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Hawks retain No. 6 seed with win over struggling Kings

NBA: Sacramento Kings at Atlanta HawksMar 28, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) reaches for the ball against Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) during the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 27 points, Jalen Johnson added 26 points and 10 assists and the Atlanta Hawks held off the visiting Sacramento Kings for a 123-113 victory on Saturday.

CJ McCollum scored 22 points, while Jock Landale finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks (42-33), who won their 15th game in 17 tries. Zaccharie Risacher tallied 13 points and Mohamed Gueye chipped in 10 for Atlanta, which holds a half-game lead over Philadelphia for the East’s No. 6 seed — the last guaranteed playoff spot in each conference. Coach Quin Snyder collected his 500th career victory, joining six active NBA head coaches and 41 in league history.

DeMar DeRozan led Sacramento (19-56) with 22 points, followed by Maxime Raynaud’s 18 points and 10 boards. Precious Achiuwa had 16, DaQuan Jeffries scored 15 and Daeqwon Plowden had 14 for the Kings, who dropped their third straight. Malik Monk and Killian Hayes both scored 10 points.

Atlanta pushed its 12-point halftime lead to 16 on Gueye’s 3-pointer with 8:08 left in the third.

The Kings pulled within nine on DeRozan’s layup, before Atlanta extended the lead back to 13.

Sacramento closed the third on a 7-1 run — including Hayes’ buzzer-beating triple — to cut its deficit to 88-82 entering the fourth.

The Kings tied the game at 97 apiece on Plowden’s 3-pointer with 8:03 left. Johnson’s five straight points began an 11-0 run that gave the Hawks a 108-97 edge with 5:47 remaining.

The margin was pushed to 14 on Landale’s triple. After DeRozan and Plowden’s 3-pointers, McCollum’s trey sealed the Atlanta win.

Neither team took a lead larger than five in the first quarter, as Jeffries’ 3-pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Kings a 30-27 lead after 12 minutes.

Sacramento opened up a seven-point lead on Plowden’s dunk at the 9:05 mark of the second quarter.

After Monk’s hook shot put the Kings ahead by 2, Alexander-Walker’s triple and Gueye’s dunk stamped a 14-0 run to put the Hawks up 63-51.

McCollum beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper to give Atlanta a 66-54 lead. Alexander-Walker had 14 first-half points, while Achiuwa’s 12 led the Kings.

–Field Level Media

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Grizzlies snap 5-game skid, edge Bulls on late FTs

NBA: Chicago Bulls at Memphis GrizzliesMar 28, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward (23) drives to the basket as Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) defends during the first quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Cedric Coward scored 24 points, including two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining, to lead the host Memphis Grizzlies to a 125-124 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Coward’s game-winning free throws nearly were erased when his inbounds pass with 4.0 seconds left following two Josh Giddey free throws was stolen by Tre Jones, who fed Collin Sexton for a layup. The shot by Sexton came after the final buzzer.

Tyler Burton added 18 points for the Grizzlies (25-49) and Jahmai Mashack scored 17. Rayan Rupert and DeJon Jarreau finished with 14 points each.

Matas Buzelis led the Bulls (29-45) with 29 points and 10 rebounds followed by 26 points from Sexton. Giddey posted his 13th triple-double (18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) this season and Jones contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Giddey’s performance followed a dismal showing Wednesday versus Oklahoma City where he was 1-of-11 shooting, including 0-for-8 from long range.

The Bulls lost their third straight game and have dropped five of their last six.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who scored a career-high 31 points for Memphis in Friday’s loss to the Rockets, was held to 12 points.

The Bulls won the first matchup, 132-106, two weeks ago in Chicago, but Saturday’s game was close throughout.

The game was tied seven times in the fourth quarter, the last coming at 120-all following a layup by Jones with 32.8 seconds to go.

Walter Clayton Jr. gave the Grizzlies a 123-120 advantage with 15.8 seconds left on a 3-pointer, then Giddey answered with a driving dunk with 7.9 seconds to go to trim the margin to one.

Memphis trailed by four early in the third quarter, but recovered behind Rupert. He scored 12 points in the quarter and his 3-pointer with 5:45 to go in the third put the Grizzlies ahead 81-71. Memphis led 98-88 entering the fourth as Coward connected on a floater in the lane at the buzzer.

