TORONTO -- New York Islanders franchise goaltender Ilya Sorokin recorded 26 saves on 27 shots in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to secure career win No. 150.
Sorokin is seven wins from tying Chico Resch (157) for the second-most in franchise history.
Hockey Hall of Famer Billy Smith sits in first with 304.
Sorokin also recorded his 25th win of the season, accomplishing that feat for a fifth straight season.
Per Islanders statistician Eric Hornick, Sorokin was 2-4-1 (.868 and 3.75) in his first seven games this season; he is 23-11-1 (with an NHL-best .923 save percentage, and a 2.24 goals-against average) and an NHL-leading six shutouts since then.
Through 42 games this season, Sorokin is 25-15-2, with a 2.58 GAA, a .918 SV%, and an NHL-leading six shutouts.
The Big Ten is one of the two wealthiest and most powerful entities in college sports, an 18-school, coast-to-coast colossus that features many of the biggest universities and most recognizable brands in American higher education.
For all its money and influence, though, there’s something quite notable that the conference is missing: a men’s college basketball national championship in the past 25 years.
As the 2026 NCAA Tournament begins this week, the Big Ten will look to rectify a lingering and unsavory bit of history by having one of its teams cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 6 after the national title game, something that hasn’t happened since Michigan State did it all the way back in 2000.
When the Spartans enjoyed their one shining moment, Bill Clinton was still the U.S. president. Later that April, the rock band Metallica sued digital file sharing application Napster. Jason Richardson, a freshman guard on that Michigan State team, now has a son who’s in his rookie season in the NBA. Richardson’s fellow freshman that season, Mat Ishbia, now has a net worth of $8.5 billion and owns the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Tom Izzo, who now looks like this, looked like this.
What’s made the drought so confounding is Big Ten teams haven gotten close to winning a championship. It’s not as if this is the Patriot League or the WAC, where it has a single representative in the tournament that’s fortunate to win a game. Big Ten teams regularly reach the biggest and brightest stages in college basketball; they just haven’t been able to close the deal.
Since Michigan State’s title in 2000, 15 teams from the conference have made it to the Final Four. Eight of those squads advanced to the national championship game, but in each instance, they lost. A couple of them came agonizingly close, with Illinois losing to North Carolina, 75-70, in 2005 and Wisconsin coming up short against Duke, 68-63, in 2015.
It’s not like its teams haven’t been in advantageous spots entering the tournament in recent years, either. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, 35 of the 40 national champions (87.5%) have been a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Since 2018, Big Ten teams have accounted for 17 of those 84 spots on the bracket (20.2%).
Even if current Big Ten compatriot Maryland, which won the national championship in 2002 while a member of the ACC, was included as one of the Big Ten’s championships, the conference has still gone nearly a quarter-century without a title.
During that same stretch, other power conferences have repeatedly had its teams hoist a trophy at the end of the Final Four.
Since 2000, the Big East and ACC have each had eight teams win championships. During that same stretch, the SEC has had four champions and the Big 12 three. Even the American, which has disintegrated in recent years into a one- or two-bid league, had a title-winner on its resume, thanks to UConn in 2014.
Why has the Big Ten gone so long without winning March Madness?
There are a number of factors that have contributed to the Big Ten’s tournament woes.
For one, it’s a single-elimination format that can create some extreme variance and unexpected results. Without absolving some of its missteps, it’s quite possible the Big Ten’s just had some rotten luck.
Beyond that, many of the Big Ten teams that made and ultimately lost the national championship game had the misfortune of running up against some of the best teams in modern college basketball history. The North Carolina team Illinois lost to in 2005 was 33-4 and had four of the top 14 picks in that year’s NBA draft. Two years later, a Greg Oden and Mike Conley-led Ohio State team lost to a Florida team that brought back the entire starting five from its national championship team the year before. In 2009, Michigan State was blown out by a North Carolina team that was 34-4. Wisconsin came up short against a 2015 Duke team that won 35 games and had two top-10 NBA draft picks. Michigan was handled by a 2018 Villanova squad that won 36 games and had Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo on its roster. Two years ago, Zach Edey and Purdue weren’t able to hang with a buzzsaw of a UConn team that had won 27 of its previous 28 games, including five NCAA Tournament games that were decided by an average of 25 points.
The wait for a champion has been even longer on the women’s side, where Purdue in 1999 is the league’s last national title winner. At least some of that can be explained away by a small handful of teams that own a disproportionate number of championships during that drought – namely UConn, with its 11 titles since 2000.
Can the Big Ten win a national championship this year?
The Big Ten enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament about as well-positioned as any conference in men’s college basketball to take home the sport’s ultimate prize.
Four of the top 10 and five of the top 13 teams on the NCAA selection committee’s seed list for the tournament are from the Big Ten. Of the 20 teams that have a top-four seed in the tournament, five are from the Big Ten, the most of any conference.
Its best bet for a champion this year appears to be Michigan, which went 31-3 in the regular season and has one of the country’s best players in All-America forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
Big Ten March Madness championship losses
Here’s a look at Big Ten teams that have lost in the national championship game in the years since Michigan State’s NCAA title in 2000:
Fran Franschilla’s job calling Big 12 games gives him a front-row seat to the best action in college basketball, but that’s where he stops you. Don’t label broadcasting Big 12 hoops work.
“They pay me to travel, not to work,” Fraschilla, ESPN's veteran color commentator and a former coach, says affably. “I’ve been blessed, because I’ve watched the league grow up over 20 years.”
Along the way, Fraschilla became ESPN’s voice of the Big 12 and an unofficial conference advocate. It’s easy to advocate for the Big 12 in a season when the conference supplied peak entertainment and premier performance.
The SEC led all conferences with 10 NCAA Tournament bids, a show of its depth, but ball-knowers recognize the best batch of hoops lived inside the Big 12.
Now, to back that up on the final exam that is the NCAA Tournament.
As for national championship potential? Start with Arizona.
“I give Arizona as good of chance as anybody in the field to cut down the nets in Indianapolis,” Fraschilla, who coached Manhattan to a mammoth NCAA Tournament upset of Oklahoma in 1995, told me.
Why Arizona is a top March Madness championship contender
Two of Arizona’s key bench players started on last year’s team that reached the Sweet 16. That speaks to the quality of a starting lineup in which every player averages in double digits scoring.
“They are as complete a team as there is in college basketball," Fraschilla said. "First of all, they are an old-school, bludgeon-you-inside team with three terrific post players. They have as good of a leader at point guard, (Jaden Bradley), as any team in the country.”
Oh, we’ve yet to mention dynamite freshman guard Brayden Burries, the team’s leading scorer.
“I can say the same thing about an entire league: the Big Ten,” he says.
Fair point.
Anyway, why should these Wildcats fret about what happened to the 2023 team, which lost to 15th-seeded Princeton in the first round? Or, the 2018 team that got blasted by 13th-seeded Buffalo in the first round? The past three times Arizona earned a No. 1 seed in the past quarter-century, it got bounced before the Final Four. That’s for you to consider as you fill out your bracket, but whispers of the past are not for these Wildcats to fuss over.
“They play like they’re in a cocoon,” Fraschilla said, “so I’m not sure how much of the noise they hear.”
If you need more than one man’s opinion, there’s also Ken Pomeroy's rankings. Basketball nerds cite KenPom as if it’s college basketball’s holy literature. His metrics rank Arizona, Houston and Iowa State among the six best teams, making the Big 12 the only conference with more than one team tucked inside the top six.
The Big 12's “Big Monday” games, with Jon Sciambi and Fraschilla on the call, showcased premier teams in elite environments with future NBA stars.
“Big Monday has become must-watch TV,” Fraschilla said.
Truth.
The Big 12’s TV audience on “Big Monday” doubled this season, according to commissioner Brett Yormark, to average 1.7 million viewers.
Consider it evidence of how the Big 12 survived conference realignment.
Big 12 basketball emerged strong on this side of realignment
Realignment is bloodsport, and the Big 12 hit an inflection point in 2021 after Oklahoma and Texas set out for the SEC’s richer pastures. The impending exodus of the Big 12’s two richest brands cast the future of the conference into peril.
Would it be raided for parts? Merge with the Pac-12?
Neither.
Option 3: Fortify.
The conference steadied by adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston under outbound commissioner Bob Bowlsby. Then, Bowlsby’s successor Yormark secured a media rights extension with ESPN and Fox before looting the Pac-12 for Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
While the Pac-12 collapsed into a shell of its former self, the Big 12 went from endangered species to basketball behemoth.
