Friars

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; The final day of a top-notch regular season in the Big Ten featured a last-second 3-pointer by the best player in the league that stopped the first-place team&rsquo;s 14-game winning streak.
If Iowa&rsquo;s victory over Indiana on Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s catch-and-shoot winner from the wing was any indication of the current quality of the competition, the conference tournament in Minneapolis this week will be quite the show.
Boasting three of the top seven teams in the latest Associated Press poll with Indiana (No. 2), Maryland (No. 5) and Iowa (No. 7), the Big Ten is carrying a strong case into March for being the toughest league in the country. While defending champion South Carolina remains the runaway NCAA title favorite, the Hoosiers, Terrapins and Hawkeyes all have legitimate designs on reaching the Final Four in Dallas, too.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be one of the better tournaments just because of the parity and the talent that&rsquo;s in this league this year,&rdquo; said Indiana coach Teri Moren, whose team produced the program&rsquo;s first regular season title in 40 years.
Ohio State (No. 14) and Michigan (No. 17) are the other two ranked teams that are projected as top-four NCAA Tournament seeds, giving the Big Ten by far the most of any conference.
Michigan tied with Illinois for fifth place. They&rsquo;ll enter the bracket in the second round on Thursday. Indiana, Iowa, Maryland and Ohio State earned the coveted double byes and start in the quarterfinals on Friday at Target Center, which hosted the NCAA Women&rsquo;s Final Four last year.
The Buckeyes, who were ranked as high as second in the AP poll in late January, have lost six of their last 10 games. But they secured their top-four seed with a blowout win at Michigan last week, an encouraging sign for coach Kevin McGuff.
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve seen pretty much everything you will see, so hopefully that will give us an advantage heading into March,&rdquo; McGuff said. &ldquo;Just keep this competitive spirit and fire.&rdquo;
BACKING THE BLACK AND GOLD
Indianapolis hosted 25 of the first 28 editions of the conference tournament, with one stop (2001) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and two trips (2013, 2015) to suburban Chicago. This two-year commitment to Minneapolis clearly helps the defending Big Ten Tournament champion Hawkeyes, with the Iowa border a two-hour drive from the Twin Cities and the Iowa campus less than five hours away.
Iowa is third in the NCAA in attendance, with an average home crowd of more than 10,700 that set the Big Ten women&rsquo;s record. The Hawkeyes announced a total of 15,056 on Sunday against Indiana.
They&rsquo;ll welcome the extra support for a potential semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon against Maryland, which handed them their worst loss of the season last week. The Terrapins have won six straight games, including two against Ohio State during the streak.
&ldquo;Everybody knows your play calls, you know each other&rsquo;s players by name,&rdquo; Iowa co-star Monika Czinano said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s truly just a grind there, but it&rsquo;s so much fun though. There&rsquo;s so much joy in it, too. Our group has been there.&rdquo;
WHAT COMES NEXT
The last Big Ten team to reach the national championship game was Michigan State in 2005, though Maryland (2006) and Rutgers (2007) got there in subsequent seasons while they were still in other leagues. Maryland (2014, 2015) is the only team to make the Final Four since then.
&ldquo;We really need to get a team to the Final Four,&rdquo; said Megan Kahn, the Big Ten&rsquo;s vice president of women&rsquo;s basketball. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s our next step, to continue to garner that national level of respect in how strong our league is.&rdquo;
HOSTS WITH THE MOST?
Fledgling Minnesota finished the regular season just 11-18 and has the No. 12 seed, pitted against No. 13 seed Penn State to tip off the tournament on Wednesday afternoon. No. 14 seed Northwestern plays No. 11 seed Rutgers in the other first round game.
The Gophers, whose top six scorers are all freshmen or sophomores, have shown some signs of progress lately with their young lineup. They beat Nebraska and Purdue in their final two home games, both NCAA Tournament bubble teams.
&ldquo;I feel good, and I think they feel good, and they should,&rdquo; coach Lindsay Whalen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re starting to see, when we continue to pour into each other, they have a chance to be a really special group.&rdquo;

The Big Ten is carrying a strong case into March for being the toughest league in the country.

