Sports
Trail Blazers hosting Wizards as they hunt down No. 8 seed
Mar 22, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Portland Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter reacts in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Fresh off a painful slip-up, the Portland Trail Blazers continue their pursuit of the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference when they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
The Trail Blazers had won five of six games, the previous two by 35 and 31 points, before dropping a 100-93 home decision against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
The setback leaves Portland (37-38) 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 berth — a play-in spot in which one win gets you into the main draw — with seven games remaining.
It was a missed opportunity for the Trail Blazers, and interim coach Tiago Splitter said the defeat was a blow for the team’s mood as well.
“Not great,” Splitter said of the team’s mood. “I think we all felt that we were in a growing moment, and this one hits hard.”
The Trail Blazers were sloppy with 25 turnovers, their fourth time with at least 25 this season and one off their season worst, which they accomplished twice.
Jrue Holiday scored 23 points, Deni Avdija added 20 and Jerami Grant had 19, but the trio of Toumani Camara (3 of 9), Donovan Clingan (2 of 9) and backup Scoot Henderson (3 of 11) were a combined 8-for-29 shooting for 23 points.
Portland scored just 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting to go with seven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, we were very poor,” Splitter said. “We didn’t make shots, turned over the ball all over. … We didn’t have it offensively.”
Grant exited the contest in the third quarter when he injured his right calf. He was slated to undergo testing Saturday.
“I’m always hopeful,” Grant said afterward. “Like I said, I can put some pressure on it, so it shouldn’t be too crazy.”
Washington (17-56) has dropped 17 of its last 18 games after losing 131-126 to the host Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
The Wizards lost 16 in a row before routing the Utah Jazz 133-110 on Wednesday in the second contest of a four-game road trip. But they returned to their losing ways after allowing 72 first-half points to the Warriors.
Rookie Will Riley had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for Washington. The 20-year-old has topped 20 points four times this month and missed by one point on two other occasions.
Bilal Coulibaly had 21 points but was limited to 19 minutes by coach Brian Keefe for the second straight game. Bub Carrington had 16 points and played just 26 minutes, while Alex Sarr had eight points and nine boards while getting just 23 minutes of action.
“Our health of our players is our No. 1 thing,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said, explaining each of those players had a minutes limit. “We want to keep the rotation … similar rotations that they’re used to playing together. And when they hit (the minutes limit), that’s kind of it.”
Backup Anthony Gill scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting against Golden State and is averaging 13.3 points on 25-for-33 shooting (75.8%) over the past four games.
Sarr had 29 points and 12 rebounds when Washington notched a 115-111 home victory over the Trail Blazers on Jan. 27. Clingan collected 20 rebounds to go with 14 points for Portland.
–Field Level Media
Sports
UConn returns to Final Four after rolling past Notre Dame
Mar 29, 2026; Fort Worth, TX, USA; UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) drives to the basket as Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cassandre Prosper (8) defends during the first half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images Sarah Strong scored 21 points and Blanca Quinonez added 20 off the bench as top-seeded UConn handled its business with a 70-52 in over No. 6-seed Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon in an NCAA Tournament Regional 1 final at Fort Worth, Texas.
UConn (38-0), the defending national champion, won its 54th consecutive game and advanced to the Women’s Final Four on Friday in Phoenix where it will play either South Carolina or TCU.
The Huskies earned an 85-47 victory over Notre Dame at home on Jan. 19 but this game was more competitive as the stakes were much higher.
UConn took its first lead at 5-6 with 4:45 remaining the first quarter and slowly wore down Notre Dame, going up 20-11 after one quarter and 32-25 at halftime.
After a Fighting Irish rally midway through the third period, the Huskies led 47-36 heading into the forth. Quinonez’s 3-pointer with 5:43 remaining in the game increased the Huskies’ lead to 63-44 and UConn cruised to the finish.
Azzi Fudd added 13 points for the Huskies, while Quinonez had a team-high eight rebounds. UConn scored 19 points off 18 Notre Dame turnovers and had a 35-29 rebounding advantage.
Hannah Hidalgo led Notre Dame (25-11) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Vanessa de Jesus had eight points with five rebounds.
Fudd’s steal and assist to Quinonez produced a layup on the final possession of the first quarter and sent the Huskies to their 20-11 lead.
Notre Dame reeled off an 11-4 spurt that started late in the first quarter and was punctuated by a 3-pointer by Hidalgo that trimmed UConn’s advantage to 24-20. The Huskies responded with three straight baskets to lead 30-20 after Strong canned a jumper at the 2:34 mark before settling into a seven-point halftime advantage.
Quinonez has season-high 14 points before halftime to lead all scorers and was the only player from either team in double figures. Hidalgo paced the Fighting Irish with nine points in the first half.
