AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Nijel Pack scored 23 points, Xzayvier Brown added 21 points, and Oklahoma beat Texas 88-85 in overtime in the final regular season game of the season for the two Southeastern Conference sides.
Pack was 7 of 14 from the field and 3 of 7 behind the arc. He scored nine points during a 14-2 second-half run that turned a tie game into a 12-point lead for the Sooners (17-14, 7-11) with fewer than seven minutes remaining. Brown was 8-of-18 shooting with four steals and led with 12 in the first half. Tae Davis added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Longhorns (18-13, 9-9) held a 40-36 lead at halftime. They were led by Jordan Pope's 30 points on an inefficient 8-of-25 shooting but was 7 of 18 from behind the arc. Dailyn Swain added 18 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Tramon Mark had 17 points. Matas Vokietaitis had 14 points and six rebounds.
The Sooners led by six with 36 seconds to go in regulation, but fouled Mark twice, including on a 3-point attempt that followed a turnover. Mark made all five free throws to make it a one-point game with 15 seconds left.
A pair of free throws from Davis put the Sooners up three. But Brown fouled Pope on a 3-point attempt, and Pope made all three free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Pope had five in overtime and Mark three for the Longhorns, but Derrion Reid's five points for the Sooners, including a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, put the game out of reach.
Texas lost four of their final five games to finish as the No. 10 seed in the SEC tournament.
Up next
Oklahoma will head to the SEC tournament as the 11 seed to face No. 14 seed South Carolina in the first round on Wednesday.
Texas faces No. 15 seed Mississippi on Wednesday. ___
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MARCH 7: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball in front of Brandin Podziemski #2 of the Golden State Warriors during the first half at Paycom Center on March 7, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Golden State Warriors lost to the reigning defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder tonight on the road, 104-97. They also missed seven free throws, egads!
You can sit with that math however you want. But here’s what I refuse to let that number erase: a shorthanded Golden State team, without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, walked into the building that is currently the most dangerous home court in the Western Conference and made the best team in basketball sweat for 48 minutes.
That counts for something.
Gui Santos dropped a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds on the best defensive roster in the conference. Draymond Green shot 6-of-10, hit four threes, and looked like a man who has been here before because he absolutely has. Brandin Podziemski ran the offense with 17 points and 6 assists against one turnover, the kind of quiet competence that championship rosters are built around. The Warriors outrebounded the Thunder 47-42. They generated 28 assists. They even won the turnover battle -3 against OKC’s pesky defense. The Dubs came back from double digits down in the third quarter and made it a genuine game when nobody outside the locker room expected them to.
Really strong effort again from the Warriors — but they don't have enough talent to close down the stretch against SGA. Santos finishes with a career high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Podz had 17. Draymond had another solid all-around game. Porzingis has 9 pts in 23 min in return.
The missed free throws hurt. Going 11-of-18 from the line against a Thunder team that went 23-of-24 from the charity stripe is the difference between a loss and a moment Dub Nation would have talked about for weeks. But I’ve watched this franchise long enough to know the difference between a team that is broken and a team that is building toward something through the fire. Tonight looked like the latter. The fight was real. The competitiveness was real. The youth on this roster absorbing a playoff-caliber environment against a 50-win team, without their stars, and still finding a way to make the fourth quarter interesting? That is something to build on.
Oklahoma City earned their 50th win. They are legitimate contenders to go back-to-back and tonight confirmed it again. But the Warriors made them work for every possession, and when Curry gets back, when this group remembers what full strength feels like, tonight will be one of those games they point to.
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 7: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives to the basket during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on March 7, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer season standings: 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 Jabari Walker – 1 MarJon Beauchamp – 1 Adem Bona – 1 Justin Edwards – 1 Quentin Grimes – 1 Trendon Watford – 1 15th roster spot – 1
Well, the shorthanded Sixers put forth a much more spirited effort than recent blowout defeats to Boston and San Antonio, but the usual third quarter woes reared their ugly head, and Philadelphia moved down into Play-In Tournament territory with a 125-116 loss to Atlanta. With the win by the Hawks, they completed the season sweep of the Sixers, which could come into play as a tiebreaker later with the two clubs bunched together in the standings. More crucially, Tyrese Maxey suffered a collision in the closing seconds of the game, suffering what looked to be an injury to his shooting hand, with later reporting revealing something may have happened to his finger.
