Miami Marlins right-handed closer Pete Fairbanks made his third career start in Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees so he could leave early to be with his wife, who is scheduled to be induced into labor on Monday, according to Marlins reporter Isaac Azout.

Fairbanks is reportedly expected to go on the paternity list on Monday.

Fairbanks threw 27 pitches in his lone inning as the opener, allowing three hits, including a three-run home run by Yankees first baseman Ben Rice that gave New York a 3-1 lead. He exited the game with a 6.75 ERA and was relieved by left-hander Andrew Nardi. After Nardi pitched an inning, one of the Marlins’ regular starters, Chris Paddack, entered the game.

Before Sunday, Fairbanks’ last start came on Sept. 21, 2020, against the New York Mets, while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays. In that outing, he pitched 1 ⅔ innings. Fairbanks spent seven seasons with the Rays after beginning his MLB career with the Texas Rangers. Fairbanks has made 278 big-league appearances, going 20-24 with 92 saves and a 3.15 ERA.

Fairbanks was selected by the Rangers in the ninth round with the 258th selection of the 2015 MLB Draft. He played college baseball at the University of Missouri and also spent summers with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League prior to being drafted.

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are finished for the rest of the regular season due to injuries, and the Los Angeles Lakers could finish anywhere from third to fifth in the Western Conference playoff race.

For now, the Lakers will lean on LeBron James as their primary scorer and floor leader, while keeping in mind that the 41-year-old is wrapping up his record 23rd NBA season.

“I think we have to be mindful of that. I think that’s a valid question,” coach JJ Redick said before the Lakers visited the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. “For all our guys, him included, we want to put them in positions to be successful. Certain guys are gonna be tasked with doing stuff they haven’t done a lot of this year.”

Doncic (left hamstring strain) and Reaves (left oblique strain) both were injured in a blowout loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday. It’s unknown when or if the NBA scoring leader and Reaves, the Lakers’ No. 2 scorer, will be available in the postseason.

Of course, Doncic is the centerpiece of that conversation as an MVP candidate who will finish the season one game short of the 65 required to be eligible for that and other postseason awards.

“I just know that he’s gonna do everything he can to try to be back,” Redick said. “I talked to him Friday, I talked him again (Saturday), I talked with him again (Sunday) morning. He’s gonna go through all the necessary things to be back at some point, and it’s our job again to extend the season so that both those guys can get back.”

Redick spoke of point guard by committee, an approach made necessary by another absence in Marcus Smart, who has a right ankle injury. Redick included James’ son, Bronny James, in that mix along with Luke Kennard, Nick Smith Jr. and the seldom-used Kobe Bufkin.

“I think simplicity wins,” Redick said. “It’s nothing too crazy. But it’s just being really simple with the menu and hopefully over the next five games, we can really figure out what works for this group. And that’s obviously trial and error.”

James had a triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a victory over Washington last week when Doncic was serving a one-game suspension for receiving his 16th technical foul this season.

The Lakers are virtually even with Denver for third and fourth in the West, and fifth-place Houston could end up chasing home-court advantage in the first round as well, particularly with the Lakers so wounded.

“I mean, it’s a challenge for us,” James said after practice Saturday in Dallas. “It’s going to be a collective group. We all have to figure out a way to do a little bit more. … But now you got to be even more tightened up on the things that we do.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

NEW YORK (AP) — Nolan Traore hit five three-pointers and finished with 23 points and seven assists, Jalen Wilson added 19 points and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 121-115 on Sunday.

The Wizards (17-61) have a two-game lead on the Nets (19-59) for the best lottery odds. Indiana is 18-58 entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland.

Washington has lost six in a row and 22 of its past 23. The Wizards had given up 305 combined points in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia (153-131) and Miami (152-136).

Brooklyn won for just the second time in its past 14 games.

Will Riley, who had a career-high 31 points Saturday against the Heat, scored 30, Jamir Watkins added 20 points, and Julian Reese had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards. Anthony Gill also scored 17 points and Bub Carrington had 13 points.

