Mason was appointed in June on three-year contract
West Brom 18th in the Championship after latest loss
West Brom have sacked Ryan Mason as their head coach after a stoppage-time defeat at Leicester on Monday left the club 18th in the Championship. It was the team’s 10th away defeat in a row and ended the 34-year-old’s tenure after seven months.
Mason was appointed on a three-year deal after holding a variety of roles at Tottenham, including interim manager and assistant to Ange Postecoglou. West Brom said two members of Mason’s staff, Nigel Gibbs and Sam Pooley, had also left.
The Warriors appear to be doing their due diligence in their potential search for an upgrade at one position of need.
It’s unclear which position(s) Golden State will look to upgrade before the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline, but with just over four weeks remaining, one position the Warriors have been connected to repeatedly is center. Specifically, Mavericks big man Anthony Davis, who Dallas reportedly called Golden State about, and who the Warriors haven’t completely closed the door on pursuing.
ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported in one of the outlet’s recent joint columns with other insiders, citing sources, that Golden State has “sniffed around” the center trade market as it continues to get inconsistent play from new veteran big man Al Horford this season.
“Biggest need: Al Horford, the Warriors’ biggest offseason addition, has generated a tiny bit of rhythm after two months marked by injury and ineffectiveness,” Slater wrote. “If the surge continues, they could feel less inclined to enter the center market, but league sources said they have sniffed around.”
It’s unclear what other centers the Warriors could pursue in potential upgrades, but Golden State for years has valued centers who can shoot and stretch the floor, which both Horford and second-year big man Quinten Post can do.
One obvious trade piece the Warriors have in a potential deal for a center — or another position — is young forward Jonathan Kuminga, who can be traded as soon as January 15 and appears likely to be dealt after falling completely out of coach Steve Kerr’s rotations.
Unsurprisingly, Golden State reportedly has discussed trades involving Kuminga with numerous teams already, but as Slater reports, the Warriors are unwilling to take on negative-value contracts in a potential deal if they extend past this season.
“As expected, they’ve had exploratory conversations with several teams about Jonathan Kuminga, but they’ve expressed an unwillingness to take on contracts that extend beyond this season if they view them as negative value deals, sources said,” Slater added. “That’s been an impediment dating back to the summer, when they declined interest in Malik Monk from Sacramento in sign-and-trade talks for Kuminga.”
There still is time before the deadline for the Warriors to decide which direction they want to go in, but it appears they already are exploring the possibility of adding to a position of need.
From Feb. 6-24, the Flyers will go 19 days without a game because of the NHL’s participation in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Vladar, an offseason signing by the Flyers, has become the club’s No. 1 in net. The 28-year-old is 15-6-3 with a 2.39 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. The 15 wins are a career high.
🇨🇿 Czechia has revealed its men’s roster for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games!➡️
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — It was a night when Stephen Curry was ice cold for much of the game (he started 2-of-13 from 3) and then watched the final minute from the bench after fouling out. Steve Kerr wasn't even on the bench at the end — he was ejected in the fourth quarter after going at an official after a missed call.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard was Kawhi Leonard, finishing with 24 points and 12 boards, just making plays when his team needed them.
Leonard plus a big night from No. 50 pick last June and two-way player Kobe Sanders — 20 points starting in place of James Harden, who was out with a shoulder issue — and the Clippers led comfortably much of the night, then hung on for a 103-102 win at home.
That's seven wins in its last eight for Los Angeles.
"It's our defense," is what Nicolas Batum said has been different with the Clippers recently, after a slow start to the season. "Like, besides the last game against the Celtics, been pretty good the last two weeks."
Kerr ejected
Postgame, the Warriors sent assistant coach Terry Sotts in to speak with the media, and he opened by saying, "I'm up here because I'm saving Steve some money."
Monday night was as hot as Kerr has been in a game in a long, long time. His ejection came after a couple of calls he did not like. The first was a Stephen Curry circus shot that was waived off as a foul on the floor.
This Steph shot was INSANE, despite it being waived off.
However, what really set Kerr off came on the next Warriors possession, when the officials missed an obvious goaltending call on John Collins (the shot clearly had gone off the backboard first, and it wasn't close). Kerr was hot and had to be held back by Stotts and his other assistants, and the entire situation is much funnier if you have it narrated by Snoop Dogg (who was part of the Peacock broadcast crew for this game).
The Clippers were the better team and in control of this game through most of it. All night long, the Clippers would double Jimmy Butler or Stephen Curry, the Warriors moved the ball and found the open man… and then clanked the shot. Golden State was 5-of-27 (18.5%) from 3 through three quarters.
