Lakers vs. Thunder Preview: How legit are the purple and gold?
The Lakers (50-26) head on the road to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16) on Thursday.
This is a huge game for the purple and gold, who have yet to win against the reigning champs this regular season.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
When: 6:30 p.m. PT, Apr 2
Where: Paycom Center
Watch: Prime Video, Spectrum Sportsnet
The Lakers have exactly six games remaining in the regular season, and two of those are against the Thunder.
These games can be viewed as the perfect measuring stick for the Lakers, who just had an incredible month of March, winning 15 of 17 games. Los Angeles has been playing its best basketball, led by its MVP candidate, Luka Dončić, and the only question left is: in the midst of all of this, how legit are the Lakers really?
Well, we’re about to find out if they can keep up with not only the defending champions but the best basketball team this regular season. Lakers head coach JJ Redick perfectly described what to expect from this Thunder team ahead of their matchups this week:
“I do know that they’re great on both sides of the ball,” Redick said postgame after LA’s win over Cleveland. “They’re going to make you work for things defensively because of how physical they are. They just do a great job of driving. You really have to do your best to keep them out of the paint.”
The Thunder are not only elite at scoring in the paint and defending the basketball, but they also have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is playing at an MVP level. SGA is currently averaging 31.6 points, 6.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Let’s see if Los Angeles can win this game and start April off by defeating the defending champs.
Notes and Updates
- The Thunder are the only team this season to have reached 60 wins. To do that as the champs speaks volumes about how great they are. They’re currently on a three-game winning streak and, like the Lakers, have won nine out of their last 10 games.
- For the Lakers’ injury report, Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) remains out.
- Adou Thiero (G-League), Dalton Knecht (G-League) and Kobe Bufkin (G-League) will be with the South Bay Lakers.
- As for the Thunder, only PJ Hall (right ankle soreness) is out.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
Minor League Recap: Clippers Mash Three Home Runs In 6-1 Win
It was a fun day for the Clippers. We saw Kahlil Watson go 2-4 with a 413 foot bomb off of a 98 mph fastball. Stuart Fairchild also hit two HRs of his own. Juan Brito continues to destroy AAA pitching. After his 2-4 performance today, he is now hitting .400 with a 1.085 OPS on the season thus far. He should probably get an opportunity with the big league club soon.
It was a great day for the Clippers pitching staff as well. Trent Denholm struck out 8 batters in 6 innings while allowing just one run on two hits. We also got to see Daniel Espino and Franco Aleman throw scoreless innings.
This will be the last minor league recap that features just one team, as Thursday, April 2nd will be opening day for all the Guardians affiliates. I cannot wait to watch some minor league baseball this season.
Warriors get taste of Victor Wembanyama’s dominance in lopsided loss to Spurs
There was, technically and by legal definition, a regular-season game between two NBA teams inside Chase Center on Wednesday night.
But it wasn’t a fair fight. Not even close.
There are few foes on the same level as the Spurs and superhuman Victor Wembanyama these days, and the especially bruised and battered group of Warriors that took their home court were a far cry from counting themselves among them.
Wembanyama continued to make his MVP case with 41 points and 18 rebounds while the Warriors fell behind 10-0 and hardly sniffed single digits again in a 127-113 loss to the hottest team in the NBA.
Missing his 26th consecutive game, Steph Curry led a list of inactives that was as long as Steve Kerr’s rotation. Of the nine players in uniform, seven scored in double figures, led by Nate Williams with 18 in a remarkable 47-minute effort. But who didn’t play mattered just as much as anyone who did.
What it means
The loss was the Warriors’ second in a row after a brief three-game winning streak against lesser opponents, but the outcomes of each individual game holds little meaning for a team that is more or less locked into the No. 10 seed, or at least the bottom play-in matchup.
There was more consequence in the pregame warmups: Curry went through his normal routine, and is reportedly targeting Sunday for a return from a two-month absence.
Turning point
It’s possible that no version of these Warriors could contain Wembanyama and the Spurs — few have over their current 26-2 stretch — but the deck was stacked when the injury report dropped.
