Grand Final updates, 6pm BST kick-off at Old Trafford
4 mins. A strong carry from Scott takes Wakefield near to the Wire 20m line, but a mix up late in the set leads to an offside off a poor kick. Williams clears the Warrington lines from the penalty.
The next attack from the Wire has Walmsley claiming a towering kick close to the Trinity line, but he can’t do much when he lands and the ball is turned over.
Continue reading...The Memphis Grizzlies, facing a roster crunch with too many guaranteed contracts than they can carry into the season, have waived former lottery pick Jordan Hawkins, the team announced.
The @memgrizz have mutually agreed to part ways with Jordan Hawkins. pic.twitter.com/3o3B5iQnwy
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) October 3, 2026
Both the Grizzlies and ESPN’s Shams Charania described this as a mutual parting of the ways. Memphis will eat (and Hawkins will get paid) his full $7 million contract for this season.
Hawkins likely will land with another NBA team this season, although likely on a minimum contract.
Hawkins is entering his fourth NBA season, his first three with the Pelicans before being traded to Memphis less than a month ago. The 6'5" two guard was projected as a shooter coming out of UConn and in his second season averaged 10.8 points per game but only shot 33.1% from beyond the arc for the Pelicans. Last season, with a new front office in New Orleans that didn't draft him and didn't feel the same loyalty, his minutes and opportunities dropped considerably. Across his three seasons, he has shot 34.8% from 3-point range.
Expect a few teams to consider taking a shot on Hawkins this season to see if a fresh start in a new situation gets him back to his lottery-pick form.
Memphis still isn't done. It has 16 guaranteed contracts on the roster, plus partially guaranteed Jaylen Wells, who likely sticks around, so a couple more players need to be traded or waived (Memphis has the cap space to eat those contracts if it needs to).
In recent years, the Lakers have run into a problem.
They’ve taken a few successful inexpensive fliers, including Malik Monk and Dennis Schröder, but they’ve lacked the ability to retain those guys after they popped. That might not be the case next summer, which could bode especially well for the likes of Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle.
The NBA recently updated its salary-cap projection for the 2027-28, bumping it up from the initial $174 million to $176 million. The luxury-tax line and the aprons will also rise by roughly $2 million, which will give every team in the league extra financial wiggle room.
That’s particularly valuable for the Lakers, who structured their books to make one more big splash next offseason.
Austin Reaves took $5 million less than a max contract this summer to give the Lakers “more future flexibility.” He did so by taking roughly a 4% raise in 2027-28 rather than the full 8% raise that he was eligible to receive. The Lakers also structured Sandro Mamukelashvili’s contract in a unique fashion, making it dip by $650,000 in 2027-28 before going back up by $650,000 in each of its final two years.
In case you have Windhorst Face right now, the Lakers’ intentions aren’t exactly top-secret.
The new cap projection could make it easier for them to maintain access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, too.
Since both Williams and Thybulle signed one-year deals this offseason, the Lakers will only have non-Bird rights on them next summer. That means they can’t offer them more than 120% of a minimum contract or their previous salary (whichever is greater) without dipping into another salary-cap exception.
If either one has a breakout season in L.A., the Lakers could use either some or all of their MLE to re-sign them next summer. If they do have access to the full non-taxpayer MLE, they could always look to split it between Williams and Thybulle, too. Teams don’t have to spend the full MLE on one player. The Philadelphia 76ers split theirs this past offseason between Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons, for instance.
The Lakers should also have access to the bi-annual exception, which is currently projected to land at roughly $5.85 million. That alone might be enough to re-sign one of Williams or Thybulle, allowing them to preserve the MLE for another target.
However, using either the non-taxpayer MLE or the bi-annual exception will hard-cap the Lakers at the first apron, which is projected to land at roughly $222 million. They’d need to leave themselves with at least $22 million of wiggle room under the first apron to preserve access to both the non-taxpayer MLE and bi-annual exception next summer.
If Jarred Vanderbilt and Collin Sexton pick up their respective player options for 2027-28, the Lakers will already be up to $181.6 million in guaranteed salary. If they pick up their team options on Dalton Knecht ($6.45 million), Jaden Hardy ($6.0 million), Bronny James ($2.5 million) and Adou Thiero ($2.5 million), they’d be up to $199.1 million with 12 players under contract. That would leave them with just enough space under the first apron to spend both the non-tax MLE and the bi-annual exception if the current projections hold.
Granted, the Lakers could easily decline their team option on Hardy next summer if they decide that they need a few extra million dollars in breathing room. They have to decide on Knecht’s option by the end of October, but they have until June 29 to decide on Hardy, Bronny and Thiero.
The Lakers could also wipe out this flexibility with a midseason trade, of course. Just because they’re currently projected to have enough room for the non-taxpayer MLE next summer doesn’t mean that they’ll enter the offseason with the exact same roster.
Still, the way that they structured Reaves and Mamukelashvili’s contracts suggests that they’re eyeing next summer as their chance to make another medium-to-big splash. If that doesn’t pan out, they could at least have those cap exceptions to spend on either Thybulle or Williams if needed.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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The opening day of Major League Baseball's best-of-five Division Series features a full slate of four games, beginning with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians at 1 p.m. ET.
The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are the second game of the day at 4 p.m. ET at Dodger Stadium, with scorching temperatures of 100 degrees expected in Southern California. In a matchup of AL East rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays host the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field at 6:30 p.m. ET. In the nightcap, the San Diego Padres visit the Milwaukee Brewers, who had MLB's best record in the regular season.
Game 2s of the NLDS will be played on Sunday, while the American League series get a day off and will resume with their second games on Monday, Oct. 5.
Here's a look at Saturday's quaduple-header:
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB playoff games and schedule today: Quadruple-header on deck
Well the Braves won a playoff series and exorcised some demons of recent postseasons past in the process this week against the Phillies. Their reward is facing the death-star Dodgers in a best-of-5 series with a spot in the NLCS on the line.
Game 1 will be perhaps the most challenging, with the Braves opting for a bullpen game and the Dodgers being able to throw a fresh Tarik Skubal on the other side. The Dodgers will be heavily favored in this game and for good reason. The Braves faced Skubal once this season and were able to score two runs off him over 7.0 innings, with a home run coming from Ozzie Albies. To be honest, that is an outcome I would take if you offered it to me right now for how the Braves perform against him today. The big lefty has been incredible for 4 seasons now, with very strong strikeout numbers, an extremely low walk rate, and a solid ground ball rate. His FIP and xFIP have hovered in the mid-2 range since the beginning of 2023. His well-shaped upper-90s fastball from the left side leads his arsenal, with a hard changeup and slider, as well as a sinker make up the vast majority of his remaining pitches. There isn’t a real weakness for Skubal. The Braves will need some luck and a big moment or two against him to put up some runs. Getting him out of the game early sure would help as well.
Meanwhile, the Braves have a talented bullpen to face the Dodgers’ lineup that was second-best in wRC+ in baseball this year. That said, covering 9.0 innings means that we will likely get bulk innings from non-high-leverage options. We will have to hope they can get through those innings without that potent Dodgers offense putting up crooked numbers left and right.
Game Time: Saturday, October 3, 4:00 pm EDT
Location: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Watch: FOX
Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM, ESPN Radio
The Phillies are not playing baseball for the rest of the 2026 season. In some ways, you’re all free from whatever this season. In some ways, we are all just trapped in whatever they prepare to do for a 2027 season that only might happen.
Given the nature of this season, it feels right to ask a few big picture questions about where everything is going. Dave Dombrowski has been running the team since the 2020-21 off-season and has seen the team make the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. This is the first of which both the regular season record and postseason results went backwards. It’s time to at least ask a few important questions.
Should the Phillies look at 2026 as just a down season or the beginning of a bigger trend?
The Phillies won 95 games in 2024 with the second-best record in the National League and followed that up with 96 wins and the second-best record in the NL again. While both seasons featured quick October exits, the Phillies were clearly at the top of National League World Series contenders given their regular season success.
2026 was a step back. They won eight fewer games than the previous season and backed into the Wild Card series as the sixth seed, needing to win game 162 to even make it. After losing in said Wild Card, it is clear the Phillies are as far from contending as they’ve been in a while.
With all of that said, the core of the roster in both years is basically the same. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are still the two best hitters. Trea Turner is still here. The rotation has the same core. Jhoan Duran is still the closer.
There are basically two competing ideas. One is that the core is aging. Kyle Schwarber is almost 34. Bryce Harper is almost 34. Trea Turner is 34. JT Realmuto is 35. Zack Wheeler is 36. Besides Wheeler and Harper, all of these guys regressed to different degrees. It could be very difficult to overcome.
The other, and the path easier to face, is that this season was just weird. They got off to a disastrous start and sometimes that happens. The manager got fired. Trea Turner just had a weird year. Same for JT Realmuto. Kyle Schwarber is still very good even if he regressed from 2025. Bryce went from first base to right field.
It is easy to overreact to one year and start making decisions that set them back further. It’s also easy to underreact and not look for significant changes. The Atlanta Braves won 76 games in 2025 and then bounced back with 94 wins this year thanks to a few smaller changes, some health, and bounce-back seasons from key players. Sometimes you just have a weird year.
Making significant roster changes to the core will also be extremely difficult. Almost every highly paid veteran on the Phillies roster carries trade protection, either because it’s in their contract or because of 10-5 rights.
Is just throwing money at the issue enough or do the problems run much deeper?
At minimum, the major league roster needs at least one new starting outfielder (let’s say it’s not Trea Turner for argument’s sake), a new third baseman, and multiple new left-handed relievers. One of those lineup upgrades probably needs to hit cleanup.
While Jesús Luzardo is getting a big raise with his extension and other’s will see smaller ones, there is some money. Since the Competitive Balance Tax existed, the penalties have reset after every new CBA agreement so let’s assume that happens again.
Maybe they throw a bunch of money at one of the aging outfielders. Maybe it’s Randy Arozarena, or maybe it’s Seiya Suzuki or Ian Happ. Maybe Bo Bichette opts out of his contract with the Mets (I wouldn’t count on it) and is a target. Maybe it’s someone else.
But does money solve this? It might help the 2027 roster but the problems just seem deeper.
Andrew Painter showed plenty of growth as a rookie but that wasn’t exactly the same for Justin Crawford. There were flashes of what it could look like but Crawford regressed hard every time. He still hits too many groundballs and struggles to play a consistent center field. Given that he had an 80 wRC+ on a .317 BABIP, it just seems like there is a long ways to go before he is any kind of capable starting outfielder.
The 2026 roster featured only six players above replacement level according to bWAR. That is troubling and might not be fixable in one offseason.
The farm system is in rough shape. Aidan Miller did not play until September but is playing in the Arizona Fall League. Gage Wood looks like a good pitching prospect but probably needs more time before being a major league contributor. Their best storyline was Bryan Rincon, who broke out with a power surge in the hitting-friendly environment of AA Reading (and a very juiced minor league baseball).
How impactful are the changes around the players supposed to be?
The Phillies will be looking for a new manager and with that will probably come a new coaching staff. The Phillies tried to hire Alex Cora in April after Rob Thomson was fired and it’s hard to imagine them not trying again this offseason. Given his reputation, it is natural to think Cora would bring in some coaches.
The biggest questions will be with Caleb Cotham and Kevin Long. Cotham’s responsibilities with the Phillies run deeper than just being the major league pitching coach. If the Phillies were to let him go, it’s easy to think they would have to backfill that with multiple hires. Given how tied he is to their minor league pitching development, he just seems safe even with a new manager.
Kevin Long is a different question. I obviously have no sourcing and it’s important to remember that Long signed a three year extension last offseason.
But with that said, it’s just harder to see him sticking around. The offense regressed from 9th in wRC+ in 2025 to 28th this past season. Trea Turner regressed hard. JT regressed hard. Brandon Marsh made the all-star team but was a disaster in the second half. The team only had 4 hitters with an OPS above 100 and two of them were Bryan De La Cruz and Derek Hill, clear bench players.
Given the results and an incoming manager, it just seems hard to picture Long remaining as the hitting coach moving forward.
With all of this, how impactful are these changes supposed to be? The core is likely to remain the same and there is only so much a manager, a hitting coach, and others can really change. What are the expectations going to be?
It’s only fitting that the team with the pressure of living up to astronomically high expectations would debut in the playoffs in a game in which the victory appears to be the only plausible result. In a single baseball game, anything can happen, but one could hardly manufacture a more lopsided pitching scenario if they tried for Game 1 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Braves.
The reigning back-to-back champs gave themselves the luxury of foregoing last postseason’s hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto in favor of Tarik Skubal for the first matchup of this series. Meanwhile, Atlanta needs to find 27 outs from a pitching staff that lacks reliable starting options for this opening game, inevitably turning to a bullpen effort. While we’ve seen in the past teams going this route as a way of capitalizing on a strength, in the Braves’ case it’s nearly purely out of necessity.
With Skubal on the mound at Dodger Stadium, the home team can create a perfect storm against a Braves offense that during the year has struggled against lefties (91 wRC+) and also has had its issues on the road (89 team wRC+). We’ve already seen glimpses of these problems facing lefties in the Wild Card round, as Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez looked in control of their outings against Atlanta—Luzardo allowed just one run in five innings, and Sánchez had only one run on the books through six innings until getting pushed past his limit and allowing a couple more runs in the seventh. Dodger fans know all too well about Don Mattingly and leaving starters in too long in the postseason.
Such heavy favoritism might have been intimidating in other circumstances in the past, but for the back-to-back champs, it is easier to simply expect that they can take advantage of this opportunity before facing Chris Sale on Monday—one that was rightfully earned by beating out the Braves for this second seed in the National League.
Aaron Judge is not on the roster for the Yankees' five-game ALDS matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays, per multiple reports.
The Bronx Bombers kick off the series against their AL East division rivals on Saturday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Judge took live batting practice on Friday at Tropicana Field, but has not yet progressed to running the bases or practicing in the outfield.
The superstar slugger continues to work his way back from a right calf strain, which also sidelined him for the team's Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees offense fared just fine without their captain in that series, scoring 18 runs across the two-game sweep of their archrivals.
In 66 games during the regular season, Judge slashed .241/.360/.511 with 18 home runs and 41 RBI. He missed more than three months with a right rib stress fracture before returning to the Yankees Sept. 7, hitting his first home run back Sept. 14. The calf injury came two days later.
Meanwhile, Aaron Boone did make one change to the Yankees' 26-man roster for the ALDS; Ryan Weathers - who has not pitched since late August due to a flexor tendon strain in his left forearm, but has been ramping up with live batting practice - has been added to the team's bullpen for the series.
As such, versatile infielder and righty batter Amed Rosario was left off the roster, having been swapped for the southpaw. This makes sense, as the expected Rays starters for the first three games of the series - Drew Rasmussen, Nick Martinez, and Freddy Peralta - are all right-handed pitchers.
Weathers recorded a healthy 3.60 ERA and 1.223 WHIP across 25 starts for New York during the regular season. His strong strikeout rate, walk rate, and ground ball rate indicate his theoretical fit as a bullpen option for the Yankees during the upcoming series.
Our 26 for the ALDS. #RepBX | #Postseasonpic.twitter.com/8Y5ZknJmeg
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 3, 2026
The 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs are on to the best-of-five Division Series with eight teams remaining – and a quadruple header on Saturday, Oct. 3 to get the round underway.
In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays face the New York Yankees while the Cleveland Guardians meet the Chicago White Sox in two intradivision matchups. In the National League, the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers take on the San Diego Padres, and the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers meet the Atlanta Braves.
The Yankees, White Sox, Padres and Braves all had to win best-of-three wild card series, while the Rays, Guardians, Brewers and Dodgers all earned a bye through the first round as the top division winners in each league.
The winners advance to the best-of-seven League Championship Series.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What teams are in MLB playoffs? See the full bracket and schedule
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Yankees captain Aaron Judge was left off the roster for New York’s AL Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays while he tries to work his way back from a calf injury.
A three-time AL MVP, Judge hasn’t played since Sept. 16.
Giancarlo Stanton, who hasn’t played since April 24 because of strained calf muscles in both legs, remained on the 26-man roster for the best-of-five series starting Saturday.
Stanton was active for the Wild Card Series sweep of Boston but didn’t get in the games, which both turned into blowouts.
Judge was sidelined by a fractured rib from May 31 to Sept. 8 and played in just seven games before straining his right calf. He was limited to 66 games this season and hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.
Left-hander Ryan Weathers, sidelined with a left forearm flexor strain since Aug. 22, was added to the roster as an 11th pitcher.
Utilityman Amed Rosario was dropped. He had two plate appearances in the Wild Card Series with a walk and a strikeout.
Right-hander Tyler Davis was added by the Chicago White Sox, who dropped right-hander Huascar Brazobán.
Brazobán appeared in Game 2 of the sweep at Houston, facing three batters. He hit his first, struck out his second and allowed a single to his third.
The Yankees are coming off a two-game rout of the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series and the Tampa Bay Rays are coming off some downtime, thanks to a first-round bye.
With this in mind, here are three things to watch as the teams collide in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Saturday night:
The Rays are fresh, having not played since their regular season finale on Sunday, Sep. 27. They’ve got their pitching set the way they want, with ace Drew Rasmussen starting the opener, and their bullpen arms having had the time to reset.
But the Yanks are surging with confidence after outscoring the Red Sox, 18-2, over two blowouts that were played without star Aaron Judge, who remains out for the ALDS due to injury.
Those games were so lopsided that the Yankees did not have to stress their high-leverage relievers and their terrific rotation flexed two strong starts, one each for Cam Schlittler and Max Fried.
Gerrit Cole will take the mound in Game 1 for New York, with Schlittler is set for Games 2 and 5, if necessary.
So which team has the advantage? Maybe neither, if history is any guide.
Since this playoff format started, teams that had the bye have won 9 of the 16 five-game sets in the divisional series against the teams that won a Wild Card Series. It is worth noting, however, that in the last two years, teams with the bye have won 6 of the last 8.
The Yankees are rolling in red hot, but it’s hard to believe the Rays, mostly a contact, speed-based team, will be hampered by any layoff rust, especially with Rasmussen pitching.
Ben Rice landed the hammer blow to the Red Sox in the Wild Card, and now he'll be looking to wreak havoc on the Rays in the ALDS.
The lefty slugger excelled against Tampa during the regular season. Rice hit seven homers against them this year in 51 plate appearances, batting .356.
He was especially successful at Tropicana Field, going 11-for-24 (.458) with five homers and a 1.685 OPS.
Rice has 10 career home runs against Tampa Bay overall.
His at-bats in Game 1 against Rasmussen should be especially intriguing, because he's the one Rays pitcher who has been able to stifle him.
Rice is 1-for-16 lifetime against the Tampa Bay righty, though the one hit was a home run on July 9 of this year.
Considering how crucial Rice was in the Yanks’ victory in the Wild Card Series over Boston, this is a matchup with meaning.