E.J. Liddell and Josh Minott each scored 15 for Brooklyn. Drake Powell added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 12.

Watkins hit a three-pointer that gave the Wizards a four-point lead with 3:50 left in the game. The Nets answered with an 8-0 run that culminated when Traore made a layup that made it 109-105 with two minutes remaining and Brooklyn led the rest of the way.

Leaky Black responded with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to a point, but Wilson and Traore hit back-to-back threes before Trevon Scott’s layup made it 117-108 with 42 seconds to go.

Up next

Wizards: Host Chicago on Tuesday and Thursday.

Nets: Host Milwaukee on Tuesday.

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 115-101 on Sunday.

Neemias Queta had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Payton Pritchard scored 17 points for the Celtics, who won their third straight to move closer to clinching second place in the Eastern Conference.

Ja’Kobe Walter led Toronto with 16 points, and Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each had 15.

Celtics center Nikola Vucevic returned after missing a month following surgery for a broken right ring finger. He looked a bit rusty, scoring just four points in 13 minutes with four rebounds.

Coming off consecutive games of putting up at least 43 points in the opening quarter, the Celtics looked a bit sluggish and were cold from long range early, missing 13 of their initial 16 shots from 3-point range. The teams were tied at 26 after one.

Fighting for a top-six spot in the Eastern Conference to avoid the play-in tournament, the Raptors were outscored 35-24 in the final quarter that was filled with their turnovers and breakdowns defensively. Walter even missed all three free throw attempts on one trip to the line.

BUCKS 131, GRIZZLIES 115

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ryan Rollins scored 24 points and Milwaukee withstood a triple-double from Memphis’ Rayan Rupert to outlast the Grizzlies in an afternoon matchup of short-handed, lottery-bound teams.

Rupert established new career highs with 33 points and 10 assists, and he matched a career best with 10 rebounds. The 21-year-old Rupert entered Sunday averaging 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists.

Milwaukee snapped an eight-game skid in this series and beat the Grizzlies for the first time since a 126-114 decision on Jan. 19, 2022. The Bucks committed 20 turnovers but shot 60.2% overall and went 16 of 32 on 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies have lost four straight and 17 of their last 19.

Memphis had so many injury-related absences that it dressed four players on 10-day contracts (Dariq Whitehead, Toby Okani, Lucas Williamson, Adama Bal).

NETS 121, WIZARDS 115

NEW YORK (AP) — Nolan Traore hit five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and seven assists, Jalen Wilson added 19 points and Brooklyn beat Washington.

The Wizards (17-61) have a two-game on the Nets (19-59) for the best lottery odds. Indiana is 18-58 entering Sunday’s game at Cleveland.

Washington has lost six in a row and 22 of its past 23. The Wizards had given up 305 combined points in back-to-back losses to Philadelphia ( 153-131 ) and Miami ( 152-136 ).

Brooklyn won for just the second time in its past 14 games.

Will Riley, who had a career-high 31 points Saturday against the Heat, scored 30, Jamir Watkins added 20 points, and Julian Reese had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards. Anthony Gill also scored 17 points and Bub Carrington had 13 points.

E.J. Liddell and Josh Minott each scored 15 for Brooklyn. Drake Powell added 13 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 12.

SUNS 120, BULLS 110

CHICAGO (AP) — Devin Booker scored 30 points, Jalen Green added 25 and Phoenix ended the game on an 11-2 run to top Chicago.

Dillon Brooks scored 15, and the Suns shook off back-to-back losses at Orlando and Charlotte.

The Suns led by 13 late in the third quarter before the Bulls went on an 11-0 run. They were clinging to a 109-108 advantage with about three minutes remaining when Brooks hit a turnaround jumper to start the decisive run and added a 3-pointer.

The Bulls missed four shots on their next possession, including three straight at point-blank range by Leonard Miller, before Booker made a 3 to make 117-108 with 1:33 remaining.