In addition to the seven rotation regulars already ruled out, Gui Santos (pelvis) and Gary Payton II (knee) were downgraded from questionable to out before tipoff.
Without Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford or Quinten Post, the Warriors were left with Omer Yurtseven — playing on his second 10-day contract — and two-way forward Malevy Leons as their only resistance besides the 6-foot-5 Green against Wembanyama.
Wembanyama had six points before the Warriors had any and scored 14 while the Spurs raced out to a 25-9 advantage before barely six minutes had expired. It took him two minutes into the second quarter to secure a double-double. By halftime, he had 27 and 13, and San Antonio led 70-49.
MVP: Victor Wembanyama
There seemed to be nothing the (listed) 7-foot-4 phenom wasn’t capable of against the undermanned Warriors. He wasn’t just the most valuable player on the court; he looked like the MVP of the entire league.
Stat of the game: 2
Brandin Podziemski looked well on his way to a big night — maybe even his first 30-point effort — after the first quarter. He was 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3 and 4-for-4 from the line with 12 of the Warriors’ 26 points in the opening period.
But Podziemski scored only two more points the rest of the night as Kerr limited him to 17 minutes. Williams picked up the slack with the most minutes by a Warrior in regulation since Harrison Barnes in 2014.
Up next
The Warriors should resemble something closer to full strength when they host the Cavaliers on Thursday in the second half of a back-to-back at Chase Center. Golden State opted for that matchup rather than Wembanyama for Porzingis, and there’s hope that De’Anthony Melton, Payton and Santos will be ready to play with an extra day.
If Curry continues to progress as hoped, it could also be the last of a 27-game absence.
San Antonio vs Golden State, Final Score: Spurs hold off short-handed Warriors 127-113
The Warriors were missing nine players and had to play a patchwork lineup of mostly undrafted players. They played with a lot of effort in a rough and tumble game and the Spurs didn’t play their cleanest game, but the talent difference was too much for the undermanned Golden State squad. The Spurs never quite turned the game into a blowout, but Wembanyama was transcendent with 41 points and 18 rebounds, and they kept the Warriors at arm’s length for the entire second half. Golden State could never cut the lead to single digits as San Antonio won 127-113
Observations
- The last game, I used the tired metaphor that the Spurs ran out of gas at the end of the game. Unfortunately, another writer used the same line a few hours later. My bad, I should have stayed on the crazy train with Ozzy. [UPDATE: I did not get aboard the CRAZY TRAIN]
- Sean Elliott and Jacob Tobey had the night off as the game was nationally televised on ESPN, and I expect I’ll really miss half of the third quarter being occupied with food reviews and watching those guys eat. Mike Breen and Tim Legler did the broadcast, with Richard Jefferson, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them eat on camera.
- Brandin Podziemski somehow found himself defending Wemby on the first play, and it didn’t end well for him, with a Wembanyama and-one, as the Spurs scored the first 10 points. The Spurs were quick out of the gate as they led 17-3 in the first four minutes, leading to a quick Kerr timeout.
- Nate Williams is a nice talent for the Warriors, in the Jordan McLaughlin role. He got a quick layup over Victor early in the game, but the next time he tried it, Vic was ready and sent it back.
- The Spurs led by as much as 17 in the first quarter, but Podziemski happened, and the Warriors went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to just six. The Spur finished the quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 35-26 after one quarter.
- Omer Yurtseven smacked Fox in the face with his elbow, and surprisingly, it was not called a foul. Fox just missed a few minutes, so luckily he wasn’t hurt too badly. He also smacked Vassell really hard on a drive to the basket, which was called a foul, but probably should have been a flagrant one.
- The players left on the roster of the Warriors aren’t that talented, but they played a physical game, and it was tough to watch at times. They brought the deficit to five points early in the second quarter, but the Spurs shrugged it off and led 70-49 behind an insane 27 point 13 rebound performance from Victor Wembanyama.
- There were two transition take fouls in the first half, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. They topped it off with a clear path foul in the third quarter.
- The Warriors got a good game from Curry. Not that one. Seth had a nice night shooting the ball for the Golden Gaters.
- Draymond Green’s shot release is so slow that it’s reminiscent of a medieval trebuchet, but it was hitting its target tonight, like an ancient siege weapon lobbing boulders into the enemy’s keep.
- Mason Plumlee looks useless. I sure hope he doesn’t have to play in the playoffs.
- The Spurs effort was somewhat lacking in the third quarter, and the Warriors outscored the Silver and Black 34-26, to cut the San Antonio lead to 96-83 with one quarter to play.
- The Spurs got down to business in the fourth quarter and led by as much as 26 with 6 minutes left. They went a little cold in the final minutes, and the Warriors improved the cosmetics of the score by hitting some shots late, but the outcome was never in doubt as the Spurs won 127-113
The Spurs are on their last back-to-back of the season, which continues tomorrow night in LA against the Clippers. The Clippers or Warriors could be a first round playoff matchup for the Spurs, depending on how well they do in the play-in tournament, so I’m sure the Silver and Black wants to figure ways to take advantages of their weaknesses. It’s going to be fun to watch.
Sceptres beat Charge 2-1 in front of 16,150 fans in Calgary
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Claire Dalton broke a tie 57 seconds into the third period with her first PWHL goal and the Toronto Sceptres beat the Ottawa Charge 2-1 on Wednesday night in a Takeover Tour game that drew 16,150 fans to the Saddledome.
Dalton also assisted on Maggie Connors’ first-period goal. Connors set up Dalton’s goal, and captain Blayre Turnbull assisted on both goals to help Toronto move past Ottawa into fourth place.
Raygan Kirk made 28 saves, allowing only Fanuza Kadirova's tying goal late in the first period. Gwyneth Philips stopped 22 shots for Ottawa.
Up next
Sceptres: Host Ottawa on Saturday, April 11.
Charge: Host Montreal on Friday night.
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Boeser has hat trick, last-place Canucks overcome blowing 4-goal lead to beat NHL-leading Avs
Marcus Pettersson scored with 5:39 remaining, Brock Boeser had a hat trick and the last-place Vancouver Canucks blew a four-goal lead before beating the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 8-6 on Wednesday night.
The Canucks, who entered the game 58 points behind the Avalanche, scored in all sorts of ways, including 29 seconds into the game, short-handed, on the power play and into an empty net to snap a six-game slide.
They led 6-2 in the second only to see Colorado tie it up with 6:02 left. Just 23 seconds later, Pettersson knocked in his first goal since November. Boeser sealed it by lining the puck down the ice and into an empty net.
Teddy Blueger scored twice, while Max Sasson and Jake DeBrusk also added goals to spoil a night in which Nathan MacKinnon became the first player this season to reach 50 goals. Vancouver took advantage of the Avalanche juggling their defensive pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves.
KINGS 2, BLUES 1, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift Los Angeles to a victory over the St. Louis.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
SHARKS 4, DUCKS 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg’s winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as San Jose beat Anaheim.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Trevor Moore’s overtime goal lifts Kings to 2-1 win over Blues and into playoff position
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
Moore sped up the right side, outskated Jonatan Berggren, centered the puck and snapped a shot past Binnington for the victory. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty assisted on the goal.
With the Kings leading 1-0, Thomas went to the front of the net and Philip Broberg's shot deflected off Thomas' skate and past Forsberg to tie it.
After a scoreless first period, Jared Wright nearly put the Kings ahead midway through the second, but his goal was waved off for goaltender interference.
Los Angeles got one that counted on Kempe's power-play goal on a wrister with 3:01 left in the second period to put the Kings up 1-0.
Up next
Blues: Play at Anaheim on Friday night.
Kings: Host Nashville on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Los Angeles Kings Pass Nashville Predators For Final Wild Card Spot Ahead Of Matchup
Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Nashville Predators just got a lot more important.
After losing three straight games and leaving six points on the table, the Predators have been passed by the Kings in the Western Conference Wild Card race with eight games left in the regular season.
The Kings picked up a massive 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, another team trying to move up in the Wild Card race, to bump their season total to 78 points. Nashville has 77 points.
To add salt to the wound, the San Jose Sharks also tied the Predators in points following their 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks have the tiebreaker as they have played one fewer game than the Predators.
