DURHAM, N.C. -- Cooper Flagg insisted he's "living in the present" and wouldn't speculate on whether he'd just played his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but as Duke wrapped its home slate Monday with an emphatic 93-60 win over Wake Forest, the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA draft admitted there were still a lot emotions as he left the court to chants of "One more year!" from the crowd.

"I was just playing with a lot of emotion and a lot of fire," Flagg said.

If it was his final home game in a Duke uniform, he leaves on a high note. Flagg finished with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Flagg lamented Duke's lackluster performance in a January game at Wake Forest, suggesting revenge was among his motivations Monday, but he was still peppered with questions about his future after the win. His coach, Jon Scheyer, said he took note of the moment, too.

Flagg left the court with the rest of the starters at the 2:21 mark in the second half with the Blue Devils up 40, an admittedly humble ending to an electric season on Duke's home court, Scheyer said.

"I just hope everybody recognizes, if we were in more close games, his numbers would be like this a lot," Scheyer said. "He's so unselfish. I wanted to put him back in just for people to be able to recognize him and what he's done. He plays so hard, he's competitive, he's a great teammate, and obviously his ability is special."

For Duke, the dominant win wrapped a perfect 17-0 season at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the victory was the Blue Devils' fourth straight by at least 30 points.

Flagg said the performance was indicative of a team "playing at a really high level," but he emphasized that the job was far from over.

Still, Monday was a time for reflection -- even if Flagg wasn't ready to admit he'd played his last game inside Duke's historic arena. He recalled his coast-to-coast dunk against Pitt ("a surreal moment," he said) as his personal best memory from his season here, but befitting a player lauded for his selflessness on the court, pointed to teammate Sion James' dunk against NC State as the high point.

"The feeling I had -- the crowd, it was the loudest it's been all year," Flagg said. "I was back on defense, and I could almost feel the building shaking."

Whether that feeling would be enough to lure Flagg back for one more year, as the crowd implored Monday, remains a dubious proposition given his NBA draft stock. But Flagg said the experience of this season at Duke has exceeded his expectations, and leaving Cameron for potentially the last time was another memory worth cherishing.

"This is the best place in college basketball, for sure," Flagg said. "I've loved every single minute of being here. It's been an amazing year."

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is unlikely to be franchise-tagged ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Minnesota still is interested in working to re-sign Darnold, but it is likely to be without any tag, the sources said.

Darnold, 27, blossomed in the Vikings' scheme last season, with coach Kevin O'Connell's careful guidance, leading the team to 14 wins after winning a total of 21 games in his previous six seasons. He ranked fifth in the NFL in passing yards (4,319) and touchdown passes (35) while earning his first career Pro Bowl invitation.

Darnold, however, appeared to hit his ceiling at the end of the season. His final two starts were his worst, as he threw a combined 23 off-target throws and took 11 sacks as the Vikings lost games to the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams (in the playoffs) by a combined score of 58-18.

The Vikings signed Darnold in 2024 as insurance for their plan to draft their quarterback of the future. Darnold's primary job was to give the team an option good enough that they would not be forced to play that quarterback, who turned out to be J.J. McCarthy, until he was ready.

Darnold, however, had a strong training camp and was in line to be the Vikings' Week 1 starter even before McCarthy suffered a season-ending torn meniscus in his right knee during the preseason opener.

The No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft, Darnold spent three seasons with the New York Jets, two with the Carolina Panthers and one as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers before signing with the Vikings in what was widely viewed as his final opportunity to prove he could be an NFL starter.

He has passed for 16,383 yards with 98 touchdowns and 68 interceptions in seven NFL seasons.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.

NEW YORK -- Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Monday for public criticism of officials following his team's 133-129 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jerome was upset that the teams were called for a combined 53 fouls and shot 70 free throws Sunday, which included 35 for each team. The average NBA game has fewer than 40 fouls called.

"I thought the refs were really bad tonight, especially Natalie (Sago), she was really bad," Jerome said. "Stuff like that happens. They kind of lose control of the game, and you just got to keep your head. I thought that first half was ridiculous. Third quarter was horrendous.

"You just got to keep your head and keep playing."

