{allcanada} Thunder will not visit White House to celebrate NBA championship, citing 'timing issue'

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The Oklahoma City Thunder will not be making the customary visit to the White House to celebrate their 2025 NBA Championship, a team spokesperson told The Athletic on Friday. In a statement to The Athletic, the team cited "timing issues" as a reason for not holding the visit.

"We have been in touch with the White House and we are appreciative and grateful for the communication we have had, but the timing just didn't work out," the team told The Athletic.

The Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June to secure the championship. The title was the team's first since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2007.

Though visiting the White House after winning the NBA championship dates back to the 1960s, President Donald Trump's election in 2016 disrupted that tradition. The Golden State Warriors chose to decline the White House's invitation after winning the Finals in 2017, before doing the same in 2018.

Oklahoma City would have been the first team to visit the White House since President Trump took office for his second term. The Boston Celtics, who won the championship in 2024, visited the White House later that fall while President Joe Biden was still in office.

The Thunder are in the middle of a five-game road trip. Oklahoma City does play the Washington Wizards on Saturday, a trip that would have been a logical time for a White House visit, but the tight turnaround before playing the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday may have contributed to the "timing issues."

Oklahoma City is on pace for another strong postseason run this year, currently leading the NBA with 55 wins. They became the first NBA team to officially punch their ticket to the playoffs earlier this week.

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{allcanada} Murray’s 31 power Nuggets past Raptors, snapping Toronto’s three-game win streak

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DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont., scored 31 points, Nikola Jokic made a go-ahead jumper with 45 seconds left and the Denver Nuggets held on for a 121-115 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Jokic finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23 points and shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range and Aaron Gordon added 16 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 8-8 since the All-Star break.

Jakob Poeltl scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Brandon Ingram added 19 points and R.J. Barrett had 18.

The Nuggets trailed 101-98 before Hardaway tied it with a 3-pointer with 7:27 remaining. Denver was up 115-110 with 1:43 left, but the Raptors got right back into it.

Scottie Barnes, who finished with 15 points, had a layup with 1:32 remaining. Poeltl three-point play on a layup and free throw after he was fouled by Jokic tied it at 115 with 60 seconds left.

But the Nuggets closed with a 6-0 run to seal the victory. Jokic had a turnaround jumper, Murray made three free throws and Gordon made one of his own to cap it.

Up next

Raptors: Play at Phoenix on Sunday night.

Nuggets: Host Portland on Sunday night.

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{allcanada} Dustin Wolf makes 24 saves in the Flames' 4-1 victory over the Panthers

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CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Dustin Wolf made 24 saves, Victor Olofsson scored his first goal for Calgary and the Calgary Flames beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Friday night for their second straight victory.

Olofsson came over from Colorado at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Nazem Kadri back to the Avalanche.

Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato also scored for Calgary, each moving into a tie with Blake Coleman for the team lead with 16.

A.J. Greer scored for two-time defending champion Florida. Daniil Tarasov made 32 saves in losing for sixth time in his last seven starts.

Trying to avoid becoming the first Cup-winning team to miss the playoffs the following season since Los Angeles in 2014-15, the Panthers remained 13 points behind the final wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Greer was ejected with 8:46 left in the third period after hooking Connor Zary and shoving him head-first into the boards.

Zary remained down for a few minutes before slowly skating off accompanied by the club's trainer. Greer was assessed a hooking minor, an interference major and a game misconduct. Frost and Coronato scored on the extended power play to put the game away.

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Calgary took the lead for good at 7:44 of the second period when Farabee's shot deflected in off the stick of Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola.

Late in the third, Mikkola sustained what appeared to be a serious injury when he locked knees in an accidental collision with Calgary's Ryan Strome, who was looking the opposite direction. Mikkola was down on ice writhing in pain as he clutched at his left knee.

Calgary has won seven straight home games against Florida. The Panthers' last victory in the Scotiabank Saddledome was Feb. 17, 2018.

Panthers: Host Seattle on Tuesday night.

Flames: Host Tampa Bay on Sunday night.

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{allcanada} Nikishin scores in OT to lift the East-leading Hurricanes past the Maple Leafs, 4-3

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TORONTO (AP) Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime to give the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

Nikishin fired a shot beyond goalie Joseph Woll's blocker.

Eric Robinson scored on a penalty shot for Carolina, K'Andre Miller and Jordan Staal also had goals, and Brandon Bussi made 23 saves. Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho each had two assists.

John Tavares, William Nylander and Dakota Joshua scored for Toronto. Woll stopped 32 shots, and Matias Maccelli had two assists.

Robinson scored on the penalty shot in the second period after being hooked on a breakaway by defenseman Troy Stecher. The Carolina winger beat Woll to the glove side.

Aho became the third player to hit at least 70 points in five seasons with the Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise. Ron Francis (11) and Eric Staal (seven) top the list.

Toronto captain Auston Matthews had surgery on his left MCL in New York on Thursday. He was injured last week on a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim defenseman Radko Gudas.

Hurricanes: At Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Maple Leafs: At Ottawa on Saturday night.

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