MLB
It’s opening day of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, and the openers in New York and Philadelphia have been postponed until Friday because of rainy forecasts in both cities. Pete Alonso and the New York Mets were scheduled to host the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon, a day featuring the first full slate of major league games this year. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres started the regular season with a two-game series in South Korea last week. But with wet weather expected much of Thursday in Queens, the Mets announced Wednesday the game was pushed back to Friday afternoon. Minutes later, Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies announced their sold-out opener against the NL East rival Atlanta Braves was moved from Thursday at 3:05 p.m. to Friday at the same time due to anticipated rain.
In the American League, the Yankees are at Houston to face the Astros this afternoon at 4:10, and the Red Sox are in Seattle to face the Mariners at 10:10 tonight.
After the Dodgers and Padres soft-launched the 2024 MLB season with a two-game series in South Korea last week, the rest of the league was scheduled to start play Thursday. All 30 teams were supposed to be in action, before Braves-Phillies and Brewers-Mets games were rained out. All eyes remain on Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who will make his home debut with Los Angeles amid investigations into his fired interpreter. Zack Wheeler and Spencer Strider square off in a juicy NL East opener between the Phillies and Braves in Philadelphia. Several stars are set to debut with new teams, including Juan Soto with the Yankees, Josh Hader with the Astros, Corbin Burnes with the Orioles and Matt Chapman with the Giants.
Catcher Will Smith and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $140 million, 10-year contract, raising the team’s spending to nearly $1.4 billion for five key players since December. Smith’s deal supersedes an $8.85 million, one-year agreement reached in January. The 28-year-old was a first-time All-Star last year, when he hit .261 with 19 homers and 76 RBIs. Smith has a .263 average with 91 homers and 308 RBIs in six seasons with the Dodgers. Los Angeles has committed almost $1.37 billion to two-way star Shohei Ohtani, right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Teoscar Hernández and Smith.
David Rubenstein’s purchase of the Baltimore Orioles has been approved by Major League Baseball owners. That clears the way for the Angelos family to finalize the sale after over three decades running the team. Approval of 75% of all owners was required, and MLB said the vote was unanimous. It came the day before the team is scheduled to open the season at home against the Los Angeles Angels. Rubenstein can now take over once his investor group officially closes the sale, which is expected sometime Wednesday. The Angelos family has been in control of the Orioles since 1993, when Peter Angelos purchased the team for $173 million.
NBA
Miles McBride matched a career-high with 29 points, Jalen Brunson had 26 and the Knicks never trailed in a 145-101 win over the slumping Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, New York’s biggest margin of victory this season. Precious Achiuwa had 19 points and 13 rebounds against his former team as the Knicks won for the seventh time in eight games. Knicks center Mitchell Robinson returned to action after missing 50 games with an ankle injury. He scored eight points. Gradey Dick scored a career-high 23 points for Toronto and Gary Trent Jr. had 18 as the Raptors lost their 12th in a row.
Cam Thomas scored 38 points, including a pair of jumpers in overtime, and the Brooklyn Nets held off Washington 122-119, snapping the Wizards’ modest three-game winning streak. Jordan Poole scored a season-high 38 points for Washington, but he missed a 3-pointer that could have tied the game late in overtime. Dorian Finney-Smith had a chance to ice the game for Brooklyn with 4.3 seconds left, but he missed two free throws. The Wizards, however, were out of timeouts, and after securing the rebound, Washington’s Deni Avdija lost control of the ball when he tried to dribble quickly upcourt.
Kawhi Leonard completed two 3-point plays late in the game then made a block at the rim on the final possession to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a controversial 108-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The officials said after the game that a foul should have been called on Paul George that would have sent Kelly Oubre Jr. to the line with a chance to win it. George had 22 points for Los Angeles while Leonard added 17. James Harden had 16 points and 14 assists for the Clippers. Tyrese Maxey had 26 points for the 76ers while Oubre added 17.
Brandon Miller made seven 3-pointers and had 31 points, and the Charlotte Hornets shot 58% from the field to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-111 on Wednesday night to avenge a 23-point loss earlier in the week. Miles Bridges and Tre Mann each added 17 points and Grant Williams had 16 for the Hornets, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Vasa Micic chipped in with 11 points and 12 assists and Nick Richards had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jarrett Allen scored 24 points and Sam Merrill added 17 for the Cavs, hjave lost four of their last five games. Allen became the first Cavaliers player in four games to eclipse 20 points.
Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points, Stephen Curry made the final two baskets of the game on an off shooting night and Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s early ejection to beat the Orlando Magic 101-93 on Wednesday. Green, who missed 16 games after being suspended by the NBA in December, was ejected 3:36 in for disputing a foul call on Wiggins. It was Green's fourth ejection of the season. Curry made a driving hook with 1:09 to go to make it 98-93 and added a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left. He had 17 points — going 6 of 18 from the field — and 10 assists. Cole Anthony led Orlando with 26 points and eight rebounds. Paolo Banchero had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Dejounte Murray had 30 points and seven assists and the Atlanta Hawks won their third in a row and handed Portland its eighth straight loss, beating the Trail Blazers 120-106 on Wednesday night. Garrison Mathews hit five 3-points and scored a season-high 21 points to help the Hawks remain 10th in the Eastern Conference and avenge a 106-102 loss in Portland on March 13. Matthews led the Atlanta backups to 41 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 points and five assists, and Clint Capela had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Dalano Banton led Portland with a career-high 31 points off the bench. For the third straight game, the Trail Blazers started five rookies due to injuries.
Naz Reid had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Jaden McDaniels added 20 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves overcome a sluggish start to beat the NBA-worst Detroit Pistons 106-91. Kyle Anderson scored 14 points off the bench to help offset a quiet nine points by All-Star Anthony Edwards for the Wolves. They hit the 50-win mark for just the fifth time in their 35 seasons. That matches the franchise’s third-highest total with 10 games left. Minnesota's all-time best record was 58-24 in 2003-04. Cade Cunningham scored 32 points for the Pistons. They lost their eighth game in a row.
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and Nikola Vucevic added 22 with 12 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls past the Indiana Pacers 125-99 to snap a three-game skid. Coby White had 18 points to help Chicago take the season series from Indiana 3-1. Andrew Nembhard scored 18 points for the Pacers, who concluded a five-game trip at 3-2 and remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Chicago limited Pascal Siakam to 14 points after the two-time All-Star had scored 25 or more points in four straight games and 36 and 31 in his last two.
LeBron James had a triple-double with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, Rui Hachimura scored 32 points and the Los Angeles Lakers built a big lead in the third quarter and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 136-124 on Wednesday night. Coming off a 128-124 double-overtime victory in Milwaukee without James on Tuesday night, the Lakers won their fifth straight to pull within 2 1/2 games of idle Dallas for the sixth spot in the Western Conference, a spot that would avoid a play-in game. Anthony Davis sat out against Memphis after having 34 points and 23 rebounds in a career-high 52 minutes against Milwaukee. He hyperextended his left knee late against the Bucks. Desmond Bane led Memphis with 26 points and 16 assists.
Jalen Green scored 37 points and the Houston Rockets won their 10th straight game, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-126 in overtime on Wednesday night. Amen Thompson had 25 points and 15 rebounds and Dillon Brooks added 20 points for the Rockets. Josh Giddey matched a career-high with 31 points and Jalen Williams added 23 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City.
Devin Vassell scored 31 points, Victor Wembanyama had 19 points and five blocks and the San Antonio Spurs ran past the Utah Jazz 118-111. The Spurs had a season-high 40 assists on 44 field goals. San Antonio also shot 51.8% from the field and were well above .500 from 3-point range until missing their final four attempts and finishing 16 of 33. Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie and Malaki Branham all scored 17 points for San Antonio. Collin Sexton had 26 points and nine assists, while Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for the Jazz, who lost their seventh in a row.
Kevin Durant had 30 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks and the Phoenix Suns won in Denver for the second time this month, beating the defending champion Nuggets 104-97 on Wednesday night. The Suns, with the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, moved a half-game ahead of Sacramento for the seventh spot in the Western Conference as they try to move up to sixth to avoid a play-in game. Dallas is No. 6, a half-game ahead of Phoenix. The Western Conference-leading Nuggets struggled without starting point guard Jamal Murray, who missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. Nikola Jokic had 22 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists as he fought through lower back pain and left hip soreness.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse said Wednesday that there is a “good likelihood” that reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid will be back on the court before the postseason. Embiid, who has averaged 35.3 points and 11.5 rebounds this season, has missed the last 27 games after suffering a meniscus injury on Jan. 30 at Golden State that required surgery on Feb. 6. The Sixers were 10-16 in the games since Embiid’s injury heading into Wednesday. The club had confirmed two weeks ago that Embiid started on-court work, but has been cryptic about the extent of work he has been doing.
Golden State forward Draymond Green was ejected less than four minutes into the Warriors’ game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. It was Green’s fourth ejection of the season and the first since his 16-game suspension by the NBA for his history of misconduct and after he struck Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face during a Dec. 12 game. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the 101-93 win over the Magic that Green “deserved” to be ejected and called it “unfortunate.”
Officials said they missed a foul call in the closing seconds of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 108-107 win over Philadelphia, denying the 76ers a possible victory in their fight for better playoff positioning. Referee Kevin Scott said in a pool report sent to reporters by the NBA an hour after the game that the Clippers’ Paul George did make contact with Kelly Oubre Jr. — who had the ball and was driving — before time had expired on the final play of the contest. The foul would have sent Oubre to the line with a chance to win the game with 0.2 seconds remaining.
NHL
Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and the Ottawa Senators enjoyed a five-goal first-period surge in cruising to a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Artem Zub opened the scoring 2:37 in an outing the Senators led 4-0 by the 8:49 mark of the opening period, and Pinto closed the scoring with an empty-net goal. Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and assist. JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for Buffalo in a matchup of two Atlantic Division teams all but mathematically out of playoff contention.
Brayden Point scored his 42nd goal of the season to break a second-period tie, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves, and the surging Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins 3-1. Tampa Bay also got goals from Mitchell Chaffee and Nikita Kucherov as the Lightning improved to 7-0-1 over their last eight games. The Lightning moved within two points of third-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division. Linus Ullmark stopped 28 shots, and Danton Heinen scored for the Bruins. Boston was coming off a 4-3 win Tuesday night at Florida.
NCAA
NCAA President and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is urging states with legal wagering on sporting events to ban betting on individual player performances. Prop bets allow gamblers to wager on statistics a player will accumulate during a game. The NBA has opened an investigation into Toronto Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter amid gambling allegations related to his own performance in individual games. Ohio, Vermont and Maryland are among the states that have removed prop betting on college athletes. The American Gaming Association estimates $2.7 billion will be bet this year on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments through legal sportsbooks.
The pregame handshake has become a staple of college basketball during March Madness. Nearly every team in both the men's and women's game has at least one player who greets the starters with a sometimes intricately choreographed handshake before the game is tipped off. The ritual has become a part of basketball's culture and offers players a chance to relax before the game begins. LSU's Amani Bartlett says she tailors the handshakes to fit a teammate's personality. Bartlett believes the handshakes serve as a wake-up call that it's time to get serious and focus on the task ahead.
No. 1 overall seed UConn has looked unbeatable so far during its bid to become the first school since 2007 to win back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles. Its next hurdle in the Sweet 16 is a rematch with fifth-seeded San Diego State, which the Huskies beat in last year's title game. The other regional semifinal features a matchup between a second-seeded Iowa State team that has the best defensive rating against No. 3 seed Illinois, which boasts the top offensive rating of remaining teams.
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