Worldwide Sports News

The Los Angeles Clippers will start the season with several notable players absent to start the season.

The team’s initial injury report for the season opener against the Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 21 featured five players ruled out.

Brandon Ingram will be the biggest absence for the team, considering he would’ve been a potential starter and was one of the primary trade assets in the package sent over by the Toronto Raptors for Kawhi Leonard during the offseason.

Ingram was named an All-Star last season before finishing with 77 starts for the Raptors last season. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He is recovering from right heel surgery he had in May. He is also dealing with a partially torn Achilles tendon.

A timetable has not been set for Ingram’s return.

In an outstanding night of Raptors basketball, Toronto’s season started with a blowout win at home against the Chicago Bulls.

Was it an efficient win? Not really. Were the Chicago Bulls putting up much of a fight? Again, not really. But at this point in the season, it’s a lot less about getting overly bogged down in semantics, and more on starting the campaign off on the right foot. And that, the Raptors did.

From the outset of the contest, the Raptors were in near total control of the game’s flow. Raining down threes and playing punishing defence. RJ Barrett opened up the scoring, and looked invigorated on the other side of the ball as well. Guarding Josh Giddey, Chicago’s point guard finished the game with two points, shooting 1-10 from the field. Not a great look for the SLOB Wizard to start off the season.

Barnes showed out with his midrange game, looking like he’d picked up from tricks from Kawhi Leonard over the summer. While Barnes had some issues with accuracy — going 8-19 — it’s also hard to argue with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The same goes for Kawhi Leonard, who also posted 23 points and six assists, along with a filthy four steals. Was it ideal that he went 5-17 from the field? No, certainly not. But at times, arguing with success gets nobody anywhere.

Without a true centre, the Bulls were a mess, with matching efficiency issues — notably from rookie Caleb Wilson, who had the ultimate green light tonight. No Nic Claxton allowed the Raptors to feast, though Josh Smith played well in his absence for Chicago. Jakob Poelel played 22 minutes and had only three points. While six rebounds and two stocks isn’t awful, production from Yak wasn’t a highlight tonight.

Garbage time started with nearly 5 minutes left in the game. And while usually, empty stands are a bad sign, but the mass exodus of the Toronto faithful showcased some real faith in the Raps to get it done without their moral support. Considering Avicii and Drake was being blasted with the game nearly over, the Bulls handled the loss with more dignity than others might.

The Raptors started the season strong, finishing the game to a chorus of cheering fans and standing ovations. One might only hope the next 81 are this easy.

After the 2025-26 season ended, Kevon Looney didn’t realize the next step in his NBA journey would bring him back to a familiar place. 

But after what he described as a “weird” year in New Orleans, Looney is back in Los Angeles, which provided a full-circle moment for him when the Lakers opened their regular season against the Warriors on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. 

“I know, being on the other side of the Bay-LA rivalry always is, how big those games are, how entertaining those games are,” Looney told The California Post. “So I’m excited to be on the other side and part of that journey.”

Looney’s excitement extended beyond Wednesday, and the three other times during the regular season that he’ll be able to play against the franchise he spent the first decade of his NBA career with.

The 12-year veteran center is back in Southern California after spending his lone collegiate season at UCLA before the Warriors selected him with the No. 30 pick in the 2015 NBA draft. 

He already spent a lot of his time during offseasons around Los Angeles before joining the Lakers. 

His wife, fitness model and entrepreneur Mariah Simone Winston, with the two getting married over the summer, is from Los Angeles.

Throughout the years, her and her family would ask the 6-foot-9 center about the possibility of playing for the Lakers.

“I’m like, ‘ahh who knows?’,” Looney would respond.

But when the Lakers were among the handful of playoff-hopeful teams that expressed interest in the veteran big man during his free agency, he immediately got excited. 

“When looking at the options and the landscape or opportunities, it was like, ‘all right, this is a team, a place I like to be at and it’s a chance to win and play for something’,” Looney told the Post. “It hit every mark that I wanted to be at. I’m here all summer training and everything. It was an easy transition for me. I got a lot of ties here.”

“It wasn’t on my radar at the end of the season, but when it popped up, I’m like, ‘oh s— , this is a great opportunity.”

Joining the Lakers puts Looney back in a familiar environment even though he’s over 350 miles south of where he started his NBA career.

The three-time NBA champion spent the formative years of his professional career playing for the Warriors dynasty that appeared in five NBA Finals (including four of five straight appearances from 2015-19) and won three NBA titles (2017, ‘18 and ‘22) with him not only on the roster, but him having a more significant on-court role with each passing season.

He was the Warriors’ starting center for their 2021-22 championship after being a key reserve in their previous title-winning seasons. 

Looney became accustomed to being in championship-contending environments. 

Teams that sacrificed with the goal of taking home the Larry O’Brien Trophy each year.

But the lone year in New Orleans took him away from that. 

The season started with Looney suffering a sprained left knee during a preseason game in Australia that sidelined him for the start of the regular season. 

He was the Pelicans’ starting center by the time within two games of being back. But within the first couple of weeks of him being available, the franchise fired their head coach, Willie Green, who was instrumental to Looney’s arrival in New Orleans. 

From there, “the season kind of went a different way,” as Looney put it, with the Pelicans fully focusing on developing their younger players.

He played in just 21 games after playing in at least 61 the previous five seasons. 

“I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to play and show what I could do,” Looney told The Post. “So coming back this year with a chip on my shoulder, just to show everybody again that I have a lot left to give in the tank and that I can help a team win.”

The Lakers are betting that’ll be the case for Looney, who’s the primary backup big man to marquee free agency acquisition Walker Kessler.

“Really just have admired him as a competitor, teammate, high IQ player for a number of years, played against him, covered him, coached against him,” coach JJ Redick said. “Great locker room guy. Felt like he could help us in a number of ways, and he’s done that, he’s been that.”

Redick added on Looney’s role: “Understanding what we’re trying to do and then going out and executing it. A big part for him on this team is going to be his willingness to build relationships with these young guys. It was easy for him being in one place for a long time. He talked about getting married and being in New Orleans last year and like it was a different experience, but he’s like committed to building these relationships. And then he can be a vet for these guys.”

Being a veteran leader, with Looney being the oldest player on the team at 30 years old, is a big part of what the Lakers need from him as they look to compete in the West.

He’s the only player on the roster who’s won an NBA championship, let alone multiple.

“For me just somebody that all the guys can lean on and I’ve done played a lot of different roles in this league,” Looney said. “I’ve been in a lot of different scenarios. I’ve played a lot of big games. I kind of know how things are supposed to go, how things are supposed to flow. So just having somebody, me being in the locker room just giving out my experience sharing.  

“If they got questions about you deep playoff runs or certain series or certain adjustments. And I’ve kind of seen a lot of things. I’ve played with a lot of special players. So I’ve been able to learn from those guys and just sharing what they taught me to the group. It’s not always just all that be out front, vocal, just end of bench, in practice, just showing the small things that I learned throughout my career to get me to this point and just sharing it with the group.”

And in this area, he’s already helping.

“He’s an unreal vet,” Kessler said. “He’s done it multiple times, he’s experienced, he’s a champion. And, a lot of these guys look to that, look to his guidance on and off the court. So he’s been great in that regard.”

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced their starting lineup for Wednesday night's season opener against the Golden State Warriors.

Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams will round out the starting five for the Lakers alongside the three obvious starters in Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler. They may be in for extended minutes with JJ Redick's decision to go with a short rotation due to the injuries that leave them without Collin Sexton, Adou Thiero or Cam Carr to begin the season.

Thybulle and Williams are both strong defenders who can knock down threes, making them ideal fits next to Dončić and Reaves on both ends of the floor. Williams' wiry 6-foot-9 frame makes him versatile on defense, a plus for Reddick's new scheme that centers on one-on-one matchups with Kessler anchored near the paint.

Here is the full starting lineup for the Lakers against the Warriors, and who might get minutes in the rotation:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new era has begun in the nation’s capital. 

The Washington Wizards (1-0), a franchise that has won just 50 games over the past three seasons combined, earned a win on the opening night of the 2026 season – taking down the Milwaukee Bucks 128-116

Wizards’ center Anthony Davis recorded a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double by the end of the third quarter, becoming the first Wizard to post a double-double in their debut since Marvin Bagley III who scored 20 points and 11 rebounds against the New York Knicks in Jan. 2024. Davis finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds in Washington’s 12-point win. 

“It felt great,” Davis said. “It’s been nine months since I played a real game so it felt really good to be out on the floor and compete again, with these guys. Glad that we could get the win. I had so much fun tonight.”

No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa was ruled out on Tuesday, after continuing to deal with an ankle injury he suffered in the second quarter of Washington’s final preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Dybantsa is “day-to-day” according to Wizards’ head coach Brian Keefe, and fourth-year wing Bilal Coulibaly earned the start in his place. 

“The guy who really was like, eager was AJ,” Davis said. “He wants to be out there so bad.”

Coulibaly scored Washington’s first points of its 2026 campaign, and picked up two early steals to help Washington escape an early five-point deficit. In his first regular-season game as a Wizard, Davis also got off to a hot start – tallying 10 points and six rebounds in the opening quarter to help Washington enter the second quarter with a 25-23 lead. Washington’s third-year wing Kyshawn George finished the first quarter with seven points and an assist. 

But Milwaukee (0-1) held Davis to just two points in the second quarter, and George scoreless as the Bucks outscored Washington 33-26 to take a 56-51 lead entering the half. The Wizards shot 42% from the field in the first half and just 18% from behind the arc.

George knocked down a triple midway through the third quarter to join Davis and Trae Young (11) in double-figure scoring and cut Milwaukee’s lead to two, but foul trouble kept him on the bench for a majority of the quarter. 

In his absence, Davis tacked on 18 third quarter points while shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 8-for-11 from the free throw line – earning MVP chants from the home crowd inside of Capital One Arena. 

But despite Davis’ best efforts, Washington trailed 93-90 entering the fourth quarter until Wizards’ guard Justin Champagnie found center Deandre Ayton for the two-footed dunk to give Washington a 97-98 lead – its first lead since it led 34-33 midway through the second quarter. The dunk sparked a 16-2 Washington run.

Milwaukee responded with two quick triples from Tyler Herro and Myles Turner but it was not enough to stop the bleeding, and Washington continued to pull away in the final minutes to earn its first win since Mar. 25 of last season.

Young joined Davis in double-double territory with 20 points and 13 assists, George tacked on 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Coulibaly scored 11 points while recording four steals and an assist. Deandre Ayton (11) and Bub Carrington (10) also finished in double-figure scoring.  

Tyler Herro led Milwaukee in scoring with 24 points with Jamie Jaquez Jr. (22), Kasparas Jakucionis (15), Brayden Burries (12) and Turner (11) each eclipsing 10+ points. 

Washington will look to build off its first win of the year when it hosts the Toronto Raptors at Capital One Arena on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. ET on MNMT.

It was only one night, but beating the reigning NBA champions on their ring night was one hell of a way for the new-look Sixers to start the season.

Unsurprisingly, the Sixers’ starting five led the way. Tyrese Maxey had a team-high 28 points to go with five assists, four rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Jaylen Brown (19 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and LeBron James (14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) delivered well-rounded performances. Joel Embiid couldn’t buy a bucket for most of them game (13 points on 4-of-15 shooting), but he looked more spry defensively than he has in years. And while VJ Edgecombe was relatively quiet (nine points, four rebounds, one assist), he made his impact defensively by harassing Finals MVP Jalen Brunson all night.

