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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
