“I mean, the Flagrant call, I don’t know what to do,” Green told reporters after the game. “Go duck? Don’t go up for the layup?”
Green received his third Flagrant foul of the 2024-25 NBA season in the third quarter of Sunday’s game after he went up for a layup and made contact with Rockets center Alperen Şengün’s face. While it appeared the contact was justified and unintentional as part of Green’s shot process, officials ruled otherwise after a short review of the play.
Green also received a technical foul with one minute remaining in the second quarter for an incident once again involving Şengün. Green pushed up on Şengün and nudged him near the throat for his 13th tech of the season, but he defended that one as well after the game.
“The tech — I’m not going to stop because the referee says stop and give up position,” Green said. “I already gave up six inches and 50 pounds. So, it is what it is.”
Şengün credited the fiery interaction and Green’s subsequent tech as the catalyst for Houston’s win after the game.
“I think that was the moment we won the game,” Şengün told reporters (h/t The San Francisco Standard’s Danny Emerman). “Because [Green] got T’d up and we responded well. I think they were trying to scare us to play softer.”
Green didn’t divulge his motivation for the tech, but it could be assumed he was attempting to light a fire under the Warriors in a tie ballgame with huge NBA playoff implications.
It’s clear the Golden State veteran wouldn’t change anything about how he played Sunday, and Dub Nation certainly agreed the Flagrant 1 foul was unwarranted.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic looks to pass in front of Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein during the Lakers' 126-99 win Sunday. (Nate Billings / Associated Press)
The postseason road the Lakers want to take probably will roll through Oklahoma City at some point, the unquestioned best team in the Western Conference having played its way to the top with a level of all-around excellence rarely seen.
And the Lakers, heading into the final week of the regular season, have either the good fortune or the curse of having to test themselves against the team with the NBA's best record.
At the worst, the games against the Thunder could expose the Lakers' weaknesses. Oklahoma City is younger and hungrier with more size at the rim, capitalizing on advantages the Lakers will struggle to overcome.
But when the Lakers are at their best — and whoa, they were certainly at their best Sunday — they can prove to everyone, especially themselves, that their combination of otherworldly individual offensive talent and versatile, scrambling defense can hold down even the most talented of teams.
From early red-hot shooting to full-game focus, the Lakers stamped themselves as full-fledged contenders in the West by dominating the Thunder 126-99 in an all-caps, bold-lettered statement win.
“We know it's the final stretch into the full season, so we're just trying to rack up great habits,” LeBron James said.
That, plus great players, is a proven combination.
Luka Doncic, who knocked the Thunder out of the postseason last season on the way to the NBA Finals, went deep into his bag of skills, spinning around defenders, firing passes over his head and stepping back and splashing over the Thunder’s league-best defense.
He scored 30 points and had six assists, but more importantly, he helped puncture Oklahoma City’s smothering perimeter defense.
“Luka was spectacular,” James said.
Austin Reaves, who has cemented himself as one of the Lakers’ most important players alongside Doncic and LeBron James, opened another game scorching from three-point range while doing admirable work on MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaves scored 20 and Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points, but rarely were any of his buckets easy.
And James, who has regained some of his defensive form coming off a groin injury, scored 19 points but more importantly helped organize the Lakers against the Thunder’s stellar supporting cast, including 7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren, who scored only 10 points.
The Lakers (48-30) answered the biggest questions in negating one of the Thunder’s biggest strengths. The Lakers fought for loose balls, they extended possessions on the offensive glass and they limited their mistakes.
And when the Thunder (64-14) pushed, and they did, Dorian Finney-Smith or Gabe Vincent helped extinguish the spark quickly.
Like they did in a blowout win in Denver earlier this season, the Lakers showed that when they play their best, other teams will need to be at the top of their game to stop them. Against the Thunder, the Lakers took control by scoring 42 points in the first quarter and led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.
“Very committed to what we were trying to do defensively and very committed to where we felt like we could generate good shots offensively against a terrific defense,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And there wasn't any letup to that. There weren’t any overreactions.”
Since the Doncic trade, the Lakers have earned wins against the Nuggets, Rockets and Thunder, turning in strong defensive performances in each. And the Lakers shot the ball incredibly well Sunday — they made a season-high 22 three-pointers — as other parts of their game plan also fell into place.
“We know that they're very good when it comes to one, getting into the paint, attracting a lot,” James said. “They do a great job of getting [to] the free-throw line. They do a great job of getting offensive rebounds at second-chance points and those are some of the controllables that you control.”
