NBA-SCHEDULE
Pacers dump Sixers, stretch conference lead
UNDATED (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs added another game to their winning streak. The Philadelphia 76ers did likewise with their losing streak.
Danny Green had 15 points and the Spurs earned their ninth straight victory by clobbering the Los Angeles Lakers 119-85. Matt Bonner chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who posted their most lopsided win ever against the Lakers.
San Antonio now leads the Western Conference by one game over Oklahoma City.
The 76ers are on the verge of tying a team record for consecutive losses after falling to the top team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Paul George scored 25 points and David West had 18 as Indiana dealt the Sixers their 19th straight loss, 101-94. The Pacers raced to a 17-point lead in the first half and hung on after the 76ers got within five midway through the fourth.
The 76ers need to beat Memphis on Saturday to avoid matching the club mark of 20 straight losses set in 1972-73.
Indiana’s conference lead is up to three games over Miami after the Heat lost for the fifth time in six games, 111-107 to visiting Denver. Kenneth Faried scored 24 points, and Darrell Arthur provided 18 of the Nuggets’ 54 bench points.
Also in the NBA:
— The Los Angeles Clippers claimed their 10th consecutive victory as Blake Griffin delivered 20 points and Chris Paul added 18 in a 96-87 decision over Utah.
— Spencer Hawes had 22 points and 13 rebounds in Cleveland’s 103-94 win at Golden State.
— Portland beat New Orleans 111-103 as Damian Lillard scored 27 points and Nicolas Batum (bah-TOOM’) added 22 and 18 rebounds.
— Kyle Lowry had 22 points and 12 assists against his former team in leading Toronto to its 11th victory in 14 games, 99-86 over Memphis.
— Goran Dragic (DRAH’-gihch) scored 20 points and Phoenix scored the last seven to beat Boston 87-80.
— Charlotte picked up its eighth straight home win as Al Jefferson had 25 points and 16 rebounds in a 105-93 victory against Minnesota.
— John Wall contributed 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Washington outlasted Orlando 105-101.
NBA-KNICKS/JACKSON
Knicks hire Jackson
UNDATED (AP) — Phil Jackson is returning to the NBA franchise that drafted him in 1967.
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Jackson has agreed to run the New York Knicks’ front office and will be introduced at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Jackson was part of both Knicks championships in 1970 and 1973, although he was unable to play for the ’70 team due to a back injury. He’s won 11 titles as coach of the Bulls and Lakers, but he’s never run an NBA franchise.
T25 BASKETBALL–TOURNAMENTS
Gators notch 30th…Pitt tops UNC, Bonnies stun Saint Louis
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA seedings continue to take shape with every conference tournament game.
In the SEC, Scottie Wilbekin scored 15 points and top-ranked Florida remained unbeaten in the conference by blowing out Missouri 72-49 in the quarterfinals. The Gators were tied 29-29 at halftime and were up just 38-36 before outscoring the Tigers 34-13 over the final 10:06.
Next up for the Gators is Tennessee, which got 22 points from Jarnell Stokes in a 59-44 triumph over South Carolina.
Also in the SEC, Kentucky beat LSU 85-67 behind James Young’s 21 points. And Georgia pulled out a 75-73 win against Mississippi to earn a meeting with the Wildcats.
Russ Smith scored a career-high 42 points and No. 5 Louisville cruised to a 94-65 victory over Houston in the semifinals of the inaugural American Athletic Conference tournament. Smith shot 14-for-22 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
Joining Louisville in the title game is No. 21 Connecticut after Shabazz Napier scored 15 points and hit a free throw with 11.1 seconds left to help the Huskies down 13th-ranked Cincinnati 58-56.
The ACC quarterfinals began with sixth-ranked Virginia’s 64-51 win over Florida State. Joe Harris matched a season high with 20 points and Anthony Gill added 16 as the Cavaliers earned a semifinal matchup against Pittsburgh.
Talib Zanna (tah-LEEB’ ZAN’-ah) had 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as the Panthers beat the Tar Heels 80-75. James Robinson also scored a career-best 19 points for the unranked Panthers, who led by 20 with 7:22 left before holding on.
No. 11 Syracuse also made an early exit as T.J. Warren scored 28 points while Ralston Turner banked in the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining to help North Carolina State upset the Orange 66-63.
Seventh-ranked Duke was on the verge of becoming the third ranked ACC team to lose Friday until Rodney Hood capped his 17-point night by hitting two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to lift the Blue Devils past Clemson 63-62. Duke will face N.C. State in the other ACC semifinal.
