If it feels like we've seen this movie before, it's because we kind of have. Two years ago, Minnesota trailed Denver by 20 in Game 7 of their series, only to stage one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history and win to advance.
This time was only 19 points, and it's just Game 2, but you get the idea.
Anthony Edwards scored 30 with 10 rebounds (and two blocks), Julius Randle added 24 points, and the Timberwolves came from behind to win 119-114 to take Game 2 of their first-round series. That series is tied 1-1, headed to Minnesota. Of all the good things for the Timberwolves in this game, the most important was how Edwards looked. In Game 1, he'd appeared slowed and bothered by his ailing knee. Monday night, he was back to his explosive self again and able to get to the rim, scoring six of his 10 buckets inside the restricted area.
"He was awesome. It was unbelievable," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said, via the Associated Press. "Also in that (first) period when we were down, he was great on the bench. Great leadership, positive. He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that."
Denver had their chances, but it's hard to overcome Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic shooting 2-of-12 in the fourth quarter.
Denver's best chance came when it was down just two with 30.6 seconds left in the game. An Edwards traveling turnover gave the Nuggets the ball and a chance. On the ensuing play, Minnesota blew the Murray/Jokic pick-and-roll coverage, and Jokic had the ball in the lane and a wide-open 8-foot floater to tie it, but instead, he tried a difficult pass to Christian Braun under the basket, who fumbled the ball, got up a shot, but was fouled. Braun made one of two free throws, and Denver never got closer (two Randle free throws and a Donte DiVincenzo breakaway dunk sealed the Timberwolves' win).
"I definitely should've took that floater," Jokic said.
"I trust C.B. to make free throws," Denver coach David Adelman said. "It rimmed out. That happens in the NBA. You're going to have moments that you don't want to remember. That's a tough moment for C.B. after playing such a good game."
Murray finished with 30 points, while Jokic had 24 with 15 rebounds and eight assists.
The first half of this game was a tale of two quarters. Denver outscored Minnesota 39-25 in the first quarter with the lead reaching 19 early in the second. Then, behind strong play from Julius Randle on both ends of the court, the Timberwolves stormed back and outscored the Nuggets 39-25 in the second. Minnesota would have gone to the half up three if Jamal Murray had not done this.
JAMAL MURRAY FROM BEYOND HALF COURT TO BEAT THE BUZZER!
SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 19: Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks against the Portland Trailblazers in the first half of Game One of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center on April 19, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A playoff series can turn at any time. The San Antonio Spurs handled the Portland Trail Blazers at home in Game One on the back of a historic playoff debut from Victor Wembanyama. There were moments, however, where it looked like the Blazers could make it an interesting game, including big runs in the third and fourth quarters, that cut into the Spurs’ lead. Despite the convincing Game One victory, San Antonio has to come out with the same sense of urgency to take care of business on their home floor.
In order to take care of business, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Deni Advija. The Blazers’ star was one of the only Portland players who could get into a real rhythm in Game One, scoring 30 points on 12 of 21 shooting. San Antonio did a solid job defending the rim on Sunday, allowing just 42 points in the paint, but Advija was the one Blazer they couldn’t keep away from the rim. The Spurs will have to make some adjustments to decrease Advija’s impact.
The Spurs will look to leave some first-playoff-game jitters in the rearview, cut down on some turnovers, and make more easy shots in game two. If they can do that while continuing to play good defense, they will likely be heading to Portland with a 2-0 lead.
Trail Blazers Injuries: Damian Lillard – Out (achilles)
What to watch for:
Taking advantage of bigs guarding Castle
Portland used an interesting defensive approach to guarding Wembanyama and Stephon Castle on Sunday. They put Donovan Clingan on Castle, and Toumani Camara on Wemby. It makes sense from the Blazers’ perspective. Camara is their best defender, and teams have found some success using wings to guard Wembanyama. Given Castle’s inconsistent jump shot, they can have the big man guarding him sag way off to provide more interior defense. Unfortunately for the Blazers, that strategy didn’t work on Wembanyama, who had a monster 35-point game. It did, however, throw Castle out of rhythm. Castle had 17 points on 4-13 shooting.
These matchups are crucial in this series. If Castle can make the Blazers pay for not guarding him from outside, the strategy fails for Portland. But if he continues to score easy buckets, it slows down a key cog in the Spurs’ offense. It will be interesting to see how Mitch Johnson and the Spurs staff counter this defense in Game Two.
Three-point variance
The Blazers are not a good three-point shooting team. They’ve shot just 34.3% from deep this season, and hit only 26% of their 38 attempts in Game One. The Spurs seemed fine with players like Clingan, Robert Williams III, and Matisse Thybulle firing up shots from deep. The Blazers’ missing open shots were one of the reasons the Spurs’ defense looked so effective. However, as we saw in the play-in game against the Phoenix Suns, Portland can hit a three-point shooting hot streak. If Portland’s shaky shooters start to hit shots, Game Two could get interesting in a hurry.
Guard play
It didn’t feel like the Blazers sent a lot of double-teams at Wembanyama in Game One. For most of the game, he was able to operate independently in the pick-and-roll, on the block, or behind the three-point line. After his dominant game on Sunday, it’s likely he starts to see multiple defenders when he catches the ball. That means it will be on De’Aaron Fox, Castle, Dylan Harper, and Devin Vassell to take the pressure off. Fox and Vassell were excellent in Game One, coming up with big plays, especially in the second half. San Antonio will need its guards to come up big to maintain homecourt advantage in this series.
Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven discuss Carolina's 3-2 OTW
"I was on such a high there for two minutes."
After a tense, back-and-forth thriller, the Carolina Hurricanes scored the overtime game winner in Game 2 of their first-round series on a delayed penalty, as Mark Jankowski jumped over the boards as an extra skater and banged home a rebound past Linus Ullmark.
At least, that's what the team thought had happened.
As the team mobbed around Jankowski, the on-ice officials started to gather around the penalty box and the Ottawa Senators weren't leaving the bench either.
Soon enough, it became clear to the nearly 20,000 attendees at Lenovo Center's Monday night game that the goal was under review.
After five minutes of deliberation, official Furman South broke from the huddle and took to center ice.
He flipped on his microphone and, much to the dismay of the home crowd, announced that the play had originally been offside 30 seconds earlier and that the goal was being rescinded.
The NHL situation room had deemed that while Jordan Staal had possession of the puck as he crossed the blueline, he did not have full control of puck, thereby making the play offside.
"I pick up the puck, I look up where Marty is and apparently I lost control of it," Staal said. "And then I make a nice pass to Marty for a breakaway... I don’t really get it. To call back an overtime goal for that is..."
However, it wasn't all for naught, as Jordan Martinook was to be awarded a penalty shot for the call he had initially drawn, just the fifth time ever in NHL history that one had been awarded in overtime of a playoff game.
As "Rockstar" by Nickelback blared across the speakers, Martinook composed himself at the opposite blueline, waiting for the official's signal.
Once he got it, he collected the puck, cut to the left, cut back to the middle and snapped one glove-side on Ullmark.
But it wasn't to be, as the big Swede stymied the Hurricanes alternate captain, keeping the game alive.
"I felt pretty bad when I didn't score that one," Martinook said. "I was trying to tell them we needed the power play and not the penalty shot."
Fate has a funny way of showing itself though and after nearly another full overtime period, Martinook would once again be given the chance to end it and this time, he delivered.
"I'd be lying if I said I picked my head up and looked and picked the corner," Martinook said. "At that point, you're just trying top put as many pucks on net as you can. I felt we kind of had them on the run a little bit and Fly made a great play in the middle and I just got it and ripped it. Luckily it went in."
From the terrible low of thinking you may have just cost your team to the jubilant highs of your first ever playoff overtime goal.
"I didn't feel very good about myself after that penalty shot," Martinook said. "The intermission felt really long and it was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me. That was cool though. I'm happy it worked out that way. Hockey's crazy. Sport's are crazy. Being able to score after that, I'll tell my grandkids about that one, that's for sure."
"You couldn’t have written it any better," Staal said. "What a shot. The place was electric, so it was super fun. Definitely in the memory bank."
"Just happy for Marty," Brind'Amour said. "It's nice to see him get that recognition for a game like that.
Game 2 of the Carolina Hurricanes' first-round series against the Ottawa Senators couldn't have been more different than Game 1.
After a tight, but straight forward 2-0 shutout, the Canes and Sens flipped the script en route to a double overtime thriller.
In Game 1, the two teams combined for two goals, 51 shots on goal and 114 shot attempts.
In Game 2, both teams found themselves all of a sudden with a lot more space and a lot more time as the final counts were five total goals, 85 shots on goal and 208 shot attempts.
The trio of Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall were once again doing their thing — as the three combined for the Canes' first goal on the power play, with Stankoven notching his second of the postseason — and even Sebastian Aho got involved too as he scored off of a nice rush play set up by Staal.
But the tale of the tape for this game was the outstanding performances put on by both netminders.
Frederik Andersen had a little hiccup on the game-tying goal as a Dylan Cozens shot from well outside the circles and from a bad angle beat him five-hole, but outside of that he was tremendous.
"You're gonna make mistakes," Andersen said. "Everyone does. But it's about what's next. Obviously we had to play a lot going forward. Just refocused and get ready for the next one."
Andersen would stop all 15 of the shots he faced in overtime, including multiple in-tight and in-alone looks, and was credited with 2.67 goals saved above expected for the game according to Natural Stat Trick.
On the other side, Linus Ullmark was sensational too, stopping 43 total shots and saving 2.24 goals above expected.
In fact, it was Ullmark's save on Taylor Hall in the second period that was really the turning point of the game for Ottawa.
If Hall scores there, Carolina goes up 3-0 and probably easily wins in regulation.
Instead, the Senators were given life and they scored their first goal just 1:14 after the miraculous save as Drake Batherson got a fortunate bounce.
The Sens would keep pushing from there and eventually tie the game, but Andersen wasn't going to be beat again, setting the stage for Martinook's thrilling goal.
"Every moment matters, and any situation, it's right then and there," Andersen said. "You just prepare like you would any other shot and every time you make a save, you give the boys a new chance to score."
The Hurricanes will now take their 2-0 series lead onto the road as they head to Ottawa to try and steal a game.
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Apr 20, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jordan Martinook (48) scores the game winner in the second overtime against the Ottawa Senators in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images | James Guillory-Imagn Images
Jordan Martinook notched the game-winner in double overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at the Lenovo Center. The win gives Carolina a 2-0 lead in this playoff series and allows them to keep their home ice advantage.
The Canes thought they had won the game in the first overtime when Mark Jankowski ripped in a goal, but after a long review, it was ruled that Jordan Staal was offsides on the play because the desk in Toronto determined that he did not have control of the puck when he crossed the blueline.
Staal was not happy with the controversial call and said post game that he looked to pass the puck to Martinook, he did not feel like he lost possession or control. Poor Mark Jankowski said that he was on cloud nine for about two minutes when he celebrated his supposed goal.
Martinook had been the victim of a penalty earlier and weirdly enough, was awarded a penalty shot after the offsides decision. He missed the shot so he was certainly looking for redemption afterward and eventually got it.
When asked after the game how difficult was it to recover after celebrating and thinking you had won the game, to settling back down to the business and seriousness of playing hockey, “Try shooting a penalty shot right after that!” Martinook quipped.
The game started off with fast skating and hitting for both teams. The Canes took the lead off another goal by Logan Stankoven, who has been red hot since the Olympic break. He got a perfect pass by Taylor Hall, who set him up on the powerplay.
In the second period, the Hurricanes jumped to a 2-0 lead when Jordan Staal led Sebastian Aho, who made no mistake. This was another shorthanded goal for Carolina, who leads the league with shorties.
The Sens would strike back though with two goals of their own later in that period.
Ottawa came close to scoring several times in this game but had the worse luck as the puck either hit the crossbar or post or stopped just short of the goal line. Fred Andersen let in a goal he wished he didn’t on goal number two, but he was scrambling and played very well afterward, especially in the overtime periods.
In all, he made 37 saves on 39 shots.
Linus Ullmark played lights out in his own right, making several high level saves throughout. He made 43 saves on 46 Carolina shots.
It is late so I’m going to wrap this up and choose a “Player of the Game” later. The Canes will take Tuesday off before a practice on Wednesday and a flight to Ottawa.
