HOUSTON (AP) — Rockets forward Kevin Durant will be less than two months shy of his 40th birthday when the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics begin, but he said Monday night he told USA Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill he’d like to be considered for the U.S. men’s team when the time comes.
“I didn’t want to just take my name out of consideration just because of the simple fact that I’m older and I did it before,” Durant said after scoring 18 points for Houston in a 125-105 win over the Utah Jazz. “Grant understands my love for Team USA. That’s my family. The level of love I have for Team USA and the whole organization over there is unmatched, so I’d love to be part of it until I’m done playing.”
Durant has played in the last four Olympics, becoming USA men’s basketball’s career scoring leader in the process, but he says he doesn’t want to just be handed a spot on the 2028 team. He wants to earn it.
“I understand how tough that decision is for Grant, and how many great players are going to emerge the next year and a half, and I’m also very old compared to a lot of these players,” Durant said. “I know I've got my work cut out for me to make that team.”
During the 2024 Paris games, Durant became the first American player to win four Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball. United States stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird won five gold medals in women’s basketball, but Durant says joining that club is not his motivation for wanting to go through another Olympic cycle.
“I just love playing for Team USA. I love representing my country. That’s the first and most important thing — it’s putting that USA across my chest and representing where I come from,” he said.
Durant is averaging 25.9 points per game on 50.7% shooting in his 18th NBA season.
Sacramento Kings (13-46, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Houston Rockets (35-21, third in the Western Conference)
Houston; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Western Conference foes Houston and Sacramento face off on Wednesday.
The Rockets have gone 20-16 against Western Conference opponents. Houston averages 114.5 points and has outscored opponents by 5.1 points per game.
The Kings are 9-30 in Western Conference play. Sacramento has a 5-29 record in games decided by 10 points or more.
The Rockets average 114.5 points per game, 6.5 fewer points than the 121.0 the Kings give up. The Kings are shooting 46.2% from the field, 0.6% higher than the 45.6% the Rockets' opponents have shot this season.
The teams square off for the fourth time this season. The Kings won the last matchup 111-98 on Jan. 12. DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points to help lead the Kings to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kevin Durant is averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 18.6 points over the last 10 games.
Russell Westbrook is scoring 15.1 points per game and averaging 5.5 rebounds for the Kings. Malik Monk is averaging 1.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 6-4, averaging 107.3 points, 45.3 rebounds, 24.0 assists, 9.6 steals and 6.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.4 points per game.
Kings: 1-9, averaging 109.3 points, 43.4 rebounds, 24.9 assists, 8.6 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.8 points.
INJURIES: Rockets: Jae'Sean Tate: out (knee), Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle).
Kings: Domantas Sabonis: out for season (back), Dylan Cardwell: out (ankle), De'Andre Hunter: out for season (eye), Zach LaVine: out for season (finger), Devin Carter: day to day (back).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
HOUSTON, TX - FEBRUARY 23: Vince Williams Jr. #0 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 23, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
According to Sarah Todd, it appears that Vince Williams Jr. may have suffered a season-ending injury in the Jazz’s game against the Houston Rockets.
Multiple sources believe that Vince Williams Jr. suffered a significant ACL injury. He’ll have an MRI in Salt Lake tomorrow. Left the arena on crutches.
It’s a really unfortunate injury for Williams, who was looking like he was trending in the direction of being a potential rotation player next season with his size, length, defense, and ability to run the point. Now, Williams will obviously find out the extent of the injury and begin the recovery process. Let’s hope that it’s not as bad as it looked and that it’s just a severe strain and not something that requires any sort of reconstructive surgery, as likely as that seems.
HOUSTON, TX - FEBRUARY 23:Lauri Markkanen #23 of the Utah Jazz drives to the basket during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 23, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Jazz fell to the Rockets, 105-125, in a defeat that was all but assured ever since the opening quarter. Not that Jazz fans are complaining; with the next two games being against the Pelicans, where losses are far from guaranteed, an easy and relaxed addition to the teams ping pong balls versus Houston is a pleasant and successful evening.
The Jazz’s woes this game were not new to this team; yet again, their opponent displayed three point shooting well above their typical standard. Against the Jazz, the Rockets shot 10 more threes than their per game average, and knocked down a very healthy 45%. Kevin Durant, Reed Sheppard, and Jabari Smith Jr. were the main culprits, and the defense wasn’t quick to adjust – they did their damage on open three after open three.