Indiana, Iowa, Maryland top stacked women's Big Ten Tournament field

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum put on a record-setting show, and made Giannis Antetokounmpo look like a genius.
Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points on his way to winning MVP honors, and Team Giannis ended LeBron James&rsquo; hold on All-Star captain supremacy by beating Team LeBron 184-175 in the NBA&rsquo;s annual showcase exhibition on Sunday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Jayson Tatum went OFF for an NBA All-Star Game record 27 PTS in Q3 👀 52 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 10 3PM<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAAllStar</a> | Live on TNT <a href="https://t.co/iIVsghzRk0">pic.twitter.com/iIVsghzRk0</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1627515481233186816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Tatum had 27 points in the third quarter, another All-Star Game record for any period. He was the first pick by Antetokounmpo in the starters&rsquo; portion of the All-Star draft, and in the end, that pick proved to be the right one.
&ldquo;It means the world,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;You think of all the legends and great players that have played this game, and in all honesty, records are made to be broken. I&rsquo;ll hold it for as long as I can, but I&rsquo;m certain someone will come along in a couple years and try to break it.&rdquo;
Tatum broke Anthony Davis&rsquo; All-Star record of 52 points. He was 22 of 31 from the floor, plus had 10 rebounds and six assists.
It was James&rsquo; first loss in six times as captain. Antetokounmpo improved to 1-2 in his All-Star captaincies, and became the first captain to hoist a new trophy presented to the winners of the All-Star Game.
&ldquo;Winner, winner, chicken dinner,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said.
Donovan Mitchell added 40 for Team Giannis, which got 26 points from Damian Lillard &mdash; including the game-winner to push his team past the target score.
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and had 14 rebounds for Team LeBron, while Kyrie Irving had 32 points and 15 assists and Joel Embiid finished with 32 points.
Lillard, the winner of the 3-point contest on All-Star Saturday Night, made eight 3s &mdash; including a halfcourt pullup in the third quarter.
&ldquo;That was the worst basketball game I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; Team LeBron coach Michael Malone said, clearly poking fun at the defense-optional event.
The league had a ceremony before the second half to pay tribute to the three leading scorers in NBA history: No. 3 Karl Malone, No. 2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James, now the game&rsquo;s career leader after he passed Abdul-Jabbar earlier this month.
Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were brought to the stage, and then Dwyane Wade &mdash; James&rsquo; former teammate in Miami and now a part-owner of the Jazz &mdash; introduced James to bring him onto the platform.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all been witnesses,&rdquo; Wade said. &ldquo;No matter the challenge, no matter the noise, he was relentless.&rdquo;
With the number 38,388 displayed behind him, James then raised his hand to thank the fans for their ovation, hugged Abdul-Jabbar and Malone. He didn&rsquo;t return to the game, his night ending with a right hand contusion.
He finished with 13 points, and said a chasedown block in the first half led to him getting a finger caught in the rim.
&ldquo;Precautionary reasons,&rdquo; James said.
James played a half. The game&rsquo;s other captain didn&rsquo;t play a half-minute.
Antetokoumpo drafted his team before the game, went through warmups (such as they were) and started the game as planned.
But his right wrist was wrapped, and that was an ominous sign. The injury kept him out of All-Star Saturday&rsquo;s skills event, limited him to 20 seconds in this one. He got an uncontested dunk to open the game, then took a foul and headed to the bench.
&ldquo;Whatever I have, I&rsquo;m going to give,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s who I am. That&rsquo;s never going to change.&rdquo;
As in past years, the teams played for charity, with Team LeBron raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Team Giannis for Raise the Future, which connects youth waiting in foster care with stable adults. Each team started with $150,000, with the first three quarters worth another $100,000 apiece and the All-Star Game winner getting another $150,000.
The teams were tied at 46-46 in the first quarter, and Team Giannis took the second quarter 53-46. Team Giannis also won the third quarter 59-49, and the cumulative score to that point &mdash; 158-141, Team Giannis &mdash; meant 182 would be the score to reach in the untimed fourth quarter with a target-score ending.
Team Giannis won $700,000 for its charity, and Team LeBron won $200,000.
TIP-INS
Team Giannis: Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s two points kept him the all-time All-Star scoring average leader. He&rsquo;s now averaging 25.1 points in All-Star Games, just ahead of Kevin Durant (25.0). Without that basket, he&rsquo;d average 24.9. ... Jrue Holiday took Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s spot in the starting lineup for the second half.
Team LeBron: Denver&rsquo;s Nikola Jokic, the two-time reigning MVP, became the first player to start an All-Star Game on his birthday; he turned 28 on Sunday. The only other player to appear in an All-Star Game on his birthday, the NBA said, was Larry Nance Sr. in 1989. ... Halftime lasted 42 minutes. ... Paul George started in place of James for the second half.
214 COUNTRIES
Last year&rsquo;s All-Star Game was broadcast in 215 countries; this year, it was shown in 214 countries. The omission was Russia. The NBA isn&rsquo;t showing its games in Russia and hasn&rsquo;t for nearly a year. The league suspended its business activities with Russia in March 2022, just days after that country invaded Ukraine.
REFEREES
The officiating crew of John Goble, Mark Lindsay and Michael Smith had the game.
UP NEXT
Indianapolis will play host to the next NBA All-Star weekend, set for Feb. 16-18, 2024. The city was supposed to have the 2021 game, but it was moved to Atlanta and considerably scaled down because of the pandemic.

