Raptors 92-87 Hornets
The Raptors win 92-87. Lowry scores 26 points, Valanciunas scores 18 points and DeRozan scores 16 points. Daniels scores 24 points, Walker scores 17 points and Henderson scores 15 points for the Hornets. DeRozan on Pierce talks of Raptor’s playoff game:
Paul Pierce has always got to say something. He said something last year. He’s always got to say something. Just let him talk. I could care less what he says.
Coach Casey on playoff Game 1 versus Wizards:
The real season starts this weekend, what we’ve been building for.
Coach Clifford on the Raptors-Wizards series:
They’re very well coached, they have a number of ways to score and (Casey) is going to know how to prepare them defensively.
Lowry:
It feel great. Good game for me to go into the playoffs off.
Bulls 91-85 Hawks
The Bulls win 91-85. Brooks scores 23 points, Butler scores 21 points and Gasol scores a double-double (18 points and 13 rebounds). Schroder scores 21 points and Horford scores 14 points for the Hawks. Gasol:
We have to want it more than anybody else. The resiliency that we have, we’ve got to turn it into a determination and understand that every game in the playoffs is critical.
Millsap on the Hawk’s performance:
We feel like we can really do something. It’s up to us going out there and proving it.
Coach Thibodeau:
When you have a lot of moving parts, it can get choppy. We have to hit the ground running. We’re here now. We’ll see.
Not on European tour
Bryan is no longer at work on the company’s current European tour. All adverts for future events no longer show Bryan. Reports from earlier in the week suggest that Bryan is working with an injury, though this has no confirmation. If WWE remove one of the company’s biggest draws from their line-up however, this indicates that Bryan may at very least be set to take a short sabbatical for a while.
Clippers 110-103 Nuggets
The Clippers win 110-103. Griffin scores 22 points, Jordan scores a double-double (20 points, 21 rebounds) and J.J. Reddick scores 20 points. Chandler scores 32 points and Faried scores a double-double (19points and 17 rebounds) for the Nuggets. Coach Rivers on playoff schedule:
There’s nobody that’s not good in the West. You’re going to have a tough series. The teams that embrace that are going to do well and the ones that don’t are going to be out early.
Reddick:
It was down to our team defense. We locked them up. We had to win this game.
Coach Hunt:
I think people are kind of overlooking them because the West is so good.
Jazz 109-92 Mavericks
The Jazz win 109-92. Cotton scores 21 points, Gobert scores a double-double (20 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks and three assists and a steal). For the Mavericks Barea scores 18 points, Villanueva scores 15 points and Stoudmire scores 14 points. Coach Synder on Jazz’s performance:
When you’ve got a group of guys that works as hard and is as committed as our group has been. It’s nice to see some of those guys get an opportunity to play. We did have a chance in these last two games to actually see those young men and give them a chance to play. When players play hard, it’s easy to play them.
Cotton:
Opportunities like this don’t come along too often. And I wanted to go out there and make the most of this opportunity.
Coach Carslisle:
In the end we gave up too many rebounds and we had too many turnovers. Those were all possession plays and that stuff all added up and it hurt us.
Wins Masters
Spieth becomes the youngest Masters winner since Tiger Woods following a record-breaking performance. Speith, who is now the world number two golfer after Rory McIlroy, is awarded the coveted green jacket after achieving 18-under par with a final score of 70 – the same score that gave Woods his first green-jacket 18 years ago – and setting new standards for the 36 and 54 holes.
Pistons 116-77 Hornets
Pistons win 116-77. Drummond scores a double-double (15 points and 19 rebounds) and Monroe scores 17 points. Vonleh scores a double-double (16 points and 12 rebounds) for the Hornets. Monroe on the team’s performance:
It’s crossed my mind, but I try to stay in the moment. This was a good win for me and my teammates.
Prince on the team’s tribute to his career:
To see that tribute, it pays that respect of what I’ve been able to accomplish. I’m very appreciative for it.
Clifford on eliminates from playoff contention:
There’s disappointment in not making the playoffs. We’ve got to put more into this game. With the injuries, we’re a little bit out-manned – that doesn’t mean we can’t win.
Bucks 96-73 Nets
The Bucks win 96-73. Ilyasova scores 21 points, O.J. Mayo scores 17 points, Antetokounmpo scores 13 points. Lopez scores a double-double (12 points and ten rebounds), Jack scores 11 points for the Nets. Antetokounmpo:
Our goal was to go to the playoffs, from Day One. Everybody believed in it. I started believing in it and we made it.
Young:
We have to forget about this one. We can’t even think about the next two games, we have to focus on this next one against Chicago. It’s as simple as that.
Jack:
They do a good job of packing the paint. Showing our pick-and-roll didn’t really disrupt them in the lane.
Wins diving title
Boudia and Johnson win the men’s synchronized ten meter national title at the inaugural USA Diving Synchronized National Championships. At the meet, Boudia and Johnson earn 950.46 points with a inward dive pike, reverse three and a half tuck, and an inward three and a half tuck.
It is a really fun atmosphere to be in with all these people who love the sport. This is a good start to the season for me and Steele…I think we’re in a great position.
Warriors 110-101 Timberwolves
The Warriors win 110-101. Curry scores 34 points, Thompson scores 23 points and Green has a double-double (13 points and 14 rebounds). Wiggins scores 17 points for the Timberwolves.
Coach Kerr:
It felt like we went through the motions a little bit. Maybe this is just two weeks of already knowing our position, I don’t know. We just weren’t sharp.
Bogut:
They only had seven guys active so we knew they were guys playing for their contracts and NBA lives. They came out and gave us good battle but we kind of need that. I think it’ll help us in the playoffs.
Coach Saunders:
We could easily have phoned it in. t’s encouraging to see the guys work hard. With our injury situation we basically played just seven guys.
Nets 117-80 Wizards
The Nets wins 117-80. Lopez scores 26 points and nine rebounds, Jack scores 14 points. For the Wizards, Beal scores 24 points and Gortat scores a double-double (21 points, 16 rebounds). Coach Hollins:
Well, if we don’t keep it going, we’ll be at home. If we keep it going we’ll be in the playoffs. We win out, we’re in. That’s the beauty of it. We’re not worried about anybody else.
Jack:
I think it’s easy when we’re not playing out the net, allowing teams to shoot a high percentage. It allows us to flow that much better on the offensive end.
Beal:
We’re trying to move up to get home court, but like I always say, it doesn’t matter if we have home court because it’s going to be tough regardless. It’s embarrasing because this is a playoff team that just flat-out beat us, and we can’t do that three games away from the playoffs.
Warriors 116-105 TrailBlazers
The Warriors win 116-105. Curry scores 45 points, ten assists and Thompson scores 26 points. Aldridge scores 27 points, six rebounds and Lillard scores 20 points and eight assists. Aldridge on Curry’s performance:
He played like he wants to be MVP.
Coach Kerr:
He never says anything about it. But you better believe he wants it.
Lillard:
We tried to mix up our coverages a little bit because he came out making shots from everywhere. It pretty much just didn’t matter. He made shots with a hand in his face, off balance, deep, everything. He just had it going.
Bulls 89-78 Heat
The Bulls win 89-78. Gasol scores a double-double (16 points and 15 rebounds), Aaron Brooks scores 14 points and Rose scores 12 points. For the Heat, Whiteside scores a double-double (19 points and 16 rebounds), Dragic scores 15 points and Beasley scores 13 points. Gasol:
Once we started getting into them, getting rebounds, containing them to one shot, things turned around.
Noah on Chicago’s first half:
It was embarrassing.
Coach Spoelstra:
We’re all frustrated. We’re all embarrassed when you’re in those situations and you can’t stop an avalanche like that.
Wade:
You just keep coming back until they tell you your season is over. This team has been through a lot. A loss, a bad 24 minutes, that’s not going to deter us from coming back and doing our job.
Pacers 102-86 Knicks
The Pacers win 102-86. Hill scores 20 points, Hibbert scores a double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds). Galloway scores 19 points for the Knicks. Hibbert:
I was just trying to be aggressive. Coach (Vogel) has been playing three centers so that means not as many minutes for myself so I’m just trying to go out there and make the best of the minutes that I do have.
Coach Vogel:
We need them all at this point in the year. We know we were behind the eight ball,it’s an uphill battle. We’re going to need some losses from other teams. We can’t control that; we’ve just got to control what we can control and that’s taking care of our own business and get another win.
Galloway on Pacers wins:
They want to win bad. They’re trying to get into the playoffs. We just had to be ready for it and tonight we let ourselves get behind the 8-ball and just couldn’t answer the bell.
Hawks 114-111 Nets
The Hawks win 114-111. Horford scores 24 points and Scott scores 20 points and eight rebounds. Lopez scores a double-double (26 points and ten rebounds) and Williams has 14 assists for the Nets. Coach Budenholzer:
Brooklyn made a heck of a comeback. For our guys to keep their poise and to keep their composure and stay together and execute in some crucial moments on both ends of the court, that’s what you need going down the stretch.
Horford:
No, not at all. Our focus (was) on this game, this team. We did a good job of that. We came out and we were ready to play.
Jack:
Tonight they came out, hit us in the mouth early, but we just stayed with it. We fought, we clawed and that’s just the resilience that we have if we want to make it to that goal that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season.
Celtics 113-103 Pistons
The Celtics win 113-103. Thomas scores 34 points, a season high for the player, and Crowder scores 17 points. For the Pistons, Drummond scores 22 points and 14 rebounds, Jackson scores 21 points and 15 assists, and Greg Monroe scores 19 points and ten rebounds. The Celtics eliminate Detroit from playoff contention. Coach Van Gundy on Thomas’ performance:
A lot of this game came down to the fact that we just couldn’t contain Isaiah Thomas. We couldn’t keep him out of the paint, we couldn’t stay with him on pick-and-rolls and when we tried to trap him, he just went around our bigs.
Coach Stevens:
He was just great – he’s a really skilled player. He was playing with really skilled groups tonight and he was getting to the rim and getting his shots.
Crowder:
This was a big game for us, and we played within ourselves. We executed everything we needed to do, and they didn’t make many adjustments on the pick and roll. It was good.
Wizards 119-90 76ers
Wizards win 119-90. Beal scores 21 points, Sessions scores 19 points, and Gortat scores 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. For the 76ers, Covington scores 27 points and Richardson scores 16. Coach Wittman:
I thought our guys were tremendous. We shot lights out. But we got some really good looks because of our ball movement.
Beal:
This shows how deep we are as a team. We definitely want our guys healthy come playoff time, and sharp as well. I think we’re doing a great job of that.
Coach Brown:
We started the game so poorly. We subbed our first group out quickly trying to find some life, but I thought the first half defensively was just poor.
Magic 105-103 Bulls
The Magic win 105-103. Oladipo scores 23 points, Vucecic scores 22 points. For the Bulls, Butler scores 19 points and Gasol scores 16. Rose:
I felt all right, think it was about right. It’ll get better the more I play, but I’m getting better every week. It’ll take some time, but I’ll get there.
On watching the game from the bench:
Very hard. At the same time, it’s all about patience. I’m going to have my turn. Right now while I’m not playing, I’m just trying to learning a little more and seeing how they’re playing. The only thing I can do is just sit back and watch and learn.
Oladipo:
There’s no playoff but we’re trying to treat every game like a playoff game. There’s teams that we’re playing that are playoff seeds, but we’re trying to get better too.
Raptors 92-74 Hornets
The Raptors win 92-74. DeRozan scores 18 points, Vasquez scores 16 points and Lou Williams scores a double-double (12 points and 12 rebounds). Walker scores 15 points and Williams scores ten points for the Hornets. Coach Casey:
The first quarter wasn’t very good, But I thought in the second quarter we set the tone of how we want to play. We started the second quarter and finished the game doing what we wanted to do defensively.
DeRozan:
For some reason, we’ve always had bad luck against this team, especially playing here (in Charlotte). But it felt good to get a win against this team at a critical time for us.
Coach Clifford:
We just had no juice. We’re going to have to find a way to be professional. I think our team has stood for effort and purposeful play all year long, and we’re going to have to find a way to do that over these last four games.
Pelicans 103-100 Warriors
The Pelicans win 103-100. Davis scores 29 points, Pondexter scores 20 points. Curry scores 29 points, Green scores 24 points for the Warriors. Davis:
We look at ourselves as an elite team. We feel like we can play with anybody and we can beat anybody on any given night. We just got to go out there and play that way.
Curry:
I thought I drew the foul on the pump fake because he kind of came to me and I got contact. The ball dropped and there was obviously no whistle. I got it right back and I had pretty clean look after that that I thought was going in.
Pondexter:
We had a heck of a game down the stretch. Everyone’s hungry. We’re young guys, but we’re learning how to win.