ALL THE WAY FROM THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA, IT'S TREVOR MOORE pic.twitter.com/jhkHM4DTVt
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 2, 2026
Winnipeg is also now a point behind Nashville after an overtime win against Chicago, 4-3, on Tuesday. Seattle also trails Nashville by two points.
Thursday is another massive day, with the Predators getting a chance to take back the Wild Card spot if they defeat Los Angeles on the road. If Nashville loses, Winnipeg can pass the Predators with a win over Dallas, and the Sharks can do the Same with a win over Toronto.
Seattle can also tie the Predators in points if it defeats Utah. Another loss could really set Nashville back in the playoff race.
The Western Conference Wild Card race has been heavily criticized for the quality of the teams competing for the final spot. All six teams have a win percentage hovering just above 50%.
While Los Angeles is the only team among the six that doesn't have more than 30 regulation losses this season, the Kings have an NHL record 19 overtime losses.
For Nashville, the games in this final road trip are critical. It faces Los Angeles twice (Thursday and Monday), San Jose (Saturday) and Utah (April 9). Coming home for the final three games of the season, the Predators see the Sharks once more.
Rinkside Recap: League-leading Avs fall to league’s worst Canucks 8-6
DENVER, CO — It was first vs. worst tonight at Ball Arena, and we were in the barn to offer live and in-depth coverage!
The Avalanche would go at it without stud-defender Cale Makar, who sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s last contest against the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver came to town looking to get back into the win column after dropping their last six games. It was a team with a -90 goal differential vs. a team with a +93 goal differential. What could go wrong?
Turns out the answer to that question was a lot, with Vancouver establishing an early lead, netting a shorthanded goal, then full-on taking over, averaging three goals a period through two frames and holding off Colorado’s third-period comeback effort to walk out of Ball Arena with 2 points.
The Game
The puck dropped, and twenty-nine seconds later, Max Sasson would net a goal for the Canucks that beat Blackwood via the five-hole.
It would take just about a minute for Nathan MacKinnon to announce his arrival as he hit the brakes upon entry, watched a Canuck lose his skates and fly by, before creating enough space to rip home a wrister. MacKinnon’s tally would make 50 on the season and put him just one goal shy of his previous career high of 51 goals.
The Avalanche would get its first power play of the evening, but it only resulted in the worst-case scenario. Vancouver would take a 2-1 lead after the Avalanche allowed the 13th shorthanded goal against.
The Canucks would find another way to score this time on a power play of their own. Jake DeBrusk was left all alone in the slot and logged his 17th of the season, with 14 of those coming on the power play. Just like that, it was 3-1 Canucks.
Frustration among the fanbase started to set in, but Gabe Landeskog would ease the pain after he deflected Brent Burns’ point shot past Kevin Lankinen, bringing his side back to within one goal at 3-2 Vancouver.
The period would end with Vancouver on the power play, and Colorado would kill the first 26 seconds and head to the locker room.
The second period would start with Colorado killing off the rest of Vancouver’s man-advantage, but that wouldn’t stop the Canucks from extending their lead to two goals after Teddy Blueger was alone in front and beat Blackwood via the five-hole yet again to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of the visitors.
Nick Blankenburg was thrust into the lineup tonight with Cale Makar tending to his wounds and had a tough night.
He sank too deeply to the point where he was into the crease, and Blackwood, who couldn’t do anything to stop what basically turned into a screened two-on-none. Brock Boeser would log that tally, and another five minutes later, bringing the score to a whopping 6-2 Canucks.
Finally, Jared Bednar pulled MacKenzie Blackwood.
Sam Malinski would get one back for Colorado before the second period ended. Vancouver challenged for goalie interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful despite Jack Drury making contact with Kevin Lankinen outside the blue paint.
We’d head to the second intermission at 6-3 Canucks.
We did have a little scare right before the second period let out, with Martin Necas getting hit away from the play and going down in a heap. He would stay down and immediately head off to the room despite the remaining time in the period.
Fortunately, he would return for the third period, but seemed to be reaching for his wrist, which has been an area of concern this season.
The Avalanche wouldn’t go quietly into the night.
Scott Wedgewood was asked if this game felt out of reach before the third, and he responded, “Never with this team.”
Parker Kelly would log his 19th of the season just 116 seconds into the third and final frame, and the comeback and whale watch were on! It was a two-goal game at 6-4 with essentially the entire third period left for the Avalanche to mount a comeback.
Next, it was Brent Burns’ turn as his point one timer, assisted by Brock Nelson, went straight in, and the tide officially had shifted.
It was Sam Malinski who set Ball Arena off with his game-tying goal (6-6) with just over five minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, that goal would quickly be answered by Vancouver’s Marcus Pettersson, who gave Vancouver a 7-6 lead.
Colorado did make a push to get things under control in this game, and had they started as they finished, they would have beaten the Canucks handily.
Takeaways
The slow start tonight should have been more anticipated, as it’s typical for a team to come out flat after putting up 5 plus goals in the first half of a period. That said, there’s no excuse for starting so poorly against the league’s worst team and giving up a shorthanded goal to a historically bad penalty kill unit.
It was pretty clear that the freedom of having nothing to play for benefited the Canucks, who likely had no problem getting up to play the best team in the league. In a season where you are -90 in goal differential, you have to take it game by game, and tonight, Vancouver passed the test.
This wasn’t a great performance by the Avalanche defensively, but MacKenzie Blackwood also looked a little lost at times. It’s feeling more and more clear that Scott Wedgewood is the number one goalie in Colorado these days.
When Bednar was asked if he was concerned with not knowing who the starter is so close to playoff time, he quickly snapped, “No.”
It’s been abundantly clear that Colorado can ill afford to lose a defender from its group of six, as Nick Blankenburg hasn’t looked great and, in a game against the league’s worst team, struggled. I don’t know that the Avalanche have a set-and-forget 7D.
Jared Bednar was clearly not pleased in the post-game presser and made no excuses for his club. When asked what went wrong, he responded, “The list is too long.”
Brock Nelson had an item that likely landed on the list, saying, “Couple unfortunate bounces where they end up with two-on-ones with some pretty clear looks that we’d like to not give up.”
Upcoming
The Avalanche will head to Dallas for a matinee contest against Mikko Rantanen and the Stars on Saturday.
Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!
Celebrini ties it late then sets up Wennberg's winner as the Sharks beat the Ducks 4-3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg's winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Troy Terry scored 4:04 into the third period to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.
Celebrini tied it with 1:39 to play.
Ryan Poehling and Alex Killorn also scored for Anaheim, which has lost three straight games but remains atop the Pacific Division. Drew Helleson had a pair of assists and Lukas Dostal made 16 saves and also got his first assist of the season on Poehling's goal.
The Ducks played without their leading goal scorer, Cutter Gauthier, who suffered an upper-body injury in Monday night's 5-4 loss to Toronto.
Nathan Gaucher made his NHL debut for the Ducks. He was selected 22nd overall by Anaheim in the 2022 draft.
San Jose now has a 2-1 lead in the four-game regular-season series between the teams.
Up next
Ducks: Return home to play St. Louis on Friday night.
Sharks: Host Toronto for the third game of a six-game homestand on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Dodgers start slow at the plate
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have gotten off to a good start because they are 4-2, but in spite of a an offense that has been unable to get off to good starts in games.
They have yet to score in the first or second innings this season, and the first time through the batting order through six games have just nine hits in 49 at-bats, with a home run, double, and five walks, hitting just .184/.259/.265.
“We haven’t gotten off to a good start. In a majority of our games, the opponent has scored first. It just seems like the first three innings, we’re not getting much production, and nothing much going on. Then as we get into the game, we start to threaten a little more,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Maybe we get on the road and get a chance to strike first.”
The Dodgers trailed 2-0 in all three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks but managed to win all three. They trailed 4-0 in the first and last games against the Cleveland Guardians, falling to score until the ninth inning of both losses.
