Sports
NBA roundup: Cole Anthony caps Magic's 21-point rally past Nets
Dec 29, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic celebrate their 102-101 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Cole Anthony hit the game-winning basket with 1.3 seconds left to cap a furious rally as the host Orlando Magic erased a 21-point deficit and completed a season sweep of the Brooklyn Nets with a 102-101 victory on Sunday.
The Magic ended their fourth win over the Nets this season on a 22-4 run over the final 7:16 and capped the comeback on Anthony’s dramatic shot.
da Silva led the Magic with 21 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Goga Bitadze collected 11 rebounds and added 19 points, including a free throw that gave Orlando its first lead since the opening quarter with 17.7 seconds left.
Cam Thomas returned from a hamstring injury and led all scorers with 25 off the bench but the Nets did not make a field goal in the final 7:16 and lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Jalen Wilson added 16 and Keon Johnson contributed 14 as the Nets also lost Cameron Johnson to a sore left hip after the third.
Timberwolves 112, Spurs 110
Donte DiVincenzo scored a season-high 26 points as Minnesota outlasted Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio in a wild Western Conference clash in Minneapolis.
The game was tied heading to the fourth quarter after the Spurs rallied from a 16-point deficit early in the third period. Rudy Gobert scored 17 points and 15 rebounds as the Timberwolves won their third straight game. Julius Randle had 16 points, Anthony Edwards scored 14 on 6 of 20 shooting from the floor, Jaden McDaniels hit for 12 and Naz Reid scored 11 for Minnesota.
Wembanyama rang up 34 points to lead all scorers. Harrison Barnes added 24 for San Antonio, Devin Vassell hit for 22 points, Keldon Johnson tallied 13 and Chris Paul had 14 assists and four steals.
Thunder 130, Grizzlies 106
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points to help Oklahoma City run its winning streak to 11 games with a home victory over Memphis.
The loss snapped the Grizzlies’ two-game winning streak and was just their fourth in 18 games. The Thunder had a season-high 35 assists, led by eight from Jalen Williams. Six other Oklahoma City scorers joined Gilgeous-Alexander in double figures, including 17 points off the bench from Ajay Mitchell and 16 from Aaron Wiggins.
Without Ja Morant, who sustained a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder in Friday’s win over New Orleans, and several other key players, Memphis didn’t have an answer for the Western Conference-leading Thunder. Desmond Bane led Memphis with 22 points.
Heat 104, Rockets 100
Tyler Herro recorded game highs of 27 points and nine assists before being ejected during a hostile final minute as Miami rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat host Houston.
Herro was one of five players tossed in the final 47.4 seconds after Nikola Jovic’s 3-pointer gave Miami a 98-94 lead. Houston’s Fred VanVleet was ejected first for arguing a five-second call on the Rockets’ ensuing inbounds play. Twelve seconds later, Herro and Rockets forward Amen Thompson ignited a skirmish that led to both being disqualified along with Heat guard Terry Rozier and Houston guard Jalen Green. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and assistant Ben Sullivan were also kicked out.
Jovic finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists off the bench. Haywood Highsmith tallied 15 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, who played a fifth consecutive game without Jimmy Butler. Bam Adebayo paired 12 points with 10 boards. Dillon Brooks scored a team-high 22 points for Houston after missing the last three games with right ankle soreness.
Pacers 123, Celtics 114
Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points, six rebounds and seven assists as Indiana pulled away late to defeat host Boston for the second time in the teams’ three regular-season meetings.
Andrew Nembhard returned from a one-game absence (left knee) and added 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pacers, who also got 17 points, eight boards and six assists from Pascal Siakam.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 31 points and six assists. Jayson Tatum added 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists but was just 2-of-10 from 3-point range. A three-point play by Tatum completed a 9-0 spurt that pulled the Celtics within 105-103 with 7:38 left, but the Pacers scored the next 13 points to put the game out of reach.
Hawks 136, Raptors 107
Trae Young collected 34 points and 10 assists and Atlanta never trailed in dealing host Toronto its 10th straight loss.
Reserve De’Andre Hunter added 22 points for the Hawks, who have won four games in a row. Jalen Johnson chipped in 15 points, six steals and one block.
Scottie Barnes had 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Raptors, who committed 31 turnovers. RJ Barrett added 17 points, and Jakob Poeltl (groin injury) was back in the lineup after missing four games and had 13 points. Bruce Brown made his season debut and scored 12 points off the bench.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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