Sports
Nikita Kucherov posts 700th career assist as Lightning top Maple Leafs
Feb 25, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) handles the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Nikita Kucherov scored and recorded his 700th career assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning resumed the regular season with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
The right wing fed Gage Goncalves, who later assisted on Kucherov’s tally, for a second-period goal to become the 64th player to reach the milestone and the third Russian-born one to do it, joining Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
Kucherov, whose point streak moved to an NHL-best 11 games, reached 30 goals for the ninth time in his career.
Brayden Point netted two goals and had a helper, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous returned with two assists.
Improving to 17-0-1 in his past 18 outings, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots as Tampa Bay won its sixth straight game and is 20-1-1 in the past 22 matches.
Coach Jon Cooper was not with the team following the death of his father, Robert, earlier this week and will also miss Thursday’s match at the Carolina Hurricanes.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies tallied for the Leafs, and William Nylander had two helpers.
After missing over two months with an upper-body injury and finally making three starts before the Olympic break, goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 32 shots.
In their second meeting this season and first game of a back-to-back set for both, Kucherov and Point both appeared to score in the first period, but Toronto successfully challenged for offside to take both markers down.
Vasilevskiy’s denial of Nylander’s deke and backhand-forehand effort with under three minutes left kept the opening period scoreless and the visitors holding an 8-4 edge in shots.
In a faster paced second, Point took a pass from D’Astous then waited out Stolarz, who was hindered by his defenseman Simon Benoit, and buried a sharp-angle shot at 7:07.
Goncalves then doubled the lead by securing a pass from Kucherov and netting a goal 51 seconds later.
Vasilevskiy made another fine stop on Nylander with about eight minutes left, stuffing his backhanded breakaway attempt.
Kucherov hit the net at 2:59 of the third, and Tavares broke the shutout bid at 16:19 on the power play.
Point scored 11 seconds later as Kucherov and Goncalves registered a second assist apiece, but Knies cut it to a two-goal deficit at 17:13.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Will Richard nets 21 to lead shorthanded Warriors past Grizzlies
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) dribbles around a screen as Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells (0) defends during the first quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Will Richard scored 21 points and Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski added 19 apiece to lead Golden State to a 133-112 victory Wednesday night over the host Memphis Grizzlies.
Each of the nine Warriors who played made a 3-pointer as Golden State finished 19-of-46 from deep. Gui Santos contributed 17 points and Moses Moody had 14 for the Warriors.
Memphis, which lost for the seventh time in eight games, was led by GG Jackson, who finished with 24 points and eight rebounds. Ty Jerome added 22 points and five assists and made four 3-pointers. Javon Small scored 16 points and Taylor Hendricks had 14 for Memphis.
The undersized and short-handed Grizzlies were outrebounded 48-34. They have been beaten on the boards 150-107 in their past three games, all losses.
The Grizzlies played without star guard Ja Morant. Morant missed his 15th straight game Wednesday with an elbow injury. Also absent as a result of injuries were a trio of starters: rookie Cedric Coward (knee), Santi Aldama (knee) and Zach Edey (ankle).
The Warriors were minus an abundance of key players, too. Stephen Curry (knee), Draymond Green (back), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Jimmy Butler (torn ACL, out for season) missed the game. Curry was sidelined for the ninth consecutive game with a right knee injury. He hasn’t played since Jan. 30.
Golden State pulled away in the second quarter behind a 13-0 run that gave the Warriors a 63-39 advantage. The Warriors led 74-53 at the half.
The Grizzlies put together a 7-0 run early in the third quarter to trim Golden State’s lead to 82-70. But the Warriors responded behind Santos during a 12-2 run for a 22-point cushion with 1:51 remaining in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors extended their lead, which eventually reached 32 points midway through the period after a basket by Richard. His field goal ended a 10-1 run.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ebuka Okorie drops 34 in latest showcase, Stanford beats Pitt
Feb 25, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie (1) dribbles by Pittsburgh Panthers guard Omari Witherspoon (8) and toward guard/forward Barry Dunning Jr. (22) in the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Ebuka Okorie saved his second and third 3-pointers of the night for a late flurry and finished with a game-high 34 points, lifting host Stanford to a 75-67 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Pitt on Wednesday night.
Okorie also found time for six rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Cardinal (17-11, 6-9 ACC), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Cameron Corhen had a team-high 22 points and Barry Dunning Jr. 19 for the Panthers (10-18, 3-12), who used a 14-2 burst to take a 63-57 lead on Corhen’s three-point play with 7:08 remaining.
But Pitt scored just four points the rest of the way, eventually falling victim to Okorie’s heroics.
The star freshman began his late run with a layup that put the hosts up for good at 65-64 with 4:07 remaining.
He then stole Omari Witherspoon’s pass, and despite getting a layup blocked by Witherspoon, the Cardinal retained possession. Benny Gealer found Okorie for a 3-pointer and a four-point advantage with 3:27 to go.
After Dunning missed a free throw for the Panthers, Okorie connected from deep again, giving Stanford a 71-64 lead from which the visitors never recovered.
Okorie shot 11-for-19 and made all nine of his foul shots in his sixth 30-point effort of the season. The Cardinal made all 10 of their free throws in the game and shot 50% from the field.
Gealer backed Okorie with 12 points and Aidan Cammann had 11 for Stanford. AJ Rohosy was the Cardinal’s leading rebounder with eight.
Corhen tied Rohosy for game-high rebound honors and also had four assists and two steals for Pitt, which lost despite shooting 49% overall and outscoring the hosts 27-21 from deep.
Corhen had a pair of three-point plays, Dunning a 3-pointer and a dunk and Nojus Indrusaitis a 3-pointer in Pitt’s 14-2 flurry that allowed them to turn a six-point deficit into their 63-57 advantage.
Indrusaitis had 10 points off the visitors’ bench.
The second half featured four ties and seven lead changes, the last on Okorie’s layup with 4:07 left that triggered Stanford’s fast finish.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duran record double-doubles as Pistons top Thunder
Feb 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) dribbles on Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) in the first half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 13 assists and Jalen Duren had 29 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 124-116 home win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in a battle of the top teams from each conference.
The Pistons have won six of their last seven, while the Thunder had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Detroit led by 17 in the third quarter and as many as 14 in the fourth before the Thunder cut the deficit to three with a 13-2 run that included eight points from Aaron Wiggins.
After Oklahoma City made it 108-105 with 5:06 remaining, the Pistons grabbed four consecutive offensive rebounds before Javonte Green drained a 3-pointer with the shot clock dwindling to break the skid.
The Thunder cut the deficit to four in the final minute, but Cunningham found Duren for a dunk in the last 30 seconds to help the Pistons hold off Oklahoma City.
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder were already short-handed and wound up even more short-handed throughout the course of the game.
Late in the first quarter, Branden Carlson left with lower back soreness and did not return, while Isaiah Joe suffered a left glute contusion late in the second quarter and didn’t return.
Oklahoma City was not only without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, who have all been out since before the All-Star break, but also Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso.
Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart served the fifth contest of a seven-game suspension.
Even without all but one of its normal starters against the Eastern Conference’s top team, Oklahoma City jumped out to a big lead early behind its defense.
The Thunder closed the first quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 12-point lead. Seven of those points off turnovers came in the final four minutes of the quarter.
But Detroit quickly got back in the game in the second, cutting the deficit to one with a 9-0 run, kick-started by back-to-back rebounds and putbacks from Ronald Holland II early in the second.
The Pistons then pulled ahead with a 19-10 run over the final four minutes of the second quarter to take the lead for good.
Without Holmgren and Hartenstein in the middle for Oklahoma City, Detroit dominated in the paint, outscoring the Thunder 70-32.
Jaylin Williams led the Thunder with a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds. Williams’ previous career high was 24. Cason Wallace added 23.
–Field Level Media
Will Richard nets 21 to lead shorthanded Warriors past Grizzlies
Ebuka Okorie drops 34 in latest showcase, Stanford beats Pitt
