CHICAGO (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield was scratched for Thursday night's game at Chicago because of an unspecified injury.
Chatfield took just two shifts in the third period of Tuesday night's 6-5 overtime victory over Boston. He has two goals and a career-high 15 assists in 71 games this season.
“You're always concerned when guys are missing,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I hope it's not anything that's going to drag on, but put it this way, he's not 100 percent so he's not playing.”
The Hurricanes clinched the Metropolitan Division title with their win against the Bruins. They were on top of the Eastern Conference going into Thursday's action, two points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres.
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forwards Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov also were scratched for the matchup with the Blackhawks. The reasons for their absences were undisclosed.
“We got a couple guys (that) got nicked up the other night," Brind’Amour said before the lineup was announced.
Defenseman Charles Alexis Legault and forwards Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau and Josiah Slavin were active one day after they were recalled from Carolina's American Hockey League affiliate.
Skyler Brind’Amour is the coach's son, and Slavin is the younger brother of Jaccob Slavin. Skyler Brind’Amour scored a goal in two games with the Hurricanes last April, and Josiah Slavin had an assist in 15 games with the Blackhawks during the 2021-22 season in his only previous NHL action.
While the chairs don’t yet have an official, public price tag, a team source told The California Post on Thursday they will cost 78 percent of what the normal courtside row goes for.
LeBron James and the Lakers will start their 2026 playoff in less than two weeks. Getty Images
Typically, those tickets for playoff matchups run anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 apiece, meaning the new spots will be somewhere in the area $15,000-$30,000 each.
The Lakers announced their latest revenue stream plans on Thursday morning, revealing the section for Los Angeles’ upcoming postseason matchups at Crypto.com Arena will be a second courtside row called “Courtside Reserve.”
The Lakers announced their latest revenue stream plans on Thursday morning, revealing the section for Los Angeles’ upcoming postseason matchups at Crypto.com Arena will be a second courtside row called “Courtside Reserve.” Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The team promised the chairs will come with “premium hospitality, including in-seat food and beverage service, VIP club access and a seamless, elevated experience from the moment guests enter the arena.”
Courtside fans celebrate after Luka Donic makes a 3 pointer during the second half against the Sacramento Kings. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesJay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter watch courtside. Getty Images
While no doubt pricey, the area has been coveted by Lakers fans for decades. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell, Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart and, of course, Jack Nicholson have become mainstays in the spots.
The Lakers’ first playoff opponent is not yet known, and it’s unclear if Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves will be available for any of the games.
Nonetheless, fans with desires of seeing the Purple and Gold from just feet away better have some deep pockets.
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Now, get ready for Game No. 13! The Royals are 5-7 after their first dozen games. Don’t fret just yet, there are still 150 of these things left. But I’d sure like to see the Royals win, if not sweep, this four-game series against the White Sox, which Max previews here.
Tonight’s game begins at 6:40 p.m.
For the Royals, Seth Lugo is on the mound. Lugo has pitched very well over two starts this young season, one against the Braves and one against the Brewers, which makes this, oddly, his first start against an American League team.
Against the Brewers in his most recent outing, he lasted only five innings as he threw 103 pitches, allowing four hits, two walks, and two earned while striking out seven. After he left the game, the Royals’ offense broke it open. The team is 2-0 in Lugo’s starts.
The Pale Hose turn to lefty Anthony Kay, who spent the last two years pitching in Japan. Already this season he’s started one game and appeared in relief in another. He’s walked (six) more than he’s struck out (five) over nine innings with a ghastly 6.96 FIP. He last won a game in the Majors in 2021.
After catching consecutive games, Carter Jensen gets the day off. Glad to see Cags in there against a lefty this early in the season. Aside from Lane Thomas starting in right, I like this lineup a lot.
Hey, look, it’s former Royal Andrew Benintendi. Cool. Great guy. I’ve never written anything about him that argues otherwise, so don’t bother looking it up.
Anyway, it cracks me up that he has the largest contract in White Sox history. Or does he? Did Murakami break it? Let’s sleuth. [Types into Google machine] Yep, still Benintendi at 5/$75m though Murakami earns more per year with a 2/$34m deal.
There are protests planned at Anfield as Roberto De Zerbi starts his Tottenham tenure and Everton eye Europe
Nuno Espírito Santo has rolled back the years in an attempt to save West Ham. He has gone old-school, switching to a gung-ho 4-4-2 system to give his side more threat in the final third. Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos, both January arrivals, have altered the face of the attack, but neither forward has been prolific. Castellanos has scored three goals in all competitions since joining from Lazio and Pablo, who is yet to open his account in English football, failed to convert during last week’s penalty shootout defeat by Leeds in the FA Cup. As a pair, though, Castellanos and Pablo have been oddly effective. Are they any good? Unclear. Do they run around a lot and give a previously ponderous West Ham more energy? Undoubtedly. Played together, Pablo and Castellanos do a worthy job for the team. Importantly, they create space for the wingers, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, who hopes to return from a calf injury for Friday night’s vital home game against Wolves. Bowen and Summerville are the big threats; they are West Ham’s main source of goals, but both are more dangerous with Pablo and Castellanos in the team. Jacob Steinberg
BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 23: OG Anunoby #8 of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball during the game against the Boston Celtics on February 23, 2025 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Tonight the Knicks (51*-28) host the Celtics (54-25) at Madison Square Garden. It’s an Eastern Conference showdown that could be a playoff-preview. Our heroes lead the season series 2-1.
As of this writing, Boston’s injury report lists four starters, and there’s a chance that Joe Mazzulla will rest them, given that a win is not necessary to secure the second-seed. However, the last time Jayson Tatum saw the Knicks, he left the court with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Perhaps the visitors will rally ‘round the tater and treat this as revenge game?
Game time is 7:30 p.m. EST on MSG and Amazon Prime. This is your game thread. This is CelticsBlog. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Enjoy yourselves. And go Knickerbockers!
* Should be one more, but NBA Cup victories prefer to live in the shadows.
SAN FRANCISCO – Two legends of the game were supposed to close out Chase Center on Thursday night in the Warriors’ final home game of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. A playoff game here is far from a guarantee.
Whenever the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers play each other, it’s less about the teams and more so about enjoying Steph Curry and LeBron James sharing the same court. Unfortunately for both players, for both teams and for both fan bases, that didn’t happen this season — not even once in the four games these two teams played against each other.
That in itself is a loss for the entire league and the game of basketball as a whole, not knowing how many more of these games we’re going to get, if any at all.
Health comes first for the Warriors, knowing they’re locked into the No. 10 seed and a date in the NBA play-in tournament. Managing Curry’s runner’s knee that held him out for more than two months is priority No. 1. So on the first night of a back-to-back, Curry was one of eight Warriors ruled out against James and the Lakers in an eventual 119-103 loss.
James said after the game that he and Curry talked about it, and didn’t realize they hadn’t played against each other until the day of the game. Maybe Thursday was James’ last game at Chase Center. Maybe he won’t be wearing Lakers colors after this season. Maybe he’ll be hanging it up for good, or maybe the worst kept secret in the NBA of the Warriors’ wandering eyes can take him from LA to San Francisco.
“We never know. We don’t what the future holds, and we don’t know if we’ll get the opportunity to play against each other,” James said. “It’s always a pleasure and it’s always an honor just to be in his presence, to be on the floor with him like we have in the past.”
There still was plenty of love between Curry and James before tipoff. Curry came into the arena wearing a pair of Nike LeBron 10 IDs from 2013 as part of his sneaker free agency. James was all smiles when he caught a glimpse of Curry’s kicks before the game.
“He got those things from the vault,” James said. “For real, for real. I remember him wearing those. … I’m not sure if he had an extra pair or if those were the actual ones, but he went to the vault for those.”
Shoes were the closest thing between them, and their only connection for the duration of the season.
The Warriors and Lakers played each other in the regular-season opener. Curry scored 23 points, and James missed the game because of sciatica. The two teams then played each other twice during Curry’s absence from runner’s knee, with James recording a 20-point, 10-assist double-double the first game and 22 points and nine assists the second.
In what was the last chance for these two to play each other this season, barring a playoff surprise, Curry watched from the sidelines as James defied Father Time against the Warriors’ JV squad, again flirting with a triple-double and finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.
Now that the season series for the Warriors and Lakers is over, the NBA went an entire season without fans watching Curry and James battle for basketball supremacy for the first time in six years.
“They’ve been the faces of the league for a long, long time and it’s been fun to watch as a fan,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said during his pregame press conference. “It’s been fun to be a part of it the last couple of years.”
Adam Silver’s NBA has been run by two players whose first names are even more recognizable than their last: Steph and LeBron. This is their league, their era. But for how much longer is the real question.
The first full season Silver took over for David Stern as the league’s commissioner was the first year Curry and James played each other in the NBA Finals, starting a stretch of four straight campaigns of them meeting on the grand stage to crown a champion.
Respect has been earned and admired by Curry and James. An all-time rivalry comes with the territory of greatness.
“I think rivalries in general are defined by playoff matchups,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s kind of the history of the way we look at Wilt [Chamberlain] vs. Bill Russell, Bird-Magic. I think they had three Finals confrontations. What would some of the other ones be? I don’t know. Steph and LeBron has to be up there.”
If playoff matchups define rivalries, Curry and James fit the criteria. And Curry has the upper hand, beating James in three of the four Finals they’ve faced one another, as well as winning 17 of the 28 playoff games between them. James has him beat in the regular season, with 14 wins on his side and 13 for Curry.
For the past 12 seasons, Kerr has coached Curry’s Warriors and competed against James on the Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He has had the opportunity to be part of one of basketball’s great modern rivalries, and was the man on the sidelines as they came together on Team USA two summers ago at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
As well as anybody from a leadership standpoint, Kerr has seen the full scope of their greatness. He gets it, he respects it and he’ll always appreciate it.
“It’s just the love for the game,” Kerr said. “The love for the competition, the process, the work. I think all great players share an obsession with the game itself. It’s a love for the game. It’s an obsession with getting better, with competing. All the guys who I have either played with or coached, you can just see – I mean, it means everything to them.
“When you combine that with incredible talent, which both guys have – Steph has the greatest hand eye coordination of anybody on earth, and LeBron is probably the greatest athlete, physical specimen, that I’ve ever seen. You get those qualities combined and this is the result. There’s a reason they’re both still going. They love it, and they’re obsessed with it.”
LeBron is 41 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Steph is 38 and has one more year on his current contract. The ball, as it always has been, is in their court.
While the Warriors’ home finale was a loss on the scoreboard and even bigger L for basketball, the two faces that have defined a generation of greatness have given the NBA too many wins to count, and one can’t fathom the memories ever being replicated.
The Flyers had a messy Thursday night in Detroit, one they’ll hope is just a blip on the radar and not a concerning sign of things to come.
Rick Tocchet’s club fell to the Red Wings, 6-3, at Little Caesars Arena.
Dan Vladar was pulled in the second period after Detroit scored its fourth goal.
Christian Dvorak, Porter Martone and Luke Glendening provided the Flyers’ goals.
For a sixth time this season, the Flyers (40-27-12) failed to win four games in a row. They haven’t won more than three straight in over two years. The last time they did it was Feb. 6-12 of the 2023-24 season.
With some help, though, the Flyers stayed in playoff position Thursday night (more on that below).
The Flyers dropped two of three games to the Red Wings (41-29-9) this season. After winning the first matchup, 5-3, in Detroit, the Flyers were outscored 10-5 over the final two meetings.
• With three games to go, the Flyers still hold the final playoff spot (third place) in the Metropolitan Division.
The Blue Jackets were blanked Thursday night by the Sabres, 5-0, so the Flyers remained two points ahead of Columbus. However, the Islanders beat the Maple Leafs, 5-3, to climb within one point of the Flyers.
The Flyers are three points up on the Capitals, who were not in action.
Tocchet’s club entered Thursday with a 66.7 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to Hockey-Reference.com’s probabilities report. That will drop Friday morning, but the Flyers do still control their destiny.
Against the Red Wings, he surrendered four goals on eight shots. The Flyers didn’t help him at all. Three of the goals came on Detroit’s power play and the other came when the Flyers were on their power play.
The shorthanded goal ended Vladar’s night. Dylan Larkin scored on a breakaway after Tyson Foerster had a pass get blocked. It was the second goal of a hat trick for the Red Wings’ captain.
Martone, Matvei Michkov, Rasmus Ristolainen and Owen Tippett had penalties that hurt the Flyers.
Martone and Ristolainen were hit with ones that could have been evened out by Detroit penalties. At the end of the first period, Martone and Lucas Raymond were tied up and penalized. Ristolainen swooped in to defend Martone, but then became entangled with Larkin. However, only the Flyers’ defenseman was handed a penalty.
In the opening 1:50 minutes of the second period, a 1-1 game turned into a 3-1 deficit for the Flyers.
Moritz Seider took advantage of a 5-on-3 situation after Tippett was whistled for crashing into Red Wings netminder John Gibson. Larkin struck on the power play 1:18 minutes later with his first of the night.
Samuel Ersson denied 12 of 14 shots in relief. Larkin and Patrick Kane put the game away in the third period.
Gibson stopped 13 of the Flyers’ 15 shots before exiting with an undisclosed issue. One has to wonder if he was shaken up from Tippett’s interference penalty.
Cam Talbot took over in the second period when Detroit was up 4-2. He finished with 11 saves on 12 shots.
• Martone had an assist to go along with his goal, giving him six points through his first six games.
Dvorak matched his career high of 18 goals; he’s up to 50 points on the season. Trevor Zegras set a new career high of 66 points with an assist on Martone’s power play goal.
• The Flyers play their final road game of the season Saturday when they visit the Jets (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Oct 5, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) celebrates after winning game two of the ALDS against the New York Yankees for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Very little going on today, except a couple of minor MiLB notes:
Trey Yesavage went 2.2 innings for Dunedin this afternoon. The surface results, 4 earned on 4 hits and a walk, aren’t great, but all four hits were singles. More importantly, he got 10 whiffs on 20 total swings and sat 94-96 all the way through the outing while commanding his pitches. That suggests that he’s close to ready to move up, and probably only a couple of turns away from being able to go 80+ pitches. The Jays will evaluate how he feels and make a decision about his next appearance later this week. We might yet see him with the big club this month.
In that same fame, Jojo Parker recorded his first pro extra base hit, on a lined ground rule double:
Austin Voth and Josh Fleming have reportedly both cleared waivers and elected free agency. Both were clearly short term stopgaps in Toronto, and with Patrick Corbin now up and starting in Cody Ponce’s spot for the foreseeable future and Joe Mantiply tapped for Brendon Little’s former lefty specialist role, they’ll move on to seek greener pastures. Farewell Austin and Josh, we hardly knew ye.
Also, the Yankees lot to the homeless A’s, which foe all this has been a rough start the Jays can at least say they have not done. So that’s nice.
we’ll be back with actual Blue Jays baseball tomorrow.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 08: Brenden Dillon #5 of the New Jersey Devils and Anthony Mantha #39 of the Pittsburgh Penguins fight during the first period of a NHL game at Prudential Center on November 8, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Getty Images) | Getty Images
SAN ANTONIO, TX -APRIL 8: Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs and Deni Avdija #8 of the Portland Trailblazers dive for a loose ball in the second half at Frost Bank Center on April 8, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, and still controlled the game in the 112-101 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. They got contributions up and down the roster to fill in for two of their stars. The Spurs’ bench outscored Portland’s 48-10.
Keldon Johnson and Carter Bryant were brilliant off the bench in the win and earned some of the top player grades for the Spurs. As a quick reminder, these grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “B” grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.
Fox kicked things off and closed them out for the Spurs. He scored 10 of his 25 points in the first four minutes of the game. He was a pest on the perimeter and scored easy buckets in transition to keep the Spurs in the game against Portland early. When it looked like the Blazers might make a comeback in the fourth quarter, Fox hit a clutch three to extend the lead to 9. The team never looked back from there.
This is the type of performance Fox has given all season when Wembanyama sits. He takes over the offense in stretches and is the team’s steadying hand late in the game. Some rough turnovers hold this back from being an A-performance, but it was just the pick-me-up Fox needed before heading into the playoffs.
This may have been Harper’s most impactful defensive game this season. He was all over the court, walling off drives, grabbing steals, and blocking a couple of shots. He contested with the Blazers’ guards all night and made it tough for them to get into a real rhythm. It was the kind of game you’d expect more from Stephon Castle, who missed the game with a knee injury.
Harper continued to play well offensively by getting two feet into the paint, although he didn’t finish as often against Portland. He did, however, make one of the more impressive step-back threes I’ve seen from him this year.
What Champagnie didn’t do offensively, he made up for defensively. It was a cold shooting night for Champagnie, whose only basket came on a fast-break dunk. He was impactful defensively, though. Champagnie was just solid on that end against the Blazers’ tough wings. His box score won’t make anyone look twice, but it felt like the Spurs played better when he was on the floor.
It’s fair to say that Kornet owns the Trail Blazers. After scoring 20+ in his last game against them, he was a huge difference maker on Wednesday. His paint defense was among the best of the season, as he broke up lobs and contested drivers at the rim. He may have only gotten 5 rebounds, but he impacted the boards by tipping the ball back to the perimeter for his teammates to save the possession.
It wasn’t a Wembanyama-level defensive performance, but there is no way the Spurs win this game without Cool Hand Luke holding it down inside.
It wasn’t quite the offensive explosion that we have gotten accustomed to in games without Wembanyama, but Vassell was solid against Portland. He hit some difficult shots, including a tough mid-range jumper over the top of Donovan Clingan. Defensively, he chipped in with a few steals.
Barnes has been quiet recently. He was a part of the Spurs’ small-ball lineup that crushed the Blazers, which is why his +/- numbers look so good (more on that later). San Antonio needs him to hit shots in the playoffs if he is going to play major minutes.
Johnson was EVERYWHERE on Wednesday. In what could have been his best performance of the year, KJ got to the basket at will, dove after loose balls, and kept possessions alive with offensive rebounding. It was a great reminder of why he is currently the betting favorite (-900) to win Sixth Man of the Year on FanDuel.
I thought it was funny that Johnson seemed to go especially at his former teammates, Sidy Cissoko and Blake Wesley. When they were guarding him, KJ got straight to the rim and scored.
Bryant scored a career-high 17 points in his best game of the season. He was confident on both ends, hitting threes and holding his position against bigger offensive players on defense. You could see something click with him around the second quarter of this game. He started to be more physical on screens and in the paint, and he took wide-open shots without hesitation. If this is a glimpse into who Bryant can be for years to come, the Spurs may have gotten a steal with the 14th overall pick.
McLaughlin is just solid. He came in and did his job for 9 minutes, playing pesky perimeter defense, taking care of the ball, and playing within the flow of the offense. He’s about all the Spurs could ask for in a fourth guard.
Grade: B
Monday’s Inactives: Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Harrison Ingram, David Jones-Garcia, Emanuel Miller
Embiid underwent a successful appendectomy in Houston, the Sixers announced during the game.
The Sixers made a serious comeback surge in the fourth quarter (more on that below), but ultimately dropped to 43-37. The Rockets improved to 51-29.
In another relevant contest, the Raptors topped the Heat. The Sixers stayed eighth in the Eastern Conference standings and certainly look on track for the play-in tournament with two games left, although that outcome is not quite locked in yet.
The Sixers’ leading scorers were Tyrese Maxey (23 points) and VJ Edgecombe (21 points). Quentin Grimes added 20 points off the bench.
Rockets superstar Kevin Durant posted 29 points.
The Sixers will visit the Pacers on Friday night in their penultimate game of the season. They’ll host the Bucks on Sunday in their 82nd game.
Here are observations on their loss to the Rockets:
Tough assignment for Bona
Adem Bona started in Embiid’s spot. He guarded Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun, his teammate with Turkey for international basketball.
On the first play of the night, the Sixers turned a Paul George steal into a Kelly Oubre Jr. fast-break slam. Oubre also canned two three-pointers in the first quarter and scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the period.
Houston soon built a lead. Sengun jammed in a dunk off of a pick-and-roll with Durant. Tari Eason buried a three to put the Rockets up 17-10.
Bona had some good defensive possessions in isolation against Sengun, who posted just eight points on 4-for-14 shooting, 12 rebounds and four assists. Beyond the shot blocking, Bona’s a talented defender in terms of his ability to nimbly mirror opponents.
Still, it’s obvious the Sixers would’ve preferred Embiid for the matchup with Sengun and missed a giant amount offensively. Bona posted two points and two rebounds in 15 minutes. Andre Drummond logged 30 minutes as his backup and had five points and 15 rebounds.
He had similar struggles early in Houston. Maxey started 0 for 3 from the floor and had zero points in the first quarter. The Sixers’ star guard did get into a much better groove in the second quarter, tallying 15 points.
George never got rolling. For the game, he scored a mere seven points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Along with Maxey and George’s lack of scoring, turnovers were a major problem for the Sixers’ offense in the first half.
The Sixers committed 11 giveaways in the first half and the Rockets scored 20 points off those turnovers. Especially given that being a low-turnover team has been a key part of the Sixers’ identity under head coach Nick Nurse, they can’t afford possession-costing mistakes without Embiid.
Jabari Walker got his first action in the first half of a game since the Sixers’ win over the Jazz back on March 21. Adding Walker to the rotation made plenty of sense with Embiid out and the Sixers searching for anything positive. He played four second-quarter minutes and had a put-back layup.
Sixers show serious fight
After three straight Josh Okogie offensive rebounds, Amen Thompson threw down a wide-open dunk to give Houston an 81-57 advantage. Nurse called timeout.
Clearly, Nurse wants to see better energy and effort than that in important games. With that said, it’s exceedingly logical that the Sixers looked like a demoralized team. In addition to Embiid’s appendicitis making the Sixers a worse team on paper, it’s jarring news to handle at the tail end of a season.
“Just the timing seems difficult,” Nurse told reporters in Houston pregame. “We had an unbelievable day as a team yesterday. We had a great practice, a great film session, we were getting up and down the court. And he was a part of all that. So that’s what hits you a little bit in the stomach when you get that news, but it’s where we are.
“We have our thoughts and prayers with him, that he gets through this surgery as healthy as possible and it goes (smoothly), no complications. And then you shift over to our job side of it. We’ve got to dig in and get to work.”
The Sixers trailed by as many as 28 points in the third quarter. To their credit, they played a tremendous fourth quarter and even made the Rockets sweat down the stretch.
The second unit’s scrappiness played a central part in the Sixers’ extended run. Dominick Barlow chipped in a put-back dunk. Barlow and Justin Edwards trapped Thompson at half court and forced a turnover. Edwards finished the ensuing fast break off with a second-chance lay-in that cut the Rockets’ lead to 101-94.
Edgecombe was great in the fourth quarter, too. He made a strong baseline drive and converted a layup through considerable contact. Edgecombe hit a mid-range jumper over Durant, slicing the Sixers’ deficit down to five points.
Durant replied with a timely three-ball and Houston had no further problems.
For the Sixers, the competitive spirit on display in the fourth quarter is something they’ll need to maintain moving forward without Embiid.
Dec 25, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Knicks may have clearer weaknesses than any other team that considers themselves a contender. Their best player is an undersized negative defender, the offense can be stagnant despite posting strong numbers, the outside shooting can abandon them at times, and the starting lineup often digs themselves into deep holes to start out games. But the Knicks also do a lot of things really well. Despite how the season started, their defense has statistically been amongst the best in 2026, they have two extremely talented offensive players with Jalen Brunson being one of the best postseason players in the league, and know how to win dirty.
We’ve seen this play out multiple times in varying ways. The strong fourth quarter against the Cavaliers on Christmas day, the big comeback against the Rockets, the back-to-back comebacks against the Celtics last year, and the close wins against the Pistons in the first-round last season, they’ve been there and done that when it comes to eking out wins with the exception of game one in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
While not everything during the regular season translates the post season, fans can, and likely should feel confident about the fact that this battle-tested group performed exceptionally well when it mattered most. It would be nice to see the Knicks start off games better, and not have to rely on a fourth quarter run or a late-game surge. But this should be one of the core strengths of this team come playoff time.
SAN FRANCISCO — Throughout the last two seasons, JJ Redick has referenced a popular Jay-Z bar to illustrate the ups and downs of an NBA season.
“It was all good just a week ago,” Redick has said a couple of times during his two seasons as Lakers coach, referencing Jay-Z’s “A Week Ago” from his six-time platinum-selling album, “Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life.”
Even though Redick hasn’t made the reference since April started, the sentiment applies now.
Luka Doncic was having an MVP-caliber season, but it was derailed by a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. APHead coach JJ Redick during a time out in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks on April 5. AP
A week ago, the Lakers were one of the league’s hottest teams entering a marquee road game against the Thunder.
And then two more losses to the Mavericks and the Thunder, all while the teams closest to them in the standings soared, with the Nuggets on a 10-game winning streak and the Rockets winning seven straight entering Thursday.
All of a sudden, the Lakers went from third place in the Western Conference standings, with a multiple-game cushion on the teams below them, to uncertainty about whether they’d host their first-round playoff series.
When the Lakers found out about Doncic’s status for the remainder of the season April 3, Redick reassured that the team’s mission was to clinch the No. 3 seed and win a first-round playoff series.
“We’ve got to prepare our team, our group that we’re going to have available to play in the playoffs series,” Redick said. “Finding who’s gonna be able to play in the playoffs for us. The seeding part probably went out the window after the OKC game.”
If the Nuggets, who entered Thursday at No. 3 in the West, win their final two regular-season games against the Thunder and Spurs, they’ll clinch third regardless of how the Lakers finish.
Lakers coach JJ Redick’s team likely is headed for a first-round matchup against the Rockets. AP
The Lakers would need the Nuggets, who won the regular-season series to secure the tiebreaker for postseason seeding, to drop at least one of their last two games to have a shot at reclaiming third place. And more realistically, the Nuggets would need to lose both of their final games for the Lakers to enter the playoffs as the third seed.
It’s why the Lakers are likely headed toward a No. 4 vs. No. 5 first-round playoff series against the Rockets.
It’s all just a matter of who’ll finish fourth and have homecourt advantage for the series.
Neither the Lakers nor Rockets can fall below fifth, with the Timberwolves, whom the Rockets will host Friday, already locked in at No. 6.
The Lakers have the tiebreaker over the Rockets, so if they finish with the same record, the Lakers would be the higher seed and host their first-round series.
The Nuggets also hold the tiebreaker over the Rockets.
The Lakers playing the Rockets or Timberwolves in the first round has been the likeliest outcome for weeks.
And with the Rockets being the likelier matchup, we’re on a collision course for the fourth playoff series between teams led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who last played each other in the playoffs during the 2018 NBA Finals when Durant’s Warriors swept James’ Cavaliers.
But last week, with the Lakers falling and the Rockets soaring, changed the complexion of the expected series.
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SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 04: Tatsuya Imai #45 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Athletics in the bottom of the six inning of a major league baseball game at Sutter Health Park on April 04, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The latest news on the Houston Astros and from around MLB:
Astros making roster moves:
Source: OF Taylor Trammell and RHP J.P. France will join the Astros in Seattle tomorrow. Neither is on the 40-man roster, but there's one open spot on the roster. @Chandler_Rome first said France was en route to Seattle.
While it would be franchise malpractice not to put Cristian Javier on the IL after he left his last start after just one inning with shoulder pain, there is some encouraging news:
Through an interpreter, Cristian Javier said he did not know what was next for him, but that initial strength tests performed on his shoulder were encouraging. Javier said he felt tightness in his scapula during the final at-bat of the first inning.
Astros pay their respects to Davey Lopes. The former second baseman and manager passed away at the age of 80 yesterday from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease.
The Houston Astros join the baseball world in mourning the passing of Davey Lopes, who spent two of his stellar, 16-year Major League career with the Astros (1986-87).
Lopes, who appeared in four World Series as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was a member of the 1986 NL… pic.twitter.com/5uqJHRUnZw
The Tigers and Mariners are off to very suboptimal starts:
The Detroit Tigers, heavily favored to win the AL Central, suffer a 4-game sweep to the Minnesota Twins. They fall to 4-9, and are now tied with the Seattle Mariners for the worst record in MLB.
The Athletics pitchers probably can’t wait to move to Las Vegas:
The A’s pitching staff certainly loves life on the road rather than pitching in their minor league park in Sacramento: They are allowing 3.77 runs a game on the road; they are allowing 8.34 runs a game at home in the early-going.
Also, the A’s just shut out the Yankees 1-0. They haven’t shut the Yankees out and won 1-0 in over 46 years.
The A’s first 1-0 victory over the Yankees since 1979, and the first against the Yankees in NY since July 14, 1972, per @SlangsOnSports. https://t.co/Vx0VhpthQo
The Yankees starting rotation is yielding a dazzling 2.14 ERA this season, permitting just 16 earned runs, the fewest in franchise history though the first 12 games of a season.
The Yankees went 11 1/3 innings without a hit until Ben Rice's one-out single off A's starter Jeffrey Springs in the 7th inning today. Yet, they still have not scored a run since the first inning Wednesday. A's 1, Yankees 0 through 7 innings.
World Series losses are hard to get over, even for the nice people North of the Border:
The Toronto Blue Jays appear to still be agitated by at least one thing from last year’s World Series: how long it takes Shohei Ohtani to warm up when he’s on the mound.https://t.co/vGXaRokuC2
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 10: Atmosphere around Washington Square Park on May 10, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Today’s Lineups
DIAMONDBACKS
METS
Ketel Marte – 2B
Francisco Lindor – SS
Ildemaro Vargas – 1B
Bo Bichette – 3B
Geraldo Perdomo – SS
Luis Robert – CF
Adrian Del Castillo – DH
Mark Vientos – 1B
Jose Fernandez – 3B
Marcus Semien – 2B
James McCann – C
Francisco Alvarez – DH
Alek Thomas – CF
Brett Baty – RF
Tim Tawa – LF
Luis Torrens – C
Jorge Barrosa – RF
Tyrone Taylor – LF
E. Rodriguez – LHP
Nolan McLean – RHP
It seems a little odd, to have the game on getaway day start three hours later than the rest of the series. But, due to the rescheduling of the games on Tuesday and Wednesday, here we are. Though at least the D-backs don’t have far to go. Google Maps tells me that Citizens Bank Park and Citi Field are only 111 miles from each other by road – 117 if you want to avoid tolls. Though I think the closest parks, discounting those located in the same city like the Mets and Yankees, might be the Orioles and Nationals. Again per Google Maps, those two are 38 miles apart. There was a lengthy dispute when the Nats relocated, about them encroaching on the Orioles territory.
This is the rubber game of the series, after the teams split the first two, and give the D-backs a chance to climb above .500 for the first time in 2026. It’s the fourth opportunity they have had to do so. But they have gone 0-3 previously and been outscored 29-7 over those three games. The most recent and closest was the opener in New York, where they got walked off, and here we are again. If past form is any guide, they should be optimistic, with starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez yet to concede an earned run this year. Discounting opener types, the record such streak to start the season is four games, most recently by Chris Carpenter and Zack Greinke in 2009.
Though the most famous such is probably Fernando Valenzuela in 1985. He didn’t allow an earned run until the ninth inning of his fifth game – and two of the preceding ones were complete game shutouts. That gave him a 41-inning scoreless streak to start the year, before a Tony Gwynn home-run ended it, also giving Valenzuela a 1-0 loss. For the D-backs, E-Rod’s 12 innings is the longest by a starter to open the year since Merrill Kelly went 14.1 innings to kick off the 2022 campaign. Though for relievers, Shelby Miller went 13.2 without an earned run out of the bullpen last year. We’ll see how far Eduardo can go today!
