Sports
With eye on NBA Cup quarters, Knicks face lowly Pelicans
Nov 29, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) complains about a possible foul during the second half against the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images The New York Knicks will get a chance to advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
Before that, though, the Knicks will look to continue progressing towards an even more important goal — establishing the consistency necessary to contend for the NBA title.
The Knicks will attempt to break a win-one-lose-one cycle Sunday night, when they host the New Orleans Pelicans in a nonconference matchup.
Both teams were off Saturday after playing road NBA Cup contests Friday. The Knicks overcame a six-point fourth quarter deficit to edge the Charlotte Hornets 99-98 in East Group A action while the struggling Pelicans fell to the Memphis Grizzlies 120-109 in a West Group C game.
With the win, the Knicks improved to 3-0 and set up a winner-take-all game for the East Group A’s automatic bid to the quarterfinals with the Orlando Magic, who are also unbeaten through three games following Friday’s 123-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Knicks entered Saturday one of four Eastern Conference teams with at least 10 wins this season even though they’ve won back-to-back games just once outside of a four-game winning streak from Nov. 15-20.
For much of Friday afternoon, the Knicks appeared headed for their second two-game losing streak of the season. New York, which suffered a 129-114 loss Wednesday night to the Dallas Mavericks despite the latter being without superstar point guard Luka Doncic (right wrist), trailed the Hornets for more than 38 minutes Friday even though Charlotte star LaMelo Ball sat out with a left calf injury.
Jalen Brunson helped the Knicks avoid the upset over the final five minutes, when he scored 11 of his game-high 31 points. The victory allowed New York to finish 3-2 on a road trip that began with four games against Western Conference foes before the Black Friday noon tipoff in North Carolina.
“It’s a weird schedule,” Brunson said. “But there’s no complaints and you can’t change it, so we’ve got to go out and find a way. We came out really soft, made some runs and then they made some shots where it looked like they were just going to get away from us. We kept fighting and found a way to get a win.”
The search for a win has grown increasingly frustrating for the injury-wracked Pelicans, who suffered their seventh straight loss and fell to 1-13 in their last 14 games with Friday’s loss.
New Orleans, which is last in the Western Conference with a 4-16 record, has played just three games this season with its optimal starting lineup of Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones, C.J. McCollum, Daniel Theis and Zion Williamson. The quintet has combined to miss 52 games. Ingram (right calf) is day-to-day after missing the last three games while Jones (right shoulder) and Williamson (left hamstring) are out indefinitely.
The Pelicans lost by 11 points or fewer for the sixth time in their last 13 defeats Friday when they missed opportunities to creep closer to the Grizzlies in the second half. New Orleans committed turnovers on consecutive trips while down 83-75 late in the third and went five straight possessions without scoring in a 101-89 game shortly before the midway point of the fourth.
“We had some chances there where we cut the lead to 10, cut it to eight,” Hornets coach Willie Green said. “A few miscues, a few missed shots, some 50/50 balls that we had to come up with that we didn’t. Our margin for error is extremely small right now, so you’ve got to capitalize on those opportunities.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wolves, Nuggets each bring an edge into finale of season series
Jan 31, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images The Minnesota Timberwolves wrap up a three-game road trip at the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon with a chance to improve their seeding in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Minnesota has won the first two games of its trip and now faces a tough task against its Northwest Division rival.
Denver already secured the tiebreaker in the season series by winning the first three matchups. With both teams holding identical 37-23 records, the winner of Sunday’s game will have sole possession of fourth in the Western Conference standings.
The Nuggets have lost three of their first five games out of the All-Star break, including a 127-121 overtime setback at Oklahoma City on Friday night. Sunday’s game gives them a chance to get back some momentum.
The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic appears to already have a postseason mindset after mixing it up with the Thunder during the loss.
Jokic was knocked down when Luguentz Dort hit him with his hip in the fourth quarter and then confronted the Oklahoma City forward. There was pushing and shoving before Dort was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected.
Jokic, who leads Denver in points (28.7), rebounds (12.6) and assists (10.5), has a casual and deliberate demeanor on the court that belies his competitive nature.
“I think he was reacting to what was being done to him,” Denver head coach David Adelman said. “And his reaction’s not going to be to cower away. He’s competitive.”
Playing Minnesota again should keep that fiery spirit alive for Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets. The teams have forged a rivalry over the last four seasons, including two playoff series.
There is no question about the fiery nature and competitive spirit of Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.
Edwards missed the first game against the Nuggets this season but is averaging 35.0 points in the two games between the teams. That includes a 44-point performance on Christmas night before he was ejected in overtime for arguing foul calls.
Edwards, who leads the Timberwolves in scoring at 29.6 points a game, doesn’t confine his arguments to opponents and officials. He got into a verbal exchange with head coach Chris Finch after hitting a 3-pointer to seal a 94-88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
It is a feature of their relationship, according to teammates.