Postgame notes and interviews from Carolina's 3-2 2OT win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round. https://t.co/MgTISD3788
The Hurricanes will not practice on Tuesday. General Manager Eric Tulsky will be available to the media at…
Apr 20, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm (14) and right winger Kasperi Kapanen (42) celebrate a goal on the Anaheim Ducks in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs during the third period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
EDMONTON, Alberta — Kasperi Kapanen scored his second goal of the game with 1:54 left in the third period to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in the opener of their first-round playoff series Monday night.
Jason Dickinson also scored twice for the Oilers, who trailed 3-2 entering the third after squandering a 2-0 lead.
Oilers star Leon Draisaitl returned to the ice after missing the final 14 regular-season games with an injury. Draisaitl and Jake Walman each had two assists for Edmonton, while Connor McDavid was held without a point.
McDavid and the Oilers are seeking their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final, having lost each of the last two seasons to the Florida Panthers, who missed the postseason this year.
Troy Terry had two goals and an assist and Leo Carlsson also scored for the Ducks, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
Connor Ingram made 25 saves, including a doozy in the waning seconds, to earn the win. Lukas Dostal stopped 30 shots for Anaheim.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday in Edmonton.
The Oilers started the scoring with 2:39 remaining in the first period as Walman made a long stretch pass to Dickinson, who undressed Dostal with a great move. Edmonton was 30-5-5 when scoring first this season.
Edmonton scored again exactly a minute later as Kapanen took a feed from Draisaitl and then had two cracks at his own rebound to score his first of the playoffs.
The Oilers outshot the Ducks 14-4 in the first period.
Anaheim only needed 19 seconds into the middle frame to make it 2-1 as Terry scored on a huge rebound off Carlsson’s shot.
The Ducks tied it 4:38 into the second period as Carlsson returned the favor by banging in a rebound of Terry’s shot.
Anaheim had 26 comeback wins this season, tied for the NHL lead with Montreal. The Ducks won 17 games when trailing by a goal and nine when down by two.
The Ducks took the lead on the power play with 5:31 left in the second as Terry, playing his first career playoff game, sent a shot through traffic for his second goal of the game.
Edmonton tied it at 3 when Radko Gudas slipped and fell as a huge rebound on Mattias Ekholm’s shot came to Dickinson for his second goal of the game.
The Oilers went ahead for good when Vasily Podkolzin made a great backhand pass from behind the net to set up Kapanen’s second of the game.
DENVER , CO - APRIL 20: Donte DiVincenzo (0) of the Minnesota Timberwolves talks to Rudy Gobert (27) during the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves' 119-114 win over the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Monday, April 20, 2026. Minnesota tied the best-of-seven series 1-1. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) | Denver Post via Getty Images
Game Story
21-2.
Twenty-One to Two.
That is the run that was set to this entire game. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it did not come in their favor. While so much can change after the first 12 minutes of game-time, there is no worse way to start a game off.
Worst of all, it came without MVP finalist Nikola Jokić dominating, instead coming largely at the hands of Tim Hardaway. Jokić took only two shots in that quarter, but the Denver Nuggets led it with 14 point advantage.
Tim Hardaway Jr. just had the sequence of the season on defense.
Saves the ball and spills head first into the crowd, then takes a charge on Bones Hyland on a 3-on-1 fast break.
Still, that lead probably understates how truly porous the Wolves’ defense was in that first quarter. 39 points allowed in a quarter left their opposition on track for over 150 points is never a good sign. Worst of all, it looked just as bad.
Most devastating was the foul trouble, especially amongst the guards who should probably be safest from getting involved with the refs, immediately made the rotation weird. Within those first 12 minutes, Donte DiVincenzo had two fouls, Ayo Dosumnu had two of his own, and Bones Hyland led the pack with three, including a momentum defining charge against Hardaway. Denver enjoyed four four-point plays in the first half.
To that end, the Wolves committed 13 fouls within a quarter and a half. You will not win a game with that type of foul trouble.
There is no complaint that is hyperbole here. It was truly that bad. Many will be quick to blame the officials, and I won’t disagree with that. There were far too many light fouls that are atypical from playoff environments, most of which were going against Minnesota.
And yet, by the time Rudy Gobert got his third foul of the second quarter (Yes, it was that bad), the Wolves had pulled themselves back within 10. They had created an 11-0 run of their own, which became a 21-4 run of its own.
21-4.
Twenty-One to Four.
Everyone says that basketball is sport that is always on a pendulum swing, and that playoff basketball takes that concept to an extreme, but that does not put enough extreme to this. Within the first eight minutes, this game felt out of reach, only for a sudden momentum shift to see the Wolves completely take over, to leave us with a competitive battle filled with the rivalry between these two teams.
That’s what April is for.
It’s so weird to watch a team simultaneously find and lose their identity the way this Wolves team does. We saw hints of that in that first half. When Minnesota is attacking the rim, forcing Jokić to come out to the arc and then chase into the restricted area, they were scoring at will and opening up shots from distance off the drive and kick game.
When they were settling for shots, even when they were making them, the lack of rim pressure meant losing the pace game and fouling to catch up. It’s a pretty obvious difference.
That difference became even more obvious when a dominant second quarter ended with yet another run for Denver, capped off by a deep heave from Jamal Murray to tie the game at 64. Murray had 23 in the first half. Hardaway had 14. Edwards had 20 of his on to top the Wolves.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Hardaway, just before running into the locker room.
He was understating just how insane it had been.
If the first half was of opposite extremes, the third quarter was an even affair. The fourth quarter began with only three points separating the two teams. Clearly, this was a duel between Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray, but in these moments, there is usually an unsuspected hero that rises to the occasion.
For the Nuggets, it seemed that it would be Bruce Brown, who hit two triples to start the fourth quarter. Maybe it was Cam Johnson, with his timely threes or rebounds. For the Wolves, well, that remained to be seen.
Naz Reid looked like the first to vie for that title. He had a few drives that resulted in short finishes or free throws. Instead, he seemed to fade until he was subbed out in favor of the Wolves go-to starting and closing lineup. Like so many iterations of Chris Finch’s Timberwolves era, this team would either win or go down by doing the same thing they had done all year.
Maybe it would be Jaden McDaniels. The crushing defense was complimented with a few dunks, some especially, notably more filled with hate. But, a bad foul call — blamed on marginal contact to the hip, and changed to “foot to knee contact” — left him at five, and that clearly affected the calculus of his play.