Jerome finished with 25 points, six assists and a career-high six steals. He also picked up a technical foul for arguing with officials.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson agreed that the game had little flow because of all the whistles.

"The game was so choppy," Atkinson said. "I'll have to go back and look at the film. We have great referees in this league. I just thought it wasn't a great spectacle for the fans or for the media, or for us as coaches. It would just seem like it was constant stoppage. I'll just leave it at that."

DALLAS -- The Mavericks revealed on Monday that they are raising season-ticket prices for next season, just weeks after dealing star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks said season tickets will go up by an average of 8.61% next season and the increase is due to "ongoing investments in the team and fan engagement."

The Mavs have dealt with widespread fan discontent since last month's trade that sent the popular Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for a package that includes Anthony Davis, the talented but often injured 10-time All-Star.

Davis scored 26 points in his Mavericks debut on Feb. 8, but left the game late with a groin injury and hasn't played since.

Meanwhile, Doncic has thrived with the Lakers, immediately reviving their title hopes. The five-time All-Star led the Mavs to the NBA Finals last season, where they lost to the Boston Celtics.

The Mavericks say that despite the price adjustments, full-season ticket holders will continue to save 15% to 23% compared to projected secondary market prices.

Season-ticket costs for the Club Access Level, which includes premium seats and floor-area seating, will rise more than 10%, and some terrace-level seats are going up from $20 to $24 per game.

The team says that roughly 4,200 seats per game are still below $40.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr wants NBA officials to call more traveling violations.

Kerr received a technical foul in the third quarter of the Warriors' 119-101 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night after becoming irate when what he viewed as an obvious travel wasn't called. Kerr pointed to the crowd, where some fans were screaming for a traveling call.

"I don't understand why we are not teaching our officials to call travel in this league," Kerr said. "They do a great job and work their tails off and communicate well, but I see five or six travels a game that aren't called."

Kerr said his team is just as guilty as the rest.

After watching film, the coach said he saw his team travel four times in Saturday night's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. None of them were called.

"You know it's a problem when there are like a hundred fans in the stands and every coach on the sideline when I'm watching film and everyone is [signaling for a travel call]," Kerr said. "Everyone is seeing it, so we are clearly not teaching as a league our officials to look at the feet."

This isn't the first time Kerr -- a former NBA guard -- has criticized officials for inconsistent enforcement of traveling violations. He said he has expressed his thoughts to the league and that things need to change "for the good of the game."

"The entire game is based on footwork," Kerr said. "We need to enforce traveling violations and we are not doing it and I don't understand why. ... These [officials] are awesome. They do a great job, and they have a million things to watch, but footwork is the entire basis of the game and we need to call traveling. It will be a much better game if we clean it up."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 51 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Houston Rockets 137-128 on Monday night for their 50th win of the season.

Gilgeous-Alexander reached 50 points for the fourth time this season, all in the past seven weeks. No other player in the NBA has more than one, according to ESPN Research. The NBA's scoring leader finished with at least 40 for the ninth time in 2024-25. He made 18 of 30 field goals, went 5-of-9 on 3-pointers and hit all 10 of his free throws.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who reached 50 points on a putback with just under three minutes left to give Oklahoma City a 132-120 advantage, had never scored 50 in a game in his career before this stretch. It's the shortest span for a player to record his first four career 50-point games in NBA history, according to ESPN Research.

"It becomes -- you can say it's not as exciting as the first one, but it's more like getting lost in the process of just competing and playing the game you love," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And then wherever that takes you, it takes you."

Gilgeous-Alexander logged his 17th career game with 20 points in the paint and 10 made free throws, the most by any guard since 1997-98 -- and a mark that surpassed LeBron James for the seventh most by any player over that span.

His scoring binges have helped Oklahoma City roll to a Western Conference-leading 50-11 record. The Thunder are 3-1 when he scores at least 50 points.

"Whether it's 50, whether it's 27, whether it's 17 -- as long as we win, I have fun with it," he said. "It's a fun night."

Gilgeous-Alexander played 397 career games before reaching the 50-point mark. His first time hitting the milestone was a career-high 54-point outburst in a win over Utah on Jan. 22. He then scored 52 on Jan. 29 in a loss to Golden State and 50 in a home win over Phoenix on Feb. 5.

