Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Houston Rockets (52-30, fifth in the Western Conference)

Houston; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT

LINE: Rockets -9.5; over/under is 205.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers lead series 2-0

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers visit the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference first round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Lakers won the last matchup 101-94 on Wednesday, led by 28 points from LeBron James. Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 23.

The Rockets have gone 29-23 against Western Conference opponents. Houston is 23-8 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 14.4 turnovers per game.

The Lakers are 33-19 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles is 8-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Rockets are shooting 47.9% from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points lower than the 48.3% the Lakers allow to opponents. The Lakers are shooting 50.2% from the field, 4.2% higher than the 46.0% the Rockets' opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Durant is scoring 26.0 points per game with 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson is averaging 18.9 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 59.5% over the past 10 games.

James is averaging 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 7-3, averaging 117.5 points, 46.1 rebounds, 27.1 assists, 8.0 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.1 points per game.

Lakers: 7-3, averaging 111.7 points, 39.9 rebounds, 28.8 assists, 9.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 52.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.5 points.

INJURIES: Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle).

Lakers: Austin Reaves: out (oblique), Jake LaRavia: day to day (leg), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Boston Celtics (56-26, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (45-37, seventh in the Eastern Conference)

Philadelphia; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: Celtics -7.5; over/under is 215.5

EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics are in a 1-1 series tie in the Eastern Conference first round. The 76ers defeated the Celtics 111-97 in the last matchup on Tuesday. VJ Edgecombe led the 76ers with 30 points, and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 36.

The 76ers are 9-7 against the rest of their division. Philadelphia ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference with 50.1 points per game in the paint led by Tyrese Maxey averaging 14.0.

The Celtics are 10-6 against the rest of the division. Boston ranks third in the league averaging 15.5 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.7% from deep. Derrick White leads the team averaging 2.7 makes while shooting 32.7% from 3-point range.

The 76ers make 46.2% of their shots from the field this season, which is 2.0 percentage points higher than the Celtics have allowed to their opponents (44.2%). The Celtics are shooting 46.7% from the field, which equals what the 76ers' opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Maxey is scoring 28.3 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the 76ers. Paul George is averaging 19.2 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 47.5% over the past 10 games.

Brown is averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Celtics. Sam Hauser is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: 76ers: 5-5, averaging 110.7 points, 44.9 rebounds, 22.8 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.7 points per game.

Celtics: 7-3, averaging 119.3 points, 45.8 rebounds, 26.9 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.5 points.

INJURIES: 76ers: Joel Embiid: day to day (abdomen).

Celtics: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

NC State at Virginia Tech — ACCNX

Virginia at Pittsburgh — ACCNX, ESPN Unlimited

Maryland at Michigan State — Big Ten Plus

NC State at Virginia — ACCNX

North Carolina at Virginia Tech — ACCNX

NWSL: Kansas City Current vs. Washington Spirit — Prime Video

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

Boston at Philadelphia — Prime Video

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

Washington at Michigan — Big Ten Plus

Maryland at Michigan State — Big Ten Plus

Detroit at Cincinnati — Detroit SportsNet, ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV, Reds.TV

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

Saint Joseph's at La Salle — ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited

Villanova at Seton Hall — ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited

Virginia at Pittsburgh — ACCNX, ESPN Unlimited

Penn State at Oregon — CW Portland, Big Ten Plus

Philadelphia at Atlanta — Apple TV

Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — SportsNet Pittsburgh, Brewers.TV, ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV

Boston at Philadelphia — Prime Video

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

All Times EDT

Thursday, April 23

MLB

Atlanta at Washington, 1:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Detroit, 1:10 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

San Diego at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Arizona, 3:40 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Minnesota at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

NBA - Playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round - Game 3

New York at Atlanta, 7 p.m.

Cleveland at Toronto, 8 p.m.

Western Conference First Round - Game 3

Denver at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m.

NHL - Playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round - Game 3

Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.

Carolina at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

Western Conference First Round - Game 3

Colorado at Los Angeles, 10 p.m.

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Throwing confetti from the stands, one of the most deeply-rooted traditions among soccer fans in Argentina, will no longer be allowed in the capital city of Buenos Aires.

The Buenos Aires Sports Security Committee issued a “preventive” ban on the use of confetti in stadiums in the district on Wednesday, following the fire that broke out during last Sunday's match between River Plate and Boca Juniors at the Monumental Stadium.

Firefighters had to intervene to extinguish the flames that damaged several stadium seats and caused spectators to flee.

City authorities said that “even though the home club had previously approved contingency protocols and the necessary resources for their implementation, an incident occurred that clearly demonstrates the potential ignition risk that these materials pose in contexts with high concentrations of people.”

The day before the game, River Plate’s supporters’ subcommittee called on the fans to cut thousands of confetti pieces to give the “Millionaires” a colorful welcome. Boca won 1-0 with a penalty by Leandro Paredes.

The tradition of throwing confetti from the stands became popular during the 1978 World Cup hosted by Argentina and was later imitated by fans around the globe.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Philadelphia at Chicago — Marquee, MLBN, NBCS Philadelphia, ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV

Pittsburgh at Texas — RSN, SportsNet Pittsburgh, ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

Milwaukee at Detroit — Detroit SportsNet, Brewers.TV, ESPN Select, ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

New York at Boston — FS1

Buffalo at Boston — TNT

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, tying the first-round playoff series at 1-1.

The series shifts to Montreal for two games, with Game 3 set for Friday night. Game 4 is Sunday.

Brandon Hagel had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, assist and a fight, and teammate Nikita Kucherov also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.

The Lightning had lost four consecutive home playoff games and 10 of the past 11, dating to Game 4 against Colorado in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.

Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens. Jakub Dobes finished with 31 saves.

BRUINS 4, SABRES 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Morgan Geekie bounced in a shot from beyond center as part of Boston’s three-goal second-period surge and the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 to even their first-round playoff series at 1 on Tuesday night.

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and Pavel Zacha also scored. David Pastrnak had two assists to give him five points in the series and tie Bobby Orr for eighth on the Bruins career playoff list with 92 points.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 32 shots, and this time Boston managed to not blow a multigoal third-period lead.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored 1:14 apart to cut Boston’s lead to 4-2 with 4:52 remaining in regulation before being stymied by Swayman, who stopped the final eight shots he faced.

The series shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Thursday night.

FIFA is putting more World Cup tickets on sale after angering some fans by adding new, more expensive categories.

Soccer's governing body announced Tuesday it will make more tickets available at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday for all 104 games in Categories 1, 2 and 3 plus the new “front category” pricing it added this month.

The new category sparked online complaints from fans who said they thought the better seats in the categories they had bought tickets for were withheld and they were assigned less favorable locations.

FIFA in December put tickets on sale at prices ranging from $140 for Category 3 in the first round to $8,680 for the final, then raised prices to as much as $10,990 when sales reopened on April 1.

FIFA did not respond to an April 9 request for comment about the new ticket categories it added.

Also Tuesday, The Athletic reported that tickets sales are lagging for the U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12 at Inglewood, California. It said a document distributed to local organizers dated April 10 said 40,934 tickets had been purchased for the U.S.-Paraguay game and 50,661 for the Iran-New Zealand contest on April 15. FIFA projects SoFi's World Cup capacity at about 69,650, noting it may change.

FIFA's December sale priced U.S.-Paraguay tickets at $1,120, $1,940 and $2,735, and Iran-New Zealand seats at $140, $380 and $450.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer