NEW YORK -- The Knicks were seemingly seconds away Tuesday night from finally knocking off the defending champion Boston Celtics, who had thoroughly dominated them in three prior meetings this regular season.

Instead, those final 12 seconds of the fourth quarter turned out to be the beginning of a painful 119-117 overtime loss for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, allowing the Celtics to complete a four-game regular-season sweep of a club they could meet in the postseason's second round.

After wing Josh Hart scored on a layup to push New York ahead by three points, 107-104, with 11.9 seconds left in regulation, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla wisely elected not to call a timeout, creating a more chaotic atmosphere -- one where the defense couldn't get set -- on the ensuing sequence. Celtics star Jayson Tatum dribbled down the floor and shook OG Anunoby for a nasty step-back 3-pointer to knot the score and stun the Garden crowd with 2.9 ticks left.

On the Boston side, Kristaps Porzingis, who had a huge game with 34 points -- including a 30-foot, go-ahead trey in the final minute of overtime -- suggested that he expected the Knicks to foul before Tatum could get up a potential tying shot.

"They could have [fouled]. They took a gamble. They took a gamble, and Jayson hit a big shot," Porzingis said of Tatum, who finished with 32 points, seven boards and five assists.

Anunoby, one of the league's best defenders, said as much. "I should've fouled. I should've known to foul," Anunoby said, acknowledging that it was an obvious mistake in hindsight.

Hart misfired on a 3 during the final play of regulation, and after Porzingis hit the 3 with 40 seconds left in overtime to give the Celtics a 115-112 advantage, Knicks wing Mikal Bridges bobbled a pass out of bounds that practically secured the victory for Boston (59-20).

It was a much better showing from New York (50-29), which had lost all three of its previous games to Boston by double digits. The Knicks changed a handful of things strategically, including shaking up a handful of defensive matchups. Coach Tom Thibodeau elected to start Anunoby on Tatum, Hart on Jaylen Brown and Bridges on Derrick White. And having backup center Mitchell Robinson seemed to make a difference, too, as his ability to play higher up defensively against screen and rolls was a boost, particularly with Porzingis spacing the floor.

While the atmosphere in the arena was lively, with countless celebrities in the New York crowd and a nationally televised audience, the outcome seemed to matter far more to the Knicks, who were led by Karl-Anthony Towns' 34 points and 14 boards.

Brown logged just 22 minutes and didn't reenter the game after subbing out with 2:46 left in the third period. Similarly, Porzingis didn't initially start the overtime period and only subbed in midway through it despite the game hanging in the balance.

Nonetheless, the Knicks -- who will almost certainly face the Celtics in the conference semifinals if both teams win their first-round playoff series -- liked that they were closer to winning this time after losing by 23, 27 and 13 points in the first three outings. But they made clear that Tuesday wasn't enough to feel good about -- not for a 50-win club that doesn't believe in moral victories and that's now 0-9 against the teams with the three best records in the NBA.

"I think it's something we can build off of. There's a lot of positives we can take from this game, and there's some negatives we can take," said New York captain Jalen Brunson, who finished with 27 points and 10 assists in his second game back after missing nearly a month with an ankle injury. "But yeah: It's a little disappointing, knowing that we fought back and had a chance [to win]."

ESPN's Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.

CLEVELAND -- Kenny Atkinson thought during training camp that realistic goals for the Cleveland Cavaliers would be 50 wins and a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers surpassed those goals a while ago, with Atkinson now planning for a possible championship run.

Cleveland wrapped up the top seed in the East with its 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night. It is the fourth time in franchise history the Cavaliers will go into the playoffs with the conference's best record. The last time was 2016, when the Cavaliers won their first NBA title and delivered Cleveland its first professional sports championship in 52 years.

"Yeah, I mean I think you celebrate these moments," Atkinson said. "You know, we'll talk about going forward, what that looks like, but today, tonight we celebrate. And, you know, I think the guys are super happy in that locker room."

Cleveland went 48-34 last season and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals before losing to eventual NBA champion Boston in five games. The Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff at the end of the season and replaced him with Atkinson.