I’m told Tyrese Maxey will receive additional testing tomorrow on his right finger. Nothing conclusive tonight
It goes without saying, but with Philadelphia already missing several starters due to injury and suspension, losing Maxey for any significant period of time would be a true cause to panic. We’ll cross that doomsday bridge if and when we come to it. For now, let’s focus on the positives from Saturday’s defeat with our Bell Ringer nominees.
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 7: Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives to the basket during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on March 7, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Early on, Maxey looked like a guy determined to put the team on his back Greg Jennings-style, scoring 15 points in the opening quarter and 22 overall in the first half. In addition to his usual self-creation off the dribble, the Sixers did a nice job working Tyrese off the ball, getting him a couple open looks from three and running him off screens to allow him to start running downhill towards the basket. Maxey made great reads with the ball in his hand, finding Kelly Oubre with an over-the-shoulder cross-court pass for a triple, and finding a rolling Adem Bona down the lane for a bucket. He also made some key defensive plays, showing active hands at the top of the zone to force a couple steals. Hopefully, all’s relatively well with the hand/finger, and we’ll be seeing Tyrese right back among the Bell Ringer options real soon.
The Hawks went on a run, but Tyrese made a big triple to stop it and the Sixers go into the half with 73-66 lead pic.twitter.com/FM8MyydZ0f
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 7: Quentin Grimes #5 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives to the basket during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on March 7, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
After slumping for a few games, Grimes had his second straight positive game on the offensive end, this time getting going from beyond the arc with a trio of triples. He also displayed an aggressive attacking mentality, finishing through contact around the rim on numerous occasions; his seven free-throw attempts marked his third-highest total on the season. Grimes got chippy with Onyeka Okongwu as the pair each got the better end of each other on some forays by Quentin to the cup. It was great to see some fire from Grimes and keep carving in there to great success. I really enjoyed their little tete-a-tetes in the painted area. With so many absences, the Sixers need contributions from everybody, and this was a really nice performance from Grimes.
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 7: Kelly Oubre Jr. #9 of the Philadelphia 76ers passes the ball during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on March 7, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Kelly Oubre returned from missing a couple games due to illness and certainly looked more rested than drained in stepping back on the court. It was a solid all-around performance from Oubre. He hit Adem Bona perfectly down the lane with a pass out of the pick-and-roll for a dunk (remember when four assists seemed like a pipe dream from Kelly?). He clean picked Jalen Johnson’s pocket on one play, leading to a run-out bucket for Maxey, and he worked hard on the offensive glass — three o-boards all led to second-chance points. At his heart, though, Kelly gets buckets, and he did so very efficiently Saturday, shooting 10-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three. In particular, I liked when he recognized his size advantage against the defender, and muscled his way into the lane to can some short jumpers. Great to have you back, Kelly; the team certainly needs you.
Kelly Oubre Jr. makes the most of his own miss with a nasty slam on Jock Landale pic.twitter.com/Zb3BdZAR04
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Defender Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored two minutes into the second half and Andrew Thomas made it stand up as the Seattle Sounders edged Sporting Kansas City 1-0 on Saturday night.
Kossa-Rienzi subbed in for Yéimar Gomez Andrade in the 23rd minute before scoring in the 47th to give the Sounders the lead. Jesús Ferreira notched his third assist in three matches and his 39th in 198 career appearances. Kossa-Rienzi found the net for the first time this season after scoring three times in 22 appearances as a rookie last year.
Thomas finished with five saves in posting his second clean sheet of the season and his fifth in 15 career starts for the Sounders (2-1-0).
Roman Bürki stopped three shots in his 92nd start, all with St. Louis City. Thomas had three saves and Bürki two in the scoreless first half.
First-year coach Yoann Damet is still searching for his first victory with St. Louis City (0-2-1). Damet spent three seasons as an assistant under former Columbus Crew head man Wilfried Nancy.
Seattle bounced back from losing a fifth straight road opener — 2-1 to Real Salt Lake — and improved to 6-1-0 all time versus St. Louis City.
