Category: Basketball

VANCOUVER (AP) — South Africa has joined Fiji atop the World Rugby Sevens Series men's standings after beating Spain 38-12 on Sunday in the final of the Vancouver Sevens.

Player of the Tournament Tristan Leyds provided a series of try assists in the first half which allowed South Africa to take control of the final before halftime. It went on to win its 47th World Series tournament title while Spain remains without a title after three finals appearances.

Jorja Miller inspired New Zealand to a 24-17 win over Australia in the women's final, it's fifth-straight win in Vancouver and it's third win in five tournaments this season.

Australia rallied from 17-5 down just after halftime to level the match at 17-17 but New Zealand secured possession at the restart and Alena Saili scored the match-winning try.

New Zealand leads Australia by six points in the season standings with one tournament remaining in New York before the season finals. Australia and New Zealand have met in all five women's finals this season with New Zealand winning three and Australia two.

Spain's strong showing

Spain reached its first men's final of the season after an outstanding tournament in which it beat New Zealand in pool play and two-time Olympic champion Fiji in the semifinals.

But it struggled against South Africa's physical style in the final. Leyds played a key role with assists which led to tries by Sebastian Jobb and Shilton van Wyk as South Africa led 17-0 by halftime. Ryan Oothuizen opened the scoring for South Africa.

Van Wyk's second try put South Africa in control at 24-0 and after tries for Spain by Jeremy Trevithick and Anton Legorburu Impi, Visser closed out the match for the South Africans.

“It's an amazing feeling,” Visser said. “It's such a privilege to play in finals and pull the jersey over our heads.

“Sometimes we take it for granted but it's really an amazing feeling and we're just really grateful for it. We have to keep on this momentum next week in New York.”

Miller leads New Zealand's charge

Miller was hugely influential in the women's final, winning turnovers as New Zealand pressured Australia on defense.

Jaymie Kolosi scored New Zealand's first try and Miller scored the second before a try for Australia to Maddison Levi made the score 12-5 at halftime.

Katelyn Vahaakolo scored from a break by Miller, expanding New Zealand's lead to 17-5 in the first minute of the second half.

Australia then began to find gaps in the New Zealand defense through which Levi slipped to score her second try. MacKenzie Davie came off the bench to score the try that leveled the scores.

New Zealand captain Risi Pouri Lane made space for Waaka who set up the winning try for Saili.

“I think when we've got a team that plays for more than just themselves there's always a greater purpose to it,” Pouri Lane said. “Cultural connection is a great part of it and when we work so hard to have a genuine connection off the field it does pay off on the field.”

___

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

While it wasn’t necessarily a direct indicator of potential playoff success, the Lakers’ inability to beat “good” teams was a growing concern and trend.

Regardless of whatever metric or arbitrary line in the sand you wanted to draw, the Lakers were not beating the best teams in the league. As the postseason ticked closer and closer, it became a harder fact to ignore.

One win over the Knicks doesn’t change anything in and of itself, but it’s a start. With a whole lot of opportunities coming up to beat more good teams, Sunday was at least a start in the right direction.

So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Marcus Smart

29 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-10 FG, 0-5 3PT, 3-4 FT, +27

This is one of the all-time Marcus Smart performances. It was chaotic, good, bad and impactful. And yet, he finished with a game-high plus-minus of +27.

His fourth quarter featured repeated missed 3-pointers, yet he kept following that up with a big defensive play on the other end. Peak Marcus Smart.

Grade: B+

Rui Hachimura

37 minutes 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, 5-11 FG, 3-8 3PT, +5

Rui started this game out red hot, hitting his first four shots. Clearly, he tailed off the rest of the game offensively, but it was still a strong start that got the Lakers going early. Plus, seven rebounds from Rui is like 14 rebounds from a traditional power forward.

Grade: B

Deandre Ayton

20 minutes, 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 fouls, 3-4 FG, +3

This was actually a strong Ayton game, particularly defensively. It felt like he was defending Karl-Anthony Towns really well on top of knowing the gameplan. The Lakers went with three bigs in this game, but I think that could be the plan moving forward regardless of how well one of them plays.

Grade: A-

Austin Reaves

39 minutes, 25 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 8-16 FG, 3-6 3PT, 6-7 FT, +5

Welcome back, Austin Reaves. To say he was due for this would be an understatement, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. He was knocking down threes and getting to the rim, but the surest sign that he was back is that he was foul grifting at a high level again.

Grade: A

Luka Dončić

38 minutes, 35 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls, 11-25 FG, 5-16 3PT, 8-10 FT, +14

What Luka lacked in efficiency, he made up for everywhere else. His shotmaking at multiple times in this one was outstanding, highlighted by his three while falling out of bounds.

Off of one leg
at the buzzer
& falling into the crowd

Luka Dončić pic.twitter.com/O04Us304an

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 8, 2026

He also made a number of plays defensively, ranging from ones you can count with stats like steals or ones you can’t, like contesting shots or forcing turnovers.