“The league came out much stronger on the basketball side than anybody would have realized,” Fraschilla said.
Yormark describes his conference as “the second-best basketball league in America behind the NBA,” and he promised to cash in when the conference hits the media rights marketplace again in 2030.
In the meantime, the Big 12 is on national championship watch, with Arizona forming the tip of the spear.
“They have a countenance about them,” Fraschilla said of coach Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats, “that is built for the tournament.”
Pitino’s team from New York plays Northern Iowa in a first-round NCAA Tournament game more than 2,400 miles away in San Diego on Friday, March 20. Calipari’s team plays Hawaii in a first-round game more than 1,600 miles away in Portland on Thursday.
But this is what happens when the NCAA still tries to keep a geographical balance for postseason game sites even though the sport itself has become even more entrenched in the Eastern and Central time zones. Only 10 of the 68 tournament teams (14.7%) come from west of the Kansas border this year, tied for the second-fewest number of western teams in the 21st century, according to data provided to USA TODAY Sports by Stats Perform.
There are several reasons for this, one of which is baked into the cake: Only 63 of 361 teams (17.5%) in Division I are located west of the Central time zone, according to Stats Perform.
At the same time, other money-driven developments raise even bigger questions about the future of the game out west after the implosion of the old Pac-12 Conference in 2024 — a seismic shift that left zero power conferences headquartered west of metro Dallas.
Blame it on realignment, too
Only two teams from the former Pac-12 (UCLA and Arizona) earned NCAA Tournament bids this year, which is tied for the lowest in the modern era for legacy Pac-12 teams, all located in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.
Just 10 years ago, this former “conference of champions” earned seven bids to the tournament. Just two years ago, a record 16 teams west of Kansas earned NCAA bids, including four from the Pac-12.
Oregon and Washington followed them there, while Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State left for the Big 12, based in Texas.
The result is more crowded competition in the Big Ten (now with 18 teams) and Big 12 (now with 16 teams). UCLA earned one of nine NCAA bids for the Big Ten but now plays a first-round game in Philadelphia this week after playing in the Big Ten tournament last weekend in Chicago.
“We’re not concerned with travel,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said this week. “We’re experienced at it.”
New York and Philadelphia teams to invade San Diego
The NCAA still tries to make this easier. It says so right in its guidelines for geographic placement of teams in the tournament.
“Teams should remain as close to their home region as possible, based on mileage,” the guidelines state.
In theory, this would ease the travel burden on teams and help maximize attendance at games.
But tournament game sites are set years in advance. And there’s only so much the selection committee can do if only four teams earned bids from California. As a result, three of the eight teams playing first-round games in San Diego this week are from New York or Philadelphia but only one is from California (No. 13-seed Cal Baptist from Riverside).
This isn't ideal from a business standpoint if the goal is to sell tickets and cultivate the next generation of fans in California, a state that not only has the most people but also a rich hoops history, at least until recently. In men's and women's basketball, the state has the most combined NCAA Tournament winners, Final Four Most Outstanding Players and NCAA Tournament-winning coaches since 1939 with 37, according to a recent study by BetMGM.
John Calipari says 'We only have to fly six hours'
Of the four regions in the bracket this year, one is still called the “West Region,” whose championship will be decided this month in San Jose, California. The problem is there might not be many local fans to watch it there. Only five of the 16 first-round slots in the West Region are from teams west of Kansas. Only two of those five are among the five highest seeds in the region — No. 1 Arizona and No. 3 Gonzaga.
“We’ll have maybe a few hundred people,” Pitino said of the trip to San Diego. “That’s about it… It’s not ideal traveling to the West Coast, but you deal with it and you just make the best of it.”
Calipari’s team was scheduled to depart for Portland early on Tuesday, March 17.
“We only have to fly six hours to get there,” Calipari said on Sirius XM. “So you know, it’s not all that bad.”
His comments dripped with sarcasm, but if he wins his next two games in Oregon, his team will be rewarded. Arkansas would play the following week in San Jose, which is further south on the West Coast and at least a little bit closer to home.
Chase Pearson helped Nottingham Panthers win the European Continental Cup in January [Getty Images]
There is a lustrous bounce to Chase Pearson's hair that you can only get from an egg yolk treatment.
