Category: Sports News

Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were given a warm welcome at the Garden on Saturday — but this time was not for basketball.

The two Knicks stars made WWE appearances during WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Brunson, sporting sunglasses and a brace on his left wrist, was met with a booming roar from the crowd as he emerged from the tunnel alongside Roman Reigns at about 10:00 p.m. for the final event of the night.

Fireworks shot off in the arena as the two pointed up, a reference to the wrestler’s iconic “The One” gesture.

The three-time All-Star was then showered in “MVP” and “Jalen Brunson” chants once the intro concluded.

Brunson was then gifted a custom blue and orange WWE championship belt as the crowd chanted “you deserve it.”

Following the entrance, however, Brunson was greeted by Knicks villain Tyrese Haliburton as Seth Rollins hit Reigns with a sneak attack.

With help from Brunson, Reigns ultimately tossed Rollins out of the ring, and he and Haliburton left the stage.

The Knicks’ Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy was then brought into the ring, with Reigns holding it in the air as Brunson donned the wrestler’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt.

Brunson, who is still recovering from surgery on his left wrist, largely stayed to the side as the two wrestlers duked it out.

Towns, who took the stage earlier in the night, was a bit more physical. He helped Danhausen — known for “uncursing” the Knicks after going down 2-1 against the Hawks in the first round — defeat JD McDonagh after making a surprise entrance late in the match.

The Knicks’ center made his entrance in epic fashion, walking out of a smoke-filled container titled “cloning machine box.”

Then during the match he choke-slammed McDonagh before doing the same to Dominik Mysterio through a wooden table.

Danhausen then finished off McDonagh with a “Triple D” for the win.

Towns linked up with Danhausen before the event, with the two meeting before Fanatics Fest on Wednesday.

When Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin introduced the two to each other, Towns immediately payed his respects to the wrestler for good karma to the Knicks during their finals run.

“Do you know who this is?” Rubin asked Towns.

“Of course, the man who got us the chip,” Towns responded.

After Danhausen’s remarks in during their first round series, the Knicks proceeded to win 15 of their next 16 games en route to their first NBA Finals championship in 53 years.

Despite the acknowledgement, Danhausen felt that he needed something in return from Towns.

“Give me your watch,” Danhausen jokingly told Towns. “Yeah, I need the watch. Shoes, too.”

The Lakers lost just two times this summer. Unfortunately, the same team that handed them their first loss also gave them their final defeat.

In the semifinals of the Las Vegas Summer League on Saturday, the Lakers fell to the Warriors, 92-88. Golden State handed LA a far more unceremonious loss to open the summer at the California Classic.

It was an evenly matched contest throughout with 18 lead changes and neither side holding a double-digit lead the entire game. Each team led in the second half and fourth quarter, but Golden State grabbed the lead early in the frame and held it for the remainder of the game.

LA made a late run to close the deficit to one point, but a pair of turnovers in the final minute looked costly. A late foul on a Mañon 3-pointer gave the purple and gold a chance to tie the game, but the guard converted two of three to keep them down one. One last costly turnover with under 10 seconds remaining sealed the result.

Chris Mañon was once again the main man in getting the offense going early for LA, scoring the first four points for the Lakers. Will Richard knocked down a triple for Golden State. At the 5:44 mark, the Warriors were up by one. 

It was a fast-paced, back-and-forth game with both teams playing hard and battling. Adou Thiero joined Mañon with four points, including a fastbreak dunk. 

Jon Elmore provided a spark off the bench again with five points. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by two. 

Cameron Carr knocked down a midrange jumper to start the second period. Arthur Kaluma put Los Angeles in the lead with a pull-up jumpshot.

LA had a very balanced offensive attack, with almost all players scoring. Kaluma drained his first 3-pointer of the half, giving him a team-leading seven points.

After an awkward fall led to Cameron Carr exiting the game with an apparent elbow injury, he returned shortly after looking no worse the wear.

At the 5:58 mark, the Lakers were up by two. LA had gone up by five until a 3-pointer from Chance McMillian made it a two-point Golden State deficit. 

At halftime, it was a tie game. 

Malevy Leons began the scoring in the third period with a triple for the Warriors. Anton Watson scored on the other end for Los Angeles with a layup.

Thiero was having a strong quarter defensively before throwing down another monstrous dunk and converting on a three-point play. 

At the 5:54 mark, it was once again a tied game. The Lakers were 3-8 from the field, while the Warriors were 2-8. It was a continued, evenly matched affair between the teams.

Carr and Thiero were the only Lakers in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. 

The Warriors went on a 7-0 run to take the lead, but Los Angeles responded with four in a row to go up by three at the end of the third. 

Golden State started the final frame on an 8-0 scoring run to go up by five. Carr responded with a triple. Yaxel Lendeborg answered with a 3-pointer himself to extend the Warriors’ lead once more. AK Okereke then knocked down a 3-pointer for LA. 

LJ Cryer responded with a triple to give Golden State a five-point lead with 6:36 left. Thiero started to come alive with five points, but the Warriors still had the momentum. 

Kaluma converted on a layup to make it a four-point game. Los Angeles had 2:29 left to keep their Summer League championship hopes alive. 

Leons scored on a layup, giving the Warriors a cushion on their lead. Kaluma was fouled and only converted on one free throw. With 1:31 left, Thiero made it a one-possession game. 

Carr was fouled and knocked down both free throws to make it a one-point game with 1:12 left. A series of turnovers eventually led to the Lakers trailing by three in the final seconds. 

Mañon was fouled while he attempted a 3-pointer and converted on two of three free throws. McMillian was fouled and converted on both free throws to put Golden State up by three with 8.3 seconds left.

The Warriors stole the ball on the ensuing inbound. Will Richard was fouled and drained one free throw to clinch the win for Golden State.

Key Player Stats

Thiero scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Carr notched 17 points in 28 minutes of play. Elmore pitched in with 10 points off the bench. 

Kaluma finished with 12 points and four rebounds. Mañon tallied with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Zhaire Smith logged seven points in 14 minutes as a reserve. Okereke had eight points. 

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.

The finale is here. Game 5 of the Summer League for your Suns.

Let’s do this!

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You thought Summer League was over, didn’t you. Well, in Las Vegas, the teams that don’t make it to the championship tournament get an extra game to practice and evaluate players. The Spurs, who finished 6th in the Las Vegas Summer League standings are facing the Phoenix Suns who are the 7th place finishers. It’s a contest between two 3-1 teams, but both squads have basically shut down for their best players for the summer, and I don’t expect any of the draft picks for either team to play. It’s the late game on Saturday and it’s being played at the big arena, the Thomas and Mack Center. To the extent that there will be any fans there, they will probably be rooting for the Suns, who have shut down Koa Peat and Khaman Maulach for the game. Maybe Texas Ex Traymon Mark could have a good game tonight for the Suns? It could be Darius Brown time, who has been having a spectacular Summer League campaign for the Suns.

Game Prediction:

Hyunjung Lee sets a Las Vegas Summer League Record with 10 made three point shots in the game.

San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns(Las Vegas Summer League)
July 18, 2026 | 9:30 PM CT
Streaming: Prime
TV: Prime
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

With both teams sitting their top prospects, the Wizards skeleton summer league squad beat the Hawks skeleton summer league squad, 91-83. Both teams had just eight players available. Both teams hope at least a few of those eight will help populate their G League teams this season. Both teams finish their Las Vegas adventure with identical 3-2 records.

There seems to be a scoring differential tie-breaker that determines who finishes 12th (apparently Atlanta) and who finishes 13th (apparently Washington). I don’t see how it matters, but it seems NBA.com has the official standings. Gotta be honest, I’d love to learn that Seth Trimble or Reece Beekman (or anyone really) negotiated a bonus based on the team finishing with a winning record or something.

This game definitely involved the playing of basketball. The Hawks fired blanks (5-31 from three) while the Wizards connected from deep (10-26), and that was basically the difference. Washington ran out to a nine-point by the end of the first quarter and hung on to win by eight.

A few of the Wizards played pretty well. Reece Beekman had 14 assists to just four turnovers. Felix Okpara looks like maybe he’ll be a competent backup big man at some point in the future, though he did commit seven fouls and four turnovers.

Seth Trimble defended and rebounded well but did none of the guard stuff (shooting, playmaking) teams typically expect from their guards.

John Camden hit 4-8 from three-point range en route to tying Atlanta’s Devon Diggs for a game-high 22 points. Chris Livingston was decent — 20 points, 5 rebounds — and seems to have sufficient size and physical abilities to someday (maybe) win a spot in an NBA rotation.

I don’t think anyone did enough to make me think the roster and rotation calculus for the upcoming season changes, but there was some maybe someday work on display.

For the Wizards, summer league was successful. The youngsters they’re counting on for next season (AJ Dybantsa, Tre Johnson, and Will Riley) all played reasonably well and emerged healthy.

Next up for the Wizards: Offseason workouts, pickup games, maybe some vacations, and then training camp.

LAS VEGAS — In postgame media scrums, head coaches get asked about players’ performances almost every night. Usually, while they compliment the player they are asked about, they also oftentimes make sure not to gas them up too much.

So, it was a noteworthy moment when Celtics Summer League head coach Amile Jefferson absolutely lit up when he was asked about the play of 25-year-old guard John Tonje.

“He’s one of the guys I’m most proud of because he wants to make it,” Jefferson said after the Celtics’ Wednesday night win over the Sacramento Kings. “And when a guy wants to make it, and when a guy wants to be in the NBA, that’s how you look. If somebody wants to know how hard it is to be in the NBA — you can all see how good he is. He’s given himself a really good chance. He is definitely an NBA player.”

Tonje did everything he could to show that through five Summer League contests, averaging 14.8 points per game and shooting 45.2% from beyond the arc.

But more important than his offensive contributions was his defensive impact, because few questions exist surrounding Tonje’s ability to score a bucket. (The Celtics guard averaged 18.1 points per game on the Maine Celtics last year, highlighted by a 42-point outing in March).

Tonje made impactful plays on the defensive end all Summer League long, whether that was a chasedown block or a pick-pocket. In the Celtics’ overtime win, he secured the game-winning steal and go-ahead layup to solidify the victory. Multiple times throughout the tournament, he showcased flashes of defensive excellence a step above his defensive reputation.

On Saturday, after a 14-point outing against the Orlando Magic, he credited his player development coach, Nana Foulland, for putting him in positions to succeed.

“Defensively, I gotta give a special shoutout to a coach named Nana who’s actually standing right here in front of me,” Tonje said, as Foulland hovered behind the scrum. “All summer, we’ve been focused, trying to get better and working on weaknesses, and he hasn’t been afraid to tell me what I need to get better at. We just really got after it this summer, and I think it showed a little bit in summer league.”

John Tonje eyes another opportunity in the NBA

Tonje joined the Celtics on a two-way contract midseason last year. But while fellow two-way player Amari Williams signed a second two-way contract earlier this month, Tonje did not. As such, he arrived in Las Vegas a free agent in pursuit of another chance in the league.

Amile Jefferson believes Tonje did enough to show he belonged.

“Everyone wanted to see the defense from John, and I think he showed that at a super high level,” Jefferson said. “I’ve talked the entire week about how proud I am of the effort he’s given, and most of that has come defensively. Obviously, he is a high-level shot-maker at all three levels. He can get to the rim, he can shoot the mid-range, and he can catch and shoot the three and off the dribble. And so, you just want to see, for his position, can you guard the ball? Can you pressure the ball? Can you be in your shifts? Can you be where you need to be? And I think he showed that he can do that at a high level.”

Tonje may or may not end up in Boston next year. Williams is already on one of three two-way contracts, while Milos Uzan and Tucker DeVries will both get the chance to compete for one while on training camp deals. Dillon Mitchell, the Celtics’ standout 40th overall pick, is also a likely candidate for a two-way contract, assuming he doesn’t get signed to an actual roster spot.

Regardless of what happens next, Tonje’s own self-belief is undeniable.

“I’m pretty confident,” he said with a smile. “I’m pretty confident — maybe even delusional. I can’t lose that. I think I’m an NBA player, and that’s what I’m striving to get to, and be at. So I like where I’m at right now, and I’m just gonna keep working.”