NEW YORK (AP) — Trendon Watford scored 22 points, Drew Timme had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench and the Brooklyn Nets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-114 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game home losing streak.
Timme completed a three-point play with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to give the Nets the first double-digit lead of the game at 83-71.
The Pelicans rallied. Antonio Reeves made a reverse layup while being fouled with 1:29 left and added the free throw to pull New Orleans within 116-109. After a Timme miss, Reeves added a 3-pointer at 53.1 to get within four.
But, Tosan Evbuomwan sealed it with a 3-pointer at the other end with 35 seconds left.
Dariq Whitehead scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half for Brooklyn (26-53). Evbuomwan and Nic Claxton each scored 13, Maxwell Lewis had 12 and Tyson Etienne 11. Reece Beekman had a career-high 10 assists with just one turnover.
Reeves and Karlo Matkovic each scored 17 for New Orleans (21-58). Jose Alvarado added 16 points, Jamal Cain had 15 and Keion Brooks Jr. 14. Elfrid Payton finished with 10 assists.
New Orleans lost its fourth straight road game and is 7-33 away from home.
Takeaways
Pelicans: The lottery-bound Pelicans, who have their worst record in 20 years, have shelved seven of their top eight scorers with long-term injuries, including Zion Williamson.
Nets: Brooklyn completed a season sweep of New Orleans for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.
Key moment
The Nets scored 43 points in the third quarter to pull away. It was their most points in any quarter this season.
Key stat
Brooklyn finished 17 of 40 from 3-point range, with Whitehead making 4 of 6 first-half attempts.
Up next
Both teams play Thursday. New Orleans continues its road trip at Milwaukee, while the Nets host the Atlanta Hawks.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - APRIL 08: Jaylen Wells #0 of the Memphis Grizzlies lays on the court after an injury during the first half of a basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on April 08, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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 David Jensen/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Let's hope all that came out of this was a broken wrist. It could have been worse—much, much worse.
Grizzlies rookie Jaylen Wells had to be taken off the court Tuesday night after a nasty fall, following a reckless challenge by Charlotte's KJ Simpson on a Wells' breakaway dunk. (If you want to see a video of the foul, follow this link.)
Jaylen Wells was stretchered off the court after he was fouled on a dunk attempt and fell hard to the floor.
After review, the referees upgraded the foul on Simpson to a Flagrant 2 and he was ejected. At least a fine and maybe a game suspension will follow.
Wells is "awake, alert and moving his extremities... [but] has sustained a broken right wrist," ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. That is all incredibly good news.
Wells is in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, averaging 10.5 points and 3.5 rebounds a game and plays key rotation minutes for one of the West's quality teams. This clearly ends his season a few games early, but hopefully, he will be back without incident at the start of next season.
On Sunday night, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 at the United Center. They put together a strong 60 minute in order to secure the victory. It included holding onto a one goal third period lead and throwing one into the empty net.
On Tuesday night, the Blackhawks looked to sweep the home & home with the Penguins as they took their annual trip to the PPG Paints Arena. Unfortunately, things did not go Chicago’s way this time.
Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, and Kevin Hayes were the goal scorers (Hayes had two) en route to a 5-0 victory. Tristan Jarry blanked the Blackhawks for his second shutout of the season.
Spencer Knight has had some up and down moments in his Blackhawks tenure. This was more of a down as he allowed 5 goals on 27 shots, but the team didn’t do him any favors defensively.
Early in the game, it looked like the Blackhawks were going to be able to outskate the Penguins for the second game in a row, but things got out of hand quickly. That happens with young teams like the Blackhawks.
This is only the second time in 2024-25, if you can believe it, that the Blackhawks were shut out. They are not a winning team, but they haven't had much of a problem finding the net at least once per game. Jarry, who has had a trying year for Pittsburgh, found a way to shut the door in this one.
Over their last four games, the Hawks faced all-time great superstars like Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, and Alexander Ovechkin. They didn't do a ton of winning throughout that stretch but the young guys were able to see first-hand how those guys play.
Now, the East Coast road swing will continue with a game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Boston isn't a great team anymore but they will still present a solid challenge for this Blackhawks group trying to develop over the final four games.
On a night that could have ended in celebration and securing a playoff spot, the New Jersey Devils skated off the ice frustrated and on the losing end of a 7-2 score. The team remains one point shy of punching their ticket to the postseason.
