The Detroit Tigers evened up their weekend home series against the Texas Rangers on Saturday night with a 5-1 victory. Keider Montero gave the good guys 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, while Dillon Dingler’s three-run shot in the opening frame was enough to earn the W.
Sunday night, the two teams will duke it out one more time at Comerica Park in the series rubber match. With Casey Mize on the injured list with a groin injury, left-handed reliever Tyler Holton will start on the mound in what we can assume is an opener role.
So far in 2026, Holton has averaged exactly one inning per outing while entering the game in the seventh or later in 10 of his 13 appearances. Through his first seven games, he allowed zero runs on just four hits and four walks while striking out five over seven frames; he has put up a 12.00 ERA with an 8.14 FIP while giving up 13 hits (two home runs) and four walks over his last six appearances.
Meanwhile, Texas sends fellow struggling southpaw Jack Leiter to the bump, who has given his team at least five innings in five of his six starts. However, after beginning the season having given up just three runs in 11 innings, he has put up an ERA of 6.64 and FIP of 6.53 over the last 20 1/3 frames.
The last time Leiter faced the Tigers was in his major league debut on April 4, 2023, in Detroit, which saw him surrender seven runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out three over 3 2/3 frames in a 9-7 Texas loss.
Make note that the game will be broadcast on the NBC Network/Peacock. Take a look below at the rest of what you need to know for the game.
Detroit Tigers (17-17) vs. Texas Rangers (16-17)
Time (ET): 7:20 p.m. ET Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan SB Nation Site:Lone Star Ball Media: NBC Sports Network/Peacock, Tigers Radio Network
Game 35: LHP Tyler Holton (0-1, 5.54 ERA) vs. RHP Jack Leiter (1-2, 5.17 ERA)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 14: Channing Austin (95) of the New York Mets pitches against the Houston Astros during a Minor League spring training game on March 14, 2026 at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Not a great game here. Yes, Jonah Tong had a strong six inning start, but continues to struggle with his breaking ball shape under the hood. The bullpen then blew it in the late innings, giving up seven runs from the seventh and onwards. Ryan Lambert was also throwing 92 MPH. At least A.J. Ewing continues to look like a star in the making.
Channing Austin might be a real dude. Despite being unranked and not even really on our radar all that much, he now has a 1.21 ERA on the season across 22.1 innings. Now, he is a 24-year-old in High-A, but the stuff looks demonstrably better than prior seasons. Maybe he’s the next interesting backend starting prospect magicked up but the Mets’ PD apparatus.
This sure was a rookie-league game. Four errors, giving up a six run inning, nine walks from the FCL Astros staff – just a lot of ugly ball. And it was a loss to boot. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) attempts a layup between Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) and forward Rui Hachimura during a regular-season game. The Lakers went 0-4 against Oklahoma City this season. (Nate Billings / Associated Press)
The Lakers were supposed to be the easy playoff matchup in the difficult Western Conference. They didn’t get the memo.
The Lakers season took a turn for the worst the last time the Lakers played in Oklahoma City, losing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to regular-season ending injuries. The demoralizing loss sent the Lakers into a three-game tail spin one month before the playoffs.
“I had no doubt in my mind that we could get the group back and build the belief and confidence and be able to execute and give ourselves an opportunity to win a playoff series,” Redick said. “And then go take on the world champions and be competitive in that."
The Thunder have lived up to their championship billing; they were the only team to sweep their first-round playoff series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.8 points on 55.1% shooting and eight assists in the first round against the Phoenix Suns. The Thunder played two games without All-NBA wing Jalen Williams, who injured his left hamstring in Game 2 and was week-to-week with a Grade 1 strain.
Thunder center Chet Holmgren slips past Clippers center Brook Lopez for a dunk. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
How the Lakers fared
Season series: 0-4
Nov. 12, 2025, in Oklahoma City Thunder 121, Lakers 92 Neither team was at full strength with James sidelined because of sciatica and the Thunder without Luguentz Dort and Jalen Williams. Oklahoma City still dominated behind an effortless 30-point, nine-assist night from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It was the largest defeat of the season for the Lakers until April.
Feb. 9, in Los Angeles Thunder 119, Lakers 110 Both teams were without their MVP candidates as Gilegous-Alexander sat because of a strained abdominal muscle and Doncic was sidelined by a hamstring injury. The Thunder proved their depth and chemistry by holding off the Lakers in the fourth quarter. This was one of just eight clutch-time losses for the Lakers during the regular season.
April 2, in Oklahoma City Thunder 139, Lakers 96 The nightmare score wasn’t as scary for the Lakers as seeing their two leading scorers injured in the same game. Reaves played through what was later diagnosed as a Grade 2 oblique muscle strain, and Doncic left in the third quarter with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. The game was expected to be a major showdown between MVP candidates and a litmus test for the Lakers, who entered with 13 wins in their previous 14 games.
April 8, in Los Angeles Thunder 123, Lakers 87 The Lakers were without four starters and still reeling from the regular season-ending injuries suffered by Doncic and Reaves the previous week. Matching up with the Thunder again only exacerbated the emotional hangover. Redick tried to inject some energy into the group by benching veterans Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt for small mistakes early, but the coach later admitted the tactic didn’t work.
Early odds
The Thunder opened as 16-point favorites to win Game 1. James has never been a bigger underdog in a playoff game, according to Yahoo Sports.
There are underdogs, and then there are the kind of underdogs that look like they just wandered into the wrong NBA arena.
The Lakers aren’t just staring up at the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, they’re squinting at them through a telescope.
Thankfully for the Lakers, this is not uncharted territory.
The Lakers’ Drew Timme (17) and the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren will face off again beginning Tuesday night. NBAE via Getty Images
Ahead of their first-round playoff series against the much younger, faster and deeper Rockets, the Lakers opened as +475 underdogs. Without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Rockets were sitting comfortably at -650.
