The 2024-25 NHL season hasn’t been a fun one for Boston Bruins fans. In fact, it’s been brutal at times.
It’s not all bad, though. One positive for fans to be excited about is Frasen Minten, the prospect acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brandon Carlo trade prior to the March 7 NHL trade deadline.
Minten started his career in the Bruins organization down in Providence, where he scored a hat trick for the P-Bruins on March 16 and tallied seven points in 10 AHL games before making his Boston debut last Saturday versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
Minten scored his first goal with the Bruins in a 7-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Fraser Minten has his first goal with the @NHLBruins! 🐻
“That was an awesome feeling,” Minten told reporters postgame. “Fun to be able to contribute to a good game like that.”
“Each game feels more and more comfortable. The more you get reps, touch the puck and make plays you just feel like you can make (things happen).”
The best-case scenario in the short term for Minten is that he ends the season strong, improves in the summer, shines in training camp and makes a strong case to be the No. 3 center on Opening Night in October.
Minten has an improving offensive game, and it’s possible he could become a 20-goal scorer at some point. But he’s more of a two-way forward who is responsible defensively, kills penalties, plays the right way, etc. Minten is a bit in the Charlie Coyle mold — good offense, trustworthy on defense, a high hockey IQ and hard on the puck.
The Bruins need help at center, which makes Minten’s development so important to the short- and long-term health of the franchise.
The 2022 second-round pick might not turn into a star, but he has all the tools to be a very good, dependable player for a long time. And that’s exactly what the Bruins need as they continue to build around their core of David Pastrnak (age 28), Charlie McAvoy (age 27), and Jeremy Swayman (age 26).
On a very exciting day in Montreal, with Ivan Demidov signing his ELC, the Canadiens were hosting the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre. Once again, the Habs showed up fashionably late for the game, being dominated 23-4 shots-wise in the first 20 minutes.
Mike Matheson isn’t having his best season. That’s a well-known fact, and fans are well on their way to making him the new Patrice Brisebois, and on Tuesday night, he showed why. On the Red Wings’ first goal, the puck was sliding to him at the offensive blue line, and he couldn’t decide if he should skate to it and wait for it to get to him.
By the time he decided to go for it, it was too late. The puck was poked past him, and the Wings took flight on an odd-man rush that ended with the puck behind Samuel Montembeault. That’s not the hesitant play you expect from a seasoned vet like Matheson.
Minutes later, a shot deflected on him and nearly beat the goaltender, who had to be quick as a cat to avoid going down 2-0. However, he made amends during a penalty kill in the middle frame, blocking a cross-crease pass, and was solid for the rest of the game. Asked about the way Matheson handles adversity, Martin St-Louis explained:
I feel hockey is a game of mistakes. You’re trying to limit those, and I think the mentality we’re taking is “what’s next?”. You can’t do anything about what just happened; you move forward and focus on the next action, which is what he’s done. He’s a very important player for us; he logs in a lot of minutes. It’s another guy whose role kind of changed a bit this year. He embraced it, and he’s very valuable.
- Martin St-Louis on Mike Matheson
The Wings Did Their Homework
Detroit showed up knowing full well they were playing for their playoff lives, and it showed in their play. They came out strong in the first and were entirely ready to counter two of the Canadiens’ biggest weapons: Patrik Laine on the power play and Lane Hutson at all times.
On the penalty kill, they isolated Laine, forcing him to stand further out and making it easier for Cam Talbot to stop his shot, not that he managed to get a shot on target from there.
As for Hutson, the Wings pressured him just enough to rush him, but without fully committing themselves and leaving themselves exposed. There are times when he did manage to escape, but there were also occurrences of him turning the puck over because he rushed his play.
Still, at times, he managed to escape, including on a particular play in the third frame, where his twists and turns in the offensive zone allowed him to deliver a pass straight on Josh Anderson’s tape. The big winger didn’t score, but the Bell Centre was ignited, and minutes later, Anderson did score.
Montreal might have won the game, but the scoreboard doesn't really reflect how the game went down.
Montembeault Wins 30
On Tuesday night, Samuel Montembeault was astonishing. In the first period alone, he made 22 saves, and the only goal he surrendered was in an odd-man rush. At the night's end, the netminder had made 35 saves on 36 shots for a .972 save percentage. Not all of the shots he faced were dangerous, but enough of them were that if he didn’t play well, Montreal wouldn’t have won.
The timing for St-Louis to finally accept the importance of resting his goaltender was also great. Had he used Montembeault in the last back-to-back instead of allowing Dobes to get a start, he might not have been able to pull off that kind of performance.
The coach was asked if Montembeault is becoming an elite goaltender in the league, and he explained:
I think when you’re a number one goaltender on an NHL team, you’re an elite goaltender, but it takes a collective game in front of you to really look elite as well. We’re helping Mounty; we didn’t help him in the first, but we needed him in the first. If he hadn’t had that kind of period, we would have dug ourselves too deep a hole. Just like our team, Mounty is making tremendous progress, and he’s going through these moments because he deserves it.
- St-Louis on his goaltender
With Tuesday night's 4-1 win, Montembeault signed his 30th triumph of the season, it's the first time he reaches the milestone. It was also the first time since 2017 that the Canadiens won six games in a row.
Tonight was also a big night for Brendan Gallagher; his empty net goal was the 239th of his career, tying him for the 15th most prolific goal scorer in the team's history with Bob Gainey. However, Gainey did it in 1,160 games, while the alternate captain got there in 830 games. It was also his 21st goal of the season, giving him sole possession of third place in goals on the team behind Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, just ahead of Patrik Laine, who has 20.
The Canadiens will now have a much-needed and deserved night off. They played five games in the last eight nights, and the coach explained that at this time of the year, rest is a weapon that he needs to use.
Asked about the upcoming arrival of Ivan Demidov, the coach smiled and said, “You’ve all seen how exciting a player he looks”, but he added he doesn’t know when the kid will turn up. That being said, the youngster looks like he’s tailor-made to play under St-Louis and fans would no doubt be counting down the days if only they knew exactly when he will arrive. According to GM Kent Hughes, who spoke on TSN during the first intermission, Demidov will be there as soon as the work permit issues are resolved; I can’t imagine that will take very long.
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Luka Doncic heard the story and barely could believe it.
Tim Marovt also was once a prodigy, identified early as one of the best athletes in Slovenia. Marovt had a goal to become a world-class skier along with the skills and passion to become one of the best to come out of his country. Doncic had lived that life too, moving from basketball prodigy to European teen sensation to NBA megastar.
It wasn’t so straightforward for Marovt. Doncic had locked in as the skinny kid shared what he’d gone through.
Marovt traveled to Hawaii for a family vacation in 2014, the 12-year-old already on his way to achieving his sporting dreams. But a single day surfing in the Pacific Ocean changed all of those plans, a freak injury called surfer’s myelopathy shattering those dreams and putting seemingly impossible obstacles in his way.
“After 30 minutes of surfing, I felt a little tired and went to hotel room. Everything was OK, but I felt something unusual in my back. It was not painful but just like a weird feeling,” Marovt remembered. “So I went back to hotel room. I took a shower and laid down for a couple of minutes in my bed. And after 15 minutes I went to use the restroom but I fell on the bed. I was immediately paralyzed from my waist down.”
He was rushed to a hospital where doctors told him that if his condition didn’t improve in the next 72 hours, he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
“I was very young but I didn't doubt myself for a single moment," he said. "Since that young age, I was so focused. When I see something, I'll do anything to achieve it.”
Doncic first heard the story in the 2A Sports Lab in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the gym where they both trained with Anze Macek.
Doncic was there to get ready for a season with the Dallas Mavericks. Marovt, who had been through hell trying to take a single stride, was there training for a marathon.
“It was so inspiring,” Doncic told The Times. “… It was kind of amazing just to hear. I mean, what happened to him was horrible. So just to get his mind to do everything he's doing now, it's unbelievable.”
That day in Hawaii, Marovt accepted the challenge and not his fate, soon taking the first step toward conquering adversity. And if Marovt could work to take his next steps, the least Doncic could do when facing his biggest NBA challenge would be to do the same.
Wednesday, Doncic takes another step in his new life as a member of the Lakers when his team plays in Dallas for the first time since the Mavericks traded him — a decision that led to protests and open wounds in a fan base that hasn’t recovered.
Doncic has fared better, the Lakers star regaining his form as his new team pushes toward the postseason in the best position it's been in since it won a title in 2020 as the West’s top seed.
Yet the process to get Doncic back to being the behind-the-head passing, on-court-screaming maestro has been incremental.
A mixture of shock, sadness and anger lived all over Doncic’s face, it dripped on every word and highlighted every expression on his first day as a Laker. The Mavericks had just very publicly bet against him, had pushed him off the path he thought he was staying on forever and into the unknown.