Chicago’s Josh Giddey (strained left hamstring) and Matas Buzelis (illness) missed the game. And with their two best players out, the Bulls lost their seventh in a row.

Tre Jones scored 29 for Chicago. Collin Sexton had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Miller scored 17.

The Houston Astros placed top starting pitcher Hunter Brown on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder sprain. The team announced the move on Sunday.

Brown, 27, allowed only one run in his first two starts this season. He notched 17 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings with five hits and six walks.

Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that Brown felt something wrong during his between-starts throwing routine on Friday. He underwent imaging exams and was then sent back to Houston to be evaluated by team doctors.

The Astros finish a three-game series in Sacramento with the Athletics before continuing their road trip with three games in Colorado and four in Seattle.

“He’s never been injured and this is new for all of us,” Espada said, via MLB.com. “He didn’t sound concerned, which is good, but it’s new. We’re going to let the doctors evaluate him and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Brown last pitched on Tuesday, allowing one run and one hit with eight strikeouts in six innings versus the Boston Red Sox. He was scheduled to face the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

On Opening Day, Brown threw 102 pitches in 4 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels, arguably a heavy workload for the first start of a season. Espada pulled him after 78 pitches facing Boston.

Brown finished third in voting for the American League Cy Young Award last season and had a 2.43 ERA and 206 strikeouts in a career-high 185 1/3 innings.

To replace Brown on the big-league roster, Christian Roa was called up from Triple-A. He had just been sent to the minors last week. In two appearances with Houston, the right-hander allowed one run, one hit and two walks with two strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. Roa threw one scoreless inning with Sugar Land.

The Astros have not yet announced who will start in Brown’s place on Monday. Relievers AJ Blubaugh (1.69 ERA, three appearances) or Ryan Weiss (1.50 ERA in three games) could make a spot start out of the bullpen.

Spencer Arrighetti (two starts, 8 1/3 scoreless innings) could be called up from Triple-A, but wouldn’t be able to start until Wednesday after pitching on Friday. Jason Alexander (8.53 ERA in two starts) is another minor-league candidate who could get the nod.

During the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday, Nats reliever Gus Varland struck out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches in the seventh inning. The third-year reliever got the reigning back-to-back National League MVP to swing and miss at two sliders low and inside.

By itself, Ohtani striking out might not seem notable, especially when the Dodgers had a 10-2 lead in the seventh. Although the two-way superstar is off to a slow start as a hitter, posting a slash line of .247/.395/.345 with one home run, four RBI and seven walks in 38 plate appearances.

However, Varland striking out Ohtani is worth highlighting. The two were briefly teammates in 2024 when Varland appeared in seven games before he was placed on waivers. The pitcher told his teammates that his mother had cancer. But he and his brother, Louis (then with the Minnesota Twins), couldn’t cover the cost of the treatments for amyloidosis.

Ohtani then made “a very, very big contribution,” as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts put it when telling the story last December.

“Shohei made a very, very big contribution to help get one of his teammates treatment.” Roberts explained in an interview with Japanese media. “That was a big moment. I thought everyone appreciated that.”

“Ironically, that player we had, his brother pitched for the Blue Jays in the World Series,” he continued. “And I saw the mom during the World Series and I said, ‘How are you doing?’ She said, ‘The cancer is gone.’”

“Shohei does a lot of great things,” Roberts added. “But a lot of what he does is on the down-low, quiet, so people don’t talk about it.”

Varland has struck out Ohtani twice in the series, also retiring him on three pitches in the fifth inning of Friday’s 13-6 Dodgers win. In that at-bat, Varland challenged Ohtani in the strike zone with two 96 mph fastballs before getting him to swing and miss at a higher 97 mph pitch.

Six pitches, two outs for against Ohtani looks pretty good for Varland. However, he’s surely far more grateful for the help that the $700 million Dodgers star provided when his family was most in need.