Grade: A

Luke Kennard

27 minutes, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 4-8 FG, 3-7 3PT, 1-1 FT, +0

It remains impressive how quickly Luke has not just fit into this team but excelled. He is closing games and his ability to space the floor opens up so much for Luka, Austin and Jaxson Hayes. He’s exactly what this team needed and has been a great addition.

Grade: B+

Jaxson Hayes

17 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 0-3 FG, 5-6 FT, +8

It’s surprising that Hayes did not make a field goal in this game because it felt like an impactful performance. He was battling on the glass and fighting defensively. And, again, it was the right call to have him close the game.

Grade: B+

Jake LaRavia

13 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 2-2 FG, 2-2 FT, +8

While Jake still is lacking in the offensive production, he’s making up for it with his hustle. He came up with a trio of big offensive rebounds, two of those in the fourth. If he’s make hustle plays, you can look past some of his shortcomings right now as a scorer.

Grade: B+

Jarred Vanderbilt

10 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 fouls, 1-2 FG, 1-2 3PT, -4

A real Vando special in this one as the Lakers got both a corner three and a block at the rim from him. But he also got confused on a defensive assignment which led to him fouling KAT for an and-one, which might be a little peak into why his playing time has gone down.

Grade: C

Maxi Kleber

10 minutes, 1 steal, 2 fouls, -1

Pour one out for Maxi Kleber’s nose, which took a walloping from KAT. Somehow, it was Kleber’s nose who fouled KAT on that play, too.

Grade: C

JJ Redick

The Lakers came out ready to go from the jump in this one. More impressively given their track record, they put the game to bed, really, in the third quarter. They never let go of the rope in the fourth as New York made a small run and closed it out without much cause for concern.

Grade: A

Sunday’s DNPs: Kobe Bufkin, Dalton Knecht, Drew Timme

Sunday’s inactives: Nick Smith Jr., LeBron James, Bronny James, Adou Thiero, Chris Mañon

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The Mavericks got smoked Sunday night again, losing 122-92 to the Toronto Raptors. The Mavericks were led by Cooper Flaggs ‘ 17-point, eight-rebound, six-assist, one-turnover game, and a dominant 21 and 10 rebound double-double by Daniel Gafford on 10-for-10 shooting. The Raptors pulled the Mavericks apart, with eight of their players finishing with double digits. The best game of their night was had by RJ Barrett, who had 31 points on just six missed shots on 19 attempts. Scottie Barnes also had 17 points while keeping Cooper Flagg in check for the good part of the first half, before the Raptors ended the game entirely by halftime.

Dallas struggled to find an offensive rhythm for most of the first half as Toronto steadily built control of the game. The Mavericks leaned heavily on Daniel Gafford early, who kept them afloat by going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field for 13 points while adding 6 rebounds, finishing lobs, and cleaning up misses while the rest of the offense sputtered. Cooper Flagg still impacted the game despite the scoring struggles, collecting 4 assists and 3 blocks in the half, while Naji Marshall provided a brief spark with a few early baskets. Outside of those contributions, Dallas’ perimeter shooting was the Mavericks’ problem, as the Mavericks shot just 2-of-14 from three and 40.5 percent overall in the half. Toronto took advantage by moving the ball well and consistently generating good looks, piling up 18 assists while getting strong scoring performances from Gradey Dick (16 points) along with steady downhill pressure from RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes. The Raptors’ length and activity also disrupt Dallas’s possessions in the second, allowing them to gradually push the margin into double digits. By halftime, Toronto led 57–44, thanks to its shooting advantage and Dallas’ cold three-point shooting.

The second half never really turned into much of a game as Toronto maintained firm control from start to finish. The Raptors quickly pushed the lead deeper into double digits early in the third quarter behind steady scoring from RJ Barrett and interior finishes from Jakob Poeltl. At the same time, Dallas struggled to generate any consistent offense outside of Daniel Gafford’s finishes and the occasional Daniel Gafford finishes and occasional shots from Cooper Flagg and Khris Middleton. Toronto’s ball movement continued to carve up the Mavericks’ defense, eventually finishing the Mavericks’ night with 39 assists on 48 made field goals, while Barrett poured in 31 points to lead the way. Dallas briefly showed life with a few Flagg buckets and a couple of Gafford dunks, but the Raptors consistently answered with threes, transition layups, and second-chance opportunities. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the game had essentially shifted into garbage-time rotations, with both teams emptying the bench over the final minutes. Toronto ultimately cruised the rest of the way to a 122–92 win, outshooting Dallas 50.5% to 39.8% while dominating the flow of the game for the entire second half.

1: Made Max Christie Shot

Max Christie had one of the roughest performances of the Mavericks’ season in this loss; it’s impossible to ignore how much it hurt the offense. In 25 minutes, Christie went just 1-for-11 from the field (9.1%) and 0-for-7 from three, finishing with only 2 points while somehow committing more turnovers (2) than both made shots (1) and assists (1). The struggles were not just missed jumpers, either. Dallas desperately needed guard creation with the offense already sputtering, and Christie repeatedly stalled possessions with forced pull-ups, empty drives, and careless mistakes. When your starting guard logs heavy minutes and produces little efficiency or playmaking, the offense has nowhere to go. The Mavericks finished the night shooting 39.8% from the field and just 5-for-30 from three, and Christie’s brutal shooting night is part of why the offense never found rhythm.

The bigger concern is that this was not some random off-night. Christie has been trending downward for several games now. Over the past week, he has bounced between inefficient shooting nights and low-impact stat lines, including a 4-for-15 night against Charlotte, 2-for-6 against Orlando, and several games hovering around the low teens in scoring with inconsistent playmaking. For a guard expected to stabilize the offense, the assist-to-turnover numbers have been particularly frustrating, and the shooting volatility makes it even harder to justify the minutes. At some point, Dallas has to be honest about roster priorities around Cooper Flagg, and that likely means emphasizing guards who can reliably create offense and space the floor. If this stretch is any indication, Christie is starting to look very expendable heading into the offseason, especially for a team that desperately needs better guard play and offensive stability.

0: Daniel Gafford Missed Shots

Daniel Gafford was one of the few Mavericks who actually showed up in this one, turning in one of his best performances in weeks. Gafford finished a perfect 10-for-10 from the field for 21 points, adding 11 rebounds, three assists, and a block in just over 23 minutes. Nearly all of his scoring came in the ways that make him valuable: rolling hard to the rim, finishing lobs, and cleaning up misses around the basket. While the Mavericks’ perimeter offense struggled, Gafford’s rim pressure and activity on the glass kept Dallas from completely disappearing offensively for stretches.

Watching him dominate the paint like that almost felt like a little advertisement. You could almost imagine a few Raptors fans in the building thinking how nice it would be to have a hyper-efficient rim runner like that coming off the bench for a playoff push. Jokes aside, this is the version of Gafford the Mavericks need to see more often down the stretch. Dallas gave him a contract extension in the fall and clearly valued him on the roster moving forward, but his play since then has been inconsistent. Whether the long-term plan is to keep him or eventually move him, the Mavericks need him to stack efficient games like this to rebuild his trade value and live up to the extension, because when he plays with this kind of energy and efficiency, he still looks like a legitimately impactful center.

LOS ANGELES — It’s hard to ever get a fanbase to all agree on something, but one thing about the Lakers everyone seems to acknowledge is their struggle to beat good teams.

They are 15-19 against teams with more wins than losses and entering Sunday’s matinee against the Knicks, they had just four victories in 16 attempts against opponents that had a winning percentage above .600.

The Lakers finally flipped the script on Sunday, though, picking up not just a win over a “good” team, but a Knicks side that has the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and defeated them just last month, making the victory all the sweeter.

It wasn’t just the fact that they beat a good team that made this the best result of the year, it was how they did it.

Even with LeBron James out, the Lakers established dominance from the jump. This was a vintage Reaves performance as he wasted no time getting going offensively, scoring the team’s first five points.

He was attacking the paint with positive results — he ended the game going 8-10 from the foul line — and his 3-point shot was back as he knocked down half of his attempts.

“We just kept telling him, ‘touch the paint, touch the paint, touch the paint,’” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “He was really strong today. We always talk about physicality on defense, but you need physicality on offense and I thought he was very physical offensively and that allowed him to squirt the basket, allowed him to draw fouls. They’ve got a lot of size and they’re a big team and he did a great job.”

Early in this season, Reaves having this kind of game wouldn’t have been newsworthy. But he’s failed to score more than 20 points each of the past eight games, so this was both welcome and needed.

Even with Reaves playing well, it takes a total team effort to defeat the Knicks.

LA was offensively aggressive, taking 44 3-point attempts, well above their season average of 33.5. Rui Hachimura re-entered the starting lineup, replacing LeBron, and scored on his first four shot attempts, ending the game with 13 points. Jaxson Hayes led the bench with 12 points and once again closed out the game.

However, the team’s most impressive feat was also its most shocking. The Lakers won this game largely thanks to their defense.

They held the Knicks to just 97 points, this was only the fourth time this season that LA held a team to under 100.

Not only did New York fail to crack the century mark, but the Lakers ended many of their offensive possessions with turnovers, forcing 19 and scoring 21 points off them. Add in five blocks and holding Mikal Bridges scoreless and it becomes clear why LA earned its second straight win and fifth victory in six games.

“You go down the stretch, I think we had three or four possessions where we end up with either a deflection or steal and all of that was on multiple efforts,” Redick said. “We were able to sustain that for all four quarters.”

Not only did LA win the game easily, but they remained in control during the second half.

With 4:35 left in the third quarter, the Knicks were down by just nine points. The Lakers responded, shutting down the New York, who failed to make a shot for over four minutes. By the time they did, Los Angeles was up by 19.

In the fourth, the Knicks tried to go on a run and got within 13 points thanks to a Jalen Brunson three with 8:23 left in the game. Redick called a timeout and LA’s guards in Dončić, Reaves, and Luke Kennard responded by knocking down shots, never allowing New York to even get within single digits.

The purple and gold did everything to win this game. Marcus Smart was diving on the floor. Luka was sacrificing his body to draw charges. Jarred Vanderbilt was bumping into courtside fans.

This late into the season, every win is needed. The Lakers earning this kind of victory during a nationally televised game against an elite team makes it clear that while LA’s 2025-26 story has completed multiple chapters, how the tale ends has yet to be told.