When the 28-year-old Canadian forward flicks his locks back absent-mindedly, it's almost distracting as he seamlessly shifts between talking about hair care, a career that took him briefly to the NHL, the loss of his mother and the prospect of helping Nottingham Panthers reclaim the Challenge Cup for the first time in a decade when they face Coventry Blaze on Wednesday (19:30 GMT).
It is with the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) side that Pearson says he has "enjoyed playing hockey more than ever" and where he feels he has been able to be his most authentic self away from the game - quirky social media presence and all.
Pick through his posts and you are greeted with a step-by-step guide to getting "eggstremely nice hair", the benefits of red lights at night, and streams of healthy living and mindfulness advice.
"I like to be myself, obviously," he told BBC Sport.
"I'm not for everyone and don't want to be for everyone. Being different is a good thing, right? Or I'd like to think so."
When Pearson got on the ice in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings in 2022, he emulated his father Scott by playing in the world's most illustrious ice hockey competition.
His father played 292 times in the competition across 13 years, featuring for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders.
"He was my North Star," Pearson said of his father's influence on his sporting aspirations.
"I always knew that I wanted to play in the NHL and that was my aim from age eight or nine. Most kids do, but I was steadfast on it.
"I would have loved to play a 300-game career in the NHL. I think every hockey player wants to be the 1,000-game superstar, and it just didn't work out. And that's the way it goes for most guys.
"Most players are never going to be able to even get to the NHL, let alone have a career and stick there. So the fact that I got there was something huge for me."
'Losing a parent like that, it's difficult'
It was on his arrival as an NHL player that Pearson reflected on what it took to reach that level - the years spent playing for the University of Maine, the seasons with Detroit's minor-league affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins and, most poignantly, the devotion of his mother Laura along the way.
She didn't get to see him play on that stage, having taken her own life years earlier. But getting there was always for her.
"As a child if you've been through that, losing a parent like that, it's difficult. There is a lot of stuff that goes through your mind," Pearson said.
"I wanted to do it [get to the NHL] to be financially secure so I could help take care of her.
"I never got that chance, but when I did get there, a lot of that moment I was absorbed in thinking 'wow, I'm here and this is cool'. And if you're religious, then she would have been watching down.
"That was special. She meant a lot to me and still means a lot."
Chase Pearson, pictured in action for Detroit Red Wings, made three NHL appearances for the club [Getty Images]
The memories of losing his mum continue to stir powerful emotions in Pearson. "It's hard for me to talk," he says, as he steadies himself.
But the career he has built after his time in the NHL, his European excursion with spells in Slovakia and Austria before landing in the EIHL with Nottingham and how he has treasured each experience and opened himself up to the world with unflinching frankness online, is linked to that loss.
"A lot of what I post about comes through the lens of someone who's been through that and dealt with a lot of stuff," he said.
"I've unhealthily dealt with it in ways that aren't productive for myself or people around me. I've hurt a lot of people that I didn't want to.
"And sometimes when I post I can be polarising, but most of what I do post is coming from a place of genuinely trying to put my thoughts out in the world in a way that I would like to have heard it from my position looking back."
'I don't think about the medals'
The value placed on success, the endless effort it demands and "fleeting" joy it brings, is something he has grappled with along the way.
The European Continental Cup he helped Panthers win earlier this season, and the Challenge Cup up for grabs when they play the Blaze, are moments of his career he has learned to cherish.
Being sat on a private jet as an NHL player for the first time taught him that.
"On that plane back after the first game I was like 'wow, this is incredible', but what's next?" he reflected.
"I didn't realise I'd feel like that, and I thought 'dang I've just spent 15 years to get here and now I'm thinking now what?'
"That moment made me realise it wasn't even about getting there, but more about proving to myself I can do it and all the moments in between.
"We talked about this in the locker room today, about getting so caught up in chasing this, chasing that, trying to achieve this and that, you sometimes forget to sit down to just enjoy it and be present with everyone.
"There are not many moments in your life or career where you actually get to remember winning something. I don't think about the medals or silverware; it's about doing something that no-one can ever take away from you.
"Understanding that helps you forge those connections with your team-mates and people in the organisation, not the medal you get to put up on your wall or eventually down in your basement where no-one ever sees it."
Chicago Blackhawks (25-30-12, in the Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (39-18-12, in the Central Division)
Saint Paul, Minnesota; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Wild host the Chicago Blackhawks after the Wild knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime.