Transition defense was another problem that the Jazz simply had no answer for. Amen Thompson, always a speed-demon, created a semi-transition opportunity after nearly every Jazz miss. In those opportunities, the Jazz veterans were too slow to keep up and the Jazz youngsters kept up but always in the wrong direction. Cody Williams and Ace Bailey showed activity in getting back on defense, but the Rockets were surgical in consistently finding the open man.
Lauri Markkanen and Brice Sensabaugh were the offensive bright spots. While Lauri’s three pointers weren’t dropping tonight (it did feel like sometimes he settled for tough, movement jump shots), he matched and exceeded the Rocket’s physicality in the paint, which is no small accomplishment. He finished 9-13 on two point shots, dealing with contact on nearly all of them. Brice continued to do Brice things – shoot jump shots early in the shot clock that seem like they can’t be the most efficient form of offense, but they go in at a respectable rate nonetheless. While much of his scoring came in the 4th quarter, when the game was over in all aspects but time on the clock, it wasn’t as if the Rockets perimeter defenders had thrown in the towel. Since the New Year, he’s averaging nearly 17 points per game at around 47% from the field and 35% from three. He is blossoming into a legitimate playoff-level scorer to close out the year.
A bit of bad news that needs monitoring – Vince Williams Jr. was carried off the court by two trainers after a rough collision with Tari Eason that seemed to injure Vince’s left knee. This injury will likely lead to both (a) some more 48 minute outings from Isaiah Collier and (b) increased playing time for Elijah Harkless, who impressed me tonight with his signature defensive tenacity. Attached below is a video of the injury – it isn’t pretty, so some viewer discretion is advised.
Vince Williams has been ruled OUT for the rest of the game after this cheap shot by Tari Eason.
In Japan to announce her switch to Uniqlo, the British No 1 says frustrations only fuel the fire as she looks to Indian Wells and beyond
Emma Raducanu has no immediate plans to appoint a new coach as she attempts to kickstart a frustrating season in the US next month. The British No 1 will play at Indian Wells and in the Miami Open in March without a full-time replacement for Francisco Roig – her ninth coach since she turned professional – with whom she parted company after her second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.
“Right now I wouldn’t say I’m actively looking for a coach,” Raducanu says in Tokyo, where on Tuesday she was unveiled as a global brand ambassador for the Japanese clothes retailer Uniqlo after ending her association with Nike.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 22: Moses Moody #4 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on February 22, 2026 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Sunday afternoon against Denver, in a game that the Dubs had no business being competitive in, Moses Moody reminded everyone watching why the Warriors used a lottery pick on him back in 2021. Twenty-three points. Seven rebounds. Five assists. A complete performance on a national stage, against a Nuggets team that isn’t exactly handing those kinds of good vibes out for free.
But here’s what makes that line genuinely special, not just impressive-for-a-young-guy special. According to Basketball Reference, since the Warriors dynasty era began in 2014-15, only 13 other instances exist of a Golden State player posting at least 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in a single regular season game. Stephen Curry owns 99 of the appearances on that list. Kevin Durant dropped 50 during his Warriors tenure. Draymond Green has 8. And then there’s Moses Moody, sitting at the bottom of that list with his very first one, right next to names like Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga.
He just joined some serious company. Let that simmer for a second.
The timing matters too. The Warriors have been navigating an obstacle course lately with star wing Jimmy Butler on IR and face of the franchise Steph Curry is wounded. Jonathan Kuminga got traded out of the building in a move that still has the fanbase pondering what it all means.
This team is running thin on the kind of players who can create their own shot when the offense stalls. And February has asked Moody to answer questions he’s never been asked before at this level, consistently, with no veteran safety net to catch the narrative if things went sideways.
His February game log tells the real story. He’s played seven games and topped ouble figures in six of them. That 6-point game against Philly on a reduced 20 minutes was the outlier, not the norm. He went for 25 against the Lakers on 39 minutes of work. He also poured in 17 in San Antonio, then 15 in the Memphis comeback win. The consistency isn’t flashy, but it’s real, and real is exactly what this team needs right now.