Inside the Lakers locker room, the win was business as usual. The goal is to never get too high or too low. They passed this test, but plenty more are on the way, with Minnesota next and games against the Nuggets, Rockets and Thunder looming.

“My job is not to overreact,” Redick said. “We’re 15-9 in our last 24 [games]. We’re a top-10 offense and a top-15 defense. That’s what we wanted to be coming into this season with this group, and that’s where our group is right now.”

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

LOS ANGELES — Like a few of his teammates, Mikal Bridges was saddled with foul trouble Sunday. 

And he never recovered. 

The guard went scoreless for the first time this season in an ugly 110-97 loss to the Lakers, missing all six of his attempts — including four from behind the arc. 

It was the third time Bridges failed to score since joining the Knicks before last season, although one occurred as he logged just a few seconds in a meaningless finale to maintain his consecutive games played streak. 

On Sunday, Bridges started by fouling Los Angeles’ Austin Reaves on a 3-point attempt just 15 seconds after tipoff. It set the tone. Bridges picked up his fourth foul about 1 ½ minutes into the second half and was benched for the remainder of the third quarter. 

“Just not being out there. I think that’s the biggest thing. Being in foul trouble takes me away from being out there to try to help my team win,” Bridges said. “I’ve got to be better, starting off the game fouling a shooter from 3.” 

Knicks coach Mike Brown blasted his team for lazy defending, saying it was the driver of the foul problems. The Lakers took 30 free throws compared to New York’s 21. 

“We got beat off the dribble often,” Brown said. “We got beat to the middle. And being lazy about it we reached at the last second and sent them to the free-throw line.” 

Luka Doncic, who finished with 35 points, attempted a game-high 10 free throws for the Lakers. Reaves took seven. 

“When we guarded the ball, we tried to make up for it with a crazy reach,” Brown said. “Thirty free-throw attempts is crazy.” 

Josh Hart was also foul-happy with four personals in just 22 minutes. He was benched for the entire fourth quarter, which was more about the coach rolling with Jordan Clarkson. 

“Yeah, it’s tough. Especially some of the fouls that they called they cause you — your physicality is not there and it’s tough, you’re not able to play the way you want to play,” Hart said. “You get taken out and you don’t have the flow of the game. Obviously that’s a frustrating thing. You’ve got to figure out and not put them on the free-throw line. It’s tough.” 

But nobody had a tougher afternoon than Bridges, who was looking forward to redemption Monday against the Clippers. 

“Just bouncing back. We have an opportunity to show that tomorrow off a back-to-back,” Bridges said. “Not playing as we wanted to, we get another chance to bounce back. It’s a game of life. You know what I’m saying? You’re hit and you’ve just got to get back up. So what are you going to do? We’ve got another opportunity tomorrow.”

In an all-too-familiar line, the Washington Wizards lost to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, 138-118. Then again, the Wizards’ front office is thinking long term if you know what I mean.

Trae Young got his second game in for Washington and put up solid numbers: 17 points and 8 assists in just 17 minutes. In fact, Young was the only Wizards player with a positive plus/minus ratio tonight. But after Washington led the first quarter 35-32, Washington gradually let the lead slip away until the fourth quarter when New Orleans ran it up. It didn’t hurt that the Pelicans were shooting really well in the fourth quarter while Washington? Not so much. One Wizard, Bilal Coulibaly had an especially not-so-awesome night with shooting efficiency.

For the Pelicans, Trey Murphy led with 24 points. Tre Johnson led the Wizards with 20.

If you were hoping that Juju Reese would pick up right where he left off last Thursday, he played but didn’t start tonight with Alex Sarr returning to the starting lineup. Reese still had 9 rebounds along with 5 points however.

The Wizards’ next game is on Tuesday on the road against the Miami Heat. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. ET. See you then.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dániel Sallói scored late in the second half behind a clean sheet from Luka Gavran and Toronto FC defeated FC Cincinnati 1-0 on Sunday night.

Sallói used an assist from Richie Laryea to score the lone goal in the 86th minute and Gavran made two saves to finish off the shutout for Toronto (1-2-0).

Sallói's goal was his first for Toronto after spending his previous nine seasons with Sporting Kansas City. It was his 54th goal in 245 appearances. Laryea's first assist this season gives him 15 in 160 career appearances.

Gavran notched his first shutout this season and his third in 19 career starts with Toronto.

Roman Celentano turned away six shots in goal for Cincinnati (1-2-0).

Toronto entered the match with a 0-4-1 record in Cincinnati and had never scored a goal at TQL Stadium.

Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan suffered his first loss to Toronto after going 7-0-1 through the first eight matchups.

Cincinnati leads the series 9-5-1 with the nine victories its most against any opponent.

Cincinnati swept Toronto last season with Kévin Denkey scoring a goal in both wins.

Up next

Toronto: Hosts New York Red Bulls on Saturday in home opener.

Cincinnati: At New England Revolution on Sunday.

___

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

Lately, Austin Reaves had been a muted version of himself.

