Sports
NBA roundup: Jarrett Allen’s career night carries Cavs past Blazers
Feb 1, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) talks to center Jarrett Allen (31) during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Jarrett Allen scored a career-best 40 points, collected a season-high 17 rebounds and added five assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 130-111 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Sam Merrill made six 3-pointers for the fifth time this season and scored 22 points, and Jaylon Tyson was 4-for-4 from 3-point range while recording 18 points and six assists for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell had 14 points and nine assists, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 12 points as Cleveland won for the sixth time in the past seven games.
Caleb Love scored 21 points off the bench and Shaedon Sharpe had 20 points for Portland, which lost its fifth game in a row. Sidy Cissoko and Jerami Grant scored 15 points apiece, Toumani Camara had 12 points and reserve Robert Williams III had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Portland played without Deni Avdija (back), who was named a Western Conference All-Star reserve earlier Sunday. Avdija has missed six of the last 10 games after playing in each of the first 40. Cleveland remained without Darius Garland (right toe sprain) and Evan Mobley (left calf strain).
Celtics 107, Bucks 79
Jaylen Brown returned after a one-game absence and had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead Boston to a triumph over visiting Milwaukee.
Brown, who sat out Friday night’s 112-93 victory over Sacramento with a sore hamstring, made 12 of 20 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 6 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. His rebound total matched a season high.
Anfernee Simons came off the bench and scored 27 points. Derrick White added 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Celtics, who wrapped up a four-game homestand with a 3-1 record.
Ryan Rollins led Milwaukee with 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists. The Bucks received 16 points from Kyle Kuzma and eight points and 12 rebounds from Bobby Portis.
Heat 134, Bulls 91
Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson scored 20 points apiece as host Miami routed Chicago.
Miami point guard Davion Mitchell, who had been out with a shoulder injury, returned and provided 13 points and six assists. The Heat won convincingly despite still being without two starters in Tyler Herro (ribs) and Norman Powell (personal reasons).
The Bulls were led by Coby White, who had 16 points. Miami outscored Chicago in the paint 72-44, shot 50.5% from the floor and made 14 of 38 3-pointers (36.8%). Chicago shot 32.2% from the floor and 6-for-41 from deep (14.6%).
Thunder 121, Nuggets 111
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collected 34 points and a season-high 13 assists, Cason Wallace scored a career-high 27 points and Oklahoma City beat host Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored 20 or more points in 120 straight games and got the better of Nikola Jokic in a matchup of the last two NBA MVPs. Wallace made a career-high seven 3-pointers, Chet Holmgren finished with 14 points and three blocks, and Aaron Wiggins also scored 14 points for Oklahoma City.
Peyton Watson had 29 points and Jokic scored 16 points in his second game back from a left knee injury for the Nuggets. Jonas Valanciunas scored 13 points and Jamal Murray had 12 points and 12 assists hours after he was named as a first-time All-Star as a reserve for the All-Star Game on Feb. 15.
Spurs 112, Magic 103
Victor Wembanyama filled up the stat sheet with 25 points, eight rebounds, four steals and five blocks to lead San Antonio to a win over visiting Orlando.
The game was originally scheduled to begin at 3:12 p.m. CST but was delayed twice, first to 6 p.m. and finally to 8:12 local time, because of delays on the Spurs’ charter flight out of snowbound Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday and then a mechanical issue on Sunday morning. The Spurs did not arrive in San Antonio until 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
The Spurs were none the worse for the wear in the second part of a road-home back-to-back that opened with a loss Saturday to the host Hornets. Devin Vassell contributed 16 points for San Antonio while Dylan Harper added 15 off the bench, Keldon Johnson and De’Aaron Fox hit for 14 points each and Julian Champagnie tallied 11; Desmond Bane led Orlando with 25 points. Paolo Banchero added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Clippers 117, Suns 93
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, Ivica Zubac had 14 points and a season-high 20 rebounds, and Los Angeles continued its torrid run with a victory over host Phoenix.
John Collins scored 16 points and had nine rebounds and reserve Jordan Miller scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half for the Clippers. Los Angeles guard James Harden missed the game for personal reasons.
Grayson Allen scored 23 points, Dillon Brooks had 22 points and Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin had 12 points apiece for the Suns, who had a three-game winning streak broken. The Suns were without guards Devin Booker (ankle) and Jalen Green (hamstring, hip).
Pistons 130, Nets 77
Jalen Duren, who was named an NBA All-Star for the first time prior to the game, had 21 points and 10 rebounds as host Detroit pounded Brooklyn.
Fellow All-Star Cade Cunningham supplied 18 points, 12 assists and four steals for the Pistons, who have won eight of their last 10 games. Daniss Jenkins also scored 18 points in the opener of a four-game homestand. Tobias Harris added 11 points and Marcus Sasser chipped in 10 for the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons.
Cam Thomas and Drake Powell led the Nets with 12 points apiece. Nic Claxton added 10 for Brooklyn, which shot 32.9% from the field and committed 25 turnovers.
Raptors 107, Jazz 100
RJ Barrett scored 21 points and Toronto beat visiting Utah to snap its two-game losing streak while extending the Jazz’s skid to six games.
Sandro Mamukelashvili added 20 points, Scottie Barnes tallied 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, Brandon Ingram scored 19 points and Immanuel Quickley contributed 17 points for the Raptors.
Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points and added 11 rebounds for the Jazz. Jusuf Nurkic had 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, Isaiah Collier scored 19 points and Cody Williams added 10 points.
Knicks 112, Lakers 100
OG Anunoby scored seven of his team-high 25 points during a decisive run to end the third quarter, and surging New York pulled away from visiting Los Angeles.
Anunoby added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Knicks, who have won six straight since a 2-9 skid. Karl-Anthony Towns (11 points, 13 rebounds) and Jalen Brunson (12 points, 13 assists) each recorded double-doubles while Landry Shamet scored 23 points off the bench. Starter Josh Hart added 20 points.
Luka Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, had 30 points and tied a season-high with 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who fell to 4-3 on their season-long eight-game Grammys road trip. LeBron James had 22 points, five rebounds and six assists while Deandre Ayton had 13 points.
Wizards 116, Kings 112
Rookie Will Riley scored a season-high 18 points as Washington defeated visiting Sacramento.
Riley, who hit 4 of 8 from 3-point range, and AJ Johnson, who added 17 points, led a sterling performance from Washington’s bench which outscored Sacramento’s 61-20.
Zach LaVine scored 35 points and DeMar DeRozan posted 32 — including 24 in the second half — for the Kings, who suffered their ninth straight defeat.
–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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