The first days in Los Angeles were more about the past than the future. But in the chaos there was a principal that Doncic and the people closest to him tried to reinforce. Things would get better, the new would become natural, the discomfort would become ease.
They knew he’d work his way through the challenge.
Doncic and his support staff were stunned by the trade and especially stung by Dallas’ rationale, reasons he believed were personal and questioned his character and work ethic. The notion that he doesn’t work hard, in particular, upset him.
“They have no idea,” Doncic told The Times of those doubters. “… I didn't end up here by mistake. You know? I worked my ass to be here. So it's kinda, I would say disrespectful, just sad that people say that.”
Since joining the Lakers, people close to the team have praised Doncic for his work to get healthy after missing 22 games because of a calf strain. He’s been a constant presence at the optional workouts while continuing his work with Macek and Javier Barrio, his fitness and medical coaches who are now on staff with the Lakers.
Doncic and the Lakers acknowledge there are ways to get the most out of him, a player who spent his teenage years as a young pro in Spain going through highly regimented, drill-based training with soccer club Real Madrid. It’s far from his preferred process of work.
“I always say, you know, I’ve always got better at the game when I was playing five-on-five, one-on-one, two-and-two in practice,” Doncic told the Times. “That's what I always see that I'm most improved when I play that way in practice.”
It’s why Doncic has found ways to add competition to the noncompetitive parts of his routine, his pregame on-court workout featuring a lengthy menu of trick shots, including a half-court contest that ends with either Doncic or Lakers coaches Greg St. Jean and Ty Abbott doing pushups.
“When you’re not challenging him in practice, it’s really hard to get the best out of him,” Macek told The Times with a laugh.
Doncic acknowledged the same Sunday after the Lakers beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City, saying that the pressure from Lugentz Dort, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, helped push him to another level.
“It brings the competitive spirit out of me,” he said. “It brings the best out of me.”
Macek’s been in the gym with Marovt and Doncic and has seen the ways their approaches are very different. And he’s seen the ways they’re the same.
For Marovt, there was intense work with visualization and mind power. Doncic isn’t so into that.
“I would say I’m more reactionary,” Doncic said.,
But Macek has seen the way both have responded to doubt and used it as fuel.
“When he was 15 years old, he barely walk,” Macek remembered of Marovt. “He came with the crutches … totally out of shape. He couldn't lift his legs. He couldn't move well. But what I saw in his eyes was this passion to improve … to do something big. He was so motivated. And I said, ‘OK, I need to help this kid.’”
Macek surveyed the damage done to Marovt by the spinal and nerve injuries, the tightness in his muscles, the disconnected pathways between his brain and legs that made every step a challenge.
But like Doncic, Marovt needed to be challenged. He needed goals to conquer.
“Some challenges were not-so-big goals. We didn't say in the beginning that he will run marathons,” Macek said. “But we said, ‘OK, you'll walk without walking sticks or without crutches one kilometer.' … When we will reach this, we will go, we will set another goal like, ‘OK, now you need to bend your knee. You need to, to lift your leg.' And every time when we pass those goals, we just advance, advance, advance.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic works with a trainer during warmups before thea game against the Hornets on Feb. 19 at Cryto.com Arena. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“When he reached the goals and we set other goals, this motivated him. And with this kind of motivation, he was alive.”
Marovt sees the same thing in Doncic, the thrill of accomplishing something big accompanied by the rush from proving others wrong.
“I like that when people say that I'm not able to do that. Now when I run marathons, everybody say, ‘Tim, but you will injure your hips. You are damaging your body.’ And I'm just, ‘Yep, just keep going. Just keep going because I like to take big challenges.' … And I think this is also with Luka, he likes big challenges. He loves when people doubt him. Especially like that trade.”
The biggest challenges for the Lakers are still to come, the playoffs set to start at the end of next week with the goal of Doncic winning his first NBA championship coming into focus. Wednesday in Dallas will be full of emotion, reminding Doncic of what he lost when the Mavericks traded him — a fan base that adored him, a city that he thought would be home his entire career.
Yet luckily for the Lakers, it’ll remind Doncic that the Mavericks ultimately didn’t believe in him for their future. And Marovt knows how people like him and Doncic handle hearing things like that.
