SPORTS DIGEST
BASKETBALL
The Portland Trail Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter to edge past the New Orleans Pelicans 107-103. Damian Lillard proved the difference, scoring 20 of his 41 points in the final quarter, and extending the Blazers’ winning streak on the road to seven games. The Pelicans’ Anthony Davis scored 36 points - 16 in the fourth quarter – and made 14 rebounds, but nine rebounds and six assists from Lillard helped Portland clinch the win. Injury woes continued to plague the Warriors as the Indiana Pacers topped Golden State 92-81. Victor Oladipo scored 24 points for the Pacers’ third win a row, moving them a step closer to the playoffs, while the Warriors have recorded back-to-back losses without All Stars Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Houston Rockets claimed their 10th win in a row with a convincing 118-86 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Eric Gordon scored 31 points and made eight three-pointers – equalling a career high – while Chris Paul looked back on form after a hamstring injury, adding 13 points and 10 assists. Elsewhere, the Washington Wizards snapped a three-game losing streak, beating the San Antonio Spurs 116-106, and the Miami Heat eased past the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-79. Demar Derozan, Fred Vanvleet and Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 points each as the Toronto Raptors toppled the Denver Nuggets 114-110 and the Los Angeles Clippers fought back after losing a 16-point lead to overcome the Milwaukee Bucks 105-98. In Sacramento, some fans were prevented from entering the Golden 1 Center after crowds protesting against a police shooting led to the arena being closed. On the court, Harrison Barnes scored 20 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 103 win over the Kings. NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: Golden State Warriors 81 Indiana Pacers 92, Houston Rockets 118 Chicago Bulls 86, LA Clippers 105 Milwaukee Bucks 98, Miami Heat 98 Cleveland Cavaliers 79, New Orleans Pelicans 103 Portland Trail Blazers 107, Sacramento Kings 97 Dallas Mavericks 103, Toronto Raptors 114 Denver Nuggets 110, Washington Wizards 116 San Antonio Spurs 106.
ICE HOCKEY
The St Louis Blues put themselves in a wild card spot with a 3-2 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 30th goal of the season in the second period to again find the net in overtime to lift the Blues to their sixth win in a row. The Blues now stand on the same number of points as the Los Angeles Kings and one above the Colorado Avalanche in the bid to make the Stanley Cup play-offs. The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, were denied top spot in the Atlantic Division when they lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Winnipeg Jets. Brandon Tanev scored his first career hat-trick but it was down to Patrik Lane to score the winning shootout goal to put Winnipeg on a six-game winning streak and 10 points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division. Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves to record 40 wins this season - a first for a Jets goaltender. In another first on Tuesday night, defenceman Alex Biega scored his first goal in more than three years as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1. The goal came three minutes into the third period and was backed up by two more from Brandon Sutter, pushing the Ducks out of third place in the Pacific Division. Elsewhere, the Columbus Blue Jackets overturned a three-goal deficit to smash the Edmonton Oilers 7-3. Thomas Vanek scored a hat-trick - the 11th of his career - and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots to put the Blue Jakets on 11 wins in 12. The league-leading Nashville Predators beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 while Stanley Cup champions the Pittsburgh Penguins lost 5-2 to the Detroit Red Wings. In the night’s other games, the Dallas Stars were 3-2 winners over the Philadelphia Flyers and there were 4-3 wins for the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders over the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators respectively. NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: Dallas Stars 3 Philadelphia Flyers 2, Detroit Red Wings 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Edmonton Oilers 3 Columbus Blue Jackets 7, Nashville Predators 2 Minnesota Wild 1, New Jersey Devils 4 Carolina Hurricanes 3, Ottawa Senators 3 New York Islanders 4, St Louis Blues 3 San Jose Sharks 2, Vancouver Canucks 4 Anaheim Ducks 1, Winnipeg Jets 5 Boston Bruins 4.
SPEEDWAY
FIXTURES Tonight: Premiership – Swindon v Leicester (7:30pm). Tomorrow: Premiership KO Cup quarterfinal 1st leg – Poole v Somerset (11am); 2nd leg – Somerset v Poole (7:30pm); Championship Shield – Ipswich v Lakeside (2:15pm); Lakeside v Ipswich (8pm); Travel Plus National League – Belle Vue v Coventry (1pm); Scottish Cup 2nd leg – Edinburgh (40) v Glasgow (50) (7:30pm); Easter Chase 1st leg – Kent v Eastbourne (1pm).