The Clippers were in control and up seven with 1:48 left when Curry finally got hot and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a one-point game.
That gave the Warriors a chance, even though Curry fouled out just after knocking those down. This is why the Warriors have Jimmy Butler and he has proven many times he comes up in the clutch — he got a decent look at the game-winner and just missed it.
"Jimmy ends up having the ball. I know he's been in this situation for a couple of times his career," said Batum, who was the primary defender on Butler at the end. "So, I knew I had to step up and try to make a stop. He had a good look... That was a good stop and a good win for us."
Curry finished with 27 points but on 9-of-23 shooting, while Butler had 24. The Warriors got good production from their bench, with Gary Payton II scoring 14, while Gus Santos didn't play until the start of the fourth quarter, then he played the entire frame, scored six and was a key part of the Warriors' comeback.
In addition to big nights from Leonard and Sanders, the Clippers got 18 points and three blocks from John Collins, plus 16 points from Kris Dunn.
What former Michigan State center Paul Davis said "ticked me off," Izzo admitted to reporters after his team's blowout victory over USC on Monday night.
The Los Angeles Kings are forced to finish their game against the Minnesota Wild with two fewer forwards than they started with. The team will have to manage without their captain, Anze Kopitar and right winger Joel Armia.
Kopitar played just 4:54 of ice time in the first period, and didn't return for the start of the second frame. Los Angeles said he would not return during the second period.
As for Armia, his departure was announced by the Kings during the second intermission. He had 9:14 of ice time before being removed from the game, forcing Los Angeles to finish the match with 10 forwards.
That previous injury was from a puck hitting him in the ankle area, a clearing attempt from teammate and Kings right winger Adrian Kempe. Nonetheless, it's unclear to this point if that injury is connected to what forced him out of Los Angeles' contest with Minnesota.
This was Kopitar's 37th appearance of the season, and in that span, he's recorded six goals and 15 assists for 21 points. With that, he leads all Kings players in the plus-minus department with a plus-12 rating.
Going into this game against the Wild, Kopitar has been averaging 18:54 of ice time per game, the lowest average ice time he's ever logged in his career. He ranks fourth among forwards on the Kings in average ice time, sitting behind Kevin Fiala, Kempe, and Quinton Byfield, who leads all forwards.
Furthermore, once the Kings and Wild game is in the history books, he'll be just nine games away from recording 1,500 NHL games, which only 24 players have done in NHL history.
Armia, on the other hand, may have miss the Olympics if his injury is notably significant. Finland announced that Armia made the Olympic roster on Jan. 2 - the tournament begins on Feb. 11.
This season, the 32-year-old has played 41 games - including the clash with the Wild on Monday - and has registered nine goals and 16 points for the Kings.
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It seemed as though everybody in Nebraska was calling for Fred Hoiberg's job just a few years ago, when it also seemed as though the former Iowa State coach would be unable to replicate the success he had years earlier with the Cyclones. The Huskers won seven games his first season. Four more years down the road, Nebraska begins the week as one of six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I men's college basketball, and the Huskers barged into 10th in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday, the highest they've been since they were No. 9 on Feb. 28, 1966.
Before Rickard Rakell tied Sunday's game with 12.8 seconds left between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets, there was an underrated play made at the blue line by Erik Karlsson.
The Penguins were moving the puck around with authority during the 6-on-5 when Kris Letang dished the puck back to the point. The puck had serious juice and was in danger of leaving the offensive zone, but Karlsson controlled it, getting it to Sidney Crosby. Crosby then passed the puck to Anthony Mantha, who found Rakell open in front for the tying goal.
I bring that play from Karlsson up because had he not made it, the Penguins would've lost in regulation and had their four-game winning streak snapped. Karlsson then got the primary assist on Crosby's game-winner, finding him fresh off the bench in the offensive zone before Crosby made no mistake with a vintage backhand move on a breakaway. Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves had no chance on that deke.
Those two plays capped off Karlsson's best performance of the season in a Penguins uniform, which is saying something, given that he has been marvelous all season. He played 18:34 at 5v5 and was on the ice for 67.5% of the shot attempts, 57.4% of the expected goals, and 57.1% of the scoring chances.
He was driving offense each time he was out there, and there was even a sequence earlier in the game (before Rakell's tying goal) when he took a pass from Parker Wotherspoon, his defensive partner, and deked right around Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner before firing a shot off the post. He then kept the play alive in the offensive zone before the Penguins got two more quality looks. The second look came from Crosby, who looked to have a sure goal, but was denied.
