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
J.J. Moser, Lightning bounce back for OT win over Habs
Apr 21, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle (21) collides with Tampa Bay Lightning center Yanni Gourde (37) in the second period during game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime, giving the host Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and evening their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at one win each.
Tampa Bay fully controlled the game in the extra period and was rewarded when Moser found the net. He gained the puck off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, worked his way to a shooting position at the top of the right circle and wired a top-corner shot for his first career playoff tally.
Montreal, which won Game 1 in overtime, was outshot 9-0 in overtime of Game 2.
The series shifts to Montreal for Game 3 on Friday.
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel collected a goal and an assist. Nikita Kucherov tallied once, Anthony Cirelli collected two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for Tampa Bay, which snapped a collection of playoff swoons.
The Lightning had lost four consecutive and 10 of 11 postseason home games, plus seven straight overtime affairs during Stanley Cup playoff action.
Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson tallied for the Canadiens, while goalie Jakub Dobes stopped 31 shots, including eight in overtime.
The clubs traded goals in a chippy first period. Hagel put the Lightning on the board at 8:40 with his team’s first shot on target. The puck came to Hagel at the top of the left circle, and he unloaded a top-corner slap shot that for his third goal of the series.
Hutson tied the clash less then six minutes later with Montreal’s fourth power-play goal in the series. Hutson sent a one-timer from the point position that ricocheted off a defender and into the net for his first career playoff tally.
Anderson gave Montreal the lead with 84 seconds remaining in the second period. Jake Evans won a battle for the puck deep in the Tampa Bay zone and Phillip Danault chipped it to the front of the net, where Anderson was waiting to chip it into the cage for his second goal of the series.
Kucherov evened the score at 12:33 of the third period. Hagel intercepted a poor clearing attempt and fired a long shot wide. Kucherov grabbed the loose puck behind the net and converted a wraparound for his first playoff goal in 17 outings. His last playoff goal came on April 18, 2023, the opener of a first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers open homestand with victory over Pirates
Apr 21, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) celebrates with catcher Danny Jansen (9) after scoring a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Kumar Rocker allowed one run on four hits over a season-high six innings and the Texas Rangers began a nine-game homestand with a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
Rocker (1-1) walked one and struck out five for Texas, which returned home after playing 16 of its first 22 games on the road. Cole Winn, Jacob Latz and Jakob Junis each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
Jake Mangum and Nick Gonzales had two hits apiece for the Pirates, who have lost three of their last five.
Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz singled, stole second, moved to third on an error, and scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s single up the middle.
Texas moved ahead with two runs in the second against Carmen Mlodzinski (1-1), who had not allowed an earned run in his last 13 innings.
Joc Pederson singled to begin the inning, went to third on Josh Jung’s double to center, and scored on Evan Carter’s single. After Danny Jansen struck out, Jung scored from third on Josh Smith’s sacrifice fly.
The Pirates put two runners on with two outs in the fifth, but Rocker escaped unscathed when Carter reached over the center-field wall to rob Cruz of a three-run homer.
Texas tacked on three runs and knocked Mlodzinski out of the game in the fifth. Smith hit a leadoff double, moved to third on Brandon Nimmo’s fly out, and scored on Ezequiel Duran’s double.
Wilber Dotel replaced Mlodzinski after Corey Seager delivered an RBI single to center. Jake Burger greeted Dotel with a single and Joc Pederson walked to load the bases before Seager scored on Jung’s force out.
Mlodzinski allowed five runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings while throwing a season-high 93 pitches. He walked two and struck out six.
Mangum singled with one out in the seventh and was stranded after Konnor Griffin flied out and Henry Davis fanned on three pitches.
Texas left fielder Wyatt Langford exited the game in the fifth inning with right forearm tightness and was replaced by Duran.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Royals take advantage of Orioles' wild pitches, snap 8-game skid
Apr 21, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia (11) slides into home to score a run against Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Maikel Garcia scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning and the Kansas City Royals snapped their eight-game losing streak with 6-5 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
Ryan Helsey (0-2) walked Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. to open the ninth of the 5-5 contest. The runners reached second and third on a wild pitch, and Garcia darted home to score the winner on another wild one pitch from Helsey — his second of the inning and Baltimore’s fourth of the game — that bounced onto the infield grass.
Kyle Isbel had three hits and Michael Massey clubbed a tying solo homer in the eighth for the Royals, who overcame an early 3-0 hole for their first win since April 11.
Lucas Erceg (1-1) pitched one scoreless inning as Kansas City evened the three-game set heading into the Wednesday afternoon finale.
Adley Rutschman came off the 10-day injured list to hit a two-run go-ahead homer in the eighth for the Orioles, who have lost six of eight.
Kansas City’s Kris Bubic opened the second inning by allowing a single to Jeremiah Jackson and a walk to Weston Watson. With one out, Coby Mayo sent a drive well into the left field seats for a 3-0 Baltimore lead.
Those were only runs yielded by Bubic over 6 1/3 innings. He permitted five hits and three walks while striking out three.
Kansas City got a run back in the bottom of the second. Carter Jensen doubled, went to third on Shane Baz’s wild pitch and scored via a sacrifice fly by Massey.
The Royals tied the contest in the fifth. Isbel doubled and scored on a single by Garcia, who eventually came home courtesy of Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly.
Kansas City took the lead in the seventh when Isbel doubled down the left line, went to third on another Baz wild pitch and scored on Witt’s sacrifice fly to right.
The Orioles regained the lead in the eighth. Rutschman, with a man aboard, barely cleared the left-center-field wall off Matt Strahm to make it 5-4 with his first homer of the season.
Massey’s towering homer leading off the bottom of the eighth was first hit allowed by Baltimore’s Rico Garcia in 12 appearances this year.
Baz yielded four runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. He fanned four and walked two.
–Field Level Media
J.J. Moser, Lightning bounce back for OT win over Habs
Rangers open homestand with victory over Pirates
