Category: Basketball

While No. 1 Duke, No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Connecticut faced unexpected tests in the first round of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, the upsets on Thursday and Friday happened down the bracket, with teams from the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 being upended by double-digit seeds.

In one of the most dramatic moments of the opening round, No. 12 High Point knocked off No. 5 Wisconsin, 83-82, on a last-second layup. In another upset, No. 11 VCU pulled off a furious comeback to beat No. 6 North Carolina, 82-78, in overtime.

Duke made history as the only No. 1 seed to ever trail a No. 16 seed by double digits at halftime before getting back on track for a 71-65 win against Siena.

Michigan led No. 16 Howard 50-46 at halftime before its potent offense took over, turning a nailbiter into a 100-81 win. Connecticut went cold from deep in the first half against No. 15 Furman but steadied things in the second half to win 82-71.

Overall, teams on the top four lines went 16-0 in the first round with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. Of this group, 12 won by at least 20 points, led by No. 1 Florida’s 114-55 win against No. 16 Prairie View A&M.

Let’s break down what’s happened and get ready for the weekend by examining the biggest winners and losers from the first round:

WINNERS

Nebraska

The No. 4 Cornhuskers are one of the biggest winners after rolling over No. 13 Troy, 76-47, for the program’s first tournament win. Sharpshooter Pryce Sandfort led the way with 23 points for Nebraska, which next takes on No. 5 Vanderbilt in the South region. This has been a long time coming, period, and required the patience to give coach Fred Hoiberg enough time to establish the depth and playing style that have made this the most successful team in school history.  

Saint Louis

Late on Thursday night, No. 9 Saint Louis put on a show against No. 8 Georgia to paint the Billikens as a legitimate threat to derail the Wolverines in the second round of the Midwest region. With a frantic pace and aggressive, rim-attacking approach, SLU scored 66 points in the paint and led the Bulldogs by as much as 40 points in the second half of a 102-77 win. This was particularly meaningful for coach Josh Schertz and star center Robbie Avila, who were part of the 2024 Indiana State team that was infamously snubbed as an at-large contender.

No. 9 seeds

It was a good round to be a No. 9 seed. In addition to Saint Louis, TCU beat Ohio State, 66-64, on a late bucket, Utah State beat Villanova, 86-76, and Iowa beat Clemson, 67-61. The last time No. 9 seeds went 4-0 in the first round was in 2019, when Central Florida, Baylor, Oklahoma and Washington did the honors.

Kentucky

You shudder to think about the reaction nationally and inside its home state had No. 7 Kentucky lost to No. 10 Santa Clara – and the Wildcats seemed well on the way to doing just that until Otega Oweh’s buzzer-beating heave from just inside half court tied the game and forced overtime. From there, UK had just enough to score an 89-84 win that should temporarily quiet the frustration over an up-and-down regular season. There’s a lot of stress on the word temporarily: No. 2 Iowa State will eat the Wildcats’ lunch if they don’t step up their game before meeting on Sunday.

LOSERS

North Carolina

The disaster that was North Carolina’s loss to VCU threatens to change the direction of the program, given the recharged sense of unease about the state of affairs under coach Hubert Davis. While Davis did lead UNC to the national championship game in 2022 and an ACC regular-season crown in 2024, the Tar Heels’ latest first-round exit should leave Davis on a very hot seat heading into next season – or even lead to an immediate coaching change. Ahead by 19 points in the second half, UNC took its foot off the gas and allowed the Rams to chip away and force overtime before guard Terrence Hill Jr. nailed a step-back 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the extra frame for the win.

ACC

UNC isn’t alone amid the ACC’s disappointing start. Duke had a historic struggle but survived. Clemson lost 67-61 to Iowa. In the play-in round, No. 11 North Carolina State lost 68-66 to Texas and No. 11 SMU lost 89-79 to Miami (Ohio). On the other hand, No. 7 Miami beat No. 10 Missouri, 80-66, No. 3 Virginia beat No. 14 Wright State, 82-73, for its first tournament win since 2019 and No. 6 Louisville beat No. 11 South Florida, 83-79. The 4-4 mark so far is well off the pace of the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, which were a combined 21-6 in the first round.

West Coast Conference

On a mid-major level, no league flopped more than the West Coast. Regular-season and conference tournament champion No. 3 Gonzaga struggled in a defensive battle against No. 14 Kennesaw State but pulled out a 73-64 win. Santa Clara led Kentucky with two minutes to go, again with 1:30 to play and then made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left before Oweh delivered a miracle. And No. 7 Saint Mary’s was just pushed around and never comfortable in a 63-50 loss to No. 10 Texas A&M.

Brigham Young

This entire season was a bit of a flop given the hype around BYU and freshman star AJ Dybantsa, even if Dybantsa matched all expectations with a banner one-and-done year. The No. 6 Cougars’ year ended with a 79-71 loss to No. 11 Texas that pretty much sum that up: Dybantsa scored 35 points and had 10 rebounds, though he did turn the ball over five times and make just 1 of 7 attempts from deep.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners and losers of first round of Men's NCAA Tournament

The Dallas Mavericks (23-47) welcome the Los Angeles Clippers (34-36) to town, as both teams look to get back into the win column.

