Kreider, Zibanejad lift Rangers over Leafs
A person familiar with the negotiations says Andre Iguodala is headed to Miami after the Heat and Grizzlies agreed Wednesday night on his long-awaited trade.
As part of the deal, Iguodala agreed to a two-year extension, with the second of those years being a team option.
Miami and Memphis were still working to determine what the Heat would give up in the deal. A third team — Oklahoma City, in a package that would include Danilo Gallinari potentially headed to the Heat — was still in play. The trade deadline is 3 p.m. EST today.
Robert Covington is going to the Rockets and Clint Capela is going to the Hawks as the headline moves in a complicated trade that was struck early Wednesday involving four teams, 12 players and at least three draft picks.
Among the key components: Covington and Jordan Bell will join the Rockets from Minnesota, Capela and Nene are leaving the Rockets for the Hawks, the Timberwolves added soonto-be restricted free agents Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez from Denver and the Nuggets got Shabazz Napier from Minnesota, plus a first-round pick from Houston.
HALL TOPS GEORGETOWN
Myles Powell scored 34 points, Romaro Gill tied a career-high with eight blocks and visiting No. 12 Seton Hall raced out to a big lead and beat Georgetown, 78-71, Wednesday night.
The Pirates (17-5, 9-1) jumped out to a 16-0 lead, going 4 for 4 on 3-pointers. Powell, the second-leading scorer in the Big East, hit his scoring average of 21 points by halftime.
Seton Hall's Quincy McKnight was in the starting line-up and finished with eight points and a game-high 10 assists in 22 minutes. He was listed as day to day after leaving Saturday's loss to Xavier early with a left knee injury.
PHIL: NO OPEN EXEMPTION
Phil Mickelson is still not exempt for the U.S. Open and says he won't accept a special invitation.
The U.S. Open is the one major keeping Mickelson from the career Grand Slam and no other major has given him more grief. His six runner-up finishes, most recently at Merion in 2013, is a U.S. Open record.
Chris Kreider provided a big boost to the Rangers in his return from a onegame absence.
Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored in a six-second span late in the first period and the Rangers earned a 5-3 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at the Garden.
Kreider and Zibanejad each notched a goal and an assist, Pavel Buchnevich scored a goal with two assists and Filip Chytil and Greg McKegg also scored for the Rangers. Rookie goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 shots to win for the fourth time in five starts this season.
Kreider returned to the lineup after missing Monday's loss to Dallas. Kreider was accidentally hit in the head by Zibanejad's knee in Saturday's win at Detroit.
“Any time you lose a player like Kreids you're gonna notice and you're gonna notice when he comes back,” Zibanejad said.
Kreider, who will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, is a candidate to be traded at the league's deadline in a few weeks.
“I thought all three of those guys were really good tonight,“Rangers coach David Quinn said of his top line.
“I thought Kreider coming back from a scary incident and missing one game, give him a lot of credit for stepping up, picking up really from where he left off, didn't have any rust.”
Auston Matthews scored two goals and John Tavares also scored and added an assist for the Maple Leafs, who are in a tight race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I thought we started well, but we continue to have these lulls throughout the game,” Matthews said. “We're just not playing at our best.”
Backup goalie Michael Hutchinson, who had won his previous four starts, stopped 30 shots for Toronto. Starter Frederik Andersen left Monday's loss to Florida with a neck injury. That night, the Maple Leafs blew a 3-1 third-period lead and lost, 5-3, to the Panthers.