The Lakers didn’t just survive that series, they deconstructed it. Over the course of six grueling games, coach JJ Redick and the Lakers stripped away Houston’s superpower on the offensive glass and extra possessions. By Game 6 in Houston, the Lakers dominated those categories and held the Rockets to the lowest scoring total than any team thus far in the postseason.
Yes, Kevin Durant did not play in five of the six games, and his injury shifted the balance, but that doesn’t erase the Lakers’ execution. Especially without their top scorer.
Now comes the Western Conference semifinals. By virtue of their victory over the Rockets in six games, the Lakers now earn the right to get absolutely smashed by the reigning champion Thunder.
The second-round odds look more like a No. 16 vs. No. 1 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lakers open the series as +945 underdogs. Some books even pushed it to +1000. The Thunder are -1700 favorites. That means you’d have to lay $1,700 on OKC to win the series just to win $100.
The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates are heavily favored against the Lakers. NBAE via Getty Images
Those opening lines are unprecedented for the Lakers’ franchise. According to Sports Odds History, the Lakers have never been this big of an underdog in a conference semifinal in the NBA’s modern era. And maybe not in any era!
For context, the last time LeBron James saw anything close to this kind of disrespect by oddsmakers was Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, when his Cavaliers opened as +12.5 underdogs against the Warriors. The Cavs nearly won that game in regulation, only to lose by 10 in overtime. Nevertheless, they covered.
But these odds? This is bigger. This is colder.
And if you’re wondering why the odds are so high, look no further than the four-game season series between the teams.
The Thunder swept the Lakers in four noncompetitive matchups this season.
A 29-point beatdown in November. A February loss to a Thunder team missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at Crypto.com Arena. The April 2 loss. A 43-point disaster that saw injuries to Doncic and Reaves swallow the Lakers whole. Then a 36-point loss in a glorified scrimmage a few days later.
Average margin of defeat: 29.3 points.
That is the largest margin of defeat between any teams in a playoff matchup in NBA history.
But honestly, these odds are probably exactly where they should be.
The Thunder are younger, deeper, faster and more cohesive. They don’t just beat you, they break you. Led by SGA, who can beat you from deep, midrange and at the rim, they are one of the NBA’s best defensive teams and are constructed by talented players who all know and embrace their roles. They space the floor, they knock down 3s and they get out in transition. Their pace turns fatigue into a weapon. It overwhelms opponents. A close game can turn into a blowout in the blink of an eye.
The Thunder’s Aaron Wiggins (21) and his teammates swept the regular-season series against the Lakers. NBAE via Getty Images
Which brings us to Doncic. He’s the only chance the Lakers have in this series, and even that is slim. Right now, he’s on the outside looking in. He’s begun shooting and moving on the court, but still hasn’t progressed to 1-on-1 drills. He’s not expected to return for Game 1, but he could return at some point in the series. But by then, the series could already be decided.
Once again, the Lakers are a team looking to survive long enough to buy Doncic more time. A group leaning on the brilliance of the 41-year-old James. They just emptied the tank against the Rockets; now they’re expected to sprint uphill against the reigning champions.
The odds say this series ends quickly. It may even get ugly. But the playoffs don’t run on odds or logic. They run on unpredictability, momentum and chaos.
Nobody predicted Durant’s injury. Nobody predicted the Lakers beating the Rockets at their own game without Doncic. And nobody is predicting the Lakers even have a chance against the Thunder.
Is it likely the Lakers win the series? No.
Is it possible? Well, that’s why they play the games.
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HOUSTON — LeBron James sat by his locker, alternating between being introspective and funny.
He allowed himself to take things in, saying he was “living in the moment a lot more.”
The Lakers’ LeBron James led a depleted team to a 4-2 series victory over the Rockets on Friday in Houston. Getty Images
He joked about his son, Bronny, bearing an uncanny resemblance to NFL player Will Anderson Jr., calling him “my fourth child.”
Nothing stood out about the moment.
Except everything.
What just happened was monumental.
The 41-year-old James had just led a depleted Lakers team without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves (for all but two games) past the Rockets in their first-round playoff series, winning Game 6 in Houston on Friday, 98-78.
This was no ordinary first-round win for James, who has carried 10 NBA teams to the Finals, winning four championships.
This was one of the most stunning accomplishments of his career.
This was one of the most stunning accomplishments of his career. Getty Images
It’s time to stop questioning whether James is the greatest player of all time.
Six games before the regular season ended, Doncic suffered a hamstring strain and Reaves sustained an oblique strain in the same game April 2, deflating the Lakers like a nail in a tire.
He’s the first NBA player to play in his 23rd season. He was too old to put a bunch of role players on his back and pull off a miracle. Even in his prime, that would’ve been a huge ask.
The thing is, James is used to being told what he can’t do.
He thrives off proving people wrong. That’s his drug, his fix.
He has been under the brightest of spotlights since he was in middle school. When he entered the NBA as an 18-year-old, he had the highest expectation of any prospect ever. Everyone was waiting for him to fail.
James sprinted past the pressure, shattering every ceiling. He’s the league’s all-time leading scorer, he has the most All-Star selections (22) and has played the most minutes.
The thing is, James is used to being told what he can’t do. Getty Images
But still, no one believed James could do this.
Lead a Lakers team without its top-two scorers, who left behind a 60-point hole? At his age? No chance. No way.
When are we going to stop doubting him?
James responded by averaging 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists over 38.5 minutes per game. Those are stunning numbers for anyone but unheard-of numbers for a 41-year-old playing against guys who are nearly half his age.
He carried the team to a 3-0 series lead.
James averaged more than 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists over close to 39 minutes per game in the series. Getty Images
Then after the Rockets won two straight games, stealing the series momentum, James catapulted the Lakers to a second-round date with the reigning champion Thunder.
Said Austin Reaves: “I just went over to him and was like, ‘You’re insane.’ The stuff that you’re doing is not normal.”
Added Lakers coach JJ Redick: “To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player.”