The Dodgers put up three four-run innings against the Diamondbacks in their first 11 innings of the season, but in the 39 innings since, they only scored 11 runs. Gavin Williams struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings for Cleveland on Wednesday night, keeping with a recent theme. Over the last four games, the opposing starting pitchers have allowed only two total runs, one earned to the Dodgers, with 24 strikeouts in 22 innings.
| Opponent | PA | Runs | SLG | BB | K |
| Diamondbacks | 103 | 16 | .422 | 11 | 15 |
| Guardians | 102 | 7 | .344 | 6 | 29 |
“The amount of strikeouts is a little concerning,” Roberts said. “We’re striking out at quite a clip. But I think it will level out, it will balance out.”
Andy Pages had three of the five Dodgers hits in Wednesday’s loss, and is off to a great start, hitting .429/.429/.619. His nine hits are most on the team by far. Freddie Freeman, whose home run in the ninth inning was the only run on Wednesday, and Teoscar Hernández, are tied for second on the team with five hits thus far, through six games.
“Andy’s been great, since spring training. He’s one of the guys who’s carried us,” Freeman said. “He looks great, on both sides of the ball. Hopefully the rest of us can join him on Friday.”
The Dodgers are off Thursday, then play the Washington Nationals to start a six-game road trip.
“Offensively most of our guys are struggling,” Roberts said. “It’ll be good to get on the road, get an off day, and go from there.”
“I think you could talk to every one of us, and say we wish we had a better offensive first week, but I think our offense is inevitable,” Freeman said. “Anytime anyone goes into that box, anything can happen. We have a really good lineup, we’re just not hitting yet. It’s a long season, it’s just the first week. We’ll be fine.”
Braves News: Draft prospects, Chris Sale flu game, more
We were reminded of three people we are lucky to have on Wednesday: Chris Sale, Drake Baldwin, and Matt Powers. Chris Sale wasn’t his best self and had a major velocity dip to start the game, but he worked through 6.0 innings of 1 run ball to deliver a series victory for Atlanta. Drake Baldwin continued his torrid start to the season at the plate as he is having something closer to a sophomore surge than a sophomore slump early on in the season. Meanwhile, Matt Powers continues to be a tremendous asset to Braves fans as our very own draft expert, writing up an absurdly extensive and thorough update on college draft prospects who might be of interest for the Braves in the first three rounds and how they have performed so far in the first half of the college system.
Braves News
Our in-house draft expert Matt Powers gave a Braves-centric look at college draft prospects about halfway through the college season.
Chris Sale completed his flu game with 6.0 innings of 1 run ball, sealing a series victory at home against the Athletics.
Atlanta hasn’t blown the doors off to start this season, but they have taken care of business and won their first two series.
MLB News
The Royals placed Carlos Estevez on the IL with a foot contusion from being hit by a Michael Harris comebacker before giving up six runs to allow a Braves comeback.
Baseball’s top prospect Konnor Griffin is reportedly deep in talks with the Pirates on an extension.
Fangraphs’ Ben Clemens took a self-described nerdy look at the ABS system early in the season.
'March Of The Penguins' Wasn't Perfect, But It Was More Than Enough To Prove This Team Isn't Going Away
"Well, I suppose we'll see what they're made of during that brutal stretch in March."
Anyone who has been following the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2025-26 season knows that - prior to the trade deadline - the team was exceeding all outside expectations ordained for them before October commenced.
"This team will be tanking for McKenna," they said over the summer.
"Well, this surely isn't sustainable," they said, after the Penguins began the season 8-2-2 in the month of October.
"See, this team was bound to fall apart after that PDO bender," they said, during an eight-game losing streak in December that saw the Penguins plummet in the standings.
"This team isn't too bad when it's actually healthy - which is never," they said, after a 12-3-3 stretch to start the calendar year of 2026 ahead of the Olympic break.
Then, finally, came March: The month that was supposed to expose this team's weaknesses and cause an implosion that would likely pull them out of playoff contention. The home stretch that included the NHL's toughest strength of schedule. The gauntlet that was a near-death sentence for a Pittsburgh team missing its two biggest stars while forced to play 17 games in 31 days.
