MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James started for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat, making it the 1,611th regular-season game of his career and tying Robert Parish’s all-time NBA mark. Parish held the record for nearly 30 years. He has now been caught by James, someone who now has yet another record on what seems like an endless resume of accomplishment within the game. James is also the NBA leader in, among many categories, points, seasons played, All-NBA nods and All-Star selections.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Graham Ike scored 19 points and third-seeded Gonzaga held off tenacious No. 14 seed Kennesaw State 73-64 in a defensive battle that ended with some drama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Davis Fogle added 17 points for the Bulldogs, who will face No. 11 seed Texas Saturday in the West Region. RJ Johnson and Amir Taylor each had 15 points for Kennesaw State, which made its second March Madness appearance after winning the Conference USA Tournament. The Owls capitalized on a series of fouls by the Bulldogs to make it close late, and Gonzaga coach Mark Few was enraged by some of the calls.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — North Carolina blew a 19-point lead to fall in overtime to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It marked a second straight loss for the blueblood program in the tournament's first round under Hubert Davis. UNC reached the NCAA title game in Davis' first season in 2022. But the Tar Heels have reached the round of 32 only once in the four seasons since. This year's UNC team was derailed by a season-ending injury to NBA prospect Caleb Wilson.
NEW YORK (AP) — WNBA players are having information sessions over the next day or two to learn more about the new collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to in principle early Wednesday morning. Through zoom calls and one-on-one conversations the players are hearing about some of the details of the transformational new deal that will last for the next seven years with an opt-out after six, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
The NCAA Tournament brackets have already been busted for millions of college basketball fans. High Point's upset of Wisconsin played a major factor in ending the hopes of a perfect bracket for more than 25 million who entered ESPN's perfect bracket challenge. The network reported that just over 10,000 of 26.5 million brackets remained perfect through the first 16 games. The odds of correctly picking every game during the three-week tournament can rise to as much as one in 9.2 quintillion.
MIAMI (AP) — Luka Doncic stepped to the foul line in the final moments and couldn’t help but hear what the crowd was yelling, over and over and over again. An MVP chant. On the road, no less. The cheers in Miami were certainly warranted, after the NBA’s scoring leader put together one of the best games of his life, a 60-point masterpiece that helped the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 134-126. It tied the second-most points Doncic has scored in his NBA career.
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA has fined the Israeli soccer federation for breaching anti-discrimination regulations but it took no action on a Palestinian request to suspend Israel from global soccer for allowing clubs based in West Bank settlements. Also, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has further dampened Iran’s attempts to move its World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, saying global soccer’s governing body wants the tournament “to go ahead as scheduled.” Infantino reiterated FIFA is not moving toward granting Iranian requests to move the team’s three World Cup group games in June from the United States to Mexico.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Members of Iran’s national women’s soccer team were greeted with a welcome ceremony upon their return to the Islamic Republic after several of the players sought asylum in Australia. People in the crowd waved flags while some of the players held bouquets of flowers and signed what appeared to be mini-soccer balls. Iranian media had reported that the team returned on Wednesday. Midfielder Fatemeh Shaban says “I wasn’t expecting this many people to come to welcome us.” Two Iranian female players, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, chose to remain in Australia and have been training with the Brisbane Roar club.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The United States and Australia’s political tug of war against Iran over the fates of seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer squad who were torn in between appears to have ended with the depleted team returning home minus the two players who defected last week.Critics now say politics have trumped concern for the women’s best interests as the drama played out. The evidence is that of seven Iranian women who initially accepted asylum in Australia, five changed their minds within days and returned to the team for reasons undisclosed. Critics argue the outcome might have been different had the women been provided with independent legal advice earlier and the process had not been so rushed.
Major League Baseball is entering an official partnership with Polymarket and has an agreement with the federal commission overseeing prediction markets to collaborate on integrity concerns. MLB said in a statement it has a memorandum of understanding with Michael S. Selig, the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to “further protect the integrity of baseball by ensuring swift response to incidents and anticipating emerging trends more strongly.” Prediction markets have raised concerns from sports leagues already working to combat issues around legal sports gambling.
Finals
INTERLEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 8 Tampa Bay 2
Final Baltimore 5 Pittsburgh 2
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Houston 2
Final Chicago White Sox 4 Arizona 2
Final Milwaukee 11 Texas 4
Final San Diego 13 Chicago White Sox 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 11 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 Baltimore 4
Final Boston 4 Minnesota 2
Final Cleveland 6 Kansas City 5
Final L.A. Angels 4 Kansas City 3
Final Seattle 6 Athletics 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final St. Louis 5 Washington 1
Final San Francisco 14 Colorado 11
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Boston 6 Winnipeg 1
Final Ottawa 3 N-Y Islanders 2
Final Columbus 6 N-Y Rangers 3
Final Detroit 3 Montreal 1
Final Chicago 2 Minnesota 1
Final Nashville 3 Seattle 1
Final Florida 4 Edmonton 0
Final Buffalo 5 San Jose 0
Final Tampa Bay 6 Vancouver 2
Final Utah 4 Vegas 0
Final SO Philadelphia 4 Los Angeles 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Duke 71 Siena 65
Final (3)Michigan 101 Howard 80
Final (5)Houston 78 Idaho 47
Final (11)Michigan State 92 North Dakota State 67
Final (12)Gonzaga 73 Kennesaw State 64
Final (13)Illinois 105 Pennsylvania 70
Final (14)Arkansas 97 Hawai'i 78
Final (15)Nebraska 76 Troy 47
Final (16)Vanderbilt 78 McNeese 68
Final High Point 83 (19)Wisconsin 82
Final VCU 82 (21)North Carolina 78
Final Texas A&M 63 (22)Saint Mary's 50
Final (23)Louisville 83 South Florida 79