Sports
NBA roundup: Thunder top Wolves, push win streak to 12
Dec 31, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) blocks a shot by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to their 12th consecutive victory, a 113-105 decision over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
The winning streak is the Thunder’s longest since early in the 2012-13 season and ties the longest run since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City. The club’s all-time mark is a 14-game run by the 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics.
After a slow start, Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. Jalen Williams and Luguentz Dort each had 14 points, with Williams adding seven boards and seven assists.
Anthony Edwards scored 13 of his 20 points in the second quarter for the Timberwolves, whose three-game winning streak ended. Naz Reid produced 19 points and eight rebounds, Mike Conley scored 16 points and Julius Randle logged 11 points and six assists.
Celtics 125, Raptors 71
Jayson Tatum had 23 points and eight rebounds as Boston throttled visiting Toronto for its 10th straight win in the teams’ all-time series.
Payton Pritchard scored 19 points off the bench for the Celtics, who have not lost to the Raptors since March 2022. Derrick White (16 points), Jrue Holiday (14), Jaylen Brown (12), Sam Hauser (12) and Jordan Walsh (10) also scored in double figures for Boston, which made 22 of 43 3-point attempts (51.2 percent).
Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 16 points and 13 rebounds but was 1-for-8 from 3-point territory. Toronto committed 21 turnovers and managed the fewest points by a team in a game this season en route to its 11th straight loss.
Cavaliers 122, Lakers 110
Jarrett Allen scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as Cleveland led nearly wire to wire and beat host Los Angeles for its eighth win in a row.
Donovan Mitchell added 26 points for the Cavaliers, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back set. A Cavaliers run of 17-2, beginning late in the third quarter and carrying over into the fourth, blew the game open. Mitchell hit half of his six 3-pointers during the decisive spell as the Cleveland advantage swelled to a game-high 16 points.
Los Angeles’ Austin Reaves matched his career high with 35 points and added 10 assists and nine rebounds. Anthony Davis added 28 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks as the Lakers fell after winning five of their previous six games.
Bucks 120, Pacers 112
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Milwaukee to a comeback win over Indiana in Indianapolis.
Brook Lopez added 16 points for Milwaukee, which rallied from 19 down in the second half to end a two-game skid. Khris Middleton contributed 15 points.
Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana with 25 points while Pascal Siakam added 20 points and Myles Turner logged 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Pacers have dropped three of their past four games after a five-game winning streak.
Spurs 122, Clippers 86
Victor Wembanyama scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 26 minutes of court time and set the tone with an explosive first quarter as San Antonio cruised past visiting Los Angeles.
The second-year French phenom scored 17 points in the first quarter, matching Los Angeles’ total as a team. The Clippers trailed by 25 points late in the first half, by 28 after three quarters and by as many as 41 in the game’s waning moments.
James Harden led the Clippers with 17 points, 13 of them coming in the first quarter. Norman Powell added 15 points, and Amir Coffey scored 14 points.
Grizzlies 117, Suns 112
Jaren Jackson Jr. paired 38 points with 12 rebounds and Desmond Bane added 31 points to lead Memphis to a win over host Phoenix.
Luke Kennard supplied 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Memphis. The Grizzlies opened up a 14-point halftime advantage and held on after Phoenix closed within a point in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant bundled 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Suns, who lost Bradley Beal after the first quarter due to a hip contusion. Beal was hurt when he landed awkwardly after being fouled by Jackson with 4:40 left in the opening frame. He played the rest of the quarter before being ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
