BASKETTBALL

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Opposites attract – and that holds true in college basketball, too. With the Sweet 16 around the corner, fans are set for one of the most exciting matchups as Michigan and Alabama battle for a trip to the Elite 8. Two completely different teams. Contrasting styles. Like oil and water.

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Nebraska’s men’s basketball team entered the big dance with an undesirable reputation; the Huskers were one of the two Power Five schools to never win a single NCAA tournament game. They were 0-for-8 in the big dance, looking to finally change the narrative this season, as they secured their ninth appearance.

The Huskers earned a No. 4 seed and faced No. 13 Troy in the first round. Over a million brackets picked Troy to pull off the upset. Nebraska gave their opponent no chance. This wasn’t just a win – it was a statement.

The Huskers rolled to a dominant 74-47 victory, leaving no doubt. The ghosts were exorcised. Nebraska had finally arrived. Now, they are here to stay.

Waiting next was No. 5 Vanderbilt in the second round, fresh off a run to the SEC title game where it pushed Arkansas in a tight, electric battle before falling by nine.

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Kon Knueppel scored 26 points as the Charlotte Hornets maintained their late-season charge for an NBA playoff berth with an emphatic 114-103 defeat of the high-flying New York Knicks on Thursday.

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Daniss Jenkins scored a career-high 30 points as the Detroit Pistons halted the Los Angeles Lakers’ nine-game winning streak with a 113-110 victory on Monday.

A heavyweight showdown between Eastern Conference leaders Detroit and the in-form Lakers did not disappoint, with Los Angeles recovering from a 16-point deficit in the second half to take the game to the wire.

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Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George made triumphant returns Wednesday, combining for 63 points in the Sixers’ 157-137 NBA victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Former NBA Most Valuable Player Embiid showed no sign of rust after missing 13 games with an oblique strain, scoring 35 points – including 15 of the Sixers’ first 19 as they seized control with a 38-point first quarter.

George, returning from a 25-game suspension for taking a medication that violated the league’s anti-drug program, took longer to warm up, scoring 23 of his 28 in the second half.

George finished with six three-pointers and Embiid made all three of his from beyond the arc on an efficient 12-of-17 shooting performance. Embiid added six rebounds and seven assists and the duo showed just how big a playoff threat the Sixers could be if both stay healthy.

They’re seventh in the East, a fraction behind the Atlanta Hawks for sixth and the last direct entry spot to the playoffs.

The Hawks, with 27 points apiece from CJ McCollum and Jalen Johnson, downed Eastern Conference leaders Detroit 130-129 in overtime.

Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City also fell, their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Celtics in Boston.

Jaylen Brown scored 31 points and Jayson Tatum added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter.

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, making 10 of his 12 attempts from the field for the Thunder.

He handed out eight assists but had little scoring support as center Chet Holmgren scored just 10 points and Jalen Williams added seven.

“We were able to keep them off the free throw line and we were able to keep them out of transition,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “When you do those things, the game will just take care of itself.”

The Pistons, still without star Cade Cunningham as he recovers from a collapsed lung, stumbled at home.

Jalen Duren scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who trailed by as many as 21 before forcing overtime.

In a game that featured 13 lead changes, McCollum converted a three-point play midway through the extra session to put the Hawks ahead for good.

The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back from their defeat in Detroit on Monday with a 137-130 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.

Luka Doncic scored 43 points with six rebounds and seven assists and LeBron James added a near triple-double of 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves chipped in 25 points.

The Lakers led by as many as 29 points. They were up by 23 early in the fourth quarter before the Pacers cut the deficit to nine. Two free throws apiece from James and Doncic and a dunk from Jake LaRavia pushed the lead back to double digits, before a last-gasp three-pointer from Indiana’s Obi Toppin.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was delighted with his team’s performance in the last game of a six-game road trip against a Pacers team that plays with a “relentless” pace.

“I thought our guys really did a lot of great things,” Redick said.

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The NBA Board of Governors voted on Wednesday to authorize the league to explore potential expansion teams for Las Vegas and Seattle that would bring the league to 32 clubs.

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The NBA will have a solution by June to teams “tanking” to try and obtain a better NBA Draft spot, commissioner Adam Silver vowed on Wednesday.

And he made it clear the NBA wants partners on a new European league to include Euroleague, world governing body FIBA and national leagues around the region.

Speaking after the NBA’s board of governors meeting that looked at expansion possibilities to Las Vegas and Seattle, Silver said no votes were taken about Europe League plans but team owners were updated on NBA plans.

“For the betterment of European basketball, I think the best outcome would be if we came together with the European league and we came up with a systematic approach to growing the game throughout Europe,” Silver said.

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LeBron James has broken the NBA record for most regular-season games played, taking the court for his 1,612th in the Los Angeles Lakers last-gasp 105-104 victory against the Orlando Magic.

The 41-year-old basketball icon's appearance on Saturday night took him one clear of the mark of 1,611 held by Robert Parish since his retirement in 1997. James was already the record-holder when factoring in his 292 playoff appearances, which brings his total up to 1,904 games.

It was a victorious record-breaking game as well, with the Lakers winning 105-104 off a game-winning 3-pointer from Luka Kennard.

James finished the game with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. James, playing his unprecedented 23rd season, already holds a host of NBA records, including points scored, field goals made and field goals attempted, and the longest streak of regular-season games with at least 10 points scored — 1,297 — in history.

James said his preparations for Saturday’s record-breaking performance had been no different to the previous 1,611 games.

“It was a regular prep day,” James said. “I know once I stepped on the floor that I was breaking the record, and that’s a pretty cool thing.

“I said the other night, the best thing you can do for your teammates is to be available, and I’ve tried to be available throughout my career, two decades plus, for my guys.”

Including playoff games, James has amassed a total of 1,904 fixtures during his career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a distant second with 1,797 appearances, while Parish is third on 1,795.