LOCAL SPORTS
At the Maritime U16AAA championships in Tyne Valley PEI, the Cabot Highlanders outscored the Eastern Dukes 1-0 on Friday to improve their record to 2 wins & a loss. It’s an early start for the Highlanders, with a contest versus the Saint John Vito’s at 9 am. The top two teams play for Gold tomorrow at Noon.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Jonas Valanciunas had season highs of 23 points and 17 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 127-107 in a battle of reserves. The Nuggets sat their entire starting lineup in their 11th straight win. Oklahoma City clinched the top seed overall Wednesday night and opted to rest most of its starting lineup. Canadian Lu Dort was the only starter to play and finish with five points.
Franz Wagner scored 25 points, Jamal Cain added 20, and the Orlando Magic remained in the running to avoid the play-in tournament by beating the Chicago Bulls 127-103. Orlando’s fifth straight win, combined with Toronto’s loss to New York, moved the Magic into a tie with the Raptors for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with one game remaining.
Sam Hauser had 24 points on eight three-pointers, and the Boston Celtics tied the franchise and NBA record with 29 threes on their way to clinching the Eastern Conference’s second playoff seed with a 144-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Jaylen Brown added 23 points in 29 minutes, sitting out the entire fourth quarter for Boston, which clinched the Atlantic Division.
Victor Wembanyama had 40 points and 13 rebounds in his 65th game to become eligible for N-B-A awards, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 139-120. De’Aaron Fox had 18 points and 10 assists, and Keldon Johnson had 17 points for San Antonio. Rookie Cooper Flagg had 33 points, six rebounds and five assists for Dallas, which has lost 11 of 13.
Dustin May pitched six strong innings, Ramón Urías hit a double and scored twice, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 in the opener of a three-game series. May allowed two runs — one earned — on four hits with four strikeouts in six innings. Riley O’Brien pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and earned his fourth save.
Yandy Díaz sparked a comeback with a tying, two-run homer in the first inning off Luis Gil, who made his first big league start this season, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Yankees 5-3 to extend New York’s losing streak to three. Since their first three batters got hits against the A’s on Wednesday, Yankees hitters are 7 for 86. New York had a 22-batter stretch without a hit.
Friday’s Scoreboard
MLB
American League
Toronto 10 Minnesota 4
Tampa Bay 5 N.Y. Yankees 3
Kansas City 2 Chicago White Sox 0
Seattle 9 Houston 6
National League
Pittsburgh 2 Chicago Cubs 0
Arizona 5 Philadelphia 4
Washington 7 Milwaukee 3
San Diego 5 Colorado 2
Interleague
Detroit 2 Miami 0
L.A. Angels 10 Cincinnati 2
Athletics 4 N.Y. Mets 0
Atlanta 11 Cleveland 5
San Francisco 6 Baltimore 3
St. Louis 3 Boston 2
L.A. Dodgers 8 Texas 7
NBA
New York 112 Toronto 95
Atlanta 124 Cleveland 102
Detroit 118 Charlotte 100
Miami 140 Washington 117
Boston 144 New Orleans 118
Philadelphia 105 Indiana 94
Milwaukee 125 Brooklyn 108
San Antonio 139 Dallas 120
Orlando 127 Chicago 103
Denver 127 Oklahoma City 107
Utah 147 Memphis 101
Minnesota 136 Houston 132
Sacramento 124 Golden State 118
Portland 116 L.A. Clippers 97
L.A. Lakers 101 Phoenix 73
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Playoffs Conference Semifinals| Best-of-Seven Series
Moncton 8 Val-d’Or 1 (Moncton leads series 1-0)
Chicoutimi 3 Québec 1 (Chicoutimi leads series 1-0)
Blainville-Boisbriand 5 Newfoundland 3 (Series tied 1-1)
Rouyn-Noranda 8 Shawinigan 3 (Rouyn-Noranda leads series 1-0)
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
Tampa Bay at Boston, 12:30 p.m.
Ottawa at N.Y. Islanders, 1 p.m.
Washington at Pittsburgh, 3 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.
Carolina at Utah, 5 p.m.
Minnesota at Nashville, 5 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Dallas, 5 p.m.
New Jersey at Detroit, 5 p.m.
St. Louis at Chicago, 5 p.m.
Calgary at Seattle, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Florida at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Vegas at Colorado, 8 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 10 p.m.
PWHL
New York at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Ottawa at Toronto, 2 p.m.
Montreal at Boston, 7 p.m.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Playoffs Conference Semifinals| Best-of-Seven Series
Val-d’Or at Moncton, 6 p.m. (Moncton leads series 1-0)
Québec at Chicoutimi, 7 p.m. (Chicoutimi leads series 1-0)
Shawinigan At Rouyn-Noranda, 7 p.m. (Rouyn-Noranda leads series 1-0)
MLB
American League
Minnesota (Ryan 1-1) at Toronto (Lauer 1-1), 3:07 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Fedde 0-2) at Kansas City (Wacha 1-0), 4:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Fried 2-0) at Tampa Bay (Martinez 0-0), 6:10 p.m.
Houston (McCullers 1-0) at Seattle (Castillo 0-0), 9:40 p.m.
National League
Arizona (Pfaadt 0-0) at Philadelphia (Walker 0-2), 1:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Ashcraft 1-1) at Chicago Cubs (Cabrera 1-0), 2:20 p.m.
Washington (Griffin 1-0) at Milwaukee (Harrison 1-0), 7:10 p.m.
Colorado (Feltner 1-0) at San Diego (Márquez 1-1), 8:40 p.m.
Interleague
Miami (Junk 0-1) at Detroit (Mize 0-1), 1:10 p.m.
Athletics (Lopez 0-1) at N.Y. Mets (Senga 0-1), 4:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Klassen 0-0) at Cincinnati (Williamson 1-1), 4:10 p.m.
Boston (Suarez 0-1) at St. Louis (Leahy 1-1), 7:15 p.m.
Cleveland (Messick 1-0) at Atlanta (Pérez 0-0), 7:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Webb 1-1) at Baltimore (Bassitt 0-2), 7:15 p.m.
Texas (Leiter 1-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Sheehan 1-0), 9:10 p.m.
MLS
Cincinnati at Toronto FC, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at CF Montréal, 2:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Austin FC, 2:30 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at Portland, 4:45 p.m.
New York City FC at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Nashville at Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
New York at Miami, 7:30 p.m.
D.C. United at New England, 7:30 p.m.
Atlanta at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
St Louis City at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
Houston at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.
Minnesota at San Diego FC, 10:30 p.m.
Canadian Premier League
Halifax at Toronto, 3 p.m.
Quebec at Victoria, 6 p.m.