Show notes
NBA – National Basketball Association Last Night Chicago Bulls 135, Los Angeles Clippers 130 – OT Detroit Pistons 102, Philadelphia 76ers 94 Bulls 135, Clippers 130 – OT – DeRozan scores 50, Bulls rally past Clippers 135-130 in OT DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 50 points and the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 135-130 in overtime. DeRozan finished two points shy of his career high. The five-time All-Star scored 17 in the fourth quarter, though he missed the go-ahead free throw in the closing seconds of regulation after making the first two attempts to tie it. He then scored 10 in overtime, helping the Bulls come away with a win they sorely needed after falling behind by 16 in the third. Chicago, which led the Eastern Conference for a big part of the season, moved a half-game ahead of sixth-place Toronto with five remaining. Reggie Jackson led Los Angeles with 34 points. Paul George scored 22. Pistons 102, Sixers 94 – Bey’s late scoring surge helps Pistons top 76ers 102-94 Saddiq Bey scored 10 of his 20 points in the final 4:23 as the Detroit Pistons pulled away down the stretch and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-94. The Pistons had a 39-8 edge in scoring off the bench. Cade Cunningham scored 27 for Detroit, which snapped a three-game skid. Joel Embiid had 37 points and 15 rebounds for Philadelphia. James Harden had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers. Tonight Indiana Pacers at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. Detroit Pistons at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:00 p.m. NHL – National Hockey League Last Night Florida Panthers 4, Chicago Blackhawks 0 Panthers 4, Blackhawks 0 – Panthers beat Blackhawks 4-0, set club record for home wins Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots for his third shutout of the season, leading the Florida Panthers to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Aleksander Barkov scored twice, Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Lomberg scored his fourth goal in three games as the Panthers won their 28th home game, a club record for a season. Jonathan Huberdeau recorded his 71st assist, an NHL record for assists by a left winger. Huberdeau has 94 points, tying him with Pavel Bure, and is closing in on the club record of 96 points set by Barkov in the 2018-19 season. The Panthers could clinch a playoff spot as early as Saturday. Collin Delia stopped 40 shots for the Blackhawks, who lost their third straight game. Tonight Chicago Blackhawks at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:00 p.m. Ottawa Senators at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training Yesterday Toronto Blue Jays 5, Detroit Tigers 3 Chicago White Sox 8, Cincinnati Reds 2 Cubs were off Today New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m. Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (SS) at Arizona Diamondbacks, 4:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (SS) at Milwaukee Brewers, 4:10 p.m. MLB – MLB, players keep automatic runners in extras for 2022 Major League Baseball has finalized the rules change to bring back automatic runners in extra innings for a third straight season. MLB and the players’ association agreed to keep the controversial rule that starts each team with a runner on second base during extra innings for the 2022 regular season. The agreement regarding on-field rules modifications also includes expanding active rosters from 26 players to 28 from opening day on April 7 through May 1 this year, due to the delayed start of spring training. NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – Final Four Saturday– 2022 NCAA Final Four – National Semifinals – Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA 2 Villanova vs. 1 Kansas, 6:09 p.m. 8 North Carolina vs. 2 Duke, 8:49 p.m. NCAAMBKB – Notre Dame freshman Blake Wesley enters name for NBA draft Notre Dame freshman guard Blake Wesley has announced he’s entering the NBA draft. The 6-foot-5 guard who averaged a team-leading 14.4 points for his hometown Fighting Irish tweeted his intention. Wesley was an Indiana All-Star at Riley High School and Notre Dame’s first South Bend public school basketball prospect since 1985. Wesley was the only freshman in a starting lineup dominated by seniors and grad students at Notre Dame, which finished with a 24-11 record. That included going 15-5, along with North Carolina, as runners-up to Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion Duke. The draft will be held June 23 at the Barclays Center in New York. NCAAMBKB – Final Four teams heavily recruit talent in their backyards The four blueblood programs that have descended upon the Superdome for the men’s Final Four all have the ability to recruit on a national scale. Their coaches are able to hop aboard a jet on a moment’s notice to sit in a living room or take in a game. Yet all of the teams in New Orleans have pulled talent from their own backyards. Kansas has mined stars from Kansas City, Villanova from the fertile recruiting grounds of Philadelphia, and Duke and North Carolina have gone head-to-head for local talent with their campuses separated by about 10 miles. NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball – Final Four Tonight – 2022 NCAA Final Four – National Semifinals – Target Center, Minneapolis, MN 1 Louisville vs. 1 South Carolina, 7:00 p.m. 2 UConn vs. 1 Stanford, 9:30 p.m. NCAAWBKB – Final Four coaches feel transfer portal is "out of control" Jeff Walz has had a lot of success getting players to transfer to Louisville over the last few years, including three starters on his Final Four team this season. He’s not the only coach in the Final Four who has bolstered the roster by using the transfer portal as both South Carolina and UConn have found supplemental players from it. Still Walz, Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma think the amount of players looking to change schools is getting out of control. FIFA – FIFA sets World Cup draw seedings with updated rankings The United States has received a boost for the World Cup draw and Canada has taken a hit in the updated FIFA rankings. The Americans will be in Pot 2 after being ranked 15th in the world. Canada won the North American qualifying group and will play at the tournament for the first time in 36 years but missed a chance for a rankings boost by losing at Panama 1-0 in its final qualifier. Canada will instead be among the lowest seeded teams in Pot 4. The eight groups for the tournament in Qatar will be drawn Friday from four pots. Qatar gets the top-seeded slot given to the World Cup host nation despite being ranked No. 51. AHL – American Hockey League Last Night Texas Stars at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m. MCCAA – Junior College Athletics Today Baseball Grand Rapids Community College at Lake Michigan College, 10:00 a.m. (DH) at Lakeshore High School Softball Kalamazoo Valley Community College at Lake Michigan College, (DH) Postponed MHSAA – High School Sports Yesterday Girls Soccer Hartford 1, Berrien Springs 0 Today Baseball Berrien Springs at Niles, 4:00 p.m. (DH) Softball Berrien Springs at Niles, 4:00 p.m. (DH)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.