The Mavericks are coming off a 135-120 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, and the Clippers are looking to get right after consecutive losses to the New Orleans Pelicans. Here are three notes as the Mavericks take on a familiar foe at the AAC.

Have the reinforcements arrived?

The tank is gaining steam at the right time for Dallas. With razor-thin margins in the standings, every game matters for the Mavericks, Pelicans, and Grizzlies, who are separated by 1.5 games, and three weeks left in the season. The Grizzlies took home a surprising win over the Nuggets on Wednesday, and the Pelicans have won six of eight games, including back-to-back wins against these Clippers.

Dallas may be losing, but it’s not for lack of effort. The Mavericks are still playing the best players available, and there have been some silver linings. Most notably, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford have looked more like themselves lately. In the past five games, Washington has averaged 16.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals. Gafford has averaged 18.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks.

With Memphis and New Orleans finding ways to scratch out wins, Washington and Gafford won’t be enough to save Dallas as they did in 2024, but it’s good to see them returning to form.

Kawhi Leonard looks like an MVP

Leonard is a lot like a tree – quiet, tall, strong, has rings, and is a model of consistency. Bad joke?

All jokes aside, Leonard has quietly put together an MVP-caliber season. The 34-year-old is sixth in the NBA in scoring this season at 28.2 points per game on 50.4% shooting. He’s also averaging 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.0 steals. This is the most complete Kawhi Leonard we’ve seen since 2021, when he seemingly could not miss a shot and was still in his prime defensively. He’s also been largely available this season (at least by his standards), playing in 54 of 70 games so far.

If the Clippers didn’t take until Christmas to figure out the Thunder own their 2026 first-round pick, starting 6-21, Leonard’s name would be louder in MVP chatter, but the Clippers simply haven’t been good.

Even after reshaping the roster, letting go of Ivica Zubac and James Harden, and adding Darius Garland and Benedict Mathurin, the Clippers haven’t found a solid footing. They’re 10-9 since the trade deadline and stuck solid in the play-in. But Kawhi loves making life hard on the Mavs and wouldn’t be surprised to see him do it again on Saturday.

Can Flagg find his shooting stroke?

Cooper Flagg has been nothing short of spectacular this season. He was the heavy favorite to take home Rookie of the Year honors until a left foot sprain sidelined him for nearly a month. He missed eight games during that span and, since returning to the lineup on March 5, has only shot 41% from the floor. The other parts of his game haven’t missed a step, as he’s showcased his ability to be an all-around player, averaging 18.7 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.4 assists since returning to the hardwood. 

Defenses have started to adjust to Flagg’s strengths, giving him more space to shoot and less freedom to attack one-on-one. With this season being a wash, this is Flagg’s trial-and-error time to get more reps on his shots and see other ways he can create offense for himself. To be successful in today’s NBA, you have to be able to shoot. It’s one of Flagg’s only “weaknesses” (if we have to say he has one). One of his strengths is his ability to adapt, and he’ll figure this out, too. 

How to watch

The Mavs and Clippers tip off at 7:30 CT from the American Airlines Center. You can watch on KFAA Channel 29, Mavs TV, or NBA League Pass.

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Game times and TV assignments for Sunday's second round were announced late Friday night. Here is the schedule for the second day of the second round, as well as what network it will air on.

March Madness bracket update: Second round game times, full schedule

Saturday, March 21

All times Eastern

• 12:10 p.m.: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 9 Saint Louis, CBS
• 2:45 p.m.: No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Louisville, CBS (prediction)
• 5:15 p.m.: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 9 TCU, CBS (prediction)
• 6:10 p.m.: No. 2 Houston vs. No. 10 Texas A&M, TNT (prediction)
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Texas, TBS/truTV (prediction)
• 7:50 p.m.: No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 11 VCU, CBS (prediction)
• 8:45 p.m.: No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt, TNT (prediction)
• 9:45 p.m.: No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 12 High Point, TBS/truTV (prediction)

Sunday, March 22

All times Eastern

• 12:10 p.m.: No. 2 Purdue vs No. 7 Florida, CBS
• 2:45 p.m.: No. 2 Iowa State vs No. 7 Kentucky, CBS
• 5:15 p.m.: No. 4 Kansas vs No. 5 St. John's, CBS
• 6:10 p.m.: No. 3 Virginia vs No. 6 Tennessee, TNT
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 1 Florida vs No. 9 Iowa, TBS
• 8:45 p.m.: No. 2 UConn vs No. 7 UCLA, TNT
• 9:45 p.m.: No. 4 Alabama vs No. 5 Texas Tech, TBS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness game times: Second round TV schedule update

In a college sports landscape where resume is so important, loyalties don't just lie with teams anymore. They lie with conferences as well, even if it's to push an agenda.

With that in mind, every conference wants to believe it is the creme de la creme. The SEC showed its depth for the second year in a row by sending 10 teams to the Men's NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten fielded nine, and the Big 12 sent eight. The ACC also sent eight teams, whereas the Big East sent just three.

MARCH MADNESS SCORES: See the big shots, moments, highlights in today's first round

Other multi-bid conferences include the West Coast Conference, the MAC, and the Atlantic 10.

Of course, beyond them are the auto-bid conference tournament winners, the single-bid conferences who annually send one team. How did these teams fare, and who is moving on to the second round? Here's a breakdown of the records across the board for all 31 college basketball conferences.

Power 4 Men's NCAA Tournament records

The SEC is leading the way among the Power 4, with only Georgia and Missouri suffering losses in the opening round. First Four team Texas was able to defeat former Big 12 conference-mate BYU and AJ Dybantsa, while Tennessee unseated regular season undefeated darlings Miami (Ohio).

In the Big Ten, Wisconsin suffered an upset at the hands of High Point, whereas Ohio State lost to TCU to open the tournament. The rest of the conference was able to advance. The Big 12 lost BYU and UCF, while the rest of the conference advanced despite scares to Kansas and TCU. The ACC struggled, with Duke being forced to play all 40 against Siena and North Carolina suffering a devastating loss at the hands of VCU.

Conference	Record
SEC	8-2
Big Ten	7-2
Big 12	6-2
ACC	4-4

Other multi-bid conference records in March Madness

One and only one conference stands undefeated after two days of March Madness: The dreaded Atlantic 10.

Indeed, Josh Schertz's Saint Louis squad completely dismantled Georgia in the first round, while VCU pulled off the aforementioned comeback against North Carolina. The West Coast Conference lost Saint Mary's and Santa Clara in Round 1, while Gonzaga continues to dance, and the MAC dropped Miami and Akron.

While the Big East saw UConn and St. John's move on, Villanova lost to Utah State, capping off the Wildcats' season.

Conference	Record
Atlantic 10	2-0
Big East	2-1
West Coast	1-2
MAC	0-2

Other conferences March Madness records

Beyond the eight conferences to send multiple teams, there were 23 other conferences represented. Of those, the only single-bid conferences to advance to the second round were the Big South's High Point, which stunned No. 5 Wisconsin, and the Mountain West's Utah State, which took down Villanova as a No. 9 seed. That puts them at 2-21 as far as single-bids go.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness records by conference: How Big Ten, SEC, others fared

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Alex Killorn broke a tie off a scramble at 9:09 of the second period, Lukas Dostal stopped 29 shots and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Utah Mammoth 4-1 on Friday night to pad their Pacific Division lead.

After the puck was cleared off the goal line behind goalie Vitek Vanecek, the Ducks' Sennecke ended up with it on the left side and slipped a pass to Killorn for a shot before Vanecek was set. Killorn also had two assists.

Ryan Poehling, Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund also scored to help the Ducks — playing without suspended defenseman Radko Gudas — rebound from a 3-2 overtime loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday night at home. They moved three points ahead of Edmonton in the division.

Gudas served the fourth game of a five-game suspension for kneeing Auston Matthews in a loss at Toronto on March 12. Matthews tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season.

Poehling tied it with 6:23 left in the first, beating Vanecek with a nifty move on a short-handed break. Poehling took a pass from Killorn, sped down the left side, cut right and shot against the grain to the left.

The Ducks put it away with two empty-net goals, with Gauthier scoring his 36th goal on the first.

Dylan Guenther scored his 34th goal of the season for Utah — at 1:48 of the first of the Mammoth's second shot on goal.

Utah remained six points ahead of Los Angeles for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Mammoth opened a four-game homestand. They had won two straight on the road, beating Dallas 6-3 on Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak and topping Vegas 4-0 Thursday night.

Up next

Ducks: Host Buffalo on Sunday.

Mammoth: Host Los Angeles on Sunday night.

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

The Golden State Warriors lost to the Detroit Pistons 115-101 on Friday night, in a game that was not as close as that score would suggest. The Dubs were outsized, outmuscled, out-talented, and out-executed.

We’ll get through the grades quickly tonight, because it wasn’t pretty. Frankly, the Warriors did not play as well as the score suggested: it was only that close because of a garbage time run, and because the Pistons had one of their worst shooting nights from distance all season, which was emphatically not due to anything Golden State’s defense did.

As always, grades are based on my expectations for each player, with a “B” grade representing the average performance for that player.

Note: True-shooting percentage (TS) is a scoring efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws. Entering Friday’s games, league-average TS was 58.0%.

Gui Santos

30 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 4-for-10 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 55.3% TS, -3

The best thing that Santos did in this game was sub back in after leaving the contest early and heading to the locker room. Thankfully he seemed just fine, and wasn’t hampered for the rest of the game.

He wasn’t the problem for the Warriors in this one, but he wasn’t the solution, either. He had a well-balanced stat line, but that includes a lot of turnovers and fouls. He did some good things on offense, but wasn’t particularly efficient.