With a new coach in charge, Cleveland got off to a fast start, becoming the fourth team in NBA history to win at least its first 15 games. It is the third team in league history to have at least three streaks of 12 wins in a season, including a 16-game run from Feb. 3 to March 14.

The Cavs lost four straight, though, after their franchise-record win streak, but have rebounded to win seven of 10. At 63-16, they need to win their final three games to equal the franchise record for most victories in a season.

"You know, we got out of the gate so quick," Atkinson said. "We got ahead of it early. And then, we had some ups and downs this last month, but really proud of the guys, proud of the organization. It's hard to win 63 games in this league. It's hard to be the first seed. We all know that. So great accomplishment, obviously. We are hungry for more."

Atkinson had some preliminary discussions with his coaching staff about the approach to take during the rest of the regular season once the top seed was secured, but those plans can ramp up with three games remaining until the playoffs.

Cleveland has road games against Indiana and New York on Thursday and Friday, respectively, before hosting the Pacers on Sunday.

With the Cavaliers not likely to have their first playoff game until April 20, there is the fine balance between making sure players are peaking going into the postseason while also trying to get some rest with their seed locked in.

"I think there are various options on the table. It's going to be a collaborative thing and the players are part of it," Atkinson said. "What is their feel on rhythm? We can do intrasquad scrimmages to prepare. We can do a lot of things to get ready."

Guard Ty Jerome noted that the Cavaliers are in the same boat as a lot of teams going into the playoffs, with the extended rest before the first round starts.

"You use that week to get your body right, get an extra lift, and get some good practices in that we haven't been able to have," he said. "Since the All-Star break you don't really have time to practice much."

One player Atkinson would like to rest the remainder of the regular season is Donovan Mitchell. The star guard missed Tuesday's game due to a sprained left ankle he suffered during last Sunday's loss to Sacramento.

Mitchell, who is averaging a team-leading 24 points, will have some input into the decision about the final three games, but Atkinson said he would prefer Mitchell rest up.

With Mitchell out of the lineup, Darius Garland broke out of his shooting slump with 28 points against the Bulls. The sixth-year guard was 34 of 90 from the field and 15 of 43 on 3-pointers in his past six games leading up to Tuesday, but was 10 of 17 and 6 of 10 from beyond the arc vs. Chicago.

"It was good to see something go through the net," he said. "My teammates were on me to be myself. It was good to have one of these games for sure."

Garland also knows that expectations for the Cavaliers will be extremely high after earning the top seed.

"It's different because we're the hunted now," he said. "So we always have to play our best, it doesn't matter who it is or who it's against. So I think that turns us up a notch."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

MILWAUKEE -- Regular-season defeats don't get much more brutal than the one the Minnesota Timberwolves suffered Tuesday.

The wide-open nature of the Western Conference playoff race doesn't give them much time to stew over what went wrong.

Minnesota blew a 24-point lead by getting outscored 39-8 in the final 10 minutes of a stunning 110-103 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks that ended a five-game winning streak.

The Timberwolves, who started the game in a four-way tie for fifth place in the West, are now alone in eighth.

"I have every confidence that we'll be able to bounce back," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "We've got good guys. They'll shake it off. We've had some tough losses before in the season. We didn't expect to go undefeated over our last 10 games."

But they sure didn't expect to lose this one after leading 95-71 in the fourth quarter.

According to Sportradar, this marked only the fifth time that a team has won a game it trailed by at least 24 points in the fourth quarter since 1996-97, which is when the NBA started tracking play-by-play data. It was only the third time that one of those comebacks didn't require overtime.

It has happened one other time this season, and Minnesota was on the other end of it, rallying to win 131-128 at Oklahoma City in overtime after trailing 106-81 with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter.

"We played great basketball for three quarters," guard Donte DiVincenzo said. "We have to acknowledge what happened, but you don't let the world blow up just because of this."

The Timberwolves had no trouble explaining their collapse. The Bucks went to a zone in the fourth quarter, and the Timberwolves couldn't solve it.

They shot 4-of-20 overall and 2-of-12 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter while committing eight turnovers.