"I just think he's got an unbelievable pace to him right now," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "Where he's finding his stuff, he's attacking and really hitting the gas on some plays, and then there's other plays where he's just letting the defense tell him what to do and moving it to his teammates and it's allowing for the rest of the team to play really well at the same time as him. So, he deserves a lot of credit."

From the outset against the Rockets, it appeared this might be a special night when Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points in the first quarter. He said he took over because the team got off to a rough start. Even with his scoring spree, Houston led 31-30 at the end of the period.

"I tried to be a little bit more aggressive once we kind of got out to that [slow] start there, like kind of lift us a little bit," he said. "I tried to be aggressive, be assertive."

He had 28 points by halftime and 45 going into the fourth quarter. His six points in the final period were vital in helping the Thunder hang on and become the fastest in franchise history to reach the 50-win mark (61 games). The Thunder/SuperSonics franchise's previous fastest mark was 64 games in the 1995-96 season.

"I just think you play the game to win," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Like, you don't play the game to score a bunch of points. You don't play the game to get a bunch of rebounds or assists or steals. ... You don't play for anything besides to win, and that's what it's all about."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

DALLAS -- Kyrie Irving suffered a left knee sprain Monday night and shot free throws for the Mavericks -- with tears rolling down his cheeks -- before leaving the floor in obvious pain late in the first quarter of Dallas' 122-98 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Irving was fouled by DeMar DeRozan on a drive to the basket and his right foot landed on the foot of the Kings' Jonas Valanciunas. He lost his balance and then landed awkwardly on his left leg, and his knee appeared to hyperextend before he fell to the floor.

The Mavericks provided no postgame updates on the nature of Irving's injury.

"Just unlucky," coach Jason Kidd said. "I hope that he's healthy, that it's not serious."

After he was hurt, Irving grabbed his leg and remained on the floor for multiple minutes. Injured forward Anthony Davis was among those helping Irving to the locker room before Kidd spoke to Irving, who then returned to take two free throws. After converting both to pull Dallas within 23-18, Irving was helped into the tunnel, and the Mavs quickly ruled him out for the rest of the night.

"That's just who, I mean, Kai's a tough guy," Kidd said. "I asked him as they were taking him off the court, 'Are you good if you leave without shooting? You're ruled out.' So they took him to the free-throw line, and he shot the free throws and then we got him out."

Irving's decision to shoot free throws was reminiscent of the late Kobe Bryant, who made two game-tying foul shots for the Los Angeles Lakers after tearing his Achilles tendon late in the fourth quarter of a victory over Golden State on April 12, 2013.

A nine-time All-Star, Irving came in averaging 25.0 points per game and has become Dallas' primary outside shooting threat following the trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1.

The Mavericks were already playing without Davis -- who left his only game for Dallas on Feb. 8 with a groin injury after being acquired for Doncic -- as well as Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II and P.J. Washington Jr.

Dallas also lost reserve guard Jaden Hardy in the third period to a right ankle sprain and finished with nine players.

"It seems every time we get close to getting somebody back, someone goes down," Kidd said. "Tonight, both Hardy and Kai go down. So, we're running out of bodies here."

Atlanta Braves starting catcher Sean Murphy will miss the start of the season with a rib injury.

The one-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks with a cracked rib on his left side, the team said Monday.

Top prospect Drake Baldwin is a candidate to replace Murphy behind the plate for Opening Day at San Diego on March 27.

Murphy, 30, struggled last season after an abdominal strain on Opening Day and batted .193 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs in 72 games with the Braves in 2024. He is a career .233 hitter with 77 homers and 240 RBIs in 510 games with the then-Oakland Athletics (2019-22) and the Braves.

The Braves declined Travis d'Arnaud's $8 million option during the offseason, clearing the path for Murphy to be the No. 1 catcher. D'Arnaud signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

Chadwick Tromp is the only other catcher on the Atlanta 40-man roster. He hit .250 in 19 games in 2024.

Murphy made the National League All-Star team in 2023 and collected a Gold Glove at catcher with the Athletics in 2021.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.