Sports

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 23 points in 29 minutes against his former team, and the New Orleans Pelicans moved closer to clinching a home play-in game with a 127-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Jonas Valanciunas, who returned from a sore right ankle, scored 14

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic made history on the night his Denver Nuggets clinched a fourth consecutive playoff berth with a 122-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Jokic became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. He had 35

STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Auston Matthews has the most goals ever in a single season for the Toronto Maple Leafs — and the most in the NHL by an American-born player. Matthews set the franchise record with his 55th goal in regulation Thursday night, then scored No. 56 in overtime to

By MATT CARLSON Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves for Seattle’s second shutout, and the expansion Kraken blanked the sliding Chicago Blackhawks 2-0. Alex Wennberg scored his 10th goal in the second period and Jordan Eberle added his 18th late in the third to seal it. Grubauer was only lightly tested

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Tyler Mahle allowed only an unearned run in five innings to outpitch Max Fried, Brandon Drury hit a three-run homer and the Cincinnati Reds beat Atlanta 6-3 to spoil the Braves’ World Series celebration. The Braves unveiled their World Series pennant in right field in a

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — William Byron raced to his first NASCAR Truck Series victory since 2016 on Thursday night at Martinsville Speedway. Byron, in just his second Truck Series start since 2016, led a race-high 94 of the 200 laps and grabbed the lead after Stage 2. Byron outdueled Johnny Sauter and Kyle Busch down

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — A man has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s older brother. Police in Hampton, Virginia, said Donald Ivan Scott has been charged with one count of murder and one count of arson. Joshua Emmanuel Owusu-Koramoah, who played

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Roman Josi had three assists and the Nashville Predators erased a one-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Ottawa Senators 3-2. Ryan Johansen scored on the power play at 12:38 of the third period but it came with some controversy. Josi’s point shot appeared to be knocked down by

By BOB SUTTON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal each scored two goals and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 and clinch a playoff berth. Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes, and Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis each had

By The Associated Press Rachel Balkovec is set to become the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a major league team Friday when her Class-A Tampa Tarpons in the New York Yankees’ organization face the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League. The 34-year-old Balkovec, a former softball catcher at Creighton

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each scored 29 points and the Milwaukee Bucks edged the short-handed Boston Celtics 127-121 to take over second place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bucks scored the game’s final nine points to move a half-game ahead of the Celtics and

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 37 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his third career triple-double, Gary Trent Jr. scored 30 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-114 on Thursday night. Siakam shot 14 for 28, going 1 for 7 from 3-point range. He made

By ALLAN KREDA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Frank Vatrano and Artemi Panarin scored in the second period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 30 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0. Dryden Hunt added an empty-net goal in the final minute and Mika Zibanejad had

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball had 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets routed the short-handed Orlando Magic 128-101. Terry Rozier added 22 points as Charlotte pulled within one game of the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets, who are tied for eighth place in

By PAT PICKENS Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kale Clague had a goal and two assists, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each had a goal and an assist as a part of a three-goal first period and the Montreal Canadiens beat the New Jersey Devils 7-4 on Thursday night. Christian Dvorak had a goal

By NICOLE KRAFT Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kevin Connauton, Owen Tippett and Noah Cates scored in Philadelphia’s three-goal second period and the Flyers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 for their second straight road win. Travis Konecny added a goal in the third period, Martin Jones stopped 26 shots and Kevin Hayes had