Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard got the goals as Brentford came from behind to notch up a club record fifth consecutive league win on the road
Thomas Frank was effusive in his praise for both his own team and Bournemouth during his pre-match press conference. “Bournemouth have been really, really impressive,” the Brentford manager said.
Continue reading...Creighton Bluejays vs. St. John's Red Storm Game Preview
More metrics than ever will be used for the selection of the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket. But qualms remain with their application for March Madness.
With a month to go in the NBA season, there are eight teams (conservatively, you could argue 10) more focused as an organization on lottery odds than winning games. Or, to put it bluntly, they are tanking with their eyes on Cooper Flagg. That means a lot of good players are missing games for dodgy reasons.
The NBA is pushing those teams to keep their best players on the court. The league already fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 for not playing Lauri Markkanen against the Wizards and in other games — and, shockingly, he was suddenly available for the next game after the fine. Now, Shams Charania of ESPN reports that both the Thunder and 76ers are being investigated for violating the league's Player Participation Policy.
The Thunder are not tanking — they have run away with the West at 54-12 — but on March 7 they sat six key players (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and Cason Wallace) in what was still a home win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Only two of those players, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams, meet the NBA's qualifications for a star player under the league's Player Participation Policy (an All-Star the last three years), but sitting that many players raised eyebrows. Still, this was a home game that was not nationally televised, so it's a little difficult to get worked up over OKC's decision.
The league is investigating Philadelphia "for the recent absences of players such as Paul George (knee, back, finger) and Tyrese Maxey (back, finger)," according to the ESPN report. George has admitted he is playing through pain and, with the 76ers season all but over, he will be meeting with doctors about treatment for his knee and groin/back issues. It seems challenging to blame him for not playing through pain. Don't expect to see a lot of Maxey, either.
Philadelphia has real motivation to tank. Its first-round pick this year belongs to Oklahoma City but is top-six protected. Philly is trying to tank its way into keeping that pick, the 76ers are currently tied with the Nets for the 5th/6th worst record in the NBA. If the Sixers can hold on to the fifth-worst spot, they have a 62.1% chance of retaining that top-six pick after the lottery. It would be shocking if we see George again this season, Embiid is already out for the season to get treatment on his knee (although no definitive plan has been released) and expect Maxey to be limited.
Again, is that worth the league's fine? Where is that line?
The first fine for violating the league's Player Participation Policy is $100,000 — enough to get a team's attention, but this is the cost of a 10-day contract to teams, so it will not break them. However, a second violation is $250,000 and the third $1 million — teams can live with the first fine but want to avoid climbing that ladder.
Which will make the final month of the season interesting for teams such as Toronto (Scottie Barnes qualifies for the Player Participation Policy) and others trying to tank but avoid a fine. It's a fine line everyone is trying to walk.
Creighton and UConn men's basketball got into a scuffle in the waning seconds of the Bluejays' Big East Tournament semifinal victory Friday
The Vegas Golden Knights will play the third game of their four-game road trip this afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Golden Knights have started the Eastern Conference road trip going 1-0-1, most recently beating the Columbus Blue Jackets. During the road trip, Jack Eichel set the new franchise record for points in a season and starting goaltender Adin Hill signed a six-year contract extension.
The three points they've picked up have also given them a five-point lead on the Edmonton Oilers and closed the gap to the Dallas Stars for second place in the Western Conference.
The Sabres are once again going through a difficult campaign. Hope and optimism were high heading into the season, expecting breakthroughs from multiple young Sabres players, but nothing came to fruition, they sit in 30th place in the NHL and traded away 24-year-old centerman Dylan Cozens to a division rival.
Playing against struggling teams can often lower the intensity, and this is why these games can be referred to as "trap games," but the Golden Knights need every point they can conjure at the moment. Focus and execution will likely be what HC Bruce Cassidy preaches to his players.
Puck drop is at 9:30 AM PST at the KeyBank Center.
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Neptune went 54-47 overall in three seasons with the Wildcats, including a 19-14 record this season.
Sandoval eager to help Posey regime in return to Giants camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SCOTTSDALE — You could almost see the wheels churning in Pablo Sandoval’s head as he looked down at the dirt on Saturday morning. The Giants were between rounds of batting practice and he had stepped out from behind the cage to help collect baseballs. He had a jersey on and there were fans filing into Scottsdale Stadium, many of whom happily yelled out to the Panda.
