Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 3/20/18

sportsreport-397
sportsreport-397

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Indiana Pacers 110, Los Angeles Lakers 100
New York Knicks 110, Chicago Bulls 92
Detroit Pistons 106, Sacramento Kings 90

Pacers 110, Lakers 100 – Oladipo helps Pacers rally past Lakers 110-100
Victor Oladipo sparked a decisive run and finished with 20 points, Myles Turner had 21 points and the Indiana Pacers recovered from a poor start for a 110-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.  The victory snapped Indiana’s two-game losing streak.  Los Angeles was led by Kyle Kuzma with 27 points and Brook Lopez with 23, but the Lakers still lost their third straight. Oladipo and Darren Collison got Indiana going with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third quarter for a 77-70 lead. After a layup from Julius Randle, Collison made a 20-footer and Lance Stephenson hit a 10-footer. When the 14-4 flurry ended, Indiana led 85-74 with 3:04 left in the third.  The Lakers never seriously challenged after that.

Knicks 110, Bulls 92 – Hardaway, Beasley lead Knicks past depleted Bulls, 110-92
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points and Michael Beasley added 17 as the New York Knicks defeated the Chicago Bulls 110-92 on Monday night. Enes Kanter had 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Troy Williams added 11 for the Knicks. Cristiano Felicio scored a career-high 17 points for the Bulls, who were missing their top three scorers and went 3-for-30 from 3-point range. Bobby Portis and Antonio Blakeney scored 16 points apiece.  The Knicks used an 11-0 run to end the second quarter and take a 47-37 halftime lead.  Felicio scored Chicago’s first 11 points of the second half and the Bulls pulled within four, 56-52, on Denzel Valentine’s layup with 7:45 left.

Pistons 106, Kings 90 – Griffin’s big third quarter helps Pistons top Kings 106-90
Blake Griffin had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the Detroit Pistons pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 106-90 on Monday night.  Ish Smith had 18 points, Reggie Bullock added 17 and Anthony Tolliver scored 12 points behind three 3-pointers _ one of three Pistons with a trio of 3s. Andre Drummond had just four points but pulled down 16 rebounds to help Detroit end its three-game losing streak.  The Pistons won on the road for only the 10th time this season. Detroit won in Sacramento for the first time since Dec. 13, 2014.

Tonight
Detroit Pistons at Phoenix Suns, 10:00 p.m.

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball – 2018 NCAA Tournament – Round 2
Yesterday
11 Central Michigan 95. 3 Ohio State 78                              Spokane Region – Columbus, OH

CMU 95, Ohio State 78 – Central Michigan stuns Ohio State in NCAA regional
Presley Hudson scored 28 points and No. 11 seed Central Michigan stunned No. 3 Ohio State 95-78 on Monday night to earn the school’s first ever trip to the Sweet 16.  Cassie Breen threw the ball high in the air as the clock wound down and the joyous Central Michigan players jumped, screamed and hugged as they celebrated the biggest win in school history.  The Chippewas had won their first tournament game ever in Saturday’s first-round upset of No. 6 LSU. With the upset of Ohio State, they advance to face No. 2 Oregon in Spokane, Washington, on Saturday. Central Michigan (30-4) out-rebounded and out-hustled Ohio State, hit a season-high 14 3-pointers and kept the Buckeyes at bay late in the game. The Chippewas got plenty of help in the upset from the unusually error-prone Buckeyes, who got behind in the first half and then were run over by momentum and couldn’t climb back in. Central Michigan led by as much as 23 points in the second half as Ohio State struggled to put together a run that would shift the tide. 

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball – 2018 Women’s NIT – 2nd round
Last Night
Michigan State 68, Toledo 66

NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Philadelphia Flyers at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Baltimore Orioles 4, Detroit Tigers 2
Chicago White Sox 15, Arizona Diamondbacks 2
Chicago Cubs 5, Cincinnati Reds 4

Today
New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers 1:05 p.m.                    Lakeland, FL
Texas Rangers at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m.                  Glendale, AZ

MLB – MLB hopes for Yanks-Red Sox in London in 2019
Major League Baseball is working to finalize a two-game series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at London’s Olympic Stadium on June 29-30 in 2019. It will be the sport’s first regular-season games in Europe. The Red Sox have the option of having both games be Boston home games. Baseball officials have long hoped for games in London and settled last year on Olympic Stadium.

NFL – Colts give Luck another option by signing TE Eric Ebron
The Indianapolis Colts finally made a splash in free agency Monday by signing tight end Eric Ebron.     Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Ebron was released last week by the Detroit Lions, the team that made him a first-round pick in 2014. The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Ebron gives quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Jacoby Brissett another receiving threat. He will be paired with Jack Doyle, who appeared in his first Pro Bowl last season. Ebron had 186 receptions, 2,070 yards and 11 TDs in four seasons with the Lions and developed a reputation for dropping passes. But he’s just 24 years old.  Indy’s move comes on the heels of Saturday’s trade that gave the New York Jets the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. Indy got the Jets pick at No. 6, two second-round picks this year and another second-rounder in 2019.

NFL – Lions address need, re-sign DT Christian Ringo
The Detroit Lions have re-signed defensive tackle Christian Ringo. Detroit made the move Monday, addressing a need by adding depth on the defensive line. Ringo has five career tackles and has forced one fumble. He played in six games for the Lions last season. Ringo was a reserve in eight games in 2016 with Green Bay. The Packers drafted the former Louisiana-Lafayette standout in the sixth round in 2015.

Golf – Spieth, Reed drawn in same group at Match Play
Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed go from being teammates to opponents in match play. Spieth and Reed have a 7-2-2 record as partners in two Ryder Cups and last year’s Presidents Cup. They were drawn in the same four-man group for the Dell Technologies Match Play, which starts Wednesday at Austin Country Club. Spieth knows the course well from his days playing for the Texas Longhorns. The format at this World Golf Championship is round-robin play through Friday, with the winners of each 16 groups advancing to a weekend of single elimination. Dustin Johnson is the No. 1 seed. Also in his group is Kevin Kisner, one of his best friends from junior golf in South Carolina.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Boys Basketball – State Quarterfinals

Class B at Ionia
Benton Harbor (24-1) vs. Williamston (22-2), 7:00 p.m.              95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports 6:45

Class C at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
Kalamazoo Christian (23-2) vs. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (24-0), 7:00 p.m.

Class D at Portage Northern
Howardsville Christian (20-5) vs. Hillsdale Academy (23-2), 7:00 p.m.