Up next
St. Louis: At Los Angeles FC on Saturday.
Seattle: At San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday in the third of five straight road matches for the Sounders.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Anders Dreyer scored late in the first half and rookie teenager Duran Ferree posted his third straight clean sheet to begin the season, leading San Diego FC to a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.
Dreyer used assists from Onni Valakari and 19-year-old Luca Bombino in the 39th minute to score for the second time this season. Valakari notched his second assist after collecting 11 last year, his first in the league. Bombino's first of the season comes after he had four assists in 26 appearances as a rookie last year.
Dreyer became the second fastest to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in regular-season play in league history last week, needing 36 matches. Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi set the record at 26. Dreyer is the reigning newcomer of the year.
Ferree, 19, saved three shots for San Diego (3-0-0), which has outscored its opponents 8-0.
John Pulskamp finished with four saves for Sporting KC (0-2-1). He made a save on a penalty kick by the Columbus Crew's Wessam Abou Ali in the 87th minute to preserve a 2-2 draw last week.
Mikey Vargas has San Diego off to another hot start after his club finished first during the Western Conference regular season as an expansion side last year.
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 7: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks drives to the basket during the game against the Utah Jazz on March 7, 2026 at Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images). | NBAE via Getty Images
In the first half of a weekend back-to-back at Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak, taking out perhaps the most unabashed tankers in NBA history, the Utah Jazz. In his most extensive action since returning Monday from a calf strain (27 minutes), Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in a game-high 27 for the victors. Keyonte George paced the visitors with 22.
A jumbo starting lineup, including Ousmane Dieng and Kyle Kuzma, began this one on a 10-3 run. Giannis’ initial shift was his longest since January at just under eight minutes, and in that time, he got to the line seven times. It was 23-8 when he subbed out at 4:35, but the second unit couldn’t extend what was then a 13-2 run any further. In fact, Milwaukee didn’t score a point for over three-and-a-half minutes as Giannis sat, though Utah couldn’t get closer than 10. They’re that bad: the Bucks went ice cold, and all the Jazz managed was five points. With a quarter in the books, it was 24-13 Bucks. Gripping stuff.
The Jazz finally started to find nylon in the opening stages of the second, amid the Bucks’ continued offensive struggles. A 10-2 Utah run made it a two-point game just over three minutes in, and Giannis re-entered perhaps sooner than anticipated. Still, the Milwaukee offense remained sluggish as Utah tied it at 35 just past the midpoint. It wasn’t until the last three minutes that they strung together some makes and re-established the double-digit lead, ironically after Giannis checked back out. The home team went to the locker room ahead 51-44.
Much like in their Wednesday defeat, the Bucks opened the second half poorly. Two early turnovers shrank the Bucks’ halftime advantage to one, and thanks to early foul trouble, they barely managed to stay in front—by no more than six—for the next few minutes. Once Giannis exited, Utah grabbed their first lead of the game inside the five-minute mark. Basket-trading followed, including AJ Green’s first three of the night (he had been 0/4 overall prior), then another shortly after. That, plus a Jericho Sims fastbreak dunk, seemed to break Milwaukee out of it a bit. Closing the period on a 9-2 run, they led 83-76 through three.
Bobby Portis took matters into his own hands with a pair of early buckets as the Bucks soon went up 11. He even added a block to his six quick points. That bought some more time for Giannis, who was reinserted with 7:30 left, up six. Utah closed within one, though, and it appeared the usual Jazz tanking mass exodus wasn’t coming. Giannis went to work with a personal 6-0 run, but Milwaukee struggled to stop Utah on the other end without fouling. It was 97-95 inside five minutes, but then the Bucks finally got serious and put the game away as the Jazz misfired just enough. They finished on a 16-4 run.
Stat That Stood Out
The Bucks were just brutal at the line, and it made this game a lot closer than it needed to be: 16/28 at the charity stripe is just 57.1%. Until Giannis made a few as they made their closing run, Milwaukee was under 50% for the game.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Pep Biel scored two goals, Idan Toklomati added his first of the season, and Charlotte FC beat short-handed Austin FC 3-1 on Saturday night.