Why not take a few swings?
Sandoval resisted the urge, although not because he’s retired. The popular former Giants third baseman played a few weeks in Dubai earlier this year and plans to suit up for the Staten Island FerryHawks for a second straight summer.
Sandoval is 38 and four years removed from his last big league game, but he said he’ll keep taking swings as long as it’s feasible. His family loves watching him, even if it is in independent leagues these days.
“I’ll play until my body breaks down,” he said, laughing.
In the meantime, Sandoval is trying a different role. He’s not sure if he ever wants to coach full-time, and he’s not sure if his wife would even allow that much time away from home, but he wants to remain involved with the Giants. Sandoval was excited to see former teammate Buster Posey get named president of baseball operations, and in December, he sent Posey a text to say that he would like to help out if he could. Posey was happy to add Sandoval to the list of spring training special instructors.
The two were once at the heart of the lineup at Oracle Park, and they won three titles together. Sandoval believes those days will return under Posey.
“He knows how important it is to wear this jersey,” he said. “He knows how to win. He knows how to put the pieces together.”
Posey also knows Sandoval can bring a unique perspective, having gone through plenty of ups and downs in his career. After speaking to reporters Saturday morning, Sandoval hopped in a car to drive to the organization’s minor league facility, where he and fellow guest instructor Jeremy Affeldt were set to address the organization’s prospects.
“I reached out to Buster (last year) and said if he needs help with the young guys, I’m always going to be available to help them,” he said.
Sandoval will spend much of his time in big league camp with young position players like Heliot Ramos, Luis Matos and Tyler Fitzgerald, but it’s his interactions with the oldest player in camp that would surely be the most fascinating to any Giants fans. Justin Verlander said earlier this spring that he hasn’t talked to Posey yet about the 2012 World Series, but he wouldn’t shy away from any conversation.
“I don’t mind, man,” he said on the Giants Talk Podcast. “If you play long enough, you’re going to have some things not go your way and that’s obviously a great part of the Giants legacy. I hate that I was a part of it, but I also was in the World Series and heck, man, it doesn’t always go your way.”
Verlander’s struggles in Game 1 of that series came largely because of Sandoval, who twice took him deep as part of a historic three-homer game. Sandoval would be named MVP of that series, but he said it didn’t come up when he saw Verlander this weekend. It was a bit weird seeing Verlander in orange and black, but Sandoval said his main takeaway was that the 20-year veteran has already taken on a leadership role with his new franchise.
“I don’t bring it up,” he said of 2012, smiling. “When you respect a player, a guy that’s still playing and throwing the ball the way he is, you don’t bring old memories up.”
Villanova fires Kyle Neptune after three seasons at the helm.
Flyers ‘still evaluating' Ersson, hoping for a tandem in future originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
VOORHEES, N.J. — The goaltending situation in Philadelphia has been far from unassailable.
The Flyers parted ways with Carter Hart last summer because of the Hockey Canada sexual assault case. They lost their No. 1 goaltender in January last season, when he requested and was granted an indefinite leave of absence.
Since 2021, they’ve drafted three goalies in the third round or higher. In John Tortorella’s three-year tenure as head coach, they’ve played six goalies.
So it’s probably stating the obvious that the Flyers don’t feel like they have the position figured out in their rebuild. They’re still learning about Samuel Ersson, who had to suddenly take over the No. 1 duties with Hart’s exit.
“Sam has been thrusted into a spot that I just think it has been unfair for him,” Tortorella said Saturday morning ahead of his team’s game against the Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). “This organization was set back when things changed with our goaltending situation, especially Sam, not allowing him to develop. So he has been force-fed a little bit here.”
Ersson has had an up-and-down season that started with nagging lower-body issues. He went on an excellent run from Christmas to around the end of February, putting up an 11-4-1 mark, a 2.23 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Since then, he has gone 1-2-1 with a 4.47 goals-against average and an .826 save percentage.
On the season, the 25-year-old is 19-12-4 with a 2.96 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage.
“I think with Sam, as we move forward, we’re hoping it’s going to be a tandem,” Tortorella said. “We’re not going to ask Sam to play 55, 60 games if he’s the guy. I think it’s going to be a tandem. We’re still evaluating. He has been inconsistent. Sometimes you watch him play and you think he has got it but then he falls off.
“It happens to a lot of goalies, that’s why some goalies just don’t play and are out of the National Hockey League. So we continue to evaluate and we’re going to continue to do the same thing these last 15 games or so.”
The Flyers entered Saturday last in the NHL with an .875 save percentage. They’ve allowed 26.8 shots per game. Only six teams have allowed fewer and they’re all in playoff position: the Hurricanes, Kings, Avalanche, Golden Knights, Devils and Panthers.
It’s also fair to note the Flyers have not given their netminders consistent goal support. Over their last 20 games, the Flyers have scored just 2.20 goals per game.
“It’s a constant team evaluation as we go through it,” Tortorella said. “I’m certainly not laying everything at the doorstep, but it’s the most important position in the game as far as winning and losing and giving your team a chance to win.”
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Villanova fired Kyle Neptune on Saturday after a three-year run where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to ever make the NCAA Tournament. Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East in three seasons with the Wildcats, including a 19-14 record this season. The Wildcats — who won two national championships under Wright — lost to UConn on Thursday night in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.
Mar 14, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) reacts after a play in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
These games happen in the NBA. There was no LeBron James or Luka Doncic for the Lakers, but with the chance to shine, other guys stepped up — Austin Reaves scored 37, Dalton Knecht had 32 with five 3-pointers, and Los Angeles just played hard. Meanwhile, Denver played like they expected the Lakers to roll over.
Fortunately, with the game on the line, Nikola Jokic set a massive (moving?) screen, taking out two defenders, which opened the door for Jamal Murray to save the day for the Nuggets.
Murray's game-winner in #PhantomCamhttps://t.co/gLvDY0crgKpic.twitter.com/MZAvInfVDq
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2025
It was an ugly win for the Nuggets, but after rough losses to top teams (Boston, Oklahoma City, Minnesota), they needed the win. That doesn't mean Michael Malone was happy about it, he walked into his postgame press conference, crumpled up the stat sheet and threw it away. The win moved the Nuggets back up to No. 2 in the West.
Jokic finished the game with 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists — a great night for most players but a pedestrian one for him.
The Lakers went 0-4 on their road trip and will have to continue without LeBron James (groin strain) for another week or so, but now come home for four games, with a couple of winnable ones to start against Phoenix Sunday (nationally televised), followed by the very shorthanded Spurs. Then they get another shot at Denver.
Arber Xhekaj’s younger brother Florian is currently playing his first year of professional hockey with the Laval Rocket, and to say the 101st pick at the 2023 draft is having a good season would be an understatement.
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Drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in his second year of eligibility for his hard-nosed play and potential, Xhekaj developed well in the OHL with the Brantford Bulldogs, going from 25 points in his draft year to 65 in the following season. He also upped his penalty minutes from 76 to 81 minutes and came to training camp ready to make an impact. On September 14, during a tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs' rookies, he dropped the gloves against Chas Sharpe.
The Canadiens assigned him to the Rocket during camp, and he’s done very well under Pascal Vincent's tutelage. On Friday night, in the Rocket’s 4-1 win over the Utica Comets, he scored two goals, including an empty netter, which brought his total to 17 lamplighters on the season.
The goal broke the Rocket’s record for most goals in a season by a rookie player, established by Lucas Condotta in 2022-23. While coach Vincent wasn’t aware of the feat, Xhekaj’s teammates were and collected the puck for him.
Asked about his player after the game, Vincent admitted that all options were considered about Xhekaj before the start of the season. They decided to keep him in Laval and his performance shows it was the right call. The coach explained he has a great capacity to learn and is a significant contributor to the Rocket’s success.
Xhekaj plays on penalty kills but not on power plays, so his goals are scored even at strength. He’s ready to step up for a teammate whenever the situation calls for it and is a great team player.
While he won’t ever be a top-six player in the NHL, he has the potential to be a very good bottom-six forward who can play with an edge. In my opinion, he still needs some seasoning in the AHL, but eventually, he will join the Canadiens and become a success story for development in the organization.
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Kyle Neptune didn't make the NCAA tournament once after he took over for Jay Wright.