The oldest NBA player in the league was the best player in the series.
In Game 1, he unraveled the Rockets with his passing, finishing with 19 points and 13 assists. In Game 2, he led all scorers with 28 points. In Game 3, he made a game-tying 3-pointer that forced overtime, and he went on to play 45 minutes. In Game 5, he orchestrated an 11-1 fourth-quarter run, cutting the Lakers’ 13-point deficit to three points and giving them a chance to win.
In Game 6, he was everywhere, doing everything, finishing with game highs in points (28) and assists (eight), as well as grabbing seven rebounds. He had the highest plus-minus (+26) of anyone on the court.
James didn’t just perform. He shined. He stunned.
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He made a dejected-and-hapless group of role players believe in themselves. He brought out the best in them. He led them out of the abyss.
He reinvigorated their careers.
Marcus Smart was falling out of the league. Deandre Ayton was considered immature and unreliable. Luke Kennard was pigeonholed. Each of them looked like stars at times this series.
It was because of James.
If James was pouring every ounce of himself onto the court, how could they not? If someone who understood winning on such a deep level believed in his teammates, how could they not believe in themselves?
What James did was extraordinary.
As the Lakers huddled after Game 6, a loud chant broke out.
“Literally every single guy was going, ‘Baahhhh, baahhhhh,'” Redick said.
The team was making goat sounds to honor the greatest player of all time, a convenient acronym that could be celebrated with a bleat.
It’s time to stop playing devil’s advocate. To stop the debate. To stop questioning him.
James is the best ever.
What we just witnessed was nothing short of breathtaking.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 02: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics looks on from the bench during the first half of a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Seven of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on May 02, 2026 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. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In Saturday’s Brotherhood Playoff Action, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-100. Tatum was listed as questionable earlier, but was ruled out due to stiffness in his left knee.
Philadelphia will go on to play the New York Knicks. You’ll recall that Tatum suffered his Achilles injury in last year’s playoffs against the Knicks, so he’ll miss the chance to close that circle.
On Sunday, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter will lead the Orlando Magic into Game 7 against the Detroit Pistons. In the second game, RJ Barrett and the Toronto Raptors will take on Tyrese Proctor and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of that series. Brandon Ingram is listed as questionable with heel inflammation.
The inaugural Sunday Leadoff on Peacock in 2026 will feature the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays and the hosting Minnesota Twins — two teams that started the year on different paths and have begun to both trend towards .500.
It's the final game of a four-game series with Toronto having won two of the first three games. The Blue Jays are coming off a 4-2 homestand against the Guardians and Red Sox and have climbed from a 7-13 start to 16-17.
The Twins had lost 11 of 13 heading into this weekend series, being swept by the Rays and Reds as well as dropping two of three to the Mariners and Mets. They enter play on Sunday at 14-20.
The Jays are still six games back of the Yankees, who are off with the best record in the American League as of Saturday night.
Minnesota won the American League Central in three of the past eight seasons, but has finished fourth in the five-team division in each of the last two years and are trending in that direction again after a surprising 11-7 start. The Twins took two of three from the Jays in Toronto from April 10-12, and the Jays are now looking for a little revenge.
Sunday's probable starters are right-hander Trey Yesavage for the Blue Jays and right-hander Joe Ryan for the Twins.
See below for additional information on how to watch the Twins vs. Blue Jays and a breakdown of the game. Also check out the schedule for the MLB on NBC and Peacock. There will be 27 prime-time MLB games featured across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN in 2026. NBC Sports will also stream one out-of-market game each day of the 2026 MLB season nationally on Peacock.
Matt Vasgersian will provide play-by-play alongside analysts Dexter Fowler (a former All-Star for the Cubs in 2016 and MLB Leadoff package analyst) and Justin Morneau (a Twins television analyst and former MVP winner in 2006 for the Twins) in the booth.
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Minnesota Twins preview:
While the Twins may be cold, nobody on the team is hotter than Brooks Lee, who had hit .292/.361/.554 over his last 72 plate appearances heading into this series against the Jays after a .162/.219/.167 start to the year. Lee had a go-ahead single against the Tigers off the bench on April 9 that seems to have sparked a better stretch of hitting.
While he's almost exclusively being used against left-handed starters, Minnesota's batting leader in baseball-reference WAR coming into the series was Austin Martin, who is hitting .357/.471/.429 against right-handers despite only 33 plate appearances against them so far this year.
Minnesota's front three of their rotation has been outstanding despite the absence of Pablo López to UCL surgery in Spring Training. Ryan, Taj Bradley, and Bailey Ober were each carrying a sub-4 ERA heading into this series and have struck out 112 batters in 117 1/3rd innings pitched.
Minnesota's offensive profile is on-base percentage heavy, as they ranked in the top-10 in team on-base percentage (.327) entering the series and were in the top five in baseball in runners left on base (233) despite the efforts of Byron Buxton (ten homers) and Ryan Jeffers (..287/.394/.471, four homers) early in the season.
Minnesota's pitching staff has done a great job of limiting homers, entering the series tied for the lowest homers allowed/nine innings among all pitching staffs at 0.8.
Not that anyone is surprised by this, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting the cover off the ball early with an MLB-leading .358 average entering this series. He leads the team in hitting WAR despite only two homers.
After a slow start to his introduction to MLB pitching, offseason addition Kazuma Okamoto has turned it on of late, hitting .278/.361/.630 with six homers over Toronto's past 15 games. It's vital for the Jays to get the rest of the lineup heated up as they try to climb out of their slow start.
Perhaps the return of George Springer will help things. Springer fractured a toe earlier in the season and just recently returned. He was only hitting ..212/.307/364 as of Saturday night, but he's coming off a .309/.399/.560 2025 season and should be able to get closer to the latter than the former.
Despite heavy investments in their pitching this offseason, Toronto's team ERA heading into this series was 4.20 — a little above the 4.16 league-average ERA. The return of Yesavage should help, while injuries to stalwarts like Jose Berrios and Shane Bieber has had them relying on depth quite a bit more than expected early on.
Sunday Night Baseball will make its debut March 29 with the Guardians vs. Mariners. The 18-game MLB Sunday Leadoff schedule will begin May 3, with the defending AL champion Toronto Blue Jays visiting the Twins in Minnesota. On Sunday, July 5, all 15 MLB games will be presented nationally across Peacock and NBC as part of a special all-day “Star-Spangled Sunday” showcase.
NBC Sports will also stream one out-of-market game each day of the 2026 MLB season nationally on Peacock. Telemundo Deportes will present all NBCUniversal-produced MLB games in Spanish, with Universo televising all games broadcast on NBC.
From an MLB Opening Day doubleheader on March 26 to the Wild Card round of the playoffs, NBC Sports’ 2026 schedule delivers wall-to-wall coverage.
D.J. Short
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The Sixers of the Joel Embiid era know that playoff basketball can be harsh, even heartbreaking.
All-world performances, bad bounces and the concept of potential are all irrelevant. You’re either the first team to win four games in a series or you’re not.
To Embiid, this year’s Sixers team doesn’t feel like all the others.
“This is different,” Embiid said a few minutes into Sunday morning after the Sixers cemented a seven-game comeback series win over the Celtics. “The fight, it’s just there. … We’ve had good teams, but this feels pretty different. I think as long as we stay healthy and whatever game plan we have in the next series, we execute it, then we have a pretty good chance.”
Embiid had dominant stretches Saturday in a 34-point, 12-rebound, six-assist night, but Game 7 wasn’t remotely easy for the Sixers.
The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum (left knee stiffness) and head coach Joe Mazzulla’s choice to throw three new players into his starting lineup backfired. Boston still had multiple open shots in the fourth quarter to fully erase an 18-point deficit.
The Sixers needed more than a special Embiid outing to beat Boston in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and advance to a second-round series vs. the Knicks. Tyrese Maxey capped a superstar’s series by posting 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The NBA’s leader in minutes per game during the regular season, Maxey logged 45 in Game 7.
“I just think his confidence level has gone up a huge (amount),” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of Maxey. “For him to come down and say, ‘The game’s on the line and I’m going to put it away,’ I think that’s a big leap for him.”
Maxey scooted to the hoop for two crucial layups in the final minutes. He’s proven he can be great well past the point where an average player’s exhaustion would start to show.
“I work extremely hard in the summer, man. … I’ve worked extremely hard on my body,” Maxey said. “Shoutout to (performance coach) Al Reeser. He’s been on me since my rookie year. … The weight room is probably the biggest thing. I lift after pretty much every game, four to five times a week during the summer. I think that’s really helped me for moments like this.
“I don’t really feel tired right now, honestly. I don’t know how many minutes straight I played, but it happens. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes for us to win. I’m a competitor and I’m going to compete at the highest level on any given night.”
Maxey’s youthful backcourt mate is of the same mind.
VJ Edgecombe, at 20 years old, scored 23 points in Game 7 and shot 5 for 11 from three-point range.
The rookie was also determined to prevent Derrick White from anything like his 19-point first half in the second. White only scored seven points after halftime.
With Edgecombe defending him in the series, White shot 3 for 18, per NBA.com. Payton Pritchard went 4 for 17. Those numbers don’t tell a complete defensive story, but they support the impression that Edgecombe’s effort, athleticism and intelligence all translated well to his first playoff series.
“He obviously was great,” Nurse said. “They did a lot of helping off him, so he was going to get some opportunities (to shoot) … Most importantly, he came out of halftime saying, ‘I’ve got White and I’m going to do better on him,’ because White was cooking. … Those are the things that make a huge difference in games like this.”
For good reason, Paul George had his least productive game of a very strong two-way series. He chipped in 13 points and three rebounds with an illness that stopped him from sleeping the night prior.
“We knew what we were up against,” George said of the Sixers’ comeback. “We just had to come out and do our part. We believe in the talent in this room. We believe in our abilities.”
On Tuesday night at TD Garden, the Sixers trailed by 13 points in the third quarter of Game 5.
“It’s hard to get drilled a couple of times and bounce back,” Nurse said. “But we go through some tough games during the year and we seem to bounce back almost every time. We get blown (out) by 40 at home, and then we go on the road and win four out of five or something. We seem to kind of have that in us. But (the playoffs) is different than that, so that’s a lesson we can learn.
“And I do think that in these games and these series, you’re going to have really high highs and really low lows, man. … It’s just the way it is and you’ve got to be able to handle both of them. When you get a great win, who cares? The next game is going to be totally different. And when you get a bad loss, whether it’s by one or by 30, the score is what the score is in the series and you’ve just got to get ready to play the next one.”
The Sixers did so with confidence that could’ve been called irrational.
“We’ve had this weird swag about us all year, this confidence and just the fact that we know who we can be and who we are,” Maxey said. “I said at media day that this team was going to fight every single night and we’ve done that. We’ve gotten beat a couple of times pretty bad. That just happens in this league, but we never wavered.
“We always believed in each other. … This group really likes each other and really wants to see each other succeed.”
The Sixers of the Joel Embiid era know that playoff basketball can be harsh, even heartbreaking.
All-world performances, bad bounces and the concept of potential are all irrelevant. You’re either the first team to win four games in a series or you’re not.
To Embiid, this year’s Sixers team doesn’t feel like all the others.
“This is different,” Embiid said a few minutes into Sunday morning after the Sixers cemented a seven-game comeback series win over the Celtics. “The fight, it’s just there. … We’ve had good teams, but this feels pretty different. I think as long as we stay healthy and whatever game plan we have in the next series, we execute it, then we have a pretty good chance.”
Embiid had dominant stretches Saturday in a 34-point, 12-rebound, six-assist night, but Game 7 wasn’t remotely easy for the Sixers.