Jayson Tatum scored an All-Star Game-record 55 points on his way to winning MVP, and Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175.

Tatum scores All-Star record 55, wins MVP as Team Giannis wins 184-175

Maya Moore has decided to retire officially from playing basketball.
The Minnesota Lynx star stepped away from the WNBA in 2019 to help her now-husband Jonathan Irons win his release from prison by getting his 50-year sentence overturned in 2020. Irons married Moore soon after his release and the couple had their first child, Jonathan Jr., in July.
She announced her decision to retire on ABC&rsquo;s &ldquo;Good Morning America.&rdquo; Before Monday, Moore had been noncommittal about ever playing basketball again.
&ldquo;Well, I think it&rsquo;s time to put a close to the pro basketball life,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;I walked away four seasons ago but wanted to officially retire. This is such a sweet time for us and our family. The work we&rsquo;ve done, I want to continue that in our next chapter. Be home for my community and family.&rdquo;
In a video call with reporters after the show, Moore said she missed her teammates but was too focused over the last four years on her off-the-court priorities that transitioning back to basketball was not on her mind.
&ldquo;Just trying to learn a new rhythm outside of playing &mdash; I didn&rsquo;t really wrestle with a desire to want to switch that pace up,&rdquo; she said, later adding: &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t just sitting around wishing I was playing again. I just felt such a sense of purpose.&rdquo;
The 33-year-old Moore won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx, two Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball and two NCAA titles with UConn.
&ldquo;On behalf of the Minnesota Lynx organization, I want to congratulate Maya on an incredible basketball career,&rdquo; Lynx coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve said. &ldquo;We will always cherish her time in a Lynx uniform and we wish her the best as she continues to pursue this next chapter of her life.&rdquo;
Moore will be eligible for the Naismith Hall of Fame next year since she stopped playing four years ago, one the rare athletes to leave their sport in the prime of their career.
She was drafted No. 1 by the Lynx in 2011, winning the Rookie of the Year award and going on to average 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals over eight seasons for Minnesota. She was the league&rsquo;s MVP in 2014 and the only player in WNBA history with four 40-plus point games.
&ldquo;Her four WNBA championships, six All-Star selections, an MVP award and a Finals MVP trophy are indicative of the type of rare, generational talent Maya brought to this league, but perhaps her greatest legacy will be what she accomplished beyond the game,&rdquo; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.
When Moore stepped away from basketball, she started a social action campaign &ldquo; Win With Justice.&rdquo; Moore and her husband also have a book coming out this week titled &ldquo;Love &amp; Justice.&rdquo;
During her career, she was at the forefront of the Lynx becoming one of the first pro sports teams to fully embrace social activism, starting before a game on July 9, 2016, when players wore black T-shirts that read, &ldquo;Change Starts With Us.&rdquo; Their message was prompted by fatal police shootings earlier that week of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana.
&ldquo;I hope people saw me as someone who gave all she had,&rdquo; Moore said Monday, &ldquo;but also somebody who looked beyond the craft that I pursued.&rdquo;
The Lynx went 200-71 in the regular season and 40-16 in the playoffs during Moore&rsquo;s career as the star among stars in a core that featured Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and eventually Sylvia Fowles.
She finished her career as the Lynx franchise leader in scoring average, 3-point field goals made (530) and steals (449) and finished second in total points scored (4,984), field goals made (1,782), assists (896) and blocks (176).
&ldquo;Maya Moore has forever left a mark on the state of Minnesota, the Minnesota Lynx franchise and the hearts of Lynx fans everywhere,&rdquo; Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor said. &ldquo;Maya&rsquo;s accolades are numerous; her leadership and talent both fearless and inspirational set the foundation for the most exciting and historic championship run in the league from 2011-2017. While today culminates Maya&rsquo;s basketball career, there is no doubt she will continue to impact the game we all love.&rdquo;
Moore went 150-4 in her career at UConn. The two-time AP Player of the Year was a key part of the Huskies&rsquo; 90-game winning streak that was the longest-ever until the school had an 111-game run a few years later.
___
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.

