Worldwide Sports News

The Lakers have upgraded guard Austin Reaves (left calf strain) to questionable from out and listed guard Luka Doncic (left ankle soreness) as questionable for Friday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.

Reaves has been out since getting injured on Christmas Day against the Houston Rockets, a span of 17 games.

In 23 games this season, Reaves is averaging career highs in points (26.6), assists (6.3) and rebounds (5.2). Reaves is shooting 50.7% from the field and 36.5% from three-point range.

Doncic injured his ankle during the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Cavaliers on Wednesday night after falling off the side of Cleveland’s raised court while shooting a fadeaway three-pointer in the first quarter.

He hobbled to the Lakers’ locker room and was unable to put any weight on his leg. But Doncic did return to play and finished the game with 29 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Doncic leads the NBA in scoring at 33.6 points per game and is third in assists at 8.7.

“I kind of got scared,” Doncic told reporters after the game in Cleveland. “It wasn’t a great feeling and looking back at the video, I think I got a little bit lucky. It hurts obviously more now, but, just, I tried to go.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Detroit Pistons get to face off against the Phoenix Suns for the second time in two weeks. This time, Detroit visits the Mortgage Matchup Center (yeesh, what a name) in Phoenix, Arizona. Detroit narrowly escaped with a win in the first matchup, 108-105. That game was close because Cade Cunningham was then playing his first game back after a 10-day absence because of a wrist injury and delivered one of his worst performances of the season. He shot just 3-of-16 and committed five turnovers. Conversely, the avowed enemy of Pistons fans everywhere, Grayson Allen, was torching the nets. He scored 33 points and hit 7 threes to almost will his team to victory.

Allen only has five games this season eclipsing the 20-point threshold, so hopefully he comes down to earth a little bit. Cunningham, meanwhile, seems to put the ailing wrist issues behind him. He scored 22 points in a win against the Denver Nuggets and 29 in a blowout against the Sacramento Kings, both times shooting better than 50% from the floor. Critically against the Nuggets, he had zero turnovers and dished 11 assists. That’s the Cunningham we like to see.

Game Vitals

When: 9 p.m. ET
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Watch: Fan Duel Sports Network
Odds: Pistons -4

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (34-11)

Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Phoenix Suns (28-19)

Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale, Mark Williams

The Nets, 76ers, Kings, and Raptors are not necessarily the Mount Rushmore of contenders in the NBA today. So a four-game winning streak against them alone shouldn’t, and doesn’t, overwrite the 2-9 11 game stretch the Knicks experienced not too long ago. But, if you look at the way they have played since players spoke openly about doing some soul searching, and looking themselves in the mirror, they’ve looked much better, and the numbers give fans reason to believe that their current winning streak is more than just beating up on bad opponents. That is certainly part of it, but the 76ers, despite being just 4-6 in their last 10 games, are still 25-21, and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Raptors, before losing to the Knicks last night, were just one loss behind the Knicks, and were 29-19.

Let’s start with the offense. While a lot of the pessimism surrounding the Knicks during their rough patch was rightfully around their defense, their lack of offensive outbursts, and suboptimal execution was much more confounding given the talent on the roster. They had some of the worst shooting performances of the season, all within a short period, resorted to the Jalen Brunson-centric, isolation-heavy offense, and it led to a very predictable, tough-to-watch product that often struggled to score more than 100 points.

But over their last four games, the Knicks have looked much better as a whole. Individual players have still struggled, but we’re now seeing guys step up when they do. Karl-Anthony Towns’ struggles have been well-documented. Mikal Bridges had one of his worst offensive games as a Knicks against the 76ers, OG Anunoby coughed up seven turnovers against the Kings, and the aforementioned Brunson managed to score just 13 points against the Raptors last night. But in each game, guys stepped up, and that was made possible by the increase in ball movement, pace, fluidity, intentionality, and execution.

Against the Nets, Brunson led the way with 20 points, but he was supported by Landry Shamet and Deuce McBride, who poured in 18 points and 14 points off the bench, respectively. And in a historic 54-point blowout, we saw all five members of the starting lineup record three or more assists. Days later, against the 76ers, Brunson once again led the way with 31 points, but Anunoby was the star of the show, scoring 23 points on an efficient 10-15 shooting. Against the Kings, Bridges bounced back and backed up Brunson’s 28 points with 18 points on just 13 shots. And a day later, against the Raptors, in a game where Brunson and Towns combined for a measly 21 points, Bridges led the way with an emphatic 30 points, while Anunoby scored 26 points, Hart scored 22, and Tyler Kolek dished out 10 assists in 20 minutes off the bench.

That’s led to the Knicks being fourth in offensive rating during that span, and has solidified themselves as the third-best offense behind the Nuggets and Celtics. Sure, three of those four teams are bottom five in the defensive rating over their last four games, but one of those teams, the 76ers, is 13th in defensive rating on the season, and the Raptors enter today with the sixth-best defensive rating on the season. But after seeing this team struggle offensively against even the worst teams in the league, it’s a nice change to see them look more like their early-season selves on that end of the floor.

That being said, if you truly believed in Mike Brown and the collective talent of the team, you likely also believed that the shots would start going in again, and that one way or another, they’d find a way to become a good, if not great, offensive team again. Defensively, though, they’ve really turned some heads. Again, the level of competition hasn’t been amazing, and they did get torched by Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan, and Brandon Ingram to varying degrees. But as a whole, the defense looks much more active, physical, and connected than it was in a very long time.

Last Wednesday, they held Brooklyn to just 66 points. And before you convince yourself that’s because it’s the Nets, remember that the Nets scored 117 points against the Suns, 103 points against the Magic, and 96 points against the Rockets, all of whom have a higher defensive rating than the Knicks currently do. A few nights later in Philadelphia, they held Tyrese Maxey, who has historically played very well against the Knicks, to just 22 points, and held the Sixers to just 13 points in a pivotal third quarter that proved to be the difference. When they hosted Sacramento, they never gave up more than 26 points in a quarter, and held them to just 15 points in the fourth quarter, when it really mattered the most. And last night in Toronto, they managed to shut down everybody besides Ingram, holding them to just 64 points over their final three quarters without the help of two of their three best defenders, Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson.

Again, they haven’t gone out and slowed down the Nuggets, Celtics, Rockets, Thunder, Cavaliers, or any of the other top 10 offenses during this stretch, but it’s clear that the defense has been significantly better during this stretch. Because just a couple of weeks ago, they were getting lit up by the same Kings, the Mavericks, and Pelicans, who are all bottom five in the league in offensive rating.

This short, but meaningful stretch of wins has seen their defensive rating slowly, but surely creep back up to 14th in the league on the season, and first in the league during that span, with an absurd defensive rating of 91.7 (thank you, Brooklyn).

New York is now one of just four teams, all of which are from the Eastern Conference, to be undefeated in their past four games, and ranks first in net rating during that stretch with a +25.6. This is a small sample size that is made up of just two playoff teams, and the upcoming few weeks will be full of harder tests that will show fans who these Knicks truly are. But for the time being, it’s been a positive sign to see them not only winning, but passing some of the eye tests we saw them fail very recently.

Three teams of NBA rookies/sophomores and one team of NBA G Leaguers were drafted to the Castrol 2026 rising star teams. These four teams will compete in a mini-tournament on Friday, Feb. 13, at the LA Clippers’ Intuit Dome as part of the 2026 NBA All-Star events. NBA legends Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter, will coach the teams comprised of NBA rookies/sophomores, while former NBA player and current NBC/Peacock analyst Austin Rivers will coach a team made of rising stars in the G League. All four teams will have selected NBA assistants to help their honorary head coaches.

Former Rutgers guard Dylan Harper was drafted No. 12 overall by Anthony’s team, while his brother, Ron Harper Jr., was taken second overall in the G League draft. Both brothers were stars during their time at Rutgers.

Dylan Harper is averaging 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while averaging 21.2 minutes per game. Ron Harper Jr. averaged 1.9 points per game and 5 minutes in the seven NBA games he appeared in this season. He has averaged 26.9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game during the eight games he has played in the G League this season.

Their was several requirements that NBA rookies/ sophomores had to meet to be eligible to be selected, per the NBA’s website.

“NBA assistant coaches determined the pool of 21 NBA players, with each team submitting one ballot. Voters ranked 10 rookies and 10 sophomores, with more points assigned to higher placements. The top 10 rookies and top 10 sophomores by point total earned spots. The final spot was awarded to the higher-scoring player among the 11^th-ranked finishers in each class. The pool includes one more sophomore than rookie based on total points received.“

In the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal, and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal. The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship. For each semifinal game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. For the championship game, the winner will be the first team to reach 25 points. It is currently unknown which teams will be pitted against one another in the first two matchups.

