Category: NBA

The MSG crowd saw more than just a heavyweight fight on Wednesday night.

As the Knicks and the defending champion Thunder duked it out on the court, Mike Brown did something he hasn't done as the head coach of the Knicks. He picked up a technical foul.

Now, Brown has a public persona of being calm, especially during games -- he's no Tom Thibodeau -- but the frustrations with the officiating boiled over for the first-year Knicks coach. And in the first quarter, Brown erupted. 

With the Thunder up, 20-18, with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shed his defender and drove to the basket, where Jalen Brunson met him. The Knicks captain stood his ground to take a charge, the defending MVP ran through Brunson and finished the play with a bank shot. No foul was called on the play. What made the no-call more significant was that SGA had already committed two personal fouls. A third foul would have put OKC's best player on the bench for a good portion of the first half, and perhaps the result of the game would have been different.

Instead, the teams played on, Brown drew a tech and OKC wound up winning, 103-100. 

Mike Brown gets a technical foul after this no-call on a collision between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson.

A charge would have been SGA's third foul of the first quarter pic.twitter.com/PkJAmXMBL2

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

After the game, Brown pointed to the free-throw difference as a major factor in the loss while complimenting SGA's play. 

"SGA, he’s a tough cover. He does a great job of convincing the referees -- better than anybody in the league -- that he’s getting hit," Brown said. "Them shooting 84 percent from the free-throw line compared to our 73 percent was a factor throughout the course of the game."

Brown was asked about picking up his first technical foul of the season and why Wednesday night was different for him when it came to the officiating. 

"One of the things I wanted to get across to the guys is that we're good enough to win despite whatever the officials are calling out on the floor," Brown explained. "We need to have that mentality. 

"Trying to leave the officials alone is something I pointedly tried to do. Tonight, SGA had two fouls and Jalen was there, and he ran him over. Just like the call they made on OG [Anunoby]. I don’t understand why that was a no-call. That should have been his third, the bucket shouldn’t have counted and we should have gone the other way with the basketball. To see that, knowing that Jalen is standing there and he’s putting his body on the line and our guys are fighting their asses off to try to win a ball game, it didn’t sit well with me."

"I’m going to have his back every single night. He has ours," Brunson said of Brown. "Regardless of what he does or the tech he gets, or whatever. I’m going to have his back."

Although both teams shot a similar number of free throws -- OKC had 25 attempts to New York's 22 -- it was the timing and magnitude of the calls that seemed to tip the game in the Thunder's favor. 

Another example came in the fourth quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns was having an impressive game, dominating the boards and giving the Knicks offense a lift in spurts. However, he picked up a fifth foul late in the final frame after a Thunder review overturned an out-of-bounds call. Towns then picked up his sixth foul shortly after, trying to guard SGA. 

"It’s obviously frustrating. You want to win the game and this one’s tight. You want to win the game and be out there with your teammates," Towns said of his late foul calls. "It’s unfortunate that it was called. After the review, it was called. At the moment, I’m not even thinking of the foul, I’m just thinking about staying locked in at the goal at hand…just go out there, play solid basketball and give us the best chance to win."

Despite Towns being out of the game for the final possessions, the Knicks had a chance to send it into overtime. However, Brunson missed a three and Anunoby missed a wide-open three-pointer of his own after the offensive rebound as time expired.

Brunson said after the game he wished he had his shot back, but when asked about the noticeable mark under his right eye, the Knicks captain said it was a little black eye before ending his availability with a quip.

"Probably a no-call." 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jaliya Davis recorded a double-double and No. 11-seed Kansas beat 14th-seeded UCF 56-35 in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday night.

Davis scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting and collected 11 rebounds — her third career double-double for the Jayhawks (19-12). They will go on to play sixth-seed Colorado on Thursday.

The Jayhawks broke the game open with a 15-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to jump ahead 24-10, which featured two layups from Davis and back-to-back 3-pointers from Brittany Harshaw and Sania Copeland.

The Knights (11-19) were led in scoring by Jacorriah Bracey, with 10. UCF didn't scored in the final 5:50, and shot 25% (14 of 57) including 11% (2 of 19) from 3-point range.

Up next

UCF: Season over.

Kansas: will play No. 6 seed Colorado on Thursday.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Tyrese Maxey – 22
Joel Embiid – 9
VJ Edgecombe – 9
Paul George – 6
Jared McCain :’( – 3
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 3
Dominick Barlow – 2
Andre Drummond – 2
MarJon Beauchamp – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1

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This will technically count as an NBA game in which the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Utah Jazz 106-102.

The Sixers were very shorthanded. VJ Edgecombe was ruled out for a back contusion after exiting last night’s game just before halftime after falling hard. In addition to the rookie, Joel Embiid (oblique), Paul George (suspension) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness) were all also unavailable.

So, Tyrese Maxey and the hospital Sixers against a tanking Jazz squad… unstoppable force versus immovable object? Complete lack of force versus very movable object?

The Sixers led by five at halftime led by a burst of scoring by Jabari Walker with 15 points on perfect 5-for-5 field goal and 4-for-4 long range shooting. Maxey was the other main contributor with 14 points at the break on slightly less efficient shooting. And then, as it always does, the third frame came along. The Sixers let the Jazz — who are basically actively trying to lose basketball games — go on a 10-0 run to start the second half, taking their first lead of the game.

It wasn’t a pretty fourth quarter for either team as the Sixers had to claw their way back from down six late. A win is a win, I suppose.

This game was the second leg of a back-to-back for the Sixers. Now, thankfully, they’ll get a couple of days to rest before their next contest visiting the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.

Jabari Walker: 22 points (7-for-12 FG, 4-for-7 3PT), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block

The San Antonio Spurs’ demolition of the Sixers on Tuesday night wasn’t good for much, but it might have helped Jabari Walker get into a groove. After putting up 20 points (yes, mostly in garbage time, but still) last night, Walker came into Wednesday’s game red hot — I’m talking perfect shooting through halftime level hot.

Walker came into the game off the bench in the second half of the first frame and immediately got to work, sinking back-to-back triples within a few minutes of taking the floor. He then settled right back into the corner of the arc, pump-faked his way into a drive to the basket and drew a trip to the line. He scored seven points in his first four minutes on the floor to close the first frame. But he wasn’t done — he contributed the Sixers’ first eight points in the second period on two triples and a layup. Fifteen straight Sixers’ points across the end of the first into the beginning of the second came from Walker. At halftime, he had 15 points on perfect 5-for-5 field goal and 4-for-4 three-point shooting.

Not only was Walker racking up some points, but he also was incredibly aggressive on the offensive boards (which led to a few of his points, actually) and played some physical, effective defensive as well.

Walker finished Wednesday with 22 points, 10 rebounds (three offensive), two assists and a block in 28 minutes off the bench.

Sure, it’s just garbage time versus the Spurs and a good performance against a tanking Jazz team, but it’s never a bad thing to get a player moving in a more productive direction… especially for a team that desperately needs more help from its bench like the Sixers do.

Tonight's video goes to Jabari Walker, who put up a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench for the Sixers. It was his second +20-point performance in just over 24 hours.

22 PTS, 10 REB (3 OFF), 2 AST, 1 BLK

Here's some of Walker's highlights vs. Jazz 👇 pic.twitter.com/Dya3eEYxo2

— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) March 5, 2026

Tyrese Maxey: 25 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks

There is a lot of discussion, mainly on social media, judging Tyrese Maxey on his ability to completely carry the Sixers team on his back.

I’m not sure what else he could have done in this one (other than just shoot with more efficiency, but more on that in a second). From the jump, the Jazz went with the defensive strategy of just sticking a double or even triple team on Maxey at all times. Not a bad idea, considering he was really the only shooting threat on paper from the Sixers’ lineup tonight. Even with all of that attention, though, Maxey managed to make it work. He started using his speed and footwork to maneuver through the defense before they could trap him, getting into the paint to find opportunities there and sometimes earning a trip to the line in the process.

His shooting… could have been better. He finished the night just 8-for-22 from the floor and 2-for-10 from long range. That being said, it’s sometimes harder to criticize Maxey when you know in part that the shot selection is him desperately trying to make something happen for the Sixers. You obviously want him to shoot better than 36.4%, but this felt like one of those nights you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt.

All that being said, Maxey finished the night with a team-leading 25 points with two rebounds, six assists, one steal and three blocks.

Tyrese Maxey doing all he can — the three-point play to tie the game, then the defense and assist to retake the lead for Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com/JorrBGVHtM

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) March 5, 2026

Quentin Grimes: 16 points (7-for-12 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

I won’t lie, this was far from the perfect game from Quentin Grimes. He had a few head-scratching-level questionable passes and couldn’t hit at all from long range. He had three turnovers. But, Grimes also stayed aggressive the entire game, and started driving hard into the paint to down under the rim where he was able to achieve a lot more success. Don’t believe me? Take a look at Grimes’ shot chart for this game.

In a game like this… whatever works, I guess!

Grimes had a number of really important points as well, such as four in the last 47 seconds of the game — a lay-up to tie the game at 102 apiece, and then two free throws on the following possession to take a two-point lead for Philadelphia. He finished the game with 16 points (on 7-for-12 field goal shooting), five rebounds (three offensive), two assists and one steal.

Quentin Grimes slams it down with AUTHORITY 💪 pic.twitter.com/zFDvf4CMbV

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) March 5, 2026

Adem Bona: 12 points (6-for-8 FG), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block

It wasn’t a perfect game from Adem Bona, either. To be frank, sometimes it just seems like he cannot grab on to the basketball without it bouncing off of his hands for the life of him. That being said, there aren’t many players that bring the amount of energy to the Sixers that Bona does. Whether it’s getting up for a big block, battling for every board or dunking the ball with all his might, Bona brings an undeniable boost to this Sixers lineup at times.

It was simply a solid night from the backup five (who actually started tonight instead of Andre Drummond in Joel Embiid’s absence). Bona finished the game with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor with five rebounds (three offensive), an assist, a steal and a block.

If nothing else, at least enjoy watching this excellent put-back Bona slammed home on a missed Maxey three-point attempt.

put-back bona 😤 pic.twitter.com/1amg1Ol5ps

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 5, 2026

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Ace Austin scored all of her 14 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night and Alabama beat Missouri 65-48 in the first round of the SEC Tournament and extend the Tigers' skid.

Alabama (22-9), which had lost back-to-back games and five of six, won its first conference tournament game since 2022. The Crimson Tide plays No. 6 seed Tennessee on Thursday.

Austin hit four 3s in a 12-2 run to open fourth that made it 14-point game with 6:39 remaining and the Tigers got no closer.

Diana Collins scored 13, Ta’Mia Scott finished with 12 points and three blocks, and Essence Cody added 10 points for Alabama. Karly Weathers scored just four points on 1-of-9 shooting, 1 of 8 from 3-point range, but finished with a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

Missouri (16-16) has lost six games in a row. Jordana Reisma led the Tigers with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Grace Slaughter had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tigers hit just 25% and had more turnovers (eight) than made field goals (seven) before the intermission in their lowest-scoring half this season. Alabama made 11 of 34 (32%) from the field and had 10 assists before the break and took a 31-20 lead into halftime.

Then-No. 21 Crimson Tide won 74-63 at Missouri on Jan. 12 and Alabama leads the series 12-9, 2-1 at neutral sites.

Up next

Missouri: Season complete.

Alabama: Advances to the second round.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jrue Holiday had 35 points and 11 assists, and Jerami Grant added 30 points as the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a 122-114 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

Portland (30-33), making a push to qualify for the postseason, used a 24-19 scoring edge over the final nine minutes to seal the win. The Trail Blazers had lost three of their last four and four of their last six games entering Wednesday.

Robert Williams III had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Portland. Matisse Thybulle contributed three rebounds, an assist and a steal on his 29th birthday.

The Grizzlies got double-figure scoring from seven players, but it wasn't enough against Portland as they lost their second straight and for the ninth time in 12 games. Memphis was playing the second game of a back to back after falling to Minnesota 117-110 on Tuesday.

Jaylen Wells led the way with 24 points, and GG Jackson added 20 for Memphis. Forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who earlier in the day signed a multi-year contract, had 17 points and nine rebounds in his eighth start for the Grizzlies. Jahmai Mashack came off the bench to score 13 points, Cam Spencer scored all 12 of his points in the first half and added seven rebounds and seven assists, while Walter Clayton Jr. added 12 points and Javon Small 11.

Ja Morant missed his 18th straight game for Memphis due to a left elbow injury, and Zach Edey is out for the rest of the year after having surgery on his left ankle earlier in the week.

Up next

Trail Blazers: At the Houston Rockets on Friday.

Grizzlies: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Katie Fiso scored 20 points, Ehis Etute had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Oregon defeated Purdue 82-64 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night.

Mia Jacobs had 14 points and nine rebounds for 11th-seeded Oregon (21-11).

Lana McCarthy had 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and Hila Karsh and Tara Daye each scored 11 points for Purdue (13-17), the 14th seed.

Etute scored eight points in the first quarter and the Ducks led 21-12 after one.

In the second, the Boilermakers had a seven-minute stretch in which they missed all 10 of their shots. Oregon’s lead ballooned to 47-24 at halftime.

After shooting 24% and scoring only 24 points in the first half, Purdue shot 73% in the third quarter and scored 25 points. The Ducks shot only 25% in the third quarter but still led 64-49 heading to the fourth.

Oregon shot 47% in the first half and held on despite shooting only 33% after halftime.

The Ducks and Boilermakers met barely a week ago, on Feb. 25, with Oregon winning 71-65 at Purdue.

Up next

Oregon plays No. 6-seed Maryland on Thursday with the winner moving on to play third-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Reserve Braeden Carrington scored 18 points, John Blackwell scored 14 points and Wisconsin poured it on in the second half to dismantle Maryland 78-45 on Wednesday night.

Nick Boyd scored 13 points and reserve Austin Rapp scored 11 points for Wisconsin (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten), which had 11 players enter the scoring column.

The Badgers' Andrew Rohde passed out six of Wisconsin's 15 assists and didn't commit a turnover. Wisconsin turned it over only three times.

Andre Mills scored 14 points and Elijah Saunders scored 11 points for Maryland.

Wisconsin turned an already commanding 34-21 first-half stranglehold into a 21-point lead 5 1/2 minutes into the second half. The Badgers shot 48% (27 of 56) and made 42% (13 of 31) from 3-point range. The Badgers scored 44 second-half points.

It was the fewest point Maryland (11-19, 4-15) has ever posted against Wisconsin in the shot-clock era. It was also Maryland'd lowest point total of the season.

Wisconsin has won five of its last seven. Maryland has lost five of its last six.

Up next

Maryland wraps up the regular season hosting 11th-ranked Illinois on Saturday.

Wisconsin ends the regular season at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday.

___

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The Lakers (37-24) are back on the road for a quick trip to Denver, where they will take on the Nuggets (38-24) on Thursday. This is the second matchup between both teams this season.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

When: 7 p.m. PT, Mar 5

Where: Ball Arena

Watch: Prime Video, Spectrum Sportsnet

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The Lakers have made up for their most recent losing streak by winning three games in a row and just like that, they have the chance to climb up the competitive Western Conference standings.

Although to do that, the purple and gold will really have to work for it against a Nuggets team that’s consistently been sitting at the top of the conference all season.

It’s hard to imagine the Nuggets not going all out on this one. Not only is the fifth seed on the line, but there’s a good chance they still remember how they gave the game away against the Lakers last time. In that contest, Denver dominated the first half only to choke away the lead in the final quarter.

In fairness to them, they didn’t have Nikola Jokić in that one, which won’t be the case for Thursday’s game.

Regardless, this is still a winnable one for the Lakers. Yes, it’s going to be tough to contain Jokić, but it’s also not like the Nuggets have had an answer for Luka Dončić since he became a Laker.

It’s going to be a battle between these two superstars, and it’ll be important for LeBron James, Austin Reaves and the rest of the Lakers’ role players to outperform the Nuggets’ supporting cast. That’s a doable task as well, since Aaron Gordon won’t be around, but Jamal Murray will, and he’s a player the Lakers can’t allow to get hot.

Like the Lakers, the Nuggets aren’t a great defensive team. In fact, they rank 21st in the league, just above the Lakers, who are at 22. They also don’t have a deep bench and depend a little too much on Jokić and Murray to pull through for them.

This game will be the first night of a back-to-back for the Lakers, who fly straight to Los Angeles afterwards to host the Indiana Pacers.

Let’s see if the Lakers can win this big game against Denver and gain some ground in the West.

Notes and Updates

• Since Luka’s arrival in Los Angeles, the Lakers are 3-1 against the Nuggets. When Dončić plays, they’re 3-0.
• For the Lakers’ injury report, Maxi Kleber (back soreness) is listed as questionable.
• As for the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain), Payton Watson (right hamstring strain) and Spencer Jones (right shoulder strain) are out.
• Cameron Johnson (right ankle) is questionable.

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt scored in the shootout, Connor Brown forced overtime with a tying goal with 2:21 left in the third period and the New Jersey Devils beat Toronto 4-3 on Wednesday night, sending the Maple Leafs to their fifth straight loss.

Timo Meier and and Arseny Gritsyuk also scored in regulation for the Devils, who have won three in a row and improved to 25-8-1 when scoring at least three goals. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves.

William Nylander, Matias Maccelli and Matthew Knies had goals for the Maple Leafs, who haven't won since beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Feb. 3 — their last game before the Olympic break. Anthony Stolarz made 44 saves.

Cotter put a backhander past Stolarz to start the shootout for the Devils. After Nylander's wrister was stopped, Bratt also scored on a backhander to put New Jersey up 2-0 in the shootout. Auston Matthews' wrist shot was then stopped by Markstrom, giving the Devils the victory.

With the game tied at 2 in the third period, Knies batted in the rebound of John Tavares' shot past Markstrom to put Toronto ahead with 6:10 left.

Brown took a pass from Gritsyuk on a rush toward the net and roofed a quick shot in tight past Stolarz to tie it at 3 with 2:21 remaining.

The Devils outshot the Maple Leafs 47 to 27 in regulation.

New Jersey was without defenseman Brett Pesce, who suffered a lower-body injury against Florida on Tuesday night.

Up next

Maple Leafs: Play at New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Devils: Host the Rangers on Saturday.

—

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

Somehow, Jalen Brunson — then OG Anunoby — had the ball with a chance to send the game to overtime.

Down by three points with 6.0 seconds left, both got open 3-pointers to tie the game. But both missed, and that was that.

“Just missed it,” Brunson said. “Wish I could have that one back.”

Players hate talking about moral victories, but this can be classified as one. Still, the Knicks got a reality check. And a bit of a reminder of the championship-level standard that is required for 48 minutes, not just for one quarter.

Give the Knicks credit — they had a plethora of reasons to throw in the towel, but they clawed back twice. The Finals-or-bust Knicks, however, view themselves on the same level as the Thunder, not a team that should be merely happy to be competitive.

And for three of four quarters, they were outplayed and outmuscled by the class of the league. Despite two gutsy comebacks, they fell 103-100 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“Honestly, I’m proud of our guys,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We fought, we did our best to execute against a championship team. At the end of the day, if we’re gonna lose, I want to lose with two of our best players getting the shots they got and giving ourselves a chance.”

After their third-quarter comeback, during which they trailed by 15, the Knicks entered the fourth quarter up three. It marked their first loss this year when leading after three quarters — they had been 19-0 beforehand.

Later, trailing by seven with 1:18 left in the game, the Knicks scored the next four points to bring themselves back within three before Brunson’s and Anunoby’s misses as time expired.

They outscored the Thunder by 13 in the third quarter, but were outscored by a combined 18 points in the other three quarters. In the fourth quarter, they shot just 7-for-21 from the field. Brunson had just three points and went 1-for-6 in that fourth quarter.

Like his teammates, Brunson struggled most of the night — besides the third quarter. Cason Wallace defended him as well and as physically as anyone has all year.

Brunson entered halftime with just two points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field, then came alive for 11 points in the third quarter before his rough fourth quarter. He finished with 16 points and went 5-for-18 from the field, though he did add 15 assists.

“I feel like I missed a lot of shots I normally make,” Brunson said.

After facing that 15-point deficit with 8:12 left in the third quarter, the Knicks rattled off a 24-9 run to tie the game at 72-72 with 2:56 remaining in the third.

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By the end of the quarter, Brunson was double-teamed and lobbed a pass to Mikal Bridges in the corner, who drilled a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to send the Knicks into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead.

The Knicks had just 40 points at halftime, suffocated by the Thunder’s tenacious defense. Then they erupted for 40 points in that third quarter to flip the game on its head. But then they followed that up with just 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“They could’ve folded at any time,” coach Mike Brown said. “We were down double digits. I liked our competitive spirit. Our competitive spirit was great. Those guys make the game ugly.”

They certainly did.

That physicality from the Thunder bothered the Knicks all night, and left them angered by the referees throughout the game and after the final whistle. Brown even got a technical — his first of the year — in the first quarter.

Chet Holmgren had 22 points at halftime, went scoreless in the third quarter then added six points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder staved off the Knicks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now 7-0 at MSG, recorded 26 points and eight assists.

Landry Shamet scored 11 points in the third quarter — but just three in the other three quarters. Towns was an efficient 7-for-8 from the field and had 17 points and 17 rebounds, but fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

To be fair, it wasn’t necessarily a true measuring stick — the Knicks were on the second leg of a road-home back-to-back and playing without Mitchell Robinson, who played in their win over the Raptors in Toronto on Tuesday.

They are still without Miles McBride as well.

But the Thunder were also on the second leg of their own road-home back-to-back, having played in Chicago on Tuesday night.

And they are still without All-NBA guard Jalen Williams. Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein were rested, though, having sat out Tuesday’s game.

So, the playing field was mostly even. Besides one huge quarter, the Knicks looked a level below.

The Hawks aren’t budging on their Magic City Night plan. 

Despite backlash, a team spokesperson told The Post that the event celebrating the famed Atlanta-area strip club will go on as planned. 

Last week, the franchise announced the promotional night, which will take place during a March 16 game against the Magic, billing the event as a tribute to a “cultural institution,” with appearances from Atlanta-based rapper T.I., city-themed merchandise and the venue’s iconic lemon pepper chicken wings. 

Magic on a Monday? @MagicCitypic.twitter.com/xwWrGyVE20

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 26, 2026

But not everyone in the NBA is on board with celebrating the adult entertainment club. 

The Spurs’ Luke Kornet asked for the night to be canceled in a post on Medium, arguing in part that the promotion is disrespectful to women. 

“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.”

Warriors big man Al Horford agreed, co-signing his former teammate with the Celtics’ appeal by writing “Well said Luke,” on X. 

Draymond Green, who shares a locker room with Horford, had a different take, saying on his self-titled podcast that the goings-on at Magic City are “a form of art.”

“I think to point out that they have esteem issues because that’s the line of work they chose, I actually think it is less protective of women because you’re condemning something. It’s actually an art,” Green said. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been, but if you see it in action, it’s actually a form of art that some choose to indulge in and some choose not to indulge in. 

“But to say that because a woman decides that that’s the art that they want to partake in and that the customer wants to take in, I think is reflective of society’s thoughts and how they once view things.” 

With the event going on, Magic City manager JuJu Barney assured those on Kornet’s side of the controversy that those involved are going to keep it family friendly.

“There will be no nudity whatsoever, at all,” Barney told TMZ.

“There will be no signs of nudity, there will be no nudity at all. It’s strictly just wings and music and people having a good time.”

The New York Knicks (40*-23) hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder (44-19) at Madison Square Garden tonight in a tight, uneven game played with tired legs. Both teams were on the second night of back-to-backs, and the fatigue showed at the end of this workout. The Thunder controlled the first half behind Chet Holmgren’s hot shooting, but the Knicks surged back after halftime with help from their bench and Karl-Anthony Towns’ work on the glass. The game swung repeatedly in the final quarter, and although New York had chances late, their last two looks failed to fall and the Okies escaped with the narrow win, 103-100.

From the jump, both teams applied defensive heat and produced a combined 11 turnovers in the first quarter. The Thunder distributed the ball well and created clean looks for themselves. Holmgren (28 PTS, 8 RBS, 6-11 3PT) was one beneficiary, scoring 14 points in the first frame, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 PTS, 8 RBS) scored nine points before sitting with two fouls. Both players converted from all areas of the court.

New York’s starters started slowly, missing pull-ups, drives, and threes. Midway through the frame, they watched their guests rip off 12 unanswered points (featuring more Holmgren) and push their lead to 10. Gradually, New York came back, thanks to some bench help. Ariel Hukporti blocked Holmgren to force a shot-clock violation, Landry Shamet (14 PTS, 5-9 3PT) added two buckets, and Rookie Mohamed Diawara (9 PTS) drilled threes on the run and from the corner (he’s 16-of-20 from that spot this season per the broadcast) before stripping Jared McCain. 3 & Diawara, anyone?

THREE-AWARA‼️ pic.twitter.com/b0UEiWjnBZ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 5, 2026

With momentum, Jalen Brunson (16 PTS, 15 AST) finally got a bucket, and OG Anunoby (16 PTS, 3 STL, 2 BLK) added another three at the buzzer to cut the score to 25-23.

Diawara kicked off the second quarter with his third triple to seize a lead, but the Tornados quickly reclaimed control. Holmgren tipped in a put-back and then stretched the floor with spicy perimeter shooting. Alex Caruso and Jaylin Williams added threes during a Thunder run that nudged the lead to 33–28.

Towns played a great game on both ends. He kept the Knicks within reach with interior scoring—a tip-in and a driving layup—but the Okies found more open looks, and Lu Dort (16 PTS) added a pair of threes midway through the quarter, pushing the margin to eight.

SGA continued to avoid foul trouble thanks to a favorable whistle. His counterpart Brunson continued to drag, shooting 1-of-8 through the half. What J.B. and Josh Hart (10 PTS, 12 RBS) failed to do scoring-wise, they made up for with dimes and rebounds, respectively.

Towns and Mikal Bridges (15 PTS) trimmed the deficit briefly, but team blunders held them back. On multiple fast breaks, New York blew contested layups and lost the rebound. Meanwhile, Holmgren kept hitting those damn threes—including a deep pull-up in the final seconds. When Hart made a running jumper at the buzzer, that bucket finished off the Knicks’ lowest scoring first-half of the season. Thunder took a 50-40 score into the locker room. (Their lowest first-half total of the season is 46.)

Bridges slam! pic.twitter.com/hjW7P2fptv

— KNICKS BEAST (@KnicksBeast) March 5, 2026

Through the half, Oklahoma City outshot the Knicks from the field (46% to 36%) and deep (43% to 25%). Holmgren led all scorers with 22 points after hitting a career-high six three-pointers. KAT and Diawara had nine apiece.

Out of intermission, Oklahoma City pushed their lead to 15, fueled by Gilgeous-Alexander’s transition dunk and Dort’s outside shooting. From there, New York slowly chipped away behind Towns’ excellent rebounding and paint work, while Brunson steered the offense, securing another double-digit assist performance.

In the first few minutes of the third quarter, Josh Hart—who was afflicted by back spasms at the start of the season—retreated to the locker room, massaging his lower back. Hart returned to the sideline with a wrap around his midsection. A little later, Brunson walked gingerly back to the locker room, only to return later in the period.

Once again, the bench came to the rescue, with fearless play from Jose Alvarado and Shamet on a scoring tear. The latter posted 11 points in the quarter, and his defense was solid, too. With three minutes left in the quarter, Landry drew a foul on Williams—just after Brunson swished two three-pointers to knot the score at 72. Through the final minute, Anunoby had two steals (converting one into a pick-six); Jeremy Sochan came on to neutralize Shai and did, forcing a jump ball (which he won); and Bridges added a three-pointer with two seconds left. After New York doubled their halftime total, they took an 80-77 score into the final frame.

MIKAL BRIDGES FOR THE LEAD‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/znzq2mQUeD

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 5, 2026

To start the fourth quarter, coach Mike Brown went with his starters. The unusual move worked, briefly, as the Knicks jumped out to a short-lived four-point lead. Hart was clearly hindered by the back; however, unable to jump for loose balls. By the middle fo the frame, the visitors had come back to take a five-point lead. Rather than letting go of the rope, the Knicks steadied themselves through KAT’s rebounding and Brunson’s playmaking. The play got sloppy, misses piling up on both ends, and OKC coach Mark Daigneault won two challenges to erase Knicks’ points.

OG oh my
pic.twitter.com/NrbMQIIR8G

— Teg🚨 (@IQfor3) March 5, 2026

With three minutes left and the Knicks trailing by six, Towns collected his sixth foul and sent SGA to the line. The Thunder’s Cason Wallace stole the ball from Brunson on their next possession (Wallace’s fourth theft tonight), and the air came out of the building.

Remember those two banged-up Knicks from earlier? Teetering on the edge of collapse, the Roommates teamed up to mount a valiant comeback. Hart—who must have been in agony—hit two free throws to cut the differential to four with 1:30 left. SGA answered a triple. Hart scored at the rim on another Brunson assist. At the other end, Brunson drew his third charge of the night, causing Dort to foul out. Five-point game. 51 seconds left.

On the next possession, Brunson juked SGA and hit a spinning jumper from the elbow. 103-100. 41 seconds. At the other end, Holmgren missed a seven-footer, which Hart rebounded. 16 seconds to go. Out of a timeout, Cap missed from the corner, and Anunoby missed as the clock expired. Ball game.

Quoth Jslashnoel, “Almostttt!”

OKC holds on and wins it at MSG ⚡ pic.twitter.com/FAZJrHqeVv

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 5, 2026

Up Next

The Knicks travel to Denver to face the Nugs. Safe travels, fellas.

Box Score

* Should be one more, but NBA Cups are for trophy cases, not record books.

After getting benched in the Lakers’ playoff series last year, most assumed Jaxson Hayes’ playing days in LA were done.

Not only did Hayes return on a one-year deal, but he also prepared in the summer to be a better version of himself.

He put on 20 pounds to give himself some more strength, and it’s paid off. Hayes is having a productive year for the Lakers, averaging 6.7 points per game while shooting a career-best 77% from the field. He’s accomplished this while also embracing a backup role.

It seems Hayes is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and he displayed that in the team’s victory over the Pelicans. Hayes ended up closing out the game, with Lakers head coach JJ Redick picking him over his other center option, Deandre Ayton.

Hayes reared Redick’s decision by coming up with multiple stops against Zion Williams, which was part of an impressive fourth-quarter defensive performance by the purple and gold.

During Redick’s postgame media availability, he made sure Hayes got the recognition he deserved.

“Jaxson’s had a really good season,” Redick said. “I know I played with him his first two years. He’s a better basketball player. He’s gotten better. He’s making touch shots around the rim. He’s making great pocket decisions. He’s a good basketball player that, frankly, he consistently injects energy into the group when he runs the floor, blocks a shot or gets those dunks.”

It would’ve been completely understandable if Hayes didn’t return to LA. And even more relatable if he just came here to do what he’s always done and focus on playing well enough to earn another contract elsewhere.

Instead, Hayes pushed to get better and be a true team player. He has taken advantage of every opportunity and thanks to his play, there have been a handful of close games where he was one of the five players on the floor helping the Lakers win.

Hayes is setting an example of selflessness and the ways it can benefit the individual as well as the team. This is a very good season for Hayes so far, and perhaps he’s even making a case to be LA’s starting center.

Regardless of his role, what’s known now is that he’s a player the Lakers can trust. He has entrenched himself as a member of the rotation and, come playoff time, if he keeps playing like this, he’ll remain on the floor as an impactful player for Los Angeles.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

ATLANTA (AP) — Dai Dai Ames scored 18 points and Lee Dort scored 16 points and California beat Georgia Tech 79-65 on Wednesday night for the Bears' fourth win in the last five games.

John Camden added 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Chris Bell scored 10 for Cal. The Bears overcame 21% shooting (5 of 24) from 3-point range with the help of a 57.5% (23 of 40) inside the arc.

Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 19 points on the strength of 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc, Akai Fleming scored 16 points and Jaeden Mustaf 10 for the Yellow Jackets (11-19, 2-15 Atlantic Coast Conference). Lamar Washington distributed 10 assists with just a single turnover and had three steals for Georgia Tech.

Cal outscored the Yellow Jackets 20-7 between 15:40 remaining in the game to 8:46 left and led 62-48. Georgia Tech led 36-32 at halftime.

The last time the Bears (21-9, 9-8) posted a 20-win regular season was 2015-16, when the Bears won 22 games before postseason play. That was also the last time the Bears earned an NCAA Tournament berth in a season which Cal finished 23-6 overall.

Up Next

California: Ends the regular season at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets concludes the regular season at Clemson on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Well, they may lose as bad as tanking teams, but at least they can still beat tanking teams.

The Sixers escaped with a 106-102 win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday night.

They are now 34-28, still a game up on the Orlando Magic for the sixth seed but tied in the loss column.

Despite some rough plays down the stretch, Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 25 points and six assists shooting 8-of-22 from the floor. Jabari Walker, hustling his ass off, put up 20 for the second straight night finishing with 22 points shooting 7-of-12 from the field along with 10 rebounds. Keyonte George led all scorers with 30.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (oblique strain), Paul George (suspension), VJ Edgecombe (lumbar contusion) and Kelly Oubre Jr. who missed his second straight game with an illness.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Maxey made his first shot of the game, knocking down a three off the catch, but that didn’t exactly set the tone for the Sixers’ offense. Plenty of isos resulted in just one and-1 for Dominick Barlow, a play he banged up his shoulder on. Trendon Watford threw up an ugly shot that missed the rim on top of a bad turnover trying to get a skip pass to the corner.
• A sign of how ugly this one was Utah’s starting center Kyle Filipowski had to sit with three fouls less than six minutes into the game. While neither offense looked good, the Sixers’ bigs found ways to be productive. Both Watford and Barlow did a good job using their length to protect the rim, Watford picking up two blocks in the first. Barlow was also making good reads playing out of the high post against Utah’s zone.
• Justin Edwards being one of the first subs to check in wasn’t surprising given the injury report, but Tyrese Martin being the other was. Martin missed his only shot attempt of the quarter and threw a bad cross-court pass that turned into a pick-6. Edwards though hit his first corner three and found Walker for another. The Sixers had turned things around to shoot 40% from the field and from three, but Cody Williams sinking a three of his own at the buzzer cut their lead to seven.

Back-to-back triples from Jabari Walker 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4ZQg6TBIzX

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) March 5, 2026

Second Quarter

• It was good to see Walker build off his 20-point performance in garbage time. It’s easy to notice when he has the hot hand from three, but the hustle plays he makes for this team are desperately needed at the moment. Plays like hanging on island and forcing a stop against the smaller Isaiah Collier, or drawing a foul trying to grab an offensive rebound.
• Both offenses stalled again after the Walker heater. Quentin Grimes didn’t exactly snap into a rhythm right away, but the layups he was able to cobble together, mostly in transition, were enough to briefly extend the Sixers’ lead. He clearly felt more and more comfortable with each one, taking advantage of an open drive to throw one down over Oscar Tshiebwe.

Quentin Grimes slams it down with AUTHORITY 💪 pic.twitter.com/zFDvf4CMbV

— Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) March 5, 2026

• Upon returning to the game Maxey capped off a solid individual half. The opponent is what it is but he did a good job of navigating longer, taller defenders while also drawing contact. His last two attempts from deep were no good though as the Sixers as a team couldn’t close the half well. That was in part due to more struggles from Andre Drummond, who was surrendering rebounds to Mo Bamba and Ace Bailey on one end and getting called for illegal screens on the other. After George split a pair at the line the Sixers went into the break up by five.

Third Quarter

• Maxey’s floater to open the second half didn’t fool anyone — this was still the third quarter Sixers. Utah responded with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the night. He had been fairly bottled up in the first half but George started to spring loose moving off the ball and converted on his open looks.
• Stops continued to come at a premium for the Sixers, but at least they found consistent offense for a couple possessions with Watford successfully backing down Filipowski. The backcourt got oddly passive during this stretch — Maxey went over five minutes in between shot attempts.
• After the first half he had, it was pretty insane that Walker wasn’t out there to start the second. He immediately grabbed a putback basket when he did finally check back in, a rare sign of energy. It’s surprising how rigid Nick Nurse has been here given his reputation in Toronto. On top of not riding the hot hand in Walker, Tyrese Martin checked back in at the same point he did in the first half despite a rough first shift. Martin at least had a better go of it this time, getting to the basket once for a layup and hitting Drummond with a dump off. Another lob to Bamba though kept the Jazz in front by one entering the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

• The decision to go back to Martin did age well despite this blog’s criticisms. He nailed two more threes to start the fourth, but those were the only points the Sixers were able to muster up in the brief minutes Maxey sat.
• A rotation decision that was even more questionable and did not pay off was sending Kyle Lowry out for his second half shift as well. This team just has too many limited offensive players at the moment to play a guard that hardly looks at the basket.
• Perhaps the Sixers were so surprised the Jazz put George back in the game they went into some sort of shock. Why else would they help off of him when he’s one pass away while he’s as scorching hot as he was? In all seriousness, it’s fine if the Sixers lost a game here and there due to their play style, but their style doesn’t make a ton of sense and they’ve lost more games than that because of it. Leaving NBA players open to shoot is and has not been a viable strategy in some time.
• A challenge that swung possession back to the Sixers after another George three was exactly what they needed, and somehow they took advantage of the momentum. Maxey tried to turn the pace and kept going to the basket quickly. He actually missed more often than not but putbacks from Grimes and Adem Bona helped tie the game. After working their way to tie it back up, Maxey lost the ball and Collier quickly took it the other way to put the Jazz back up by two.
• Grimes was able to knife his way through Utah’s zone and tie the game back up again with a layup. They finally caught a break on the other end with George missing a rushed three. Grimes drove again on the following possession and drew a foul, converting both to put the Sixers up with 16 seconds remaining. The ensuing Jazz possession ended with an open kickout to Filipowski but it missed. Fittingly it was Walker who secured the rebound and nail two free throws to ice the game.