Moore announced her decision to retire on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

WNBA great Maya Moore retires from basketball officially

<a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1592591467247472641" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski</a> is reporting that top women's prospect Juju Watkins plans to sign with the University of Southern California Trojans.&nbsp;
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ESPN Sources: Juju Watkins &ndash; No. 1 in ESPNW&rsquo;s Class of 2023 and considered a generational basketball talent &ndash; plans to sign with the University of Southern California Trojans. Monumental recruiting coup for USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb to land the Sierra Canyon (Calif.) guard. <a href="https://t.co/bsMfy1CBsG">pic.twitter.com/bsMfy1CBsG</a>
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1592591467247472641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Top women's prospect Juju Watkins is reportedly signing with the USC Trojans.

Top women's prospect Juju Watkins signing with USC Trojans

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points playing with a bruised back and the Dallas Mavericks &mdash; without the injured Luka Doncic &mdash; beat the Utah Jazz 126-118 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, Maxi Kleber had 17 points and Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:56 left for a 10-point lead.
Doncic has missed all three of the games in the series with a strained calf, with signs pointing to his return for Game 4 on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half for Utah. Bojan Bogdanovic added 24 and Mike Conley had 21. The Jazz had won 11 in a row at home against Dallas.
Conley got the Jazz to 103-102, but Dinwiddie made two baskets and Brunson scored six points on three straight possessions to make it 113-104.
Brunson appeared to hurt his back midway through the second quarter when Royce O&rsquo;Neale hit him full-speed from behind. He moved gingerly, rubbed his lower back and earned a technical on his way off the court complaining about a cheap shot.
But he shook it off and toyed with Jazz on a variety of drives to the baskets against several different defenders. Brunson now has 96 points in the three games of the series.
Once the Jazz finally matched the Mavericks and played without a center, the court opened up for Utah. Mitchell (18) and Bogdanovic (12) scored at will in the third quarter against a leaky Dallas zone. The Jazz made 14 of 18 shots and trimmed the lead to 97-91 entering the final period. The game was physical and chippy at times, featuring 60 fouls.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: After going 8 for 11 from 3-point range in Game 2, Kleber made three straight in his first two minutes on the court. &hellip; Tim Hardaway Jr. (foot surgery) is probably out for the playoffs unless Dallas makes a deep run.
Jazz: Olympic gold medalist skier Lindsey Vonn and boxer Floyd Mayweather sat courtside. &hellip; Clarkson made a three-quarter-court shot but it came just after the first-quarter horn. &hellip; Eric Paschall only played 10 minutes (at center) but scored six points and Utah outscored Dallas by nine points during that time.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points playing with a bruised back and the Mavericks beat the Jazz 126-118 to take a 2-1 lead.

Brunson, Mavericks beat Jazz 126-118 to take 2-1 series lead

Zach LaVine has an Olympic gold medal. What he doesn&rsquo;t have is NBA playoff experience.
At last, that part is about to change.
No active NBA player has been in more regular-season games without making his playoff debut than LaVine, who has appeared in 478 games with the Chicago Bulls. He&rsquo;s expected to play in his first playoff game Sunday night when the Bulls visit Milwaukee.
Once LaVine makes his playoff debut, the title nobody wants &mdash; active player with most games and no playoff appearances &mdash; will fall to Buddy Hield. He&rsquo;s been in 468 games with Sacramento, New Orleans and Indiana.
If Hield appears in at least 32 games next season, he will become the eighth player with at least 500 regular-season appearances but zero playoff contests. He&rsquo;ll join Tom Van Arsdale (929), Otto Moore (682), Nate Williams (642), Omri Casspi (588), Sebastian Telfair (564), Popeye Jones (535) and Eddy Curry (527) in that club.
Curry has a ring from his time with the Miami Heat in the 2011-12 season, but didn&rsquo;t play in a game during that postseason run.
EIGHT IS (USUALLY) ENOUGH
Phoenix won eight games more than any other team this season. That usually means a championship.
Not always, though.
The last four teams to have at least eight more wins than any other team in the regular season have gone on to win a title. Those clubs are the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000, the Chicago Bulls in 1992 and 1996, and the Boston Celtics in 1984.
The 1971 Milwaukee Bucks, 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, and both the 1960 and 1965 Celtics also ended seasons with such huge regular-season margins with championships. But the Celtics in both 1958 and 1973 did not, nor did the Washington Capitols in 1947 &mdash; the inaugural season of the BAA, which was the precursor to the NBA. The Capitols (49-11) won 10 more regular-season games than anyone else in 1946-47, but the Philadelphia Warriors (35-25) won that first season&rsquo;s championship.
PLAYOFF MONEY
The NBA has set this season&rsquo;s playoff pool at $17,317,334. All 16 playoff teams are guaranteed $258,449 just for making the field; most teams will make more, and the deeper teams go in the playoffs, they&rsquo;ll make much more.
Phoenix is already assured at least $1,194,952. The Suns would claim $5,077,456 if they win the NBA title.
Miami has secured $695,527 already. The Heat would get $4,578,031 if they win the championship.
Any team that makes the NBA Finals is guaranteed $3,106,286; any team other than the Suns or Heat that wins the championship would receive at least $4,140,953.
BEST EVERYWHERE
Phoenix had the NBA&rsquo;s best home record and the NBA&rsquo;s best road record this season &mdash; 32-9 in both instances.
Only four of the last nine teams to pull off that feat, including ties in the standings, went on to win the NBA title. Those clubs were Golden State in 2015 and 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 and the Chicago Bulls in 1996.
The most recent teams to be best at home, best on the road and still not win a title: Houston in 2018, Dallas in 2007, Seattle in 1994, Portland in 1991 and the Lakers in 1990.
MILESTONE WATCH
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Doc Rivers is on the cusp of becoming the fifth coach in NBA history to win 100 postseason games. The 76ers need just two wins in their first-round series against Toronto to get Rivers to the milestone.
The other coaches with 100 wins: Phil Jackson (229), Pat Riley (171), Gregg Popovich (170) and Larry Brown (100).
Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra can also get to 100 playoff wins this year &mdash; but the Heat would have to get to the NBA Finals, then win three games in the title round to get him there. Spoelstra enters these playoffs with 85 postseason victories.
Among players, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant is three points shy of matching Jerry West (4,457) for eighth on the all-time playoff list. Durant needs 307 points to tie No. 7 Karl Malone (4,761) on that list, meaning the Nets would likely have to get to at least the second round for that to occur this year.
FAVORED TEAMS
Utah was favored in more games than any other team this season, picked by oddsmakers 73 times in the 82-game regular season. The Jazz were followed by Phoenix (70), Milwaukee (66), Golden State (62), Boston (61) and Miami (59) on the most-favored list.
The team that covered a spread with the most regularity this season: Memphis, which rewarded its backers 64.6% of the time. Utah was tied for next-to-last in that department, covering at a 40.2% rate.
Oklahoma City was favored the fewest times in the league, just on three occasions. Portland was the worst at covering, doing so 37.8% of the time.
BACK TO BACK
If Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo wins his second consecutive NBA Finals MVP award &mdash; now named for Bill Russell &mdash; he would join select company.
Only six players have won that award in consecutive years. Chicago&rsquo;s Michael Jordan won it back-to-back-to-back on two separate occasions, 1991 through 1993 and then 1996 through 1998. Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal won three in a row for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 through 2002. Hakeem Olajuwon won for Houston in 1994 and 1995, Kobe Bryant did for the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, LeBron James did for Miami in 2012 and 2013, and Kevin Durant did it for Golden State in 2017 and 2018.
Jerry West was the award&rsquo;s first winner in 1969. It has been named for Russell since 2009.
THREE&rsquo;S WIN
As one might guess, it&rsquo;s difficult to make up a significant disparity in 3-pointers made.
Teams that were outscored by 15 or more points from 3-point range this season won only 20.8% of the time &mdash; going 94-348 in those contests.
IGUODALA&rsquo;S FAREWELL
Golden State&rsquo;s Andre Iguodala has said he is retiring when this season ends. He wanted to go back to the Warriors for a farewell, and the Warriors welcomed him back for many reasons &mdash; what he brings at this time of year among them.
No player in this year&rsquo;s playoffs has played, counting actual appearances only, in more postseason wins than Iguodala. He has appeared in 103 playoff wins, five more than Philadelphia&rsquo;s Danny Green, eight more than Brooklyn&rsquo;s Kevin Durant, 16 more than Miami&rsquo;s Udonis Haslem and 17 more than Warriors teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
THE REFEREES
Tom Washington is working the NBA playoffs for the 24th time and Scott Foster was selected as part of the postseason referee corps for the 22nd time. They&rsquo;re the senior members of a 36-person group that will work games in Round 1.
There are three playoff newcomers: Eric Dalen, Mitchell Ervin and Justin Van Duyne.
Foster has worked 201 playoff games, while Washington has worked 172. Other veterans in this year&rsquo;s playoffs include Tony Brothers and James Capers (163 games apiece), Marc Davis (161), Ed Malloy (121), Bill Kennedy (120), Zach Zarba (117) and John Goble (100).
The rest of the first-round officials are: Brent Barnaky, Curtis Blair, Nick Buchert, Kevin Cutler, JB DeRosa, Kane Fitzgerald, Tyler Ford, Brian Forte, Pat Fraher, Jacyn Goble, David Guthrie, Courtney Kirkland, Karl Lane, Eric Lewis, Mark Lindsay, Tre Maddox, Rodney Mott, Gediminas Petraitis, Michael Smith, Ben Taylor, Josh Tiven, Scott Twardoski, James Williams and Sean Wright.
The NBA also selected eight alternates &mdash; including Lauren Holtkamp, the only woman to make this season&rsquo;s list. If picked for a game, Holtkamp would join Violet Palmer as the only female referees to work a postseason contest.