No. 16 Iowa State beat 10th-ranked Kansas 94-83 to reach the Big 12 title game for the first time in 14 years. Georges Niang scored 25 points, DeAndre Kane had 20 and Melvin Ejim (EH’-jim) added 19 as the Cyclones advanced to play Baylor.
Cory Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds as Baylor rolled to an 86-69 victory over Texas and into the Big 12 title game for the third time in school history.
There was an upset in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals as ninth-seeded St. Bonaventure beat 18th-ranked Saint Louis 71-68 on Jordan Gathers’ 3-pointer at the buzzer. Matthew Wright and Charlon Kloof each had 22 points for the Bonnies, who trailed by 10 at halftime.
St. Bonaventure next faces Saint Joseph’s, which beat Dayton 70-67 on Langston Galloway’s go-ahead 3 with 17.9 seconds left.
Also in the A-10 quarters, defensive ace Briante Weber scored 18 points in 18 minutes to lead No. 23 VCU past Richmond 71-53. And Patricio Garino’s 15 points led George Washington’s 85-77 victory over Massachusetts.
Eighth-ranked Michigan and No. 24 Ohio barely advanced to the Big Ten semifinals.
Jordan Morgan hit a layup with 7.9 seconds left to give the Wolverines a 64-63 win over Illinois. Nik Stauskas scored 19 points to lead Michigan, which won despite scoring six points in the final 7½ minutes.
The Buckeyes rallied from an 18-point, second-half deficit to knock off Nebraska 71-67. LaQuinton Ross had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead OSU.
Also reaching the conference semis are Wisconsin and Michigan State. No. 12 Wisconsin advanced after Ben Brust scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Badgers to an 81-57 rout of Purdue. Branden Dawson had 16 points and Gary Harris added 13 points to lead No. 22 Michigan State to a 67-51 victory over Northwestern.
No. 14 Creighton has earned a spot in Saturday’s Big East championship game and will take on Providence. Doug McDermott poured in 32 points and Ethan Wragge added 17 as the Bluejays downed Xavier 86-78. Providence advanced to its second Big East championship game with an 80-74 victory over Seton Hall.
Nick Johnson scored 16 points and fourth-ranked Arizona shot 60 percent in the second half to beat Colorado 63-43 in the Pac-12 semifinals. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 12 points for the Wildcats, who held the Buffaloes to 5 of 22 shooting after halftime and earned a matchup against UCLA. The Bruins clobbered Stanford 84-59.
Dwayne Polee II had 18 points and six rebounds to lead No. 8 San Diego State to a 59-51 win over UNLV in the Mountain West semifinals. No. 20 New Mexico also advanced to the Mountain West title game as Cameron Bairstow scored 22 points and grabbed eight boards to lift the Lobos past Boise State 70-67.
In other conference tournaments:
— Tulsa and Louisiana Tech have reached the Conference USA title game. Tulsa earned a 76-69 triumph against Middle Tennessee before Louisiana Tech beat Southern Miss 88-70.
— Western Michigan rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half to stun Akron 64-60 in overtime and move into the Mid-American Conference final. The other Mid-American semifinal had Toledo beating Eastern Michigan 59-44.
— North Dakota and Weber St. are Big Sky finalists following North Dakota’s 79-63 triumph against Portland St. and Weber’s 66-63 squeaker against Northern Colorado.
— Texas Southern has moved into the Southwestern Athletic Conference final by downing Alabama St. 73-61 before Prairie View knocked off Alabama A&M 55-49 in the league’s other semifinal.
— Stephen F. Austin knocked out Northwestern St. 85-78 to advance to the Southland Conference final. Also reaching the Southland title game is Sam Houston State, which topped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 69-62
— NC Central was a 68-45 winner against Norfolk State before Morgan State knocked off Coppin State 79-64, putting NC Central and Morgan State in the MEAC title game.
— Idaho beat Utah Valley 74-69 to reach the WAC (wak) finale against New Mexico State, which topped Cal State Bakersfield 69-63.
— It will be Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge in the Big West final. Cal Poly was a 61-58 winner over top seed UC Irvine before Northridge pulled out an 82-77 win against Long Beach St.