Considering how crucial Rice was in the Yanks’ victory in the Wild Card Series over Boston, this is a matchup with meaning.
The Rays love to take chances on the basepaths, pushing the pace and trying to inject chaos into an inning.
Sharp defense when the Rays run is paramount for the Yankees to escapef innings before Rays baserunners become runs allowed.
“If you’re clean there, there’s some outs to be had,” Aaron Boone said on the workout day. “But they do a lot of things really well.”
The Rays were second in MLB with 164 stolen bases. Chandler Simpson led the AL with 46 steals, but he was also caught an MLB-most 14 times.
Yankee backstop Austin Wells threw out 14-of-64 runners trying to steal, or 21.9 percent -- a few notches below the MLB average rate of 23 percent.
Per Baseball Savant/Statcast, Wells ranks in just the 23rd percentile for average "pop" time, at 1.97 seconds.
While New York's catcher wasn't tested by a quiet Red Sox offense on the basepaths during the Wild Card round, Wells will certainly have to make plays behind the plate during the Divisional Series against the Rays.
Aaron Judge will sit out the New York Yankees' American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays due to a right calf strain that may threaten his viability all October.
Judge was not included on the team's ALDS roster submitted in advanc of Game 1 Saturday, Oct. 3, even as he vowed to "do all he can" to play against the Rays after sitting out their two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card round.
Judge suffered the injury Sept. 16 at Minnesota, just seven games after returning from a rib fracture. He played in just 66 games this season after winning consecutive AL MVP awards.
Now, he'll cool it a little longer as his teammates take aim at the Rays, who won the AL East in Judge's absence.
Before the Yankees finished off the Red Sox, Judge got simulated at-bats in at their Class AAA facility in Somerset. After the team flew to Tampa for the ALDS, he worked out at their spring training facility there and also went through the off day workout at Tropicana Field. Manager Aaron Boone did not specify whether Judge had run the bases in his rehab progression, often one of the final steps to a return, but noted he had tested the calf in other fashions.
New York's sweep of Boston marked its first playoff games contested without Judge, 34, since 2015.
The club added lefty starter Ryan Weathers to the roster for this round, as the best-of-five format will require more length from the pitching staff. DH Giancarlo Stanton is also back on the roster, though he didn't get an at-bat in the two-game wild card series as he returns from a lengthy absence due to a pair of calf injuries.
Our 26 for the ALDS. #RepBX | #Postseasonpic.twitter.com/8Y5ZknJmeg
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 3, 2026
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Three-time MVP Aaron Judge left OFF Yankees roster vs Rays with injury
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Good morning, LSB.
In his latest Q&A Evan Grant was asked if the Rangers would consider moving their outfield fences in to account for their crappy crappy offense.
Also up for discussion: How possible would a Ron Washington reunion to close out his career be?
See where Sebastian Walcott lands on MLB Pipeline’s final top 100 list of the year.
And The Athletic ranks the MLB ballparks by playoff atmosphere.
That’s all for this morning. Have a great weekend!
It’s hard to believe we’ve finally made it through the summer and tonight, the first preseason game of 2026-2027 season tips off for the Toronto Raptors. As is customary, it is one of two NBA Canada Series games, tonight being hosted by Quebec City. This has been a great tradition since 2012, allowing more of the country to be able to watch Canada’s team in person. Previous hosts have included Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, but this will be the first held in Centre Vidéotron.
The new-look Miami Heat has travelled to face them, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bobby Portis Jr. having joined over the summer.
While preseason games are often about getting organized and making those final roster decisions, we can hope to get a bit of a look at Kawhi, Scottie, Giannis and Bam, a harbinger of what could be an excellent matchup throughout the season.
Miami’s size will undoubtedly be a factor. Their frontcourt includes a near-seven-foot Nick Richards and Giannis, 6’10” Nikola Jovic, and Bam Adebayo and Bobby Portis Jr. who are both 6′ 9” and over 250 pounds. This will be advantageous on both ends of the court, as defensively their size and physicality will be an asset rebounding, but they can also play bully-ball at the other end of the court. The other major change to their roster, adding a pair of excellent veteran shooters in Hardaway Jr. and Thompson mean that if anyone gets jammed up in the paint, there will be one or both of them set from outside the arc and ready to shoot.
Toronto won’t have the size advantage, but can rely on the defensive prowess of Scottie Barnes, Kawhi Leonard, and Collin Murray-Boyles. While undersized, their wingspans and athleticism allow all of them to guard guys bigger than them. Kawhi has already proven he can make life difficult for Giannis, and CMB seems to love to play as an undersized center. The wing defence will need to be on a string tonight to shut down the options outside of the paint. Ja’Kobe Walter, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley will all have to be on top of closeouts and shut down shooting opportunities.
More likely than not, this game will come down to the bench though. Both teams will be interested in seeing what the last few guys on the roster can do. Newly-extended Jamal Shead, rookie Allen Graves, and guys like Tyreke Key, Chucky Hepburn, and Alijah Martin could all see solid minutes. They will have to be the difference makers if they want to win the game.
Luckily for Toronto, they’ve all proven to be solid defenders, with the right mindset to want to go out and win games. Especially in a situation like this where they’re auditioning for minutes during the regular season.
Either way, it’s incredibly exciting to see the Raptors back out on the court, especially in Quebec City!
Injury Report
While it’s a little unclear during the preseason, some of Toronto’s players did sit out of the open scrimmage due to various ailments, but it’s unclear if they’ll be suiting up tonight. This could affect Jamison Battle, Kyle Anderson, and Allen Graves.
For Miami, the only two clear missing players will be Keshad Johnson and Dru Smith, sidelined by a right hamstring strain and a calf strain, respectively.
Probable Starters
Toronto: Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley
Miami: Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo
Where to Watch
Tune in at 7:00pm ET on TSN.
David Lesky looks at what the Royals can learn from teams in the playoffs.
I’m not saying the Royals suddenly have a playoff offense, but some health and an addition or two could make the offense good enough with the right pitching in place. A guy like Vinnie Pasquantino getting back to where he was in 2025, along with an acquisition or two, and Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone taking a step forward could make this offense legitimately good in 2027. There are a lot of ifs, but they don’t seem quite as daunting as they have in the past. But boy do they need to figure out how to translate all the hard hits and batting average into runs scored.
Josh Hammond dropped to #82 in MLB Pipeline’s updated top 100 prospect rankings.
Hammond got off to an impressive start at Single-A Columbia in his first full season, and his improved chances of sticking at shortstop only increased enthusiasm. But he only slugged .312 over his final 40 games to finish as a league-average bat in the Carolina League on the year as a whole.
The Royals outrighted left-handed pitcher Luke Little off the 40-man roster.
Could a public vote halt a downtown Royals ballpark?
Shohei Ohtani won’t be at 100 percent for the playoffs.
The best potential World Series matchups for each type of baseball fan.
The super specific matchups that could decide each divisional series.
Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray was frustrated in the lack of trust from his manager.
Aaron Judge undergoes an experimental blood treatment in an effort to get back on the field.
Some reports indicate the Phillies will part ways with manager Don Mattingly.
The Cubs are unlikely to win a bidding war for Seiya Suzuki.
The Diamondbacks will reduce payroll in 2027.
A look at this free agent designated hitter class for this offseason.
ABS overturned 54 percent of umpire calls this season.
The Trail Blazers fire announcer Braiden Bell one day after hiring him after some controversial tweets he made when he was 15 surface.
CBS parts ways with Tony Romo after his drunk driving arrest.
How healthy are berries?
The combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance.
A St. Louis man discovers his biological father is musician Michael McDonald.
Your song of the day is Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers with Into The Great Wide Open.