Logano earns pole for elimination race NBA ROUNDUP

Kansas City, Kan. — Joey Logano hopped out of his car and jokingly thanked his Penske Racing team for all the wise adjustments that they made before he qualified on the pole for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

The truth was they changed absolutely nothing.

“We made zero changes from the time we unloaded to qualifying,” Logano said after his lap of 191.646 mph landed him on the pole. “They did a great job of preparing the car.”

Logano heads into the final race before the playoff field is cut from 12 to eight with a 39-point buffer, so it wasn’t as if he was in trouble. But starting up front allows him to chase stage points early and that could eliminate some of the pressure later in the race.

“It helps a little bit. We want to be able to score some stage points to start,” he said, “but hopefully we don’t have to worry about points and we can just go win the race.”

Kevin Harvick is in similar shape after qualifying second Friday, while fellow playoff drivers Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounded out qualifying’s top five.

Keselowski is the first driver outside the playoff cutoff.

Kyle Busch, who sits between Harvick and Logano in the playoffs, will start sixth after a solid effort at a track he’s slowly grown to love. Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. are on the bubble, and the Kansas native will start 14th while the reigning series champion will start 12th.

Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10, while Kyle Larson crashed his primary car in practice and officially qualified 27th, though he’ll be sent to the back on Sunday.

“I think we’ll be fine. Our cars are always good here when we come to Kansas,” Larson said. “I wish we didn’t wreck our primary car. Our primary car is usually better. But we’ll be fine.”

Nets 107, Knicks 105

Caris LeVert’s driving layup with a second left gave him a career-high 28 points and Brooklyn got its first victory of the season, beating New York on Friday night. LeVert surpassed the 27 points he scored Wednesday night in Detroit, when the Nets fell just short. He made sure they pulled this one out, driving right into the lane and putting up the tiebreaking shot over Tim Hardaway Jr. D’Angelo Russell and Jarrett Allen each added 15 points for the Nets. They improved to 6-1 in home openers since moving to Brooklyn in 2012. Hardaway and Enes Kanter each scored 29 points for the Knicks, who were trying for just their third 2-0 start in 20 years. Kanter tied it on a three-point play with 15.9 seconds remaining but all they could manage for a final shot after LeVert’s basket was a long 3-pointer by Hardaway that wasn’t close. The Nets were still without starting forwards Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who just became a father, and DeMarre Carroll, who had right ankle surgery. But they did get back Allen Crabbe, their normal starting guard who came off the bench after missing the opener while recovering sprained left ankle. They started fast, shooting 70 percent in the first quarter, and were in control until early in the second half. Then, Kanter and Frank Ntilikina had a couple of baskets apiece in an 11-0 run that wiped out a 10-point deficit and gave the Knicks a 66-65 lead on Hardaway’s 3-pointer. New York was ahead 76-74 after three quarters and neither team led by more than six in a back-and-forth final 12 minutes.

Raptors 113, Celtics 101

Kawhi Leonard had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Serge Ibaka added 21 points and Toronto beat Boston in an early matchup between Eastern Conference contenders. Kyle Lowry scored 15 points, Danny Green had 14, and Fred VanVleet 11 to help the Raptors win for the 10th time in 11 home meetings with the Celtics. Kyrie Irving scored 21 points for Boston, and Al Horford had 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Jayson Tatum scored 16 points, and Jaylen Brown had 13. Boston’s Gordon Hayward scored 14 points in 24 minutes, connecting on six of 13 field goal attempts. Leonard made 10 of 25 attempts, including 2 of 5 from 3-point range, and went 9 for 9 at the free throw line. Brown made a 3-pointer to give the Celtics an 87-86 lead with 9:03 remaining. VanVleet answered with a reverse layup, the first basket in a 6-0 spurt that gave Toronto the led for good. Green and Lowry each made 3-pointers around an offensive foul by Tatum with just over two minutes remaining, giving the Raptors a 107-99 edge. Green went 4 for 7 from long range, while Lowry made 3 of 5.

Hornets 120, Magic 88

Kemba Walker scored 26 points and Nicolas Batum had 15 to lead Charlotte. Miles Bridges added 15 points to help the Hornets beat Orlando for the 12th straight time. Charlotte limited the Magic to 33.3 percent shooting and 54 points in the first three periods. Terrence Ross led Orlando with 14 points.

T-Wolves 131, Cavaliers 123

Jimmy Butler brushed off some early jeers from the jaded home crowd, scoring 33 points in 36 minutes to lead Minnesota past the Cleveland.