In brief: Nowitzki hits 32 to bring down Thunder
NBA: Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his 32 points in overtime, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 128-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Nowitzki also had 10 rebounds and six assists. In Dallas’ loss to Brooklyn on Sunday, he was 2 for 12 from the field in his worst shooting performance of the season.
Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 43 points. He has scored at least 25 in 36 consecutive games – the longest such streak since Michael Jordan’s 40-game run during the 1986-87 season.
• Magic end nine-game losing streak: Tobias Harris had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 95-85 to stop a nine-game losing streak.
Robin Lopez led Portland with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The Blazers, who entered the night in fifth place in the West, have lost three straight. They were without forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who missed his seventh consecutive game with a lower back contusion.
• Cavaliers edge Raptors: Dion Waiters scored 24 points and Luol Deng added 19 as the Cleveland Cavaliers prevented Toronto from getting closer to a playoff spot with a 102-100 win over the visiting Raptors.
The Cavs blew a 21-point lead, but made just enough plays down the stretch to snap a five-game losing streak at home.
• Lakers bury Knicks: Xavier Henry scored 22 points, Nick Young hit five 3-pointers while scoring 20 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers dropped a franchise-record 51 points in the third quarter of their 127-96 victory over the visiting New York Knicks.
The Lakers’ patchwork roster connected on 18 3-pointers
Knicks president Phil Jackson watched his new team and his former club from a luxury suite high above the court.
• Anderson sidelined: The New Orleans Pelicans say forward Ryan Anderson will miss the remainder of the season because of a herniated cervical disc that has sidelined him since early January.
• Hickson has surgery: The Denver Nuggets say forward J.J. Hickson had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee.
Backes’ hat trick leads St. Louis
NHL: David Backes completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-3 victory that sent the Toronto Maple Leafs to their sixth straight loss.
T.J. Oshie and former Leafs forward Alex Steen also scored for St. Louis, which passed Boston for the most points in the NHL with 105.
• Kings beat Caps in shootout: Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored in the shootout, and the Los Angeles Kings came back after allowing Alex Ovechkin’s two early power-play goals to beat the Washington Capitals 5-4.
• Coyotes down Penguins: Thomas Greiss stopped 23 shots – including all 15 he faced over the final two periods – and the visiting Phoenix Coyotes edged the sloppy Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.
• McDonald strikes for Hurricanes: Colin McDonald had two goals and an assist, and Matt Martin also scored twice for the New York Islanders, who held on to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 at Raleigh, N.C.
• Price earns shutout for Montreal: Carey Price made 24 saves and Max Pacioretty and Daniel Briere scored third-period goals and the Montreal Canadiens earned a 2-0 victory against the visiting Buffalo Sabres.
Pacioretty’s goal was the 100th of his career as Montreal extended its winning streak to three and won for the sixth time in seven games.
• Atkinson hits key goal: Cam Atkinson scored a goal confirmed by video replay in the third period, and Ryan Johansen added an empty-netter for his second of the game to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
The Blue Jackets pulled even with the Red Wings with 80 points in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
• Malkin injured: Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin will miss two to three weeks while recovering from a foot injury.
Bayern Munich takes title in record time
Soccer: Two months before the season ends, Bayern Munich can claim one of the best seasons in German soccer history.
Bayern earned the Bundesliga championship with seven games to spare, earlier than any team in the 51-year history of the league, after defeating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Tuesday.
Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze and Franck Ribery scored for Bayern, which notched its 19th consecutive victory in the Bundesliga. Bayern has won 25 of 27 games and stretched its record unbeaten streak to 52.
Garrido moves to top in all-time victories.
College baseball: The Texas Longhorns defeated the Texas State Bobcats, 5-1, to give coach Augie Garrido his 1,894th career win, the most at any level of college baseball, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
With the win, Garrido surpasses Gordon Gillespie, who retired in 2011 at the age of 85 after establishing his record at three schools in 59 seasons.
Garrido, now in his 46th season, became the all-time winningest coach in Division I baseball on June 3, 2003, when Texas defeated Florida State during an NCAA super regional matchup for his 1,428th career victory.