“They go at it. Honestly, they do,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said. “They go at it… They have days where they’re getting ready to fight, and then after the game they hug each other.”
Finch confirmed that in an interview on Fox Sports Radio.
“We’re both fiery competitors. It’s been part of our relationship since Day 1. … We say these things to each other and we move on,” Finch said. “We don’t take it personally.”
The task of stopping Jokic will fall mainly on Rudy Gobert, who leads Minnesota in rebounds (11.4) and blocks (1.7). Nobody could stop Jokic when the teams met on Christmas, with the three-time MVP recording a 56-point triple-double, including 18 points in overtime.
Jokic has averaged 36.0 points 15.7 rebounds and 12.0 assists in the three games against the Timberwolves.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cincinnati cruises past Oklahoma State with 3-point barrage
Cincinnati Bearcats forward Baba Miller (18) makes a basket from the two point line in the first half of a NCAA men’s basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Oklahoma State Cowboys, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. Day Day Thomas heated up from long range, draining seven 3-pointers en route to a 26-point performance, Moustapha Thiam added 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and host Cincinnati rolled to a 91-68 home victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.
The Bearcats (16-13, 8-8 Big 12), which entered No. 54 in the NET rankings, have won five of their last six. Jizzle James and Baba Miller each finished with 11 points for Cincinnati.
Oklahoma State (17-12, 5-11), playing its first game since losing big man Parsa Fallah to a torn ACL, was overwhelmed throughout. Vyctorius Miller led the team with 15 points, while Jaylen Curry and Kanye Clary both added 11 points. The Cowboys have lost six of their last seven games.
The Bearcats seized control early, going on an 11-2 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Thomas and Thiam to lead 12-4 less than four minutes into the game.
Those early minutes foreshadowed the rest of the game.
Cincinnati dominated from the start, leading 51-33 at halftime. The Bearcats shot 53.1% from the floor, made seven three-pointers and won the rebounding battle 20-15 in the first half. They finished with a two-handed dunk by Thiam. Miller was credited with an assist on the play as he found Thiam open underneath.
In the second half, the Bearcats pulled away. They went on an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Thomas to lead 65-37 with just under 15 minutes remaining. Cincinnati continued to extend the lead, reaching as many as 32 points, with an 81-49 advantage after another 3 from Thomas at the 8:22 mark.
Cincinnati finished with 14 made 3s, dished out 24 assists, and had a 24-7 edge in second-chance points. The Bearcats also led for 39:24 of the 40 minutes and improved to 14-3 at home.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday. Cincinnati hosts No. 19 BYU, while Oklahoma State travels to UCF.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bobby Durkin has career night as Minnesota tops UCLA
Feb 24, 2026; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Bobby Durkin (3) dribbles against Michigan Wolverines guard Elliot Cadeau (3) in the second half at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Bobby Durkin scored a season-high 23 points with seven made 3-pointers and Langston Reynolds added 21 points with six assists as Minnesota claimed another victim at home with a 78-73 victory over UCLA at Minneapolis.
Cade Tyson also scored 21 points for the Golden Gophers (14-15, 7-11 Big Ten), who shot 62.3% from the floor and 52.2% from 3-point range. Durkin, who reached 1,000 points for his college career in the first half, went 7 of 11 from long range.
Minnesota improved to 12-4 at home this season with victories in its own building over a trio of ranked teams in Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.
Tyler Bilodeau scored 32 points with eight rebounds and Eric Dailey Jr. added 18 points for the Bruins (19-10, 11-7), who failed to build off huge victories over No. 10 Illinois and rival Southern California over the past week.
Skyy Clark scored 17 points, while Donovan Dent had 15 assists but just three points, as UCLA now prepares for a key home game upcoming against No. 12 Nebraska.
With the game tied 61-61 with 7:59 remaining, Cade scored four points in a 6-0 run for Minnesota to give the Gophers a 67-61 lead with 6:15 left. The Bruins got within 76-73 on a three-point play from Bilodeau with 1:50 remaining.
The Bruins then missed four consecutive 3-pointers over the final 1:08, including two by Bilodeau, as the Gophers held on for the victory.
In a first half of swings, Minnesota led by as many as nine points early before UCLA went on a 17-3 run to lead by as many as seven points before taking a 41-40 lead into the break. Bilodeau had 16 points in the first half, while Dent had nine assists for UCLA.
Durkin scored 15 points in the first half for Minnesota and reached 1,000 points on one of his five 3-pointers before halftime. UCLA’s Clark reached 1,000 career points on a basket in the second half.
–Field Level Media
Wolves, Nuggets each bring an edge into finale of season series
Cincinnati cruises past Oklahoma State with 3-point barrage
