Sports
Pitt takes control late in first half, never looks back vs. Stanford
Jan 1, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jeff Capel reacts on the sidelines against the California Golden Bears during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Ishmael Leggett scored 21 points on Saturday night and Pitt stayed undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference play with an 83-68 win over visiting Stanford.
Leggett added six rebounds for the Panthers (12-2, 3-0 ACC), who canned 56.4 percent of their field-goal attempts. Jaland Lowe added 16 points, five assists and four steals and Guillermo Diaz Graham tallied 12 points as Pitt earned a 34-23 advantage on the boards.
Maxime Raynaud scored 21 points for the Cardinal (9-5, 1-2) but didn’t get enough help. Chisom Okpara came off the bench to add 14 points, but the rest of the Stanford starters outside of Raynaud combined for just 18. The Cardinal made just 35.3 percent of their shots overall, including 9 of 28 3-point attempts.
The key spurt for Pitt came late in the first half and spilled over into the first four minutes of the second half. Raynaud canned a 3-pointer with 5:11 left before the break for a 28-26 Stanford edge, but the Panthers went on a 12-2 run to close the opening half. Lowe hit a triple with four seconds remaining in the first period for a 38-30 advantage at the break.
Pitt wasted little time blowing the game open in the second half. An 11-2 burst, capped by a 3-pointer by Diaz Graham, upped the hosts’ advantage to 49-32 with 16:07 left. The Panthers pushed the margin as high as 21 on two occasions in the last five-plus minutes.
Zack Austin netted 11 points for Pitt, which travels to No. 4 Duke on Tuesday for a showdown in the ACC. The Panthers have won five consecutive games, scoring at least 83 points in four straight.
The Cardinal were able to hang with Pitt for most of the first half behind Raynaud. He scored nine of his team’s first 11 points, and Stanford led 18-9 after Jaylen Blakes drilled a long 3-pointer at the 12:16 mark of the first half.
Stanford still led by nine with 8:02 remaining before the Panthers took control over the first half’s remainder.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joel Embiid, 76s knock out second-seeded Celtics
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives on Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-100 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night.
The 76ers won the final three games in the series. It was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Second-seeded Boston trailed 99-98 following two Neemias Queta free throws, but Maxey scored the next eight points to put Philadelphia up 107-98 with 15 seconds left.
Seventh-seeded Philadelphia received 23 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe. Paul George added 13. The 76ers’ bench totaled three points (all by Quentin Grimes.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the game because of stiffness in his left knee. He left Game 6 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter with a left leg injury.
Tatum averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in six playoff games this season. The six-time All-Star forward averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 boards in 16 regular-season games after returning March 6 from a devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon last May in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and added nine rebounds. Derrick White finished with 26 points and Queta had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench. Celtics starters Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. failed to score. Reserves Payton Pritchard added 13 points and Sam Houser 11.
Philadelphia scored the game’s first nine points and led 30-15 following an Embiid jumper with 1:55 left in the opening quarter. The 76ers were up 32-19 after 12 minutes.
Boston scored 18 of the first 22 points in the second quarter and had its first lead, 37-36 after a Pritchard 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half. Philadelphia rallied to take a 55-50 halftime advantage.
An 8-0 run gave Philadelphia a 63-52 lead, and the 76ers were up 84-66 after an Edgecombe 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the third. It was 88-75 after three quarters.
Boston began the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to cut its deficit to one point, 92-91, with 7:59 to play. The 76ers led 95-94 with 5:52 left.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joel Embiid, 76ers knock out second-seeded Celtics
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives on Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-100 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night.
The 76ers won the final three games in the series. It was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Second-seeded Boston trailed 99-98 following two Neemias Queta free throws, but Maxey scored the next eight points to put Philadelphia up 107-98 with 15 seconds left.
Seventh-seeded Philadelphia received 23 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe. Paul George added 13. The 76ers’ bench totaled three points (all by Quentin Grimes.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the game because of stiffness in his left knee. He left Game 6 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter with a left leg injury.
Tatum averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in six playoff games this season. The six-time All-Star forward averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 boards in 16 regular-season games after returning March 6 from a devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon last May in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and added nine rebounds. Derrick White finished with 26 points and Queta had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench. Celtics starters Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. failed to score. Reserves Payton Pritchard added 13 points and Sam Houser 11.
Philadelphia scored the game’s first nine points and led 30-15 following an Embiid jumper with 1:55 left in the opening quarter. The 76ers were up 32-19 after 12 minutes.
Boston scored 18 of the first 22 points in the second quarter and had its first lead, 37-36 after a Pritchard 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half. Philadelphia rallied to take a 55-50 halftime advantage.
An 8-0 run gave Philadelphia a 63-52 lead, and the 76ers were up 84-66 after an Edgecombe 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the third. It was 88-75 after three quarters.
Boston began the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to cut its deficit to one point, 92-91, with 7:59 to play. The 76ers led 95-94 with 5:52 left.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Despite injuries, Toronto FC force draw with Quakes
May 2, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; San Jose Earthquakes forward Benjamin Kikanovic (28) heads a ball against Toronto FC forward Daniel Salloi (20) during the second half at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images Injury-plagued Toronto FC saw their depth tested but managed to hand the visiting San Jose Earthquakes their first draw of the season with a 1-1 scoreline on a chilly Saturday afternoon.
Preston Judd equaled his career-high seven goals when he tied the match for the league-leading Earthquakes (9-1-1, 28 points) in the early going. The draw comes a week after Toronto (3-3-5, 14 points) had a nine-match unbeaten run snapped with a loss to Atlanta United.
Daniel Salloi opened the scoring in the 2nd minute. A well-timed overlapping run from Raheem Edwards drew defender Benji Kikanovic away from the streaking Salloi, allowing the Hungarian international to curl it into the corner.
An outstretched Judd scored the equalizer in the 13th minute off a perfectly placed Niko Tsakiris set piece, the result of an Alonso Coello foul just outside the home team’s box. Judd was unmarked as he poked it past a helpless Luka Gavran.
An Emilio Aristizabal attempt in the 55th minute was deflected and cleared away by a sprawling Daniel. A late offside flag chalked off what looked to be a brace for Judd 10 minutes later.
On his back, San Jose center-back Reid Roberts cleared a ball off the line after Salloi chipped the goalkeeper in the 86th minute. Officials took a lengthy look at the replay to ensure the ball had not crossed the line.
Toronto’s miserable injury luck continued, with center-back Lazar Stefanovic being forced off at the half with an apparent lower-body injury. A flood of academy players were forced to fill gaping injury holes on their bench, including defender Micah Chisholm, who made his league debut in Stefanovic’s place.
For the visitors, April MLS Player of the Month Timo Werner was absent after subbing off with a hamstring injury in their Tuesday U.S. Open Cup fixture. Tsakiris came off in the second half with an apparent quad injury.
The match marked the first meeting between the two teams in more than three years. Three of their last four encounters have ended in draws.
–Field Level Media
Joel Embiid, 76s knock out second-seeded Celtics
Joel Embiid, 76ers knock out second-seeded Celtics