Ever since the Christmas break, Karlsson has five points in five games, including a two-assist performance against the Detroit Red Wings last Thursday. One of those assists came on Blake Lizotte's goal late in the third period that looked like it was going to be the game-winner before the Red Wings tied it on the power play. It came off a fortunate bounce, but Karlsson still showcased a shoot-first mentality from the point.
Karlsson has all the confidence in the world right now, and part of it is because head coach Dan Muse is putting him in the best position to succeed. He plays with a stable partner in Wotherspoon and has been positionally sound. He's not being overly aggressive with his pinching.
He's been running the show at the point on the power play all year, which ranks second in the NHL at 29.7%. 12 of his 31 points have come on the PP.
Heck, Karlsson has also been a staple on the penalty kill all year long and has done a pretty solid job at getting to loose pucks and forcing clears. He’s already logged 92:40 on the penalty kill this season, more than his last two seasons combined on that unit. He played a good bit on the PK in Ottawa and in San Jose, so it's been nice seeing Muse utilize that element of Karlsson's game.
If he keeps this up, there's a legit chance the Penguins could find their way into the playoffs, which still feels a little crazy to write, given the team's low expectations heading into the season. However, that's why you play the games, and right now, the Penguins are on a 98-point pace heading into the second half of the season.
They're in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but are only one point back of the New York Islanders for second in the Metropolitan Division. They still have a lot of divisional games upcoming, which could be good for them since they're already 7-1-3 against the Metro this year after going 9-13-4 against the division last year.
Karlsson has silenced all of his doubters this year, and without him playing at this level, the Penguins wouldn't be in the position that they're in.
Detroit – the current No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference – was down two starters and playing the second game of a back-to-back, but led the visiting Knicks by double-digits for most of the game.
New York has now lost four straight – its longest losing streak since Dec. 2022.
Are they a competent team in the middle of a rough stretch of the schedule? Oklahoma City lost to Charlotte by 27 points at home on Monday; the defending champs are 6-6 in their last 12 games.
Good teams hit rough patches in an 82-game schedule. That could be the case for the Knicks. Or they could be showing the fatal flaws – bad point of attack/perimeter defense – of a team that will fail to meet expectations.
Dolan said earlier in the day in an interview on WFAN’s The Carton Show that anything less than an NBA Finals appearance will be a disappointment.
“We want to get to The Finals, and we should win The Finals,” Dolan told Craig Carton and his co-host, Chris McMonigle. “This is sports…anything can happen in sports. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely gotta do. Winning the Finals, we should win.”
The Knicks haven’t looked like a Finals team lately. They’ve trailed by at least 19 points in the third quarter of their last three losses. The poor stretch coincides with an injury to Josh Hart. The Knicks are 2-4 since Hart suffered an ankle injury. Fortunately, Hart is on the verge of returning from that injury. The Knicks could have both Hart and Landry Shamet back by the end of the week. Maybe both of those players can help stop the Knicks’ slide.
Dolan said in the WFAN interview that he doesn’t expect New York to make a significant trade at the deadline.
“We love our team right now. They have chemistry; they all like each other. I’ve never seen a locker room more copacetic. There’s a lot of energy in there,” Dolan said. “I don’t – (team president) Leon (Rose) could always overrule me – but I don’t see us making a big change. Because we don’t have – we’ve got to keep building up this group. This group can win a championship. I believe that.”
Dolan was answering a question from the hosts about the Knicks and Giannis Antetokounmpo. He said he wasn’t aware of any trade talks between the Knicks and Bucks in the offseason. Later in the interview, he reiterated that he didn’t see the Knicks making any big changes before the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
“That’s what I think our plan is, yes … I talk to Leon every day and look, nothing is impossible; I won’t rule anything out, but who do you want to lose (in a trade)?” Dolan said. “You don’t get something without giving something. Who do you want to lose?”
Jan 12, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau talks to guard Josh Hart (3) during the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The owner was also asked about the decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau in the offseason and hire Mike Brown to replace him.
“The team is really built on the shoulders of Tom Thibodeau. He built that core," Dolan said. "We went as far as we did last year, so you really have to take your hat off to Tom and the job that he did. But we did come to the conclusion that we had an idea of how we wanted to organize the team – actually, it goes for both teams – and that meant we needed to evolve, actually, beyond the old traditional coaching formulas.
"We tried to work that with Tom, it wasn’t really his thing."
It was suggested to Dolan that Thibodeau didn’t use his bench players often enough.
“No, that’s some of it. But it’s much more about style of leadership, collaboration versus (working alone),” Dolan said. “… because of the way, particularly basketball, but also hockey too – the way the sport’s evolving, how much more complicated it is – we’re very, very big on development in both clubs.
“Because you can’t – it’s not like the old days where you can get Reggie Jackson and this guy and this guy and put together a team. It’s almost impossible to do that in the NBA. You have to home-grow some of your talent,” he added. “That also builds up trade currency, etcetera. But it’s a development thing. And that’s a team of people. There’s literally 20 people who are specifically dedicated to developing the players, to getting their skill level up, develop the strategy on the court.
“And that’s important for the development of a franchise. Tom liked development, but he didn’t really…”
Dolan didn’t finish his thought here, but he seemed to be saying Thibodeau’s approach with player development didn’t align with the organization.
At other times in the interview, Dolan was complimentary of Thibodeau, who led the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five seasons and coached them to their first conference final in 25 years.
“I won’t say you can’t win a title with Tom Thibodeau. I don’t necessarily know that’s true. It’s just that, if you want to build a long-term, competitive (team)... you need somebody who is much more of a collaborator than Tom was," he said. "But still, Tom is still a great coach. He should coach again in the NBA. If I had a franchise that I was just starting with, etc., he would be a gold mine to get. And he was like that for us.
"When we first started, and he first came in, he brought discipline, he brought strategy… he brought us all that way. But we really felt like we needed to make a change to go the rest of the way.”
Did the Knicks make the right call with Thibodeau and Brown? The Knicks had a better record at this point in the season last year under Thibodeau. But Brown has played the bench more often, something Dolan thinks will pay dividends in the postseason.
“Look how far we got with our group last year, and then take a look at who was playing and who wasn’t playing and then we had injuries,” the owner said. “We’re going into this season, into the second half of the season, Josh is still out and Landry is coming back soon. We’ve got depth, and if we stay healthy, we’ll go into the playoffs in much better condition than we went into the playoffs last year.”
Dolan has owned the Knicks for nearly 30 years. Most years of the first two decades of his ownership were filled with disappointment and dysfunction. Rose and Thibodeau helped change all of that.
“As an owner, you have to be patient. When I get impatient, is when we veer off the plan, reach for the shiny thing. And think we can win a championship or build a championship team in one fell swoop,” he said. “I’ve been at this now for almost 30 years, and I can tell you that it does happen once in a while, but I don’t think that’s how we’re going to win.”
Dolan was also asked if he enjoys being an owner.
“Let me tell you something about ownership. Ownership is not an achievement. If you own something – you have a beautiful car – you own it, that’s not an achievement. If you built it, OK, then when you drive it around, you can feel like you have an achievement. I always want to try and achieve something,” he said.
If the owner and his top executives were right about Thibodeau, they will all be celebrating a great achievement this June. If not, the decision to jettison Thibodeau and hire Brown will be second-guessed by a fan base desperate for a championship.
It's safe to say that Eric Tulsky seemingly never sleeps.
The Carolina Hurricanes made a late-night trade Monday night, acquiring Finnish defenseman Juuso Valimaki from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for future considerations (i.e. nothing).
The 27-year-old Finnish defenseman was a 2017 first-round selection by the Calgary Flames. Since then, he's played in 271 NHL games, registering 11 goals and 72 points.
He's currently playing in the AHL, where he's spent a bit of time, appearing in 59 games and registered seven goals and 35 points.
The American League is also where he'll start with Carolina as we was also assigned to the Chicago Wolves.
The 6-foot-2 Finn has played in just three AHL games this year, as he's working his way back from ACL surgery.
Valimaki has played alongside Mark Jankowski and Shaye Gostisbehere in the NHL before and has also played alongside Sebastian Aho at the 2014-15 U18s and Hurricanes forward Juha Jaaska on the 2015-16 U18s.
In terms of underlying numbers, Valimaki has had decent results, controlling around a 50% share of scoring chances and expected goals.
His overall defensive impacts have been solid and he can potentially provide some much needed blueline depth for a team dealing with quite a few defensive injuries.
The Finnish blueliner had a very productive year with the Arizona Coyotes just a couple of seasons ago in 2022-23, when he notched four goals and 34 points in 78 games along with having 98 blocks and 53 hits.
While 2023-24 was a down year production wise, he still was doing a lot away from the puck, but last year definitely saw a big drop-off for him.
Valimaki is in the final year of a two-year, $4 million deal and while he's down in the AHL, $850,000 of his contract is buried, meaning he'll carry just a $1.15 million cap hit for the Hurricanes.
It never hurts to have experienced defensive depth and that's seemingly the goal here for Carolina.
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