WASHINGTON (AP) — Russell Westbrook nearly had a triple-double and Bradley Beal scored 25 points in just 29 minutes to help the Washington Wizards reach the NBA playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed by overwhelming the Indiana Pacers 142-115 in the play-in round. Washington led by as many as 38 points and advanced to face Joel Embiid and the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. Indiana’s run of five consecutive playoff appearances ended.

NEW YORK (AP) — Denver’s Nikola Jokic (NEE’-koh-lah YOH’-kich) finished ninth in the MVP voting last season. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Golden State’s Stephen Curry didn’t get listed on a single ballot a year ago. A year later, one of them will walk away with the NBA’s highest individual prize. Jokic, Embiid and Curry were revealed Thursday night as the three top vote getters for this year’s NBA MVP award.

UNDATED (AP) — Brandon Tanev scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:36 left and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Islanders 5-4 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. The Pittsburgh Penguins also won Thursday, edging the New York Islanders 5-4. Ryan Lomberg scored on a breakaway 5:56 into overtime to cap a furious comeback and give the Florida Panthers a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of the first-round Central Division playoff matchup. And Paul Byron broke a tie with a short-handed goal from his knees and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 Thursday night in Game 1.

OAKLAND (AP) — Martín Maldonado homered and drove in three runs, helping the Houston Astros beat Oakland 8-4 to move ahead of the Athletics for the AL West lead. Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel also had run-scoring hits for the Astros in the rubber match of a three-game series. Houston is 21-9 against division opponents, including 7-3 against Oakland, and at 26-18 has sole possession of the division lead for the first time since before play on April 9. Mark Canha, Tony Kemp and Seth Brown homered for the A’s. Luis Garcia won his second straight start.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Football team has released longtime starting right tackle Morgan Moses and reserve Geron Christian. Moses started for Washington at right tackle every game for the past six seasons. Signing former Chicago Bears offensive tackle Charles Leno and drafting Samuel Cosmi in the second round led to Washington’s surprising decision to cut ties with Moses. The team saves $7.5 million against the salary cap. The 30-year-old fan favorite from Richmond, Virginia, is a free agent effective immediately.

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