Joel Embiid had 29 points and made a big block in the final seconds as the Philadelphia Sixers rallied from 15 points down to edge the host Charlotte Hornets 118-114 on Saturday night.

Philadelphia (41-33) stopped Charlotte’s five-game winning streak and won the season series 2-1 giving them the tiebreaker in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Charlotte fell to 39-35.

Paul George, in his second game back from a 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program, finished with 26 points. Tyrese Maxey also had 26 in making his return to the Sixers lineup after missing 10 games with a finger injury.

Brandon Miller scored 29 for Charlotte.

The Hornets didn’t trail in building an 88-73 lead midway through the third quarter, but then they went over 12 minutes with only one field goal.

Philadelphia rallied. Maxey tied the game at 97 with a ferocious left-hand slam over Miles Bridges at the 10:03 mark of the fourth quarter, and then he gave the Sixers the lead with a drive to the basket.

The lead changed hands nine times in the fourth quarter. LaMelo Ball gave Charlotte a 114-112 lead with 1:24 left. Embiid sank a free throw and missed the second, but the ball went out of bounds off of the Hornets. On the ensuing inbounds pass, George made a three from the corner to put Philly ahead 116-114 with 1:04 left.

Charlotte turned the ball over on its next possession, and Maxey made one free throw with 31 seconds left. Ball saw a three rattle in and out, but Charlotte kept the ball. Embiid then ranged over and blocked a potential game-tying three by Miller in front of the Sixers bench with 7.4 seconds to go. Ball had one last chance, faking out George and getting a little room for a clean look at a corner three, but it was short. George made one free throw for the final margin.

Miller had 16 first-quarter points as Charlotte led 36-25, and the Hornets were up 69-64 at halftime.

With Milwaukee’s loss earlier on Saturday, Charlotte clinched at least a spot in the play-in tournament for the first time since 2022.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Brewers recalled top catching prospect Jeferson Quero and placed first baseman Andrew Vaughn on the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday’s game against the visiting Chicago White Sox.

Vaughn fractured the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day and will undergo surgery on Monday, according to the club. Vaughn is forecasted to miss four to six weeks.

“I think it happened in my first at-bat,” Vaughn said Saturday. “I went home that night and felt kind of fine. My hand was a little sore. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was barking. It was like, ‘Something’s not right.’ …

“I definitely was (surprised). Usually people say when it happens, right away it stings. I think it could have been the adrenaline of Opening Day. Then it hit me: Something is definitely wrong.”

Vaughn, who turns 28 on Friday, had an RBI single in the sixth inning of the 14-2 victory. He is beginning his first full season with the Brewers since being acquired from the White Sox last June. He is a .253 hitter with 86 homers and 340 RBIs in 675 career games since reaching the majors in 2021.

Vaughn is the second key Milwaukee player sidelined due to a broken left hand. Young star Jackson Chourio is on the IL stemming from being hit by a pitch on March 4 when he was playing in an exhibition game for Venezuela ahead of the World Baseball Classic.

Quero, 23, is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Brewers’ No. 8 overall prospect.

With William Contreras and Gary Sanchez handling catching duties to start the season for Milwaukee, Quero was sent to Triple-A Nashville, where he played one game and had a walk in four plate appearances.

In six minor league seasons, the Venezuela native is a career .275 hitter with 39 home runs and 171 RBIs in 279 games. He played 58 games at Nashville last season and batted .255 with six home runs and 44 RBIs.

Quero missed all but one game of the 2024 minor league season following major shoulder surgery.

“It was a long road to get here, but everything that happened makes this moment more exciting,” Quero said prior to Saturday’s game.

–Field Level Media

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Justin Allgaier ended the day where he started — out front — but it was a dramatic and challenging route to the trophy hoist in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts NFPA 250 at the historic half-mile Martinsville Speedway.

En route to his win, the 2024 series champion started from pole position and led the most laps (114 of 250). The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet claimed his second win in as many weeks — third of the season and 31st of his career.

Allgaier led the opening 65 laps of the race, won Stage 1, and then led the final 26 laps, bookending a typically thrilling edition of competition at the famed paperclip track.

“I keep saying it and I keep talking about how great this team is, but we have fired off 2026 better than I could have imagined,” said Allgaier, whose win marks the JR Motorsports organization’s fifth consecutive this season — one shy of the record set by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.

“It is pretty incredible, just the emotion,” added the 39-year-old, who has increased his advantage atop the standings to 92 points over reigning series champion Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. “I said it last week, but you get later on in your career, and you never know if you’ll win another one and this year has been pretty special.”

The victory is hard-earned, considering the race was slowed 13 times because of incidents on the notorious, challenging short track.

Most impactful, a 19-car pileup on a late race restart brought out a 26-minute red flag, massively reducing the field of true contenders. Late model superstar Lee Pulliam, making his first-ever start in a NASCAR national series driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, brought out the caution period after missing a shift on the restart from his front row starting position.

His team co-owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., reassured and encouraged Pulliam on the radio during the race stoppage, telling him, “I know you didn’t want that to happen, and you’ll handle it like a pro, we all make mistakes.” Adding post-race, “all in all, incredible to come in, run a race, lead laps, and run the car up front and get a great result in a tough place, he survived. He’s a helluva driver.”

After the race Pulliam, whose 40 laps led were second only to Allgaier, immediately addressed the late-race restart situation. “Just first off real quick, I’d like to apologize to everyone we tore up there. I just couldn’t get going with the older tires and it was just a little bit of inexperience.”

“Just so thankful to be here and do this. What a dream come true to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” added the well-respected and highly revered 37-year-old North Carolina native, who sold out of t-shirts commemorating his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut this weekend.

“The whole experience has been pretty special for me, something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. Just thankful for everybody that led to this moment, and I hope I made all you fans proud leading all those laps.”

“Man, that was super cool driving away. Just wish I could have gotten going on the restarts a little better, and if I ever get another chance to do this, I’ll learn from my mistakes and come back stronger.”

Corey Day’s second-place finish in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet was a career-best for the 20-year-old and marked an impressive sixth consecutive top-10 finish for the young driver. Sammy Smith finished third and posted his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville. Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed finished fourth in the No. 00 Chevrolet with Pulliam rounding out the top five.

Austin Hill was sixth, followed by Dean Thompson, Cup Series regular Ross Chastain, Ryan Sieg and 18-year-old rookie Brent Crews, who rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Rockingham Speedway for next Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire (2:30 p.m. ET, CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sammy Smith is the defending race winner.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — NFPA 250

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, Virginia

Saturday, March 28, 2026

1. (1) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.

2. (7) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 250.

3. (9) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 250.

4. (6) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 250.

5. (12) Lee Pulliam, Chevrolet, 250.

6. (26) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 250.

7. (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 250.

8. (38) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.

9. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 250.

10. (4) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 250.

11. (10) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 250.

12. (8) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 250.

13. (13) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 250.

14. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.

15. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 250.

16. (27) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 250.

17. (28) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 250.

18. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.

19. (37) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 250.

20. (16) William Sawalich, Toyota, 250.

21. (34) Brad Perez, Chevrolet, 250.

22. (36) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 250.

23. (11) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 250.

24. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 250.

25. (2) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 250.

26. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 248.

27. (25) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 242.

28. (5) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 234.

29. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.

30. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.

31. (19) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.

32. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.

33. (18) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 213.

34. (35) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, Suspension, 207.

35. (21) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 205.

36. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Brakes, 183.

37. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Oil Cooler, 89.

38. (29) Luke Baldwin(i), Ford, Accident, 31.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 55.015 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.258 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 14 for -153 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Allgaier 1-65;C. Day 66-102;S. Mayer 103-111;A. Hill 112-114;S. Mayer 115-119;A. Hill 120-125;R. Caruth 126-129;H. Burton 130;R. Caruth 131-144;H. Burton 145-160;J. Allgaier 161-183;L. Pulliam 184-187;B. Jones 188;L. Pulliam 189-224;J. Allgaier 225-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Justin Allgaier 3 times for 114 laps; Lee Pulliam 2 times for 40 laps; Corey Day 1 time for 37 laps; Rajah Caruth 2 times for 18 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 17 laps; Sam Mayer 2 times for 14 laps; Austin Hill 2 times for 9 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,20,88,19,00,8,96,1,2,18

Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,41,54,39,18,96,88,24,17,7

–Field Level Media