Sports
NBA roundup: Celtics rout Knicks for 5th straight win


Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to five games with a 118-105 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Sunday.
Jaylen Brown added 24 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who have also won nine of their past 10. Boston received 19 points from Derrick White, 15 from Kristaps Porzingis and 14 from Jrue Holiday. White, who was 5 of 6 from 3-point range, also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
New York, which trailed by 27 in the third quarter, was within four points following a Karl-Anthony Towns 3-pointer with 11:32 to play, but the Celtics pulled away to lead by 20 with 3:54 remaining. Towns led New York with 24 points and 18 rebounds. He left the game with an apparent leg injury midway through the fourth quarter but returned minutes later. Jalen Brunson tossed in 22 points for the Knicks.
The Celtics entered the game second in the Eastern Conference standings, three games ahead of the third-place Knicks. Boston made 17 of 44 shots from 3-point range and outrebounded New York 49-40.
Thunder 130, Timberwolves 123
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points on 13-for-24 shooting from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and dished eight assists, and Oklahoma City held on for a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Chet Holmgren added 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting for Oklahoma City, which earned its ninth win in its past 10. Jalen Williams finished with 18 points and nine assists, and Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points off the bench while making all four of his 3-point attempts.
Anthony Edwards scored 29 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists to lead Minnesota, which lost for the fourth time in its past five games. Naz Reid (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Jaden McDaniels (17 points, 13 rebounds) also recorded double-doubles.
Warriors 126, Mavericks 102
Stephen Curry had 16 of his game-high 30 points in the third quarter, Jimmy Butler celebrated his home debut in front of his new fans with 18 points and Golden State blitzed Dallas in San Francisco.
Brandin Podziemski chipped in with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Warriors, who retired Andre Iguodala’s No. 9 jersey in a postgame ceremony.
Kyrie Irving and P.J. Washington tossed in 17 points apiece to pace the Mavericks, who saw a three-game winning streak come to an end as news-making acquisition Anthony Davis sat out a fifth consecutive contest with an adductor strain.
Cavaliers 129, Grizzlies 123
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points as Cleveland won its seventh straight game, beating visiting Memphis.
Sixth man Ty Jerome added 26 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and Evan Mobley posted 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 22 points for Memphis, Ja Morant paired 21 points with 10 assists and Luke Kennard contributed 19 points off the bench.
Bucks 120, Heat 113
Damian Lillard scored 28 points and dished eight assists to lead Milwaukee to a victory over visiting Miami.
Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 23 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, and Brook Lopez scored 17 points as the Bucks won their fourth straight game and fifth in their last six.
Tyler Herro, a native of the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield, tied a season high with 40 points to go along with 11 assists for Miami. Bam Adebayo added 24 points and seven rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins had 20 points.
Magic 110, Wizards 90
Anthony Black matched his career high with 23 points and Franz Wagner also scored 23 as Orlando dominated the second half in a win over visiting Washington.
Paolo Banchero added 19 points for Orlando, which led by as many as 26 and won its eighth straight meeting against the Wizards. Orlando led by two at the half before opening the third quarter on a 22-6 run. The Magic maintained control and cruised to their fourth win in their last six games.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 16 points. Bub Carrington scored 13 points, Tristan Vukcevic added 12, Bilal Coulibaly had 11, and Richaun Holmes finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the short-handed Wizards lost their sixth straight and fell to a league-worst 9-47.
Pacers 129, Clippers 111
Tyrese Haliburton’s 29-point, 12-assist double-double led a balanced offensive effort, and Indiana led wire-to-wire in a home rout of Los Angeles.
Seven Pacers scored in double figures, including 19 points from Aaron Nesmith and 17 from Myles Turner. Pascal Siakam posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Andrew Nembhard rounded out the Indiana starting five’s collective scoring effort with 12 points.
The Pacers weathered a monster start from James Harden, who was in on all of Los Angeles’ first 20 points either through scoring or assists. He rode his hot start to a game-high 31 points. Harden also dished a team-high 11 assists and grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
Pistons 148, Hawks 143
Cade Cunningham scored 38 points to help visiting Detroit win its season-best sixth straight game, over Atlanta. Cunningham finished 14-for-24 shooting from the floor with seven 3-pointers, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
The game was tied 135-all at 2:35 and went through five lead changes until Dennis Schroder’s three-point play put the Pistons ahead to stay 142-140 with 33 seconds left. Detroit put it away when Malik Beasley made two free throws with 23 seconds remaining. Schroder, a former Hawk, came off the bench to score 16 points, his most since joining the Pistons at the trade deadline. Beasley added 24 points with six 3-pointers in a reserve role.
Atlanta’s Trae Young scored 38 points with 13 assists. It was the 17th time Young surpassed the 30-point mark this season as he notched his 33rd double-double.
Raptors 127, Suns 109
Immanuel Quickley, Chris Boucher and RJ Barrett each scored 23 points, and Toronto defeated visiting Phoenix.
As a reserve, Boucher scored 14 of his points in the second quarter and grabbed 10 rebounds for the game. Scottie Barnes added 20 points and nine rebounds and Orlando Robinson scored 10 points for the Raptors, who had lost their previous two games.
Devin Booker scored 31 points for the Suns, who have lost five of six. Bradley Beal added 30 points, Kevin Durant scored 15 and Nick Richards scored 10.
Pelicans 114, Spurs 96
Zion Williamson scored 22 points, Kelly Olynyk had a double-double and host New Orleans defeated San Antonio.
Olynyk, playing just his second game with the Pelicans since being acquired in a trade with Toronto, finished with 14 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Karlo Matkovic scored a season-high 19 points, Trey Murphy III had 15, CJ McCollum and Jose Alvarado added 12 each and Jordan Hawkins scored 10 for the Pelicans.
Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie scored 18 each for the Spurs. De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes had 13 each and Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who were outscored 74-43 in the second half.
–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