— Arkansas State needed four overtimes to eliminate Arkansas-Little Rock 116-114 and move into the Sun Belt final against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns knocked off Texas-Arlington 91-85.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Five straight for Sharks
UNDATED (AP) — The San Jose Sharks have pulled within two points of St. Louis for the NHL’s Western Conference lead by earning their fifth straight win.
Marty Havlat provided the game-winner and had an assist as the Sharks nipped the New York Islanders 4-3. The Sharks grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Matt Nieto and Jason Demers 1:19 apart in the first period. Joe Thornton also scored and Antti Niemi (AN’-tee nee-EH’-mee) stopped 35 shots to help the Sharks improve to 20-6-3 against the Eastern Conference.
Anaheim and San Jose share second in the West after Kyle Palmieri scored twice and Jonas Hiller handled 34 shots in the Ducks’ 6-4 win at Colorado. Cam Fowler, Nick Bonino and Ryan Getzlaf (GETS’-laf) each had two assists for the Ducks.
Also on ice:
— Roman Josi (YOH’-see) assisted on goals by Mike Fisher, Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Ellis as Nashville topped Chicago 3-2.
— Carl Hagelin (HAG’-lihn) recorded a hat trick and Henrik Lundqvist tied Mike Richter’s New York Rangers record by picking up his 301st career victory in a 4-2 decision over Winnipeg.
— Washington blew a 3-1 lead in the third period before Mike Green scored with 9:41 left to give the Capitals a 4-3 win against Vancouver.
— Tomas Tatar (tah-TAHR’) set up Riley Sheahan’s goal before providing the lone shootout tally in Detroit’s 2-1 verdict over Edmonton.
— Brad Boyes and Brian Campbell each had a goal and an assist as Florida rallied to beat New Jersey 5-3 after trailing 3-1 in the second period.
— Mike Cammalleri’s second goal of the night was the game-winner with 4 ½ minutes left in Calgary’s 4-3 triumph against Dallas.
MLB-SPRING TRAINING
2 Oakland hurlers hurting…Big deal for the Minnesota closer
UNDATED (AP) — Oakland Athletics starting pitchers Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin could start the season on the disabled list due to arm injuries. Manager Bob Melvin says Parker has right forearm soreness and will see Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday. Parker was slated to start on opening day.
In other spring training news:
— Closer Glen Perkins and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to a four-year contract that guarantees the pitcher $22,175,000. The 31-year-old left-hander converted 36 of 40 save chances last year and was 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA. He had 21 saves at the break and was selected for the AL All-Star team for the first time.
NFL-TRANSACTIONS
Player deals and one for a coach
UNDATED (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms on a multiyear deal with free-agent linebacker Wesley Woodyard, who spent the last six years with the Denver Broncos serving as a team captain.
Woodyard was the only NFL player in 2012 to have at least 100 tackles, five sacks and three interceptions.
In other NFL moves:
— Jon Beason will remain in the middle of the New York Giants’ defense and will be joined by former Ravens linebacker Jameel McClain after the two agreed to contracts.
— The Minnesota Vikings have re-signed receiver Jerome Simpson, who caught 48 passes for a career-high 726 yards in 2013.
— The Saints have announced that they have re-signed free agent linebacker and special teams player Ramon Humber to a one-year contract.
— A person familiar with the negotiations says the Detroit Lions have re-signed tight end Brandon Pettigrew to a $16 million, four-year contract.
— The Ravens and linebacker Daryl Smith have agreed to a four-year deal.
— Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has told The Associated Press that he’s been released by the Tennessee Titans.
— Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him on the job through the 2015 season.
GOLF-VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Garrigus surges ahead
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Robert Garrigus (GAR’-ih-guhs) fired a 5-under 66 to build a three-shot lead going into the weekend at the PGA’s Valspar Championship.
Garrigus was at 7-under 135. He was three shots ahead of Kevin Na.
John Daly took a 12 on the 16th hole and shot 90, his highest score ever on the PGA Tour.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Round 1 of Toshiba Classic
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Bernhard Langer birdied three of the last four holes for an 8-under 63 and a two-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s Toshiba Classic. The 2008 winner had eight birdies in his bogey-free round.
Fred Couples, Jeff Hart and Taiwan’s Chien Soon Lu shot 65s.
NASCAR-FOOD CITY 500
Hamlin takes Bristol pole
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Denny Hamlin has earned the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol with a track-record performance in knockout qualifying. Hamlin turned a lap at 129.991 mph to earn the top starting spot, edging Brad Keselowski. Matt Kenseth qualified third, followed by Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.