Biel scored his second goal of the season to make it 2-1 in the 68th minute. Harry Toffolo played an arcing ball from the left side to the back post, where Liel Abada skipped it back in front of the net for the first-touch finish by Biel.
Guilherme Biro was shown a straight red card in the 25th and Austin (1-1-1) played a man down the rest of the way.
Charlotte took a 1-0 lead about four minutes later when Idan Toklomati scored his first goal of the season. Wilfried Zaha cut back to evade a defender and darted toward the end line before he played a cross from the left corner of the 6-yard box to the back post for a first-touch finish by Toklomati into a wide-open net.
An own goal by Morrison Agyemang — who made his first MLS start — made it 1-1 in the 31st minute.
Biel capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.
Austin’s Dani Pereira left the game in the 36th minute due to an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Nicolás Dubersarsky.
Brad Stuver had nine saves.
Kristijan Kahlina stopped one shot for Charlotte (1-1-1).
ATLANTA (AP) — Rookies Sergi Solans and teenager Aiden Hezarkhani scored four minutes apart in the first half and Real Salt Lake went on to spoil Atlanta United's home opener with a 3-2 victory Saturday night.
Solans scored his first goal in the 23rd minute of his first start with an assist from first-year forward Morgan Guilavogui, also making his first start.
Hezarkhani, 18, notched his second goal in his third start this season, scoring unassisted in the 27th minute for a two-goal advantage.
Atlanta United got a goal back on a score by Alexey Miranchuk in the 38th minute. Newcomer Elías Báez notched his first assist on the club's first goal of the season after back-to-back 2-0 losses on the road. Teenager Cooper Sanchez, 17, also collected his first assist.
Teenager Zavier Gozo, 18, scored two minutes later and Real Salt Lake took a 3-1 lead into halftime. Gozo's goal was his first this season after scoring four times as a rookie last season in 25 appearances. Philip Quinton notched his second assist of the season and career, while defender Justen Glad earned his first this season and his fourth in 275 career appearances.
Miranchuk found the net in the 74th minute with assists from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Steven Alzate to set the final margin. It was Miranchuk’s 11th goal in 45 career matches with Atlanta. Alzate's first assist this season is his third in 13 career appearances. Latte Lath had one assist in 30 matches last season — his first in the league.
Rafael Cabral saved two shots for Real Salt Lake (2-1-0). Cabral had the only save in the first half as RSL picked up its first victory in Atlanta in its third try.
Lucas Hoyos finished with two saves for Atlanta United (0-3-0) in his third career start.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna, a candidate for the U.S. World Cup roster, missed his third straight match because of a knee injury.
Up next
Real Salt Lake: Hosts Austin FC on Saturday.
Atlanta United: Hosts the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Timo Werner had his second assist in as many appearances for San Jose, Ousseni Bouda scored a goal, and the Earthquakes beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0 on Saturday night.
San Jose (3-0-0) is off to the best start in club history. The Earthquakes started 2-0-1 on their way to the 2003 MLS Cup championship.
Daniel De Sousa Britto — known simply as “Daniel” — had three saves for San Jose and has not allowed a goal this season.
Werner rolled a long through ball to Bouda, who slipped behind the defense for a first-touch finish from outside the 6-yard box in the 59th minute.
1. Philadelphia (0-3-0) is off to its worst start since 2012 and already has two home losses this season, one more that all 2025 when the Union won the Supporter's Shield.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Chris Brady finished with three saves for the Chicago Fire and Patrick Schulte stopped two shots for Columbus as the longtime rivals played to a scoreless draw in the Crew's home opener on Saturday night.
It was the 24th draw in the 80th meeting between the two clubs with the victories knotted at 28 apiece.
Five yellow cards were handed out in the final 13 minutes of regulation — three of them to the Fire (1-1-1).
Brady had two saves and Schulte wasn’t tested in the first half.
The two clubs split a pair of matches last season with both winning at home.
Mar 7, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (17) dribbles defended by Detroit Pistons guard Kevin Huerter (27) in the first half at Little Caesars Arena....
The Nets snapped the longest losing skid in the NBA with one of the largest comebacks in their history.