He opened the season playing All-Star-caliber basketball, looking like a breakout star. But after suffering a left calf strain that sidelined him for 19 games, the volume on his incredible start has been dialed down. 

That changed in the Lakers’ 110-97 win over the Knicks on Sunday. 

Reaves had 25 points on 50% shooting, including going 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. He was aggressive. He was hunting for the ball. He was looking for his shot. It led to arguably the best Lakers win this season and their fifth victory in their last six contests. 

The Lakers needed Reaves in peak form against a team with the third-best record in the East, especially with LeBron James sidelined for his second straight game because of a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis. 

Before Reaves’ extended absence, he was averaging 26.6 points on 50.7% shooting from the field, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds a game. He was one of the NBA’s top 10 scorers. 

But since he returned Feb. 3, he has only scored 20-plus points three times over 15 contests.

One of the biggest issues has clearly been that Reaves is trying to find his place in a crowded offense alongside superstars James and Luka Doncic. Before the All-Star break, the trio had only played 11 games together.  

Since then, they’ve been trying to find a rhythm after James missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, Reaves missed every game in January and Doncic was sidelined four games at the beginning of February because of a hamstring injury. 

As the Big 3 has tried to learn how to effectively share the court, Reaves has looked a little less like Reaves. 

Heading into Sunday’s game, Lakers coach JJ Redick wanted to change that. 

“I think the messaging to him has just been to be himself,” Redick said. “And I think sometimes when you miss time and there’s circumstances going on with the team that you can kind of be a little passive. … We want him to be aggressive. Every time he gets the ball, we want him to be aggressive and have a mentality to touch the paint.”

Reaves played as though he internalized those words Sunday. 

He dazzled with fadeaway 3-pointers. He aggressively drove through the lane. He made sure he was a threat every time he touched the ball. 

“We just kept telling him, ‘Touch the paint, touch the paint, touch the paint,'” Redick said. “He was really strong today. … When people talk about physicality, we always talk about physicality on defense, but you need physicality on offense. And I thought he was very physical offensively and that allowed him to score the basket, allowed him to draw fouls. And they’ve got a lot of size and they’re a big team, and he did a great job.”

It was a great reminder of the player who dazzled at the start of the season. You know, the one who had a 51-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist performance in the Lakers’ third game of the season, followed by a 41-point performance on 59% shooting in their fourth contest. 

“Hillbilly Kobe” was living up to his nickname. Reaves, who is eligible for a five-year, $241 million maximum contract extension with the Lakers this summer, was playing as though he was hungry to earn every penny of that deal. When he didn’t make the All-Star team, it was considered one of the biggest snubs in the West. 

But since then, things have slowed down. 

As for Reaves’ mentality entering Sunday’s game? 

“Have fun,” he said. “Woke up, early game, I was tired when I got here. I just told myself to have fun. I don’t feel like I’ve played bad, I just haven’t made a lot of shots. I feel like I’ve done a lot of other things well. Just continuing to play the game the right way, and I feel like good will come to good.”

But Reaves took things to another level Sunday. In addition to being the second-leading scorer behind Doncic (35 points), Reaves had four rebounds, five assists, three steals and one blocked shot.  He was everywhere. Now, he just needs to figure how to play at that level alongside both of the team’s superstars.

“Playing with him, it makes my life easy,” Doncic said.

Reaves’ amplified aggression helped the Lakers (39-25) secure a win of which they can be proud. The whole team was gritty. They were swarming. Entering Sunday’s game, the Lakers were 4-12 against opponents with a record better than .600, according to ESPN. They never even trailed the Knicks (41-24).

When Reaves plays to his potential, things dramatically shift for the Lakers. That was evident in the team’s 15-4 start. And it was obvious Sunday. 

Rui Hachimura summed things up concisely. 

“When he’s aggressive, good things are going to happen,” he said. 

With 20 games left in the regular season, the Toronto Raptors are in an interesting position. Currently 5th in the Eastern Conference standings, the idea that they will be playing in the postseason is pretty much confirmed. Whether or not they have to endure the NBA Play-In tournament, though, isn’t decided one way or another. They would have to drop lower than sixth in the standings to have to compete in the Play-In, but with a tough schedule still ahead of them, their 5th-place spot isn’t as cushioned as they’d like it to be.

That adds a little bit of pressure onto the team in March and April — a concept the Raptors haven’t had to deal with in a few years. They haven’t played in a playoff series since the 2022 season (Scottie’s rookie year), and one other time since then, in a pretty entertaining but still ultimately bad play-in game that resulted in a loss. Since then, this time of year has felt more like a slow descent into lottery odds than a buildup to the postseason for the team. This year changes things, as it looks like the Toronto Raptors will be competing past the regular season.

At the Raptors’ practice on Saturday, the idea that the pressure was building instead of waning was literally giving Darko Rajakovic goosebumps. “Pressure is a privilege,” he said, quoting the great Billie Jean King (apt for International Women’s Day). Yet, that also means that the Raptors have higher expectations, and their recent play since the All-Star Break has not been very indicative of a team looking to rise above their station. They came into this game on Sunday having lost four of their last five games.

