NBA News

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Smith hit a go-ahead, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning Saturday on his 31st birthday, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks and a season-opening three-game sweep. Smith began his bobblehead night going 0-for-3. After Mookie Betts walked, Smith sent a 2-2 pitch from reliever Juan …

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sebastian Fundora easily retained his WBC super welterweight championship, knocking out Keith Thurman at 1:17 of the sixth round on Saturday night. Referee Thomas Taylor stopped the fight after Fundora battered Thurman repeatedly, the former unified welterweight champion’s bloody face showing the damage. Advertisement The 6-foot-5 Fundora (24-1-1, 16 knockouts) used his nine-inch height and reach …

DETROIT (AP) — Owen Tippett scored a hat trick as the Philadelphia Flyers survived a late rally for a key 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. Tippett’s third career hat trick gives him seven goals in his last nine games. The Flyers have won seven of those nine and are now three points behind the Columbus …

SAN JOSE, CA — Arizona’s drought is over. The No. 1 seeded Wildcats continued their March Madness run with a 79-64 comeback win over No. 2 seed Purdue in the Elite Eight, advancing to its first Final Four in 25 years. Advertisement It was a back-and-forth opening to the game with both sides trading punches, but Purdue jumped ahead thanks …

HOUSTON (AP) — Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes drove in two runs apiece and sparked an eight-run sixth inning for the Houston Astros in an 11-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night. Trailing 6-4, the Astros tied the game on a single by Correa and a throwing error by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Houston took a lead …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Judge homered for a second straight day to nearly the same left-field spot, Ben Rice hit a two-run double in the third inning, and the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Saturday for a three-game sweep. San Francisco matched a franchise record dating to 1909 by going 20 straight innings without …

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Marta Suarez had 33 points and 10 rebounds as part of a nearly unstoppable duo with Olivia Miles, and No. 3 seed TCU beat 10th-seeded Virginia 79-69 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament. TCU (32-5), making its second straight appearance in the Elite Eight, will face No. 1 seed South Carolina …

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 29 points, Paul George finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds and Philadelphia 76ers rallied from 13 points down in the second half for a 118-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. With its fourth win in five games, Philadelphia extended its lead over Charlotte to two games in the race …

GLASGOW (AP) — Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu hailed his team’s tactical flexibility after a late Junya Ito strike secured a 1-0 victory over Scotland in a pre- World Cup friendly at Hampden Park, leaving the home side facing a chorus of boos. In a key warm-up for their eighth successive World Cup appearance, the Samurai Blue overcame a bright Scotland …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants matched a franchise record Saturday by reaching 20 straight innings without scoring to begin the season, then finally recorded their first run in the third inning against the New York Yankees. San Francisco had been shut out by New York 7-0 and 3-0 with only four hits over its first two games …

The first ticket to the Final Four has been punched. Behind 25 points from freshman superstar Keaton Wagler, No. 3 seed Illinois pulled away from No. 9 seed Iowa 71-59 on Saturday, March 28 in the Elite Eight of the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament. Advertisement The victory clinched the Fighting Illini’s first Final Four appearance since 2005, when a Deron …

ATLANTA (AP) — Hubert Kós broke his own NCAA record while defending his title in the 200-yard backstroke to help the Texas men win a second straight national championship in swimming and diving on Saturday. Kós won with a time of 1 minute, 34.13 seconds as the Longhorns piled up 445.5 points. He set an NCAA record of 1:34.21 in …

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his return from injured reserve and the Dallas Stars pulled away from the undermanned Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Saturday. Jason Robertson reached the 40-goal plateau for the third time in his career and assisted on Rantanen’s goal with a slick cross-ice feed to the right circle that Rantanen …

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Commandment broke his maiden last fall at Churchill Downs. He’ll soon headed back there, looking for a much bigger victory. By the slimmest of margins — a photo finish — Commandment won the Florida Derby on Saturday, completing a worst-to-first rally in the six-horse field and overtaking The Puma with the final bob of his …

TORONTO (AP) — Jonathan David scored twice from the penalty spot in the second half before Tajon Buchanan was shown a red card as Canada battled back from a 2-0 deficit to salvage a 2-2 draw with Iceland in an international men’s soccer friendly on Saturday. Buchanan was sent off in the 80th minute for an elbow to the head …

The interminable horn struck again on Saturday during the Elite Eight of the men’s NCAA tournament. Just over a month after a stuck buzzer stopped an NBA game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, the same thing happened during No. 3 Illinois’ game vs. No. 9 Iowa at the Toyota Center in Houston. The game was stopped for over …

CHICAGO (AP) — Cade Horton threw four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Ian Happ broke the game open with a three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Chicago Cubs routed the Washington Nationals 10-2 on Saturday. Miguel Amaya homered and finished with two hits and two RBIs, and Pete Crow-Armstrong added two hits. Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw and Carson …

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Rori Harmon had 11 points, seven assists and six steals and Texas beat fellow SEC member Kentucky 76-54 on Saturday, sending the top-seeded Longhorns to another Elite Eight in the women’s NCAA Tournament. Jordan Lee had 18 points while All-America forward Madison Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Longhorns (34-3), …

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Stephon Castle had a triple-double with 22 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the hot-shooting San Antonio Spurs steamrolled the Milwaukee Bucks 127-95 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory. Castle was one of seven players to score in double figures for the Spurs, who have won 13 of their last 14 to move within two …

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis rookie JJ Wetherholt lined a two-run, 10th-inning single after Michael McGreevy tossed six hitless innings to help the Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 on Saturday. Wetherholt, the seventh pick of the 2024 MLB amateur draft, lined a single to right field off Griffin Jax (0-1) in his second career game. Advertisement Jax …

The expansion Denver Summit’s match against the Washington Spirit on Saturday broke the National Women’s Soccer League record for attendance with its announced crowd of 63,004. Fans at the Denver Broncos’ home stadium broke the previous NWSL record of 40,091 who attended Bay FC’s match against the Spirit last season at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Advertisement …

DETROIT (AP) — Catherine Dubois scored twice in a three-goal third period to rally the Montreal Victoire to a 3-1 victory over the New York Sirens on Saturday in a Takeover Tour stop at Little Caesars Arena. Montreal (12-4-2-5) pulled within two points of the front-running Boston Fleet with three weeks left in the regular season. Advertisement New York (8-0-3-12) …

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Defenseman Emil Lilleberg scored the go-ahead goal and had a career-high three points, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Saturday. Brandon Hagel and Charle-Edouard D’Astous each had a goal and an assist, while Jake Guentzel scored for a third consecutive game. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for Tampa Bay, …

NEW YORK (AP) — Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists, Matthew Schaefer tied the rookie defenseman franchise scoring record and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers 5-2 on Saturday and keep pace in a competitive Eastern Conference playoff race. Schenn, acquired at the trade deadline, scored the tying goal in the …

Draft SZN is creeping in, and it is never too early to start digging into scouting reports, circling names, and figuring out who the Phoenix Suns should be eyeing when draft night arrives. The board starts to take shape long before the picks are made, and this is where the groundwork begins. Brynn Tannehill put together a comprehensive list of …