Minnesota has gone 39-18-12 overall with a 12-6-3 record against the Central Division. The Wild are ninth in NHL play with 226 total goals (averaging 3.3 per game).
Chicago is 25-30-12 overall and 10-6-5 against the Central Division. The Blackhawks have gone 9-10-6 in games they have more penalties than their opponent.
The matchup Thursday is the fourth meeting between these teams this season. The Wild won 4-3 in overtime in the previous matchup.
TOP PERFORMERS: Matthew Boldy has 38 goals and 37 assists for the Wild. Kirill Kaprizov has six goals and two assists over the past 10 games.
Frank Nazar has 11 goals and 23 assists for the Blackhawks. Connor Bedard has four goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 4-4-2, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.8 assists, 3.8 penalties and 9.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
Blackhawks: 3-4-3, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.3 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
INJURIES: Wild: None listed.
Blackhawks: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Montreal Canadiens (37-20-10, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Detroit Red Wings (37-23-8, in the Atlantic Division)
Detroit; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Montreal Canadiens visit the Detroit Red Wings after the Canadiens knocked off the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime.
Detroit has an 11-7-2 record in Atlantic Division games and a 37-23-8 record overall. The Red Wings have a 19-8-2 record in games they convert at least one power play.
Montreal is 37-20-10 overall with a 13-8-1 record in Atlantic Division games. The Canadiens have committed 278 total penalties (4.1 per game) to rank fourth in the league.
Thursday's game is the third time these teams match up this season. The Red Wings won the previous meeting 4-0.
TOP PERFORMERS: Dylan Larkin has 28 goals and 27 assists for the Red Wings. Patrick Kane has four goals and four assists over the last 10 games.
Cole Caufield has 40 goals and 28 assists for the Canadiens. Nicholas Suzuki has six goals and nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 4-4-2, averaging 2.6 goals, 4.6 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
Canadiens: 5-3-2, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.2 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game.
INJURIES: Red Wings: None listed.
Canadiens: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Winnipeg Jets (28-28-11, in the Central Division) vs. Boston Bruins (37-23-8, in the Atlantic Division)
Boston; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Bruins host the Winnipeg Jets after Pavel Zacha scored two goals in the Bruins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Boston is 37-23-8 overall and 25-9-1 at home. The Bruins have a 30-9-6 record when scoring three or more goals.
Winnipeg has gone 11-15-5 on the road and 28-28-11 overall. The Jets have a -13 scoring differential, with 190 total goals scored and 203 conceded.
Thursday's game is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Bruins won the previous meeting 6-3. David Pastrnak scored two goals in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Morgan Geekie has 34 goals and 23 assists for the Bruins. Zacha has seven goals and five assists over the last 10 games.
Mark Scheifele has 31 goals and 52 assists for the Jets. Kyle Connor has scored five goals with eight assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 4-3-3, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.1 assists, 3.7 penalties and 9.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
Jets: 5-2-3, averaging 2.8 goals, five assists, 1.9 penalties and 4.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Bruins: None listed.
Jets: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Carolina Hurricanes after Evgeni Malkin scored two goals in the Penguins' 7-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
Carolina is 13-4-1 against the Metropolitan Division and 42-19-6 overall. The Hurricanes are seventh in NHL play with 230 total goals (averaging 3.4 per game).
Pittsburgh is 34-18-15 overall and 11-1-8 against the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins have scored 229 total goals (3.4 per game) to rank eighth in league play.
Wednesday's game is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Hurricanes won the last matchup 5-4 in a shootout.
TOP PERFORMERS: Andrei Svechnikov has 25 goals and 34 assists for the Hurricanes. Nikolaj Ehlers has six goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
Malkin has 16 goals and 34 assists for the Penguins. Bryan Rust has six goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hurricanes: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.5 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
Penguins: 4-3-3, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.9 assists, 4.2 penalties and 10.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
INJURIES: Hurricanes: None listed.
Penguins: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Utah Mammoth (35-27-6, in the Central Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (31-23-14, in the Pacific Division)
Paradise, Nevada; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights take on the Utah Mammoth in Western Conference action.
Vegas has a 31-23-14 record overall and a 16-11-7 record on its home ice. The Golden Knights have allowed 205 goals while scoring 219 for a +14 scoring differential.
