Wagner and Banchero help Magic beat Celtics to cut Boston's lead to 2-1
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) shoots against Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) during the second half in game 3 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series,, Friday, April 25, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Franz Wagner scored 32 points, Paolo Banchero added 29 and the Orlando Magic beat Boston 95-93 on Friday night to cut the Celtics' lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Jayson Tatum had 36 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics in his return to the starting lineup after missing Game 2 with a bruised wrist.
Advertisement
The defending NBA champions were 33-8 on the road this season but are now 0-3 in Orlando in 2024-25. The Magic host Game 4 on Sunday.
Boston rallied after scoring just 11 points in the third quarter to tie it 91 on Derrick White's layup with 2:31 to play. Wagner answered with a layup, and after a miss by Tatum, followed with another basket for a 95-91 lead with 1:26 to play.
White scored, and after Wagner missed a 3-pointer, the Celtics got the ball and inbounded with 0.3 seconds left but White's pass toward the basket was tapped away as time expired.
Jaylen Brown had 19 points for the Celtics, who went 17 minutes without a 3-point basket in the second half.
Advertisement
BUCKS 117, PACERS 101
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Gary Trent Jr. tied a franchise playoff record with nine 3-pointers and scored 37 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo also had 37 and Milwaukee used a big second half to beat Indiana and cut the Pacers' series lead to 2-1.
The Pacers led 57-47 at halftime, but Trent hit three 3-pointers early in the third to pull the Bucks even at 62. The Bucks grabbed a 72-69 lead on Antetokounmpo's three-point play and led 86-75 at the end of the quarter.
The lead grew to as many as 20 in the fourth and Trent finished 9 for 12 behind the arc to tie Hall of Famer Ray Allen's mark for most 3-pointers in a postseason game.
Advertisement
Antetokounmpo added 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which hosts Game 4 on Sunday. A.J. Green scored 12 points and Bobby Portis had 10 for the Bucks, who took on the Pacers for the 18th time in the past two seasons.
Indiana had won five of the last six playoff games between the teams and ousted the Bucks from the playoffs in the opening round last season.
Pascal Siakam had 28 points and Aaron Nesmith scored 18 for the Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton finished with 14 points and 10 assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 116, LAKERS 104
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota's stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series on Friday night.
Advertisement
Anthony Edwards scored 29 points and Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored the Lakers 13-1 over the final 4:37 of the game after Doncic's tying baseline jumper.
LeBron James did the heavy lifting with Doncic playing through a stomach illness, scoring 38 points including three 3-pointers in a four-possession span midway through the fourth quarter. But he couldn't find a shot after that, hitting the side of the backboard with a corner heave with the Lakers down 111-104 with 1:26 left.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Scottie Scheffler is primed for another tough major at the US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler doesn't care what the oddsmakers think or what people say about his status as the overwhelming favorite in this U.S. Open, and pretty much everywhere he plays. But he can hear them — and sometimes, he hears from them. 'That's why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn't win. It wasn't a good feeling,' Scheffler said with a laugh Tuesday at Oakmont. It wasn't entirely clear if he was kidding. He did say later the most anyone tried to pay him for a win — he has won 19 times worldwide in just over three years — was a couple of dollars. 