As it turns out, the 'March of the Penguins' wasn't nearly as doom and gloom as many thought it would be. In fact, it was the exact opposite - and the Penguins actually find themselves in a better spot than they did at the start of their hardest month of the season, as they are now second in the Metropolitan Division and six points clear of the playoff cutoff line - whereas, on Feb. 28, they were only four points clear of the Washington Capitals, the first team out of the playoff picture.
If anything, the month of March showed us who these Penguins are at their core: They're a team that fights for every inch and every point - and they're not going away anytime soon.
“We play with everyone,” forward Egor Chinakhov said. “And when we play the right way, and when we play our game, we can win. That's it.”
Takeaways: Penguins Secure Huge Two Points Against Red Wings In Another Dominant Effort The Pittsburgh Penguins continued the momentum gained from Monday's 8-3 win over the New York Islanders to win yet another standings-crucial matchup - this time, against the Detroit Red WingsThe Penguins ended up finishing March with a 8-6-3 record, and while that doesn't stand out a ton on paper, there is a lot more to it than just the record itself. Captain Sidney Crosby played in only seven games, while Evgeni Malkin played in just eight. And, on top of that, the Penguins played without both of them for six and a half games (Crosby was pulled early in the second period on Mar. 26 against the Ottawa Senators, a 4-3 shootout win).
And in those games? They went 3-2-2, earning eight of 14 possible points. And that takes an "all-hands-on-deck" effort as well as cohesion and simplicity from line-to-line, pairing-to-pairing.
"I think we just work in tandem really well," defenseman Ryan Shea said when asked about what makes this team different than previous Penguins' teams. "The forwards and the 'D,' they're supporting each other, everyone's getting back. The effort is incredible right now from our forwards. It's making it easy on our 'D' to get gaps, and when that happens and we're clean on breakouts, we have the skill to play with anyone in this league.
"And you're seeing it right now. Guys [have been] stepping up when guys are out, but now, we're kind of getting back to fully healthy. But, yeah, our team - it's in a good spot, but, obviously, we've got a couple games left, and we've got to keep going."
Takeaways: Penguins Stomp Islanders In Dominant Effort For Biggest Win Of The SeasonThe Pittsburgh Penguins earned a dominant, statement victory over the division rival New York Islanders in a game that very well may end up deciding their season.With Crosby and Malkin back, that sure should make things a bit easier for the Penguins, and they appear to be responding to that. They just won the two most critical games of their entire season so far against the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings - on back-to-back days, nonetheless - by a combined score of 13-4, with Crosby returning against the Isles and Malkin returning against Detroit.
But this was all after Erik Karlsson's nine goals and 24 points in the prior 15 March games - earning him the NHL's Second Star of the Month - carried the team through the toughest stretch of their season before the return of 87 and 71. Then there's Rickard Rakell, who put up 10 goals and 19 points in 17 March games - largely playing first-line center, a role pretty much completely foreign to him.
And there's also Anthony Mantha, who sealed the first 30-goal season of his NHL career at age 32 against Detroit and scored nine goals in March. And Bryan Rust, who led the way with eight goals and 20 points in 16 games during the month. Don't forget about Chinakhov, too, who has been thriving since his arrival in Pittsburgh and had six tallies and 15 points in March.
Goal #30 for #39 👏
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) March 31, 2026
Anthony Mantha is the ninth @penguins player to score 30 goals in the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin Era (since 2006-07), joining Crosby (12x), Malkin (6x), Jake Guentzel (3x), Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel, Chris Kunitz and James Neal. pic.twitter.com/vkLuY6dWLJ
Noticing a trend? The Penguins have had success all season long, in large part, because of their scoring depth, and although the aforementioned players largely carried the team production-wise through March, they got contributions from everyone in those final two games in March - which tends to happen when your best players return to the lineup and you're able to distribute talent.
And make no mistake: This is a talented roster on the offensive side of the puck. The Penguins have a league-high 12 players with 10 or more goals and a league-high nine players with 15 or more goals, and it's possible that they could have three 30-goal scorers as well as seven 20-goal scorers, depending on how things go in these final seven games for certain players.
