Sports
NBA roundup: Wolves swat Thunder in overtime


Anthony Edwards came up with a block in the closing seconds of overtime to help lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a stunning 131-128 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
The Timberwolves trailed by as much as 24 in the fourth quarter and by 16 with less than four minutes remaining. Minnesota, though, scored the final 16 points of the quarter, capped by Jaden McDaniels converting an and-one layup with 11 seconds remaining to force overtime.
In overtime, after Naz Reid made two free throws to put the Timberwolves on top 129-128 with 22 seconds left, the Thunder put the ball in Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands coming out of a timeout. Edwards came over from the help side to block Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot.
Minnesota’s Terrence Shannon Jr. grabbed the rebound and Nickeil Alexander-Walker — Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin — made a pair of free throws. Edwards then matched up with Gilgeous-Alexander once more in the closing seconds, forcing a missed 3-pointer to end the game.
Nuggets 125, Pacers 116
Aaron Gordon scored 25 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Nikola Jokic added 18 points, nine rebounds and a career-high 19 assists Denver beat Indiana in Indianapolis.
Christian Braun had 17 points for Denver, which bounced back after having its nine-game winning streak snapped in a 123-100 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. Jamal Murray added 16 points and Zeke Nnaji had 14 off the bench.
Myles Turner led Indiana with 23 points. Tyrese Haliburton added 19 points and 15 assists, Pascal Siakam had 19 points and nine rebounds, Aaron Nesmith scored 17 points and Obi Toppin finished with 11.
Bulls 142, 76ers 110
Josh Giddey scored 25 points, Kevin Huerter added 23 and Zach Collins had 19 as Chicago routed host Philadelphia, which extended its losing streak to eight games.
Knocking down an impressive 50.6 percent of field goals (45 of 89) and 45 percent of 3-pointers (18 of 40), the Bulls snapped their own six-game losing streak in the victory.
Led by 19 points apiece from Kelly Oubre Jr. and Paul George, the 76ers were missing former MVP Joel Embiid — who underwent imaging on his left knee — and trailed by as many as 50 points during the contest.
Pistons 106, Clippers 97
Cade Cunningham posted 29 points, nine boards and seven assists as Detroit picked up its seventh straight win – the franchise’s longest winning streak since the 2014-15 season.
The Pistons took advantage of a short-handed Los Angeles team that was playing without its leading scorer in Norman Powell and franchise player Kawhi Leonard. Still, the Clippers grabbed the lead early in the third quarter before Detroit answered with a Cunningham lay-in and an alley-oop dunk from Jalen Duren.
Los Angeles narrowed the gap to four points in the fourth quarter. But a 3-pointer from Malik Beasley put Detroit back in front 96-84, and Cunningham’s 3-pointer with 1:06 to play put the game away for the Pistons, who handed the Clippers their third straight loss.
James Harden paced Los Angeles with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but he also committed seven turnovers.
Wizards 107, Nets 99
Jordan Poole scored 26 points, Bilal Coulibaly added 20 and Washington snapped a six-game losing streak with a home win over Brooklyn.
The Wizards closed the game on an 11-2 run and held the Nets without a field goal for the final 4:45. That stretch included a Brooklyn scoring drought of more than four minutes. Poole and Coulibaly shot a combined 8-for-12 from beyond the arc for the game, with Poole sinking 5 of 8.
Ziaire Williams’ 19 points led the Nets. Cameron Johnson added 17 and Tyrese Martin scored 15 points off the bench.
Kings 130, Hornets 88
Zach LaVine exploded for a season-high 42 points in 31 minutes, Malik Monk recorded a double-double, and Sacramento gradually pulled away from visiting Charlotte.
LaVine hit 16 of his 19 shots, including 8 of 9 from 3-point range, en route to the 22nd 40-point game of his career. Monk added 13 points and 10 assists while DeMar DeRozan had 18 points for the Kings, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Miles Bridges had 23 points to pace the Hornets, who were playing their seventh consecutive road game and took their second straight loss of at least 42 points. On Saturday, Charlotte fell by 53 points at Portland.
Hawks 98, Heat 86
With 11 points and 14 assists, Trae Young picked up his 34th double-double of the season, one of six Atlanta players scoring in double figures, as the Hawks snapped a three-game skid with the home win.
Onyeka Okongwu had 17 points to pace Atlanta, while both Caris LeVert and Terance Mann chipped in with 15 points off the bench.
Andrew Wiggins scored 23 for his third straight 20-point game for the Heat, who finished just 7-of-40 from 3-point range. Leading scorer Tyler Herro finished with just 11 points, missing all nine of his 3-point tries as Miami lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Trail Blazers 114, Jazz 112
Anfernee Simons had 28 points, and Portland withstood a late barrage of 3-pointers from Keyonte George to record its 12th win in 17 games.
Leading by as many as 13, the Trail Blazers fell behind 92-90 early in the fourth quarter before a 9-0 run put the Blazers back on top by seven points. After building a 10-point lead with just over four minutes left, the Jazz then stormed back.
George hit a 3-pointer with under 12 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 111-109, then, after two made free throws from Simons, buried another triple with four seconds remaining to put the score at 113-112.
Jerami Grant made just one of two free throws, but George missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to earn Portland the win.
George finished with 21 points off the bench for Utah, which lost for the sixth time in eight games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24


LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series


The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement


Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media