The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum (left knee stiffness) and head coach Joe Mazzulla’s choice to throw three new players into his starting lineup backfired. Boston still had multiple open shots in the fourth quarter to fully erase an 18-point deficit.
The Sixers needed more than a special Embiid outing to beat Boston in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and advance to a second-round series vs. the Knicks. Tyrese Maxey capped a superstar’s series by posting 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The NBA’s leader in minutes per game during the regular season, Maxey logged 45 in Game 7.
“I just think his confidence level has gone up a huge (amount),” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of Maxey. “For him to come down and say, ‘The game’s on the line and I’m going to put it away,’ I think that’s a big leap for him.”
Maxey scooted to the hoop for two crucial layups in the final minutes. He’s proven he can be great well past the point where an average player’s exhaustion would start to show.
“I work extremely hard in the summer, man. … I’ve worked extremely hard on my body,” Maxey said. “Shoutout to (performance coach) Al Reeser. He’s been on me since my rookie year. … The weight room is probably the biggest thing. I lift after pretty much every game, four to five times a week during the summer. I think that’s really helped me for moments like this.
“I don’t really feel tired right now, honestly. I don’t know how many minutes straight I played, but it happens. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes for us to win. I’m a competitor and I’m going to compete at the highest level on any given night.”
Maxey’s youthful backcourt mate is of the same mind.
VJ Edgecombe, at 20 years old, scored 23 points in Game 7 and shot 5 for 11 from three-point range.
The rookie was also determined to prevent Derrick White from anything like his 19-point first half in the second. White only scored seven points after halftime.
With Edgecombe defending him in the series, White shot 3 for 18, per NBA.com. Payton Pritchard went 4 for 17. Those numbers don’t tell a complete defensive story, but they support the impression that Edgecombe’s effort, athleticism and intelligence all translated well to his first playoff series.
“He obviously was great,” Nurse said. “They did a lot of helping off him, so he was going to get some opportunities (to shoot) … Most importantly, he came out of halftime saying, ‘I’ve got White and I’m going to do better on him,’ because White was cooking. … Those are the things that make a huge difference in games like this.”
For good reason, Paul George had his least productive game of a very strong two-way series. He chipped in 13 points and three rebounds with an illness that stopped him from sleeping the night prior.
“We knew what we were up against,” George said of the Sixers’ comeback. “We just had to come out and do our part. We believe in the talent in this room. We believe in our abilities.”
On Tuesday night at TD Garden, the Sixers trailed by 13 points in the third quarter of Game 5.
“It’s hard to get drilled a couple of times and bounce back,” Nurse said. “But we go through some tough games during the year and we seem to bounce back almost every time. We get blown (out) by 40 at home, and then we go on the road and win four out of five or something. We seem to kind of have that in us. But (the playoffs) is different than that, so that’s a lesson we can learn.
“And I do think that in these games and these series, you’re going to have really high highs and really low lows, man. … It’s just the way it is and you’ve got to be able to handle both of them. When you get a great win, who cares? The next game is going to be totally different. And when you get a bad loss, whether it’s by one or by 30, the score is what the score is in the series and you’ve just got to get ready to play the next one.”
The Sixers did so with confidence that could’ve been called irrational.
“We’ve had this weird swag about us all year, this confidence and just the fact that we know who we can be and who we are,” Maxey said. “I said at media day that this team was going to fight every single night and we’ve done that. We’ve gotten beat a couple of times pretty bad. That just happens in this league, but we never wavered.
“We always believed in each other. … This group really likes each other and really wants to see each other succeed.”
The 35-year-old, brother of Will Still, lasts three months
Watford sack 11th head coach since end of 2020-21 season
Watford have sacked head coach Ed Still, just three months into a two-and-a-half year contract, following the Championship club’s dismal end to the season. Still was Watford’s 11th permanent head coach since the end of the 2020-21 season.
Still, 35, was appointed in February following the resignation of Javi Gracia and his sacking comes at the end of the Championship season in which Watford lost six of their final seven games. The Hornets finished 16th, 10 points above the relegation zone.
I’ve made this point before on Pinstripe Alley, but it’s never a bad time to bring it up: Boy, do I love a good, boring win. The Yankees have been getting quite a few of those lately, and that continued yesterday against the Orioles. The Bombers very casually roughed up Kyle Bradish, Ryan Weathers was effective enough despite not necessarily having his wipeout stuff, and the offense kept adding when Bradish left, ensuring that any bullpen lapses wouldn’t hurt too much. The end result: a 9-4 win that didn’t even feel that close. May there be more on the horizon!
Today on the site, Estevão will spotlight some trends from the Yankees’ AL East foes’ first month, Peter will present the Rivalry Roundup, Matt will celebrate the 121st birthday of Yankees pitching legend Red Ruffing, Scott will have a feature on Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre reliever Bradley Hanner, and after the matinee, John will write up this week’s Social Media Spotlight.
Today’s Matchup
New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles
Time: 1:35 p.m. EST
Video: YES Network, MASN
Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Questions/Prompts:
1. How deep does ace Max Fried go this afternoon against the O’s?
2. Any Game 7 predictions for today? We’ve got the top-seeded Detroit Pistons against the underdog Orlando Magic, and Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA, as well as Canada’s last hope for snapping its 33-year Stanley Cup drought with the Montreal Canadiens trying to advance to the next around against the Tampa Bay Lightning (who, of course, have won three Cups in that timespan, including against the Habs in 2021).
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 12: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) during a game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday, April 12, 2026 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The game drew extra attention from fans, because it could be Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin's final NHL game in Washington. (Photo by Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Sidney Crosby is under contract next season in 2026-27 to play for the Penguins. What comes after that will have to be determined at a later date.
“Just wait and see,” Crosby said on Friday about his future status during exit interviews. “I haven’t thought that far ahead, but we’ll just wait and see.”
That matches his approach from recently, Crosby waited two and a half months in the summer of 2024 to sign a two-year contract extension with the Penguins that covered 2025-26 and 2026-27. He will be turning 40 years old shortly after this deal ends.
Whether or not we see a 40+ year old Crosby playing in the NHL in 2027-28 is a bridge that the forward hasn’t come close to crossing yet this soon after a season comes to an end. Crosby finished his 21st season in Pittsburgh, 22 is coming up next year. Year 23 isn’t assured, though it isn’t ruled out at this point either.
Crosby would be eligible to officially sign another extension for 2027-28 starting in just a couple of months on July 1st of this year. It doesn’t sound like the long-time Pittsburgh captain is in any hurry to make that decision one year ahead of time.
One positive for this off-season is there won’t be any rumors or wishful thinking out of Canada to stir up trade rumors, being as the Penguins made the playoffs and at least held out enough promise to making coming back to Pittsburgh a foregone conclusion in 2026-27 to potentially finish out his illustrious career wearing the only NHL jersey he’s ever known.
Despite suffering two injuries to each leg since February, Crosby proclaimed himself to be in good shape and dismissed questions about the possibility of undergoing surgery this summer.
“I’m going to have discussions [Friday] and talk to doctors and things like that,” Crosby said. “I feel pretty good.”
At this point, he likely doesn’t have a firm answer about long long he will continue playing in the NHL. For anything beyond next season, we’ll likely have a long time to “wait” before we “see”.
Emilio Gay scored his third century of the season while Northamptonshire’s Ben Sanderson rampaged through Worcestershire
A fifth wicket at Canterbury, where events are hurtling towards a conclusion. Shoaib Bashir, whose throw ran out Northeast, now catches Ekansh Singh off Rory Haydon, who is having quite a game – eight wickets and counting. Kent 65-5.
Mike Daniels has an eye on events from the Grace Road scorebox: “You feel, with conditions as they are and a new ball in 10 overs, that Leics won’t be long in being asked to follow on, short of a miracle.” Eskinazi and Ajaz Patel have just picked up a batting bonus point, though Eskinazi doesn’t want to be wafting like that too often.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe continued his rehab assignment with the Somerset Patriots at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater on April 17, 2026. | Alexander Lewis / MyCentralJersey / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Anthony Volpe’s rehab assignment will end today, and the Yankees will have to chose what to do with the former top prospect. He will either need to be activated and added to the MLB roster, or optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and begin his season for real in the minors. With José Caballero doing everything the Yankees could possibly ask of him, especially with his shortstop defense, some time in Scranton to ensure that Volpe can be a representative MLB player might not be the worst idea. Of course the counterpoint is what risk do you pose in hurting Volpe’s confidence, a player who has already struggled to live up to the expectations placed on him in his career?
NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: Much was made over the winter about the new Trajekt machines, batting practice aids that replicate the arm angle and movement of virtually any MLB pitcher. At least one Yankee has found success in a more low-tech environment though, with the aforementioned Caballero sinking his teeth into onfield batting practice. The shortstop has hit four home runs on the year, after five all of last season, and credits the confidence that watching the ball travel around the stadium during BP instills with the power surge. I’m not sure Cabby will ever be hitting in the top third of a lineup, but not having automatic outs at the bottom of the order has been a big part of the Yankees’ success early.
New York Post | Bridget Reilly: Yep, I’m gonna talk about Ben Rice again. The perceived vulnerability in the Yankee slugger was supposed to be left handed pitching — Paul Goldschmidt came back to the Bronx on a $4 million insurance policy as a partial hedge against that weakness. Instead, Rice is the second-best hitter in all of baseball against lefties, with a sterling 1.308 OPS facing southpaws in the first six weeks of the season. The Yankees lost Juan Soto and then effectively made Juan Soto out of a 27-year-old Dartmouth alum, one of the more stunning player development successes in recent years. A platoon hitter no more!
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) talks with Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) following game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
BOSTON — Minutes after Jayson Tatum was ruled out of Game 7, Joe Mazzulla walked into the media room wearing a black “Celtics Mindset” hoodie. He didn’t raise his voice or change his tone. “This season was about creating different identities,” he said. “We’ve done this before.”
It landed the way most of his comments do. Calm. Controlled. Almost separate from the moment.
Out on the floor, it didn’t feel that way.
By the time warmups started, there was a tension in the building that didn’t need volume to be obvious. You could see it in how people stood. Conversations shorter than usual. A few deep exhales mixed into the usual pregame buzz. When I was interviewing fans before Game 5, there were plenty of smiles and laughs. Not so much tonight. A Game 7 without one of your best players will do that to a fanbase.
Still, the players didn’t show it. Derrick White jogged out early, smiling, acknowledging the crowd. Payton Pritchard followed, more locked in than jovial, but that’s just PP. Sam Hauser stood along the sideline talking quietly with his family before heading back to the locker room, his dad giving him a firm pat on the back before saying goodbye.
For the Celtics, this was either going to be one more night of many more to come or the last one for a while.
I got to my press seat a few minutes before tip, right around the time the starting lineup was announced.
Ron Harper Jr. Luka Garza. Baylor Scheierman. Derrick White. Jaylen Brown.
Joe heard the calls for adjustments and went full Michael Keaton. “You wanna get nuts? Fine. Let’s get nuts.”
Sitting next to me was a reporter from Istanbul, there for Adem Bona, who moved to Turkey at age 13 to play professionally with Istanbul Basket. His name? Bozkurt. His third language? English. But I’d soon learn that he knew enough English, and enough about basketball, to spend the next two and a half hours becoming my temporary Game 7 nemesis.
We shook hands. The game started. I had no idea the stranger sitting next to me was going to help me cope with the end of the Celtics’ season.
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad first quarter
The first few possessions didn’t do anything to settle the nerves.
Three early shots, all from deep, all missed. No paint touches or pressure on the defense. By the 9:36 mark, Boston still hadn’t scored, and Philadelphia looked right at home despite playing on the road.