“We have the same habits here because we get more excited and more motivated when people think it's not possible. And we just like to work hard and just show up and show everybody that they were wrong,” Marovt said. “Don't get me wrong, this is not personally to just to prove something to somebody else. Of course, in the first stage, everything we do is for our own [self]. But yeah, I think this is just to get more motivated to keep going and to show the world that everything is possible if we really put our mind into it and work hard.
“And since Luka got traded, I know that in a few weeks, he would be unstoppable.”
The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.
NBC 5 News
On the day former Mavs great Luka Doncic returns to the AAC, the Dallas Mavericks are giving fans a T-shirt that says “Thank you for everything” in Slovenian.
Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.
Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.
Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.
On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center, with fans flooding the comment section.
ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.
How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game
The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.
How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game
Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.
Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.
The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.
Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.
Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.
Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.
On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center, with fans flooding the comment section.
ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.
How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game
The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.
How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game
Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.
Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.
White has not been at world championships since 2006
Scores break of 126 against 20-year-old Anton Kazakov
Jimmy White kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the World Snooker Championship for the first time since 2006 with a nail-biting, final-frame win over the Ukrainian Anton Kazakov.
The veteran six-time runner-up, who turns 63 next month, was 7-3 down just after the resumption of the evening session but reeled off six frames in a row – including a break of 126 – to put him on the brink of victory.
“It was a long road for me,” the 28-year-old said Tuesday.
The road finally met the Flyers late last season. And it has led to Fedotov being nominated for the 2024-25 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
The 6-foot-7 goaltender was voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association’s Philadelphia chapter as the Flyers’ nominee for the NHL award, which is given annually to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.”
“His story is quite remarkable,” Sean Couturier said Tuesday. “I’m not too sure of exactly all the details of what he has went through, but just hearing the story, it’s pretty crazy, pretty wild. It would be hard for anyone to really come back and play at this level.”
After Fedotov fulfilled his military duty, the doubt surrounding his future with the Flyers only grew in 2023-24. He opened that season back in the KHL, Russia’s top pro league. But once his season wrapped up with CSKA Moscow, Fedotov had his KHL contract terminated and joined the Flyers at the end of March for their final eight games.
He made his NHL debut over eight and a half years after the Flyers selected him in the seventh round of the 2015 draft.
“Anytime a guy comes on the scene at this level at that sort of later age, you know that their ability to withstand things is pretty high,” interim head coach Brad Shaw said Tuesday. “Because that’s a long journey.”
This season has been Fedotov’s first full one in the NHL. And it hasn’t been without obstacles. He battled early struggles and also went about a month without playing when he was relegated to No. 3 on the depth chart.
“It’s not a great spot to be in, but it is what it is,” former head coach John Tortorella said in December. “I haven’t changed my decision on that stuff there. But you never know what happens. He continues to do his stuff here and has handled himself really well.”
Fedotov has gone 6-13-3 this season with a 3.12 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. In four of his six wins, he has given up one goal.
“There were a few times it almost seemed like Torts had quit on him and a couple of weeks later, he comes in the net and gets us a big win or keeps us in a big game that we shouldn’t have been in,” Couturier said. “He has been through some ups and downs, but he has always tried to work through it and be ready when his name was called.
“I think he’s kind of trying to get familiar with North America, new language, bringing his wife over — there has been a lot of things thrown at him. He has had, I feel, some unfair criticisms at times, but he has always tried to work through it and be a good pro, show up and work. That’s what you want to see.”
“I have a ton of respect for guys that stay with it that long to realize a dream that I’m sure for a long portion of his career maybe felt like a very long way off,” Shaw said. “For him to get here and play some fantastic hockey for us, as well. That game in Winnipeg was about as good a game I’ve seen a goalie play in a while.”
Following a vote by the PHWA, the winner of the honor will be announced among the NHL awards.
“It has been my dream the whole time, to be here and play in the NHL,” Fedotov said. “Finally I’m here where I want to be. I had a lot of extra steps.”
League gets one of two extra berths on offer from Uefa
England could have seven clubs in 2025-26 tournament
The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League after Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
The English top flight needed one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient table.
Sometimes you have to hold up your hands and recognise that your defeat was more down to the skills of your opponent than your own failings. Take Aston Villa’s loss to Juventus in the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1983. Thousands of fans left Villa Park after the first leg knowing their team’s grip on the European Cup had loosened. Villa were beaten 2-1 at home in the first leg and 3-1 away in Turin a fortnight later, but there was no disgrace in losing to that Juventus team.
When the draw for the last eight was made in December 1982, Villa were given one of the hardest possible tests Europe could provide. Liverpool, drawn against Polish team Widzew Lodz, were installed as 13-8 favourites to win the trophy, with Juventus priced at 11-4. Villa’s odds of 13-2 highlighted the task before them.
The game marks Dončić’s first return to Dallas since the trade, a moment that’s expected to stir emotion among fans and players alike. While Dončić has yet to speak publicly about the homecoming, the atmosphere around the game suggests it won’t feel like just another night on the schedule.
NBC 5 News
On the day former Mavs great Luka Doncic returns to the AAC, the Dallas Mavericks are giving fans a T-shirt that says “Thank you for everything” in Slovenian.
Dončić, who led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, put up 14 points in a blowout debut win over the Utah Jazz and scored a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists when his Lakers beat the Mavs in LA on Feb. 25.
Since joining the Lakers, he’s quickly found rhythm with James, forming one of the most dynamic duos in the league. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have faced early struggles adjusting to their new lineup. Davis exited his Dallas debut on Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury and returned to action on March 24.
Fan reactions in Dallas remain mixed. Some protested the trade, citing Dončić’s immense contributions to the franchise, while others are eager to see what the Davis era might bring.
On Wednesday morning, the Mavericks posted a “thank you” collage of photos on their official Instagram account, featuring snapshots from Dončić’s time with the team. The tribute added to the emotional buildup ahead of his return to the American Airlines Center, with fans flooding the comment section.
ESPN NBA Insider Shams Charania also shared a tip on X that a tribute video would be played and shirts for Dončić would be placed on the seats of the AAC. The Mavericks later shared a photo of the shirts on their Instagram account.
How to Watch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game
The game between the Lakers and Mavericks tips off at 4:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 9. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.
How to get last-minute tickets to the Lakers-Mavericks Game
Tickets for the game at American Airlines Center are still available through the Mavericks’ official website and third-party vendors such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub.
Entry-level pricing hovers around $200, with courtside options commanding significantly more. Prices vary depending on seating location and demand, and resale prices are expected to surge given the significance of Dončić’s return.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won their only NBA Championship title in 2016 [Getty Images]
The Cleveland Cavaliers secured top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Victory means Kenny Atkinson's side will have home advantage in next week's play-offs following the completion of the regular season on Sunday.
Darius Garland top-scored with 38 points as the Cavaliers improved to 63-16 with three regular-season games remaining.
"You celebrate these moments," said Atkinson. "I think the guys are super happy in that locker room. We've had some ups and downs this past month, but I'm really proud of the guys.
"It's hard to win 63 games in this league, and it's hard to be the first seed. So, great accomplishment. We're hungry for more."
Elsewhere, Luka Doncic was ejected in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers lost 136-120 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Doncic was dismissed for a second technical foul after an official said he was verbally abused by the Slovenian.
The 26-year-old insisted that he was responding to a courtside fan, but the decision stood.
"It was nothing to do with the ref, so I didn't really understand it," said Doncic. "It was tough, but you know that's on me too. I can't let my team down like that."
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander top-scored with 42 points for the Thunder, who have already secured top spot in the Western Conference.
The Lakers need two wins from their remaining three regular-season games to guarantee third place.
Just behind the Lakers in fourth are the LA Clippers, who earned a fifth successive win by beating the San Antonio Spurs 122-117.
The Clippers have the same 47-32 record as the Denver Nuggets, the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies, but are ahead courtesy of NBA tiebreaker rules.
The Warriors occupy the final play-off position in sixth after beating the Phoenix Suns 133-95. The Grizzlies are seventh after winning 124-100 at the Charlotte Hornets.
Clippers guard James Harden looks to shoot during the team's win over San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at the Intuit Dome. (Carrie Giordano / Associated Press)
The Clippers' playoff fortunes rest in their hands and all they have to do is keep winning, increasing their chances of being a top-six team in the crowded Western Conference.
If the team can clinch a top-six seed, the Clippers would avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Zubac had 24 points and 20 rebounds, his fourth game of the season with at least 20 points and rebounds, tied for the second most in the NBA. He also had five assists, making Zubac the first Clipper since Elton Brand in 2005 to have at least 20 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in a game. It also was Zubac’s 12th straight double-double, the longest streak by a Clipper since Chris Paul had 14 in 2013.
“I just want to play my best, want to get better and help the team win,” Zubac said. “If that means I’m one of the best bigs, so be it. But I just want to win and help my teammates make their life easier on the court.”
The Clippers started this game slow, holding just a two-point lead at the half. But they opened the third quarter on an 18-3 run to take control, making sure not to blow this opportunity.
“We’re playing for something,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Like, we have a chance to do some special things and we can’t mess around with this game. I know a few of the guys were tired, James [Harden] being one of them. He said he felt like he was stuck in mud, but other guys stepped up.”
The Clippers have won five straight games and 12 of 14.
By getting this win despite Kawhi Leonard sitting out, the Clippers (47-32) moved to fourth in the West, one game behind the third-seeded Lakers. The Clippers, who have three regular-season games left, would have home-court advantage in the first round if they remain in the fourth spot.
Lue said that getting “whole,” having Harden take his game to another level and having new players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons ease their way into the system led to improved play.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Lue said. “But from where we come from and now where we’re at, just… We want to get in without having to play in the play-in game and so we’re taking it one step at a time, one game at a time. But if we are able to get home court, that would be very special, especially with how well we’ve been playing at home. Our guys have done a good job of getting to this point and so we control our own destiny.”
The Clippers decided not to have Leonard play in a second straight set of back-to-back games, citing right knee injury management as the reason for letting him rest against the Spurs.
Leonard is supposed to play Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, the team with the second-best record in the Western Conference. The Clippers then finish the regular season Friday at Sacramento and Sunday at Golden State.
Leonard played in his first back-to-back game of the season last weekend against the Dallas Mavericks. But Lue said Leonard was held out of the Spurs game “because we knew he would have three days off” before playing again.
“Instead, if he played a back-to-back now, he would have one day in between,” Lue said. “So, we just tried it out. It worked out. He feels good. But just being smart about it.”
Leonard’s absence didn’t stop the Clippers from rolling, with five of them scoring in double figures.
Norman Powell had 25 points. Harden came up one rebound short of a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Bogdanovic scored 19 off the bench and Derrick Jones Jr. added 18.
Harrison Barnes led the Spurs with 24 points.
“Home-court advantage is huge, especially in the playoffs,” Powell said. “It’s a tight race. It’s going to come down to the last game of the season. For us, we’re focusing on one game at a time. We’re not looking ahead and relaxing. We got to be able to pick up all these wins to finish out the season.
“We’re focusing on making sure we’re playing the brand of basketball that we want going into the playoffs. We definitely don’t want to be in that play-in. The fact that we’re in fourth is good, but we got to handle the Rockets tomorrow and then move on from there.”
The Vancouver Canucks recent 6-5 overtime victory over the Dallas Stars was not just exciting, but also historic. Down 5-2 with a minute left, Vancouver scored three goals in 53 seconds to tie the game. The Canucks then completed the comeback 3:44 into overtime as Kiefer Sherwood beat Casey DeSmith for the game-winning goal.
According to the NHL, Vancouver's victory was the first time in history that a team has come back from a three-goal deficit in the final minute to win a game. The previous record for the latest three-goal comeback was held by the Montréal Canadiens, whose three-goal comeback against the Ottawa Senators started at the 56:38 of the third period. The three goals in 53 seconds were also the second-fastest in franchise history, with the record still standing at 48 seconds against the LA Kings back in 1993.
ABSOLUTE INSANITY 🤯
The @Canucks just became the first team in NHL history to overcome a three-goal deficit in the final minute of regulation to win! pic.twitter.com/ytFY8ybEAY
Tuesday's comeback started with Aatu Räty scoring his seventh at 19:00 in the third. Pius Suter made it a one-goal game 30 seconds later before tying the game with seven seconds left. The comeback was massive as it means the Canucks stay alive in the post-season race another day.
Vancouver wraps up their mini two-game road trip with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.
This will be the third game between these two teams, with the Canucks currently holding a 2-0 advantage. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 pm PT
from Ball Arena.
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Brian Cook was in charge at Geelong during one of the most tumultuous years in the club’s history. In 2006, the atmosphere at games, around town and in the boardroom was poisonous. The nadir came when they squandered a nine-goal lead at home to the eventual premiers, West Coast. Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr played two of the great individual halves, the late Adam Hunter kicked the sealer, and the local fans nearly tore the grandstand down.
After every loss, Cook would receive thousands of emails and handwritten letters. Fans would send RIP notices. They’d enclose photos of players passed out in nightclubs. One offered free acupuncture and energy meridian flow assistance. Cook collated them all, including the pro bono acupuncturist, in a file labelled “assassins”.
NBC 5 News
NBC 5 News