'That didn't happen nearly as much as the requests did,' he said. Perhaps the most telling number for Scheffler, No. 1 in the world ranking for the longest streak since Tiger Woods in the late 2000s, is that he has won 25% of his tournaments since capturing his first PGA Tour title at the Phoenix Open in 2022. He has won three of his past four tournaments — including his third major at the PGA Championship last month at Quail Hollow — by a combined 17 shots. There's a lot of numbers that define his dominance in golf. None of it matters to him. 'I don't pay attention to the favorite stuff or anything like that,' he said. "Starting Thursday morning, we're at even par and it's up to me to go out there and play against the golf course and see what I can do." That doesn't figure to be easy. Oakmont is considered the toughest golf course in America, and the last few days of practice rounds have not changed anyone's opinions. Most of the attention is on the rough that covers the tops of shoes. Sunshine on Tuesday made the greens feel even faster after a few days of rain. Scheffler thinks the bunkers are underrated. The overall consensus? 'Man, it's just tough,' Collin Morikawa said. Scheffler would seem to have a game built for this given his extraordinary ability to control his golf ball from tee-to-green. He has yet to win his national open, though he had chances at Los Angeles (2023), Brookline (2022) and Torrey Pines (2021). The exception was last year at Pinehurst No. 2, where Scheffler was never in the mix. One reason might be the schedule — the Memorial was the week before the U.S. Open last year, another tough test that Scheffler won and never felt he had a chance to catch his breath. He won the Memorial again this year. 'Having the week off was really important for me to get home, get some rest, recover, and I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play maybe 11 holes and really get used to the conditions,' Scheffler said. 'It feels much more like my normal major prep, versus last year where you're coming in from basically a major championship test. Coming into another one is pretty challenging.' Rory McIlroy had a few extra days off after missing the cut in the Canadian Open last week, giving him time to find a driver that will help find the fairways at Oakmont, perhaps the most critical part of this test. McIlroy and Scheffler were listed as close to co-favorites after McIlroy won the Masters, giving him the career Grand Slam. He already had won three times on some of golf's biggest stages. Scheffler at that point had yet to win this year. So much has changed in the last two months. McIlroy spoke at the PGA Championship of still wanting to achieve more in golf, knowing that nothing will ever beat that feeling of finally becoming a Masters champion to join the most exclusive club of players with all four majors. He spoke last week of lacking motivation when getting ready for the Canadian Open. 'At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season,' said McIlroy, singling out Oakmont, the British Open in his native Northern Ireland and the Ryder Cup in September. 'But I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, OK, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and sort of what I'd been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year.' For Scheffler, he's been on such a roll that how he plays will be a big part in the chances the rest of the field has. Jordan Spieth was asked about Dustin Johnson — only Scheffler has been at No. 1 longer in the last 10 years — and Spieth immediately turned it into a conversation about his Dallas neighbor. 'Scottie's level is something I haven't seen personally out here,' Spieth said. 'I play with him at home, too. He might pull an iron shot once and then hit the pin on his chip.' The margin for error is smaller at Oakmont than on most courses, mainly because of all the trouble off the tee — bunkers and dense rough — and challenges on the fast greens. 'I think everybody knows this is probably the toughest golf course in the world right now, and you have to hit the fairways, you have to hit greens, and you have to two-putt, worst-case scenario,' defending champion Bryson DeChambeau said. 'When you've got those putts inside 10 feet, you've got to make them. It's a great test of golf. I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure everybody else is.'