The Boston Bruins dominated New Jersey, earning two points after 60 minutes. Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier were New Jersey's lone goal scorers. Their goals were 19 seconds apart.
The Bruins capitalized on a Jesper Bratt turnover at the Devils blue line at the 9:38 mark of the first period. David Pastrnak scored his 41st goal of the season to open the scoring. The 28-year-old has factored in 12 straight Bruins goals (six goals, six assists) dating to Apr. 1 for the most in Boston history.
Michael Callahan extended the Bruins lead to 2-0 in the final seconds of the opening frame. It was the 25-year-old's first career NHL goal. Pastrnak collected an assist and his second point of the night.
Jakub Lauko gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead early in the second period. It was his fourth goal of the 2024-25 campaign.
Noesen beat opposing goaltender Jeremy Swayman on a delayed penalty at the 13:51 mark of the middle frame. Daniel Sprong picked up his first point as a Devil, earning the primary assist. Nico Hischier extended his point streak to four games with his secondary assist.
Seconds later, Meier scored his 25th goal of the season, bringing New Jersey within one. Erik Haula picked up the lone helper. It was the perfect example of good things happening when you get pucks on net.
The Devils gave up a goal with 52.9 seconds remaining. Casey Mittelstadt fired the puck toward Markstrom near the Devils' blue line. The puck hit Seamus Casey's stick and deflected past New Jersey's goaltender.
The Bruins held a 4-2 lead over the Devils going into the second intermission.
Morgan Geekie's 30th goal of the season gave the Bruins a 5-2 lead. The Devils had an inexcusable defensive zone breakdown, leaving the 26-year-old alone in front of Markstrom. Two minutes later, Fraser Minten gave Boston a 6-2 lead.
After Cole Koepke scored for a 7-2 score, Keefe replaced Markstrom with Jake Allen. The former faced 23 shots and made 16 saves. The latter saved both shots faced.
The Devils will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday at Prudential Center.
Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Improved deal struck with Nine Entertainment over five years
Extra money to reward key wins during 2026-2030 period
Rugby Australia has signed a five-year extension to its broadcast rights agreement with Nine Entertainment in a deal worth up to $240m. It runs from 2026-2030 and includes performance incentives linked to Wallabies wins, Nine-owned newspapers reported.
“[It] represents a significant uplift on Rugby Australia’s current broadcast agreement and follows a successful organisational reset in 2024,” RA said in a statement.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — David Pastrnak scored and added two assists to reach the 100-point mark and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves as the Boston Bruins routed the New Jersey Devils 7-2 on Tuesday night.
Michael Callahan, Jakub Lauko, Casey Mittelstadt, Morgan Geekie, Fraser Minten and Cole Koepke also scored for the Bruins, who won for only the second time in their last 13 games.
Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier scored for New Jersey, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Pastrnak opened the scoring at 9:38 of the first, beating Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom for his team-leading 41st goal.
Callahan made it 2-0 with his first NHL goal at 19:24 of the first. Lauko increased the lead at 1:45 of the second.
Noesen broke through for the Devils at 13:51 with his 21st goal. Meier scored his 25th just 19 seconds later.
Geekie added his 30th at 4:58 of the third, followed by Minten’s third at 6:55 and Koepke’s 10th at 10:50.
The seven goals were the most scored by Boston in a game this season.
Markstrom allowed seven goals on 23 shots before he was replaced by Jake Allen midway through the third.
Takeaways
Devils: Still need one point to clinch a postseason spot for the second time in three seasons.
Bruins: Won on the road for the first time since March 8. Boston is 12-25-3 in away games this season.
Key moment
Mittelstadt’s goal with 53 seconds left in the second gave Boston a two-goal cushion heading into the third period. Boston would score three more times in the final period.
Key stat
By scoring Boston’s first goal and assisting on the second, the 28-year-old Pastrnak factored in 13 straight Bruins goals dating to April 1 with six goals and seven assists during the streak. He reached the 100-point mark for the third straight season.
On Tuesday they struggled to replace him for his scheduled start, losing 8-2 to the Washington Nationals after triple-A call-up Justin Wrobleski was knocked around for eight runs in five innings.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani walks back to the dugout after striking out in the third inning against the Nationals Tuesday in Washington. (Nick Wass / Associated Press)
"Obviously, losing Blake for whatever period of time, certain guys are going to get opportunities,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You want them to try to not to put too much pressure on a particular outing and go out there and compete.”
The good news for the Dodgers: They shouldn’t be without Snell for long.
Though the left-hander said he had been pitching through discomfort for three weeks (including his first two starts, in which he logged just nine total innings while walking eight batters and giving up seven runs, albeit only two earned), an MRI scan showed no structural damage in Snell’s shoulder. A meeting with head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday confirmed that Snell will not need an injection or any other medical intervention.
The plan is to have Snell begin throwing again at the start of next week.
“That was best-case scenario,” Roberts said of the prognosis.
“Just rest until Monday,” Roberts added, “and we'll pick back up from there."
But barely two weeks into the season, Snell’s absence forced the Dodgers (9-4) to start dipping into their highly touted pool of pitching depth — one they desperately tried to replenish this offseason after nearly running out of healthy arms during last October’s run to a World Series title.
And while their options looked good on paper, Tuesday served as a reminder that, for now at least, they are far from having foolproof insurance plans.
Coming off a turbulent rookie season in which he had a 5.70 earned-run average in eight outings, Wrobleski did not fare any better in his return to the majors.
Two batters into the game, the 11th-round draft pick gave up a two-run home run to James Wood. In the second inning Wrobleski got two outs before giving up a single, walking three straight to plate a run, then yielding a two-run single to former Dodgers farmhand Keibert Ruiz. A clean third inning was immediately followed by three more runs in the fourth, including another two-run blast from Wood.
“It’s just about doing your job when you’re called upon, and today I didn’t do a good job of that,” Wrobleski said. “You’ve always got to stay ready. I felt I did a good job of that. But unfortunately came up today and had a tough outing. That’s baseball."
On a windy 46-degree night in the nation’s capital, the Dodgers’ long innings on defense did little to help their bats warm up.
During their first three trips to the plate, they were shut out by opener Brad Lord — a 24-year-old right-hander who made the opening day roster for the Nationals (5-6) after working at a Home Depot in the offseason.
Not until the fifth inning, when the deficit had ballooned to 8-0, did the Dodgers finally get on the board via a slump-busting home run from Andy Pages (who had started the season four for 35 but reached base three times Tuesday night).
After that, Kiké Hernández’s solo blast in the eighth (his fourth hit of the year, all homers) was the only other scoring. In all, the Dodgers had just eight hits while striking out 15 times.
“Just kind of up and down the lineup, the at-bat quality, we're just not having team at-bats,” Roberts said, with the club now sporting just a .230 batting average. “The results are showing.”
The Dodgers' Kiké Hernandez rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the team's loss to the Nationals Tuesday in Washington. (Nick Wass / Associated Press)
It’s on the mound, however, where the Dodgers face their most pressing concerns.
The Dodgers will turn to another depth arm for Wednesday’s series finale, planning to call up Landon Knack to make a scheduled spot start. Given their reluctance to throw Japanese starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki on four days’ rest, such roster scrambling figures to be common until Snell’s return, potentially drawing other names such as Bobby Miller (who has a 2.97 ERA but also eight walks in his first two triple-A starts) into the short-term picture.
“I don't think that anyone expected us to go unscathed all year, whether it's out of the 'pen or starter. It's where we're at,” Roberts said before the game. ”But I do think that we knew that we had a lot of viable options to backfill."
Granted, the Dodgers do not have their full complement of pitching depth. Tony Gonsolin opened the season on the injured list after tweaking his back while lifting weights near the end of spring training. He is on a rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City, where he is scheduled to pitch three innings Wednesday, and remains weeks away from being available, according to Roberts.
Clayton Kershaw (still working back from offseason toe and knee surgeries) and Emmet Sheehan (completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery last year) are on the 60-day IL and won’t be options until the middle of the season.
“He understands that the goal is to make sure he’s firing on all cylinders towards the end of the season and into October,” Roberts said. “We’re in lockstep.”
In the meantime, though, it leaves a team that was built to have ample pitching depth in a suddenly precarious place for the next few weeks.