What’s changed is his shot creation within structure. Moody came into the league tagged as a catch-and-shoot specialist, which is a polite way of saying the league wasn’t sure he could make decisions fast enough when the ball found him in live-game situations. The 23-7-5 line against Denver shows a player who now rebounds, pushes in transition, finds cutters, and still knocks down the pull-up when the defense gives it to him. That’s not a catch-and-shoot player anymore. That’s a basketball player.
He’s 23 years old. He was taken 14th overall in a draft class that the Warriors will forever be haunted by if they can’t find some way to keep Curry’s twilight years competitive. Both picks in that draft showed real promise. The paths just diverged differently, and right now, Moody is the one wearing a Warriors jersey and producing when the franchise needs him.
Sunday night wasn’t a fluke me thinks; rather it was confirmation. The kind of confirmation that dynasty-era Warriors fans have been trained to recognize, the moment a young player stops auditioning and starts performing.
The next time the Chicago Cubs step into Chavez Ravine, don’t expect a warm Hollywood welcome for Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The 23-year-old All-Star, a Los Angeles native with industry bloodlines and a Little League past in Sherman Oaks, decided this week to take a shot at his hometown fans, the two-time defending World Series champion fans.
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs looks on before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoffs at Soldier Field. Getty Images
In a profile with Chicago Magazine, Crow-Armstrong drew a line in the ivy-covered dirt between Cubs fans and Dodgers fans.
“[Cubs fans] actually give a s***,” he said. “They aren’t just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever. They are paying attention. They care.”
That wasn’t a slip of the tongue. This wasn’t placed on a tee for him to take a shot at Dodgers fans by the author of the article. It wasn’t a leading question. It was PCA who inserted Dodgers fans into the chat.
And in a city that has filled Dodger Stadium with more than 4 million fans — and is rocking every night from April through October — the comment lands like a brushback pitch headed for the chin.
Here’s the twist: Crow-Armstrong grew up in L.A. The son of actors Matthew John Armstrong and Ashley Crow, who are known for their roles in the show “Heroes.” And have starred in films like “Minority Report,” “Little Big League,” and “The Good Son.” (Ashley Crow played the mom in “Little Big League“).
Fans in the crowd during a Los Angeles Dodgers spring training game against the Angels. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Crow-Armstrong attended games at Dodger Stadium. He played Little League under the Southern California sun. Yet, as he wrote in The Players’ Tribune, his father gave him two rules: never root for the Dodgers, never root for the Cardinals. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Fine. Baseball loyalties are inherited like eye color. But questioning the baseball IQ of Dodgers fans? That’s out of bounds.
This is the same fan base that lives and dies with pitch sequencing, that debates bullpen leverage over sushi in the third inning, the fans that started Fernandomania, and turned Clayton Kershaw into a folk hero.
The same fan base that will circle April 24–26 in red ink when the Cubs arrive to town.
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Crow-Armstrong’s comments will play beautifully on the North Side, where edge and defiance are currency. After his antics in the second-half of last season, his comments will endear himself to Cubs fans.
But baseball has a long memory. And Chavez Ravine? It doesn’t forget its own.
Feb 23, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) shoots against Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) in the second half at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
Well, the season is saved! The Rockets scored a robust 125 points, held their opponent to just over 100, and essentially stomped their opponent from beginning to end. Wait, I’m getting word that their opponent was the Utah Jazz, a team that claims not to be losing intentionally, but their growing fines from the NBA league office might suggest otherwise.
The Jass are what? 18-40? That’s not…good. So far from good, or trying to win, that again,they’ve been fined for it. Still, pretty much this Jazz team, but including Keyonte George, did in fact beat the Rockets earlier in the season. If you told me the Jazz, playing the Rockets at home would do their very best to get a win, and try to lose everything else, except against Portland, I’d believe you.
But there’s no reason to look askance at the result we had hoped, or in some cases, expected, to see. If you wanted to see the Rockets run some offense, they did. It happened. Write it down, that on February 24th, 2026 Kevin Durant ran several baseline cuts. It did my cruel, flinty, hater, heart good to see the Rockets actually move purposefully on a basketball court on offense.
