AP Thursday Sports Roundup

NBA-SCHEDULE

Warriors hammer Hawks

UNDATED (AP) — The Golden State Warriors easily won a matchup of NBA conference leaders and prevented the Atlanta Hawks from wrapping up their first division title in 21 years.

The Warriors cruised to their 10th straight home win as Harrison Barnes delivered 25 points in a 114-95 rout of the Hawks. Andre Iguodala added 21 points and six assists for the Warriors, who moved ahead of the Hawks for the league's best record at 54-13.

Stephen Curry had 16 points and 12 assists to help the Warriors avenge their 124-116 loss in Atlanta last month.

In other NBA action:

— J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov each scored 17 points and Cleveland rallied for its 14th straight home win, beating Brooklyn 117-92. LeBron James had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter before embarking on a 30-8 run to take command.

— Dwyane Wade scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a tiebreaking jumper with 13.6 seconds left in Miami's 108-104 triumph over Portland. Luol Deng finished with 24 points and Goran Dragic added 20 as the Heat dropped the Trail Blazers a half-game behind third-place Houston in the Western Conference.

— John Wall finished with 24 points, six assists and nine rebounds as Washington beat Utah 88-84 to run its winning streak to five games. Paul Pierce finished with 18 points, including four 3-pointers that helped the Wizards end a six-game Jazz winning streak.

— The Los Angeles Clippers thumped Sacramento 116-105 behind Chris Paul's 30 points and 11 assists. J.J. Redick hit seven of the Clippers' 17 3-pointers and finished with 27 points to help his team remain tied with the Mavericks for fifth in the West.

— Dallas saw a 22-point lead shrink to one before the Mavericks picked up their third straight win, downing Orlando 107-102. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and hit five of the Mavs' 13 3-pointers.

— Danny Green scored 20 points and San Antonio bounced back from Tuesday's overtime loss in New York by topping Milwaukee 114-103. Tim Duncan added 19 points and seven assists in the Spurs' eighth victory in 10 games.

— Russell Westbrook provided 36 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals as Oklahoma City halted Boston's five-game winning streak, 122-118. Enes Kanter had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the Thunder move a half-game ahead of New Orleans for the final Western Conference playoff slot.

— Rookie Nikola Mirotic scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and Mike Dunleavy finished with 21 as Chicago beat Indiana 103-86 to stay 2 1/2 games behind the Central Division-leading Cavaliers. Pau Gasol had 19 points and 12 rebounds to help the Bulls end a two-game slide.

— Toronto has an 11-game home winning streak after Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and 15 rebounds in a 105-100 win against Minnesota. DeMar ReRozan contributed 21 points to the Raptors' third win in five games.

— Ish Smith scored 15 points and Philadelphia ended a four-game skid by downing Detroit 94-83. The Pistons have dropped 11 of 12.

NBA-ROCKETS-HOWARD

Howard close to return

HOUSTON (AP) — Dwight Howard says he's close to returning from swelling in his right knee that has kept Houston's center off the court for almost two months. Howard has missed the last 23 games with the injury. He wouldn't give a timetable for his return.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Dayton, Robert Morris rally to advance

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Dayton became the first team in 28 years to play an NCAA Tournament game on its home court, where the Flyers were 16-0 during the regular season. Dayton almost ended that perfect string, falling behind by seven with 3:43 remaining before advancing to the second round.

Kendall Pollard scored 17 points and the Flyers closed on a 10-2 run to beat Boise State 56-55. Jordan Sibert hit the biggest shots down the stretch, draining two free throws to tie the game at 53 with 1:02 remaining before canning a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to close the scoring.

Next up for Dayton is Providence on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

Robert Morris also advanced to the second round by rallying from a 14-point, second-half deficit.

Lucky Jones hit a key free throw and finished with 21 points as the Colonials beat North Florida 81-77. Rodney Pryor contributed 20 points and Marcquise Reed 19 for Robert Morris, which scored 21 points off 19 turnovers.

Beau Beech finshed with 28 points for the Ospreys but was held without a field goal over the final 11:18.

Robert Morris takes on top-seeded Duke on Friday in Charlotte

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SYRACUSE

Boeheim sets retirement

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim has announced he will retire in three years. The announcement comes in the wake of a scathing NCAA report that imposed sanctions against his program.

The NCAA suspended Boeheim for the first half of the 2015-2016 Atlantic Coast Conference season and imposed other sanctions. The violations involved academic misconduct, extra benefits and the university's drug testing policy. The 70-year old Boeheim is the second-winningest coach in Division I history.