The Wolves were 0-8 all-time after going down in a series 0-2. The Nuggets were 8-0 all-time when up 2-0 in a series. This one felt like it would be an early decider of whether Minnesota had any chance in this series, or if they had simply made the playoffs to continue a streak that felt impossible only five years ago.
With just two minutes left, it was 112-111 Minnesota. That became 115-113 with 30.8 seconds left after an Anthony Edwards travel gave the Nuggets back the ball. When Christian Braun missed one of two free throws, it seems like the question was answered.
The Wolves hero tonight, at least for the fourth quarter, was not any of their own players. Instead, it was the mistakes of the Denver players that kept Minnesota ahead in a grimey cage fight of a game. Still, that does not matter much. What does matter is the Wolves have stolen home court advantage from the Nuggets.
minnesota always gives you just enough to keep you from turning the game off and going to sleep but never enough to make you feel like they’re gonna actually win
it’s a wildly frustrating space to occupy as a viewer
The series sits at 1-1 going back to Denver. Who cares how it happened?
Sleep well, Wolves fans. What a fun game it was. What a confusing one as well.
Up Next
This playoff series has officially “begun” as the road team won. Minnesota heads back home and gets 48 hours of rest before playing host to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, April 23rd at 8:30pm CT on Prime Video. Get to Target Center if you can. It’s gonna be rockin’.
Normally, players get up and head home after their postgame interviews, but Hart stared straight ahead with a look of frustration and bewilderment that reflected the magnitude of what just happened on the court.
The No. 3 seeded Knicks -- a team with a mandate to reach the NBA Finals -- coughed up a winnable game at MSG.
Questionable lineups, poor fourth-quarter offense and an inability to stop CJ McCollum left the Knicks searching for answers late Monday night.
They now head to Atlanta with their first-round series tied, 1-1.
The odds tell you they’ll probably make it through this series and advance to play the Celtics in the second round, but by coughing up a double-digit fourth quarter lead on Monday, the Knicks made life much harder than it had to be.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
Mike Brown sat both Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns at the same time for stretches in both halves on Monday. The Knicks were outscored by seven points when Brunson and Towns were off the floor.
As Knicks Film School’s Ben Ritholtz pointed out, the Knicks’ net rating in the regular season when Towns and Brunson were off the floor wasn’t pretty.
Brown didn’t think that the lineups without Brunson and Towns led to the Knicks’ downfall.
“I don’t think so. We’ve played that lineup quite a bit since the end of the season, that lineup’s been pretty good,” Brown said. “We weren’t good tonight and we turned the ball over a few too many times during that period. We had opportunities with our starters where we were up eight to 10 and Atlanta closed it so I wouldn’t just say that specific lineup caused it.”
To Brown’s point, the Knicks led by nine in the fourth quarter when Brunson and Towns returned to the court. There were eight minutes left in regulation. This is a game the Knicks should have won.
WHAT ABOUT THE TIMEOUTS?
Brown called a timeout with 2:43 remaining in the game and Brunson dribbling to the basket. Brunson didn’t have a clean look so you can’t say that Brown’s timeout directly prevented the Knicks from scoring, but it was strange to see Brunson stopped mid-dribble by the timeout.
“We had a couple of possessions weren’t fluid so I wanted to make sure that we had something that we wanted to get to or set something up offensively because we had whiffed on the last couple of possessions,” Brown said. “They just didn’t look right or didn’t feel right.”
At that point, the Knicks led by just one and had been outscored, 10-4, over the past five minutes.
Brown did not have a timeout to use on the Knicks’ final possession, which ended with a Mikal Bridges miss.
WHAT ABOUT BRUNSON?
Brunson finished the game 10-for-26 and went 3-for-8 in the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter.
In that same span, Towns took just two shots.
“The opportunity just didn’t come around to shoot it,” Towns said when asked about the fourth quarter. “But at the end of the day I trust everyone in this locker room to shoot it. The opportunity wasn’t there for me in the fourth. And that’s fine. These guys, they work on their games, I know they can shoot it.”
When Hart was asked about Towns in the fourth quarter, he made it clear that it would be one of several things the Knicks would look at ahead of Game 3.
“We have to make sure he’s more involved, find him on mismatches. Put him in action and make sure we use his skill and his gravity to our advantage,” he said. “That’s something we will look at film and be better with.”
Phoenix Suns (45-37, seventh in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Thunder -17.5; over/under is 214.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Thunder lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference first round with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Thunder won the last matchup 119-84 on Sunday, led by 25 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Devin Booker led the Suns with 23.
The Thunder have gone 41-11 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City ranks fifth in the Western Conference in rebounding with 44.1 rebounds. Chet Holmgren leads the Thunder with 8.9 boards.
The Suns are 29-23 against Western Conference opponents. Phoenix is 7-10 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The 119.0 points per game the Thunder score are 7.9 more points than the Suns give up (111.1). The Suns are shooting 45.5% from the field, 1.8% higher than the 43.7% the Thunder's opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring 31.1 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Holmgren is averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 59.7% over the last 10 games.
Royce O'Neale is shooting 42.0% and averaging 9.8 points for the Suns. Booker is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 8-2, averaging 122.1 points, 46.1 rebounds, 28.3 assists, 10.5 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.3 points per game.
Suns: 5-5, averaging 111.2 points, 44.6 rebounds, 23.2 assists, 7.5 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.5 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).
Suns: Mark Williams: day to day (foot), Jordan Goodwin: day to day (calf).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Orlando Magic (45-37, eighth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Detroit Pistons (60-22, first in the Eastern Conference)
Detroit; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT
LINE: Pistons -9.5; over/under is 218.5
EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Magic lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Orlando Magic visit the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference first round with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Magic won the last matchup 112-101 on Sunday, led by 23 points from Paolo Banchero. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 39.
The Pistons are 39-13 in Eastern Conference games. Detroit leads the Eastern Conference with 57.9 points in the paint led by Jalen Duren averaging 14.6.
The Magic have gone 26-26 against Eastern Conference opponents. Orlando is ninth in the Eastern Conference scoring 115.7 points per game and is shooting 46.4%.
The Pistons average 117.8 points per game, 2.7 more points than the 115.1 the Magic give up. The Magic average 11.7 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.0 fewer made shot on average than the 12.7 per game the Pistons give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Cunningham is scoring 23.9 points per game with 5.5 rebounds and 9.9 assists for the Pistons. Duren is averaging 14.6 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 72.4% over the past 10 games.