If you wanted the Rockets to grab an opponent by metaphorical throat early, rather than Latrell Sprewell style, and not let go, they did that, too. The Rockets won the first quarter 38-22. They won the second and third quarters 30-25 and 32-28 respectively. It wasn’t until an entirely garbage time 4th quarter that the Jazz got to 30 points in a quarter.
What else did we see? Well, we saw the Rockets actually feature the three point shot. They took 40 threes to Ime Udoka’s former lead assistant in Boston, Will Hardy’s team’s 44. The Rockets shot at a robust, encouraging, possibly unsustainable, 45% clip on threes. The Jazz made a sad, bluesy, trombone of 18%. Maybe this is make or miss league stuff, but you can’t make or miss threes you don’t take. This 40 attempts is pretty much the level maintained by nearly every good NBA offense. Actually making such shots will force opponents out of the paint, where they usually hang around, making life difficult for Alperen Sengun, Kevin Durant, and Amen Thompson, all at the same time.
This is the first game in a very long time where the Rockets looked like an NBA offense. Admittedly against a tanking team, but one positive feature of this win might have been less focus on Kevin Durant. We also saw more positioning of Kevin Durant somewhere, anywhere, besides the top of the three point arc. Durant only took 13 shots tonight, 5 of which were threes. That might be a low shot output, but it’s a shot distribution I like a lot more. Durant standing in the corner is doom for opponents, as he can actually drive to his middie from there, unlike Amen standing in the corner, which is doom to the Rockets.
The player who came through tonight, who looked, dare I say, like the player we’ve been hoping to see, was Jabari Smith Jr. Jabari was 12-17, and 6-11 from three point range. He seemed to be playing freer, and I think a more free Jabari is a better Jabari. He seems to me to be a player who suffers inordinately from overthinking. Jabari was 6-6 from inside the three point line, and it seemed like A) no one on the Jazz could hold him, and B) he actually used his 3pt shot, and his height, to unlock his other shots. Jabari also had 9 boards, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. The turnovers were a bit unfortunate, but do not mar the long awaited The Return of Jaswishy. Long may he swish.
Alperen Sengun also had a good game, one in which no Rocket dominated the shot tally. He was 7-12, with 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He was 2-2 on his FTs. Why Alpie needed to play 36 minutes, and Clint Capela 10 minutes in this one is anyone’s guess. Capela has accumulated enough positive +/- nights, or been the least bad player off the bench enough, that it should warrant more minutes, in my opinion. Perhaps there are medical reasons why not, but if it’s not that, it’s hard to see why he doesn’t play a bit more.
Amen Thompson had something of an odd game, on the offensive side, with 3 ast to 6 TO. But he did attack aggressively, and made 4-5 FT. He was 8-9 on the shots that did count, none of which were 3pt shots. So very high efficiency as an offensive player, low as a distributor.
The last starter, Tari Eason, was disruptive, but seemed to feel the bite of regression a bit on his three point shots, going 1-5. He did grab 10 rebounds. The Rockets lost the offensive rebounding game, maybe because they just didn’t miss much 57% overall, and 45% from three. They did, however, crush Utah on the glass overall, 53-36.
The Rockets also didn’t have anything resembling a free throw edge. They took 11 to Utah’s 30. I don’t think Utah earned that many trips to the charity stripe, but part of the reason Houston didn’t take as many FTs was Utah didn’t do much defending, and Houston did.
Dorian Finney-Smith played 20 minutes of nothing much. We might have hoped to see him have a get right game as well. While he’s never been a high stats output player, you might like to see more than 3/4/0/0/0 with a turnover in 20 minutes, in a game the Rockets dominated.
Reed Sheppard had quite a good game in my opinion. He scored 15 on 5-9 shooting, with all of those attempts coming from three point range. He had 3 rebounds, 4 ast, 3 to, an 1 stl. His point guarding wasn’t superb, but it was there, and if the Rockets want to give Reed at least 10 shots from three a game, I think it would help them a lot in the long run.
Josh Okogie returned from his banishment, or silent treatment, or whatever, and played 12 mostly anonymous, but high energy, minutes. I can also report that Aaron Holiday, Uncle Jeff, and Isaiah Crawford are alive.
This is the first game in a very long time where I actually enjoyed watching the Rockets play offense. If some thought the Rockets could not run coherent offense, for mysterious reasons, this is proof that it is, at least, a possibility. Hopefully this easy, good shooting, win will lead the Rockets to a better place. On offense, and mentally. Maybe it will do the same for the Dear Old Dreamshake. At any rate, it’s a win, and not a troubling one in any respect.
After a third-place finish for the 2025 NL MVP Award, which unanimously went to Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto has the Los Angeles Dodgers' star in mind entering Year 2 with the Mets.
Soto, 27, was a finalist after slashing .263/.396/.525 with 43 home runs and 105 RBI in 160 games for the Mets last season.
The 31-year-old Ohtani, meanwhile, is a back-to-back winner of the award since joining the Dodgers for the 2024 season.
"He's really good. He's really good," Soto said of Ohtani, who slashed .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs and 102 RBI in 158 games at the plate and posted a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts on the mound in 2025. "I've just got to beat him. Definitely, it's not going to be easy, but I've got to find a way to beat him."
Beyond individual goals, Soto embraces his role as a member of New York's new core as works through his second spring training with the Mets.
"I feel like last year's offseason was kind of tough. I was going through a lot of ups and downs. Traveling a lot. Moving everywhere. Getting phone calls. Stopping workouts in the middle. It just wasn’t my best workouts," Soto said this past week, via SNY MLB insider Chelsea Janes. "This year, I could work a little harder and have a little more fun with it."
Soto progresses into March with an unselfish mindset in his move from right to left field on the Mets' retooled roster.
"I always work hard on defense," Soto said earlier this month. "I'm definitely going back to a place that I'm familiar with. I'm gonna feel comfortable there. I'm just going to work on my routes and work on the throws again, and I think I'll be ready to go. I think it's going to be great for the team, great for the guys who are going to play right field, guys who have been there."
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Russsell Westbrook scored 25 points and Precious Achiuwa had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings snapped a 16-game losing streak — the longest in franchise history — with a 123-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
DeMar DeRozan and Daeqwon Plowden finished with 19 points each, with Plowden scoring 10 in the fourth quarter. Sacramento has the NBA’s worst record and hadn’t won since beating Washington on Jan. 16.
Javon Smalls led Memphis with 21 points and nine assists. Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 17 points and GG Jackson added 16 points.
SPURS 114, PISTONS 103
DETROIT (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 21 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks, Devin Vassell scored 28 and San Antonio beat the Detroit in a potential NBA Finals preview.
The Spurs have won a season-high nine games in a row and trail only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference.
The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who had won five straight, host Oklahoma City on Wednesday night in another test.
Detroit star Cade Cunningham struggled, missing 21 of 26 shots and finishing with 16 points and 10 assists.
ROCKETS 125, JAZZ 105
HOUSTON (AP) — Jabari Smith Jr. had 31 points and nine rebounds and Amen Thompson scored 20 points as Houston beat Utah.
Smith hit his first five shots and matched a career-high with 14 points in the first quarter. He converted 12 of 17 shots overall and made six 3-pointers.
Thompson shot 8 for 9 from the field and finished with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Kevin Durant scored 18 points and added a season-high 12 assists. Reed Sheppard scored 15 points off the bench.
With the win, the Rockets (35-21) into third place in the Western Conference, behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Tre White scored a season-high 23 points and No. 14 Kansas bounced back from a surprising defeat with a 69-56 victory over No. 5 Houston on Monday night.
Freshman star Darryn Peterson added 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes for the Jayhawks (21-7, 11-4 Big 12), who fell six spots in this week’s AP Top 25 following an 84-68 loss at home Saturday to unranked Cincinnati.
Bryson Tiller had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Kansas, which handed the scuffling Cougars (23-5, 11-4) their third consecutive defeat — all against top-15 opponents.
Houston hadn’t dropped three straight games since 2017.
NO. 18 NORTH CAROLINA 77, NO. 24 LOUISVILLE 74
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Seth Trimble scored a career-high 30 points and hit two key free throws with 12.3 seconds left to help North Carolina hold off Louisville.
Trimble’s free throws made it a two-possession game after Louisville had chopped UNC’s 16-point second-half lead all the way down to 74-71.
Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. hit a desperation 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to pull Louisville within 76-74. The Cardinals were able to foul Derek Dixon to extend the game with 0.8 seconds left, but Dixon made the second of his two free throws. Louisville had a final chance but Ryan Conwell couldn’t get off the tying shot in time after catching a long inbounds heave.
Henri Veesaar and Luka Bogavac each added 12 points for the Tar Heels (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who again played without injured freshman star Caleb Wilson.
North Carolina shot 53.6% for the game but had a white-knuckle finish for the home fans by going just 7 of 13 from the foul line after halftime. UNC ran off a 17-2 run out of halftime to build a 56-40 lead on Trimble’s steal and dunk that he punctuated with a triumphant scream.
Brown, a high-end NBA prospect, scored 24 points while Conwell added 23 for the Cardinals (20-8, 9-6). Louisville shot 38.8% and went 14 of 39 from 3-point range. But Louisville missed its first 10 shots out of halftime and had to battle uphill the rest of the night.
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Jasson Domínguez #24 of the New York Yankees smiles before the game against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Athletic | Brendan Kuty & Chris Kirschner: ($) A projection of the Yankees Opening Day roster now that spring training is underway. There aren’t too many surprises, with Jasson Domínguez starting the year at Triple-A and Cade Winquest and Jake Bird rounding out the bullpen as perhaps the most notable insights.
Kuty and Kirschner also provide some updates on two potential X factors for the Yankees. José Caballero is focusing his offseason work on increasing his bat speed, which was well below average last season. “If your bat speed increases, even if you mis(hit) a ball, you’re going to hit it a little harder than you used to,” said the shortstop, who led the AL in steals for the second straight time last year. Luis Gil, who struggled to regain his Rookie of the Year form while dealing with injuries last season, will likely get a shot in the rotation early with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón beginning the season on the shelf. “He’s capable of big things,” says manager Aaron Boone of the 27-year-old, adding, “I’ve seen him dominate like the aces dominate, so he’s capable of that, without question.”
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: After coming up through the Yankees system with the label of a “bat-first” prospect, Austin Wells has made himself into one of the top defensive catchers in the game. The primary driver of this has been his pitch framing, with his 19 framing runs at the bottom of the zone leading MLB the past two seasons. “One thing that has helped him separate is an ability to make adjustments fast,” said Tanner Swanson, the Yankees’ catching coach. “He’s capable of taking information even with minimal training.”
That propensity for continual improvement has not translated to his offense, which sputtered at times last year after a strong rookie season. “I expect a lot more out of him offensively, as does he,” said Boone of his backstop. “Being a Major League catcher, especially as a rookie and a first- and second-year player, there’s a lot of things you’re focusing on away from your hitting. I still think there’s a lot more in there offensively.” Wells agrees. “It’s just about keeping it consistent,” he said. “That’s the next level for me, and I think that’ll help me give less at-bats away.”
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: As he gets the chance to square up against top competition in spring training camp, the Yankees remain bullish on George Lombard Jr. Per Brian Cashman, the organization’s consensus number-one prospect “could play defense in the big leagues right now, but he’s still developing on the hitting side.” The Yankees’ GM also calls the shortstop an “exciting, high-ceiling talent,” while Boone praised his “consistently great work habits.” For his part, Lombard embraces all that comes with his place atop the Yankees’ farm system. “I feel like I’m blessed to be in that situation, where I have those expectations and goals to meet,” he said. “I really just try to block that out. I acknowledge the situation that I’m in, and then just focus on my work and let those things figure themselves out.”
It was another high-spirited practice, during which head coach Dan Muse put his team through it. He wants everyone ready to go for Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils, which will come three weeks after their last game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Every healthy player was on the ice, except for Sidney Crosby, who was coming back from the Olympics. He's also still banged up, and the Penguins don't have an update on him yet. The Penguins are off on Tuesday, so an update on his status for this week may not come until Wednesday when they return to practice.
Crosby was injured during Team Canada's quarterfinal game against Czechia and missed the semifinal against Finland and the Gold Medal loss to the United States.
Erik Karlsson returned to practice on Monday and was paired with his usual defensive partner, Parker Wotherspoon. It was Karlsson's first practice back after representing Sweden at the Olympics.
Rickard Rakell and Arturs Silovs, who also went to the Olympics, were back at practice on Sunday.
Avery Hayes was a full participant at practice after being called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday morning. He was on the top line with Rakell and Bryan Rust.