Grade: C

Draymond Green

22 minutes, 0 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 0.0% TS, -15

In the opening minutes of the game, we were treated to the total 2026 Draymond Green package. On the defensive end of the court, he took a gutsy charge when he stepped in front Jalen Duren, a very, very large human who was moving at a violent pace. Then, on the ensuing offensive possession, he made a truly atrocious pass for a turnover. On the very next possession, he defended brilliantly at the rim and then recovered in time to get the rebound. A few seconds later, he made a disastrous outlet pass for a turnover.

The Warriors chances are reflected in Green’s performances, and it was pretty clear from this one that nothing is going to come of this season.

Grade: D
Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Kristaps Porziņģis

11 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-5 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 42.5% TS, -6

Porziņģis didn’t play well in this game, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that he left the contest in the second quarter with back pain, and didn’t return. Porziņģis didn’t sound terribly concerned after the game, saying the issue was back spasms and that he was quite stiff. He said he probably won’t play on Saturday against his former team, the Atlanta Hawks, but didn’t rule it out. Unfortunately, given his history, it seems much more likely that he misses a handful of games than that he misses none.

Grade: Heal up!

De’Anthony Melton

23 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 5-for-14 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 2-for-3 free throws, 45.7% TS, -21

Melton was the only offense the Warriors had early in the game. He scored the first nine points for the Warriors (including the first five scored by either team), and by the time he took a seat on the bench for his first rest, he was the only player on the team to have scored. Unfortunately, things went from good to very bad after that. He stopped scoring, though he didn’t stop shooting. He couldn’t penetrate Detroit’s physical defense, and finished with four turnovers and no assists. His defense wasn’t good. Just a forgettable game for him.

Grade: D
Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Brandin Podziemski

30 minutes, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 4-for-10 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, 5-for-6 free throws, 59.3% TS, -6

It speaks to how poorly the Warriors played that it really felt like Podziemski was a non-factor on offense, and then I looked at the box score and realized he led the team in scoring and was one of the only players to have above-average efficiency. Go figure. Sorry, Podz. My bad.

All things considered, he was arguably the team’s best player, though it still wasn’t a great performance.

Grade: B
Post-game bonus: Led the team in points, tied for the team lead in rebounds.

Gary Payton II

25 minutes, 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-8 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 1-for-2 free throws, 78.8% TS, -3

Relative to prior expectations, it’s been an absolute offensive explosion for Payton lately. Where are all these buckets from? He’s scoring so efficiently, because he’s feasting on cuts to get easy buckets at the rim. It’s pretty phenomenal, and a joy to watch. It also might result in him playing himself out of Golden State’s budget for next year. We’ll see.

Grade: A

LJ Cryer

16 minutes, 10 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 3-for-6 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 77.6% TS, +2

Cryer returned to the court after a few days off to heal up his hamstring. He instantly helped the offense in his return. His shooting is no joke, and the spark and spacing it provides is critical on a team that is missing Steph Curry and traded away Buddy Hield. He deserves to be on a guaranteed contract next season, whether with the Warriors or with someone else.

Grade: A-
Post-game bonus: Tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

Pat Spencer

23 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 3-for-6 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, 50.0% TS, -8

Not a very good game for Pat. He tried hard, but just couldn’t get anything going. He did a few good things, but it always seemed to require a whole lot of effort.

Grade: C

Will Richard

28 minutes, 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 4-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 93.5% TS, -4

Richard had a sneaky good game of the bench. It was a tremendously efficient scoring game, as he was very selective with the shots he took … and then made them. He wasn’t quite as impactful as usual on defense, but he was still very good on that end of the court. Would like to see more rebounds and fewer turnovers, but all things considered, a strong game.

Grade: B+

Ömer Yurtseven

21 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-for-7 shooting, 2-for-6 free throws, 41.5% TS, +2

Yurtseven was kind of scattered in this game. It reminded me of pickup basketball … he was all over the place, for better and for worse. He made some interesting shots, but missed a whole lot. He grabbed a ton of rebounds and loose balls but kept turning the ball over. Strong YMCA vibes, in good and in bad.

Grade: C+
Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds, tied for the best plus/minus on the team.

Malevy Leons

11 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 83.3% TS, -8

With respect to Leons, the most notable part of his game was a hilariously on-brand for Steve Kerr move: after Porziņģis left the game, Leons entered the starting five in the second half … despite not playing in the first half, and finishing with the fewest number of minutes on the team (other than Porziņģis). Zaza Pachulia would be proud!

Anyway, Leons played pretty well, I thought.

Grade: B+

Friday’s inactives: Jimmy Butler III, Seth Curry, Steph Curry, Al Horford, Moses Moody, Quinten Post, Nate Williams

The Utah Jazz are closing in on the end of the final tanking season of what has been an up-and-down rebuild. With just 12 games left, the Utah Jazz have some interesting injuries to deal with as well as a few new signings and releases.

