Few teams can match the size of the Minnesota Timberwolves with their trio of towers in NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid. The revamped Dallas Mavericks showed they might just be able to stand tall against Minnesota. Dereck Lively II, the 7-foot-1 rookie Dallas acquired on draft night after he was selected 12th overall, and 6-10 Daniel Gafford, who was a trade-deadline pickup in February, had a sizeable impact around the rim Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, a 108-105 victory for the Mavericks.
Mason White drove in four run, including the go-ahead three-run home run, and top-seeded Arizona defeated ninth-seeded Washington 6-5 in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament on Wednesday night. The Wildcats (34-20) assured their spot in the semifinals despite a Thursday game with sixth-seeded Cal. Washington (19-31-1) was eliminated. As Pac-12 champion, Arizona only had to win one game in its pool to advance.
Ryan McMahon hit a two-run home run in the 12th inning, and the Colorado Rockies hung on to beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Wednesday night. Elias Díaz had three hits including a two-run home run, while Brendan Rogers and Hunter Goodman each added a pair of hits to help Colorado snap a four-game losing streak.