San Francisco Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Aaron Rodgers says his decision to play in Pittsburgh this season was 'best for my soul'
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers doesn't need to keep doing this. He knows that. The four-time NFL MVP's decision to return for a 21st season and to do it in Pittsburgh was not about trying to prove something to himself, the New York Jets or anyone else. The game has given a lot to him. Stardom. Wealth. A title. Relationships that will last long after he decides to stop playing. The next seven months — if they are indeed the last seven months of a career that almost certainly will end with a gold jacket and a bust in the Hall of Fame — are about trying to pay it forward while finding peace in the process. Standing in front of a sea of cameras more suited for the week ahead of a conference championship game rather than what Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin calls 'football-lite' in June, the 41-year-old Rodgers made a compelling case that the coda he is trying to author in Pittsburgh is about something deeper. 'A lot of decisions that I've made over my career and life from strictly the ego, even if they turn out well, are always unfulfilling,' Rodgers said Tuesday after the first day of Pittsburgh's mandatory minicamp. 'But the decisions made from the soul are usually pretty fulfilling. So this was a decision that was best for my soul.' And one the Steelers believe is best for business, one of the reasons they put no pressure on Rodgers during the spring as he dealt with off-the-field issues that he's said included having multiple people in his inner circle battle cancer. Rodgers said those issues 'have improved a bit,' clearing the way for him to join Tomlin and a team that has bounced from one quarterback to another since Ben Roethlisberger retired at the end of the 2021 season. While Rodgers is hardly a long-term solution, he believes he has enough left to help a club that has gone nearly a decade without winning a playoff game. The path from the second Tuesday in June to late January and beyond is a long one, and Rodgers balked when asked if he could help Pittsburgh get over 'the hump." He pointed out it was simply Day 1, with all the awkwardness that comes with it. Rodgers couldn't 'stand' the new helmet he was forced to don after the model he'd worn for the last 20 years was finally banned by the league. He didn't know many of the names of the other 88 guys who joined him on the practice fields on a day All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt skipped in hopes of landing a new contract. It took all of one step outside the locker room for him to immediately get lost. And yet, there was a familiarity to it all. He's known Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth since Arth made a cameo appearance alongside Rodgers as a player in Green Bay in 2006. Rodgers then rattled off a list of people he's come across with Pittsburgh ties (which includes former Packers coach Mike McCarthy) and then added with a smile that he has 'a lot of Yinzers' in my life, a colloquialism for Western Pennsylvania natives. None of those names, however, convinced Rodgers that Pittsburgh was the right choice. That was all Tomlin. The two stayed in contact over the last two-plus months following Rodgers' semi-undercover visit to the team facility in March, producing what Rodgers called 'some of the coolest conversations I've had in the game." 'He's a big reason I'm here,' Rodgers said. 'I believe in him.' The feeling is mutual. Unlike last year, when there was a quarterback competition — at least in practice if not in spirit — between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, there is not one this time. While Rodgers, wearing a white jersey with the No. 8 on it and a towel unfurled over the front of his black shorts, mostly stood and watched while Mason Rudolph, rookie Will Howard and Skyler Thompson took the reps there is no mystery about who will work with the starters when Pittsburgh arrives for training camp at Saint Vincent College in late July. The last few groups of quarterbacks, from Wilson and Fields to Rudolph (during his first stint) to Mitch Trubisky to Kenny Pickett, never missed a practice or an OTA. They are also not Rodgers. 'I trust that whatever issues or learning curve things that he needs to get through will be handled during the down period of the summer for sure,' Tomlin said. Rodgers, who has worked out with recently acquired DK Metcalf in recent months, hopes some of the Steelers' skill position players can join him in Malibu, California, sometime between when minicamp opens on Thursday and they report to Rooney Hall on July 23. If they do, maybe they'll get a chance to meet Rodgers' wife. Rodgers was spotted wearing what looked like a wedding band in a picture the Steelers shared when he signed his contract. Rodgers confirmed Tuesday that he was married 'a couple months' ago but declined to get into details. The revelation, made late in his 13-minute session with reporters, hints at the many layers to Rodgers that extend far beyond the field. He's not afraid to express his views about many topics, from vaccines to politics and beyond. Yet there was none of that on Tuesday. There was only his firm belief in why he's here, and the optimism that this perhaps final chapter of his career will be rooted in joy. 'It's hard to think of anything in my life that's positive that wasn't impacted by directly or indirectly by playing this game,' he said. 'So (I) just want to give love back to the game, enjoy it, pass on my knowledge to my teammates, and try and find ways to help lead the team.' ___


