Worldwide Sports News
Tigers star agrees to $1.2m-a-season tax-free deal after PNG visit
Try-scoring record-holder Alex Johnston also confirms 2028 move
Jarome Luai is expected to become the face of the Papua New Guinea Chiefs after he agreed to join the NRL’s 19th team in 2028.
The deal follows the PNG expansion side’s announcement of South Sydney try-scoring machine Alex Johnston as their historic first signing earlier on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Houston Rockets (52-30, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference)
Los Angeles; Wednesday, 10 p.m. EDT
LINE: Lakers -2.5; over/under is 208.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Lakers lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers look to clinch the Western Conference first round over the Houston Rockets in game five. The Rockets defeated the Lakers 115-96 in the last meeting on Monday. Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 23 points, and Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19.
The Lakers are 33-19 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles averages 116.3 points while outscoring opponents by 1.7 points per game.
The Rockets are 29-23 in Western Conference play. Houston ranks second in the Western Conference scoring 53.0 points per game in the paint led by Alperen Sengun averaging 17.5.
The Lakers' 11.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.6 fewer made shots on average than the 12.4 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets are shooting 47.9% from the field, 0.4% lower than the 48.3% the Lakers' opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: LeBron James is shooting 51.5% and averaging 20.9 points for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Kevin Durant is averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 3.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 6-4, averaging 107.8 points, 39.6 rebounds, 28.4 assists, 10.0 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 51.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points per game.
Rockets: 6-4, averaging 116.8 points, 46.5 rebounds, 24.6 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.2 points.
INJURIES: Lakers: Austin Reaves: day to day (oblique), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring).
Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle), Kevin Durant: day to day (ankle).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Connor Dewar, Kris Letang and Elmer Soderblom scored and the Pittsburgh Penguins avoided elimination for the second time in 48 hours with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday night.
Sidney Crosby shook off a shot to his left knee to add two assists for the Penguins, who cut the Flyers lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.
Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the pressure will be on the Flyers to avoid putting themselves in danger of becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to blow a series after winning the first three games.
Alex Bump scored his first goal of the playoffs for Philadelphia, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Travis Sanheim’s second goal of the series 15:06 into the second.
Crosby, who limped to the bench and then to the training room for treatment minutes earlier after a blast from the point by teammate Ryan Shea appeared to hit the top of his left knee, helped put the Penguins back in front just over two minutes later when he fed the puck to Letang at the top of the Philadelphia zone.
Letang sent a shot toward Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar that sailed wide of the net before bouncing back toward Vladar. The puck smacked off Vladar’s left pad, then his right and across the goal line to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, MAMMOTH 4, OT
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Shea Theodore scored on a snap shot from the high slot with 51.5 seconds left in overtime as Vegas beat Utah after squandering a three-goal lead, tying the first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights appeared to have won the game earlier in OT when Pavel Dorofeyev tapped in a loose puck with 9:41 left, but the apparent score was waved off when it was determined Vegas was offsides.
Vegas’ Brett Howden scored his second goal of the game on a tip-in with 9:35 remaining in the third period, and the goal forced overtime after Utah had stormed back with four straight goals.
The Golden Knights raced out to a 3-0 lead with two goals in the first and one early in the second by Dorofeyev, Howden, and Cole Smith.
Utah countered with four straight scores, capped by Clayton Keller’s wrist shot off a deflection for a 4-3 lead at the 5:10 mark of the third period.
Utah’s Karel Vejmelka had 31 stops. Carter Hart had 27 saves for Vegas.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Orlando Magic are one win away from knocking off a No. 1 seed and winning their first playoff series in 16 years.
They’re not celebrating yet.
Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 in three quarters and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead, putting the East’s No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit.
“We put our ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”
Orlando, which had to win an elimination game at home in the play-in tournament, is on the verge of becoming just the seventh No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 in a series in league history. It’s happened only four times since the playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.
THUNDER 131, SUNS 122
PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24 and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix Suns, capping a four-game sweep in the first-round series.
The Thunder — who have a 12-0 record in the first round over the last three seasons — will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets won Game 4.
Phoenix has a 10-game losing streak in the playoffs, dating to 2023.
The Thunder closed the series with an overwhelming offensive performance — making 17 of 34 (50%) 3-pointers — and their big men played particularly well. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren shot 9 of 16 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while the 7-foot Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
NUGGETS 125, TIMBERWOLVES 113
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic snapped out of his prolonged funk with a triple-double, Spencer Jones provided a key spark and Denver staved off elimination with a chippy win over injury-riddled Minnesota in Game 5 of their playoff series.
Jokic had 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver, which trimmed its deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Jamal Murray scored 24 points and Jones added 20.
Jokic posted his 23rd playoff triple-double, third on the career list, as the Nuggets stopped a three-game skid and played the way they did most of the regular season in securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Minneapolis.
The Vegas Golden Knights missed out when an apparent overtime goal that was waved off for offsides.
But they pushed through and eventually scored a goal that counted to tie their first-round playoff series against the Utah Mammoth at two games apiece.
Shea Theodore got the official goal at 19:08 of the first overtime to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 victory in a game in which they blew a 3-0 lead but tied the game 4-4.
The Golden Knights took advantage of Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka losing his stick on the winning goal. Though a teammate tried to get the stick back to him, the goalie wasn't able to grab it and Theodore blasted the puck past him at 19:08 into the first overtime.
OH NO Cole knocks away Vejmelka's stick and then Theodore rips it home 😱🚨
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 28, 2026
VEGAS TIES UP THE SERIES!!!! ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/YHBuTb805Z
The Golden Knights were celebrating earlier in overtime but all OT goals are reviewed and officials zeroed in on a potential offsides.
It was determined after a long review that Jack Eichel entered the zone ahead of the puck and the goal was wiped out.
VEGAS SCORED THE OT WINNER BUT AFTER A REVIEW... OFFSIDE, NO GOAL 🙅♂️🚫
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 28, 2026
WE PLAY ON! pic.twitter.com/0nVyoil7ml
But Eichel made up for it. He drew an assist on Theodore's game-winner.
The series will head back to Las Vegas on Wednesday, April 29 for Game 5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden Knights rebound from overturned goal to beat Mammoth in OT
The Minnesota Timberwolves raced out to a 3-1 lead, but it might have cost them everything.
Yes, Game 5 on Monday, April 27, when the Denver Nuggets outpaced Minnesota, 125-113, in the first round of the NBA playoffs, was just one game. But it also served as an indicator of just how much Minnesota is missing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo.
Denver outscored Minnesota by a margin of 37-24 in a third quarter avalanche, as the Nuggets are trying to become just the 14th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1.
All of this prompts one question: can the Timberwolves make a run without Edwards and DiVincenzo? Can they even get out of this round?
The Nuggets are now playing with significantly more confidence and momentum than they did earlier in the series. Denver’s bench had scored just 16 points in the crushing Game 4 loss; on Monday night, the reserves scored 27. Cameron Johnson and Spencer Jones, the pair of key Denver forwards, combined to drop 38 points in Game 5 just two nights after they scored just 9.
The Nuggets harassed Minnesota’s ball-handlers, forcing them into 25 turnovers Monday night, which was three more than Minnesota’s combined total in Games 3 and 4.
But, more than anything, the Timberwolves played tight and pressed, seemingly hyper-aware of the players they were missing.
“I thought we started the game wanting to make all of the home run plays, instead of wanting to make the plays that help us get into the ball game and make the rhythm plays,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
This is where Edwards’ absence hurts the Timberwolves. He’s a stabilizing presence and one of the dynamic scoring threats in the NBA. He averaged 28.8 points per game during the regular season, which ranked third in the league. He can handle the ball, his shooting range helps space the floor and he’s the preferred option in the clutch.
And while backup guard Ayo Dosunmu emerged as a breakout player in Game 4 with his historic 43-point masterpiece, it’s clear the Timberwolves won’t be able to count on that kind of production every night from here on out.
Dosunmu scored 18 points in a solid performance, and the Timberwolves did shrink a 27-point deficit to 10 midway through the fourth, but that run came when Denver eased its pressure and intensity.
So, what’s the path forward for Minnesota?
For one, the Timberwolves should hope that Edwards heals quickly. Because even if they get past the Nuggets, their likely opponent in the second round would be the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs, who are a legitimate threat to win the West. But, practically speaking, the Timberwolves will essentially need to play pristine defense like it did during its three-game winning streak in the series, especially in the paint.
In Games 2, 3 and 4, the Timberwolves limited Denver to an average of just 38.7 points in the paint per game. In Game 5, that figure ballooned to 62.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was masterful against Nikola Jokić. Forward Jaden McDaniels irritated Jamal Murray and Denver’s other ball-handlers. More of that will be required.
Because without Edwards, the short-handed Timberwolves are not only suddenly vulnerable, they might be marching toward a historic exit.
“I think we were all just trying to press and make plays a little bit too much,” Timberwolves forward Julius Randle said after the game. “The formula was still the same, so we don’t have to change that. We’ll be better next game.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nuggets make short-handed Timberwolves look vulnerable in Game 5
Ben Rice and Aaron Judge.
“That’s a pretty good combo there,” Aaron Boone said.
That combo has been in the middle of everything early on for the Yankees’ offense, and that was again the case during Monday night’s win over the Rangers.
After Jack Leiter breezed his way through the first two innings, Rice was able to break through, crushing a first pitch fastball the other way to deep left-center.
The blast left the bat at a whopping 106.9 mph and traveled 404 feet to the deepest part of the park.
“Man, that ball was pummeled,” Boone said.
“I didn’t think it was going to go out so I was running hard, but it was cool to see one go out that way,” Rice added.
The 27-year-old lefty continued his spectacular start to the season, pushing him into a tie with Judge for second in the league and the team-lead for homer, though it was short-lived.
Judge regained the advantage over his slugging teammate just five pitches later, as he laced a 3-2 curveball 113 mph over the right-field fence for his 11th homer and the Yanks first back-to-back jacks of the season.
It was Judge’s eighth blasts over his last 15 games.
“I couldn’t let him catch me,” the captain joked. “I had to make sure I got one after that.”
“Just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” a smiling Rice added.
Friendly competition aside, the two entered some prestigious company, joining Yogi Berra and Mikey Mantle as the only pair of teammates in franchise history with 10+ homers in the first 29 games of the season.
They are also just the third duo in MLB history to reach that mark during the month of April.
We already know what Judge is capable of, but having the scorching-hot Rice hitting around him only makes this Yankees lineup even scarier moving forward.
“Hitting right behind him now, it makes my job easier,” Judge admitted.
“I enjoy hitting in the order with him,” Rice added. “Whether I’m in front of him or behind him, I think there’s different scenarios where either way works, but anytime I could be near him in the lineup is a good one.”
PHOENIX (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 131-122 on Monday night, capping a four-game sweep in the first-round series.
The Thunder — who have a 12-0 record in the first round over the last three seasons — will face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead, though the Rockets won Game 4.
Phoenix has a 10-game losing streak in the playoffs, dating to 2023.
The Thunder closed the series with an overwhelming offensive performance — making 17 of 34 (50%) 3-pointers — and their big men played particularly well. The 7-foot-1 Holmgren shot 9 of 16 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds, while the 7-foot Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
Ajay Mitchell added 22 points and made four 3-pointers. Alex Caruso finished with 14 points and hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander was reliable as usual. Two days after scoring 42 points in Game 3, he had another efficient performance, shooting 10 of 17 from the field.
The Suns showed some fight in the second half, cutting a 15-point deficit to 106-98 entering the fourth. Devin Booker scored 12 points in the third quarter on 5-of-8 shooting.
But every time the Suns got within a few possessions, the Thunder responded. Cason Wallace hit a corner 3 with 5:54 left to extend the Oklahoma City lead to 120-106. Gilgeous-Alexander followed with a spectacular layup, somehow getting the shot to fall over three defenders.
Booker led the Suns with 24 points while Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green added 23. Collin Gillespie added 20 points while making six 3-pointers.
The Thunder pushed to a 75-67 lead by halftime after shooting 61.4% from the floor and 60% from 3-point range, hitting 12 of 20 behind the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 before the break, making a wide-open 3-pointer just before halftime.
That offset a hot shooting start for the Suns, who made 11 of 20 3-pointers. Gillespie scored 17 before the break, making all six of his shots, including five 3s.
The Thunder were without starter Jalen Williams, who missed his second straight game because of a left hamstring strain. Suns center Mark Williams (foot) and guard Jordan Goodwin (calf) were also out.
While the Detroit Red Wings are watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs at home for the 10th straight season, a pair of forwards who wore the Winged Wheel earlier in their careers are helping their current team stay alive in postseason competition.
Former Red Wings forwards Anthony Mantha and Elmer Soderblom, now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, factored into the scoring in Monday evening's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Penguins squeaked out a 3-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena, cutting what was once a three games to none series lead for the Flyers down to three to two.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
Soderblom, who was traded to the Penguins by the Red Wings in March, opened the scoring with his first career goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, whistling a snap shot past the blocker of Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar early in the first period.
ELMER SODERBLOM SCORES ON THE FIRST SHOT OF THE GAME!!! #StanleyCup
— NHL (@NHL) April 27, 2026
📺: @espn, @Sportsnet, & @TVASportspic.twitter.com/5OPSLHB8br
Picking up the assist on Soderblom's goal was none other than Anthony Mantha, who enjoyed a career season in Pittsburgh. He set new personal highs in both goals (33) and assists (31), and is in line for a raise on the $2.5 million he earned for this year.
Soderblom, who was the tallest player in Red Wings history at towering at an imposing 6'9", was never able to realize his full potential in Detroit, and after registering just two goals and an assist in 39 games played this season, was traded to Pittsburgh on March 6 for a 2026 third-round draft pick.
Mantha, who spent the first several years of his NHL career with Detroit but often had time giving a full effort on the ice, was traded to the Washington Capitals in April 2021 for Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2022 second-round pick.
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It’s that time of year again for us: time to update things just as we’ve done for 19 straight seasons. We aren’t going to count them up, but this is around our 4ooth report through thick (mostly) and thin. Like many previous ones, it will be numbers-heavy. Deal with it.
This year, off-course, is different. It is, as Jordi Fernandez said during the season, “this is the summer of our lives.” Ever since the Nets decided to go into a full rebuild sometime back in the early months of 2024, everything pointed to this summer — and to be more specific the 2026 Draft Lottery and the 2026 NBA Draft. They will take place May 10 in Chicago and June 23-24 in Brooklyn.
So how things going?
At the moment, you’d have to say reasonably well. The franchise seems prepared although as we know, luck plays a huge role. The moment could pass, could change, etc. but so far, so good.
The first piece of the off-season is the Lottery, the NBA’s annual house of cards. The Nets’ plan was always to secure a top three seed primarily by depriving Jordi Fernandez of talent, including fielding the youngest NBA roster in 20 years including a unique draft class. That mission was accomplished the last week of the season after some brutal, brutal losses.
Then comes the Draft itself. Largely because of the tank and what the Nets did on June 25, 2024 with the Mikal Bridges trade and the exchange of picks with the Houston Rockets, Sean Marks & co. have more draft capital than anyone else. To reiterate: that’s 13 firsts — nine of them tradeable; 19 seconds — all of them tradeable; plus two first round pick swaps. In each case, it’s the biggest number in the NBA. It’s not quite unprecedented. If memory serves us, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Sam Presti once had 36. (He still has 27.)
At the moment again, Brooklyn holds three picks in the 2026 Draft, the third best odds at getting one of the top four picks including the overall No. 1 as well as the No. 33 (their own) and the No. 43 (the Los Angeles Clippers’ second) in the second round. In its Draft Power Rankings, Tankathon puts the Nets combination at No. 3 behind the Memphis Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls. Moving up or down on May 10 will change that. So will any trades. As we’ve noted many times, Marks has made trades both big and small within 48 hours of the draft nine times in his 10-year tenure.
There are other positive numbers of course beyond the draft: they have third biggest cache of cap space, somewhere between $30 and $50 million depending on what they do with various team options and contract renewals … and how high they finish in the Lottery. (The difference between the overall No. 1 and worst-case-scenario seventh pick is nearly $7 million in 2026-27 and $30+ million over the course of the four-year rookie deal.)
They also have an ownership with a record of paying the luxury tax when needed. Bobby Marks estimated that Joe Tsai has paid out $323 million in luxury taxes between when he bought into the Nets in 2017-18 as a minority owner and the last time the Nets paid any tax in 2022-23.
One underappreciated aspect of the rebuild is that by keeping their payroll low the past three seasons, the Nets will avoid the dreaded repeater tax over at least next four years. That tax goes into effect when a team goes over the tax threshold three out of four years and includes multipliers that restrict teams in various ways. It helps when you have seven players on rookie deals as Brooklyn likely will next year with Noah Clowney, the Flatbush 5 and their lottery pick making somewhere between $36 million and $42.8 million, again depending on how the little plastic balls fall. If you want to have “sustainable success,” one of the team’s mantras, avoiding the luxury tax and aprons will be key.
The Nets do not operate in a vacuum of course. What the other front offices do matters a lot and a little more than midway through the first round of the playoffs, there are other encouraging signs for Nets fans, particular regarding the fate of three teams the Nets have done business with.
—The Knicks fate is one the most closely tied to the Nets. With three first rounders and a first round swap still owed, it’s given. The firsts are in 2027, 2029 and 2031, the swap, also unprotected, is in 2028. If the Knicks falter, it could be a windfall for the Nets. As the moment, the Knicks and the Hawks are tied 2-2 in the best of seven series and worse for Knicks fans, the guy who they received in that monumental trade is having a terrible series.
The question is what if the New Yorkers fail to meet James Dolan’s high standards — him standing, champagne-drenched and teary-eyed with the Larry O’Brien Trophy clutched in his hands. What will be the next step at the Garden? The Knicks have the fourth oldest roster in the NBA and as a result of the Mikal Bridge and Karl-Anthony Towns trades bereft of first round picks. While the Nets have 13 firsts over the next seven years, the Knicks have four. They also have big contract extensions coming due. Bridges’ four-year, $150 million deal kicks in next season and they’re only $370,000 shy of the second apron. The Nets are $56.5 million under. Other decisions are closing in as well, like Mitchell Robinson’s unrestricted free agency this summer. Be interesting to watch.
—The Rockets too could be at an intersection. The Nets may have to swap firsts in 2027 with the Rockets as a result of the pick exchange that permitted Brooklyn to reclaim their firsts in 2025 and 2026. But they’re down 3-1 to the Lakers even with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves on the bench. Moreover, Kevin Durant is hurting and there’s word their locker room isn’t a model of probity. It’s long been assumed that the swap will greatly favor Houston who could wind up with a top Nets pick, aka Jayson Tatum in 2017. But suppose the Rockets decide to part ways with KD and try a modified rebuild, hurting their draft stock in 2027. Better to swap a No. 15 pick for a No. 10 than having to swap a No. 10 for a No. 3, even in a mediocre draft. Another interesting watch.
—Then, there’s the Nuggets who were down 3-1 to the Timberwolves Monday night and not looking like the contender everyone thought they would be. They have big decisions as well, but the urgency is less and they do have Nikola Jokic who is a three-time MVP and an O’Brien trophy winner of recent vintage. But should they team head to Cancun early, ownership and the front office will have to sit down and wonder what went wrong and what’s next.
No, they won’t trade Jokic, but they need to figure out how to get younger and that includes keeping restricted free agent Payton Watson whose breakout year had made him one of the top targets this. He’s also close to MPJ. For Denver to keep him and still find of modicum of flexibility, they may have to find a way to dump Johnson, who is an expiring now at age 30. It won’t be easy. He’s owed $23 million and hasn’t played in 60 games in any of the past four seasons. If another team wanted him, they might ask for a first in return, but at the moment, Denver doesn’t have. They traded their last first along with Porter to the Nets.
Finally, there was word today that Adam Silver likes an anti-tanking plan that would essentially flatten the odds making it possible for even playoff teams to have a chance at winning the overall No. 1 in the future. Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote about the new proposal and its implications.
[A]ccording to league and team sources, a heavy front-runner has emerged among the three proposed solutions to curb the widespread tanking problem that put such a stain on this season: Option No. 1, in which 18 teams would be part of the draft lottery (rather than the current 14) and the bottom 10 teams would all have an 8 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick. The remaining odds — 20 percent in all — would be divided among the remaining eight teams. In the current system, the bottom three teams all have a 14 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and the odds decline from there.
Nothing is final, but the league will be talking to GMs on Tuesday about the plan. Silver has said reforming the lottery is a top priority. With so many traded first rounders and swaps, the Nets should get a small advantage if, as Amick reported, the odds are flattened. For example, if in 2027, the Knicks made it to the playoffs but with the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th worst record, under the old rules the Nets would not be in the lottery, but under the revised rules laid out by Amick, they would have a shot, albeit a small one, at moving up. The more picks, the more chances, the more opportunities to move up.
Amick noted that while this option has legs, it could be modified before the NBA Board of Governors votes on tanking reform next month. At least 23 of the 30 governors — aka the owners — must approve the final package. Silver has said that he expects reforms to be implemented by next season, telling GMs earlier this year, “You should assume for next season your only incentive will be to win games,”
The Athletic also reported Monday that Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, Jordi Fernandez’s No. 2 and long time friend, has been interviewed by the New Orleans Hornets for their open head coaching position.