–Field Level Media

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Arizona erupts after halftime, knocks off Purdue to return to Final Four

Syndication: The Indianapolis StarArizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10), Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff (45) and Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (13) battle for control of the ball during a NCAA Tournament game Saturday, March 28, 2026 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Koa Peat scored 20 points and fellow freshman Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 as top-seeded Arizona beat No. 2 Purdue 79-64 in the West Region finals on Saturday night, earning their first trip to the Final Four since 2001.

The Wildcats (36-2) won their 13th straight game by erasing a seven-point halftime deficit and ending a five-game skid in Elite Eight games. They had lost in the regional finals in 2003, 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2015.

Peat was 9 of 18 from the field, breaking Mike Bibby’s school record for most points in the Elite Eight by an Arizona freshman. Kharchenkov was 7 of 11 from the field and added eight rebounds, while Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries each scored 14.

Purdue (30-9) got 14 points and 10 rebounds from Oscar Cluff and 13 points and seven assists from Braden Smith, who scored 11 in the first half but was just 4 of 15 from the field for the game. The Boilermakers made 7 of 14 3-pointers in the first half but were just 1 of 8 after halftime.

The Boilermakers led 38-31 at halftime, outscoring Arizona 26-12 after being down seven early. The Wildcats scored seven straight to tie at 42, then took a 44-43 lead on two Jaden Bradley free throws with 14:34 remaining.

The Boilermakers went more than four and a half minutes without a field goal and Arizona extended to a 51-45 edge on an Anthony Dell’Orso 3-pointer with 12:09 to go. The Wildcats got the margin to 10 with 8:46 remaining, and Peat’s dunk made it 68-55 with 5:35 to go.

Purdue took a 10-9 lead with 15:44 left in the first half on a Smith 3, significant because it was the first time in the tournament that Arizona trailed. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run to build a 19-12 lead, and during that run, Trey Kaufman-Renn picked up his second foul.

A 3 by Gicarri Harris gave the Boilermakers back the lead, and later back-to-back 3s by Smith and CJ Cox put them up 33-27 with 2:33 left before halftime.

–Brian J. Pedersen, Field Level Media

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Hyo Joo Kim sets 54-hole record in taking control of Ford Championship

LPGA: The Chevron Championship - Second RoundApr 25, 2025; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Hyo Joo Kim Korea hits an shot onto the green at the 18th hole during the second round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim took an emphatic step toward defending her title at the Ford Championship on Saturday, setting an LPGA 54-hole record to build a four-stroke lead in Chandler, Ariz.

Despite that hot start, Kim is focused on keeping her approach consistent on Sunday.

“This course, anyone is capable of scoring low, so I will continue to just focus on the same game plan that I did today,” Kim said.

If that focus nets similar results, Kim will be in historic territory. On Saturday, Kim matched her first-day, 11-under-par 61 to put her at 25 under for the tournament, a pace through 54 holes that is the best in LPGA history.

Her 25-under stretch broke the previous record held by four players by one stroke.

Her bogey-free round included birdies on four of her first seven holes before she exceeded that hot start with four straight holes under par on Nos. 10-13. That stretch included an eagle on the par-5 No. 12.

Kim finished her remarkable day at the Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club with birdies on 16 and 17, giving her nine birdies and an eagle on the day.

“I play with my mind, just focusing on one shot at a time,” Kim said. “When I think about the shots, whether it’s striking a certain distance or how I play, I just focus on each at a time.”

Kim’s closest pursuer, unsurprisingly, is World No. 2 Nelly Korda, who led after two rounds and carded a 5-under 67 on Saturday to get to 21 under.

The pair have seen a lot of each other of late, playing in the same group over five straight rounds. Kim kept Korda at bay in last week’s Founders Cup to win by a single stroke in Menlo Park, Calif.

“Nelly is my favorite player,” Kim said. “It’s been great playing together. You know, it’s been great playing with her, competing with her and it’s just been fun overall.”

Korda’s day included five birdies and no bogeys.

“I’m never going to complain about a bogey-free round and 5-under, so it was a solid one,” Korda said.

Korda herself has a healthy lead over her closest competitors, as five golfers are tied at 16 under, five strokes behind Korda (and nine behind Kim). That group consists of England’s Mimi Rhodes (63 on Saturday), Japan’s Chizzy Iwai (67), South Korea’s Ina Yoon (67), Japan’s Minami Katsu (69) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (69).

–Field Level Media

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