"It was hard for every last one of us to get a look when they were in the zone," All-Star guard Anthony Edwards said. "It messed us up."

Minnesota forward Julius Randle noted that the Timberwolves have fared well against zones in the past. They just didn't do it Tuesday.

He was asked whether he expected other teams to start using zones against them.

"If teams are smart, probably," Randle said. "I ain't going to give them the blueprint."

Minnesota still has reason to believe it can work its way out of the play-in tournament, in which the teams that finish seventh through 10th compete for the West's final two playoff berths.

In fact, the Timberwolves are only a game out of fourth place, which would give them home-court advantage in the opening round. They have the best cumulative record against the pack of teams they're fighting with to avoid the play-in games and a better overall Western Conference record than the LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors.

The Timberwolves finish a five-game trip Thursday at Memphis. The Grizzlies just lost starting guard Jaylen Wells to a broken wrist from a scary fall in the game at Charlotte on Tuesday.

Then the regular season wraps up for Minnesota with home games against lottery-bound Brooklyn and Utah on Friday and Sunday, when the Warriors face the Clippers in a game that will guarantee a loss for one of the competitors. The Grizzlies also host the Nuggets on Friday, ensuring another loss for one of them.

So the Timberwolves still have time to improve their playoff position. It starts by bouncing back and winning Thursday.

"The next game," Edwards said, "is the biggest game of the season."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Luka Doncic said he was trash-talking with a courtside fan in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' 136-120 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday when an official thought Doncic's ire was directed at him, leading to an ejection for the Lakers guard.

"I never got a fan ejected," Doncic said, explaining how he will often engage with opposing fans without asking arena security to intervene. "Never. But if [the fan is] going to talk, I'm going to talk back, like always. That had nothing to do with the ref. So, I didn't really understand."

L.A. led 108-107 with 7:40 left when Doncic was whistled for a technical foul by referee J.T. Orr, his second of the game. Orr also gave Doncic a tech in the third quarter, when Doncic argued that a foul call was missed when Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was hit on the previous possession.

The Thunder finished the game on a 29-12 run to rout the Lakers.

"He thought I got fouled, which I did get fouled, I got slapped across the head," Vanderbilt said of Doncic. "He was just telling the ref that that's what happened. And the ref was just like ... 'I'll talk to anybody but you, Luka.' So, it seemed a little personal at that point."

Crew chief Tony Brothers was asked about both technical fouls during a pool report after the game.

For the first, which came with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter, Brothers said Doncic, "directed profanity at a game official." For the second, Brothers said Doncic, "looked directly at an official and used vulgar language."

The fan, Jeremy Price, who referred to himself as "The Courtside Tattoo Dude," told ESPN that Doncic was shouting at him and not the referee.

"During the game within the game, I mentioned that he was short [on his shot] and he missed it, and he turned around and he shot an explicative back and J.T. happened to see it and at that point, T'd him up," Price said.

Price, who said he also jawed with Doncic last year during the Thunder's playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, said Orr "possibly" could have been mistaken as to whom Doncic was addressing.

"That's probably why he picked up that technical, to be quite honest," Price said.

The ejection changed the course of an ultracompetitive game between the Lakers, ranked No. 3 in the Western Conference, and Oklahoma City, which boasts the No. 1 overall record in the league at 65-14.

"Both teams knew that this was going to be a playoff-type atmosphere, playoff-type competition, playoff-type feeling and it just got weird," Lakers forward LeBron James said. "The game got weird after that."

Added Lakers coach JJ Redick: "It was a great game that unfortunately didn't get to finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision-making on some individuals' parts."

With the missed opportunity in Oklahoma City behind them, the Lakers turned their focus to Wednesday's game in Dallas. As important as the game is for playoff seeding, the contest will take on a much larger meaning with Doncic's return to Dallas since the Mavericks included him as part of a three-team trade with the Lakers and Utah Jazz, acquiring Anthony Davis and Max Christie on Feb. 2.

"There's going to be a lot of emotion for me," Doncic said. "I don't really know what to expect. I don't know how I'm going to feel, honestly. I'm looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates -- ex-teammates. It's going to be very emotional for me, for sure."