Wendell Carter Jr. is shooting 51.2% and averaging 11.8 points for the Magic. Jalen Suggs is averaging 2.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pistons: 7-3, averaging 117.1 points, 44.2 rebounds, 30.6 assists, 10.2 steals and 7.0 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.5 points per game.
Magic: 7-3, averaging 115.5 points, 44.4 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.0 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.9 points.
INJURIES: Pistons: Jalen Duren: day to day (knee).
Magic: Jonathan Isaac: day to day (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, James Harden added 28 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 115-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Evan Mobley had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had at least three players score at least 25 points in a postseason game for the second straight season and fourth time overall.
Cleveland — which never trailed — has won 12 straight playoff games against Toronto, tying the NBA postseason record for consecutive wins against an opponent. The streak began in the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, when the Cavaliers took the final three games. Cleveland swept Toronto in four games in the second round in 2017 and ’18.
The Cavaliers also have 12-game winning streaks against Detroit and Atlanta, while the Los Angeles Lakers had a 12-game run against Seattle from 1980 through ’89.
Scottie Barnes led Toronto with a playoff career-high 26 points. RJ Barrett had 22 points and nine rebounds.
The series shifts to Toronto for Game 3 on Thursday night.
HAWKS 107, KNICKS 106
NEW YORK (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Atlanta rallied to stun New York, tying their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
McCollum led a late surge that was almost for naught when he missed two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining. The Knicks rushed the ball up the court without any timeouts left, but Mikal Bridges missed a jumper as time expired.
The Hawks had trailed the whole second half and were down 12 after three quarters. Atlanta chipped away and a basket by McCollum gave the Hawks a 101-100 lead — their first of the series in the second half — with 2:09 to play. He made another for a three-point lead, and after Jalen Brunson tied it with a 3-pointer, McCollum answered with another jumper to make it 105-103 with 33 seconds to play.
Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench and Jalen Johnson scored 17, including a basket with 10 seconds left for a four-point lead for the No. 6 seeds, who host Game 3 on Thursday.
Brunson had 29 points for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18.
TIMBERWOLVES 119, NUGGETS 114
DENVER (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle added 24 and Minnesota rallied past Denver to tie their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Denver had won 13 straight since losing on March 18.
Edwards turned the ball over with 31 seconds left and Christian Braun got fouled at the other end, but he missed one of two free throws, leaving Denver trailing 115-114 with 19 seconds remaining.
After a Minnesota timeout, Randle sank two free throws and Donte DiVincenzo added a breakaway dunk to cap the comeback from a 19-point first-quarter deficit.
Jamal Murray scored 30 points and Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. But the Nuggets’ All-Star duo shot a combined 2 for 12 in the fourth quarter, managing a measly four points as the Wolves evened a best-of-seven series that shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Thursday night.
Apr 20, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock (26) walks to the dugout following a sixth inning pitching change against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
The heart of the Mariners showed up early, but the heart of the A’s order showed up late.
The Mariners lost 6-4 in Monday’s series opener against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock continued to look like the new-and-improved version of himself, but he also threw a few bad pitches and was eventually burned. Cal Raleigh and Dominic Canzone each homered, and Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor combined for five hits. But the Mariners ultimately could not overcome a 13-hit day for the Athletics.
Hancock entered the day as perhaps the story of the early season. Through four starts, he had a 2.75 FIP, 24.2% walk rate, and a top 20 WAR among qualified starting pitchers. It’s been a pleasant surprise for the Mariners, who have been desperate for some depth beyond their top-five starters. In fact, Hancock so far in 2026 has looked like much more than depth. He made a ton of changes over the offseason, as Michael Rosen pointed out for FanGraphs last week, including tweaking his repertoire and fundamentally changing how he throws the ball.
For the most part, Hancock looked like the new-and-improved version of himself on Monday. He continued to pound the zone with fastballs at 95 mph, issuing zero walks. And he continued to expand the zone with sweepers to righties and the changeups to lefties. He racked up 11 whiffs on 51 swings and three strikeouts. Again, for the most part, it worked. Hancock scattered a few singles, stranding a couple early, generating a double play in the fourth, and even picking off Lawrence Butler in the fifth. Again, with no walks, those were the only runners who reached base against him.
Unfortunately, three others reached base and just kept running. In the fourth, Hancock threw an up and in fastball to Carlos Cortes leading off the inning — the pitch didn’t even catch the zone — but Cortes was sitting on it and turned it into the right field seats.
In the sixth, Hancock threw a middle-middle fastball to slugger Nick Kurtz, who crushed it out to center. Hancock threw the same pitch to the next batter, slugger Shea Langeliers, who also crushed it to center. The back-to-back homers tied the game at 3-3 and ended Hancock’s day.
Here’s the locations of those homers:
In the end, the stat line for Hancock was five innings, seven hits, three strikeouts, no walks, and three homers. That’s not a good line. And it could have been worse. He also gave up a lot of hard contact in addition to the homers. Here’s an out he was fortunate to get: Kurtz hit a sharp liner to center to leadoff the game that seemed to knuckle and forced Julio to make an acrobatic play:
Still, this looked like the “good” version of Hancock we’ve seen so far from this year. The velocity was there. The movement was there. And the whiffs were there. Is it good to throw a pair of middle-middle fastballs to two of the best sluggers in the league? No. But this was a lot different from Hancock’s poor outings from the past three years.
Jose Ferrer was next in line in the sixth after the back-to-back homers. He immediately gave up a hard single against the shift to Cortes. He got the next two batters to fly out, but a broken bat single and a hit by pitch loaded the bases. Ferrer then got Lawrence Butler to hit a hard chopper right back to the mound. Ferrer reached up and snagged it over his head, and after a bit of scampering to find the ball for a moment, he realized it was in his glove, tossed it to first, and escaped the inning.
Matt Brash worked an uneventful seventh inning against the top of the order to keep the game tied at 3-3.
By the eighth, however, Dan Wilson seemed to be out of relievers. Andrés Muñoz and Gabe Speier had each pitched on back-to-back days, and Eduard Bazardo had thrown a lot of pitches recently as well. Wilson instead went with Casey Legumina, who wasn’t very good. He gave up a leadoff double, followed by a single and a walk to load the bases. For a moment, it looked like he might escape with minimal damage after a sac fly to make the game 4-3. But a single from Butler plated the remaining runners to give the A’s a 6-3 lead, and eventually, the win.