Offensive lineman Kaeden Scott (San Antonio, TX/ Roosevelt High School), the four-star prosect has officially accepted his invitation to the 2026 Navy All-American Bowl.
Holmstrom also extended his career high in points (42).
Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
Defensive back Aaryn Washington (Santa Ana, CA/ Mater Dei High School), the four-star prosect has officially accepted his invitation to the 2026 Navy All-American Bowl.
Joey O’Brien (Glenside, PA/ La Salle College High School), the four-star prosect has officially accepted his invitation to the 2026 Navy All-American Bowl.
Australian forced to make changes to planned Augusta wardrobe
Former No 1’s outfit fell short of tournament standards last year
Jason Day turned plenty of heads with his outfit choices at last year’s Masters but said on Tuesday he will not be sporting such bold ensembles this week after Augusta National requested he sport a more reserved look.
The Australian former world No 1, who left Nike in early 2024 to join Malbon Golf, had some interesting outfits ready for the year’s first major this week but has since had to make changes.
Clayton McCullough had no good option before him. The Marlins’ first-year manager was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field. This pickle was the handiwork of the Mets' offseason spending coming to fruition: Do you pitch to Juan Soto or walk him to load the bases and take your chances against Pete Alonso?
McCullough, trying to maintain a one-run deficit with one out in the bottom of the sixth, opted to walk Soto and let right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez go after Alonso with the bags full. That decision was no surprise to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza: “I think it gets to a point where it’s pick your poison there.”
What did the red-hot slugger think of the intentional walk ahead of him? “Hell yeah, alright, let’s go,” Alonso said. “Time to execute a game plan.”
The slugger, who already had a wind-aided RBI double earlier in the game, said it wasn’t the first time a team has walked somebody to face him. His plan in that position was to “stay within an approach” and “capitalize when the ball shows up there.”
The ball certainly showed up in the form of a 0-1 sinker that dropped right over the middle of the plate and thigh-high. Alsono was all over it, driving it 112.6 mph off the bat into the left-center gap to clear the bases and solidify the Mets' sixth consecutive win.
"I was just really stoked to have that chance to come through for the team right there," he said.
Alonso, who finished the day 2-for-4 with a walk, now has 15 RBI and is slugging .692 with a 1.139 OPS through his first 39 at-bats. The key? “Just getting pitches over the plate and capitalizing,” he said. “Fouling off tough pitches when they’re on the corners late in the count. When they vacate the zone, don’t swing.”
He added: “I definitely feel confident, but every day is a new battle, a new challenge, and every single day, I just want to feel consistent in my mechanics and making good decisions pitch to pitch and at-bat to at-bat.”
A simple recipe that has been successful and one that the man hitting before him appreciates.
“He’s been taking really good at-bats,” said Soto, who also went 2-for-4 with a walk. “He’s been taking his walks and everything, he’s not trying to be the hero. He’s really settled down. When the moments needed. Whenever he gets a pitch, he tries to drive it. If not, he takes his walks.”
While following Soto, is a tough act, through the first 11 games, Alonso said watching the slugger hit has allowed him to see the pitcher work and “take mental notes” on those at-bats.
“Super dynamic player, but the thing that I really benefit from – because he sees a ton of pitches – just seeing what they’re trying to do to him really helps,” Alonso said.
The inning prior, it was Brandon Nimmo who benefited from Alonso walking after an eight-pitch at-bat against Calvin Faucher when the outfielder came through with a two-RBI double to give the Mets a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
“The biggest thing that we do as an offense is we scrap at-bats, we grind out counts and we’re all really, really tough outs,” Alonso said. “And when we’re doing that, we’re gonna put up a lot of runs. That’s exactly what we want to do as a team.”
Mendoza added that as long as the lineup is “making traffic” on the bases, “eventually we’ll get the big hit.”
“We feel really good about our chances, whether it’s with Juan, whether it’s with Pete, whoever we got behind those guys,” he said, before adding that it is “not easy to game plan when you have, especially good hitters, but right-lefty-switch hitter… Deep lineup, really good hitters, they’re gonna come around.”
And on a frigid, blustery day that had the Citi Field crowd searching for hot chocolate, there would be no excuses from the day’s big star.
"Yeah, it's cold. It's windy. So what?” Alonso said. “We've got to go out there, we've got to put our uniform on and we've got to go win a ballgame."