James, who anticipated a warm reception from the Mavericks fans who rooted for Doncic during the first seven seasons of his NBA career, said the Lakers would make sure Doncic felt their support no matter what the environment was like.

"I think it's very important," James said. "I mean, it's camaraderie. It's holding each other down whenever we face anything. And I think tomorrow's going to be a lot of emotions going through Luka, both the interior and then exterior. And it's our job just to do our job. If we do our job on the floor, then we'll help him tremendously."

And, in the process, help out their playoff positioning with a win with only three games left in the regular season.

"We need two out of the three to lock in the third spot," Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. "We're going to go compete and play like we have the last couple games, because we want to stay where we're at [in the standings]."

Paul Skenes might still be relatively new in the major leagues, but the Pittsburgh Pirates star isn't new to baseball and he won't be sweating a shaky start Tuesday night in which he gave up a career-worst five runs to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 22-year-old has been pitching for a while. He knows that some days -- hopefully most of them -- he's going to have dominant stuff that bends pitches to his will and leaves bats flailing in pursuit.

PHOENIX -- Baltimore Orioles starter Zach Eflin will be placed on the injured list and shut down for at least a week with a low-grade lat strain, manager Brandon Hyde said after his club's 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

The decision comes a day after Eflin left his start, a win in the opening game of this series on Monday night. He received an MRI on Tuesday, and though the team was optimistic about the injury, before Tuesday's loss, the Orioles still decided to give the veteran some rest.

In fact, the right-hander woke up feeling good Tuesday, a day after leaving the series opener because of shoulder fatigue.

"Really encouraging news that he felt really good waking up this morning," Hyde said before the loss. "Didn't feel the soreness as bad, and those are positive signs there. ... We're keeping our fingers crossed."

Eflin gave up only one run and four hits over six innings but his velocity dipped in the sixth. The 30-year-old mentioned the fatigue to Hyde between innings, which was enough to shut him down for the night.

The Orioles defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1 that night, and Eflin threw 73 pitches. He is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA through three starts this season.

After the win Monday, Eflin said he was "pretty optimistic" the issue wouldn't be a long-term setback, adding that his exit, he thought, was "precautionary."

Baltimore already has lost key reliever Albert Suarez for a couple of months after the right-hander was moved to the 60-day injured list Monday because of a shoulder injury.

Eflin was 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA over nine starts for the Orioles last season after being acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

All-Star center fielder Jackson Merrill landed on the injured list Tuesday, a week after finalizing a $135 million, nine-year deal with the San Diego Padres.

He's out with a right hamstring strain in a huge blow for the NL West leaders.

Merrill was off to a sizzling start, hitting safely in his first eight games. He is batting .378 (14 for 37) with three homers and 10 RBIs. Before getting injured, he had helped the Padres to the first 6-0 start in their 57-season history.

Merrill, who turns 22 on April 19, was moved from shortstop to center field in spring training last year when the Padres had only two outfielders on their roster. He made the Opening Day roster and hit .292 with 24 homers, 90 RBIs and 16 stolen bases and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Skenes.

Merrill made it clear after his rookie season that he wanted to stay with the Padres long term, and the team announced last Wednesday that it had signed him to a nine-year deal with an option for a 10th season.

The 2021 first-round draft pick, who would have been eligible for arbitration after the 2026 season and for free agency after the 2029 World Series, becomes the latest Padre to sign a nine-figure contract, joining Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Yu Darvish.

The Padres recalled outfielder Oscar Gonzalez from Triple-A El Paso.

Chaz Lucius, a former first-round pick for the Winnipeg Jets, announced his retirement on Tuesday due to a hereditary tissue disorder.

The 21-year-old center played for the Manitoba Moose this season, the AHL affiliate of the Jets.

Lucius said he was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which affects the connective tissue that stabilizes and supports the joints and organs in the body. He had struggled with joint injuries over the last several years, both in sustaining them and recovering from them.

"I thought I was just unlucky. With this diagnosis of EDS, I now realize that my body could not handle the physical nature of playing hockey," he said in a statement through Newport Sports, which represented him. "Given this condition, my injury history, and he physical nature of hockey, I have been medically advised not to continue to play."