In the early hours after Kevin Durant became a Brooklyn Net, I wrote that the Knicks were lucky to have missed out on a 30-year-old generational superstar:

For the first time, there will be expectations and the heat of the Gotham spotlight. Durant struggled with the press in Oklahoma City. Even with all his individual and team success as a Warrior, he argues with nobodies online. How’s it going to go when the New York media starts reporting whispers about his recovery taking too long? Or if he returns and doesn’t look like himself? That’d be natural, of course. But when’s the last time the NYC sports media backed off a headline because patience is natural?

Now, with less than a week till the trade deadline, the gossip girls known as “sports journalists” are all in heat, releasing fat juicy rumors about the suddenly available Giannis Antetokounmpo. A goodly sum of that gesticulating lists the Knicks as a leading candidate to trade away what little depth they have for a 31-year-old out 4-6 weeks with his second significant non-contact calf injury of the half-season, then pay him $59 million next season and $69 million per when he’s 34-37 years old.

I’ve been wrong about the NBA too many times to count. While watching the 1993 draft with a friend who rooted for the Lakers, I swore their second-round pick that year would never amount to anything, some guard from Cincinnati I’d never heard of; Nick Van Exel not only went on to become an All-Star, but one of my favorite players ever. Frank Williams? Earl Barron? Two Knicks I was as sure were Springfield-bound as Ewing and Melo. I’ve defended Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, Jose Calderon and Enes Freedom, all on the record.

There’s dumb, there’s dim, and there’s the village idiot, and I been one and two enough to know three is always a distinct possibility.

So when I say I don’t want the Knicks to trade for Giannis — particularly midseason — take it with a huge grain of salt. Speaking of yuuuuge, you saw the photo image for this article? Antetokounmpo’s shoulder is bigger than Josh Hart’s SKULL. Man’s the closest thing the league’s had to Shaq since Shaq. He’s finished top-4 in MVP voting the past seven seasons; the only players to do that since I started watching in 1990 are Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. The GOATS of GOATS, and Giannis. That’s it.

Antetokounmpo would pro’ly be a better fit alongside Jalen Brunson than any of his other New York co-stars. Brunson and Julius Randle never got going in the pick-and-roll, and since the opening months last season the Brunson/KAT model’s been less hot than not. Brunson’s an iso guard. KAT would fit best alongside a Luka, a Cade, a Trae Young, a pick-and-roll virtuoso. Antetokounmpo, more a soloist, would fit more naturally beside Brunson.

As for the defensive upgrade: I am 6 feet tall. When I played basketball long ago as a young person, I was renowned for my quick hands and defensive instincts. While I am still 6 feet tall, I am anything but young. I’m out of shape. I’d probably drop dead if I played halfcourt for 20 minutes, much less full-court. And yet I say to you, friend, the difference in defensive quality at the NBA level between myself and Karl-Anthony Towns is no greater than that between KAT and Giannis. KAT’s defense makes you smack your head in disbelief. Giannis, too, for altogether different reasons of disbelief.

Antetokounmpo’s a better offensive fit beside Brunson. He’d instantly make Mitch the Knicks’ second-best defensive player, which has never been true in Mitch’s career. Giannis has proven he’s great enough to lead a good team to a championship, and it’s not like he sounds any less hungry for a second; if anything, he’s kinda feening. The challenge of retuning the Knicks to the top is one he’d embrace. Forget “best Knick since Ewing”; Antetokounmpo would immediately have a case, as far as his current basketball powers, as the greatest Knick ever — full stop.

I don’t want him. Here’s why.

First, while it’s always exciting imagining all the ways a new lover will excite more than the last, what happens if moving on means the old lover leaving and taking with the bed, most of the furniture and the dog? Acquiring Antetokounmpo would either mean trading KAT straight-up for him — something the Bucks will never do — or multiple players. When you only go about as deep as CBS News, that’s a no-no.

Say adding Giannis “only” costs KAT and Bridges from the current rotation, and we’ll throw in Kyle Kuzma headed this way, too (whether you think that’s a plus or minus is up to you). That’d leave the Knicks with:

C – Mitch, Hukporti
PF – Giannis, Yabusele
SF – OG, Hart, Kuzma, Diawara, McCullar
SG – Deuce, Clarkson, Shamet, Dadiet
PG – Brunson, Kolek

Helluva starting five, eh? But start ranking the subs and it gets to be thin pickings fast. How many those subs you trust with 15-20 minutes a game come playoff time? That roster isn’t any closer to a ‘chip than the current one; the Knicks would have simply made another O. Henry trade, acquiring something precious at the cost of something equally precious, leaving them no better and less flexible (see: Anthony, Carmelo trade)

Two, we keep hearing how Giannis could mitigate a lotta difficulty for the Knicks by simply making it clear to the Bucks Gotham is the only place he’ll go. But — and I can say this from personal, shamed experience — it can be really difficult to extract yourself from a doomed relationship that you know isn’t sparking joy anymore. One of the most irritating things about Antetokounmpo in recent years has been his back-and-forth between “My righteous tzadik soul could never sully the Creator’s plan by asking for a trade” and “It’s medically critical that I am always competing for a title or else my blood cells will burst.”

What are the odds he pushes for a midseason deal to New York? If it required Milwaukee accepting what was obviously not the best offer possible, how will their fans react? I don’t think the Bucks want to be the first team to make a Luka-level trade since Luka and be explaining to their fans that the priority was doing right by Antetokounmpo while dooming the paying customers to a half-decade of long, cold Wisconsin winters.

Push a deal to the offseason and the Knicks could add a few extra first-round picks that aren’t currently trade-eligible. Push it to the offseason and a lotta teams can improve their offer, most to levels the Knicks just can’t reach. Unless the Bucks are interested in a post-Giannis future of winning 40ish games a year and drafting in the mid- to late teens.

A third reason I don’t want Antetokounmpo is where he differs 100% from Durant six years ago. KD is 7-feet tall and plays like his whole nine months in the womb God was whispering shooting tips to him. Even if Durant lost a step after his Achilles injury, he’s so tall, so long and so skilled that he could probably continue to dominate, even if he had to make adjustments due to injury.

You know when you like someone and you meet their parent of the same sex? And you check that parent out, wondering “Is that what my lover gonna look like in 20-30 years?” Someone with KD’s game is still holding it down in their late 50s, their 60s; the genes are immaculate. If Antetokounmpo loses a step due to injury/age, he could drop more than a just a little. He’s big and strong and athletic as all hell and can’t shoot a lick. Lose enough of them three formers and the latter could end up in tatters.

And four, finally: why would a man who gripes about being booed in Milwaukee be someone we trust with the pressure in New York? Antetokounmpo is the greatest player in Bucks history, and I’d guess the most popular. With allllll of the capital he’s built in a city not known for being hard on its athletes, his team was still booed (rightfully) for trailing by 31 at the half recently. And Antetokounmpo booed them back! If he comes to Madison Square Garden, the spotlight is on mostly on him, in front of fans he’s done nothing for besides costing a king’s ransom to acquire, and he’ll be expected to accomplish something no one from Bob McAdoo to Brunson ever has. No pressure.

If you want Antetokounmpo on the Knicks, pray it waits till the summer. The Knicks made a blockbuster deal last season right as training camp opened. Three days after their season ended, they stunningly fired their coach. There’s been a decent amount of turmoil and turnover at the highest levels of this team in, like, 15 months. Trading for Giannis midseason, whose game is 180-degrees different from KAT’s in every way, would force a team with less depth to completely alter their playing style on both ends more than halfway through the season. Please.

Also, a defense of Towns, who sometimes seems like he was brought in to be the perfect patsy to scapegoat outta town — KAT was a big reason the Knicks just made their first conference finals since 2000. This is no “Randle’s never come through in the postseason!” deal (another sophism I fought against); the Knicks don’t beat Detroit and Boston without KAT’s efforts. He’s still played fewer games as a Knick than Langston Galloway, Travis Knight and Michael Sweetney. Can we give an experiment that was entirely successful a year ago more than 50 games under a new coach before we blow it to hell? And that’s what it’d be: blowing things up.

What do you think? Do you want Giannis now? In the summer? ASAP? Never? Gab away in the comments, hon. Just be sure not to boo him, even in writing. Word is the man doesn’t like that.

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown is doubtful to play in Friday’s game between the Celtics and the Sacramento Kings, per the Celtics. Brown, who has only missed 3 games this season, is dealing with both left hamstring tightness and a right knee contusion.

Brown has been listed as dealing with hamstring tightness several times in the past week, and it’s something that he’s been playing through. The right knee contusion has not been previously listed on the injury report this season and thus appears to be a new injury.

Brown had one of his less productive games of the season in a 117-106 loss to the Hawks on Wednesday, but he still finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

In addition to Brown, Neemias Queta is listed as probable to play as he continues to recover from illness. Queta missed Wednesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks as he deals with an illness he’s been playing through since Friday. The Celtics struggled in Queta’s absence and mostly relied on Amari Williams and Luka Garza in the frontcourt.

Garza, who has also been dealing with illness, is not on the injury report. Garza was one of Boston’s steadiest players on Wednesday, tallying 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Celtics look to get back on track against the Sacramento Kings

The Celtics have been on a bit of a slump lately, having dropped 5 of their last 10 games. For the season, they currently hold a 29-18 record, good for the East’s third-best record. On Wednesday night, they dropped just their fourth game of the season by double-digits.

“We just didn’t have it tonight,” Jaylen Brown said. “It’s just as simple as that. We came up short, but we didn’t have that spark today.”

The Kings, meanwhile, have lost 6 straight games and have the second-worst record (12-36) in the West. They’ll be on the second night of a back-to-back when they face the Celtics, as they face the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

Not all NBA questionable statuses are created equal.

As the Lakers prepare to play against the Wizards, Luka Dončić has been downgraded to questionable for the game, while Austin Reaves has the same status, although his is an upgrade that hints at his potential return.

Reaves has missed the last 17 games due to this Grade 2 calf strain. Lakers head coach JJ Redick stated that he has been “progressing well” and was hopeful Reaves would be able to play during the team’s road trip.

This is the first time Reaves has been upgraded to questionable since being sidelined with this injury.

The Lakers could absolutely use Reaves production. He is averaging 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. Not only did this injury hurt the Lakers by keeping their starting guard out, but it also took away Reaves’ eligibility for NBA awards.

He has missed too many games already and will not reach the 65-game threshold necessary to be up for any end-of-season accolades.

While Reaves status is a positive, Luka’s is a negative. He hurt his ankle during LA’s game in Cleveland, falling off the raised court of hopping backwards following a 3-point attempt. It’s unusual for an NBA floor to be elevated and Redick said it was a safety hazard during his postgame media availability.

Considering that Luka might miss a game due to the raised floor causing his fall, it appears he is absolutely right. Luckily, the injury wasn’t a catastrophe and Luka might even suit up in Washington if the ankle holds up.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR has adjusted the schedule for this weekend's exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem in anticipation of more ice and snow blanketing the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina.

The Clash was supposed to be a two-day event beginning Saturday with the main event held Sunday evening. But the roads in the area are not yet totally clear from last weekend's ice storm, and more inclement weather is scheduled for the next few days with as much as 12 inches possible for Saturday and the area under a winter storm watch through 1 p.m. EST Sunday.

To adjust, NASCAR has postponed all of Saturday’s on-track activity and will run the Clash as a one-day program Sunday. The hope is to begin with practice at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

NASCAR believes even with cold temperatures, its Goodyear tires will produce enough grip on the quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium track to run Sunday at 6 p.m.

If the event goes off at all will depend on how much snow falls Saturday. If The Clash can't run Sunday, NASCAR seems prepared to run the event on the next possible clear day; teams head to Daytona Beach, Florida, around Feb. 9 to begin preparations for the season-opening Daytona 500.

Because The Clash is now one day only, the format will be:

— Drivers will be split into three practice groups, and each group will get three practice sessions. Times in the final session will determine their starting lineup for the main event and the last chance qualifier.

— Saturday heat races are canceled.

— The Sunday 75-lap last-chance qualifier will offer two spots in the main event for those who didn’t finish in the top-20 in qualifying.

— The final 23rd spot in the main event will go to the driver highest in points who hasn’t made the race. Two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Larson is the only driver guaranteed a spot in the race.

— The main event will be 200 laps with a midway break at Lap 100. Only green-flag laps count.

Chase Elliott won the event last year.

___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Milwaukee Bucks have announced they are rescheduling their home game against the Dallas Mavericks to Tuesday, March 31, at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. Their game was scheduled for last Sunday, but it was postponed due to winter storms that prevented the Mavericks from flying out of Dallas. The NBA also moved the Mavericks’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies, scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, to prevent Dallas from playing three straight games. Tickets for the original Mavs game are valid for the new date.

This will create a home-road back-to-back for the Bucks, who have a game on April 1 in Houston against the Rockets at 7:00 p.m. It will be a busy time for them at the end of March, as they will have four games in five days after returning from a four-game West Coast trip. In March, Milwaukee will now have five sets of back-to-back games, with no more than two days off between contests. If Giannis’ self-diagnosed timeline is correct, the Bucks will have to do most of this heavy stretch of basketball without him. Things have gotten rough as it is, but they could get a whole lot worse by the time the dust settles on March 31.

Editor’s note: If the Bucks are rescheduling this game in the naive hope that it would not be played because March 31st doesn’t exist, they are mistaken.