The Lakers kept the Thunder off the glass, outrebounding them by nine. The Lakers scored 10 more second-chance points, and when they grabbed control of the game, they didn’t relinquish it. And Oklahoma City only shot 12 free throws, with Gilgeous-Alexander attempting none for the first time since Dec. 18, 2021.
The Lakers now have the opportunity to try and do it again Tuesday, though they’ve been a little cagey about their plans for handling the game considering they’ll play again Wednesday in Doncic’s first game back in Dallas.
“Nothing set in stone,” Redick said for the Lakers’ plans Tuesday. “Again, this is all day to day.”
On Friday night, Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in DC. Ovechkin entered the game one goal shy of tying the record (894) held by Wayne Gretzky.
Ovechkin scored the two he needed to tie the record against the Blackhawks, which set him up for a historic day on Sunday afternoon. Playing against the New York Islanders on the road, Ovechkin broke the record with his 42nd of the season and 895th of his career.
It was as poetic of a goal as you could have asked for from Ovechkin to break this record, as it was a power play snipe from his legendary "office".
Dylan Strome, a former Blackhawks player, was one of the assisters on this massive goal. This was Strome's 51st assist of the season, the most he's ever had in a single season.
It was a mistake letting Strome go for nothing as he is a talented playmaker capable of being a difference maker on a nightly basis. With that said, his career was allowed to blossom with an organization trying to win every year at this current time.
Tom Wilson was the other player to earn an assist on Ovechkin's goal in addition to Storme. When "The Great 8" scored this legendary goal, he dove to the middle of the ice and celebrated with all of his teammates.
A wonderful ceremony that included speeches from Wayne Gretzky, Commissioner Bettman, and Ovechkin himself followed. It will go down as one of the most memorable days in NHL history.
Now that Ovechkin has done this, 900 goals, perhaps 1000, and another run at the Stanley Cup await him. That quest for him will continue on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes in DC.
Former Blackhawk Dylan Strome should be proud of himself. He is almost a point-per-game player and managed to have over 50 assists. It's going about as good as it can. He deserves it after being let go in Chicago.
As both teams made their way to their respective locker rooms at halftime, Udoka and the four-time NBA champion shared a few words.
In a joking manner, according to Curry, the motive behind the verbal exchange was a canceled reservation at his wife Ayesha Curry’s International Smoke restaurant.
“He made a reservation at International Smoke, and he canceled it,” Curry quipped to reporters after the game. “And so I was kind of upset with him. We went back and forth on that.”
Jokes aside, for Udoka, it was just in-game banter.
“He said something,” Udoka told reporters after Houston’s win. “I said something. A little friendly banter.”
The verbal exchange came after a fierce second quarter that saw Warriors forward Draymond Green and Rockets center Alperen Şengün clash. The physical altercation resulted in a technical foul for Green.
“I was talking to my team about the physicality,” Udoka added. “This is the type of game we like. This is who we are.”
In the third quarter, Green and Şengün picked up where they left off.
Green was given a Flagrant 1 foul for making contact with Şengün as he drove in for a layup, making the foul the forward’s third Flagrant of the 2024-25 NBA season.
The Mets’ bullpen continues to be a weapon early on this season.
With the starting rotation failing to work deep into games they’ve stepped up tremendously -- and that was again the case during Sunday’s series finale with the Blue Jays, in which David Peterson was forced to leave in the top of the fifth.
While there was some concern around the southpaw at the time, manager Carlos Mendoza clarified postgame that there was no physical issue and he was simply dealing with some stomach problems.
But with him sidelined, the bullpen was required to take on another big workload to help secure the series sweep and they did a tremendous job kicked off by Max Kranick, who is quickly developing himself into a long-relief weapon.
The starter turned reliever was tossed into a bases loaded jam for the second time over the first two weeks of the season, and he showed no fear yet again — as he fell behind in the count but got Alejandro Kirk to pop out to end the threat.
After putting together a perfect top of the seventh, the 27-year-old has now retired 21 of the 22 batters he’s faced across seven scoreless innings of work to begin the year.
“Max has come up really big,” Brandon Nimmo said.
“I know he’s had a long road dealing with injuries,” Pete Alonso added. “For him to come back and have the electric stuff that he’s had it’s really awesome and we’re super stoked for him. The way he’s throwing the ball right now is awesome.”
And it wasn’t just Kranick on Sunday -- as Reed Garrett put together his fourth consecutive scoreless appearance, A.J. Minter had arguably his best outing to this point, and then Edwin Diaz worked around a pair of HBP’s to lock up his second save of the season.
