Estimated read time: 11-12 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Heat, Pacers win
UNDATED (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs have run their team-record winning streak to 19 games while stretching their lead in the NBA's Western Conference to four games over Oklahoma City.
Tony Parker had 18 points and eight assists to lead the Spurs' 111-90 rout of Golden State. Tim Duncan added 15 points and eight rebounds before he and Parker sat out the entire fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was able to rest his core players with his team leading by as many as 26 points and never trailing after the opening three minutes.
The Miami Heat still lead the Eastern Conference by percentage points over Indiana after both teams won Wednesday.
LeBron James scored 17 points and Chris Bosh added 15 as the Heat stifled Milwaukee 96-77. Mario Chalmers added 14 points for the Heat, who never trailed despite again being without Dwyane (dwayn) Wade, Ray Allen and Greg Oden.
Paul George had 27 points and 13 rebounds as the Pacers knocked off Detroit 101-94 to end a three-game skid. David West scored 15 points for Indiana.
In other NBA action:
— The Los Angeles Clippers pulled out a 112-108 win at Phoenix after trailing by 17 in the second half. Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece, and Chris Paul's 20-point effort included a 32-footer that put the Clippers ahead for good with 1:48 left.
— Kevin Love posted his third career triple-double by contributing 24 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Minnesota's 102-88 triumph over Memphis. Ricky Rubio had 14 points, seven assists and three steals, while Kevin Martin scored 21 points for the Timberwolves.
— DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points in Toronto's 107-103 squeaker against Houston. Terrence Ross scored 14 points and John Salmons had 12 as the short-handed Raptors won for the fourth time in five games while expanding their Atlantic Division lead to 2 1/2 games over Brooklyn.
— J.R. Smith had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the New York Knicks crushed the Nets 110-81 to move percentage points ahead of Atlanta for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Knicks' 12th victory in 15 games.
— The Hawks absorbed a 105-92 loss to Chicago as D.J. Augustin scored 23 points for the Bulls. Chicago took control with a 16-3 run in the second quarter and led the rest of the way, sending Atlanta to its 21st loss in 28 games.
— The Washington Wizards are in the playoffs for the first time in six years following a 118-92 trouncing of Boston. Marcin Gortat (MAHR'-chin GOHR'-tot) scored 22 points to lead the Wizards, who sit sixth in the East.
— Charlotte clobbered Philadelphia 123-93 behind Al Jefferson's 25 points and 10 rebounds. The Bobcats need to win just three of their remaining seven games to wrap up their first playoff berth since 2010.
— Cleveland hammered Orlando 119-98 as Dion Waiters scored 26 points and Spencer Hawes and Tristan Thompson had 20 each. Kyrie Irving added 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his first game back after missing eight with a strained left biceps.
— Kenneth Faried scored a career-high 34 points and added 13 rebounds in Denver's 137-107 thrashing of New Orleans. The Nuggets hit 15 of their 27 3-point attempts, with reserve Aaron Brooks going 6-for-8 and scoring 24 points.
— And Rudy Gay's 31 points lifted Sacramento past the Los Angeles Lakers 107-102.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Braves win arms race...Dazzling Kaz
UNDATED (AP) — Aaron Harang wasn't able to win a job with the Cleveland Indians during spring training last month, but the 35-year-old right-hander did pretty well in his first start as an Atlanta Brave.
Harang won a pitching duel with Matt Garza as the Braves downed the Brewers 1-0 Wednesday afternoon. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh and left after allowing two hits over 6 and two-thirds. Garza also flirted with a no-hitter until Chris Johnson homered with two out in the seventh.
Like Harang, Garza was making his first start for a new team.
Three other hurlers made great first impressions Wednesday:
— Tim Hudson allowed three hits while working into the eighth inning of San Francisco's 2-0 shutout of Arizona. Angel Pagan and Michael Morse had RBI hits to help Hudson win his first start as a Giant.
— Dan Haren allowed an unearned run and just four hits in six shutout innings to pitch the Los Angeles Dodgers past San Diego 5-1. Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run double and later scored during the Dodgers' three-run first.
— Scott Kazmir was a winner in his first start with Oakland, holding his former team to three hits over 7 1/3 shutout innings to lead the Athletics past Cleveland 6-1. Kazmir struck out five and walked none as the A's took the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
However, the Indians earned a split of the twinbill as Michael Brantley singled home a pair off new Oakland closer Jim Johnson in the ninth inning of a 6-4 Cleveland win. Mike Aviles (ah-VEE'-lihs) launched a two-run homer for the Indians.
Also in the majors:
— Pittsburgh won the longest game of the night as Tony Sanchez poked an RBI single in the bottom of the 16th to give the Pirates a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. The Cubbies erased a 2-0 deficit and went ahead on Anthony Rizzo's homer in the 12th, but Starling Marte (mahr-TAY') extended the game with a run-scoring single in the bottom half.
— Cincinnati beat St. Louis 1-0 on Chris Heisey's (HY'-seez) single in the bottom of the ninth. The Reds set a modern franchise record by failing to score in the first 17 innings of the season before Heisey's game-winning hit.
— Gio Gonzalez hit a solo homer and scattered three hits over six innings of Washington's 5-1 win over the New York Mets. Ian Desmond also went deep and Jayson Werth had four hits to help Gonzalez improve to 6-0 in his last seven starts versus the Mets.
— Jordan Pacheco had three hits and Jordan Lyles won in his Colorado debut as the Rockies held off Miami 6-5. Rockies two-time All-Star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez left the game in the sixth inning as a precaution because of dizziness.
— Texas scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to beat Jonathan Papelbon (PAP'-ul-bahn) and Philadelphia 4-3. Jim Adduci and Leonys Martin (lee-OH'-nihs mahr-TEEN') hit RBI singles off Papelbon before Shin-Soo Choo drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Rangers their second straight walk-off win.
— Dexter Fowler homered, tripled and scored twice as Houston topped the New York Yankees for the second straight game, 3-1. Matt Dominquez also homered and Jarred Cosart allowed four hits in five shutout innings.
— James Paxton pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball and Robinson Cano (kuh-NOH') collected his first RBI as a Mariner in an 8-2 drubbing of the Los Angeles Angels. Mike Zunino, Justin Smoak and Corey Hart all homered as Seattle completed a three-game sweep in the team's first series under new manager Lloyd McClendon.
— Mike Napoli homered and drove in four runs in Boston's 6-2 battering of Baltimore. David Ortiz added a two-run blast to back John Lackey, who allowed two runs and three hits in six innings.
— Mark Buehrle (BUR'-lee) pitched into the ninth inning and Jose Bautista homered twice in Toronto's 3-0 shutout of Tampa Bay. Buehrle struck out 11, allowed only four hits and came within one out of a complete-game shutout.
— Ian Kinsler hit a solo homer before smacking a walk-off single in the 10th to give Detroit a 2-1 win against Kansas City. Max Scherzer pitched eight scoreless innings for the Tigers, but Joe Nathan blew his first save chance since signing with Detroit in the offseason.
— Leury Garcia reached on a bunt single in the 11th inning and came home on a balk and a pair of wild pitches by Samuel Deduno (deh-DOO'-noh) to end the Chicago White Sox's 7-6 win over Minnesota. The White Sox trailed 6-4 in the ninth until Garcia hit an RBI single and Adam Eaton tied it with a run-scoring grounder.
MLB-NEWS
Darvish set to start Sunday...Former Mets' pitcher has heart surgery
UNDATED (AP) — The Texas Rangers say ace Yu Darvish will make his first start of the season Sunday at Tampa Bay. Manager Ron Washington says Darvish is as strong as he was before the neck stiffness that kept the pitcher from throwing for two weeks. His return means Tanner Scheppers' next start will be pushed back to Monday at Boston.
In other baseball news:
— Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer has agreed to a six-year $25.5 million, 6-year deal. The 25-year-old went 9-7 with a 3.22 ERA in 23 starts as a rookie last season.
— Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins has returned home to Philadelphia to be with his wife for the birth of their second child.
— Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has undergone surgery for a broken hamate bone in his left hand and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
— The Dodgers have placed reliever Brian Wilson on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in the ulnar nerve in his right elbow
— Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher Tyler Chatwood was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.
— New York Mets closer Bobby Parnell has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a partially torn elbow ligament and will be sidelined until at least late May.
— The Mets say former pitcher Frank Viola is resting comfortably after heart surgery. The 1988 AL Cy Young Award winner was 176-150 with a 3.73 earned run average in 15 major league seasons.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Ducks move up in West
UNDATED (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks are within one point of the first-place St. Louis Blues in the NHL's Western Conference, and they lead the Pacific Division by three points over San Jose following a 3-2 comeback win against Edmonton.
The Ducks scored three unanswered goals in the final period, one game after erasing a 4-0 deficit in a 5-4 win over Winnipeg. Corey Perry knotted the score with his 40th and 41st goals of the season before setting up Francois Beauchemin's (FRAN'-swah BOH'-sheh-mihnz) game-winner with 1:21 remaining.
Elsewhere on ice:
— Tomas Jurco and Gustav Nyquist scored 1:42 apart in the third period to turn the Wings' 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win over Boston. The Red Wings are seventh in the East with 86 points, three more than Columbus and four clear of Toronto for the final playoff berth. The Bruins ended a team-record nine-game road winning streak and remain one point ahead of St. Louis for the NHL's top record.
— Anze Kopitar (AHN'-zhay KOH-pih-tahr) and Tanner Pearson each had a goal and an assist as Los Angeles blanked Phoenix 4-0, damaging the Coyotes' playoff hopes. Jonathan Quick needed to make just 17 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 31st of his career.
— Josh Bailey scored a power-play goal and had an assist while playing his 400th game as the New York Islanders downed the Senators 2-1 in Ottawa. Rookie Ryan Strome (strohm) had two assists for the Isles, who are 14-4-2 in their last 20 road games after opening the season 4-13 away from Nassau Coliseum.
NHL-BLACKHAWKS
Bad news for Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews (TAYVZ) will miss the rest of the regular season with an upper-body injury suffered in Sunday's game against Pittsburgh. However, coach Joel Quenneville (KWEHN'-vihl) expects Toews to be "100 percent" for the playoffs.
The Hawks are already without star forward Patrick Kane, who is out for the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury.
NFL-REDSKINS
Jackson heads to Washington
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three-time Pro Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson has joined the Washington Redskins.
A person familiar with the terms of the deal says Jackson will get $16 million guaranteed in the $24 million deal.
Jackson set career-highs with 82 catches for 1,332 yards last season for the NFC East champion Eagles, but Philadelphia tried to trade him and then cut him last week amid reports of off-the-field concerns.
NFL-STEELERS
Steelers work out deal with free agent
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Free agent wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has agreed to a 1-year contract with Pittsburgh. He caught 29 passes for 307 yards and a touchdown in 11 games last season with Indianapolis.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-GEORGIA
Coach gets a new contract
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia men's basketball coach Mark Fox has been given a two-year contract extension through the 2017-18 season.
Fox is 85-77 in five years at Georgia, including a 20-14 record this season.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS-UNION
Northwestern gridders set union vote date
CHICAGO (AP) — A United Steelworkers official says Northwestern football players will vote April 25 on whether to authorize a union to represent them in collective bargaining with the university.
United Steelworkers has guided the College Athletes Players Association as it pushed for the right to form the nation's first college athletes' union. The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled last week that the Northwestern players were employees and so could unionize, a decision the university plans to appeal.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