Brooklyn rallied for a 107-105 win at East-leading Detroit before a sellout crowd of 20,062 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday that was as stunning as their last visit was shameful.
The Nets’ comeback — from 23 points down in the second half — tied the fifth biggest in franchise history. It flipped the script from their last trip to Detroit on Feb. 1, when their 53-point humbling was the third worst they’d ever suffered.
Saturday was much sweeter thanks to a 34-13 fourth-quarter run that turned a 17-point deficit into a four-point lead they held onto.
“[You have to] keep playing as hard as you can,” Jordi Fernández said. “[It was] the resiliency, and we found energy at the right time. Defensively, when you look at 43 points allowed in one half, you give yourself a chance to win. So, we found a way. I’m proud of the growth. … [We] played against a really good team, and we were able to fight all the way through.
“The effort was good, but their voice was great. [I was impressed by] how encouraging they were to others. At times, when you’re down and everybody is frustrated, it creates a little negative energy. … Those guys kept everybody positive. That’s a good thing. That’s how you overcome a big deficit. We were able to fight for it and get the win.”
The win was the Nets’ first against an Eastern Conference leader since 2022. And it came because, after taking it on the chin early, they eventually matched the shorthanded Pistons’ physicality. No, they didn’t have to face star Cade Cunningham (left quad) or Ausar Thompson (right ankle) — but they won’t care.
Michael Porter Jr. had a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds. Ziaire Williams (23 points) and Day’Ron Sharpe (13 points) had strong second halves.
Michael Porter Jr. drives to the basket during the Nets’ 107-105 win over the Pistons in Detroit on March 7, 2026. Imagn Images
Brooklyn erased a 17-point fourth-quarter hole, and an eight-point deficit with 3:25 left thanks to a 12-0 blitz that gave them the lead for good.
“Last time we were here, [Detroit] broke a franchise record for largest win ever. So ever since that game, we always would tell ourselves it’s all about how you respond,” Sharpe said. “It’s our first time seeing them since we lost that game, so we just wanted to come out and give them a fight, and we won the game.”
The Nets — now 16-47 and third in the tank race — trailed 77-54 with 7:55 left in the third quarter.
They were still down 90-73 with 10:04 to play before mounting a 34-13 run.
Day’Ron Sharpe defends during the Nets’ March 7 win over the Pistons. Imagn Images
Sharpe had nine points and five boards — three offensive — in the pivotal fourth quarter. Nic Claxton — who had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting and was outplayed by Jalen Duren — saw how effective his burly backup was, and told Fernández to ride the hot hand.
“That’s a great teammate for them to see the flow of the game and trust me to finish the game. That says a lot about his character,” said Sharpe.
“I was about to bring Nic in for Day’Ron. Day’Ron was playing so hard. Nic saw that he just got a putback and fought for the ball, and said [stick with him],” Fernández said. “When you see things like this, how connected [they are] and they come together. They believe in each other, and that was pretty cool.”
Michael Porter Jr. drives to the basket during the Nets’ March 7 win over the Pistons. NBAE via Getty Images
Down 103-95, the Nets reeled off a dozen unanswered points.
Williams forced a Daniss Jenkins miss, and Sharpe grabbed the rebound. Even after Noah Clowney’s turnover with seven seconds left gave Detroit life, Williams forced a Duncan Robinson miss on the wing. Duren’s last-second miss sealed it.
“The second half, we built a 20-point lead and then we stopped respecting the game,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You disrespect the game, it’s going to bite you in the [butt] and that’s what happened to us.”
The Nets are a game behind second-place Indiana and 2 ½ behind Sacramento in the tank race.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Rashaun Agee scored 26 points, Rylan Griffen scored 24, and Texas A&M beat LSU 94-91 in triple overtime on Saturday night to close out the regular season for both Southeastern Conference teams.
Agee had 11 rebounds and two blocks in his 47 minutes, and scored a layup with 24 seconds left to give the Aggies (21-10, 11-7) the lead in triple overtime. Griffen was 5 of 8 from behind the arc, and had seven rebounds, three blocks and a game-high six steals.
Pop Isaacs had 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Aggies. Ali Dibba added 12 points and five steals.
Max Mackinnon led the Tigers (15-16, 3-15) with 20 points. Jalen Reece scored 17. Mike Nwoko had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The Tigers led by a game-high 15 points in the first half, which ended 38-33. They had a nine-point second-half lead until the Aggies responded with a 14-4 run to briefly take the lead. Mackinnon tied the game at 70 on a layup with 38 seconds to go, sending it to overtime.
Mackinnon gave the Tigers a one-point lead on a 3-pointer with 1:23 left in overtime before Agree responded with one for the Aggies 18 seconds later. Agee turned the ball over with 15 seconds left, leading to a game-tying jump shot from Jalen Reece to send the game to a second overtime. Free throws forced a third overtime.
LSU lost eight of its past nine games, and 15 of its past 18 to finish last in the SEC standings.
Up next
Texas A&M clinched the sixth seed in the SEC tournament, and will play on Thursday against the winner of the 11 and 14 seeds.
LSU will be the 16th seed in the SEC tournament, beginning Wednesday against the No. 9 seed. ___
It’d be nice to simulate to the end of the Brooklyn Nets’ season by adding 20 losses to their ledger and populating social media with a few Nolan Traore highlight reels here and there. Alas, they do have to play the games, and on Saturday evening, the Nets faced the East’s #1 seed — the Detroit Pistons — on the road.
However, much like Brooklyn’s narrow loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, this one seemed like a trap game for their opponent. Maybe “trap” is the wrong word considering the Pistons were missing Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson to injury, but throw in the weird 6:00 p.m. tip-off time and their most recent, hard-fought loss to the San Antonio Spurs, and it felt like the Nets could make it sweaty.
The first few minutes were promising. Michael Porter Jr. — chased through screens not by Thompson but by Duncan Robinson — got free for a couple early threes, and Jordi Fernández even threw out a funky double-big lineup to reward the faithful Brooklyn viewers that tuned in.
Then the Pistons went on an 18-4 run, taking a 16-point lead into the half as old friend Caris LeVert helped destroy a turnover-prone reserve unit…
Another Nets loss, huh? Not even the were providing enjoyment, with Egor Dëmin sitting to manage his plantar fascia injury again, while Traore (15 minutes) and Ben Saraf (four minutes) combined for five turnovers and two total points. Danny Wolf was better, finishing with a tidy eight points and four assists, but the team was down 23 points soon after the third quarter started. Autopilot, right?
And then it all changed. Jordi Fernández rode the veterans to a wild, wild comeback, ending a ten-game losing streak. Foolish or not, nobody can accuse this team of tanking, not on Saturday night in Detroit.
Michael Porter Jr. never really caught fire, but shot 10-of-25 to end up with 30/13/1 , leading all scorers. Likewise, Noah Clowney shot just 1-of-5 from deep, but frequented the free-throw line en route to 16 points. Terance Mann brought the ball up the floor for much of the second half and stabilized the group, while Ziaire Williams continued to play some of the best ball of his career…
“I was just flowing, just taking what the defense gives me, not forcing anything,” said Williams. “My mama, she from D-town, so shoutout to the fam in the arena watching. I had a little extra spirit with me today.”
Williams scored 23 points, making five threes and eight free-throws, but it didn’t stop there. Day’Ron Sharpe, who fought Jalen Duren tooth and nail in the paint, closed over Nic Claxton. Fernández even went offense/defense down the stretch, showing some faith in Danny Wolf to get buckets.
The Pistons, yukking it up in the first half as Kevin Huerter shot heat-checks and Daniss Jenkins took everybody off the dribble, looked mortified in the second half, running into a brick wall without Cunningham. They shot a grotesque 9-of-27 from TWO after halftime, with the Nets racking up five blocks in that span.
“I think we found energy at the right time,” said Fernández. “I think defensively, when you look at 43 points allowed in one half, you give yourself a chance to win.”
Well, that’s the truth. Here’s Ziaire Williams’ take: “We just never gave up. Shoutout Day’Ron, big minutes down the stretch. It was a team win, just glad we got it done.”
