Sharpe and Avdija lead the Trail Blazers to a win over the Hawks

ATLANTA (AP) — Shaedon Sharpe had 33 points and 10 rebounds and Deni Avdija finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 127-113 on Tuesday night.

Toumani Camara scored 18 points and Donovan Clingan and Dalano Banton added 11 points apiece as Portland snapped a four-game skid.

Trae Young had 29 points and 15 assists for Atlanta. Dyson Daniels had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Vit Krejci scored 13 points and Onyeka Okongwu 12 in the loss.

KNICKS 105, 76ERS 91

NEW YORK (AP) — OG Anunoby scored 27 points and New York beat Philadelphia, sending the 76ers to their ninth straight loss.

Landry Shamet added a season-high 20 points with six 3-pointers for the Knicks, who won their third straight. Mitchell Robinson had 14 points and 14 rebounds on his 27th birthday in his second start of the season.

With the Knicks looking sloppy with All-Star Jalen Brunson and his two backup point guards sidelined, and Karl-Anthony Towns sitting out with left knee soreness, Anunoby picked up the slack with a series of strong drives to the basket — including one emphatic slam while the Knicks were blowing it open in the fourth quarter.

Former Knicks guard Quentin Grimes scored 26 points for the 76ers, who used their 52nd different starting lineup of their injury-wrecked season.

BUCKS 133, SUNS 123

MILWAUKEE (AP — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points and Milwaukee relied on a team-record shooting performance to snap a four-game skid by winning over slumping and short-handed Phoenix.

The Bucks shot 68.9% (51 of 73) from the floor to set a franchise record for field-goal percentage. The previous record was 66.7% on Dec. 15, 1985, against Sacramento.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers improved his career record to 1,155-816 and tied Phil Jackson for seventh place in NBA history in regular-season wins.

The Suns lost their fourth straight. They were playing without Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Royce O’Neale.

MAGIC 116, SPURS 105

SAN ANTONIO ( AP) — Paolo Banchero had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Franz Wagner added 24 points and Orlando rallied to beat San Antonio.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 23 points as the Magic won for the fifth time in seven games. Orlando (37-40) moved ahead of Atlanta (36-39) and into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Harrison Barnes scored 24 points for San Antonio, which lost its fifth straight. Julian Champagnie scored 19 points, Stephon Castle 16 and Chris Paul 10.

Orlando outscored San Antonio 37-21 in the final quarter after trailing much of the game.

BULLS 137, RAPTORS 118

CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 28 points, Talen Horton Tucker had 27 points and Chicago locked in a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with a win over Toronto.

Nikola Vucevic shot 9 for 12, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range to finish with 22 points, while adding 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The Raptors were led by Ja’Kobe Walter, with 17 points while Immanuel Quickley added 17 points and nine assists .

The Bulls took the lead with 1:22 left in the first quarter and never looked back. The score was 70-57 by halftime. Horton-Tucker led the way with a team-high 18 second-half points.

WARRIORS 134, GRIZZLIES 125

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Stephen Curry had 52 points, including 12 3-pointers, as Golden State held on for a victory over Memphis.

Curry was 16 of 31 from the field, making 12 of his 20 shots from distance, the dozen 3-pointers matching his season high. Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, and Draymond Green had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists as the Warriors moved into fifth place in the Western Conference.

Ja Morant led Memphis with 36 points and six assists, and Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 22 points. Zach Edey had 10 points and 16 rebounds as Memphis dropped its third straight.

TIMBERWOLVES 140, NUGGETS 139, 2OT

DENVER (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit two of three free throws with 0.1 seconds remaining and Minnesota overcame a career-best 61-point performance from Nikola Jokic to outlast Denver in double overtime.

The final play concluded a wild sequence as Russell Westbrook stole the ball on one end in the closing seconds, missed a layup and then fouled Alexander-Walker in the corner. The Timberwolves guard made two and missed the third one on purpose.

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 34 points.

Jokic’s 61 points were the most by a player in the NBA this season. He also had 10 rebounds and 10 assists as he played 52 minutes, 38 seconds. He didn’t leave the floor after halftime.

Atlanta Hawks guard Caris LeVert (3) goes to the basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party. Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.

“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”

Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.

In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.

Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.

“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”

The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right.

Reform, which only has a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons, is tipped to make a major breakthrough in an array of elections this May, including those to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.

Jenrick, who continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform to unite the right in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.

Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose favorability ratings have fallen sharply since the general election following a series of missteps, questioned why it took Badenoch “so long” to sack Jenrick given all the speculation that he was looking to either challenge her or to defect to Reform.

Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.

Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.

However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks, particularly during her weekly questioning of Starmer, in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.

The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the modern party was created nearly 200 years ago.

Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)