Will Riley led eight Washington players in double figures with 20 points as the undermanned Wizards surprised the host Detroit Pistons 126-117 on Thursday.

Riley added six rebounds and five assists for the Wizards, who had only 10 players available after trade deadline moves. Sharife Cooper supplied 18 points and five assists, while Tristan Vukcevic and Justin Champagnie had 14 points apiece.

Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr added 12 points apiece. Anthony Gill and Bilal Coulibaly each chipped in 11.

Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Duncan Robinson had 21 points, Ausar Thompson tossed in 13 and Ronald Holland added 11 with 10 rebounds.

Detroit’s All-Star center, Jalen Duren, missed the second half due to right knee soreness. Another starter, Tobias Harris, sat out due to left hip soreness.

Detroit came out flat while Washington built a 20-point lead. Midway through the second quarter, the Pistons were down 51-31.

A putback by Thompson kicked off a 21-2 run that pulled his team within a point. Cunningham and Holland had six points apiece during that span. Riley made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to give the Wizards a 56-52 lead at the break.

Robinson knocked down two 3-pointers in the first minute of the third quarter, sandwiching a Carrington 3-pointer. Still, the Wizards wouldn’t easily concede the lead. They soon went on a 15-1 run for an 80-64 lead. That was sparked by 3-pointers from Sarr and Carrington.

Vukcevic had a personal 6-0 run late in the quarter to give the Wizards a 90-71 lead. Detroit finished the quarter strong and cut it to 95-84 heading into the fourth.

A Riley putback with 9:49 remaining made it 101-90. The Pistons kept chipping away and when Robinson converted a four-point play, Washington’s lead was down to 112-107.

The Pistons got as close as four but the Wizards kept answering. Riley’s jumper with 2:43 left pushed Washington’s advantage to 119-110.

–Field Level Media

Rookie Brandon Bussi made 16 saves in a successful homecoming as the visiting Carolina Hurricanes extended their points streak to 10 games with a 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers Thursday night in the final game before the Olympic break.

Andrei Svechnikov scored early as Hurricanes improved to 8-0-2 in their past 10 and earned their second shutout win on the Rangers’ home ice this season.

A Long Island, N.Y. native, Bussi won his seventh straight game and improved to 23-3-1 since joining the Hurricanes as a waiver claim from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 5.

Bussi was rarely tested, but he delivered a left pad save on J.T. Miller midway through the second period and denied Will Cuylle on a partial breakaway six minutes into the third to highlight his second career shutout.

The Hurricanes had plenty of chances to turn the contest into a blowout, but New York goalie Jonathan Quick made a season-high 41 saves. Carolina finished its latest victory with 86 shot attempts and improved to 7-1-0 in their past eight games against the Rangers.

Jordan Staal added an empty-net tally in the final minute for the Hurricanes, who earned their third shutout of the season.

A day after trading Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings as part of their retooling attempt, the Rangers dropped their fourth straight. New York fell to 6-15-4 at home and was blanked for the seventh time in front of its frustrated fans, who were heard chanting for GM Chris Drury to be fired on a few occasions.

Svechnikov scored the only goal Bussi needed 6:26 into the contest thanks to defensive pressure by teammate Mark Jankowski deep in the offensive zone.

Jankowski forced New York defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov into the giveaway in the right circle. The puck went to Svechnikov, who walked into the slot unimpeded and sent a shot from between the circles past Quick’s left arm.

–Field Level Media

Chris Gotterup owns a two-stroke lead at the WM Phoenix Open after shooting an 8-under-par 63 in the first round at TPC Scottsdale that was suspended due to darkness Thursday in Arizona.

Nine players, none of them lower than 3 under for their rounds, have one or two holes left to complete Friday morning before getting on with the second round.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick shot a 7-under 29 on the back nine (his first nine holes of the day) but bogeyed his closing two holes to settle for a 6-under 65. Tied for third at 5-under 66 are Michael Thorbjornsen, Pierceson Coody, Sam Stevens and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard.

Gotterup began his bogey-free round on the back nine and got into red figures with an eagle at the par-5 13th. He reached the green in two and sank a 27-foot eagle putt to jumpstart his round.

The 26-year-old proceeded to birdie the next three holes, capped by a 7-footer at the famed par-3 16th, Scottsdale’s “Stadium Hole.” Gotterup added another birdie at No. 18 and two more on the front nine.

It has been a dream start to the 2026 season for Gotterup. He won his third PGA Tour title at the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii, then tied for 18th at the Farmers Insurance Open last week.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in danger of missing the cut after signing for a 2-over-par 73. On his back-nine start, he made four birdies but followed three of those immediately with a bogey. His struggles continued with a three-putt bogey at No. 1 and a messy double bogey at No. 2.

When Xander Schauffele missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, it left Scheffler as the active leader on tour with 65 consecutive cuts made.

–Field Level Media