Hamilton Spectator
22 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Scottie Scheffler is primed for another tough major at the US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler doesn't care what the oddsmakers think or what people say about his status as the overwhelming favorite in this U.S. Open, and pretty much everywhere he plays. But he can hear them — and sometimes, he hears from them. 'That's why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn't win. It wasn't a good feeling,' Scheffler said with a laugh Tuesday at Oakmont . It wasn't entirely clear if he was kidding. He did say later the most anyone tried to pay him for a win — he has won 19 times worldwide in just over three years — was a couple of dollars. 'That didn't happen nearly as much as the requests did,' he said. Perhaps the most telling number for Scheffler, No. 1 in the world ranking for the longest streak since Tiger Woods in the late 2000s, is that he has won 25% of his tournaments since capturing his first PGA Tour title at the Phoenix Open in 2022. He has won three of his past four tournaments — including his third major at the PGA Championship last month at Quail Hollow — by a combined 17 shots. There's a lot of numbers that define his dominance in golf. None of it matters to him. 'I don't pay attention to the favorite stuff or anything like that,' he said. 'Starting Thursday morning, we're at even par and it's up to me to go out there and play against the golf course and see what I can do.' That doesn't figure to be easy. Oakmont is considered the toughest golf course in America , and the last few days of practice rounds have not changed anyone's opinions. Most of the attention is on the rough that covers the tops of shoes. Sunshine on Tuesday made the greens feel even faster after a few days of rain. Scheffler thinks the bunkers are underrated. The overall consensus? 'Man, it's just tough,' Collin Morikawa said. Scheffler would seem to have a game built for this given his extraordinary ability to control his golf ball from tee-to-green. He has yet to win his national open, though he had chances at Los Angeles (2023), Brookline (2022) and Torrey Pines (2021). The exception was last year at Pinehurst No. 2, where Scheffler was never in the mix. One reason might be the schedule — the Memorial was the week before the U.S. Open last year, another tough test that Scheffler won and never felt he had a chance to catch his breath. He won the Memorial again this year. 'Having the week off was really important for me to get home, get some rest, recover, and I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play maybe 11 holes and really get used to the conditions,' Scheffler said. 'It feels much more like my normal major prep, versus last year where you're coming in from basically a major championship test. Coming into another one is pretty challenging.' Rory McIlroy had a few extra days off after missing the cut in the Canadian Open last week, giving him time to find a driver that will help find the fairways at Oakmont, perhaps the most critical part of this test. McIlroy and Scheffler were listed as close to co-favorites after McIlroy won the Masters, giving him the career Grand Slam. He already had won three times on some of golf's biggest stages. Scheffler at that point had yet to win this year. So much has changed in the last two months. McIlroy spoke at the PGA Championship of still wanting to achieve more in golf, knowing that nothing will ever beat that feeling of finally becoming a Masters champion to join the most exclusive club of players with all four majors. He spoke last week of lacking motivation when getting ready for the Canadian Open. 'At some point, you have to realize that there's a little bit more golf left to play this season,' said McIlroy, singling out Oakmont, the British Open in his native Northern Ireland and the Ryder Cup in September. 'But I think weeks like Quail Hollow or even weeks like last week, it makes it easier to reset in some way, to be like, OK, I sort of need to get my stuff together here and get back to the process and sort of what I'd been doing for that seven months from October last year until April this year.' For Scheffler, he's been on such a roll that how he plays will be a big part in the chances the rest of the field has. Jordan Spieth was asked about Dustin Johnson — only Scheffler has been at No. 1 longer in the last 10 years — and Spieth immediately turned it into a conversation about his Dallas neighbor. 'Scottie's level is something I haven't seen personally out here,' Spieth said. 'I play with him at home, too. He might pull an iron shot once and then hit the pin on his chip.' The margin for error is smaller at Oakmont than on most courses, mainly because of all the trouble off the tee — bunkers and dense rough — and challenges on the fast greens. 'I think everybody knows this is probably the toughest golf course in the world right now, and you have to hit the fairways, you have to hit greens, and you have to two-putt, worst-case scenario,' defending champion Bryson DeChambeau said. 'When you've got those putts inside 10 feet, you've got to make them. It's a great test of golf. I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure everybody else is.' ___ AP golf: