Cavaliers clinch top seed in Eastern Conference

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Cavaliers clinch top seed in Eastern Conference

2025-04-09 13:04 Last Updated At：13:10

CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 28 points, Evan Mobley had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 135-113 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

Ty Jerome added 18 points off the bench and De’Andre Hunter scored 17 for Cleveland, which has the second-best record in franchise history at 63-16. The Cavaliers secured the No. 1 seed in the East for the fourth time.

Patrick Williams scored a season-high 21 points and made 5 of 6 3-pointers, and Matas Buzelis added 19 points for Chicago. The Bulls have clinched a play-in tournament berth and are tied with Miami for ninth in the East.

PACERS 104, WIZARDS 98

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points and Indiana won its fifth straight game, over Washington.

Bennedict Mathurin had 17 for the Pacers who pulled away late for the win.

Justin Champagnie had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, while Alex Sarr had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as Washington lost its third in a row and for the sixth time in its last seven games.

GRIZZLIES 124, HORNETS 100

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Ja Morant had 28 points, five rebounds and eight assists as Memphis beat Charlotte.

Memphis guard Jaylen Wells was taken from the court on a stretcher and transported to a hospital after he made a fast-break dunk and landed hard on his head following a midair collision with Charlotte’s K.J. Simpson. Wells, who was starting his 74th game, was inadvertently undercut by Simpson from behind. Wells was down for eight minutes before being lifted onto the stretcher with his head strapped in to restrict motion. Officials called a Flagrant 2 foul on Simpson, who was automatically ejected.

Desmond Bane scored 19 points, Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds and Jaren Jackson Jr. 14 points for Memphis (47-32), which kept pace in the Western Conference race. Teams from third to eighth place were separated by two games in the standings heading into Tuesday.

Miles Bridges scored 14 points for Charlotte (19-60).

MAGIC 119, HAWKS 112

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero had 33 points and 10 rebounds and Orlando beat Atlanta, taking command of the four-team play-in tournament race in the Eastern Conference.

Franz Wagner scored 22 points for the Magic, while Wendell Carter Jr. added 17 points, nine rebounds and six steals and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 points.

Onyeka Okongwu matched his career high with 30 points for the Hawks and added 14 rebounds and three steals. Trae Young scored 28 points and had 10 assists for Atlanta, which has lost four of its last five games.

NETS 119, PELICANS 114

NEW YORK (AP) — Trendon Watford scored 22 points, Drew Timme had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Brooklyn beat New Orleans.

Timme completed a three-point play with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to give the Nets the first double-digit lead of the game at 83-71.

The Pelicans rallied. Antonio Reeves made a reverse layup while being fouled with 1:29 left and added the free throw to pull New Orleans within 116-109. After a Timme miss, Reeves added a 3-pointer at 53.1 to get within four.

But, Tosan Evbuomwan sealed it with a 3-pointer at the other end with 35 seconds left.

CELTICS 119, KNICKS 117, OT

NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime after Jayson Tatum’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining forced the extra period, and Boston completed a season sweep of New York.

Porzingis matched his season high with 34 points on his 30-footer. Tatum added 32 points as the Celtics extended their road winning streak to eight and improved to 33-7 away from Boston.

They had routed the Knicks by 23, 27 and 13 in the three previous meetings, but needed to fight beyond 48 minutes for this one.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson added 27 points and nine assists in a strong second game back after a 15-game absence with a sprained right ankle.

BUCKS 110, TIMBERWOLVES 103

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his third straight triple-double as Milwaukee erased a 24-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Minnesota.

The Bucks won their fifth straight and snapped Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.

After trailing 95-71 with less than 10 minutes left, Milwaukee scored 23 straight points and eventually tied it 97-all on AJ Green’s 3-pointer with 3:36 left.

On the Timberwolves’ next possession, Milwaukee’s Kevin Porter Jr. and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert got in a skirmish that resulted in technical fouls for both players. Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr., who was jawing at Gobert at the end of the confrontation, got an additional technical foul.

Porter ended up with 21 points. Portis had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a 25-game suspension.

Edwards scored 25 points for Minnesota. Donte DiVincenzo added 24 and Naz Reid had 17.

THUNDER 136, LAKERS 120

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points, and Oklahoma City beat the Los Angeles after Luka Doncic was ejected.

Doncic scored 23 points before leaving the game in the fourth quarter following his second technical foul. The Thunder outscored the Lakers 29-12 the rest of the way.

Jalen Williams added 26 points for the Thunder, who bounced back from a 126-99 loss to the Lakers on Sunday.

Oklahoma City (65-14) inched closer to clinching the best record in the league and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Thunder have a two-game lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers with three games remaining. The team set a single-season franchise record for victories, surpassing the 1995-96 Seattle squad that went 64-18.

LeBron James scored 28 points and Austin Reaves added 24 for the Lakers.

WARRIORS 133, SUNS 95

PHOENIX (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 25 points, Brandin Podziemski added 22 and Golden State coasted past Phoenix Suns to gain ground in a crowded Western Conference playoff race.

The Warriors are trying to secure one of the top six seeds in the West, which would keep them out of the play-in tournament. Golden State is currently tied with the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies at 47-32 for the fourth through sixth spots. The Los Angeles Clippers are right behind the trio at 46-32.

Golden State jumped to a 69-43 lead by halftime. Curry had 19 points before the break, while Podziemski added 17.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 21 points while Grayson Allen and Ryan Dunn added 12.

CLIPPERS 122, SPURS 117

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Ivica Zubac had 24 points and 20 rebounds, Norman Powell scored 25 points and the Los Angeles Clippers surged into fourth place in the Western Conference with a victory over San Antonio.

James Harden had 21 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who have won five straight.

Los Angeles, at 47-32, also currently holds the tiebreaker over Denver, Memphis and Golden State, who all have the same record with three games left in the regular season. All four are right behind the third-place Lakers, who are 48-31.

Kawhi Leonard sat out to rest his perpetually balky right knee, but he’s likely to return for the Clippers’ visit from second-place Houston on Wednesday. Leonard, named the Western Conference player of the week Monday, played in back-to-back games last weekend for the first time in his 13th NBA season, which only began in January due to knee discomfort.

Harrison Barnes scored 24 points and Stephon Castle had 19 for the Spurs, who have lost eight of nine.

'The runners are coming': Boston Marathon helps celebrate 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War

2025-04-21 22:34 Last Updated At：22:41

BOSTON (AP) — Paul Revere rode down Boylston Street to the Boston Marathon finish line — or almost there, as it turned out — proclaiming “the runners are coming" on Monday morning as the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon helped celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.

Reenactors on horseback, accompanied by a fife and drum playing “Yankee Doodle,” helped start the festivities and add a bit of levity when Revere's horse was spooked by the finish line decal on the street and stopped. The actor portraying the colonial silversmith and patriot had to hop off and walk the last few steps himself.

After reading a proclamation, Revere gently tugged the horse the rest of the way before riding off to more ceremonies commemorating the midnight ride on April 19, 1775, that warned the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British were on the march.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland had no such trouble completing the course, zooming into Copley Square in an un official time of 1 hour, 21, minutes, 34 seconds for his eighth Boston wheelchair title. He beat two-time winner Daniel Romanchuk by more than four minutes.

A field of 30,000 runners left Hopkinton under clear skies and cool temperatures Monday morning for the race's 129th edition, following the wheelchair fields and a troop of about 40 Massachusetts National Guard members who crossed the starting line at around 6 a.m.

Race Director Dave McGillivray thanked the uniformed marchers them for their service and said their presence had extra meaning this year. The race is held annually on the state holiday that commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War, which began 250 years ago Saturday when the first shots were fired in Lexington and Concord.

The anniversary was marked at the start and finish by special logos painted on the street.

“We appreciate their service, and just the fact that it's Patriots’ Day gives it even more meaning,” McGillivray said.

The town of Hopkinton, a suburb of west of Boston, is the gathering place for the runners preparing for the trek to Copley Square. A group of middle school and high school students from the town wore T-shirts to commemorate the Patriots' Day anniversary. They brought American flags to wave at the runners before they cross the start line.

“It’s a good way to welcome the runners and show that they are appreciated in the town,” 14-year-old Vanshika Kukunoor said.

Race organizers are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first wheelchair race. Bob Hall begged his way into the 1975 Boston Marathon, promising to finish the course in 3 hours or less. He did it, and since then the wheelchair marathon has grown into a highly competitive event — not just in Boston, but around the world.

Forecasts called for partly sunny skies, light winds and temperatures mostly in the 50s to low-60s for those who make it to Back Bay in the afternoon. McGillivray, making his 53rd Boston Marathon, will jump in with the second wave of athletes to start the race with his son.

“I think it'll be perfect conditions for all of us,” McGillivray said.

Reigning champions Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya return to defend their titles. Lemma separated from the pack of elite men’s runners early on last year and ran alone most of the morning, finishing in the 10th fastest time in race history. Most of the top men’s finishers from 2024 are returning, including Evans Chebet of Kenya, the two-time Boston Marathon champion who was third last year.

Obiri is trying to become the first woman to win three in a row since 1999. Last year, Obiri broke away from a large pack late to become the first woman to repeat as Boston Marathon champion since 2005.

Top American contenders include Emma Bates. The former Boston resident finished fifth in the women's race in 2023 and 12th last year, making her the highest American finisher both years.

Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Hopkinton, Mass., contributed to this story.

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