The AP's Tim Reynolds ties a bow on the 2021-22 NBA regular season and prepares us for the playoffs.

Playoff time: 10 things to know about the NBA's postseason

NEW YORK (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morant added 23 points and nine assists and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New York Knicks 120-108 on Wednesday night.
Morant had some of his usual high-flying highlight plays, but shot just 9 for 27 from the field, missing all six 3-point attempts. 
But the Grizzlies go well beyond their first-time All-Star. Rookie Ziaire Williams scored a season-high 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting, while Jackson, Desmond Bane and De'Anthony Melton all hit four 3-pointers.
Morant had his streak of 30-point games stopped at seven, but the Grizzlies bounced back from an overtime loss in Philadelphia on Monday night to win for the fourth time in five games. 
Evan Fournier scored 30 points for the Knicks, who lost for the seventh time in nine games ahead of a difficult five-game Western Conference trip that starts Saturday against the Lakers
Memphis led by double digits for a long stretch before the Knicks trimmed it to 95-90 early in the fourth when Immanuel Quickley made consecutive 3-pointers, the first while being fouled. But the Knicks then accidentally tipped in a Memphis miss and Jackson made a 3-pointer to restore a 10-point lead, and Bane later knocked down a 3 and Morant scored to stop one last New York push.
Melton scored 11 points in the first quarter, sending Memphis to a 35-27 lead. The Grizzlies scored 10 straight to open the second and build a 45-27 cushion.
The Grizzlies put on a show late in the half, with Morant throwing a lob to Williams for a dunk in transition and then Williams returning the favor to set up for Morant for a <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1489053155983716353?s=20&amp;t=6a10XuA_9Diot_Fn200pJg">slam that finished a pretty fast break</a>. Memphis led 64-52 at the break.
The Knicks got the pace slowed down somewhat in the third and climbed back within six points midway through the period, but the Grizzlies had it back up to 92-79 after three. 
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Coach Taylor Jenkins said C Steven Adams, who had been listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle, was still feeling a little sore but had gone through treatment the last few days to be ready to start Wednesday. Adams grabbed 13 rebounds. ... Melton scored 14 points and Bane 13.
Knicks: Julius Randle had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists before being ejected in the closing seconds for a second technical foul. ... RJ Barrett scored 23 points.
GRIZZLIES GAINS
Jenkins said he has noticed more Grizzlies jerseys in road arenas. Morant was seventh on the NBA's most-popular jersey list last month, based on sales on NBAStore.com for the first half of the 2021-22 regular season.
“Obviously, you see the swag he plays with, the energy he plays with, the uniqueness with his athleticism but also his unique playmaking ability, too,” Jenkins said. “Obviously, he’s a highlight reel, but then I would say he’s also a guy that impacts winning. So he does it all and hopefully the way he handles himself on the court, he handles himself in the media and community is just inspiring to others and hopefully someone who’s rocking the Ja jersey or rocking any of our Grizzlies jerseys out there, it’s a testament to what this team stands for.” 
ATHLETES IN THE ARENA
The crowd included Olympic skiing gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and boxers Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, who will meet April 30 for Taylor's lightweight titles in what organizers say will be the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-boxing-new-york-womens-boxing-nyc-state-wire-94c062b68adfefce2cc9ee099af9df77">first women’s boxing match to headline Madison Square Garden</a>.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Visit Orlando on Saturday.
Knicks: Visit Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 26 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New York Knicks.

Jalen