Utah is 35-27-6 overall and 17-16-3 on the road. The Mammoth have a 17-8-1 record when scoring a power-play goal.
The matchup Thursday is the third time these teams square off this season. The Mammoth won 5-1 in the last matchup. Logan Cooley led the Mammoth with four goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell Marner has 19 goals and 50 assists for the Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev has six goals and five assists over the last 10 games.
Dylan Guenther has 32 goals and 26 assists for the Mammoth. Cooley has three goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 3-7-0, averaging 2.3 goals, 3.9 assists, 4.4 penalties and 10.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
Mammoth: 5-3-2, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.4 assists, four penalties and 10.3 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game.
INJURIES: Golden Knights: None listed.
Mammoth: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Knicks announced encouraging news Tuesday about the recovery of Miles McBride, who is taking contact on the court and “progressing well,” the team said.
McBride has been out since late January and underwent sports hernia surgery, saying last month he hopes to return before the playoffs.
A smiling Miles McBride (center), who underwent a sports hernia surgery and has been out since late January, reacts from the bench during the Knicks’ 136-110 blowout win over the Pacers on March 17, 2026 at the Garden. Getty Images
“Anytime we can get healthy, yeah [I’m encouraged],” coach Mike Brown said before tipoff. “I try not to hear [the updates] though, because does that mean he’ll be back in two weeks, three weeks, a week, 10 days? I don’t know.
“Deuce was playing well for us when this happened. It’s part of the season, so keep fingers crossed, allow our medical crew who has done a fantastic job, and when he comes back we’ll all be excited.”
Before his injury — which was uncovered as the guard underwent tests on a sore ankle — McBride was the top bench scorer, averaging 12.9 points while shooting a career-best 42 percent from beyond the arc.
Armed with the knowledge McBride would miss an extended period, the Knicks successfully pushed to acquire point guard Jose Alvarado in a trade.
Alvarado, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson have taken up the most minutes at backup guard.
Brown believes Jalen Brunson will play in the next game Friday at Brooklyn.
Brunson missed Tuesday’s win with a neck strain. It was his first DNP since mid-January, a stretch of 27 consecutive appearances. The Knicks are now 2-4 this season without him.
“I imagine [he’ll play in Brooklyn]. … There’s two days off before the next game,” Brown said. “There’s plenty of time to get himself right.”
Brunson needs just one more game to qualify for postseason awards. He’s projected to earn another All-NBA selection, his third straight.
Clarkson, who played 20 minutes Tuesday with 10 points, supplanted Mohamed Diawara (six minutes, zero points) in the rotation.
“Jordan went stretches without playing this season and kept himself ready. Offensively, he’s been good for us. So I decided to throw him out there before Mo,” Brown said. “We’ll see what happens going forward. … [Diawara] just has to keep himself ready like Jordan did.”
A slumping Mikal Bridges was left on the court in garbage time so he might regain confidence.
“He hit a couple shots down the stretch and to try to get anybody that hasn’t shot well from the 3-point line, to try to get him more looks, especially in a game like this, was a good thing,” Brown said. “To try to get him an extra look or two down the stretch is something we wanted to do.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.7 points per game this season [Reuters]
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed another 40-point night as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Orlando Magic 113-108 to become the first NBA team to secure a play-off berth.
The 27-year-old Canadian went 14 from 27 from the field as he extended his record of most 20-point games in a row to 129.
Chet Holmgren added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Western Conference leaders claimed a ninth straight win to improve to 54-15 for the season.
"We got off to a good start but then the car kind of came off the road for a little bit," reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"But that's what great teams do - they figure out a way to get the car back on the road, they figure out a way to go into a building and win a game when the chips are stacked against you, and we did that tonight."
San Antonio Spurs remain second in the West after a comfortable 132-104 win over the Sacramento Kings, while the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns 116-104.
In the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons handed the Washington Wizards a 13th straight loss to strengthen their position at the top.
But the 130-117 triumph was marred by an injury to star point guard Cade Cunningham, who had to leave the game in the first quarter with a back issue.
The New York Knicks stay third in the East after a thumping 136-110 win over the Indiana Pacers, a 14th consecutive loss leaving last year's NBA Finals runners-up 15-54 this term.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 17: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks on Maxime Raynaud #42 and DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Sacramento Kings during the first half at Golden 1 Center on March 17, 2026 in Sacramento, California. 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 Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Following a rollercoaster win in LA on Monday, the Spurs extended their win streak against the lowly Kings on the second night of a back-to-back.
The start of this game was the opposite of what happened in LA. San Antonio caught fire from deep and made six triples in the first quarter alone, jumping out to a double-digit lead just minutes into the contest. Luke Kornet’s return allowed the good guys to have 48 minutes of reliable rim protection, letting Wemby sit without bleeding points. Sacramento shot an abysmal 7-17 from two in the opening frame, as the Spurs closed out the first up 39-22.
The dominance continued in the second. Wemby took over by scoring three consecutive buckets, including back-to-back dunks. San Antonio also set a new season high for threes in a half with 14, and the ball movement was pristine: the Spurs racked up 27 assists on 30 made field goals. At the other end, the Kings looked out of sorts, unable to generate any offense while losing assignments on defense. As a result, the Spurs went into halftime leading 78-47.
The entire second half was essentially garbage time. The closest Sacramento got was 25, and San Antonio began chucking up threes, ending with a franchise record 25 in a single game. All the starters were subbed out by the end of the third, and you know a game is out of hand when Big Biz sees minutes. The Spurs ran away with a 132-104 shellacking, and the quest for 60 is officially on.
Game Notes
Wemby didn’t look any worse for wear after tweaking his ankle Monday against the Clippers. He played 22:00 and put up 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. It’s always nice to give him some extra rest, especially since the Spurs will play their third game in four nights when they face Phoenix at home on Thursday.
Dylan Harper returned from a brief two-game absence and picked up right where he left off. The rookie finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on nice 6-9 shooting and 3-5 from deep.
The quest for 8 (10-point scorers) lives on! Barnes (16 points) and Champagnie (17 points) combined to shoot 9-12 from deep, giving them some more cushion to maintain their 10+ point averages. Our very own Marilyn Dubinski floated a conspiracy theory about the Spurs holding out Barnes on purpose so that he stays at 10 points, but with the way he’s shooting now, he might be the next to drop 83!
Fox was actually cheered during the pre-game intros, which is an extremely rare sight for a player who asked for a trade. I guess Sacramento fans realize how poorly their team is run and knows that none of the blame can be put on the players. When you’re having a bad day, just remember that you cheer for the Spurs and not the Kangz.
MESA, ARIZONA - MARCH 8: Jacob Lopez #57 of the Athletics throws a pitch during a Spring Training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at HoHoKam Stadium on March 8, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Fans have been wondering, with bated breath and bitten nails, whether Jacob Lopez is fully healthy following his season-ending IL stint from the dreaded “forearm tightness”. Turns out fans weren’t the only one expelling bricks though orifices.
I sat down with Lopez on Monday, March 16th, for what turned out to be an abbreviated interview because after 5 minutes I could see him looking out at the field anxiously even though he never said he needed to go. Clearly he did and so I did a shorter interview than usual — but still was able to cover the key topics that had made him one of my requested targets this spring.
Nico: So first of all, you’re coming off a great outing on Saturday. You’ve been through injuries and rehabs before, and then you had a scare at the end of last year, or maybe more than a scare, because you were on the IL. But can you talk a bit first about what happened at the end of last year, what it felt like, how it felt compared to what you had been through before (TJS)?
Lopez: Yeah, it was pretty scary that day in Seattle, because I felt a little bit of tightness in the bullpen, but I didn’t think much of it because you know, later in the year you feel a lot of things. But I think once I started doing arm care after my outing, I really flared up and I was like, “Oh no, this feels worse than when I did have TJ” and it was, it was in that scary spot, you know? So I was just thinking all the worst things, but luckily it ended up just being like some kind of soft tissue thing where my ulnar nerve used to be before they moved it back in 2021. So it ended up being something that could heal on its own. So that’s what it did this off season and I feel pretty good.
Nico: I feel like pitchers have this constant difficult decision to make where they do feel something — they feel soreness, they feel tightness, they feel something that’s kind of like pain or that reminds them of an injury that was serious. And then they have to decide, do I go out and throw anyway? Do I say something? What do I do? So can you kind of walk us through that experience as a pitcher trying to figure out like what to make of something?
