AP National Sports

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — LaMelo Ball scored 24 points and the Charlotte Hornets buried the Chicago Bulls early in a 133-117 win. The Hornets — 10th in the Eastern Conference and a game behind Brooklyn and Atlanta coming in — barely broke a sweat in this one. They led 79-51

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 36 points, leading a pair of fourth-quarter surges that carried the Brooklyn Nets into a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 118-107 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Nets caught the Cavaliers at 43-38 with a game remaining

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic was assessed his 16th technical foul and will be suspended for the Dallas Mavericks’ regular-season finale unless that call is rescinded by the NBA office. Doncic was undercut by Portland’s Elijah Hughes when taking a shot from beyond midcourt at the end of the first quarter Friday night. After no

By PAUL GEREFFI Associated Press SUNRISE, Fla- (AP) — Sam Bennett scored with 37.3 seconds left to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Sam Reinhart and Claude Giroux each had a goal and an assist, and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. Jeff

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP National Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Benches and bullpens emptied and the Mets and Nationals confronted each other on the infield grass after Francisco Lindor was struck by a pitch from Steve Cishek in the fifth inning. New York manager Buck Showalter led the charge after one of his batters was plunked

HOUSTON (AP) — Reigning champion Cristian Garin has beaten No. 2 seed Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to reach the semifinals at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. Garin’s victory Friday allowed him to improve his career record at the tournament to 8-0. Fritz is the highest-ranked American man at No. 13 and had

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The key hole at the Masters in the second round on Friday.

By DAVE HOGG Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to help the Milwaukee Bucks rout the Detroit Pistons 131-101 on Friday night. Averaging 29.9 points, Antetokounmpo needs 35 points or more Sunday in the season finale at Cleveland to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only Milwaukee

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Obi Toppin scored a career-high 35 points, and the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 114-92. RJ Barrett scored 14 points for the Knicks before leaving the game with a sprained right knee. His early exit came on a night when a number of key

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is in control through two rounds at the Masters. Scheffler posted a 5-under 67 to move to 8 under for the tournament and a five-shot lead over a handful of players, including defending champion Hideki Matsuyama. Tiger Woods shot a 2-over 74 to make the cut in his first

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — Steve Lavin is eager to be leaving college basketball broadcasting and returning to coaching, even if means being in the same conference as Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. Lavin has been introduced as coach at San Diego, which has struggled for the better part of the

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers have signed wide receiver and return specialist DeAndre Carter to a one-year contract. Carter was with Washington last season and led the NFC with 1,038 total return yards, 904 kickoff return yards, 36 kickoff returns and a 25.1-yard kickoff return average. He also returned a kick

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina reserves Eniya Russell and Elysa Wesolek both announced they were entering the transfer portal on Friday, less than a week after the Gamecocks celebrated a national championship. Russell is a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Baltimore who averaged less than eight minutes in her 23 appearances. Wesolek is a 6-1 senior

By MARK DIDTLER Associated Press LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Rachel Balkovec signed some autographs, drew a nice ovation when she as introduced and posed for a picture at home plate. Then it was time to get to work. The manager of a New York Yankees minor league team had a game to run. The 34-year-old

By The Associated Press Justin Verlander will pitch for Houston for the first time since having Tommy John surgery late in 2020. The 39-year-old will face Noah Syndergaard and the Angels. Verlander, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, returned to the Astros on a $25 million, one-year deal that includes a $25 million player option

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods has made it to the weekend at the Masters in his first official start in 508 days. Now it’s a matter of chasing down Scottie Scheffler. That might be even tougher than dealing with the wind at Augusta National. Scheffler is making his

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Browns added another quarterback as they try to figure out what to do with Baker Mayfield. The team agreed to a one-year contract with backup QB Josh Dobbs, a deal that was tweeted by his agent and confirmed by a person familiar with the