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Mohamed Diawara became Knicks’ Jaylen Brown stopper in latest opportunity

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket against Mohamed Diawara of the New York Knicks.
Mohamed Diawara guards Jaylen Brown during the Knicks-Celtics game on Feb. 8, 2026.

BOSTON — Mohamed Diawara picked up the slack for an absent OG Anunoby.

With Anunoby sidelined for a second straight game because of a sore toe, Diawara became the Jaylen Brown stopper in the second half of Sunday’s 111-89 Knicks victory over the Celtics. 

It earned Diawara, the second-round rookie, his first defensive player of the game award, which is given by the Knicks coaching staff after victories. 

Mohamed Diawara guards Jaylen Brown during the Knicks-Celtics game on Feb. 8, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images

“You get a guy like Jaylen Brown who is a heck of a player. In the first half he was having his way with us a little bit. He was 6-for-11, he was rolling,” coach Mike Brown said. “In the second half, we did a better job defensively as a team. I got to give Mo some credit. Mo was our defensive player of the game. We threw Mo on him for a little bit. We thought we’re going to try to make Jaylen work, be physical, get up into him, stuff like that, and he did it without fouling. He did a nice job with it. So to see that from a young guy at this point in his career was a lot of fun as a staff.”

In addition to his defensive prowess, Diawara was perfect from the field — 4-for-4 overall, 2-for-2 from deep — while scoring 10 points.

The Knicks outscored Boston by 22 points in Diawara’s 27 minutes. 

“I think the beginning of the year, training camp, everybody was like, ‘He’s gonna be good,’ ” Josh Hart said. “And I think with him, it was just more about getting more comfortable, more experience, more minutes, those kinds of things.

“But he’s gonna be extremely good. He’s extremely talented, defensively he can be all over the place but offensively he’s knocking down shots.”

Karl-Anthony Towns returned from a one-game absence for a laceration above his eye.

Karl-Anthony Towns wore goggles for the first time in his career. Getty Images

The Knicks center said the cut — which occurred in last week’s double-overtime victory over the Nuggets — required 16 stitches. 

Towns also wore goggles for the first time in his career, revealing the black-rimmed set is the same model used by Amar’e Stoudemire — and still stored by the Knicks.

But they didn’t last long. 

Towns removed the goggles in the second half. He also struggled with just 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting, including no 3-pointers and three turnovers. 

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Mariners acquire Brendan Donovan from Cardinals in three-team trade

The Seattle Mariners, who have been trying to get St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Brendan Donovan since the World Series concluded, finally got their man Monday in a three-way trade that included the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Mariners’ price was steep, giving up two prospects and a draft pick to grab the man who they believe could be the missing piece for their first World Series appearance.

The Cardinals, who are in a massive rebuild, will receive prized pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfield prospect Tai Peete from Seattle; outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter from Tampa; and two Comp B draft picks — the 68th overall from Seattle and the 72nd overall from Tampa.

The Tampa Bays will receive young third baseman Ben Williamson from the Mariners.

Donovan, an All-Star last season and Gold Glove winner in 2022 as a utilityman, headlines the package. While scouts are divided about Donovan’s best position between second base and left field, he is expected to primarily play third base for the Mariners. The reality is that his best position is at the plate. He has a career .282 batting average with a .361 on-base percentage and .411 slugging percentage with 40 homers and 97 doubles with a .772 OPS. He struck out in just 13% of his plate appearances last season.

The acquisition of Donovan, 29, who will be a free agent after 2027, gives the Mariners five players at the top of the lineup who made the All Star team in the past two seasons, joining Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor and Randy Arozarena.

For the Cardinals, Donovan represents the last major player to be sent packing in the Cardinals’ massive rebuild. They traded ace Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras earlier this winter in separate trades to the Boston Red Sox, and Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenando was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their payroll is expected to be the lowest in the NL Central, dropping below $100 million.

MORE: Ranking all 30 MLB farm systems ahead of the 2026 season

Cijntje, selected with the 15th pick in the 2024 draft, is the best prospect in the trade, ranking as baseball’s 91st-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Cijntje actually throws right-handed and left-handed, but the Mariners were planning to have him pitch exclusively right-handed this spring. Peete was the No. 30 overall pick in the 2023 draft.

The Mariners, who are now AL West favorites, believe this could be the finishing touch to a season to remember.

The Cardinals, who have traded eight players off their major-league roster since last year’s trade deadline, are hoping they have the makings of a team that can be competitive again in a few years.

And for the Rays, they got the right-handed third baseman they’ve been seeking, trying to stay relatively competitive in the loaded AL East.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brendan Donovan goes to Mariners from Cardinals in three-team trade

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Giannis Antetokounmpo calls out ‘selfish’ Bucks teammates with trade talk swirling

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks reacts during a game against the Atlanta Hawks, Image 2 shows Kyle Kuzma #18 of the Milwaukee Bucks looks to pass the ball
Giannis calls out 'selfish' Bucks teammates

It’s starting to sound like Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to rip off the band-aid.

After the Bucks were smashed, 122-102, by the dominant Thunder, Antetokounmpo called out his teammates with an ominous message that may say quite a bit about his future with the team.

“We’re not playing hard,” Antetokounmpo said postgame after Milwaukee fell to 18-25. “We’re not playing to win. We’re not playing together … Our chemistry isn’t there, guys are being selfish. We just don’t get it … and we don’t have enough time.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been clearly frustrated with his supporting case in Milwaukee. Getty Images

It’s not clear exactly who Antetokounmpo is referring to or whether this is simply a blanket statement by the former league MVP, but the comments certainly aren’t what the team wants to hear, given he has flirted with the idea of demanding a trade multiple times over the past year.

Antetokounmpo added that some of his teammates were “trying to look for their own shots instead of looking for the right shot for the team.”

The Bucks shot 49 percent Wednesday, but turned the ball over 16 times compared to just eight for the Thunder.

Former Laker Kyle Kuzma went 4-12 and 0-5 from 3-point range in 28 minutes.

“At times, I feel like when we’re down 10, down 15, down 20, we try to make it up in one play, and it’s not going to work,” Antetokounmpo added.

It seems like the wheels are in motion for a potential divorce amid all the trade rumors, although he dismissed the idea of asking out earlier this month.

“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade,’ ” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”

Kyle Kuzma and the Bucks have struggled this season with an 18-25 record. NBAE via Getty Images

When trades were discussed previously involving Antetokounmpo, it became clear that he wanted to be a Knick.

Perhaps the team wishes they had made the deal to acquire Antetokounmpo given the team’s 3-9 record in its last 12 games and the still-present growing pains under new coach Mike Brown.

Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is in the middle of the worst season of his NBA career, where he is averaging 20.8 points per game, the lowest since his rookie year, and shooting just 46.9 percent from the field, by far the lowest percentage of his career.

Antetokounmpo hasn’t formally demanded a trade at any point, but reporter Brian Windhorst previously added some clarity on what a trade demand would look like.

“It’ll be Giannis instructing the Bucks where he wants to be traded and the Bucks trying to make the best possible deal with that team,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s “Get Up” in December.

Windhorst added that this past summer, Antetokounmpo basically said, “I want to be a Knick,” but it didn’t quite reach a trade demand.

Antetokounmpo during Wednesday’s loss. Getty Images

The Bucks are currently the No. 11 seed in the NBA Eastern Conference and aim to right the ship before the season gets completely away from them.

The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 5.