his third goal of the game and the Nashville Predators overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Thursday night.

After Stamkos tied it at 3 with 9:53 left with his second power-play goal of the game, Ryan O’Reilly beat the Senators to the puck behind the goal line and popped it out front to Stamkos, who batted it out of the air past goalie James Reimer.

O’Reilly set up the tying goal, too, firing a cross-crease feed to Stamkos with the man advantage. Nashville got the power play when Tim Stutzle cross-checked Stamkos.

Predators captain Roman Josi, playing his 1,000th NHL game, also assisted on the tying goal. The defenseman is the 84th player in NHL history to play his first 1,000 regular-season games with one franchise.

Stamkos had his second hat trick of the season and 16th overall to push his season goals total to 24. Jonathan Marchessault also scored, and Cole Smith had an empty-netter. Juuse Saros made 23 saves to help Nashville end a three-game losing streak.

Stephen Halliday scored his first NHL goal, and Ridly Greig and Dylan Cozens added goals for Ottawa. Reimer, making his third straight start after signing with the Senators on Jan. 12, stopped 21 shots.

Ottawa closed a three-game trip. It had earned points in five straight games.

Halliday opened the scoring at 6:03 of the first period, knocking in a rebound. With David Perron out after surgery to repair a sports hernia, Halliday was recalled from Belleville of the AHL in the morning. He scored in his 19th NHL game, all this season.

Up next

Senators: Host Carolina on Saturday night to open a four-game homestand.

Predators: Host Utah on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Rockets, the 76ers, and overtime. Three things that have been synonymous over the last couple of seasons. Unfortunately, the Rockets being on the road and losing has also become synonymous. Tonight, the Rockets got to experience all of the above. The Rockets got another brilliant performance from Kevin Durant who scored 36 points, 7 rebound and 3 assists on 13-of-21 shooting. The Rockets had five other players in double figures and shot the ball extremely well. If you didn’t watch the game,you may be wondering how the Rockets lost?

It starts with allowing the 76ers to shoot 55.1 percent from the field and score 66 points in the paint. The pick-and-roll with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embid absolutely cooked the Rockets. Maxey score 36 points and dished out 10 assists in a game where he was getting to the middle of the defense and to the rim at will. Joel Embid scored one of the quietest 30+ point 15+ rebound triple-doubles I’ve seen in some time. Kelly Oubre Jr. also went unconscious offensively with 26 points on 10-of-14 from the field.

The game went back and forth throughout the game, each team taking a nine-point lead at one point, and each team going on a run to close the gap. Regardless of all the defensive lapses, miscues, and turnovers, the Rockets missed 12 free-throws in a game that they lost by sis points. The Rockets inability to focus at the line and make a free-throw is officially a concern. Other than Kevin Durant, no one has been good at the line. Those free-throws, if made, can make up for a lot of other things any given night, but for the Rockets it’s becoming a glaring weakness.

Bright spots in the game were the play of Tari Eason, who seemed to be getting back into regular form, and Reed Sheppard coming up big in the fourth quarter, not only offensively but on the defensive end with steals and deflections. The Rockets had 35 bench points, Tari Eason with 13 of those points and Reed Sheppard with 14 points. Clint Capela added some quality defensive minutes off the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith went 2-0f-4 from the three-point line.

Fourth quarter execution, or the lack thereof, was once again the story for the Rockets, who honestly lost the game in regulation, but a goaltending was not called when Kevin Durant blocked a Tyrese Maxey layup after it hot the backboard. The basketball gods would preserve justice as the Rockets were only able to score 7 points in the overtime period.

Th loss puts the Rockets record at 26-16 as we move just past the midway point of the season. That record is good enough for 4th in the Western Conference, but the Rockets are 5-5 in their last 10 and just 3-11 on the road since the beginning of December. That will need to improve quickly. Hopefully, as soon as tomorrow when the Rockets take on the 1st seeded Detroit Pistons in Detroit. Traveling after a deflating overtime loss will make things more difficult, but if you’re a veteran fan of Houston sports then you know that making things difficult rather than easy is what we do. Check in with TDS tomorrow for a preview of the game against the Pistons, Rockets discussion during the game, and a post-game recap.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Kennedy Blair scored 21 points, and No. 13 Michigan State women held off Southern California's late surge for a 74-68 victory on Thursday night.

Michigan State opened the fourth quarter on a 13-5 run to stretch its lead to 66-54 with 5:15 remaining. Jazzy Davidson scored the last five points in a 10-0 run to help pull USC to 66-64 with 4:10 left before the Spartans sealed it from the free-throw line. Blair led the Spartans with eight points.

Blair shot 8 of 15 from the floor overall, made 5 of 6 free throws and had five steals. Grace VanSlooten scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds for Michigan State (18-2, 7-2 Big Ten), which rebounded from a 75-68 loss to then-No. 10 Iowa. Rashunda Jones scored 16 points and Ines Sotelo added 12 to go with seven rebounds for the Spartans.

Michigan State scored 25 points from 24 USC turnovers.

Kara Dunn scored 23 points and Jazzy Davidson added 21 to lead USC (11-8, 3-5). Kennedy Smith scored 15 points.

Up next

USC: At No. 7 Michigan on Sunday.

Michigan State: At Purdue on Thursday.

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All Times EST

Friday, Jan. 23

NBA

Houston at Detroit, 7 p.m.

Boston at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.

Sacramento at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

New Orleans at Memphis, 8 p.m.

Denver at Milwaukee, 9:30 p.m.

Toronto at Portland, 10 p.m.

NHL

Tampa Bay at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Vegas at Toronto, 7 p.m.

St. Louis at Dallas, 8 p.m.

Philadelphia at Colorado, 9 p.m.

Washington at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Anaheim at Seattle, 10 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at San Jose, 10 p.m.

New Jersey at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

T25 MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

No. 3 Michigan vs. Ohio St., 8 p.m.

No. 24 Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure, 5:30 p.m.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Oliver Moore scored in the shootout on his 21st birthday and Spencer Knight stopped five of six shots by Carolina to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 shootout win over the Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Connor Murphy, Ilya Mikheyev and Nick Lardis scored in regulation for the Blackhawks. Knight, who shut out Winnipeg on Monday night, made 28 saves in regulation and overtime for his second straight win.

Joel Nystrom, Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake scored for the Hurricanes, whose five-game home winning streak ended. Frederik Andersen stopped 18 shots and four more in the shootout.

The win capped an eventful night for Moore, who celebrated a milestone birthday. He was on the wrong side of a fight with Alexander Nikishin in the second period and then nearly won the game in overtime but was robbed by Andersen.

Chicago led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, but couldn’t put the Hurricanes away in regulation. Carolina has yet to lose in regulation with top defenseman Jaccob Slavin in the lineup (8-0-3).

Murphy and Blake traded goals 82 seconds apart near in the back half of the third period to send it to overtime.

Andersen came up with a pair saves — on Moore and Frank Nazar — in the third period to keep the game tied at 2 . He made two bigger saves — on Wyatt Kaiser and Moore — in overtime.

The Hurricanes tied it at 2 on Staal’s first goal since Dec. 19 at 9:16 of the second. Chicago had taken a 2-1 advantage after Lardis’ goal at 4:35 in the second.

Mikheyev swatted in his own rebound at 11:12 in the first to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead. It was Mikheyev’s first short-handed goal of the season.

Nystrom tied it with his first NHL goal at 12:50 in the first. The rookie defenseman has nine points in 36 games.

Up next

Blackhawks: Host Tampa Bay on Friday night.

Hurricanes: Travel to Ottawa on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Sovereignty won Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night, as well as 3-year-old male honors, and Bill Mott, who guided the colt to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, was named trainer of the year.

Sovereignty skipped the Preakness and won the Belmont during Triple Crown season. He was forced to miss the Breeders’ Cup Classic because of a fever.

The 55th annual ceremony at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach also crowned Ted Noffey as 2-year-old male horse, capping a season in which he went 4-for-4, including a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

The colt trainer by Todd Pletcher is the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby in May.

Ted Noffey won his career debut at Saratoga in August. He followed up with an 8 1/2-length victory in the Hopeful Stakes at the upstate New York track. Then came a 2 3/4-length win in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. He closed 2025 with a one-length win in the BC Juvenile at Del Mar.

In other categories, Flavien Prat won jockey of the year and Pietro Moran was named apprentice jockey. Godolphin LLC, the racing and breeding operation of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, won as owner. Godolphin was named breeder of the year.

Other male winners were Japan-bred Forever Young as older dirt male; Book'em Danno as male sprinter; and Britain-bred Notable Speech as male turf horse.

Among female horses, Super Corredora won as 2-year-old filly; Nitrogen was chosen 3-year-old filly; Thorpedo Anna was named older dirt female; Shisospicy won female sprinter; and She Feels Pretty won female turf horse honors.

Cool Jet took steeplechase horse honors.

Named for the 18th-century horse and sire Eclipse, the awards are voted on by members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jaloni Cambridge scored 22 points and Chance Gray and Kennedy Cambridge each added 13 for No. 12 Ohio State in an 81-67 comeback win over Indiana on Thursday night.

The Buckeyes (18-2, 7-1 Big Ten) were down 42-32 at halftime. But a 14-1 run in the third quarter, lasting almost three minutes, gave the Buckeyes the lead they would not relinquish. It is the fifth time this season Ohio State has gone into halftime trailing before going on to win the game.

Jaloni Cambridge scored 13 points in the second half and Gray added 10.

Lenée Beaumont scored 20 for Indiana (11-9, 0-8) and Shay Ciezki, the Big Ten's leading scorer, added 19 before fouling out. Zania Socka-Nguemen had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ciezki was 7 of 11 from the field, including five made 3-pointers.

Indiana committed 26 turnovers, 15 in the second half, which turned into 34 Buckeye points. The Hoosiers shot 56.4% from the field, including 11 of 17 from 3-point range.

Up next

Indiana: Visits Purdue on Sunday.

Ohio State: Visits No. 10 Iowa on Sunday.

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MONTREAL (AP) — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves, Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn and Zach Benson gave Buffalo an early lead and the Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Thursday night for their 17th victory in 21 games.

Peyton Krebs added an empty-netter in the third. The Sabres improved to 28-17-5, beating Montreal for the second time in eight days.

Cole Caufield scored for the fourth straight game for Montreal, and Nick Suzuki also connected, The Canadiens dropped to 28-16-7. They had won two in a row.

Samuel Montembeault stopped 13 shots in his first regulation loss since being called up from a conditioning assignment with Laval of the AHL on Dec. 27.

Buffalo is two points behind Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Up next

Sabres: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Canadiens: At Boston on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Golden State Warriors Thursday night, winning 123-115. The win brings the Mavericks’ record to 19-26. The Warriors drop to 25-21. Steph Curry led all scorers with 38 points, while Naji Marshall led Dallas with 30.

The game started about an hour earlier than most Mavericks home games, and the disruption in the schedule seemed to throw both teams. The Warriors didn’t score until 8:32 left in the first quarter, when a Steph Curry 3-pointer finally got them on the board. The Mavericks didn’t fare much better, though, only able to open a 6-0 lead in that time. The teams finally found some offensive rhythm midway through the first quarter, but couldn’t sustain it. The Warriors continued to miss shots in the second quarter, but found their way to the line. The Mavericks started hitting some shots, but kept turning the ball over. With some tough rebounding and getting out on fast breaks often, Dallas was able to grind out a 55-50 lead at halftime.

The Warriors came out firing in the third quarter and took the lead, but couldn’t keep the momentum going. The Mavericks looked like the better team for a large stretch of the third. The only problem was Steph Curry. He simply decided Golden State wasn’t going to roll over and unleashed a flurry of shots, scoring 13 points in the quarter. His offensive burst opened things up for his teammates, and by the end of the third, the Warriors had flipped the Mavericks’ five-point lead and went up 89-84.

Dallas refused to quit, though. They muddied up the game and then got their own momentum, taking a big lead halfway through the fourth quarter. The constant pressure from the Mavericks seemed to wear down the Warriors, who suddenly couldn’t score or get a stop. The Mavericks took a double-digit lead with a 24-5 run. Once they had the lead, Dallas just grinded out the last four minutes, taking home the win.

Here are three thoughts from the game:

Cooper’s complete game

Halfway through Flagg’s rookie season, it’s becoming obvious that he’s got a well-rounded game. He does a little of everything on the stat sheet, and some things that don’t show up in the box score. That was on full display tonight. To go along with his 21 points, he also put up 11 rebounds, two assists, and a steal. He was active on defense all night and put pressure on the Warriors when he had the ball. The only thing really missing from his game right now is consistent 3-point shooting. There’s no reason to think he won’t figure that out. The great ones have an almost supernatural ability to sharpen the weak edges in their game, and Flagg is showing some glaring potential of greatness.

Sloppy play almost gave the game away

The Mavericks played better than the Warriors for most of the game tonight. They dominated the boards, scored more points on fast breaks and in the paint, and shot better. But they almost gave the game away because they couldn’t stop giving the ball away. They turned the ball over 22 times on Thursday, conceding 21 points off those give aways. They tightened it up in the fourth quarter when they went on the run to take over the game, but still turned it over five times in the last period. (Some of those were in absolute garbage time.) Once they held onto the ball, they took a commanding lead and coasted to the win.

The Mavericks need a veteran point guard

Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams are fun players. I’ve enjoyed watching them this year, and I hope at least one of them is on the team for a couple years. But the Mavericks need a veteran point guard who can run the offense and make the offense easier for the rest of the team. Especially for Flagg. Nembhard and Williams just don’t have the experience, and it shows at times. The offense becomes disjointed and inconsistent for stretches, and with the close games the Mavericks play, those stretches of stalled offense are the difference between wins and losses. It’s much too early to start thinking of specific players, but it’s something Dallas front office should have on their mind this summer.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jet Greaves had 28 saves for his third career shutout, Zach Werenski scored his 19th goal of the season, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars 1-0 on Thursday night.

Werenski scored at 8:48 of the first period with a wrist shot from the right circle that went through traffic and inside the far post with assists from Damon Severson and Isac Lundestrom, who had missed 12 games with a lower-body injury suffered in practice on Dec. 27.

The Blue Jackets have now won five of their last six.

Casey DeSmith stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced but could not prevent the Stars from losing for the fourth time in their last five games. The Stars outshot the Blue Jackets 28-22.

Blue Jackets forward Charlie Coyle played in his 1,000th career game, the fifth player to reach the mark in a Columbus uniform. He scored into an empty net late in the game but the goal was disallowed for offside.

The former first-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks has 199 goals and 316 assists in his career with Minnesota, Boston, Colorado and Columbus.

Mason Marchment returned to the Blue Jackets lineup after missing eight games with an upper-body injury suffered Jan. 4 against Pittsburgh.

Up next

Stars: Play at home against St. Louis on Friday night.

Blue Jackets: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday night in the third game of a five-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl