Surging Hawks beat short-handed 76ers

ATLANTA (AP) — Dyson Daniels scored 25 points, and the surging Atlanta Hawks beat the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers 132-123 on Monday night.

Atlanta shot 54.1% from the field and had six players score in double figures. Zaccharie Risacher had 22 points, including 20 in the first half, and Terance Mann added a season-high 19.

The Hawks (31-34) have won three straight and four of five overall.

Quentin Grimes scored 35 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, for the 76ers (22-42), who have lost four of five. Ricky Council IV matched his career high with 19 points.

Risacher’s follow-up, two-handed jam helped the Hawks close the first half strong for a 66-57 lead at the break.

CELTICS 114, JAZZ 108

BOSTON (AP) — Sam Hauser made nine 3-pointers — seven in the third quarter — and finished with a career-high 33 points to lead short-handed Boston past Utah.

Hauser became the fourth Celtics player to make nine 3s in a game in 2024-25, joining Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White — the first time in NBA history that four teammates have done that in a season.

Hauser’s hot stretch propelled the Celtics to a 23-point lead early in the fourth. The Jazz rallied to tie the game with 3:21 left, but Hauser’s final 3 with 1:20 left made it 112-104, and the Celtics hung on from there to win their fifth straight.

John Collins scored 28 points and Collin Sexton had 16 for the Jazz, who lost their sixth in a row.

NETS 111, LAKERS 108

NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Clowney scored 19 points and Brooklyn beat Los Angeles in the Lakers’ first game since losing LeBron James to a strained left groin.

Luka Doncic had 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for LA, but he shot only 8 for 26. Austin Reaves was 3 for 14 as the guards struggled with James and other key frontcourt players sidelined.

Cam Johnson and Keon Johnson each added 18 points for the Nets, who snapped a seven-game losing streak. Tyrese Martin finished with 14 points.

Gabe Vincent scored 24 points for the Lakers, who had won eight straight before losing James in the fourth quarter of their 111-101 loss in Boston on Saturday. Dalton Knecht had 19 points and Reaves finished with 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. (backslash)

HORNETS 105, HEAT 102

MIAMI (AP) — Miles Bridges scored 35 points, Mark Williams added 24 points and 10 rebounds and Charlotte got their first divisional win of the season by beating reeling Miami.

It was the third time in March alone that Miami lost a game after leading by at least 17 points — all those collapses coming at home. The Heat led New York by 19 on March 2, led Chicago by 17 on Saturday and led the Hornets by 17 in the first half.

Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Heat, and Tyler Herro finished with 21 for Miami — which has lost four straight and five of six.

LaMelo Ball had 15 points and 10 assists for Charlotte, which was 22 for 23 from the foul line. Miami was 14 for 20 at the line.

RAPTORS 119, WIZARDS 104

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto native A.J. Lawson made seven 3-pointers while scoring a career-high 32 points, and he also had 12 of the Raptors’ franchise-record 73 rebounds in a victory over Washington.

The Raptors (22-43) had four players with at least 10 rebounds in the same game for the first time in franchise history, and all had double-doubles. Their 73 rebounds are the most in the NBA this season.

Scottie Barnes had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Toronto, and RJ Barrett finished with 14 points, 10 boards and eight assists. Orlando Robinson had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Alex Sarr had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the NBA-worst Wizards (13-50), who had won their previous two games, including two nights earlier in Toronto. Jordan Poole also had 16 points while Tristan Vukcevic had 15.

BULLS 121, PACERS 103

CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Giddey had a season-high 29 points along with 10 rebounds before leaving midway through the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury, and Chicago won their third straight game, over Indiana.

Coby White also scored 29 points for the Bulls, who hold the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.

Myles Turner scored 15 points to lead the Pacers, who have lost three straight — all of them with point guard Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by a hip issue.

Chicago held Indiana to 39.6% shooting from the field and 10 of 40 (25%) from 3-point range.

ROCKETS 97, MAGIC 84

HOUSTON (AP) — Jabari Smith Jr. had 20 points and tied a career high with five 3-pointers, helping Houston beat Orlando for their third consecutive victory.

Alperen Sengun had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Houston, and Steven Adams finished with 11 points and 17 boards.

Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 25 points. Franz Wagner had 15 points, and Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Magic closed to 65-58 on Wagner’s layup with 5:04 left in the third quarter. But Jeff Green and Dillon Brooks made consecutive 3-pointers to make it 71-58 with 2:47 to go.

Banchero made two free throws, but the Rockets scored the next four points. Aaron Holiday’s 3-pointer made it 75-60 with 26 seconds to go.

