In brief: Islanders send Penguins to fifth straight loss
NHL: The Pittsburgh Penguins have spent the majority of the Sidney Crosby era treating the regular season as an 82-game exhibition until the playoffs start.
Not this year. Not by a long shot.
John Tavares broke a tie with his 37th goal of the season early in the third period and the New York Islanders pulled away to beat the reeling Penguins 3-1 on Friday night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have lost five straight but can still claw into the postseason through a series of scenarios, the easiest coming with a win over lowly Buffalo tonight.
“That’s why we play 82 games to see who (are) the best teams after that,” Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist said. “Tomorrow is a hell of a game and everybody is excited. Live or die. Can’t wait.”
There are no such issues for the Islanders. New York clinched a spot Thursday and assured itself of at least third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders can earn home-ice in the first round with a win over Columbus tonight and a Washington loss to the New York Rangers.
• Blue Jackets win, but Sabres lock up best shot at No. 1 pick: Cam Atkinson scored on a rebound midway through the third period and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-2 victory over Buffalo in Columbus, Ohio, assuring the Sabres the best chance at the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft.
The regulation loss locked up the worst overall record in the league for the Sabres and the best odds of procuring gifted forward Connor McDavid or Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel.
Duncan, Spurs top Rockets
NBA: Tim Duncan had 29 points and blocked James Harden’s layup with 2.9 seconds left to give the San Antonio Spurs their 10th straight victory, 104-103 over the Houston Rockets in Houston.
San Antonio jumped into the third spot in the Western Conference and Houston dropped from third to sixth.
The close game ended a streak of nine straight wins by at least 12 points, which had tied an NBA record.
• Stuckey helps Pacers beat Pistons 107-103: Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points, including three straight jumpers down the stretch, and the Indiana Pacers kept up their playoff push with a 107-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
“He’s an up-and-down guy – he always has been,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He hasn’t done much of anything against us in our first three games this year, but today, he killed us.”
Indiana (36-43) has won four in a row and is one game behind Brooklyn and Boston for the last two Eastern Conference playoff spots. All three teams won on Friday.
• Felton lifts Mavs to 144-143 win over Nuggets in double overtime: Raymond Felton hit a layup with 1.5 seconds remaining in double overtime, then blocked a last-second shot to help the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 144-143 in Denver.
Felton drove past Randy Foye and banked in a shot high off the glass. He then got a piece of Kenneth Faried’s jumper at the buzzer, causing the ball to wind up short.
Danilo Gallinari scored a career-high 47 points, including eight in the first overtime and nine in the second.
Denver had a chance to win in regulation, but Faried’s jumper rolled off the rim.
Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and Richard Jefferson added a season-high 24.
• Davis scores 19 to help Pelicans beat Suns 90-75: Anthony Davis had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 90-75 victory over the Phoenix Suns in New Orleans.
Eric Gordon scored 15 points, Tyreke Evans had 14, and Dante Cunningham and Norris Cole each added 12 to help the Pelicans keep pace with Oklahoma City for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Omer Asik had a season-high 18 rebounds.
Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with 19 points.
• Smart leads Celtics past Cavaliers 99-90: Marcus Smart scored 19 points, and the Boston Celtics maintained their grip on a playoff spot by holding off the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 99-90 in Cleveland.
The Celtics had five players score in double figures. Isaiah Thomas had 17 points, Avery Bradley scored 15 and Tyler Zeller finished with 13.
Boston and Brooklyn are tied with 37-42 records, but the Celtics own the tiebreaker after winning three of their four meetings.
The Cavs played without injured All-Star Kyrie Irving and used their reserves extensively after clinching the No. 2 seed in the East on Wednesday. They had won 18 consecutive home games.
Keys, Hradecka on to semifinals
Tennis: Madison Keys and Lucie Hradecka are finding their games on clay and are both surprise semifinalists at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.
Keys, the seventh seed, put on a dominating show to beat fellow American and one-time training partner Lauren Davis, 6-2, 6-2. Hradecka, a qualifier from the Czech Republic, topped her second seeded player in as many days, knocking out No. 4 seed Sara Errani, 6-2, 6-4.
The two will square off today for a spot in their first championship final of the year.
Third-seeded Andrea Petkovic, the defending champion, is facing qualifier Danka Kovinic and fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber is playing No. 13 seed Irina-Camelia Begu in other quarterfinal matches.
Oklahoma wins gymnastics title
Gymnastics: The Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team finished off an undefeated season by winning the national title in front of its home crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Sooners, second the past four years, had a score of 447.050. Stanford was second with 440.450, followed by Penn State at 439.500 and two-time defending national champion Michigan at 437.650.
Oklahoma’s final two competitors on the high bar, Danny Berardini and William Clement, brought it home. Berardini scored a 15.000, and Clement followed with a 14.750. Clement stuck his landing, then his teammates jumped around in a circle, celebrating. It was the ninth title for the Sooners and their first since 2008.
Stanford’s Akash Modi won the all-around with a score of 90.450.