Pistons beat the Timberwolves 109-87 to strengthen hold on East’s top seed

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Pistons beat the Timberwolves 109-87 to strengthen hold on East’s top seed

2026-03-29 12:30 Last Updated At：12:40

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tobias Harris led a balanced scoring attack with 18 points on Saturday as the Detroit Pistons strengthened their hold on the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 109-87 victory over the injury-riddled Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jalen Duren had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons, who have won nine of their last 11 games. They began the day with a four-game lead over Boston in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

Five other Pistons scored at least 10 points, led by Daniss Jenkins and Ronald Holland II with 13 apiece.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards (right knee inflammation) missed his sixth straight game. The Timberwolves also played without starting forward Jaden McDaniels (right knee soreness) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (right calf soreness).

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung) also missed his sixth straight game.

Donte DiVincenzo hit five 3-pointers and led Minnesota with 22 points. Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot a season-low 32% (27 for 85) from the floor and 21% (9 for 43) from beyond the arc.

SPURS 127, BUCKS 95

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Stephon Castle had a triple-double with 22 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as hot-shooting San Antonio steamrolled Milwaukee for its eighth consecutive victory.

Castle was one of seven players to score in double figures for the Spurs, who have won 13 of their last 14 to move within two games of the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference standings.

Victor Wembanyama added 23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. San Antonio never trailed and shot 55.1% (49 of 89).

Milwaukee’s loss eliminated the Bucks from playoff contention, snapping their streak of nine consecutive postseason appearances. The Bucks have lost nine of their last 11 games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out a sixth straight game for Milwaukee with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The Bucks also were missing Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee), Bobby Portis (left wrist sprain), Kyle Kuzma (Achilles tendinopathy), Gary Harris (personal reasons) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (left calf).

Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points to lead the Bucks.

San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell scored 16 points each. Dylan Harper added 14, De’Aaron Fox 12 and Julian Champagnie 11.

76ERS 118, HORNETS 114

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 29 points, Paul George finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds and Philadelphia rallied from 13 points down in the second half for a win over Charlotte Hornets.

With its fourth win in five games, Philadelphia extended its lead over Charlotte to two games in the race for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Tyrese Maxey returned to the Sixers’ starting lineup and added 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. The All-Star guard had been sidelined since March 7 due to a tendon injury in his right pinkie finger.

Brandon Miller hit five 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and eight rebounds for Charlotte, which had its five-game winning streak halted. LaMelo Ball pitched in with 20 points and eight assists, and Moussa Diabate added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Charlotte led 36-25 after the first quarter. Philadelphia’s 39-point second quarter cut the lead to 69-64 at halftime. Embiid led all scorers with 21 points in the first half, while Maxey added 17. Miller led Charlotte with 18 points in the opening periods.

HAWKS 123, KINGS 113

ATLANTA (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 27 points and Atlanta shot 8 of 12 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to survive a late surge from Sacramento to win for coach Quinn Snyder’s 500th career victory.

Jalen Johnson had 26 points and 10 assists and Jock Landale had 19 points and 13 rebounds to help Atlanta to its 15th win in its last 17 games. It was Johnson’s 44th double-double of the season and Landale’s first since his debut with Atlanta on Feb. 5.

The Kings, who have lost their first three games of a four-game road trip, fell to 19-56. DeMar DeRozan led Sacramento with 22 points. Maxime Raynaud had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

After a back-and-forth first half during which Atlanta trailed by as many as seven points, the Hawks went on a 26-8 run in the final 5:54 of the second quarter to lead 66-54 at halftime. Atlanta held its lead the entire third quarter.

But Sacramento bounced back to tie it at 97 with 7:56 left. The Hawks went on a 26-16 run to end the game, with 18 of those points coming on 3-pointers.

GRIZZLIES 125, BULLS 124

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Cedric Coward scored 24 points, including a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds left, and had nine rebounds and Memphis outlasted Chicago.

After Coward’s free throws, Josh Giddey made two foul shots with 4 seconds left to pull Chicago within one point. The Bulls had a chance to win after the Grizzlies turned over the ensuing inbound pass, but couldn’t get a shot off in time.

Tyler Burton finished with 18 points and Jahmai Mashack added 17 as Memphis snapped a five-game losing streak.

Matas Buzelis led Chicago with 29 points and Collin Sexton had 26 in a reserve role. Giddey had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his 13th triple-double of the season for the Bulls, who have lost three straight.

SUNS 134, JAZZ 109

PHOENIX (AP) — Jalen Green scored 31 points, Devin Booker had 26 and Phoenix routed Utah.

Grayson Allen added 19 points, Oso Ighodaro scored 13 and Khaman Maluach had 12 and nine rebounds for the Suns, who had lost six of their previous seven games. The win moved Phoenix within 3 1/2 games of sixth-place Houston, the last position to stay out of the Western Conference play-in round.

Neither Green nor Booker played in the fourth quarter as the Suns cruised to the victory.

Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski each scored 26 points for the Jazz, who lost their fifth in a row, seventh straight on the road and 10th of their last 11 overall. Svi Mykhailuk scored 14 points and Ace Bailey had all of his 13 points in the second half. Kennedy Chandler had 11 points and eight assists for Utah.

The Suns used a 21-2 run in the first quarter to open up a 37-17 lead. Green had 11 points in the quarter, making three of Phoenix’s eight 3-pointers in the period.

Phoenix posted its biggest halftime lead of the season at 73-45, led by Green’s 20 points.

US team with big World Cup dreams gets a dressing down from Belgium

ATLANTA (AP) — Belgium gave a dressing down to a U.S. team with big World Cup dreams.

The Americans allowed five straight goals in a deflating 5-2 loss to the Red Devils in a friendly on Saturday night. The U.S. had not lost by three in a home game in which it scored the opening goal since an 8-1 defeat to England in 1959, according to Opta.

“We cannot arrive with the wrong idea of that we are so good, we are so handsome, we are so well dressed and we are Americans,” said U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, a former Argentina defender. “Always after the games when the team wins, (it's) because we fight, we were aggressive, we were intense, yes? When we drop in that intensity — we saw today.”

Preparing to host the World Cup this summer, the U.S. entered with a five-game unbeaten streak and Pochettino's message to players had been they can win soccer’s top title for the first time.

Weston McKennie's 39th-minute goal from Antonee Robinson's corner kick put the 15th-ranked U.S. ahead of the world's No. 9 team. But then the U.S. level lagged.

“We didn’t defend our box well enough,” said Matt Turner, who returned to the U.S. goal for the first time since June. “That’s something that we cannot have. We can’t accept that we didn’t lay everything on the line to keep the ball out of the back of the net because that’s when our tails should be up the most.”

Dodi Lukébakio scored two goals for Belgium and Zeno Debast, Amadou Onana and Charles De Ketelaere had one each. Patrick Agyemang got an 87th-minute goal for the U.S., which has lost seven straight games to European opponents while getting outscored 20-6.

Christian Pulisic, the top American player, failed to convert several good scoring chances. He entered scoreless in his last 12 games with AC Milan and extended his U.S. goal drought to seven games since November 2024.

“Of course I’m disappointed. I have to finish my chances,” Pulisic said. “They aren't easy chances, but at certain moments — that I expect to do better, for sure.”

Last fall's unbeaten streak included wins over Japan (currently No. 18), Australia (27), Paraguay (38) and Uruguay (17) plus a draw vs. Ecuador (23). The U.S. plays No. 5 Portugal on Tuesday in its last game before Pochettino announces his World Cup roster on May 26.

“We have to beat teams like this if we want to have a chance to go far in the tournament,” Pulisic said.

Turner said the match reminded him of the 3-1 loss to the Netherlands that eliminated the U.S. from the 2022 World Cup in the round of 16. Belgium withstood U.S. pressure early, then raised its aggressiveness to a level the Americans couldn't withstand.

“They're great reminders for us of what the level is going to be like and then our minimum standard of what we should expect from ourselves.” Turner said. “Credit to Belgium, but all that went wrong tonight wasn’t just on how good they were. We were also pretty poor in certain areas.”

Both teams missed several regulars because of injuries and fitness: the Americans missed Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest and Chris Richards, and Belgium was without Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard, Hans Vanaken and Thibaut Courtois.

“This team is better than the result,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. “We started bad, but also because the USA was more aggressive than us.”

With Richards sidelined, the U.S. started 38-year-old Tim Ream in central defense along with Mark McKenzie.

There was no American defender within 5 yards when Debast scored the equalizer from about 30 yards in the 45th minute after Turner parried Jérémy Doku's initial attempt. Onana put Belgium ahead in the 53rd with a shot through the center of the penalty area after a layback from Alexis Saelemaekers.

De Ketelaere converted a penalty kick in the 59th after Thomas Meunier's shot glanced off Ream's left arm. Lukebakio spun around Max Arfsten to score in the 68th and then had an open shot after Timothy Castagne's cross deflected off a foot of Sebastian Berhalter in the 82nd.

An exasperated Ream stared upward, hands on hips.

“In too many actions that we were in place, we have superiority, but we were not aggressive enough.” Pochettino said. “It’s a good check, reality for us, because now is the moment to feel this type of situation, to improve.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer