Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had missed nine games with an abdominal strain [Getty Images]
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander marked his return from injury with 36 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime.
The NBA's reigning Most Valuable Player had been out of action since sustaining an abdominal strain on 3 February and missed nine games.
He played 34 minutes on his return, but remained on the bench in overtime as Alex Caruso guided the Thunder to their sixth win from their past eight games.
"Felt good," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "I'm just thankful to be back."
The 27-year-old was in the action from the start, opening his account with a layup before being called for an early technical foul for throwing the ball at Denver's Nikola Jokic who made contact with him after play had stopped.
Thunder forward Luguentz Dort was later ejected for a flagrant foul after he tripped Jokic, sparking a shoving match that saw Jokic and Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams receive technical fouls.
Caruso drove to the basket in the final seconds of regulation, but his shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer to send the game to extra time.
However, the Thunder scored the first five points in overtime and hung on for the win to maintain their two-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs at the top of the Western Conference.
Las Vegas, NV - JULY 5: Alen Smailagic #6 of the Golden State Warriors and Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors talk during the game against the Charlotte Hornets during Day 1 of the 2019 Las Vegas Summer League on July 5, 2019 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Yours truly built a bracket around the most important question of the Two-Timelines era. It’s not about who was the best, but who did you believe in the most? Eight ex-Warriors drafted after Kevin Durant left. Three rounds. One crown. I seeded it by emotional gravity: draft expectations, peak belief, and how long you kept the faith. And now the voting starts.
First matchup: the #1 seed Jordan Poole against the #8 seed Alen Smailagic.
I was in Las Vegas for Summer League 2019 when Jordan Poole first put on a Warriors uniform. KD had just left. Kawhi and PG had just linked up in LA. The dynasty felt like it was genuinely over. And in the middle of all that noise, this 19-year-old kid from Michigan with a quick trigger and absolutely zero fear was out there getting buckets like the scoreboard owed him money.
I wrote about him that summer. I stayed high on him even when most people weren’t sure. Then the G League bubble happened in 2021 and everything changed. Pre-bubble, he was averaging 5.5 points on 42.6% shooting in under 10 minutes a game. Post-bubble, he was up to 14.7 points on 43.3% in 23.5 minutes. Same player, more runway, and that’s all he needed.
Dr. Tom and I wrote a whole season review for the legendary Warriors publication Dub Nation HQ about how Jordan Poole had arrived. By the end of the 2020-21 season, he was drawing shooting fouls at a slightly higher rate than Steph Curry. Steve Kerr said he gets places most players can’t get to. We compared him to Leandro Barbosa as a compliment. We meant it.
And then 2022 happened and it wasn’t the Barbosa ceiling anymore.
Four 20-point games off the bench in the playoffs at age 22 proved he was the sparkplug the Warriors needed to keep their offense rolling. He started showing out on the biggest stages, with no hesitation, serving up Poole Parties to defenders when the franchise needed him most. Dub Nation didn’t just believe Jordan Poole was good, we believed Jordan Poole was going to be the one who kept all of this going after Steph. The dream was that he’d evolve into some kind of Steph clone. And can you blame us? The slippery handles, the outrageous shotmaking, the dead-eye free throws in addition to watching the student take buzzer beaters from the master IN THE ACTUAL NBA FINALS. The next chapter wrote itself in our heads.
Then October 5, 2022 happened in practice.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the punch at the time, and honestly I’m still not. What I do know is that the season that followed was the most complicated thing I’ve ever had to cover as a Warriors writer. Poole played all 82 games. He averaged 20.4 points, 4.5 assists, 87% from the free throw line. Without Curry in the lineup, he averaged 26.1 points and 5 assists per game.
But then he’d have games where the turnovers were genuinely indefensible. Games where his shot chart looked like it was affiliated with the Bloods; his playoff shot chart had so much red on it that it was genuinely alarming. In the 2023 playoffs against the Lakers, he shot 34% from the field and 25% from three.
Steph got ejected throwing his mouthguard in pure frustration after a Poole decision in a must-win game. Klay could only watch in horror; he finally ran into someone with less of a conscience than the Splash Bros.
That summer, young Poole was traded to Washington for Chris Paul.
I wrote a season review about that too at DNHQ titled “How Jordan Poole’s Warriors Tenure Ended.” I tried to be fair. I noted that he was only 23. I noted that the turnovers made more sense when you realized he was a young guard on a defending-champion team where everyone had him circled. I noted that the same things that made him infuriating (the shot selection, the individual creation, the relentless ball-in-hands approach) were the exact same things that made him great without Steph.
The community poll at the end of that piece asked readers to grade his final season. Fifteen percent of respondents chose “F – I see why Draymond punched him.”
That’s the Poole story. That’s the whole thing. Not that he failed. It’s that we watched him arrive, we watched him ascend, we watched him win a championship, we watched the whole thing catch fire from the inside, and then we watched him leave at 23 years old with the best basketball of his life theoretically still ahead of him.
That’s why he’s the 1 seed. The peak belief was enormous. The confusing grief was real. And the fall hurt in a way that Dub Nation hasn’t fully processed even now.
Alen Smailagic was 18 years old when he played in the G League for Santa Cruz in 2018, the youngest player in the history of the league. He came over from Belgrade having played above the Serbian semi-professional third division and not much else. They called him Smiley.
The Warriors traded up to get him 39th overall in 2019 and gave him a four-year, $6.13 million contract. And for a moment a real, genuine, Warriors-fan-Twitter moment it looked like the investment might pay off. Draymond adopted him as a pet project, gushing about how quickly Smiley learned and how inquisitive he was.
“He’s not afraid of anything. He really understands the game. If you just watch him in practice, the way he can pickup on plays, it’s not normal.”
“The things he’s able to pickup so fast says a lot about his basketball IQ.”
The front office floated the vision of him as a pick-and-pop forward in the Davis Bertans mold, a 6’10” shooter who could put the ball on the floor and make plays from the arc.
The flashes were real. His shooting motion was fluid. His 84% free throw percentage as a rookie was a legitimately good sign for long-term development. He could put the ball on the floor in almost guard-like fashion for a center. There were moments in Santa Cruz where you could start to see the shape of what the Warriors were building toward.
But there were also the turnovers. The happy feet on defense. The 223 total minutes in a Warriors uniform across two full seasons. The G League bubble in 2021 where his Santa Cruz coach Kris Weems had to pull him aside and tell him flat out: “You can’t try to score every time you touch the ball.” The late-March start against Memphis where he played eight minutes, shot 1-for-5, and committed five fouls. The $1.78 million salary about to become guaranteed. The quiet August waiver wire move that most Warriors fans barely registered.
That was it. He went back to Europe, building a career entirely on his own terms. Just a kid who came to the Bay at 18, learned English, learned the freeway, and went home when the NBA dream ran out of runway.
“I really would like to stay in the NBA and not just be on the bench,” Smailagić said one day after he was drafted. “I really want to play.” And Smiley played a little bit in his time with the Dubs. We just watched and hoped, and for a little while that was enough.
SINGAPORE (AP) — Australians Hannah Green and Minjee Lee moved to the top of the leaderboard Saturday to lead by one stroke after three rounds of the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Green, the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship winner and who won the Singapore tournament in 2024, shot a 4-under 68 and three-time major winner Lee 69 to post three-round totals of 11-under 205 at the Sentosa Golf Club.
American Angel Yin (68) and Haeran Ryu (70) of South Korea were tied for third in the LPGA tournament.
With the final group on the eighth hole, six players were tied for the lead at 9-under. Yin took the lead for first time with a birdie from off the green on the 10th, displacing her fellow American Auston Kim, who had led after the first two rounds.
Kim had back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth to fall out of the lead, but it could have been worse. After seeing her ball plugged in hazard off the green on the eighth hole and having to return to the fairway to hit her fifth shot, she sank a 20-foot putt for bogey to minimize the damage.
Kim finished with a 73 and was tied for sixth at 8-under, three behind Green and Lee.
“Definitely, there are a lot of birdies to be made but it’s very easy to make bogey," Green said. “So I think just limiting as many of those as possible.
“I’ve been hitting the ball into the greens, so if I can continue to do that, and even though I’m playing with Minjee, we are good friends, I don’t want to get too caught up in what her scores are.”
Yin said the margins were close in the third round.
“Good golf and good luck. Honestly there’s nothing much you can do to it," Yin said. "There’s a lot of instances today where it was like one hole, I made this unbelievable up-and-down. That’s skill and luck to me. So get lucky and get good.”
Lee won her first major in 2021 at the Evian Championship, her second at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022 and her third at last year’s Women’s PGA Championship.
Top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul, who won last week’s tournament in her native Thailand, shot 70 Saturday that left her at 3-under. She was tied with defending champion Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson, who each shot 71, all eight strokes behind the leading Australians.
The 72-player, no-cut tournament is the second of three stops on the LPGA’s early year Asian swing, with the final one next week at Hainan Island, China.
MILWAUKEE — Mohamed Diawara got the call Friday and took advantage.
The rookie, who has been alternating rotation spots with newcomer Jeremy Sochan, returned to his pre-All-Star break form with 10 points, hitting 2 of 3 treys in the Knicks’ 127-98 win over the Bucks.
Diawara was a game-best plus-25 in just 22 minutes, and the strong performance arrived after three straight games of sparse playing time.
Mohamed Diawara looks to make a move on Ousmane Dieng during the Knicks’ 127-98 blowout win over the Bucks on Feb. 27, 2026 in Milwaukee. Getty Images
In those games, Sochan had risen above Diawara to ninth in the rotation. It’s an important position because coach Mike Brown typically plays nine guys.
On Friday, Diawara was ninth.
“Everybody [has been telling me to stay ready],” Diawara said. “Everybody, for real: the players, the staff. … First year, I’m a rookie, so everything is not going to be great. So I just have to stay ready and wait until my name gets called.”
Sochan, who has struggled in his limited opportunities since signing as a free agent, had two points and two rebounds in five garbage-time minutes Friday.
“Those guys are like 10th and ninth guy, however you want to call it,” Brown said. “I’ll make the call as we go along, but everybody has to make sure they keep themselves ready.”
Karl-Anthony Towns has been rumored in trades to Milwaukee since the summer.
It’s a product of, among other things, his salary matching perfectly with that of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Depending on how this season shakes out and whether Antetokounmpo hits the trade market, Towns’ name could resurface.
He claimed he paid no attention — and won’t in the future — even after being shocked by being dealt to New York by Minnesota in 2024.
“I’m not going to have to change how I live and how I approach work, how I approach life because of one instance,” Towns said. “That’s just a bump in the road. I continue to be myself regardless of what people say, what the noise is. I’m going to work on my game. I’m going to continue to be who I am as a person.
“I’m going to approach life the way I approach it. It’s gotten me this far. It’s gotten me a beautiful fiancée, a great family that’s all healthy and happy. I mean, it’s done well. It doesn’t always need to just be about basketball. It’s gotten me well in life. It’s kept me centered. It’s kept me focused. It’s kept me engaged and motivated to continue to attack every day with the same competition and competitive spirit.”
Oklahoma City Thunder (46-15, first in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (21-38, 12th in the Western Conference)
Dallas; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City visits the Dallas Mavericks after the Thunder took down the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime.
The Mavericks are 11-28 in conference matchups. Dallas gives up 118.0 points and has been outscored by 3.6 points per game.
The Thunder have gone 33-9 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City is second in the Western Conference scoring 119.5 points per game and is shooting 48.4%.
The Mavericks make 47.3% of their shots from the field this season, which is 3.6 percentage points higher than the Thunder have allowed to their opponents (43.7%). The Thunder average 119.5 points per game, 1.5 more than the 118.0 the Mavericks give up.
The two teams square off for the third time this season. The Thunder defeated the Mavericks 132-111 in their last meeting on Dec. 6. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points, and Naji Marshall led the Mavericks with 18 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marshall is shooting 53.1% and averaging 15.4 points for the Mavericks. Max Christie is averaging 12.1 points over the last 10 games.
Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring 31.9 points per game with 4.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists for the Thunder. Isaiah Joe is averaging 14.7 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 44.8% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 2-8, averaging 115.7 points, 42.3 rebounds, 24.2 assists, 7.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 124.7 points per game.
Thunder: 6-4, averaging 114.5 points, 45.0 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 9.5 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.8 points.
INJURIES: Mavericks: Caleb Martin: day to day (back), Dereck Lively II: out for season (foot), Kyrie Irving: out for season (knee), Cooper Flagg: day to day (foot), P.J. Washington: day to day (ankle), Marvin Bagley III: day to day (neck), Klay Thompson: day to day (rest).
Thunder: Ajay Mitchell: out (abdomen), Branden Carlson: out (back), Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Memphis Grizzlies (22-36, 11th in the Western Conference) vs. Indiana Pacers (15-45, 15th in the Eastern Conference)
Indianapolis; Sunday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Indiana enters the matchup against Memphis as losers of five games in a row.
The Pacers have gone 10-21 in home games. Indiana has a 4-26 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Grizzlies are 10-19 on the road. Memphis is 11-16 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 14.7 turnovers per game.
The Pacers are shooting 45.0% from the field this season, 2.1 percentage points lower than the 47.1% the Grizzlies allow to opponents. The Grizzlies' 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.7 percentage points lower than the Pacers have given up to their opponents (48.8%).
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Grizzlies won 128-103 in the last matchup on Oct. 26.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pascal Siakam is averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Pacers. Jarace Walker is averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists over the past 10 games.
Cedric Coward is averaging 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Grizzlies. GG Jackson is averaging 16.9 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pacers: 2-8, averaging 115.3 points, 40.7 rebounds, 29.0 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 124.7 points per game.
Grizzlies: 3-7, averaging 118.1 points, 37.7 rebounds, 28.3 assists, 12.5 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.9 points.
INJURIES: Pacers: Pascal Siakam: day to day (wrist), Aaron Nesmith: out (ankle), Johnny Furphy: out for season (knee), Ivica Zubac: out (ankle), Tyrese Haliburton: out for season (achilles).
Grizzlies: Taj Gibson: day to day (coach decision), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: out for season (finger), Ja Morant: out (elbow), Zach Edey: out (ankle), Ty Jerome: day to day (thigh), Cedric Coward: day to day (knee), Santi Aldama: day to day (knee), Brandon Clarke: out (calf).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Milwaukee Bucks (26-32, 11th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Chicago Bulls (24-36, 12th in the Eastern Conference)
Chicago; Sunday, 3:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago hosts Milwaukee looking to break its eight-game home skid.
The Bulls are 3-10 against division opponents. Chicago is 9-5 in one-possession games.
The Bucks are 8-4 against the rest of their division. Milwaukee is 13-23 against opponents over .500.
The Bulls are shooting 46.9% from the field this season, 0.3 percentage points higher than the 46.6% the Bucks allow to opponents. The Bulls average 112.1 points per game, 8.4 fewer points than the 120.5 the Bulls allow to opponents.
The teams square off for the fourth time this season. The Bucks won the last meeting 131-115 on Feb. 4, with Kyle Kuzma scoring 31 points in the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Matas Buzelis is averaging 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for the Bulls. Isaac Okoro is averaging 10.4 points over the past 10 games.
Ryan Rollins is averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals for the Bucks. Kevin Porter Jr. is averaging 20.8 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bulls: 0-10, averaging 108.3 points, 40.5 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 9.0 steals and 5.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 123.0 points per game.
Bucks: 7-3, averaging 114.8 points, 42.3 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 6.4 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.5 points.
INJURIES: Bulls: Anfernee Simons: day to day (wrist), Noa Essengue: out for season (shoulder), Jaden Ivey: out (knee), Patrick Williams: day to day (quadriceps), Zach Collins: out for season (toe), Jalen Smith: day to day (calf).
Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo: day to day (calf), Taurean Prince: out (neck).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Philadelphia 76ers (33-26, sixth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Boston Celtics (39-20, second in the Eastern Conference)
Boston; Sunday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Philadelphia looks to keep its three-game win streak intact when the 76ers take on Boston.
The Celtics are 8-5 in division games. Boston scores 115.0 points and has outscored opponents by 7.5 points per game.
The 76ers are 8-6 against opponents from the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia has a 6-8 record in one-possession games.
The Celtics score 115.0 points per game, 0.9 fewer points than the 115.9 the 76ers give up. The 76ers average 12.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 fewer made shots on average than the 14.0 per game the Celtics allow.
The teams meet for the fourth time this season. The 76ers won 102-100 in the last matchup on Nov. 12.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jaylen Brown is averaging 29.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the Celtics. Payton Pritchard is averaging 19.8 points and 5.8 assists over the last 10 games.
Joel Embiid is scoring 26.6 points per game and averaging 7.5 rebounds for the 76ers. Tyrese Maxey is averaging 28.5 points and 3.8 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Celtics: 8-2, averaging 109.6 points, 49.8 rebounds, 26.6 assists, 6.3 steals and 6.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 99.9 points per game.
76ers: 5-5, averaging 115.6 points, 43.0 rebounds, 23.1 assists, 10.8 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.1 points.
INJURIES: Celtics: Jayson Tatum: out (achilles).
76ers: Johni Broome: day to day (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Detroit Pistons (44-14, first in the Eastern Conference) vs. Orlando Magic (31-27, seventh in the Eastern Conference)
Orlando, Florida; Sunday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Detroit visits Orlando trying to continue its five-game road winning streak.
The Magic have gone 19-18 against Eastern Conference opponents. Orlando is ninth in the Eastern Conference in rebounding with 43.4 rebounds. Paolo Banchero leads the Magic with 8.5 boards.
The Pistons are 29-7 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit is second in the Eastern Conference giving up only 109.7 points while holding opponents to 44.1% shooting.
The Magic average 11.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer makes per game than the Pistons allow (12.8). The Pistons average 11.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 fewer makes per game than the Magic allow.
The teams play for the third time this season. The Magic won the last matchup 112-109 on Nov. 29, with Desmond Bane scoring 37 points in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Banchero is averaging 21.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Magic. Bane is averaging 24.7 points and 1.7 steals over the last 10 games.
Ausar Thompson is scoring 10.3 points per game and averaging 5.9 rebounds for the Pistons. Cade Cunningham is averaging 26.1 points and 6.8 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Magic: 6-4, averaging 112.6 points, 41.6 rebounds, 26.5 assists, 10.4 steals and 6.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.6 points per game.
Pistons: 8-2, averaging 118.3 points, 47.9 rebounds, 26.4 assists, 10.3 steals and 6.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.6 points.
INJURIES: Magic: Franz Wagner: out (ankle), Colin Castleton: out (thumb).
Pistons: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
San Antonio Spurs (43-16, second in the Western Conference) vs. New York Knicks (38-22, third in the Eastern Conference)
New York; Sunday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: San Antonio will look to keep its 11-game win streak alive when the Spurs take on New York.
The Knicks are 22-8 in home games. New York is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 27.1 assists per game led by Jalen Brunson averaging 6.1.
The Spurs are 22-10 on the road. San Antonio is fourth in the Western Conference scoring 118.5 points per game and is shooting 47.8%.
The 117.3 points per game the Knicks score are 5.6 more points than the Spurs give up (111.7). The Spurs score 7.0 more points per game (118.5) than the Knicks allow (111.5).
The two teams match up for the second time this season. The Spurs defeated the Knicks 134-132 in their last meeting on Jan. 1. Julian Champagnie led the Spurs with 36 points, and Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brunson is averaging 26.7 points and 6.1 assists for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 18.3 points and 9.6 rebounds over the past 10 games.
Stephon Castle is shooting 46.7% and averaging 16.6 points for the Spurs. Devin Vassell is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Knicks: 6-4, averaging 114.2 points, 42.8 rebounds, 28.0 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.8 points per game.
Spurs: 10-0, averaging 126.1 points, 48.1 rebounds, 32.1 assists, 8.6 steals and 7.2 blocks per game while shooting 50.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.1 points.
INJURIES: Knicks: Miles McBride: out (ankle).
Spurs: David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle), Mason Plumlee: day to day (reconditioning).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
In his second year leading the program, May and the No. 3-ranked Wolverines clinched the Big Ten Conference regular season title with a dominant 84-70 win over No. 11 Illinois on Friday, Feb. 27, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.
May has helped lead Michigan's transformation from an 8-24 campaign in the 2023-24 season to a potential No. 1 seed and the regular-season conference title with an impressive 27-2 record in 2025-26.
May, of course, wasn't with Michigan during the 2023-24 season: He was coaching Florida Atlantic to the Final Four as a major Cinderella. The run with the Owls had every program with an opening trying to court May. However, the choice of Michigan came down to a family decision.
"Anna, my wife, is a major, major influence and probably more of an influence on my decision-making than I," May said of his decision to pick Michigan over other programs with interest. "I'm a pretty simple man. Give me a ball, a gym and some dudes that want to work, and I am happy with Michigan."