Rajakovic was very vocal about Saturday’s practice being particularly good. When asked what was so good about it, Scottie Barnes told the media that their team was really communicating and holding each other accountable for their recent slump. They didn’t like how they had performed in their last games, and knew they could do better. That’s the beauty of having more than a day off in between games, especially so deep into the season, you have more time to address slumps or mistakes.

Sunday’s home game proved that whatever they did on Saturday worked. The Raptors acheived a wire-to-wire win over the Dallas Mavericks, which was expected, but obviously still needed to be earned. Every win is important this time of the year, as the conversation now shifts into playoff placement and more importantly, avoiding the Play-In. Home court advantage would also be fun, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves in the first year back into the postseason picture. Making the postseason alone is enough progress for this year.

Toronto took Sunday’s game 122-92 over Dallas, with RJ Barrett scoring a game-high 31 points in the game. Darko though, was more impressed with Barrett’s defence, saying that the more Barrett locks in defensively, the more energy he has on the other end. Barrett agreed with him, saying the more energetic he is on defense, the more focused on the game he feels. Darko also stated the emphasis he put on his team to take care of the basketball, after turnovers have been an issue over the past week.

Barrett confirmed that their good practice from Saturday was a huge reason why they competed the way that they did today. He himself hit a milestone today, scoring his 8,000th career point, which he reflected on after the game. As one of only a select group of Canadians to achieve that milestone, he added “doing it for the Raptors is more special.”

Whatever energy Saturday’s practice held — whether it be the closeness of the postseason, the crisp spring air coming into Toronto this weekend, or just a desire to be better — they need to hold onto that. The Raptors will head out onto the road to play Houston and New Orleans this week before comign back home Friday night.

The Detroit Pistons have cemented themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference by delivering suffocating defense, getting to every lose ball, locking down the paint, and wanting it more than their opponent night in and night out. On Sunday in Miami, the Heat out-Pistons the Pistons. Detroit was outhustled and outmuscled, falling behind by 20 points early and never recovering, eventually falling 121-110.

On Saturday, you could blame the terrible effort as a team scrambling without its star Cade Cunningham. On Sunday, Cade was back, and he delivered. Cunningham scored 26 points, hit six of his nine three-point attempts, and added 10 assists. They still struggled to stay within 30 points most of the game. Jalen Duren (24 points) was 10-of-12 from the field, but the Pistons couldn’t come close to Miami because he wasn’t delivering on defense or on the boards.

Detroit lost this game because Miami did everything Detroit hangs its hat on better than it did. The Pistons are one of the premier teams in the paint, on both offense and defense, but Miami outscored them 58-56. The Pistons thrive when their locked-in defense creates turnovers that lead to transition opportunities. The Heat outscored Detroit on the fast break 22-6. They lost the board war 58-48. It seemed like Miami was forcing every deflection, getting to every loose ball, and was the one dictating everything on the floor. Detroit could do nothing but react, and they were two steps slow in every reaction.

The Heat were led by Tyler Herro with 25 points, including four three-pointers, and Bam Adebayo, who hit four from deep as well. The two also got themselves to the free-throw line, and went a collective 11-of-12. Detroit’s two stars, Duren and Cunningham, were just 6-of-7.

The biggest issue is the team’s tissue paper defense in the past few games, which is true enough, but the most worrying thing to me is that the team is letting its completely limp offensive production leak into its effort on defense. They are so devoid of trust in their ability to put the ball in the basket that they are not playing loose and aggressive on the defensive end.

Losing Ausar Thompson to an ankle injury certainly doesn’t help. Nor does replacing his production with a completely invisible Marcus Sasser (two points and bad defense in 20 minutes of action). Javonte Green isn’t providing a spark on either end of the floor like he was in the season’s first 50 games, and when multiple spots on the floor are sputtering, it means the limitation of a player like Ron Holland really begins to show.

The Pistons, quite simply, have no answers right now. They need to figure out how to rediscover their identity as a defense-first team, and let that lead to some offensive creation. No more shooters and ball handlers in the lineup who aren’t providing any of either alongside Cunningham. I’d put Isaiah Stewart, one of the only players who seemed like he gave a damn tonight, into the starting lineup and shift Tobias Harris to small forward.

Stewart provides just as much spacing as Sasser, but also actually provides rebounding and defense. It also opens up an opportunity for minutes for Paul Reed, who you’re never sad is getting minutes.

Until the team remembers that it is one of the best defensive teams in the league, it is going to keep losing. And it’s not a stellar offensive night that is going to ignite this defense. It’s the opposite. They need to impose their will on an opponent, and the rest will become much easier.

Their next chance is a bit of redemption against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. It is starting to feel like a must-win game.

The Dallas Mavericks (21-43) continued the northeastern portion of their current road swing on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors (36-27). Coming in having lost 16 of their last 18 games, the Mavs dropped yet another with a 122-92 loss.

The game started with the Raptors missing a 3-point attempt, only for Brandon Ingram to grab an offensive rebound for a put-back dunk. With how frequently Dallas allows 3-point attempts and with recent struggles on the boards, the sequence was not ideal. Dallas forced an early Raptors’ timeout less than four minutes into the game after Daniel Gafford put on a dunk clinic with six quick points on 3-for-3 from the floor. Dallas once again gave up 30-plus first-quarter points, trailing 36-29 after 12 minutes.

The Mavericks were out of sorts at the beginning of the second, committing multiple turnovers while playing a lineup that did not have many reps together. A timeout at the 7:44 mark brought starters Cooper Flagg and Max Christie back, but it did little to help as the Mavs went scoreless until P.J. Washington hit a free throw with 5:13 remaining in the half to end a 14-2 Raptor’s run. Down by 15 points, Dallas stopped a four-minute field goal drought with a Gafford layup, but couldn’t make any real headway from there, closing the half down 57-44.

Dallas started the second half with the ball, scoring on their first two possessions, with both buckets coming by way of offensive rebounds. Slowly but surely, Dallas was making small inroads by outscoring Toronto for the first five minutes, but those efforts fell apart quickly. The Raptors responded with a 10-0 run in just under a span of two minutes to put the Mavs behind by 21. Dallas spent the remainder of the quarter trying to catch up, only to end up further behind as they trailed 88-66 heading into the fourth quarter.

Flagg opened the fourth quarter with a made 3-pointer then converted an and-one, but his personal six-point burst was not enough to prevent a necessary timeout when Dallas fell behind by 26. Flagg then registered his first-ever technical foul, which was starting to feel like a long time coming. Of late, Flagg has not been getting calls that seem obvious to the naked eye. With just over five minutes remaining in the game, Jason Kidd called it a day and gave Ryan Nembhard, AJ Johnson and Dwight Powell some burn, alongside Brandon Williams and Caleb Martin. Even garbage time did nothing to make the final score any more palatable.

Let’s take a look at three key factors from Sunday night’s game.

Turnovers tell the tale

The Mavericks average 14.7 turnovers per game, but had 11 in the first half alone Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Raptors had only four across the first 24 minutes, contributing heavily to the 13-point halftime deficit Dallas faced. Dallas added six more turnovers to Toronto’s two in the third quarter. When it was all said and done, the Mavs tallied 20 turnovers against the Raptors’ 8. Giving the opponent that many extra possessions while creating so few the other way is a big part of a 30-point beatdown.

Shooting woes for Dallas

The Raptors’ defense stymied Dallas, however the Mavericks did not do themselves any favors with some wide-open misses. They shockingly fell short of 40% shooting overall, converting just 35-for-88 on the night. Some of this was also due to strange lineup combinations and only a single player logging more than 30 minutes (P.J. Washington; 31 minutes), but this was a disasterclass in shooting. Max Christie was an improbable 1-for-11 and 0-for-7 from deep to lead the woefulness.

Gafford’s return to form

Gafford had a season-high 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds (six offensive), 3 assists and shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor. This was Gafford at his best, and there is really no obvious explanation why he feasted like this, other than perhaps being healthy. This game was largely uncompetitive, but it’s almost frightening to think how bad it would have been without Gafford’s contributions. With fewer than 20 games remaining in the season, it will be important for Gafford to re-establish this level of play. The stats may not always look this nice, but it was obvious he was in the right position and making smart decisions throughout the night as he simply played aggressively.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — Aaliyah Collins had 21 points, Anna Hager scored 18 and High Point held on for a 71-67 victory over Radford on Sunday night to win the Big South Conference Championship and earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season.

Collins and Hager took over for top-seeded High Point (27-5) on a night when Macy Spencer, the league's leading scorer at 18.8 per game, was held to six points.

The Panthers beat No. 2 seed Radford (22-12) to earn their third trip to the main event, also appearing in 2021.

Hager hit a 3-pointer and Brecken Snotherly followed with a three-point play as High Point jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Radford battle all the way back to tie it 16-all on Angelina Nice's tip-in before Collins made two free throws with one second left to put the Panthers up two heading to the second quarter.

Kirah Dandridge hit two 3-pointers and the Highlanders outscored High Point by five to take a 32-29 lead into halftime.

Cate Carlson sank a 3-pointer to give Radford a 39-33 lead, but Hager answered with a 3 to spark 13-2 run capped by Spencer's 3-pointer and High Point moved in front 46-41 with four minutes left in the third quarter. The run grew to 20-4 and the Panthers led 56-45 heading to the final period.

Joi Williams buried 3-pointers on both sides of a Dandridge basket in an 8-0 spurt to cut the deficit to three less than 90 seconds into the final 10 minutes.

Williams drove for a layup to tie it 63-all with 4:50 remaining, but Collins and Hager had back-to-back baskets and the Panthers stayed in front from there.

Williams had 30 points to pace Radford and Ellie Taylor scored 10.

The Highlanders last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 after making three appearances in the 1990s.

The High Point men’s team also advanced to the NCAA Tournament

___

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.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t overcome an awful 10-point second quarter as they fell to the Boston Celtics109-98.

Boston is a bad matchup for Cleveland. They can press the Cavs in a lot of the areas they struggle with most on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, they can spread the Cavs’ defense out and force them to guard one-on-one. This isn’t ideal for a team that has struggled with point-of-attack defense all season. And if the backside help comes, the Celtics have capable enough playmakers to find the open man and make them pay with their three-point shooting.

Defensively, they stay out of rotation due to their willingness to switch everything. They trust each player on the court to hold their own in any matchup, and they mostly do. This allows them to limit the amount of disruption an off-ball shooter like Sam Merrill can cause or the effectiveness of the pick-and-roll because they’re okay with giving up mismatches if it means slowing down the offense’s ball movement.

The problems this can cause the Cavs came through, particularly in the second quarter when the game got away from them.

The Cavs lost this game in the second quarter. They mustered just 10 points, went 0-14 from three, and just 4-25 from the field.

“I think that first half man, it was really just about shots,” Donovan Mitchell said.

The Cavs generated good looks in the second quarter that simply didn’t fall. Below is a clip of eight threes that were either quality attempts or, at the very least, open enough that you’re okay with the shot in a vacuum.

“If we get a couple shots to fall, layups, threes, anything…it’s a different ballgame,” James Harden said. “It’s draining when you feel like you’re getting easy looks and they’re not going, but it’s part of the game.”

Missing threes in the second quarter wasn’t an issue for the Cavs; their inability to find other ways to score was.

“Part of basketball is missing and making shots, but our competitive nature, our competitive spirit [needs to be there] for a full game,” Harden said. “That’s what we do. We force the game to be in our hands.”

This is what the Celtics did better, particularly in the second quarter. They also shot poorly, going 1-9 from three in the second, but they found ways to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line.

Boston only scored 21 points in that frame, but their ability to keep their offense on schedule allowed them to create separation. If the Cavs hadn’t abandoned trying to get inside in the second quarter, they might’ve been able to stay in the game until their three-point shot came around.

The same three-point looks that weren’t falling in the first half fell in the second. They went 11-23 (47.8%) from three en route to a 62-point half.

If you look at most of the makes below, you’ll see that the offensive process that led to the attempts wasn’t too different. It’s just that the shots went in this time around.

“I think we did an unbelievable job in the second half,” Harden said. “We just kept fighting and giving ourselves a chance.”

The Celtics don’t have an answer for Evan Mobley. This is a matchup he’s historically done well in, and did so again on Sunday. He punished mismatches when he got the switch and did a good job of getting into the paint on opposing center Neemias Queta.

While the Cavs don’t have an answer for Boston’s wings, the Celtics also don’t have an answer for Cleveland’s bigs. This was evident even though the Cavs were without Jarrett Allen.

Boston’s role players were the biggest difference in this matchup.

Both teams had good enough games from their stars. The same can’t be said about the supporting cast.

The Celtics’ bench outscored the Cavs’ 41-13. This included standout performances from Payton Pritchard (18 points) and Baylor Scheierman (16 points). Sam Hauser was a starter, but his 15 points were more than any Cavalier outside of Mitchell, Harden, and Mobley.

Conversely, the Cavs received a substandard performance from everyone outside of their stars. Jaylon Tyson provided eight points and didn’t make an impact defensively, Sam Merrill went 1-7 from three, Dennis Schroder registered just two points, and Keon Ellis didn’t score at all.

Even though this game felt one-sided at times, the Cavs aren’t far off.

The Celtics are the standard in the East. They’re the only proven, championship team among the four top teams in the conference. Games like this show why. They understand who they are and what they want to do on both ends. That came through in the stretches where they weren’t getting their shots to fall in the second quarter, and didn’t let it affect how they played. That, in the end, is what won them the game.

The Cavs aren’t on the Celtics’ level right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get there.

“In that second half, we found something in ourselves,” Harden said. “That’s the level we got to get to, Boston. Once we’re there, because I know we’re good enough. We will get there, then we’ll be a much better team.

“If we’re making shots, we’re going to blow teams out. And tonight we didn’t make our shots.”

You never know what will happen to anyone sitting courtside during an NBA game.

In fighting for a loose ball, Lakers guard Marcus Smart crashed into longtime television host and political commentator Bill Maher while facing the Knicks in a Sunday afternoon tip-off at the Crypto.com Arena.

Bill Maher (finger) remains courtside after collision with Marcus Smart pic.twitter.com/tNK94PPyR6

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 8, 2026

Both Smart and Maher appeared to escape the collision with minor injuries.

Maher showed off his seemingly injured finger to the ESPN broadcast, while Smart was seen favoring his left hand for multiple plays afterward.

At one point, Smart missed an open corner 3-point shot and favored his left hand after.

He did the same when checking out of the game moments later, but Smart did re-enter and eventually finished the contest, avoiding any serious injury.

Maher doesn’t appear to have suffered anything major either.

The Lakers subsequently won the contest, beating a surging Knicks squad 110-97 in one of their all-around best efforts of the season.

It’s only the fourth time this season the Lakers held an opponent under 100 points, and the Knicks are by far the best team L.A. has done this against, with the others being the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.

Luka Doncic led the LeBron James-less Lakers with 35 points, eight rebounds and four assists, making five threes in the process.

Smart shot just 1-for-10 and went 0-for-5 from deep, ending the day with just five points, four assists and two steals.