Lauri Markkanen injury update

According to Sarah Todd, Lauri Markkanen will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Jazz's Lauri Markkanen wasn't on the most recent road trip (neither was Keyonte George). Markkanen has been out since 2/26. The latest is that he will again be re-evaluated in two weeks. That technically puts us ahead of the end of the season…but we'll see.

— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) March 20, 2026

Two weeks would be with a few games left in the season, and it’s not likely the Jazz want to risk Markkanen for meaningless games, nor do they want any unnecessary wins to finish the season. They’re already struggling enough to lose games with Ace Bailey and Cody Williams finding their stride.

Utah Jazz sign Kennedy Chandler to 10-day contract

According to Shams Charania, the Jazz have signed the G-League assist leader, Kennedy Chandler.

The Utah Jazz are signing NBA G League assists leader Kennedy Chandler to a 10-day contract out of the NBA G League, agent Ryan Davis of WME Basketball tells ESPN. Chandler returns to the NBA after playing his 2022-23 rookie campaign in Memphis as a second-round pick.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 20, 2026

In the 2025-26 G-League season, Chandler has averaged 15.3 points, 8.9 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 33.9 minutes per game. He’s 23 years old and stands 6’0” with a 6’5.25” wingspan. That size will likely be the thing that holds him back, but you never know, Chandler could potentially impress the Jazz with these few games left.

Two steps forward, one step back. That’s been the story of the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On a beautiful Friday night in downtown Minneapolis, the Timberwolves took on the Portland Trail Blazers, looking to go for the 3-0 sweep of the homestand. The Wolves were again without both Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid, making the game against a Portland squad still trying to win games far from a gimme.

Without Edwards, the Wolves’ offense struggled to find consistent offense in the first half as they shot 20/48 (41.7 percent) from the field. With Mike Conley no longer in the rotation, the Timberwolves do not have a lack of ball handling in their rotation, which only gets worse with Edwards unable to play.

“We don’t have a primary handler right now,” Chris Finch said pregame. “We’re really defusing that through pace and just early movement, and it tends to feed itself. We’ve seen that all season long. The faster we play, the quicker we make decisions, the more the ball moves.”

Following an 0-7 stretch from beyond the arc to start the third quarter, the Wolves found themselves down by 18 points late in the second quarter. With the game potentially teetering out of control, Minnesota was finally able to remove the lid from the basket.

Minnesota made three straight 3-pointers, including two from Bones Hyland and one from Ayo Dosunmu, to close the half on an 11-2 run, cutting the Portland lead in half going into the break.

The offensive success continued into the third quarter as the Wolves made 15 of their first 20 shots in the quarter as the Wolves played with a near-perfect combination of pace and ball movement to take an 83-81 lead, their first lead since they were up 12-11.

Minnesota’s defense was a large reason for the turnaround as well. Despite giving up 68 points in the first half, they completely shut down Portland’s third-quarter offense, limiting them to 7-20 (35 percent) from the field while forcing six turnovers.

As we’ve seen too many times this season, though, the Wolves were not able to sustain that level of play the rest of the game. This time, it was the offensive side of the ball that fell apart late in the game. As the game slowed down over the final 15 minutes of the game, the Wolves’ offense made just six of their final 28 shot attempts, including nine straight misses immediately following taking their largest lead of three points.

“Looking back, I probably should have not tried to execute anything because we weren’t very good at trying to do that,” said an exasperated Finch postgame. “I thought we were playing well and then lost our head in transition a bunch. Quick shots, sloppy turnovers. It kind of let [Portland] re-stabilize the game.”

Despite the poor offensive stretch, the Wolves were able to keep the game close and took the lead back with less than a minute left as Randle used his patented bully-ball moves to get into the lane and hit a jumper to put Minnesota up by one.

On the subsequent defensive possession, the Wolves’ defense forced a pair of missed shots from Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija, but each time the Blazers were able to grab the offensive rebound, their 17th and 18th offensive rebounds of the game.

“It’s been that way for a while; it’s just not good enough,” Finch said of the Wolves’ poor rebounding. “We knew our guards needed a rebound. Ayo did a good job on the defensive glass. Rudy did a good job, but after that, we gotta have more rebounds. Julius has three defensive rebounds. That’s not good enough. It’s just not good enough.”

After a Portland timeout, Grant drained the dagger 3-pointer when Randle got caught up on a screen, leaving his man wide open.

that’s a lot of separation pic.twitter.com/o5kM5ymD15

— Jonah (@Huncho_Jman) March 21, 2026

The Wolves were unable to respond on the other end and lost by a final score of 108-104. They now sit in sixth place in the Western Conference following wins tonight from both the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.

Randle led the Wolves in scoring with an inefficient 19 points on 6-16 shooting from the field. Dosumnu was sensational the entire game, coming up just two assists shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Rudy Gobert was again great on both ends of the floor, greatly limiting the Trail Blazers’ offense while putting up 18 points and 15 rebounds.

The loss by itself isn’t a terrible one. Being without both Edwards and Reid made offense tough to come by, and the Trail Blazers are still a team trying to win basketball games, which at this point in the season makes a big difference. In the context of the season at large, though, it’s a tough pill to swallow, especially when the same issues continue to pop up over and over again.

“The start of the game, it’s been the same the last few games. We’ve got to find a way to start the game more fired up,” Gobert said. “I think it’s just being mentally ready to start the game. We were warmed up, it’s not physical. It’s just mentally being a little sharper.”

Effort and mental focus have been common refrains throughout the season, but 71 games into the season, that explanation feels like a mask for larger, more deeply rooted issues with this Timberwolves roster in terms of both fit and quality.

The Wolves have been one of the healthiest teams in the entire NBA this season. While they were missing Edwards and Reid tonight, there have been plenty of games earlier in the season where the Wolves’ opponent was missing significant firepower, and they were unable to capitalize on it with a win. Every team goes through injuries, and those injuries play a big role in the result of games, but in a long NBA season, how a team deals with those night-to-night injuries shows a lot about who that team is at full strength.

In tonight’s game, the Wolves came out flat on the defensive glass, by the admission of their starting center, and were not able to execute down the stretch of the game, and just plain weren’t good enough, according to the coach, to get this game across the finish line.

This Wolves team has an incredibly high ceiling. They can beat anyone on any given night, but have not been able to consistently play high-level basketball. Their longest win streak this season is just five games, a fairly small number for a team with championship aspirations.

With now just 11 games left in the season, the inconsistency is just who these Timberwolves are.

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Up Next

The Timberwolves now head out east for a matchup with the Boston Celtics, who recently added Jayson Tatum back into the lineup following his Achilles injury during last season’s playoffs. The game tips off at 7:00 PM CT this Sunday, airing nationally on NBC and Peacock.

Highlights

Following the Knicks' narrow win over the Nets on Friday night, coach Mike Brown and the players spoke after the game...

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Handling Nets' physicality 

The Nets made it a point to be physical with the Knicks on Friday night. And, for a good portion of the evening, it seemed to give them the advantage.

New York could not get going offensively, and Brooklyn was beating them on the glass and the 50-50 balls. And it was a constant approach by the Nets and Brown said it affected the team's play.

"They were extremely physical from the beginning of the game and it impacted us," he said. "[Nets coach] Jordi Fernandez outcoached me, they outplayed us in a lot of areas. We were just able to find a way to get a win."

Although the Knicks came away with the 93-92 win, it wasn't pretty. They had to overcome a double-digit deficit early and then almost blew their 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Brown pointed at the season-high 22 turnovers and the lack of three-point defense. The Nets shot 37 percent from three but had a lot of open looks.

Despite that, the Knicks found a way to win, led by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns as they retook the lead late and held on.

"They’re an NBA team and they’re a really great team. Great talent, great coaching staff. There was no part of me that thought this would be an easy game," Towns said of the game's physicality. "We had to meet them and exceed the physicality. They brought it today. They wanted to win the game. It was a team effort to find a way to win."

The Nets' physicality came to a boiling point in the second quarter. After Mitchell Robinson took some hard fouls -- even ones that were not called -- in the previous possessions, he went up for an alley-oop when he was fouled hard by Nolan Traore. 

Robinson stood over Traore when Danny Wolf tried to get the Knicks big man away. Some pointing and shoving ensued -- and some technical fouls were assessed -- but cooler heads prevailed. That moment seemed to wake up the Knicks, as they closed the first half on a run that cut their first-half deficit to just six.

Robinson was asked about the moment after the game.

"I'm not going to speak on it right now," he said. "It is what it is. I'm not talking about that s--t."

When asked about the physicality, Robinson responded in kind.

"[When it gets physical] You get physical back. That's how it's going to be," Robinson answered. "You got to stand on business."

"You got to protect yourself, especially when something like that happens," Towns said of the Robinson scuffle. "We need him. We need him on this team, we need him available and healthy."

Nolan Traore fouls Mitchell Robinson and a dust-up ensues.

The foul is ruled a common foul, and the Nets' Ziaire Williams and Robinson were each hit with a technical foul. pic.twitter.com/qlOUnVBLHR

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 21, 2026

KAT's personal reasons

Entering Friday's game, the Knicks updated their injury report to include Towns. He was questionable for the game against the Nets for personal reasons.

Towns wound up playing and was a big reason why they pulled off the win. He spoke to the MSG broadcast from the Barclays Center floor after the win and alluded to his father's health. 

He was asked about his pregame status in the locker room after the game.

"I wasn’t going to play. My pops was adamant...he wanted me to play," Towns said without going into too much detail. "I said I would. I showed up just to play. I’m going to head right back out and go be with him again on the road to recovery."

It's unclear whether Towns will be available for the Knicks' next game, but he'll have the day off Saturday but New York hosts the Wizards on Sunday night.

Combatting slow starts

The Knicks have a starting problem.

The last few games, they've gotten off to bad starts against bad teams. Although they've been able to overcome them, Friday was one shot away from their worst loss of the season.

It was a topic for Brown and the players after the win.