It was overall a good day for the Mariners offense. In the bottom of the first, Raleigh flipped a homer the other way to open the scoring. Julio followed with a rocket single up the middle, and Naylor doubled him home to make it 2-0.
Naylor continued to swing at just about every pitch he saw Monday and this time picked up three hits, including his first two doubles of the season. He’s now up to a 54 wRC+ in 2026, which isn’t good but still about five-times higher than his 15 wRC+ from before the Rangers series. It’d be nice to see him start working the count again, but the results are starting to come around. He also picked up his first stolen base of the season and was back to being a pitcher’s pest on the bases, flinging his arms around at second base and earning a scolding from A’s start JT Ginn on his way to dugout in the first inning; Naylor was undeterred and continued to gesture wildly the rest of the game.
Dominic Canzone also had a nice day. He plopped a homer to right in the second inning to make it 3-0, and later lasered a double off the right field wall at 111.8 mph. Both pitches were elevated on the inner part of the plate — the pitches he’s the very best in the world at hitting.
The Mariners made things interesting late. In the eighth, down 6-3, Julio and Naylor each hit one-out singles. But Randy Arozarena flew out, as did Rob Refsnyder, who was still in the game after pinch-hitting for Luke Raley in the sixth.
Now, I defended Wilson’s bullpen management in my last recap on Saturday, and I stand by that today (even with the unfortunate circumstances that lead to Legumina in a late-leverage spot). But pulling Raley with one out and nobody on in the sixth to get a handedness matchup for Refsnyder seemed to come back to bite Wilson in the eighth when Refsnyder had to face a righty.
“Both (Canzone and Raley) have swung the bat very well and it’s tough to take them out of any game. And the same is true when (Refsnyder) in there and he’s swinging the bat well, it’s tough to take him out,” Wilson said on the decision after the game. “These are hard decisions…but it just felt like tonight, that was the decision to go with.”
I’m generally not a fan of doing an “um actually” to quotes like this. And Wilson is notoriously reluctant to say anything bad about his players for the sake of answering questions — I might even say that’s a good quality in a manger overall. But Refsnyder entered the day with one hit on the season, and Raley entered the day with 21 hits on the season. They are not swinging the bat equally “well.”
Again, I’m not really taking Wilson’s quote at face value here. I’m sure he knows Raley is hot and Refsnyder is not. I think the rationale here is that this is simply the Mariners’ process, and they’re not going to abandon that process for a hot hand in a small sample. Raley is hitting well, but he doesn’t have even 100 plate appearances, and he’s not won the full-time job quite yet. It’s also hard to do counterfactuals like this. Perhaps the A’s would have used a different pitcher if Raley was still in the game, and certainly handedness is not the only consideration in pitcher-hitter matchups.
Still, I’m just not a fan of the platoon-and-pinch process in general. I said as much last season when the Mariners were pinch hitting at historic rates, and I’m sure I’ll write a similar story this year if the trend continues. Hitters are simply much worse off the bench, and when you go for the handedness advantage early, you’ll often give back that handedness advantage later. That was the case Monday, even if it’s a bit of a stretch to blame the loss on that directly — the Mariners still gave up six runs.
The Mariners nearly clawed back anyways. In the ninth, Cole Young picked up a one-out single, and scored on a double from Rivas to make it 6-4. But J.P. Crawford popped out, and Raleigh flew out, and the game was over.
This week, the closer landscape got even more difficult to navigate with Edwin Díaz, Jhoan Duran, and Daniel Palencia landing on the injured list. Mick Abel's strong run was halted by an elbow injury. And Sonny Gray is set to miss some time following his exit from Monday’s Patriots’ Day game. Let's break it all down as we run through the relevant injury news around baseball.
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Ryan Pepiot (hip)
Pepiot’s situation has seemed to progressively worsen since landing on the injured list with right hip inflammation just before the start of the season. He wasn’t expected to need much time, but then he was transferred to the 60-day injured list last week after it was determined he’d need a little more time. On Monday, manager Kevin Cash told reporters that Pepiot felt instability in his hip while playing catch. While not calling it a setback, it certainly isn’t encouraging news. At this point, even a return in late May when eligible seems unlikely. Action: Droppable in 12-team and shallower without an IL spot
Edwin Díaz (elbow)
The writing was on the wall for this one. Díaz had raised the concerns of manager Dave Roberts as he was displaying diminished velocity in the early going. He had nine days between appearances before giving up three runs with no outs against the Rockies on Sunday. The Dodgers placed him on the 15-day injured list on Monday with loose bodies in his right elbow. He’s to undergo surgery to correct the issue and is expected to be sidelined for approximately three months. It’s yet another blow that affects the closer landscape. The team will likely rely on a combination of Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, and Blake Treinen to close out games. Action: Droppable in all leagues without an IL spot; add Tanner Scott
Jhoan Duran (oblique)
This one came as a surprise on Saturday. The Phillies placed Duran on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain, retroactive to April 15. The fact that Duran was one of the only elite closers pitching well so far deals a big blow to a tumultuous closer landscape. The 28-year-old right-hander missed about a month with an oblique strain in 2024. We’re probably looking at a similar timeline here. Brad Keller was named as the most likely candidate to see most save chances in Duran’s absence. Action: Hold in all formats; add Brad Keller
Daniel Palencia (oblique)
Palencia was another closer we lost to a left oblique strain. He landed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 14. He had only made five appearances this season and reportedly felt the injury occur while throwing last Wednesday. According to manager Craig Counsell, Palencia threw a bullpen on Friday that went well, but still felt the issue while running. There’s no timeline for a return, but it doesn’t seem like a high-grade issue that will keep Palencia out long term. Caleb Thielbar earned the first save chance without Palencia and could be in line to get most of the ninth-inning work. Action: Hold in all formats; add Caleb Thielbar
Mick Abel (elbow)
News hit Monday morning that Abel was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. It's incredibly unfortunate, as the 24-year-old right-hander was making real strides on the mound, tossing 13 shutout innings with 16 strikeouts over his last two starts. Initial reports suggest the injury isn't thought to be too serious, though you take that with a grain of salt. Hopefully, Abel isn't facing a lengthy absence, but I'd still expect him to be sidelined for at least a few weeks. Action: Hold in all formats
A look at the top fantasy baseball prospects who can help rosters in 2026 and beyond.