Strong’s layup on the break with 8:43 to play in the third period gave UConn a 38-26 lead before the Fighting Irish clamped down, holding the Huskies scoreless for nearly five minutes. But Notre Dame only scored four points over the stretch.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Adam Sykora helps Rangers knock off Panthers
Mar 29, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) and New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) battle for the puck during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images Rookie Adam Sykora scored for the second straight game, Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves and the host New York Rangers recorded a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
The Rangers (30-35-9, 69 points) won their second straight following a season-high six-game skid, and did so after struggling to generate many chances in the opening 40 minutes.
Sykora broke the deadlock by getting through the slot and slightly past Florida’s Noah Gregor. As defenseman Adam Fox lifted a shot from the middle of the right circle, Sykora lifted his stick up just enough to deflect the puck into the net from in front of goalie Sergei Bobrovksy.
Playing in his third NHL career game since debuting Wednesday in Toronto, Sykora netted his first career game-winning goal. He scored New York’s third goal in its 6-1 rout of the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday by finishing off a 2-on-1 with Will Cuylle.
Conor Sheary scored on a shorthanded breakaway with 8:46 left in the third. Fox capped the scoring with a shorthanded empty-net tally with 3:54 left in the third.
Shesterkin nearly recorded his second shutout this season and stopped a four-game losing streak.
He highlighted the game with consecutive pad stops on Matthew Tkachuk with about 12 1/2 minutes left and used his glove to snatch an attempt from Vinnie Hinostroza during a Florida power play midway through the first.
Mackie Samoskevich scored in the final minutes as The Panthers (35-35-3, 73 points) fell to 2-6-0 in their past eight games.
Bobrovsky made 18 saves.
Mika Zibanejad nearly scored for New York during a power play with 95 seconds left in the second period but saw his shot from the right circle stop on the goal line. After the shot got by Bobrovsky, Gustav Forsling swept the puck away from the goal line.
The Panthers nearly took the lead 3:22 into the third when Tkachuk finished off a 2-on-1 with Carter Verhaeghe. The Rangers challenged for offsides and the goal was disallowed.
After Sykora’s goal, J.T. Miller stole the puck from Tkachuk at the blue line in the offensive zone and found Sheary. Sheary skated into the zone ahead of Florida defenseman Mike Benning and sent a shot from between the circles by Bobrovsky.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Islanders, Penguins in playoff mode with second place on line
Mar 28, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders center Brayden Schenn (10) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins square off in a battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division when they face each other in Elmont, N.Y., on Monday.
As the clubs meet with one point separating them, the Islanders (42-27-5, 89 points) are on a mini two-game winning streak, and the Penguins (36-21-16, 88 points) are battling double trouble — an uneven stretch of games without two of their offensive catalysts.
The Islanders are coming off a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, when they erased a two-goal deficit by scoring five goals in the second period.
“The rest of the games are playoff games,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “They’re big games for us, big points, and we need all the wins we can get.”
New York has won three of its last four games, with positive signs all over.
Brayden Schenn, acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline, scored a goal in a three-point game Saturday, his first multi-point performance since the move.
Matthew Schaefer, the rising star drafted first overall last summer, collected a pair of assists to tie the team record for points by a rookie defenseman (56, set by Stefan Persson in 1977-78).
With the likes of Horvat and Mat Barzal held off the scoresheet for New York, Marc Gatcomb emerged to snap a 36-game goal drought.
“We just keep sticking to the gameplan,” Gatcomb said. “We’ve been great with comebacks and stuff like that. We’ve been staying resilient. I think the main focus was just getting pucks on net. We got some good bounces there, and they just started going in.”
The Penguins, meanwhile, have lost three of four games, with the latest setback a 6-3 home loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Sunday.
Pittsburgh surrendered leads of 1-0 and 2-1 en route to the defeat, although the game was not as one-sided as the final score indicated. Dallas netted a pair of empty-net goals after the Penguins made it a 4-3 affair midway through the final period.
“We had a great start,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “I thought we were in their face. We had some really good shifts. Got into penalty trouble. I think that hurt us. I don’t think we did a very good job of playing hard and simple to get that momentum back on our side.”
The Penguins are hoping for reinforcements to turn their fortunes in a hurry. Captain and leading scorer Sidney Crosby missed the Dallas game due to a lower-body injury. Evgeni Malkin has missed three games due to an upper-body issue.
They both practiced Sunday without contact jerseys, which bodes well.
“Guys have to take on different responsibilities, different minutes, you know, from maybe what they’ve had in the past,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “Obviously, with Sid and with Geno, not one person is going to go in there and suddenly replace them. All these things have to be done by committee.”
Defenseman Erik Karlsson has elevated his play of late. Karlsson has posted consecutive games with one goal and two assists. He has netted two or more points in nine March games and collected 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 15 games this month.
–Field Level Media
UConn returns to Final Four after rolling past Notre Dame
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