As a group, they combined to allow one hit while striking out five in 4.1 scoreless innings of work.
That continued a terrific weekend on the mound -- as the bullpen allowed just one earned run (Jose Butto on Saturday night) during the three-game sweep of Toronto to help lower their ERA on the year to a league-leading mark of 1.29.
“They’ve been a huge reason behind our success,” Nimmo said. “They have amazing stuff. We have a few different weapons that can matchup well with the other side -- it’s not just one guy, we have different guys in different positions in order to get it to Diaz.
"That's what you want," Minter added. "The hitters are going to go through streaks, they'll come up big and it's just one of those games where you really need the bullpen to step up. That's what really matters and the pitching staff did an amazing job this weekend."
The Ottawa Senators' eight-year, seven-season Stanley Cup playoff drought is about to come to an end. It's not a matter of if but when. The Senators will face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre, and if the Sens win in regulation, they could clinch a playoff spot as early as Monday night.
Good things happen in threes, and here are the three good things that need to happen:
On Sunday, the Senators need to beat the Blue Jackets in regulation, and the Detroit Red Wings need to lose to the Florida Panthers in any fashion. If those two things occur, then on Monday night, if the New York Rangers lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in regulation, the Senators will clinch their first playoff spot in eight years.
The Senators enter Sunday’s game an impressive 12 games above the .500 mark at 41-29-6. They're already guaranteed to finish with their best record since 2017, when they finished 16 games above .500 at 44-28-10 and in second place in the Atlantic Division.
As most fans remember, the Senators made it to the conference final that year, coming within one game and one goal of the Stanley Cup Final. Since then, Senators fans have endured a lot of bad hockey, poor decisions, and general nonsense.
Now that they've joyfully emerged from that – like Andy Dufresne finally climbing out of a long Shawshank sewer pipe – they’re ready to embrace the freedom from 8 years of misery and the third-longest active NHL playoff drought.
With the window now open to better days in both the present and future, here are five Sens trivia questions from the better days of the past.
If you're reading this on The Hockey News, just scroll down for the answers. If you're reading it elsewhere, you can find the answers in the comments section of The Senators Roundtable.
1. Who are the only four active NHL players who were part of Ottawa's last playoff run?
2. Ottawa won five overtime games in the 2017 playoffs. Who scored the OT winners?
3. The 2017 Penguins playoff roster had one former Senator (who played here in 2010) and two future Senators. Name them (Ian Cole, who never played for Ottawa, doesn't count).
4. Which player who played for the Sens in the 2017 playoffs most recently played for the Senators?
5. Who was the last goalie, other than Craig Anderson, to win a playoff game for the Senators?
The New York Islanders and Washington Capitals entered Sunday's matinee at UBS Arena with the game slated as the co-main event, while the Alex Ovechkin chase to the top of the NHL's all-time goal scorer took center stage.
The Islanders however came out motivated and had some early jump.
Sure enough, the Isles kicked off the scoring 7:06 into the game, as Bo Horvat scored his 26th goal of the season. Simon Holmstrom and Anders Anders Lee picked up assists.
Then only 1:54 later Marc Gatcomb scored his seventh goal of the season, giving the Islanders a 2-0 lead. Kyle MacLean and Alex Romanov picked up assists.
Although shots ended 8-5 for the Capitals in the first period, the Islanders held the lead 2-0.
Pierre Engvall was called for tripping in the offensive zone seven minutes into the second, giving the Capitals a power play -- and Ovechkin his first chance to score with the man advantage.
A long delay with a ceremony including Wayne Gretzky, Commissioner Gary Bettman and Caps owner, Ted Leonosis occurred at center ice before the game resumed.
Then, 10:26 into the second, Gatcomb scored his second goal of the day, burying a perfect Matt Martin pass to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead.
The Capitals led 18-13 in shots entering the third period.
4:20 into the third period, J. G. Pageau scored his 13th of the season from Max Tsyplakov and Adam Pelech giving the Islanders a 4-1 lead. The goal was reviewed but confirmed.
The Islanders played well down the stretch, as Sorokin turned aside 12 third period shots and the Islanders captured two points, leaving them five points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final Wild Card slot in the East.
The Islanders skate again on Tuesday in Nashville at 8PM.
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, basketball analyst Isis ‘Ice’ Young and former Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris Sr. look ahead to Monday night's title game between two teams who have been ranked amongst the best in the nation all season long.
Luke Kornet showed again Sunday night why he is a fan favorite at TD Garden.
The Boston Celtics big man enjoyed another strong performance, logging 13 points and 14 rebounds (nine offensive) in a 124-90 rout of the Washington Wizards. After bringing down an offensive board and making a hustle play to give Boston possession, Kornet celebrated by barking like a dog:
The TD Garden crowd chanted “Luke!” after the sequence, but teammate Sam Hauser wants to hear more barking from Celtics fans next time Kornet makes a big play.
“If we can get the fans to join in with it and bark with him, I think it’s going to be something,” Hauser told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the victory.
Kornet led a C’s team that recorded a season-high 62 rebounds (25 offensive) in the lopsided win. Hauser accounted for eight of them to go along with his 18 points off the bench.
“It reminded me of a good charcuterie board back home in Wisconsin,” Hauser said of the Celtics’ rebounding. “Like, everything you need. Cheese, crackers, grapes, fig dip, a little bit of honey. It was good.”
Hauser accounted for four of the Celtics’ 24 makes (24-52) from 3-point range. Threes and rebounds were the difference as Washington shot just 12-45 (26.7 percent) from deep with only 32 boards.
We’ll have to wait a few days to hear more barking at TD Garden. The Celtics will hit the road for matchups against the New York Knicks on Tuesday and Orlando Magic on Wednesday. They will return home to wrap up their regular season with back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and Sunday.
Alijah Martin never really liked talking too much about his first Final Four experience because of the heartbreaking way it ended with Florida Atlantic two years ago. Now in what will be the graduate transfer guard's only season with Florida, he will get to play in the national championship game.
The Yankees missed a chance to earn their second series sweep of the early season when they suffered a 5-4 loss at the Pittsburgh Pirates in Sunday's 11-inning finale.
Takeaways
Ex-Yankee Andrew Heaney outdueled Will Warren, whose second start of 2025 saw him hit a fourth-inning wall after retiring his first eight batters. Warren's two-out walk to ex-Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the third inning -- Warren's first and only free pass of the afternoon -- spiraled into a 2-1 swing for the Pirates after Ke'Bryan Hayes' single and Bryan Reynolds' two-run double. The Pirates added two more runs in the fourth inning, which Warren finished but not before allowing a cumulative four runs on six hits while striking out five. The Gerrit Cole-less Yankees (6-3) need more than four innings from pitchers in their starting rotation, and Warren failed to meet the bar while pitching with an initial lead.
Heaney, meanwhile, dominated the Yankees in a seven-inning gem. He allowed one run on five hits, struck out 10 and walked one against his former team -- the Yankees acquired him from the Los Angeles Angels in a July 30, 2021 trade that did not age well and ultimately led to a late-season DFA -- while helping the Pirates (3-7) back into the win column.
Jazz Chisholm struck out three times but scratched across the Yankees' only run of the game until the ninth-inning rally with a two-out double in the first inning that scored Cody Bellinger, who followed Paul Goldschmidt's leadoff strikeout swinging with an infield single. Through nine games, Chisholm -- who batted cleanup Sunday -- has nine hits and nine RBI.
The Yankees' three-run ninth inning sent the game into extras before Tommy Pham's game-winning RBI single in the 11th walked the Pirates off. Aaron Judge and Jasson Dominguez each reached base with one walk apiece, but they were the only Yankees to go hitless in a pair of 0-for-4 efforts.
Who's the MVP?
Heaney, who shoved for six straight scoreless innings after allowing a run in the first and got enough support from the Pirates' offense to defeat his former team.
The Yankees continue their six-game road trip with a three-game series at the Detroit Tigers. New York LHP Carlos Rodón (1-1, 3.97 ERA) and Detroit RHP Casey Mize (1-0, 0.00 ERA) are set to start Monday's 3:10 p.m. opener.
Walter Clayton Jr. is running hot and playing with unshakeable belief, fueled by his Florida teammates' insistence that any shot he takes is a good one. "Sometimes you can't," Clayton said with a chuckle. Houston has been the defensive force of the tournament, either slowing or downright locking down some of the best offenses in the game.
Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj on Sunday said his omission from the Indian team made him ready for IPL as his 4-17 helped Gujarat Titans hammer Sunrisers Hyderabad for a third straight win.
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, basketball analyst Isis ‘Ice’ Young and 13-year NBA veteran Marcus Morris Sr. discuss how the Duke star can move forward following his team’s devastating loss in the Final Four and prepare for the next stage of his career.
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, basketball analyst Isis ‘Ice’ Young and former Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris Sr. discuss the Cougars’ mindset after shocking Duke in the national semifinal and now quickly moving forward to Monday’s championship game against Florida.