Offensive talent aside, March had its ruptures for the Penguins, too. They gave up four or more goals in 10 of 17 games and three or more goals in 13 of them. Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs have both been a bit inconsistent lately and have found themselves on the wrong side of .900 for save percentages. Both aspects improved in the final two games of the month, but - of course - if the Penguins plan to make the playoffs and make any sort of noise in them, they will need more consistency on those fronts.
Erik Karlsson Named NHL's Second Star Of The MonthPittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson was named the NHL's Second Star of March. But, ultimately, the Penguins surviving the "brutal stretch" in March and coming out the other end of it better than they came into it is a massive success, and it speaks volumes about the character and belief in that locker room.
“It tells you that we come out big in big moments,” Skinner said after Tuesday's statement 5-1 win over the Red Wings to close out the month of March. “We’re a resilient group. If things don’t go our way [or] things do go our way, we just kind of stick to our game plan.
"That’s what’s so incredible about this group. The maturity obviously starts with the leadership [and] goes down to every single guy in how we play a simple, strong game. It’s very fun to play in, and it’s very fun to watch.”
So, believe it or not, these Penguins are here to stay - and they're ready to keep winning and play some meaningful games late into the spring.
"Our confidence is that high," Shea said. "And when we're doing that, we're a dangerous team."
NHL Rebuild Review: What Kyle Dubas Has Done For The Penguins Is IncredibleKyle Dubas left the Toronto Maple Leafs and took on a complex challenge with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over the past three years, he's restocked the prospect pool and succeeded with reclamation projects. Check out this deep dive for more.Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby help Knicks weather the storm against Grizzlies and snap losing streak
On the surface, Wednesday night's game against the Grizzlies wasn't a must-win for the Knicks. However, after dropping their third straight and looking bad doing it on Tuesday, Josh Hart had some pointed comments about his team's direction.
He even called the game against Memphis "must-win."
So it's a good thing the Knicks put together a wire-to-wire win against the Grizzlies. Although it wasn't necessarily easy.
A young, depleted Grizzlies team fought hard against the Knicks. They beat the Knicks in the second and third quarters, almost taking their first lead of the game in the third.
However, the combination of Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby didn't let that happen. Without Jalen Brunson (ankle soreness) in the lineup, the two forwards combined to score 45 points. Towns dished 11 assists and came down with 11 rebounds to pick up a triple-double, his second as a Knick. Anunoby added 13 rebounds to his scoring to finish with a double-double.
"A game like that, it's always tough if you play against a group that's free and can attack and has nothing to lose," head coach Mike Brown said after the win. "But our guys at the end of the day, we were good in a lot of areas."
Brown said that the team's turnovers, which they had 19, and fouling -- sending Memphis to the line 30 times -- made the game tougher than it needed to be, but applauded how his players responded, especially Anunoby and Towns down the stretch when the Grizzlies were hanging around.
"A lot of good performances from our guys, we were able to make it up in terms of the times that they went to the free throw line and our turnovers by offensive rebounding," Brown explained. "OG had three offensive rebounds, KAT had six offensive rebounds. KAT had a triple-double tonight, which was great. And especially in 30 minutes of action, and then OG, for him to get 13 rebounds. A big, big night to get a double-double. We needed every single one of those rebounds."
"I thought we did a good job moving the ball," Towns said of the win. "I thought we did a good job of playing with a point-five mentality and doing everything we needed to do to beat a good team, and a hungry team with a lot of guys trying to prove themselves in this league. I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm. We understood they’re going to play hard. They’re going to play well, and we found a way to win."
For Towns, the key to his performance on Wednesday was the faith he had in his teammates. Memphis constantly double and sometimes triple-teamed the big man, but he would find the open player. It was a trend for the entire Knicks team. New York had 36 assists on the 48 shots made.
"When they're double and triple teaming, I understand that one of my teammates is open," Towns said. "Just staying patient, staying relaxed and trying to make the right play. I was disappointed with the turnovers I had today, but I’m glad that I was able to find my teammates more than not and we were able to come out with a win."
The win allowed the Knicks to hold on to their spot as the three-seed in the Eastern Conference (1.5 games ahead of Cleveland). They'll look to keep that momentum and try to get closer to the Celtics and the two-seed when they host the Bulls on Friday.