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The war of words is picking up between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. The battle on the court should be even better. The Timberwolves and Nuggets will resume their high-stakes rivalry when the teams tip off in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round playoff matchup Thursday night in Minneapolis. The best-of-seven series is even after Denver won the series opener and Minnesota bounced back to take Game 2. Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels added some spice to the series with his comments after Game 2. He said the Nuggets could not stop Minnesota from scoring at will. “They’re all bad defenders,” McDaniels said. “They don’t got people who can defend the rim. Even if (Nikola Jokic) is there, we’re

Following a Tuesday road victory, the Boston Bruins have snatched the home-ice advantage away from the Buffalo Sabres in their Eastern Conference first-round series. That means the intense playoff feeling is alive and well as the scene shifts to Boston on Thursday night for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series. “I feel like it was nasty from the first shift, from the first game,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said after Tuesday’s physical battle which featured 94 penalty minutes, including 72 in the third period alone. “It’s playoff emotions and intensity. It’s always going to be up there.” First-year Bruins coach Marco Sturm was not completely dissatisfied with his team’s Game 1 performance, outside of Buffalo’s third-period rally to snag a

CJ McCollum is filling the exact role the Atlanta Hawks had in mind when they acquired him in January. The veteran is not only scoring plenty of points, but he’s also providing an experienced presence for a young team. McCollum scored 32 points on Tuesday to spark Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback and 107-106 road win against the New York Knicks. The best-of-seven first-round series is tied 1-1 and shifts to Atlanta on Thursday for Game 3. “I really liked CJ’s leadership as much as the shot making,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “CJ’s leadership was really good with the ball in his hands.” The Knicks had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when

Real Sociedad returns to league play on Wednesday night for a Matchday 33 meeting with Getafe at Reale Arena in San Sebastián. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. local time. The table makes this one easy to care about. Real Sociedad starts the night seventh on 42 points through 31 league matches, with Getafe eighth on 41, so this is a direct fight in the European race rather than just another midweek fixture. There is another layer here, and it matters. Real Sociedad is coming off a draining Copa del Rey final win over Atlético Madrid that went 120 minutes before penalties, and the emotional swing after lifting a trophy is real even when the quality gap says otherwise. The