Wait? Didn’t Hetzel just get extended by the Nets along with Fernandez and his eight fellow assistants coach?!? Indeed he did but the extension doesn’t prohibit him or other assistants to be interviewed for better jobs elsewhere. It is standard operating procedure for teams to permit their assistants to talk to other teams about head coaching openings elsewhere. Indeed, in 2024, the Nets interviewed Fernandez, then a Kings assistant, for the top job in Brooklyn with Sacramento’s permission.
How legitimate of a candidate is Hetzel? Apparently, he is a serious one. Interestingly, so is another candidate with a Nets background. Sean Sweeney was an assistant under Jason Kidd in Brooklyn, then followed him to Dallas before joining up with the San Antonio Spurs.
Expect the Pelicans as well as other teams with openings to make a decision in advance on the June 23-24 NBA Draft.
How long have we been doing this? Well, our first Draft Sleeper was DeAndre Jordan of Texas A&M back in 2008. The New Jersey Nets did not select him but as we all know and some of us ultimately lament he wound up with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 as part of the Clean Sweep. Yes, he’s still playing, last season for the Pelicans.
Now, though, the stakes are a lot higher as noted above. Rather than being pessimistic about the Lottery, let’s go for broke and project the Nets winning the Draft Lottery! Huzzah!
So if the aerodynamics of ping pong balls work to our advantage, who would the Nets take with the overall No. 1 in a draft described as both deep and generational??
Beat us! And not just us. There was one piece of intel that the Nets like Kingston Flemings, the 6’5” Houston point guard, burt that’s it. We believe the Nets have started workouts and interviews of prospects. Based on their current picks at Nos. 3, 33 and 43 and what’s known about their history, you’d expect that 60 or more candidates will be brought in and not just for the Draft but for slots on the Summer League, training camp and the Long Island Nets invites. It all goes into the scouting database.
A.J. Dybantsa, the 19-year-old, 6’9” BYU wing, has been seen as one of three franchise changers in the 2026 Draft for more than a year. His skills and NBA fit were being acknowledged in high school! Early this season, the Boston area native, was seen as the second or third of the franchise-changers but a combination of his game and questions about Kansas guard Darryn Peterson’s personality and injuries pushed Dybantsa into the consensus No. 1 spot among draftniks, bypassing Cam Boozer of Duke.
What makes him the top pick? If you go just by the numbers, you can see he had a sensational year for Brigham Young, averaging 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 35 (out of 4o) minutes. He shot 51/33/77 despite being double-teamed a lot of the time.
But he also has the personality indeed a wow factor that as George Steinbrenner once famously said can put “fannies in the seats.“
Some highlights of his season:
They don’t compare him to a Tracey McGrady for nothing.
“I guess you’d rather fail with [AJ] and his upside, than not,” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN this month. “And I know Peterson has upside, maybe Boozer’s upside is a little bit less. … I just think that [AJ], because he’s 6’9” and he could be like 6’10”, 230 [pounds] by the time he’s 25 years old, he could just be a monster. I think you’ve just got to go down swinging with him if you go down.”
Dybantsa also won kudos this week for his good-bye message to the Cougars.
“When I committed to BYU, I knew I was signing up for something bigger than basketball,” he wrote. “A lot of people questioned the decision. For me, the choice was simple. I wanted to go to the place that would best develop me as a basketball player and as a person. BYU was the program that gave me the clearest path to both.”
The sincerity exhibited in the letter belied one concern raised about Dybantsa: his maturity. Could he lead your franchise?
“Dybantsa not the guy you want to set your culture. They’d be better off with lesser talent,” said one league decision-maker (not with the Nets) who did not elaborate
Of course, he is only 19.
Congratulations to Mr. Whammy, aka Bruce Reznick. He will join Joe Tsai, Sean Marks and other Nets front office staff at the NBA Draft Lottery. Tsai announced the invitation to Whammy on Monday night in a tweet.
And thanks to Joe Tsai not only for inviting the 90-year-old superfan and Hall of Fame member to the Lottery but for recognizing what Whammy and his late wife, Judy, have done for the Nets going back to New Jersey days. Good all around.
We’ll have more in the morning!
Well, folks, we officially have ourselves a series.
The Pittsburgh Penguins made the trip back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Monday after a gutsy Game 4 win that finally put a dent into that 3-0 series lead for the Philadelphia Flyers. Like Game 4, it was do-or-die, as they had to come away with the "W" in order to survive.
And after Monday's game, that small dent has become quite a bit larger.
The Penguins put on a defensive clinic in the third period to best the Flyers, 3-2, and force Game 6 in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Goaltender Arturs Silovs - despite allowing a goal he'd probably want back - was strong yet again, stopping 18 of 20 Flyers' shots on goal and, for the most part, coming up big when he had to.
It is also the second-straight game where the Penguins have locked down defensively in the third period, and head coach Dan Muse gives credit to the Penguins' ability to largely maintain possession of the puck, even late in both games with the empty net.
"I think you us giving up less there in both of the third periods, which I think it's a credit to the group," Muse said. "Just being able to make sure in the tight games, I think it's important, too - and I thought for the most part, we did a good job - but we still want to make plays. You don't want to just be throwing pucks away. The more you can be in the offensive zone and have possession, that's always the best defense.
"Overall, the guys did a really good job at the end of the games that we've won."
The Penguins opened up the scoring pretty early in this one despite the Flyers getting some early opportunities. Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon dumped the puck into the zone, and Anthony Mantha won the footrace to it behind the net as well as the battle for the puck. He quickly and decisively found Elmer Soderblom breaking into the slot, and Soderblom put home the Penguins' first shot of the game to give them a 1-0 lead.
Give it up for Glue Guy's first-ever playoff goal 🙌 pic.twitter.com/AjLCbPCMHe
— x - Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 27, 2026
Pittsburgh controlled most of the first period, and that continued in the early stages of the second, when the team's third line had a good shift where they maintained possession of the puck. That continued with the fourth line, and toward the end of their shift, Blake Lizotte fed Sidney Crosby - fresh off the bench - and he found Connor Dewar breaking down the left side.
Dewar fired a top-shelf snipe to the upper-left corner of the net, hitting the back bar and coming out just as fast as it went in. The Penguins realized they scored right away - even if the officials didn't - and after a short gathering, they confirmed the goal, which put the Penguins up, 2-0, just over three minutes into the second period.
We would once again, like to remind you...
— x - Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 28, 2026
YOU CAN'T OUTDO THE DEWAR. pic.twitter.com/Lh60gSqLU3
However, things got a bit dicey when the Flyers responded just 12 seconds later. Alex Bump - taking the place of young Flyers' forward Matvei Michkov in the lineup - broke down the right side and gained positional advantage, and he put a puck on net that somehow found its way through Silovs's five-hole and into the net to cut into the Penguins' lead.
From there, much of the middle frame was played in the neutral zone, with each team not giving the other a ton of space. Later in the period, Sidney Crosby absorbed a heavy blast from teammate Ryan Shea - he later confirmed he was okay - and briefly went down the runway.
Right upon his return to the bench, Travis Sanheim shot a puck from the left side that went through traffic and deflected off the stick of Erik Karlsson, going behind Silovs and tying the game at 2-2.
But the Penguins responded with a goal of their own this time - and they got their lucky bounce as well.
A little more than two minutes later, the Penguins' first line was cycling in the offensive zone, and defenseman Kris Letang floated a puck toward the goal that hit off the stancheon and bounced back toward Vladar. Vladar backed himself onto the goal line - not knowing where it was - and accidentally slid the puck past the goal line to give the Penguins back the 3-2 lead late in the second.
Second of the series for Tanger💪 pic.twitter.com/s5H7Gb6IDY
— x - Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 28, 2026
Then, in the third period, the Penguins simply didn't allow much at all. Even though they only registered four shots themselves in the final frame, they limited the Flyers to six and largely kept them to the perimeter. Again, the Penguins were especially good in the final few minutes, making it difficult for the Flyers to pull Vladar in the first place and not giving them much at all once he was finally pulled.
This win was a huge testament to the resiliency of this group, which is something that has been on display all season long.
"That's something we've prided ourselves on all year," Crosby said. "Throughout the season, we have been in different situations, and I think that we've done a great job at handling adversity. Again, here, we're faced with more. It doesn't get any easier, so we know it's a big challenge.
"I think we have a lot of belief in our group, and we've done it time and time again. So, we've got to do it again."
Game 6 between the Penguins and Flyers will be Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Philadelphia.
GAME BLOG: Pittsburgh Penguins V. Philadelphia Flyers, Game 5Follow along with the THN - Pittsburgh Penguins' LIVE game blog for Round 1, Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers- The fourth line did a whole lot of good things in this game. They were used quite a lot in the final frame, when the Penguins were tasked with shutting things down and holding their narrow lead. And they helped generate offensively, too.
But, boy, was the first line good on Monday, too.
Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust were a threat nearly every time they touched the ice. They gave up some chances against, too, but they were able to cycle in the offensive zone for the majority of the game, which is a pretty big deal.
87 looked much more himself in this game, and he was in vintage form. He finished with two primary assists on the evening and nearly scored an empty-netter on a diving attempt near center ice.
"When things get hard, when backs are against the wall, there is no doubt in my mind that he's going to lead the charge in terms of elevating, finding a way to do everything possible to help this team win a hockey game," Muse said of Crosby after the game.
Honestly, all four lines were big contributors for the Penguins Monday, as the third line of Soderblom, Ben Kindel, and Mantha were excellent as well. I'd still like to see more from the second line, but it's only a matter of time before Egor Chinakhov finds the back of the net in this series.
Penguins Going Back To Same Lineup From Game 4 Was The Right CallThe Pittsburgh Penguins are going back to what worked in Game 4 ahead of their must-win Game 5 matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.- That said, the best players on the ice Monday were Letang and Sam Girard.
This pairing was driving the bus for the Penguins all night long. According to Moneypuck, they had a 64.4 percent expected goals share, which, honestly, seems kind of low. Letang, in particular, looked confident while carrying the puck and was able to make a few key defensive plays as well.
Girard's ability in transition led to several opportunities as well, and they both skated the puck out of trouble with relative ease.
Karlsson still has not found the next gear. Ilya Solovyov's shifts were limited, especially in the third period. And Wotherspoon has been a bit shaky at times in this series. But between those two and Shea - who saw some shifts with Karlsson during the third period in this one - the Penguins' blue line has been more than solid in the last two.
Once Karlsson elevates - and if Girard and Letang can maintain this level and keep generating - things should look pretty good on the backend for the Penguins.
3 Takeaways: Penguins Earn Desperation Win Against Flyers To Force Game 5The Pittsburgh Penguins - led by goaltender Arturs Silovs and captain Sidney Crosby - played well enough to force a Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series. - It's already been said a few times over, but I'm so impressed with the Penguins' shutdown play in both third periods during these last two games.
Yes, they surrendered a third-period goal Saturday, but the response matters. They're not giving the Flyers any time and space. They've even deployed their own 1-1-3 in the neutral zone at times. They're giving the Flyers a taste of their own medicine from earlier on in the series, and even Flyers' coach Rick Tocchet is impressed with the Penguins' defensive effort.
"You've got to give them credit," Tocchet said. "They're defending really hard."
If the Penguins can get the first goal again and play this well defensively in Game 6 - and, perhaps, get their power play going - they could make things very, very interesting.
Stay tuned, folks.
'You Don't Really Have Anything To Lose': With 3-0 Odds Stacked Against Them, Penguins Still Believe Comeback Is PossibleIt's no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in a precarious spot down 3-0 in their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. But they're not ready to give up or give in. Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
Hey, 13-15… that’s… not so bad, right? The past decade or so of Giants Baseball has — except for that one time — basically conditioned us to expect and embrace mediocrity and here we are, paired again with a familiar friend. That’s actually preferrable to the vibes — nay, the objective reality — that followed the first week of the season, when it looked like everyone in the organization was in over his head. The Giants are basically playing a lot closer to expectations now and, well, even if you don’t agree with what those were heading into the season, perhaps you’d admit that it’s a far better place to be than where some other teams are right now.
In the offseason, the New York Mets drastically retooled their roster and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 12-game losing streak. The Phillies basically stood pat and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 10-game losing streak. The Royals tried to build off their nice 2025 with some tinkering at the margins and the results have been disastrous: 11-17 with an 8-game losing streak. The AL pennant winner Blue Jays are 12-15 and the Boston Red Sox, primed to be a top team this season, are just 11-17 and on Sunday they liquidated their entire coaching staff. Finally, the Houston Astros have far too many pitching injuries to list to go with an 11-18 record.
On the other side of surprise ledger, there are the Reds at 18-10 and the Pirates 16-12 while the Padres are not just holding strong in second place but pushing the Dodgers for the top of the NL West with their 18-9 record.
That’s 9 teams that are not where people expected them to be before the season. The Giants, though, are pretty much rolling along according to plan. For the purposes of the postseason race, would you take the Giants against this field going forward?
There are plenty of compelling reasons to answer YES:
But if you remain skeptical of the Giants this season — or, really, just believe that a lot of these surprisingly bad teams will be able to turn things around just as the Giants did already in April — there are perfectly valid data points to support the position.
It’s not that the field is wide open so much that there’s a lot more uncertainty in the system than we might’ve expected even at this point in the season. Last year on this exact date, the Mets were 19-9 and the Giants were leading the NL West at 19-10. Only 2 of the 5 NL Central teams had winning records. And, by the way, the Brewers, who racked up the most wins last season, were just 14-15 (they’re 14-13 today)
So, it’s still early, but the Giants have shown a bit more gumption and perseverance than some other teams with even greater expectations. The Giants have played their way back into a decent spot for competing over the next five months. They still don’t have the most talented bunch when compared to a lot of teams out there, though, so, given that, if you had to make a final decision today, would you rather be in a position of one of the other teams (who aren’t the Dodgers, Yankees, or Cubs) or roll the dice and see if the Giants really have righted the ship?
At the trade deadline last February, the Detroit Pistons mostly stayed quiet. Trajan Langdon and the front office made a conscious decision not to make a big move; they wanted to see what this group — which finished with the No. 1 seed in the East — could do in the cauldron of the playoffs. They chose not to add any secondary shot creation, no speed, and just a little shooting from Kevin Huerter (sending out Jaden Ivey).
That lack of secondary playmaking and shooting has Detroit on the verge of being knocked out of the playoffs by the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic.
In a physical, defensive Game 4 on Monday, the Pistons shot just 6-of-30 (20%) from 3-point range and 37.8% overall. And in the face of intense defensive pressure, the Pistons turned the ball over 20 times — eight times by Cade Cunningham, who also shot 7-of-23 on the night. Detroit is just flat-out struggling to score against a quality Orlando defense, they lack shot creators and shooters.
Meanwhile, the Magic were stepping up and making just enough plays.
JAMAL CAIN WITH THE BEST POSTER OF THE PLAYOFFS SO FAR!!!! pic.twitter.com/PpR117LNMc
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) April 28, 2026
The result Monday night was a 94-88 Magic win in front of a raucous home crowd, which gives them a commanding 3-1 series lead as everything shifts back to Detroit on Wednesday.
This has been a defensive series and the Magic were not exactly lighting it up — 32.9% shooting as a team. Yet their stars seemed to grind out ways to score, with Desmond Bane having another strong night with 22 points and shooting 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Paolo Banchero put up 18 points, mostly because he got downhill and got to the free-throw line 13 times.
Franz Wagner added 19 but was out at the end of the game with what the Pistons described as a sore calf. He was replaced by former two-way player Jamal Cain, who was making key shots and defending Cunningham down the stretch.
While the Magic stars are finding ways, the Pistons' stars are struggling. Cunningham finished with 25 points, but was 3-of-11 from beyond the arc and had the eight turnovers. Jalen Duren finished the night with 12 points and eight assists, making a real impact on the defensive end but not enough on offense. Duncan Robinson, the best shooter on the team, was 1-of-6 from 3, while Tobias Harris was 0-5 from 3 but still finished with 20 points.
Detroit was slopping from the opening tip with seven turnovers in their first 10 possessions of the night — five in a row at one point — which led to a dozen Pistons points. Combine that with some early fouls by the Pistons and the Magic were up by as many as 12 in the first six minutes. It was the Pistons' bench that settled things down and had them back in the game — behind them the Pistons rip off a 16-3 run. At the end of one quarter, it was 27-26 Detroit.
The Pistons cranked up their defense after the rough start, and in the face of that the Magic settled for a lot more jump shots. With that, Detroit went on a run and led by as many as 10, then it was Orlando's turn to adjust, show some grit and fight back. The result was a 54-52 Magic lead at the half.
This game was close most of the way, but energized at home, the Magic made just enough plays and hit just enough shots in the end to get the win.
Now Detroit heads home for a must-win game and a lot of questions.
Apr 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) moves the puck against Philadelphia Flyers center Luke Glendening (41) during the third period in game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
PITTSBURGH — Connor Dewar, Kris Letang and Elmer Soderblom scored and the Pittsburgh Penguins avoided elimination for the second time in 48 hours with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday night.
Sidney Crosby shook off a shot to his left knee to add two assists for the Penguins, who cut the Flyers’ lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.
Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the pressure will be on the Flyers to avoid putting themselves in danger of becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to blow a series after winning the first three games.
“We know it’s a big challenge going into there,” Crosby said. “But I think we have a lot of belief in our group, and we’ve done it time and time again.”
Alex Bump scored in his playoff debut for Philadelphia, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Travis Sanheim’s second goal of the series 15:06 into the second.
Crosby, who limped to the bench and then to the training room for treatment minutes earlier after a blast from the point by teammate Ryan Shea appeared to hit the top of his left knee, helped put the Penguins back in front just over two minutes later when he fed the puck to Letang at the top of the Philadelphia zone.
Letang sent a shot toward Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar that sailed wide of the net before bouncing back toward Vladar. The puck smacked off Vladar’s left pad, then his right and across the goal line to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.
“Bounces are part of the game,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “But I think you earn them when you’re working and you try to do the right things. That’s usually when the bounces go your way.”
After four games of mostly low-event hockey, Game 5 started with a frantic pace, a style that favors the Penguins, who finished as the NHL’s third-highest-scoring team during the regular season.
That offense went largely missing while Pittsburgh fell into a 3-0 hole. Pushed to the brink, it has returned with a flourish, and this time it wasn’t just Crosby, Letang and Evgeni Malkin shouldering the burden.
Soderblom’s first goal of the playoffs and Dewar’s second gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the second period. Philadelphia responded behind Bump and Sanheim, but Letang’s fluky score late in the second was the difference.
Pittsburgh will take the ice on Wednesday, having all the momentum after two games in which they looked like the resilient, resourceful group that was among the NHL’s biggest surprises.
The Flyers and their late playoff surge were one of the others, though Philadelphia and its talented young core will have the difficult task of finishing off a more experienced group with Hall of Famers scattered across the roster.
“They are a veteran team, they know what it takes to win,” Vladar said. “We are still a young team. We’ve got to learn that. We’ve got to bounce back. Still try to play our game, not their game.”
While the Yankees’ Monday night game in Texas was never a blowout, much of it felt like it was trending towards a fairly comfortable Bombers win. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge continued to be stalwarts in the Yankees’ lineup, each going deep to help build up a lead. Meanwhile on the mound, starter Max Fried was pretty stellar. He ended up going six innings, keeping the Rangers off the board, having allowed four hits and two walks. One of the runners he allowed even ended up the victim of one of his trademark pickoffs.
However, after Fried departed, the bullpen let things get way too close for comfort, as is they tend to do. In both the eighth and ninth innings, Texas brought the tying run to the plate. In the ninth, they even had the winning run up.
Eventually though, the bullpen got the required outs, as the Yankees picked up yet another victory on their road trip, downing the Rangers 4-2.
After getting kept off the board in the first two innings, it seemed like the Yankees had missed a chance in the third when José Caballero got caught trying to steal second for the second out of the inning. However, Trent Grisham kept the inning alive with a single that deflected off pitcher Jack Leiter and to safety. Rice and Judge then went back to back, drawing first blood on the game.
Rice’s blast tied Judge for the team lead with 10, and amusingly, the dead heat lasted only a couple moments because Judge followed with his own clout.
The following inning Jazz Chisholm Jr. got in on the action and continued his recent run with another homer.
Fried exited after six innings, as the Yankees went to the bullpen to start the seventh. That was also where the shutout ended. Camilo Doval came in and allowed a one-out solo home run to Joc Pederson for Texas’ first run of the game.
Tim Hill came in for the eighth and ran into some trouble. He issued walks to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung, allowing the Rangers to bring the tying run to the plate. Said tying run came up in the form of Corey Seager, who Hill got to ground out, but it was a bit of a hot shot.
With David Bednar on the hill, the ninth then got off to another scary start. Jake Burger reached on what was ruled a single to start the inning, after Chisholm got to a grounder but didn’t have much of a play on and threw wide. Pederson then seemingly also reached in not unsimilar circumstances, but Chisholm successfully threw to first on that play and on review, it turned out that the throw beat Pederson to the bag.
Bednar than came back and struck out Kyle Higashioka, but things got even closer after that.
After Josh Smith hit yet another grounder to Chisholm, the second baseman committed an error after booting it. Alejandro Osuna came up next and dinked a single into center. That scored one run and brought the potential winning run to the plate. Bednar finally managed to finish things off there, inducing a grounder to short that José Caballero safely fielded and threw to second for the final out.
With that, the Yankees bounced back from their Sunday loss and have now won nine of their last ten. They’ll try to keep that going tomorrow, when the Yankees and Rangers will continue their series tomorrow night at 8:05 pm ET. Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom are expected to be the starters for that one.