GRIZZLIES 120, SUNS 118

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant had 29 points and 12 assists, and Memphis rallied from an early 16-point deficit to beat Phoenix.

Cam Spencer, a rookie on a two-way contract, added a career-high 16 points for Memphis, including a pair of free throws with 14.4 seconds left that sealed the Grizzlies’ third straight win.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points and Devin Booker added 26 for the Suns, who jumped out to a 25-9 lead that evaporated before halftime. The game was close throughout the fourth quarter and Durant missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

NUGGETS 140, THUNDER 127

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP — Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists, and Denver beat Oklahoma City.

Jamal Murray scored 34 points for the Nuggets, who lost 127-103 in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s leading scorer and a top contender for league MVP with Jokic, finished with 25 points for the Thunder. He scored 40 the day before.

Lu Dort had a season-high 26 points and made eight 3-pointers and Isaiah Hartenstein scored 20 points for Oklahoma City. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for the Thunder, who have the best record in the Western Conference and are vying with Cleveland for the top record in the league.

MAVERICKS 133, SPURS 129

SAN ANTONIO (AP — Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 points, and depleted Dallas stopped a five-game slide by edging San Antonio.

Klay Thompson had 26 points for Dallas in its first win since Feb. 27. Naji Marshall scored 24 points, and Kessler Edwards finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

San Antonio dropped its third consecutive game. Harrison Barnes scored 29 points for the Spurs, and Keldon Johnson had 28. Devin Vassell finished with 24 points.

WARRIORS 130, TRAIL BLAZERS 120

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 24 points and moved within two 3-pointers of becoming the first player in NBA history with 4,000, Jimmy Butler had a triple-double, and surging Golden State won their fifth straight game by beating Portland.

Curry, who became the 26th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points during Saturday’s win against Detroit, needed seven 3s to reach the milestone. He made his first two early then another three in the third.

Butler contributed 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for the Warriors’ first triple-double this season. Golden State improved to 12-2 since Butler made his debut Feb. 8 and 12-1 in games he played.

Gary Payton II scored a career-high 26 points in the Warriors’ 10th win in their last 11 games.

Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) and Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona (30) vie for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike Friday, leaving an estimated 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home.

Groups of picketers gathered in front of transit headquarters in Newark and at the Hoboken Terminal, carrying signs that said “Locomotive Engineers on Strike” and “NJ Transit: Millions for Penthouse Views Nothing for Train Crews.” Passing drivers honked their horns.

The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn’t produce an agreement. It is the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.

“We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock," said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri described the situation as a “pause in the conversations.”

“I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible,” he said late Thursday during a joint news conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “If they’re willing to meet tonight, I’ll meet them again tonight. If they want to meet tomorrow morning, I’ll do it again. Because I think this is an imminently workable problem. The question is, do they have the willingness to come to a solution.”

Murphy said it was important to “reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey’s commuters and taxpayers.”

"Again, we cannot ignore the agency’s fiscal realities,” Murphy said.

The announcement came after 15 hours of nonstop contract talks, according to the union.

NJ Transit — the nation’s third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

The agency had announced contingency plans in recent days, saying it planned to increase bus service, but warned riders that the buses would only add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and would not start running until Monday. The agency also will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.

However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengers — only about 20% of current rail customers — so it urged people who could work from home to do so.

Even the threat of it had already caused travel disruptions. Amid the uncertainty, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the matter, and a mediator was present during Thursday’s talks. Kolluri said Thursday night that the mediation board has suggested a Sunday morning meeting to resume talks.

Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen that wants to see its members earn wages comparable to other passenger railroads in the area. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000.

NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.

Kolluri and Murphy said Thursday night that the problem isn’t so much whether both sides can agree to a wage increase, but whether they can do so under terms that wouldn’t then trigger other unions to demand similar increases and create a financially unfeasible situation for NJ Transit.

Congress has the power to intervene and block the strike and force the union to accept a deal, but lawmakers have not shown a willingness to do that this time like they did in 2022 to prevent a national freight railroad strike.

The union has seen steady attrition in its ranks at NJ Transit as more of its members leave to take better-paying jobs at other railroads. The number of NJ Transit engineers has shrunk from 500 several months ago to about 450 today.

Associated Press reporters Hallie Golden in Seattle and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

An NJ Transit train pulls into the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Union members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen form a picket line outside the NJ Transit Headquarters on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Union members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen form a picket line outside the NJ Transit Headquarters on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)