As he had the past few games, Joel Embiid set the tone right away. When Boston stayed home, he stepped into midrange jumpers. When help came, he moved the ball cleanly. There was no rush to anything he was doing. By the end of the quarter, he had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, and it never felt like he had to force it.
Philadelphia shot 65 percent in the first quarter. They led 32-19, while Boston looked like a team still trying to figure out what the game was going to ask of them.
There was movement offensively, which was encouraging, but not a whole lot of purpose. Possessions drifted late into the clock. Too much dribbling without forcing a decision. On the other end, it was worse. Backdoor cuts. Easy entries. Not nearly enough resistance.
Bozkurt didn’t need to say much early. He didn’t have to. Every Embiid jumper seemed to make his case for him. Every clean Sixers cut, every easy action, every possession where Philadelphia looked like the team with the clearer plan. He’d react with a small nod or a sound that somehow carried the same meaning as a 500-word column.
“Besides Shaq, Embiid has to be most dominant center ever, yes?” Bozkurt asked, or really, stated.
I was still at the point where I felt the need to be professional and courteous. The best I could muster was, “He’s pretty good!”
In any case, the Celtics looked uncomfortable from the jump, and the Sixers looked right at home in TD Garden.
Mazzulla started looking elsewhere for answers early. Pritchard checked in before the eight-minute mark. Queta followed. Walsh soon after. By the end of the quarter, Boston had already gone deep into its bench.
It didn’t fix the first quarter. But it sure did change the second.
The stretch that pulled everyone back in
The second quarter didn’t open clean either, but it felt different almost right away.
Hugo González, who had seen a total of six minutes of action in this series coming into Game 7, checked in and gave Boston something it had been desperately searching for: resistance. He picked up Maxey, fought through screens, and stayed attached far better than most Celtics players had fared through the series. It wasn’t perfect, but it made Philadelphia work a little more to get into what it wanted.
At the other end, Derrick White started to steady things.
A floater. A pull-up. Then a three that brought it back within two. On the next possession, he drew an offensive foul, and the building woke up with it.
Pritchard followed with a three, and suddenly Boston had its first lead of the night.
I couldn’t help it. I fist-pumped. Take that, Bozkurt.
This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you I handled the whole night with the professional detachment expected from someone sitting in a media section. I did not. Not really. The first time I covered a game with credentials, which was Tatum’s return game and Cooper Flagg’s first one in Boston, I kept it together. Game 5 cracked me a little. Game 7 fully found the Celtics fan in me and dragged him out by the collar.
Part of that was the game. Part of that was the Garden. And part of it was Bozkurt.
He had come to cover Bona, but with Bona on the bench, he became an Embiid backer by necessity. Or maybe by choice. I’m still not sure. At one point in the second quarter, he leaned over, put two hands on my shoulders, and unprompted, said, “Two players with best whistle in league. SGA. Tatum.”
That’s what I was dealing with.
The Celtics, meanwhile, were finally giving me something to work with.
The ball was moving like it was early on in the season. Players cut with purpose instead of watching and waiting for their turn to go 1-on-1. Defensively, there were hands in passing lanes, bodies meeting drives earlier, and far more urgency across the floor. It wasn’t perfect, but it was connected and it was effort.
White carried the scoring, pouring in 19 by halftime. Jaylen Brown started to find his rhythm later in the quarter, while Queta was finally able to give them useful minutes without getting into foul trouble. Hugo was the biggest spark of the first half.
It felt like a montage of the regular season. One guy after another stepping forward as if to say, “Hey, remember me? Remember what I brought to this season?”
After Game 6, Brown had talked about playing faster, freer, with more trust in the group. For a stretch in the second quarter, that version showed up.
Still, the game never fully flipped. Embiid came back in and slowed everything down again. A rebound here. A trip to the line there. The lead stretched back out just enough to keep Boston chasing.
At halftime, it was 55-50. Given where it started, you had to take it.
Bozkurt looked up at the scoreboard, then over at me.
“Careful,” he said.
He was right. Annoyingly, painfully right.
The fight was real. So was the hole.
The third quarter was always going to say a lot about how the Celtics felt about this game. Boston had survived the first half. Now was the time to turn survival into control.
Queta opened with a smooth move over Embiid. A few possessions later, Maxey hit a three, then an effortless midrange jumper. The lead was back to double digits before fans had even settled back in their seats.
Keep it close became the quiet mantra for myself. Maybe not even quiet. I’m pretty sure I wrote it in my notes three or four times because I was trying to convince myself as much as anyone.
Brown gave them a moment out of a timeout, an and-one midrange that cut it back to eight. Then, Pritchard hit a three to make it a one-possession game. Jaylen took on the Embiid assignment and clapped in his face, prompting Embiid to talk that talk after making a shot. For a minute, it felt like something personal was brewing between the two of them.
The less fun part was that Philadelphia kept answering.
Embiid dragged the game back to his pace. Maxey found enough cracks. Paul George, who seemed to locate the Indiana version of himself for this series, hit a big three whenever Boston needed him not to.
At one point, the lead hit 15. Then 18.
Bozkurt put his arm around me again and said, “Sorry, brother.”
I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. What a ridiculous place to be. Sitting at the top of TD Garden, in a Game 7, next to a man from Istanbul who had become my emotional support rival. He was half consoling me, half enjoying the fact that Embiid was dismantling everything I held near and dear to my heart.
The Garden was still trying, despite Bozkurt’s Philadelphia’s best efforts. “Let’s Go Celtics” chants broke out during a timeout, but it didn’t sound like the usual Garden roar. Stunned is how I would describe it. Down 18 at home in Game 7 after leading the series 3-1, it felt appropriate.
After three quarters, it was 88-75.
Boston was shooting under 40 percent. Philadelphia was over 50. The Celtics needed a miracle.
For much of the fourth quarter, they made everyone believe in one.
The last time we got to believe
The fourth quarter started with Hauser hitting a three to cut it to ten. Derrick White followed with a steal and a layup to make it eight. The building responded immediately, like it had been waiting for permission to get to that yet-unreached decibel level.
By then, Bozkurt was on his feet too.
I looked over at him and nodded. No words needed.
Not done yet.
When Jaylen scored off a great pass from White to cut it to six, the Garden felt alive in a way that made the previous three quarters feel like they belonged to a different night. Nervous murmurs became excited murmurs. Everyone was standing. Bill Chisholm was on his feet courtside. Spider Kid was on the jumbotron. Save us, Spider Kid.
Queta finished through contact and turned to the crowd, yelling, and it was one of those moments where the game and the fandom stopped feeling like separate things.
Neemias Queta scores the And-1 off a pass by Derrick White to cut the 76ers lead to just 4 (with replays).
Reggie Miller is convinced there should have been an offensive foul call on White prior to the And-1. pic.twitter.com/z8ilcdXgD5
Queta felt the energy immediately and leaned into it, chest out, screaming back at 19,156 people who were already halfway out of their seats.
We saw a version of that in Game 5 with Walsh, a small play that turned into something bigger because of how quickly the crowd grabbed onto it. This felt the same, just louder, heavier, more desperate.
In that stretch, everything was feeding everything else. The defense, the effort, the noise. In TD Garden, it doesn’t take much for that loop to close. And once it does, it’s hard to tell who’s pushing who.
Jaylen followed with an and-one. One-point game.
At that point, the idea of acting like a neutral observer felt deeply stupid. Bozkurt was standing. Hell, everyone was standing. The Garden was so loud that even if I cheered, no one would hear me anyway. I’m all the way up here, I told myself. I write for CelticsBlog. Who am I pretending for?
For a stretch, the Celtics looked like the team Brown later wished they had trusted more.
“I wish we trusted that style more,” Brown said after the game. “You saw tonight how everybody came out and played their tail off.”
He was right. During that run, all five guys on the floor mattered. The ball was zipping. The defense was hounding. Queta crashed. White pushed. Pritchard spaced. Hauser hit. Jaylen guarded Embiid and had some seriously loud blocks in the fourth like he was trying to drag the whole season back by himself.
It got down to one again and again.
But they never broke through.
Brown had a three go in and out. Pritchard missed a wide-open three after a ridiculous Jaylen block. Then Brown missed a clean midrange look, followed by a Hauser miss from deep. Five straight empty trips at the worst possible time.
After the game, Mazzulla said they had “two or three great looks to take the lead.”
They sure did. They just didn’t go in. As one fan told me before Game 5, it feels like a make-or-miss league these days.
Maxey answered. Then again. The lead stretched. The air came out in pieces. The game didn’t end all at once. But eventually, it faded into oblivion.
109-100.
What you can say right away, and what you can’t
The first thing that hits you in a Game 7 loss isn’t analysis.
It’s that it’s over.
I get that no one wants a positive spin right now. No one should. The Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead for the first time in franchise history. They lost three straight, two of them at home. And they lost to the Sixers. That all matters, and it will matter for a long time.
There will be hours and days to unpack all of it. The lineup choices. The reliance on three-point shooting. The offensive lulls. The defensive possessions where Embiid looked far too comfortable. The missed chances in Games 5 and 6. The way a season that once felt like a bonus, then an opportunity, somehow ended as a gut punch.
But in the immediate aftermath, sitting there while the Garden emptied out, I kept coming back to the same thing.
I loved watching this team.
That doesn’t make the loss sting any less, and it doesn’t make the collapse easier to swallow. Nor does it mean anyone has to skip the anger stage and move straight to gratitude because that would be obnoxious, and also impossible.
But this team gave us more than most people expected back in October. More than any team without Jayson Tatum for most of the year had any business giving. More than a gap year was supposed to contain.
Jaylen said as much after the game.
“This is probably one of my most fun years playing basketball,” he said. “I’m so grateful to be with this group.”
That matched what I felt watching them, even in a loss that will sit with Celtics fans for a long while. They were imperfect. Weird. Fun. Stubborn. Occasionally maddening. Sometimes hard to explain. They won a lot of basketball games and made a lot of people care more than they expected to. That can make the downfall hurt even more.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 02: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics looks on during the fourth quarter of a game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Seven of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on May 02, 2026 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. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mazzulla talked about the other side of chasing something bigger.
“When you go after something bigger than yourself,” he said, “you have to accept the other side of that.”
That is a very Joe way to put it. Maybe a little too philosophical when the wound is still so raw. But there’s truth in it, even if nobody wants to hear it yet.
Bozkurt stayed for a minute after the final buzzer. Not long. Just enough to take one more look around before leaving. Then he turned to me, pulled me in for a quick hug, and said, “Always next year.”
It wasn’t gloating. It wasn’t even really about the result. It felt like acknowledgment, like he understood what that game had just taken out of the people in that building.
I told him good luck, and I meant it. No edge left, no need for one. Somewhere along the way, the whole back-and-forth stopped feeling like a battle and started feeling more like a friendship.
I don’t think Bozkurt knew every Celtics rotation or the full weight of what it meant for this franchise to blow a 3-1 lead. And I certainly didn’t know much about Istanbul or what this Sixers team meant to him.
But basketball has its own language. You can feel when a game is slipping, just like you can feel when a crowd still believes. You can also feel when something is over before the clock says it is.
Those parts translated just fine. And for the record, if we ever revisit the “Embiid vs. every center ever” conversation, I’ll be sending him a playlist. Kareem. Hakeem. Russell. Wilt. We’ll take it from there.
Eventually, the Garden made everyone leave. Bozkurt. Me. All of us.
I wasn’t ready. Being around this team up close a few times this season only made it harder to let go of it. The way they played, the way the building responded to them, the way nights like this could swing from hopeless to electric in a matter of minutes.
The season ended earlier than it should have, and that part won’t sit right for a while.
But it was a ride I never will, and never would want to, forget.
D.J. Short
