Sports

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 22 points and the Brooklyn Nets, shortly after clinching the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, beat the Orlando Magic 101-84. The Nets no longer needed the victory by the time the game was over, having wrapped up a playoff spot

By IAN NICHOLAS QUILLEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Daniel Gafford had 22 points and eight rebounds, and the Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat 114-108 in a meeting of short-handed teams. Corey Kispert scored 19 points for Washington, and Jordan Goodwin added 16 points. The Wizards have been without three-time All-Star Bradley Beal for

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Georges Niang scored 24 points, including a decisive 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Philadelphia 76ers rested all their starters and still beat the Atlanta Hawks 136-131. Jalen McDaniels scored 24 points with 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who were already locked into

By GEORGE HENRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Xander Bogaerts drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, Nelson Cruz went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and the San Diego Padres got strong relief pitching to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4. The Padres began the game with a 5.84 bullpen ERA, third-highest

By RICH ROVITO Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jaren Jackson had 36 points, Luke Kennard added 19 and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 137-114 on Friday night to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season. Memphis entered the game with a two-game lead over

By MARK DIDTLER Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Isaac Paredes hit a grand slam during Tampa Bay’s six-run second inning, and Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 to extend their season-opening win streak to seven games. The Rays are the first major league team to win each of their first seven games by

By RICHARD WALKER Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green each had 26 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets 112-109 on Friday night. Kenyon Martin Jr. added 14 points, Alperen Sengun had 14 points and 21 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points. The Rockets won

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The Eastern Conference play-in tournament matchups are set. The NBA’s scoring race seems over as well. Brooklyn will be seeded sixth in the East and gets the chance to face Philadelphia in Round 1. That means the Nets will be taking on a soon-to-be two-time scoring champion in Joel

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Sacramento Kings are resting their top three scorers for their game against the Golden State Warriors that has major playoff implications. Coach Mike Brown said De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Kevin Huerter all will sit out with Sacramento having clinched its playoff berth and

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Travis Kelce showed why he’s best known for catching passes from Patrick Mahomes, not throwing them. Kansas City’s star tight end threw a wild ceremonial first pitch before the Guardians’ season opener against the Seattle Mariners. Kelce bounced his pitch way in front of the plate

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Julio Rodríguez, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, hit a two-run homer as the Seattle Mariners spoiled Cleveland’s home opener by beating the Guardians 5-3. Rodríguez connected in the sixth inning for the Mariners, who were down 3-0 in their first road game. The 22-year-old

BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) — Abbey Murphy scored at seven seconds for the fastest goal in women’s world hockey championship history and the United States routed Switzerland 9-1 to improve to 2-0 in Group A play. In Group B, Finland improved to 2-0, beating Germany 3-0. In the late game in Group A, two-time defending champion

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The notion that players who joined LIV Golf would risk being sharp and properly prepared for the majors doesn’t apply to Brooks Koepka. It never really mattered how much or how well Koepka was playing. The majors always seemed to bring out his best. Based

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Farmer bounced a bases-loaded single straight up the middle of a drawn-in Houston infield in the 10th inning, giving the Minnesota Twins a 3-2 victory over the over the whiff-prone Astros in their home opener Thursday. After Ryan Pressly struck out all three Twins batters

By NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer BALTIMORE (AP) — Ramón Urías hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, then made a sparkling play at third base in the eighth to help Baltimore outlast the New York Yankees 7-6 in the Orioles’ home opener. Ron Marinaccio allowed a leadoff walk in the bottom of the

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Former Alabama assistant Antoine Pettway was hired as Kennesaw State’s basketball coach Friday. Pettway takes over for Amir Abdur-Rahim, who led the Owls to their first NCAA Tournament berth this season before being taking the South Florida job on March 29. Pettway, 40, served on the Alabama staff for 15 years.

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds homered and drove in six runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated Andrew McCutchen’s homecoming with a 13-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the third and a bases-clearing triple in the fifth. McCutchen had two hits in his