Sports
NBA roundup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 52, but Thunder lose
Jan 29, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the hoop against the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images Stephen Curry bounced back from a four-point first half with five second-half 3-pointers and the Golden State Warriors rallied to overcome Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52 points and stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-109 on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Andrew Wiggins went for a team-high 27 points and Curry finished with 21 points for the Warriors, who beat the Western Conference front-runners for the second time in three meetings this season.
Kevon Looney chipped in with a career-high-tying 18 points off the bench as Golden State earned its third win in four games.
Gilgeous-Alexander logged the second 50-point effort of his career. He put up 54 in a home win over the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22. Gilgeous-Alexander, who singlehandedly outscored the Warriors in the first quarter with a 21-point performance, finished 16-for-29 from the field. He padded his point total with an 18-for-21 night at the free-throw line.
Raptors 106, Wizards 82
Scottie Barnes scored 24 points as visiting Toronto thrashed Washington for its fifth straight win.
Barnes eclipsed the 20-point mark for the fourth consecutive game, making 10 of 19 attempts from the field. Jakob Poeltl finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Kyle Kuzma recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who lost their 15th game in a row, one game shy of their season-worst skid.
Celtics 122, Bulls 100
Kristaps Porzingis scored a season-high 34 points and collected 11 rebounds to help Boston breeze to a victory over visiting Chicago.
Porzingis made 10 of his 18 field goal attempts, including 8 of 14 shots from behind the 3-point arc. His eight 3-pointers tied his career high. Jaylen Brown added 28 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who also received a 22-point performance from Derrick White.
The Bulls didn’t have leading scorer Zach LaVine, who is averaging 24.0 points per game. Chicago guard Coby White returned from an ankle injury and scored 16 points in 31 minutes.
Knicks 122, Nuggets 112
Jalen Brunson posted his second double-double in three games for host New York, which continued its surge with a win over Denver.
Brunson, who finished with 30 points and 15 assists, had 15 points during a decisive third-period run for the Knicks, who have won five straight following a 3-6 skid. Karl-Anthony Towns supplied 14 points and 10 rebounds, while OG Anunoby netted 23 points.
Jamal Murray scored 33 points for the Nuggets, who set a season-worst with their third straight loss. Denver superstar Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists while playing just 33 minutes due to early foul trouble.
Cavaliers 126, Heat 106
Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points and Evan Mobley collected 22 points and 15 rebounds, lifting visiting Cleveland to a wire-to-wire victory over Miami.
Ty Jerome contributed 20 points and Georges Niang added 15 off the bench for the Cavaliers, who shot 54 percent from the floor and held a decisive 68-38 edge in points in the paint.
Terry Rozier scored 22 points off the bench for the Heat, who have lost six of their last nine games. Tyler Herro also put up 22 points, and Bam Adebayo contributed 21 points and nine rebounds.
Mavericks 137, Pelicans 136
P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford had double-doubles, four of their Dallas teammates scored in double figures and the visiting Mavericks defeated New Orleans.
Washington finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Gafford had 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. Kyrie Irving logged 25 points, nine boards and six assists. Klay Thompson added 20 points, Quentin Grimes had 17 and Spencer Dinwiddie put up 11 as Dallas won for the third time in four games.
Trey Murphy III scored 32, Zion Williamson added 29 points and seven assists, Dejounte Murray scored 27 points, and CJ McCollum amassed 23 points and eight assists for New Orleans, which lost its fourth straight game.
Timberwolves 121, Suns 113
Minnesota rode a pivotal fourth-quarter run to a road win over Phoenix in a chippy contest featuring a bevy of technical fouls.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points off the bench and Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 33 points for Minnesota, which earned its fourth straight win. Julius Randle finished with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and matched Edwards with a game-high seven rebounds. Randle also swiped a game-high three steals, and his six assists matched Mike Conley’s team high.
Devin Booker, who also received a technical foul, finished with 28 points and a game-high eight assists. Bradley Beal added 17 points and six assists for Phoenix, while Grayson Allen had 11 points and seven rebounds.
76ers 117, Kings 104
Tyrese Maxey supplied 30 points and eight assists to guide host Philadelphia past Sacramento for its fourth straight win.
Kelly Oubre Jr. added 15 points and four steals for Philadelphia, which continued to play without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (finger), among others.
Sacramento lost for the third time in four games despite all five starters scoring in double figures. Malik Monk notched 21 points and eight assists, while Domantas Sabonis recorded his third straight triple-double (13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists).
Nets 104, Hornets 83
Keon Johnson scored 18 points as Brooklyn won at Charlotte, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Jalen Wilson added 15 points for the Nets, while Nic Claxton supplied 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 23 points to go with 13 rebounds. The Hornets, who have lost four of their last five games, were without LaMelo Ball (ankle) and Mark Williams (foot).
Clippers 128, Spurs 116
Kawhi Leonard poured in a season-high 27 points and Ivica Zubac amassed 21 points and 22 rebounds as Los Angeles dominated the final five minutes to win at San Antonio.
Norman Powell also had 27 points while James Harden racked up 21 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who earned their third victory in four games.
Wembanyama scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs, who have lost five of their past six games.
Pacers 133, Pistons 119
Pascal Siakam had a season-high 37 points, Tyrese Haliburton added 30 and Indiana fought off a strong challenge to defeat Detroit in Indianapolis.
The game saw a total of six technical fouls called, four on Detroit, and Pistons backup center Isaiah Stewart was ejected in the second quarter after a flagrant foul on Pacers forward Thomas Bryant.
Indiana is an NBA-best 10-2 since the start of 2025, and all 10 wins have been by double figures. Detroit was led by Cade Cunningham’s 32 points. Myles Turner had 24 for the Pacers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Why Tiger Woods Playing the Masters Seems Unlikely
I think I’m getting ready to turn off mobile notifications for Tiger Woods’ tweets.
I must have turned them on sometime after the car crash in 2021, when he almost lost his leg and his remaining golf career hung by a thread. Or it could have been later on in 2023, as I waited to see how he’d address the ludicrous PGA Tour-LIV “merger” that never happened.
Really, I just want to hear when Woods will try to play again. But any golf fan knows the two kinds of Woods tweets.
1. The statement announcing he’s going to have another surgery. Or 2. The promotional post, for his foundation or something else.
I got a notification this week that Woods posted, only for it to be a retweet of his apparel brand, Sun Day Red. Did you know “The Pioneer Willow applies a clean blucher construction to our highest performance technology, built from the ground up to serve the athlete first”? Riveting stuff.
He didn’t tweet the week of the Genesis Invitational, perhaps too busy with his responsibilities hosting the event. But he knows how to make a headline, to keep the hype building.
That week, at Woods’ press conference in the capacity as host, he didn’t rule out playing the Masters in two months, or playing the PGA Tour Champions now that he’s 50, or captaining the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team. But the more you think about it, the more you see these as empty headlines. Not ruling it out means no decision has been made one way or another.
OK. Let us know when you know, I guess!
If anyone needs a brief refresher, Woods last played at the 2024 Open Championship. He had his sixth back surgery that fall for a nerve impingement, ruptured an Achilles while ramping up his training in March and had back surgery No. 7 for a disc replacement this past October.
As recently as December, he told reporters he could only chip and putt at that point, but he’s graduated to hitting full shots now. “Yeah, I’m able to. Not well every day, but I can hit them,” Woods said this month at the Genesis.
That’s why I’m skeptical about this Masters return.
He needs to be hitting full shots well, every day, by Round 1 on April 9. If not, his record streak of 24 made cuts will be in danger. The rest of the golf world is getting younger, more fit; Woods’ last three Masters finishes — 47th, WD after making the cut on the number, 60th — are his three worst since he was 20 years old.
I’m intrigued by the idea that he could sign up for the Champions Tour just to get a couple of rounds in while being allowed to drive a cart. Honestly, he’d be near the top of the leaderboard if not lapping the field, and it would send a bunch of people scrambling to figure out just how you can watch the old guys’ circuit.
But as his body breaks down, the real struggle for Woods has been to walk the course for four rounds, and as he’s said in the past, Augusta National is no breeze in that department.
So the not-ruling-it-out declaration was a salesman’s tactic from someone who’s been around the block and who knows the golf media and fandom all too well. Someone give me a ring if he’s playing in April. Notifications — off.
Sports
Lu Dort’s Antics Outshine Big Win for Oklahoma City Thunder
Luguentz Dort is a dirty player.
I’m not saying something entirely unheard of with this take. Dort, along with most players on the Thunder, benefit from a whistle not given to the rest of the league. Friday night’s matchup between the Nuggets and Thunder showed that at full effect.
This game was very physical from start to finish. These two teams do not like each other, and I feel much of that comes from the SGA vs. Jokic MVP debates. Jokic is probably the better player, but Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP last year and knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs.
Things are different this time around. Jokic has far more help than in years past. Denver isn’t quite fully healthy yet, but in spurts, you’ve seen what this team could do in the playoffs.
OKC and Denver met at the start of the month, but the Nuggets were still missing multiple role players, and Jokic had a bit of a down night in only his second game back from injury. Even still, we saw a level of chippiness in this one that you normally won’t see in the NBA.
What happened on Friday had been building for the better part of two seasons.
While trying to get back on defense on a made basket, Dort purposefully hip-checked and tripped Jokic, leading to a mid-court fight between Jokic and Jaylin Williams.
Dort was given a flagrant two and ejected from the game, something Coach Daigneault disagreed with. He claimed that any player who trips someone running up the floor should be ejected now that this precedent has been set.
In most cases, if something like this occurs, a player should probably be ejected. Rocket’s Tari Eason did something similar earlier this week, and it led to Vince Williams Jr. tearing his ACL. Physicality is great in basketball, but dumb plays like the one Dort made are dangerous and could potentially injure a superstar like Jokic.
Another key factor is that Dort doesn’t deserve any benefit of the doubt. This isn’t a one-off play. He’s a Draymond Green-like character who is always toeing the line between fair and foul.
Dort has countless plays like this. If you feel like he’s close to doing anything dirty, he should be removed from the game and fined, because he’s constantly committing non-basketball fouls.
The Thunder did go on to win in OT, but luckily, these teams meet again in less than 10 days, so I doubt this is the end of this beef.
Sports
After capturing gold, Wild trio focused on Blues
Feb 4, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) winning goal against the Nashville Predators during the overtime period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images A trio of United States Olympic gold medal winners are about to return “home.”
It’s likely that fans from the “State of Hockey” will welcome them back with a roar.
Matt Boldy and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber will be front and center when the Minnesota Wild face off against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn. It will be their first home game since Feb. 2 for the Wild, who had a three-week break for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Faber might get the loudest cheer when he is recognized as part of a U.S. team that won the nation’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980. The local product grew up in suburban Maple Grove, Minn., and starred collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
How’s he feeling after the whirlwind of February?
“Good enough, right?” Faber said. “I played hockey the whole time, so I’m still in game shape.”
The Wild have split their two games since returning from the Olympic break. They stormed to a 5-2 road win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night but lost by the same score versus the Utah Mammoth on Friday.
The loss might have come with added cost as veteran forward Joel Eriksson Ek left the game after taking a high stick to the face.
Eriksson Ek’s status is uncertain for Sunday. He has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 54 games this season.
“We all know the type of player ‘Ekky’ is and the situations we count on him to play in,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It’s unfortunate, but hopefully he’s OK.”
St. Louis also will try to bounce back from a loss after falling short 3-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Pavel Buchnevich scored the lone goal for the Blues.
Blues forward Jake Neighbours said he and his teammates needed to come out with a better effort against the Wild. He said the team recorded a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday because of a great effort level and lost its most recent game because of a reduced effort level.
“To me, it’s battles,” Neighbours said. “I thought on Thursday, our compete (level) was really high. We were excited. There was a lot of energy on the bench and in the dressing room.
“For whatever reason, (on Saturday), it just didn’t seem like we could muster up the momentum and the energy to take over the game.”
Joel Hofer could get the start for the Blues in net one night after Jordan Binnington turned aside 30 of 32 shots against the Devils. Hofer is 13-11-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage this season, and he is 1-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .944 save percentage in his only career game against Minnesota.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson likely will get the nod after fellow netminder Jesper Wallstedt started against Utah. Gustavsson is 21-9-6 with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season, and he is 5-2-0 with a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage in eight career appearances against the Blues.
–Field Level Media
Why Tiger Woods Playing the Masters Seems Unlikely
Lu Dort’s Antics Outshine Big Win for Oklahoma City Thunder