The school has also announced that athletic director Daryl Gross has resigned and will work in marketing.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-ST. JOHN'S MINNESOTA-SMITH

Smith ends long career

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — Jim Smith has decided to retire after 51 seasons as men's basketball coach at St. John's University in Minnesota. The 80-year old finishes with a record of 786-556 at the Division III school.

Under him, St. John's made 17 postseason tournament appearances, most recently in 2007.

NFL-RULES

Possible changes in replay

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL could be ready to expand the use of video replay.

The league's competition committee will propose significant changes to replay at next week's owners meetings. The committee is presenting a proposal that would permit the replay system to review and correct all penalties called by game officials, including such judgment calls as pass interference.

Also to be discussed will be a proposal to place fixed cameras on all boundary lines, guaranteeing coverage of those lines regardless of where network cameras are positioned.

Other proposals include moving the extra point attempt to the 15-yard line and guaranteeing both teams a possession in overtime even if one scores a touchdown on its first drive.

NFL-TRANSACTIONS

Cowboys land Hardy

UNDATED (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have come to terms with free agent defensive end Greg Hardy. Although Hardy could face a league suspension for violating the NFL's domestic conduct policy, the team said it has worked out a deal with the former member of the Carolina Panthers. Hardy remains on the commissioner's exempt list as he seeks reinstatement by the NFL. He was convicted on two counts of domestic violence in North Carolina before the case was dismissed on appeal.

Meanwhile, the NFL has filed a second lawsuit in North Carolina court seeking information from Hardy's bench trial as part of the league's investigation into the matter.

Elsewhere;

— The Bills confirm they have submitted an offer sheet to Miami tight end Charles Clay, which gives the Dolphins five days to match the contract or lose him without compensation. A person familiar with the negotiations has told The Associated Press the deal is for five years and $38 million.

— Buffalo also has signed free agent receiver Percy Harvin to a one-year contract. Harvin had 51 receptions for 483 yards and one touchdown for the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks last year.

— The Giants have signed former Jets defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis in hopes of bolstering a defense that was ranked 30th against the run last season.

— Baltimore has come to terms on a two-year deal with defensive end Chris Canty, less than three weeks after the two parted ways. Canty was inactive for five games last season and had three games without a tackle.

— The Ravens have released running back Bernard Pierce just hours after he was charged with drunk driving. Pierce ran for 366 yards and two touchdowns in a career-low 93 carries last season.

— The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed defensive end Kroy Biermann, who led the team in sacks last season with 4 1/2.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Hawks blank Blueshirts

UNDATED (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have cooled off the sizzling New York Rangers and closed within three points of the NHL's Central Division lead.

Scott Darling stopped 25 shots and the Hawks earned their fourth consecutive win by blanking the Rangers 1-0 in New York. Neither team scored until Brad Richards beat Cam Talbot with 12:41 remaining.

Darling made 10 saves in the final period for his first NHL shutout.

Talbot had 30 saves for the Rangers, who ended a five-game winning streak and suffered just their second regulation loss in 19 games.

The Blueshirts still share the Eastern Conference lead with Montreal and remain five points ahead of the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.

Anaheim has regained the Western Conference lead, moving two points ahead of St. Louis with a 3-2 overtime win against Los Angeles. Patrick Maroon and Jakob Silfverberg scored in the first eight minutes of the third period, but the Ducks needed Ryan Kesler's goal 45 seconds into OT to earn their third straight win. Justin Williams knotted the score with 4:14 left in regulation, allowing the Kings to move a point ahead of Calgary in the battle for the final conference playoff berth.

The other NHL game had Columbus outlasting Edmonton 4-3 in a shootout. Ryan Johansen scored once in regulation and added a shootout goal after teammate Mark Letestu knotted the score midway through the third period.

NHL-MAPLE LEAFS-KADRI SUSPENDED

Leafs Kadri gets four-game suspension

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL has suspended Toronto center Nazem Kadri four games for his hit to the head of Edmonton's Matt Fraser, Monday night. Kadri is a repeat offender under the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement. He was suspended three games last season for a hit to the head of Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

The hit occurred in Kadri's second game back after a team-issued, three-game suspension for off-ice behavior.

MLB-RAYS

Cobb to miss opener

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Pitcher Alex Cobb of the Tampa Bay Rays has tendinitis in his right forearm and is expected to miss his planned opening-day start against Baltimore on April 6. The Rays made the announcement a day after the right-hander was removed after throwing three perfect innings Tuesday in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia. Cobb felt tightness in the bullpen before the game and had an MRI after the outing.

ALPINE SKIING-VONN

Another big win for Vonn

MERIBEL, France (AP) — Lindsey Vonn has won the season-long downhill title for the seventh time with a victory in last race of the discipline at the World Cup finals. The victory was the 66th of her career, increasing Vonn's already record number of World Cup wins.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.