“They brought the fight to us. They came out and wanted to prove a point. Our approach has to be better," Robinson said. "We can’t just look at their record and just say, ‘Alright, we’re gonna whip their ass.’ We’ve just gotta be better all together, and until we figure that part out, it’s gonna be a long rollercoaster.”

"Just got to come out better. Just got to be better as a team," Mikal Bridges said. " It’s mentally, I think. Just got to be mentally ready when the game starts."

On Friday, Brown called an early timeout in the first quarter and he just didn't like what he saw with the ball security.

"We were real lackadaisical with the basketball," Brown explained. "We had 13 turnovers at halftime….I know as of late, for the most part, we’ve been pretty good in that area. We ended the game with 22. It’s not a good ingredient to have when you’re trying to get a road win, no matter who you’re playing.

"If your approach is not what it is, and the other team feels it, anybody can get beat at any time at any level. I said before the game, Brooklyn went into Detroit and beat Detroit. We know we have to play better. I believe in our guys. I believe our guys will play better."

 

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 31 points, Nikola Jokic made a go-ahead jumper with 45 seconds left and the Denver Nuggets held on for a 121-115 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Jokic finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23 points and shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range and Aaron Gordon added 16 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 8-8 since the All-Star break.

Jakob Poeltl scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Brandon Ingram added 19 points and R.J. Barrett had 18.

The Nuggets trailed 101-98 before Hardaway tied it with a 3-pointer with 7:27 remaining. Denver was up 115-110 with 1:43 left, but the Raptors got right back into it.

Scottie Barnes, who finished with 15 points, had a layup with 1:32 remaining. Poeltl three-point play on a layup and free throw after he was fouled by Jokic tied it at 115 with 60 seconds left.

But the Nuggets closed with a 6-0 run to seal the victory. Jokic had a turnaround jumper, Murray made three free throws and Gordon made one of his own to cap it.

Up next

Raptors: Play at Phoenix on Sunday night.

Nuggets: Host Portland on Sunday night.

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

Kristaps Porzingis left the Golden State Warriors' 115-101 loss against the Detroit Pistons with lower back spasms on Friday night.

The injury occurred in the first quarter when his back tightened up before getting worse in the second quarter.

Porzingis told reporters that he is unlikely to play on Saturday, when the Warriors take on the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks traded the Porzingis to Golden State in February.

"We'll see," Porzingis said. "Maybe it loosens up tomorrow. Who knows? But right now it's pretty stiff."

Porzingis had recently returned to the Warriors' rotation earlier this month after missing time due to an illness.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kristaps Porzingis leaves Warriors' loss to Pistons with injury

PHILADELPHIA, PA — You just never know what celebrities will show up for March Madness, even in a first-round matchup that tips off at 10:30 p.m. local time.

For Friday's fourth and final game at Xfinity Mobile Arena between the 2-seed Connecticut Huskies and the 15-seed Furman Paladins, the celebrity guest is comedian and actor Bill Murray.

The "Ghostbusters" and "Groundhog Day" star was shown on the jumbotron before tip-off of the and got the arena to erupt out of fandom and cheer. ... Or it could have been the fact that the original 10 p.m. ET tip-off that was delayed by the end of UCLA-UCF was finally setting up.

Bill Murray is here @XMobileArena to watch UConn-Furman.

His son, Luke, is an assistant coach on Dan Hurley’s staff. Murray has been a regular at UConn #MarchMadness games over the years. pic.twitter.com/wF6b0WdRuz

— John Leuzzi (@ByJohnLeuzzi) March 21, 2026

The Huskies, chasing their third national championship in the last four years, are looking to become the first 2-seed to be upset in the NCAA Tournament this season. UConn leads Furman 40-36 at halftime with Tarris Reed Jr. leading the way with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

But why is Murray attending March Madness?

Here's what to know to know:

REQUIRED READING: How UConn basketball's defense returned Huskies to national contender status

Why is Bill Murray at UConn-Furman March Madness game?

Though he is a basketball fan, Murray is in the City of Brotherly Love to support his son, Luke Murray, who is an associate head coach on the Huskies' coaching staff.

This isn't the first time that Murray has attended a Huskies game in the NCAA Tournament, as he was in attendance for UConn's back-to-back national championship runs in 2022-23 and 2023-24 on top of other postseason games.

Luke Murray is in his fifth season on the UConn bench. Before taking the Huskies assistant job in 2021, he was an assistant at both Xavier and Louisville under now the College of Charleston coach Chris Mack. He is in his ninth season on Hurley's staff across three different stops.

Is Bill Murray a UConn basketball fan?

You could say so by extension of the fact that his son is a member of Dan Hurley's coaching staff. He may be more of a Luke Murray fan.

Where is Bill Murray from?

Bill Murray grew up in Evanston, Illinois and was a fan of the Illini as a child. He moved to New York City in 1974 where he paired up with John Belushi on The National Lampoon Radio Hour — a comedy radio show that was created, produced and written by staff from National Lampoon magazine — before landing a spot on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." He attended Regis University in Denver but dropped out before graduating.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Bill Murray a UConn basketball fan? Why comedian is at March Madness game

The Lakers (45-25) aim to extend their winning streak with a victory over the Magic (38-31) on Saturday.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Orlando Magic

When: 4 p.m. PT, Mar 21

Where: Kia Center

Watch: NBA TV, Spectrum Sportsnet

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When the Lakers last faced the Magic in February, they were in the midst of a slump where it seemed like their season was falling apart.

Fast forward to a month later, the purple and gold have completely turned things around and are now in the midst of their longest winning streak of the season.

A lot of this has to do with Luka Dončić’s MVP surge as of late, the team coming into form and each player accepting their role. We’re currently seeing the best version of this Lakers team.

Orlando is currently on a three-game losing streak and determined to get back in the win column and stay afloat in the playoff race.

So fans should expect the Magic to fight hard in this one. They’re still waiting on Franz Wagner to get healthy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t beat the Lakers.

It was Paolo Banchero who led the Magic against the Lakers last time. LA had no answer for his 36 points. It’ll be interesting to see how this improved defense contains Banchero and other offensive threats like Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter Jr., if he suits up.

It’ll also be fascinating to see how the Magic come up with a game plan to not only contain Dončić but also Austin Reaves and LeBron James.

In their last meeting, the Lakers disappointingly allowed 15 second-chance points and 58 points in the paint to the Magic. They also lost the rebounding battle 47-39. Orlando is not a good 3-point shooting team, which is why they combat that with their presence inside the paint. The Lakers must be more impactful inside the paint if they want to win this one.

Let’s see if the Lakers can make it nine in a row against the Magic on Saturday.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) is out, while Austin Reaves is questionable.
• As for the Magic, Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain), Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) and Anthony Black (lateral abdominal) are out. Moreover, Wendell Carter Jr. (left rib contusion) is questionable.

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.

The losses continue to pile up for the Warriors.

They lost Kristaps Porzingis in the first half. They lost control of the ball 26 times. And they lost to the Pistons on Friday night, 115-101, for the ninth time in their past 11 games.

Both teams played without their best players after Cade Cunningham was diagnosed with a collapsed lung, but Jalen Duren led six Detroit scorers in double figures with 23 points.

The Warriors’ 26 turnovers set a season high and led to Golden State attempting nine fewer shots than the Pistons. De’Anthony Melton (14 points), LJ Cryer (3 of 5 from 3) and Brandin Podziemski (15 points) scored in bursts, but no Warriors player found the bottom of the net consistently enough to overcome their carelessness with the ball.

What it means

It’s looking more likely that the Warriors will have to travel for the 9-10 play-in game. Golden State’s last loss dropped it into 10th place behind the eighth-place Trail Blazers and ninth-place Clippers.

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Turning point

There was never a point where the Warriors played anything resembling clean basketball, so they were done as soon as the opening tip, even though they built a lead as large as nine midway through the first half.

With all their absences, the Warriors had little margin for error against the top team in the Eastern Conference, and they committed a cacophony of them.

MVP: Brandin Podziemski

All 11 Warriors who saw the floor committed at least one turnover, but Podziemski was only responsible for two despite acting as the primary ball handler for most of his minutes.

Stat of the game: 14

As their injuries piled up, the Warriors went 14 straight games with a different starting five each night. Steve Kerr was finally able to start the same lineup against Detroit as he did in Boston. Only the Grizzlies (16) have a longer streak in the NBA this season, while the last time the Warriors went 14 games in a row without the same starting five was in 2008-09. 

It looks like Golden State will have to use another starting lineup Saturday against the Hawks after Porzingis left late in the first half with lower back soreness and did not return.

Up next

The Warriors face Jonathan Kuminga and the Hawks in the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday. Kuminga has missed 11 of 17 games since the Warriors traded him to Atlanta for Porzingis, but he is expected to be available against his former team.

Golden State is also set to provide an update on Steph Curry (knee), who missed his 20th consecutive game but has begun to increase his basketball activities.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Tyler Fay pitched Alabama's first nine-inning, complete-game no-hitter in 84 years, striking out 13 in a 6-0 victory over Florida on Friday night.

Fay retired the last 10 batters, getting Brendan Lawson to fly out to left to end the game. Fay, who had never pitched more than seven innings in college, threw a career-high 132 pitches, 85 for strikes.

The redshirt junior from Doniphan, Nebraska, issued a walk in the second inning and another in the sixth against the Gators (19-4, 3-1 SEC), who are ranked as high as No. 17. Fay came into the season as Alabama's No. 1 starter and entered the game with a 3-2 record and 5.43 ERA.

The Crimson Tide (16-7, 1-3) hadn't had a pitcher throw a complete-game, nine-inning no-hitter since Eddie Wocar did it at Mississippi on April 24, 1942.

Florida was no-hit for the first time since Jacksonville’s Tom McMillan did it in a seven-inning game June 1, 1963.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports