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Victor Wembanyama makes first All-Star Game as reserves announced

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio SpursJan 29, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) looks up in the second half against the LA Clippers at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama has been chosen for his first NBA All-Star Game as one of seven reserves from the Western Conference.

Both conferences’ reserves were revealed Thursday night on TNT.

Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft and 2023-24 Rookie of the Year, is averaging 24.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and a league-high 3.9 blocks per game in 39 starts for the Spurs this season.

He was one of six players named to his first All-Star Game, joined by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun from the Western Conference and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro out of the East.

The other Western reserves were Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (third selection), Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (10th), Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (11th) and Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (second).

The other reserves from the Eastern Conference were Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (fourth), Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (third), Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (second) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (ninth).

The All-Star reserves were voted on by the NBA’s head coaches. The 10 starters, determined by fan, media and player voting, were announced last week:

–LeBron James (L.A. Lakers)

–Kevin Durant (Phoenix)

–Stephen Curry (Golden State)

–Nikola Jokic (Denver)

–Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)

–Jalen Brunson (New York)

–Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland)

–Jayson Tatum (Boston)

–Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee)

–Karl-Anthony Towns (New York)

East-leading Cleveland is the only team with three All-Stars — Mitchell, Garland and Mobley.

The NBA All-Star Game is shifting to a four-team tournament with a pair of semifinal games and a final, and as a result the “starter” designation is more honorary than practical.

There will be four teams of eight players, with one comprised of the Rising Stars Game champions. The other three teams will be made of 24 total All-Star selections divided among three teams in a draft early next month. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith will be the honorary general managers and team namesakes.

The Rising Stars team — made up of the best first- and second-year players and G League stars — will be called Team Candace, for WNBA legend Candace Parker.

The All-Star Draft is scheduled for Feb. 6. The All-Star Game will be played Feb. 16 in San Francisco.

–Field Level Media

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Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak

NHL: Boston Bruins at Philadelphia FlyersFeb 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

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Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets

NBA: Houston Rockets at Miami HeatFeb 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

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Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington

NCAA Basketball: Wisconsin at WashingtonFeb 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

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