Here is what the forward lines looked like:
Hayes-Rakell-Rust
Chinakhov-Malkin-Novak
Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Kevin Hayes was the 13th forward.
Defensively, the Penguins showcased Wotherspoon-Karlsson, Kulak-Letang, and Shea-Clifton. Ryan Graves and Ilya Solovyov were listed as the fourth pair.
Muse had the Penguins go through several 5v5 drills. He also set aside time for a lot of special teams work and some 6-on-5 work.
The Penguins will have three games this week to jumpstart the stretch run of the 2025-26 season. After Thursday's game against the Devils, the Penguins will play the New York Rangers on Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
The Nets weren't able to travel back from Atlanta on Monday.
The blizzard is affecting everyone in New York, especially those trying to get home.
The Nets, who blew a late lead in a loss at Atlanta on Sunday night, were unable to fly back after the game or on Monday morning due to the historic snowstorm, a source confirmed to The Post.
Michael Porter Jr. attempts a shot during the Nets’ Feb. 22 loss to the Hawks. NBAE via Getty Images
With the snow still coming down in the city, the Nets practiced in Atlanta on Monday and planned to fly out Tuesday morning — just hours before they face the Mavericks at Barclays Center at 7:30 p.m.
Similarly, Dallas (20-36), which defeated the Pacers on Sunday, is staying in Indiana on Monday night.
The snow outside Barclays Center gets cleared during the NYC snowstorm on Feb. 23. Paul Martinka for the NY Post
More than 19 inches of snow were reported in Central Park and more than 24 inches were recorded in parts of Long Island.
The monster blizzard is now officially one of the 10 largest snowstorms in New York City history.
Tuesday’s game will be the fourth for the Nets since the All-Star break, and they head into the matchup following three straight losses on the road trip.
The Nets (15-41) are third in the lottery standings, sitting only a game behind the Pacers following Indiana’s loss to Dallas on Sunday.
And while the outfielder still has more work to do from the right side to become a more viable switch-hitter, getting the reps against lefties is the most important thing for Domínguez at this point on the calendar.
“I think it’s mostly an experience-level thing where, a young man that’s missed a fair amount of time in his development coming up through the system, the biggest thing that suffers from that is the right side because you don’t face a lot of lefties,” manager Aaron Boone said before a 6-2 win over the Pirates at LECOM Park. “So I’m hoping it is something that continues to improve over time as he gets more opportunities. But it can be challenging, too.”
Jasson Domínguez is pictured during the Yankees’ Feb. 23 Grapefruit League game. Charles Wenzelberg
Domínguez struck out in both at-bats against lefties — the first against tough reliever Gregory Soto — after roping an RBI double against a righty earlier in the game.
Though the right side is Domínguez’s natural side, he struggled there last season, batting .204 with a .569 OPS in 104 plate appearances compared to .274 with a .768 OPS in 325 plate appearances from the left side.
Beyond being blocked in the outfield if everyone stays healthy, it doesn’t help Domínguez’s case to make the roster that the Yankees are already lefty-heavy in their lineup and could use a right-handed-hitting backup outfielder.
Boone will try to match Domínguez up against lefties when possible this spring, though that is easier said than done.
In the spring, teams do not always set their pitching plans until the night before a game, whereas Boone tries to make his lineups a few days in advance as he builds players’ workloads up.
Cabrera also still needs to slide, Boone said, which is how he damaged his ankle in the first place.
“I’ve noticed with my eyes, I feel like he’s getting closer to that final level of burst and the things you need,” Boone said. “So he’s full-bore baseball activities. I’ll just wait for the trainers to say when we want to start getting him in games.”
J.C. Escarra is expected to make his spring debut Tuesday against the Blue Jays after being delayed slightly as the Yankees made sure the catcher was fully in the clear from tweaking his knee in the Dominican Winter League.
“We’ve just been making sure he can get all his positions perfectly,” Boone said. “But he’s been good for a few weeks now.”
Ryan Yarbrough made his spring debut against the Pirates, tossing two innings on 44 pitches while giving up one run and striking out four.
“Everything was good,” Yarbrough said. “Cutters felt really good. Just trying to make sure to get those pitches in. Maybe execute a little better, but overall, everything was really good with how everything was moving and just build off of it.”