May pointed to Michigan as a place where he would want his sons to attend college, which factored into his decision — rather than seeking a team that could win a championship right away.
Talk about having the best of both worlds: With the win over Illinois, the Wolverines clinched their first Big Ten regular-season title since 2021. Now, they are locked into a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and are likely a lock for the same in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
"The first time we saw the team together, we felt like this was the most talented team that our staff collectively had ever been around," May said. "And some of us have been high majors, mid majors, low majors. ... We felt this team had the highest upside or most potential of any group."
Michigan showed promise in May's first year in 2024-25, finishing the season 27-10 with a loss to Auburn in the Sweet 16. The 14-6 record in conference play tied Maryland for second in the Big Ten, a sign the Wolverines were heading in the right direction.
May then went to the transfer portal to add UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg, North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau, Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr. — who had 19 points and 11 rebounds against his former team on Feb. 27 — and UCLA center Aday Mara, putting together a Big Ten championship-caliber roster.
"We want to win a Big Ten regular season championship every year," May said. "... Did we envision this? What's our record, 17-1 (in Big Ten play)? Absolutely not. Because I have that much respect for the teams, coaches and talent in this league."
Elite Michigan defense beats an elite Illinois offense
According to KenPom rankings, Illinois entered Feb. 27 as the No. 1 team in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. Meanwhile, Michigan entered with the No. 2 defense, trailing only No. 1 Duke.
The adage that defense wins championships won the day for the Wolverines.
"That's why they are so good," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of Michigan taking away any potential mismatches Illinois has used against other opponents this season.
"They're as good a basketball team as I've seen in my nine years in this league," Underwood added.
Illinois' adjusted offensive efficiency (or points per 100 possessions) sat at 132.4 entering play on Friday. The Fighting Illini entered averaging 85.1 points per game, which ranked 22nd in the nation. They also tied for sixth in 3-point baskets made per game.
However, the Wolverines' defense limited Illinois to 70 points — its lowest total in a loss since Nov. 28 vs. UConn — 41.3% shooting from the field and 9-of-29 shooting from 3-point range.
"They're really good at punishing a matchup," May said of the Illinois offense. "Because of our lineup versatility, I don't think they did it as well as they usually do."
While Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler finished with a game-high 23 points, including 17 points in the second half, he shot just 7-for-17 from the field and had four turnovers. Lendeborg took the responsibility of not only guarding Wagler, but also guarding him for the full 94-feet, putting pressure on him as soon as he received the inbounds pass.
"Yax was up to the challenge," May said. "He loves guarding point guards. And then when he switches, you have a big body that played (center) in the American Conference, and played it pretty well. So it's not as easy to get the matchup advantages they are hunting against our team, because we can change what we do."
Veteran leftovers carry team to new era
Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter and Harrison Hochberg are three members of the Wolverines who were around for the 2023-24 team that finished 3-17 in conference play, good for dead last in the Big Ten standings.
However, each of them has stuck around with the program, with Burnett starting all 29 games this season and Tschetter appearing in all 29 games. Instead of showing them the door when he took over the program, May instead kept the three to build the culture in Ann Arbor for the team that won the conference this season.
"We kept those guys because we believe in who they are as people, first and foremost," May said. "That was a tough season for Michigan basketball. There were a handful of guys we couldn't recruit for various reasons and then there were a handful we thought might fit our culture as far as work ethic.
"Nimari and Will were both guys who dove in from Day 1, and they wanted Michigan to be back in this position. It was that simple."
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Chris Kreider beat Connor Hellebuyck off a rebound at 4:47 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
Beckett Sennecke kept the puck and shot on a two-on-one break, with Kreider backhanding the loose puck in at the side of the net.
After Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov and Ryan Poehling scored third-period goals to give Anaheim a 4-3 lead, Winnipeg's Kyle Connor tied it with 1:22 left and Hellebuyck off for an extra attacker.
Hellebuyck made 35 saves in his first game since backstopping the United States to Olympic gold.
Jacob Trouba also scored for Anaheim, Sennecke had three assists and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves. The Ducks have won seven in a row at home and 11 of 13 overall.