Detroit’s 23-point lead approached single-digits, but a quick run at the start of the fourth quarter pushed it back to 17. It wasn’t safe. Ziaire Williams hit two huge threes, Detroit couldn’t stop fouling, and it set up a stupid, wacky ending that both teams, quite frankly, deserved to lose. (Maybe more the team that blew the big lead…)
Don't even know what I watched at the end of this Nets-Pistons game. Couldn't tell you.
I still can’t make sense of it. My best guess is that Noah Clowney got out over his skis trying to put the game away with a dunk instead of catching the ball, which set up another Nets blunder on the ensuing defensive possession: Up two points, they lost track of…Duncan Robinson. Who missed. Brooklyn’s fourth-quarter execution was splendid, but uh, that real late-game execution? It might need some work heading into next season.
Duren, however, missed the fadeaway jumper over Sharpe to seal what I would otherwise consider a devastating outcome for both sides if I hadn’t seen the emotion on Brooklyn’s sideline…
Will this be 2026’s version of the Nic Claxton game-winner in Philadelphia? I don’t know about all that. Jordi Fernández may have gone balls to the wall to snag the fifth-largest comeback in franchise history, but the team is still just 16-47 after this foxtrot of a win, good for the third-worst record in the league.
“The last time we was here, they broke a franchise-record for their largest record win ever … it’s all about how you respond,” said Day’Ron Sharpe.
Well…if the Nets are gonna win…it might as well be like this. I’m still sweating.
Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 107, Detroit Pistons 105
Milestone Watch
More milestones — especially team-focused ones — than we’ve had in a minute!
Porter Jr. had 27+ points and 13+ rebounds for the second consecutive game. It’s the first time in his career he’s put up such numbers in back-to-back games.
Saturday night also marked MPJ’s 11th 20-point double-double of the season, the most he’s ever recorded in one season.
This is the first time in Ziaire Williams’ career he has scored 15+ points in three consecutive games. His 23 points is the second-most he’s scored this season, and five made 3-pointers is tied for the third-highest total of his career.
Brooklyn defeated the East’s #1 seed on Saturday, the first time they’ve done so since a 12/23/22 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
As mentioned, that 23-point comeback ties the fifth-largest comeback win in franchise history. How many do you remember?
Where does this one rank Nets fans on your list of greatest comebacks?
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trevor Zegras scored the only goal of the shootout to help the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Saturday night.
Owen Tippett, Alex Bump and Denver Barkey scored for the Flyers, and Dan Vladar stopped 20 shots.
Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson scored for the Penguins, and Stuart Skinner stopped 12 shots a day after Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin was suspended for five games. The Penguins were also without captain Sidney Crosby, who is out for a minimum of four weeks because of a lower-body injury.
Tippett scored his 20th goal of the season less than a minute after Novak opened the scoring for the Penguins. It marked Tippett's fourth consecutive season with at least 20 goals.
Bump scored in his NHL debut to tie the game at 2. With his family in the stands, he scored short side after a no-look pass from Nikita Grebenkin just over a minute after Rackell put the Penguins ahead 2-1 early in the second period.
Karlsson scored a minute later, and Barkley scored midway through the second to even the score at 3.
Vladar got called for interference 2:51 into overtime, and the Flyers killed off the late penalty.
ATLANTA (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 24 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-116 on Saturday night for their season-best sixth straight victory.
Atlanta, which had two five-game runs during the season, has won seven of its last eight games and moved two games over .500 at 33-31.
CJ McCollum scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half and added seven assists, Dyson Daniels finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu had 10 points as the Hawks overcame a seven-point halftime deficit.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 31 points before injuring his right hand in a collision with teammate Adem Bona with 16 seconds remaining in the game. Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse had no update on the extent of Maxey's injury after the game and said the All-Star guard would have X-rays on his hand.
Quentin Grimes scored 26 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 24 and Trendon Watford 10 as Philly had its four-game winning streak halted. Jabari Walker, who was coming off consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his four-year NBA career, finished with nine points.
The Sixers were missing VJ Edgecombe (lumbar contusion), Joel Embiid (right oblique strain), Johni Broome (right knee surgery recovery) and Paul George (league suspension).
Jonathan Kuminga (left knee inflammation) was sidelined for the Hawks.