Lopez: Yeah, I think once I went through the TJ process, I really learned what’s actual pain and what is something that you can kind of toughen out and push through. So for me personally, there’s probably only three or four starts last year where I felt 100%, probably June through July, my whole, I don’t know, I had some upper back problems that wouldn’t go away. And I think adrenaline helps take over, but in between starts, it’s like, “All right, what can we do every day in the training room and the strength room to really figure it out and get back out there in five days?” So I think that’s the most important thing for the starting pitcher.
Nico: Now, that outing in Seattle, fans are watching, and you’ve had such a great year. And obviously, you’re having a rough outing. What are you feeling out on the mound? Do you think you should have gone out there?
Lopez: Yeah, there is no doubt. If you tell the coaches you’re good, you’ve got to be fully confident. And it’s one of those things like, I can’t just stop in the middle of the first inning or something and leave the rest of my team out to dry. So no, when I’m out there I don’t think anything. I just believe in the full confidence and compete as best as I can.
Nico: There was a moment in Saturday’s start where you threw a pitch, you thought it was a strike. It was called a ball and you challenged and I saw you walk off to the back of the mound and the way that you got into it and you kind of let out a grunt I thought “Oh no he’s hurt,” you know, but it was all over a ball-strike call and it was a called third strike so it sounds to me like even in a spring training game the competitive juices are really flowing.
Lopez: Oh, no, I mean, yeah I’m just a really competitive guy. I mean, when I was younger, I was way more emotional, so hopefully it doesn’t show too much. That Shea challenge nailed it for the strikeout, so that was huge. I think it’s kind of fun. I loved it in AAA, the ABS, so it just helps keep the game smooth. But yeah, I’m an emotional guy, so I try to be as professional as I can out there. You know, my first live ABs this spring training, over at Fitch on the backfield felt the same as my MLB debut. So I guess that’s a good thing. I get a bunch of butterflies, so I just kind of learned how to control those.
Nico: So I guess the question that’s probably on every fan’s mind right now is how you’re feeling physically and where you are in terms of injury and health at this very moment going forward.
Lopez: Yeah, I just feel 100 % and I felt like that really the whole off season. So yeah, I feel really confident to help this team. We have some pretty high goals and we’re gonna do our best as a team to fulfill those goals.
Nico: Now, you have an unusual motion. You know, you have a very deceptive delivery. {Here Jacob starts looking antsy and keeps monitoring the field} Can you just talk about that and then I’ll let you go. How did you develop that?
Lopez: I just, that’s how I’ve always thrown. It was worse in college and stuff, then my pitching coach in college is really the first person to really help control that. But no, I haven’t really worked ever, even in pro ball with pitching coaches, too much with my mechanics. Which has been a good thing to be as natural as I can.
And with that Lopez, who was apparently due on the field with a pre-game group, exhaled and sprinted out to the infield even quicker than his best fastball.
Next up: Pitching coach Scott Emerson discusses the “kick change,” Jack Perkins’ role, and how he feels about Trainman (well, maybe only 2 of those 3)…
BOTTOM LINE: Utah is looking to end its three-game losing streak with a victory against Minnesota.
The Timberwolves are 8-6 against division opponents. Minnesota is fifth in the Western Conference with 33.3 defensive rebounds per game led by Rudy Gobert averaging 7.5.
The Jazz are 1-11 against Northwest Division opponents. Utah ranks seventh in the Western Conference with 31.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Jusuf Nurkic averaging 7.8.
The Timberwolves average 13.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 fewer makes per game than the Jazz give up (15.4). The Jazz average 12.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.4 more makes per game than the Timberwolves give up.
The teams meet for the fourth time this season. The Jazz won 127-122 in the last matchup on Jan. 21.
TOP PERFORMERS: Naz Reid is scoring 13.7 points per game and averaging 6.2 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Julius Randle is averaging 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.
Keyonte George is averaging 23.6 points and 6.1 assists for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 2.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Timberwolves: 6-4, averaging 111.5 points, 42.3 rebounds, 24.1 assists, 7.5 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.2 points per game.
Jazz: 2-8, averaging 113.2 points, 41.4 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 10.4 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.3 points.
INJURIES: Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards: out (knee).
Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (ankle), Ace Bailey: day to day (concussion), Kyle Filipowski: day to day (rest), Keyonte George: day to day (leg), Isaiah Collier: day to day (knee), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee), John Konchar: day to day (calf).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