Anaheim won two nights after returning from the break to beat Edmonton at home for coach Joel Quenneville’s 1,000th NHL victory. The Ducks have five games left on a nine-game homestand.
Winnipeg rookie defenseman Elias Salomonsson had his first NHL goal and Alex Iafallo and Gabriel Vilardi also scored. Well back in the race for a playoff spot, Winnipeg has a game left on three-game trip before an eight-game homestand.
SEATTLE (AP) — Emma Maltais scored a go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Sara Hjalmarsson and Kali Flanagan added empty netters in the final two minutes to give the Toronto Sceptres a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Torrent on Friday night.
Toronto (5-1-3-8) had gone winless in four straight road games. The Sceptres were also held scoreless in their last two games before the Olympic break.
Four different players scored their first goal of the season.
Jesse Compher scored 28 seconds into the game for Toronto off a nice back pass from Daryl Watts, who led Canada in her Olympic debut with eight points on two goals and six assists.
Renata Fast gave Toronto a 2-1 lead on her first goal of the season 4:25 into the second period with a shot from a sharp angle that bounced off the stick of goaltender Hannah Murphy.
Maltais scored her third goal after getting past the defense for a two-on-one opportunity.
Both goals for Seattle (4-1-2-8) came in the final 80 seconds of the first and second periods. Aneta Tejralová had a one-timer to tie it at 1-all with 11.2 seconds left in the first and Natalie Snodgrass sent in a rebound off of Alex Carpenter's breakaway shot with 1:12 left in the second.
Seattle, which was without Hilary Knight due to a lower-body injury suffered at the Olympics, announced it was the first sellout in franchise history with 17,335 fans.
DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 27: Jarrett Allen #31 of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket during the game against the Detroit Pistons on February 27, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
DETROIT — The Cleveland Cavaliers had numerous chances to win Friday’s game against the Detroit Pistons, even though they were without four rotation players, including James Harden (finger) and Donovan Mitchell (groin). They couldn’t make the one play they needed to seal the victory. As a result, they fell 122-119 in overtime.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson believes in luck. He was asked before the game if his team was cursed given their latest rash of injuries.
He laughed the question off, but then proceeded to provide the perfect table setter for one of the wildest games of the season.
“I believe in luck,” Atkinson said before the game. “I think luck plays more into this whole thing in sports. I know in America, we don’t like to talk about luck, like you earn it, you win it. That was a good thing about being overseas for so long. I was shocked when I first went out there, especially in Spain, they talked about luck so much. … When you read the sports papers, it was part of the way they talked. … Here, we want right and wrong and clear yes and no. That’s kind of how our mentality is. So I definitely think luck plays a lot into this.”
The Cavs lost this game, so we’re programmed to see things in the worst possible light. Instead of viewing the areas that the Cavs did right, we automatically look at what didn’t go their way, and there’s a long list of those things.
Poor rebounding, inability to create offense late, turnovers, and blowing multiple chances to defeat the top team in the conference are a few that come to mind. All of these are problems that could be explored deeper, considering they’re things that could be an issue in a possible playoff series.
However, if a few calls go slightly differently, we’re likely looking at all the things that went right, such as Jarrett Allen’s dominance, Evan Mobley’s resurgence, and the role players stepping up.
This is a results-based business, but sometimes, the results come down to things far outside of the player’s control.
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Cleveland should’ve won this game.
They were up six with two minutes left when MVP candidate Cade Cunningham fouled out of this game. That should’ve been the final nail in the coffin, but the Cavs failed to execute from there.
In the final two minutes, they turned it over in the backcourt, allowed baskets on Detroit’s final eight possessions in regulation, Evan Mobley missed a free throw with seven seconds left that would’ve made it a two-possession game, and they didn’t properly commit a foul on the floor while up three, which led to the game-tying free throws.
It was a litany of errors from a team that has blown more than a few important games in this embarrassing way in the past.
“That was our game to take,” Jaylon Tyson said. “We were definitely there. We should have won that game. Yeah, we should have won that game.”
Overtime presented its own issues.
The Cavs struggled to generate offense after Allen fouled out, but they still had chances to win. They were on the wrong side of a few calls (and weren’t afraid to make that known in the locker room afterward), including what could’ve been easily called a shooting foul on a potential game-tying Sam Merrill three-point attempt.
Even so, they kept fighting, forced a jump ball when providing defensive pressure in the backcourt, and created what would’ve been a game-tying three-point attempt for Mobley that didn’t go.
“There’s no moral victories,” Atkinson said. “This was a big game. We had chances. … The execution, turnovers, you know, we’re just kind of kicking ourselves.”
Still, there are things that the Cavs should feel encouraged about if they happen to play the Pistons in the postseason, the most important being Allen’s continued dominant play.
Allen once again couldn’t be stopped, scoring 25 points on 10-12 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, and a block.
“Jalen Duran is one of the toughest, strongest guys in the league,” Atkinson said. “He went toe to toe with him. And I just love [it]. … We just got to keep him there. You know, it’s our job as coaches to keep him in this great, great space. But I loved his energy tonight.”
It’s easier to keep Allen in check when he doesn’t have the benefit of playing alongside dynamic guards like Mitchell and Harden. This allowed the Pistons to crash inside anytime he rolled to the basket, which made it difficult for them to get him the ball.
But if Allen got his hands on the ball, he was able to make them pay as he converted nine of his 10 shots in the paint. He spent stretches of this game being the best player on the court, which is incredibly impressive considering the talent on the other team.
Detroit also didn’t have an answer for Mobley.
He did more of his damage outside, going 4-8 from three. But they also couldn’t handle Mobley inside as he went 5-6 in the restricted area.
“He’s starting to catch a groove, I can see it,” Atkinson said. “Just seems like when he comes back from injury, it just takes him a little bit to get going. So that might be the most positive thing about this, about this game tonight.”
The Cavs are on the Pistons level, even though they couldn’t get the result on Friday, and rightfully so. They routed the New York Knicks on Tuesday and went toe-to-toe on the road with the conference leaders despite being severly short handed. They should feel that way.
“I feel like we’re one of the top teams,” Mobley said. “They’ve got to face us, honestly. We’re playing pretty good basketball, and we’re going to continue to play good basketball. Just got to play our best basketball in April, May, and June. That’s our goal right now. We’re going to learn from this game and just keep stacking wins and get ready for the playoffs.”
Right now, the Cavaliers are unlucky. Injuries are happening at all the wrong times. And on top of it, they weren’t rewarded with a win despite playing well enough to get one.
Yes, they should’ve closed it out, but they were also on the wrong end of more than a few calls that went against them. If the referees called the foul on the floor on the Dannis Jenkins “shot attempt” as they should’ve, this game ends differently. The same could be said about several other calls.
However, the end result in a game like this isn’t the only thing that matters. This team is putting the pieces together at the right time. And if they ever get healthy, they will be a problem in the playoffs.
And that’s true, even though luck wasn’t on their side on Friday.
“Learn from our mistakes right now and just keep ramping up, staying focused,” Mobley said. “Game in and game out, just being locked in, knowing what our game plan is and figuring that out. Getting comfortable with the new guys. But I feel like we’re getting there pretty quickly and we’re on a good trajectory right now.”
The NBA got a little spicy in the Thunder’s 127-121 win over the Nuggets on Friday night in Oklahoma City.
The two teams got into a heated scrum in the fourth quarter after it appeared Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort tripped Denver star Nikola Jokic, leading to a heated scene at center court with both teams pushing and shoving.
Things all started after Jared McCain hit a two-point bucket for OKC, and on the ensuing inbound, Dort appeared to make an intentional step — almost like a hip check — into Jokic as he made his way back up the court.
Lu Dort was ejected after appearing to trip Nikola Jokic on this play.
Nikola Jokic was not happy with Lu Dort after the trip. ESPN/XThe Nuggets and Thunder got into it on Friday night. ESPN/X
Jokic immediately fell and tumbled onto the floor at Paycom Center. But that’s only where the fun began.
Dort was called for a foul, and he didn’t appear to agree with it, and as Jokic got back to his feet, he immediately got in his opponent’s face, eyes wide as he was incensed over what had just taken place, bumping Dort’s chest before anyone could step in.
The teams converged but officials eventually calmed things down before things could really escalate.
After reviewing the play, Dort was assessed a flagrant 2, meaning he was ejected from the game.
Jokic and the Thunder’s Jaylin Williams also received technicals in the bizarre scene in Oklahoma City.
Dort finished his night with eight points and six rebounds.