Christopher Crawford
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Brenden Donovan (quad)
Donovan left Friday’s contest against the Rangers with left hip tightness and sat out the following two games before ultimately landing on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain. It seems unlikely to be a lengthy absence. Still, it’s a tough blow after the 29-year-old infielder got off to a hot start, slashing .304/.437/.518 with three homers, eight RBI, and one steal through 18 games. Action: Hold in all formats
Sonny Gray (hamstring)
Gray departed Monday’s game against the Tigers in the third inning after a visit from the athletic trainer. He got off one pitch with the trainer and left in frustration with hamstring tightness. The 36-year-old right-hander will get an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity, but the team has already decided he will need at least a minimum stint on the injured list. Gray likened the injury to the hamstring strains he suffered in 2022 and 2024, both of which sidelined him for 2-3 weeks. We should know more about the severity in the next day or two. Gray’s injury could open the door for top prospect Payton Tolle. The 23-year-old left-hander has posted a 3.00 ERA with a 19/4 K/BB ratio across 15 innings in Triple-A and will be a must-add if he gets the nod for a few starts in the majors. Action: Hold in all formats; add Payton Tolle
Peña did some running on Monday for the first time since landing on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. He’s eligible to return as soon as Friday, though that will depend on how he progresses over the rest of the week. The team may also want him to get some time on a minor league rehab assignment. It would make sense given his slow start and time missed late in spring due to a fractured finger. Action: Hold in all formats
Edwin Uceta (shoulder)
Uceta had been working his way back from a shoulder impingement he suffered this spring before he was shut down on Monday with a new shoulder strain. He’ll stop throwing for 2-3 weeks before he’s reevaluated. Uceta was expected to join the late-inning mix, but it looks like Bryan Baker will have a little more leash on the closer role. Action: Droppable in all formats
Brent Rooker (oblique)
Rooker had begun to ramp up his activity level over the weekend after he was sidelined with a right oblique strain earlier this month. Monday, he began a hitting progression. There’s still no timetable for a return, but it’s certainly a good sign that he’s advancing in his recovery. An early May return seems possible. Action: Hold in all formats
Juan Soto (calf)
Soto remains on track to return to the Mets sometime during the team’s homestand that runs from Tuesday through next Thursday, April 30. Though the timing of the latest update seems to indicate he could be activated during the first half of the homestand. It’ll be a much-needed return for both the Mets and fantasy managers. Soto’s activation could move any one of Carson Benge, Brett Baty, or Mark Vientos out of the everyday lineup. Action: Celebrate
Jorge Polanco (wrist)
It seems Polanco has been dealing with a variety of ailments since the start of the season. He had been playing through an Achilles issue earlier this month and was finally placed on the injured list on April 15 with a right wrist contusion. There’s no timetable for a return, but the 32-year-old first baseman will get the required time he needs to get right. His absence leaves the door open for Brett Baty or Mark Vientos at first base, though both have been struggling at the plate. Action: Hold in 12-team leagues and deeper
George Springer (toe)
Springer was throwing for the first time on Monday since breaking his toe, along with other mobility activities. Manager John Schneider said “It would be great if he was ready on Friday.” The Blue Jays start a three-game series against the Guardians in Toronto.
NEW YORK — Downstairs, the call was being made for the first bus to leave Madison Square Garden.
Jonathan Kuminga, fresh off a 19-point outburst off the bench, was seated at his locker, shirtless, eating a plate of chips and guacamole (with one chocolate chip cookie on the side), listening to “If I ruled the World” by Nas, featuring Lauryn Hill.
Veteran guard CJ McCollum, fully living out his villain arc, rested both his feet in an ice bath. Just minutes earlier, he had irritated the crowd here to the point of repeatedly serenading him with a chant whose first word rhymes with truck. As in: “Truck you, CJ.”
And as Atlanta Hawks staffers bundled towels and closed down the locker room, general manager Onsi Saleh was sighing.
“We’ll take it,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “My heart rate needs to recover, but we’ll take it.”
Atlanta erased a 12-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to stun the New York Knicks, 107-106, evening its first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
This was a game New York controlled. In 48 minutes, the Hawks held a lead for just 1:25, a 14-second slice in the second quarter and the rest in the game’s final minutes.
The Hawks, meanwhile, were on top for 39:36 seconds.
This was a game when Atlanta’s two premier players, first-time All-Star Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, were the full focus of the Knicks’ defensive attention, where New York’s primary focus was to frustrate them, to contest every sliver of space they had.
This was a game in which, in the second half, the Hawks shot just 1-of-12 (8.3%) from 3-point range.
Yet, veteran McCollum, who was initially presumed to be an afterthought in the trade that shipped Trae Young to the Wizards, dropped 32 points. None was bigger than the fadeaway jumper along the left baseline with 33.3 seconds left, the eventual game-winner, over one of the best defenders in the world, OG Anunoby.
The Hawks pulled off the stunning upset. But can they actually win this series?
The gut reaction would be to assume that Johnson and Alexander-Walker have to produce more. In the first two games of the series, the Knicks have unleashed Josh Hart (as the primary defender on Johnson) and Mikal Bridges (on Alexander-Walker).
And while neither player has posted the explosive point total, Hawks coach Quin Snyder is fine with that — as long as the pair focuses on making positive plays that are in the best interests of the team, particularly Johnson, who went 0-for-4 in the first half for only 4 points.
“I think it’s him just keeping an even keel,” Snyder told reporters after the game. “As the game progressed, he found more of a rhythm; that’s harder to do than maybe coming out and having everything go your way. His ability to grind through those situations — and when that happens, then the ball goes (elsewhere).
“It’s a big thing for Jalen, to understand how important he is and how much we need his offense, but also to be able to recognize there are certain times in the game where he’s playing more of a secondary role.”
Johnson would finish the game with 17 points on an efficient 6-of-12 night, adding 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
It has been a tougher go for Alexander-Walker, who in two games this series has combined to go 9-of-29 (31%) for 26 points.
“We’re just guys who play selfless basketball,” Johnson said. “So if we don’t have it going, we’re not going to force our way to bad shots. We’re going to stay aggressive and continue to look for and make the right plays. But there are other ways we can impact the game than score.”
Johnson added that the Hawks have a “late-game menu” that they rely on, and that the team seeks to feed the hot hand. In this case, it was McCollum.
But the Knicks are a very good defensive team. And playoff series, by and large, cannot be won simply by role players. It would benefit the Hawks if Snyder and his staff can find ways to scheme up easier offense for Johnson and Alexander-Walker.
But given the general philosophy that the Hawks have embodied, even if they try that, and it’s not there, Atlanta’s players and coaches vow to adapt. The next test comes Thursday, April 23, in Atlanta, where they will be facing a Knicks team that knows it let one slip away.
“This is a game we should’ve won,” Hart told reporters after the game, “and in the playoffs you can’t give away games.”
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dan Vladar stopped 27 shots, rookie Porter Martone scored for the second straight game and the Philadelphia Flyers shut out Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series.
The 19-year-old Martone became the sixth-youngest player in NHL history to score in each of his first two playoff games when he beat Stuart Skinner deep into the second period to put Philadelphia in front. Garnet Hathaway added a short-handed goal a few minutes later, and Luke Glendening chipped in an empty-netter late in the third.
Vladar made it stand up as the red-hot Flyers, who needed a scorching finishing stretch just to reach the playoffs, frustrated the suddenly offensively challenged Penguins all night.
Game 3 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
HURRICANES 3, SENATORS 2, 2OT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Martinook beat Linus Ullmark from the slot at 13:53 of the second overtime to help Carolina beat Ottawa and take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series in the NHL playoffs.
Martinook — who was stopped on a penalty shot in the first OT — kept the winning play alive by chasing down a loose rebound toward the boards to keep the possession in the offensive zone. Moments later, Nikolaj Ehlers found Martinook between the circles to beat Ullmark, who was partially shielded by Carolina captain Jordan Staal at the top of the crease.
That set off a mob celebration by the Hurricanes around Martinook in a corner of the ice, ending a game that saw them hang on despite blowing a 2-0 lead and having an apparent winner by Mark Jankowski waved off in the first overtime due to an offside call on review.
The series moves to Canada’s capital for Game 3 on Thursday.
STARS 4, WILD 2
DALLAS (AP) — Wyatt Johnston had two unusual goals, Matt Duchene scored a tiebreaking power-play goal and had an assist, and Dallas beat Minnesota in Game 2 to even their first-round Western Conference series.
The Stars went ahead to stay with a power play winding down about four minutes into the penalty-filled second period when Duchene made a quick pass to Mikko Rantanen and then got the puck back just in front of the crease. That made it 2-1.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 28 shots, including a point-blank attempt by Kirill Kaprizov with 2 1/2 minutes to play when the Wild were on a power play after Dallas was penalized for too many men on the ice.
Brock Faber scored his first two career playoff goals for Minnesota, which won the opener 6-1 on Saturday but missed a chance in its 15th playoff appearance to take its first-ever 2-0 series lead.
Jason Robertson, who like Johnston scored 45 goals in the regular season, also scored for Dallas. Nils Lundkvist had two assists.
Game 3 is Wednesday night at Minnesota.
OILERS 4, DUCKS 3
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Kasperi Kapanen scored his second goal of the game with 1:54 left in the third period to give Edmonton a victory over Anaheim in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Jason Dickinson also scored twice for the Oilers, who trailed 3-2 entering the third.
Oilers star Leon Draisaitl returned to the ice after missing the final 14 regular-season games with an injury. Draisaitl and Jake Walman each had two assists for Edmonton.
The Oilers are seeking their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final, having lost each of the last two seasons to the Florida Panthers, who missed out on postseason play this year.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 18: LeBron James #23 sets a screen as Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles while Aaron Holiday #0 and Tari Eason #17 of the Houston Rockets defend during the first half of Game One of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The first round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets continues on Tuesday.
L.A. looks to take further control of the matchup and protect homecourt by going for 2-0.
Just when it looked like the Lakers needed a miracle to win Game 1, there was a sudden plot twist moments before tip-off that Kevin Durant was ruled out as well. The matchup instantly became more favorable for the purple and gold and, boy, did they make the most out of it in the best way possible.
Shoutout to Luke Kennard for having himself a career night, to LeBron James for taking control of the game with his IQ and the rest of the team for doing what they’ve done for the most part of the season: rise to the occasion.
Game 1 didn’t go perfectly for the Lakers by any means, but they played well enough to earn the victory. Now, the next challenge is to win Game 2, which will be even harder. Durant’s health remains the biggest storyline but with or without the all-time great, Los Angeles will have to be ready for Houston’s response.
How will Houston respond?
What was ironic about Game 1 was that even as the Rockets won the rebounding battle (44-35) by a substantial margin, scored more points in transition (11-4) and finished with more possessions through second-chance opportunities, they still lost. A huge reason for this is that no one from their team scored more than 20 points and without KD, they lacked offensive firepower.
Expect that to change in Game 2. The likes of Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith — who shot a combined 11-34 — will definitely want to bounce back. The same goes with Alperen Sengun, who will likely be more aggressive and look for his shots. The Rockets will most likely tighten their defensive coverage on Kennard and will limit James’ playmaking and scoring abilities. This is the perfect opportunity to test how quickly head coach JJ Redick and the Lakers respond to the Rockets’ adjustments.
Can L.A. continue to beat the Rockets on offense?
Going into this series, the Lakers had the offensive advantage and they showed that in Game 1 even without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. Besides Kennard’s spectacular 27-point night, L.A. shot 53.6% from downtown and five players were in double figures.
Talk about contributions across the board.
The purple and gold clearly also played with more effort and focus. They had an answer to every single one of Houston’s runs and found ways to overwhelm them on offense. It’s tough to ask Kennard to score 27 points again, but it’s fair to expect Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and co. to continue playing well. The Lakers’ best shot at beating the Rockets is still through their offense.
There are still so many variables that can impact this series: Luka, Austin and KD’s health, for example. But with all the uncertainty both teams are dealing with, it becomes a series about which team can control what they can and the cards they’re being dealt.
Can the Lakers carry over their success from Game 1? Will the Rockets bounce back? We’ll find out on Tuesday.
Notes and Updates
The Lakers’ injury report remains as it is with Luka Dončić (left hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (left oblique muscle strain) out.
As for the Rockets, Steven Adams (left ankle surgery) and Fred VanVleet (ACL surgery) are out while Kevin Durant (right knee contusion) is questionable.