Lucius is a native of Lawrence, Kansas. He was a product of the U.S. National Team Development Program and later attended the University of Minnesota (2021-22). The Jets selected him 18th overall in the 2021 draft.

He played for the Moose for the last three seasons, missing time due to injury. He had 9 points in 25 games this season but hadn't been in the lineup since early February. Head coach Mark Morrison said at the time that Lucius "has a medical condition that needs a little bit further evaluation."

The Jets said in a statement on Tuesday: "After much discussion and consultation with Chaz, his representatives, and medical professionals, the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club fully supports his difficult decision to retire. Chaz's condition and struggles with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) put him at risk of injury if he continues to play at the professional level, so we understand his choice. We wish Chaz all the best in his efforts to be an advocate for those dealing with EDS and hope for a bright future in front of him."

Lucius thanked the Jets organization for its support "through a very challenging time," singling out Mike Keane from the team's player development staff for "caring for me as a person as well as a player."

He also thanked all of his current and former coaches and teammates. "I feel blessed to have experienced all that hockey gave me over the years even though I am crushed that I cannot continue to pursue my dream of playing in the NHL," he said.

Lucius said he plans on being an advocate for those with EDS.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he "takes responsibility" for Declan Rice's stunning opening free kick goal in Real Madrid's 3-0 Champions League quarterfinal first leg defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday.

Rice had never scored from a direct free kick, but netted twice in the second half at the Emirates -- before Mikel Merino added a late third goal -- to see Arsenal take a commanding lead in the tie.

Madrid have a history of dramatic European comebacks, and will need to repeat that at the Santiago Bernabéu on April 16 if they're to reach the semifinals.

"I thought I'd positioned the wall well," Courtois told Movistar. "I usually put an extra man in. I take responsibility for that, I could have put an extra man in, but I thought [Rice] wouldn't get as much curl on it. And the second goal is a great goal.

"They were unnecessary fouls, when there was no danger. Perhaps we shouldn't make those fouls."

Madrid -- who are second in LaLiga and have reached the Copa del Rey final, but have frequently underwhelmed this season -- have won the European Cup a record 15 times, while Arsenal are yet to triumph in the competition.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted his side now have a "small possibility" of progressing to the next round.

LONDON -- Declan Rice said his free kick "magic" against Real Madrid left him speechless but insisted Arsenal are targeting Champions League glory after taking control of their quarterfinal tie with the holders.

Arsenal stunned Madrid with a 3-0 win in Tuesday's first leg at Emirates Stadium as Rice scored the first direct free kicks of his 339-game club career to stun Carlo Ancelotti's side.

After a goalless first half in which Kylian Mbappé wasted Madrid's best chances, Rice curled home a 58th-minute free kick before producing an even better effort 12 minutes later, finally beating Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had earlier made a string of fine saves.

Mikel Merino added a third five minutes later before Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time after picking up a second yellow card for dissent.

"To score my first free kick in a game is a special one. And then when I got the second one. I just had the confidence. I'm speechless, really," Rice told Amazon Prime.

"To beat Real Madrid in this competition. It's a big night for us. When you score a goal, it's the best feeling in the world. It didn't make sense from that angle to cross the ball. It would have to be a delicate pass. And when I saw the wall, it didn't make sense to cross. You know what, I'm happy I took it because it was magic.

"I don't think it's going to hit me what I've done tonight. It's a historical night, and to score two goals against Real Madrid. We want to win this competition. But we have to take it one game at a time."

Arteta revealed his players and staff had discussed the last time they scored from a direct free kick -- coming almost four years ago.

"[Rice] has been very determined [to take them] because we have talked in the last few months, we haven't scored a direct free kick since September 2021, Burnley away, Martin Ødegaard," Arteta said.

"So it's been a long time, and to score two goals in 12 minutes of that magnitude of that quality from the same player, a player that has never scored a free kick before in his career, I mean, what are the odds?

"Tonight we have one step in the right direction for sure. And now we have to go to the Bernabéu. We're going to have to elevate the level again to be the team that we want to be there and to prepare the game to win it."