The offseason concerns about alphas were nowhere to be found Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden. While the Sixers might not maintain that level of defensive focus against the Sacramento Kings on a random January night, they showed a higher ceiling on that end of the floor than expected, too. (The concerns about their three-point shooting and their rebounding… that’s a different story.)

But while the starting five will command a majority of the headlines coming out of the season opener, Anfernee Simons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gave Sixers fans even more reason to believe that this year will be different than years past.

In 25 minutes off the bench, Simons had 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (including 3-of-8 from deep). KCP was more up-and-down, but he hit a pair of key triples in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 26 minutes. That was a stark contrast from last season, when the Sixers got precious little from their bench against the Knicks in particular.

In Game 2 of their second-round series (which they lost 108-102), Quentin Grimes, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona combined for 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting. In Game 3, a 108-94 loss at home that effectively ended the series, the Sixers’ bench combined for 11 points. Grimes had six points on 2-of-6 shooting, Barlow had two on one shot attempt, and head coach Nick Nurse didn’t play any other reserve more than four minutes.

Granted, starters’ minutes tend to increase in the playoffs, particularly in close games. The Sixers’ bench feasted in garbage time in Games 1 and 4 of that series. But when the games were competitive, it was almost entirely on the Sixers’ starters to take care of business.

When healthy, that shouldn’t be the case this season.

While LeBron downplayed concerns about the Sixers’ long-range shooting after the game—they finished 11-of-40 from deep against the Knicks—Maxey is the only knockdown shooter in their starting five. LeBron, Brown, Embiid and Edgecombe aren’t total non-factors from deep, but none of them are particularly high-volume, efficient three-point shooters.

Whenever Simons and KCP are in the game, they’re going to be a release valve for the Sixers’ offense.

“Big shots by [Simons],” Maxey said after the game in reference to the trio of triples Simons knocked down in the third quarter that put the Sixers ahead. “He did a good job. We’re looking for him. When he gets in the game, we’re hunting for him. We want him to hunt his shots, and he did a good job with that tonight.”

“I thought we were generating a bunch of wide-open threes and just nobody could throw it in,” Nurse added. “And those guys kind of broke through on that and moved the scoreboard for us. And, I mean, it’s one of those things, if you’re making the right reads, and it’s a kickout, catch-and-shoot three, you’re gonna have to keep taking them all night, whether you’re making them or not. And it was good those guys kind of broke the seal open a little bit.”

Additional reinforcements should be on the way soon, too. Dean Wade missed the season opener with the ankle injury that he suffered in the preseason against the Boston Celtics, but he was questionable heading into the game, which suggests it isn’t a long-term issue. Barlow is out for at least two weeks with a “lumbar spine bone stress response,” but his eventual return should help fortify the Sixers’ frontcourt as well. The same goes for two-way signee Tacko Fall, who’s been out with a hip injury.

Wade in particular should be connective tissue for the Sixers thanks to his defensive versatility and three-point shooting. If long-range shots aren’t falling for the starters, he’ll be another plug-and-play option whom Nurse can call upon. Wade has never averaged more than six points per game in any of his seven NBA seasons, so he isn’t likely to emerge as a high-volume scorer in Philly, but he’ll still have value on offense if he spaces the floor and knocks down an open three or two every game.

One of the many benefits of having such a star-studded starting five is that Nurse can stagger his starters and still ensure that he has go-to options on the floor at all times. As defenses sell out to stop them, it should lead to wide-open shots for the likes of Wade, Simons and KCP. As Nurse said Tuesday, the key will be to keep firing away and, ahem, trusting the process even when the shots aren’t falling.

Even the most dynastic superteams in NBA history have needed their role players to come through in big moments on occasion. Robert Horry, Steve Kerr, Derek Fisher and plenty more were key contributors to championship teams. KCP himself has filled that role for two different title winners.

It’s only been one game, but Simons and KCP making that kind of an impact off the bench for the Sixers against the Knicks was validating nevertheless. If the Sixers get actual production from their reserve unit this season, they’ll deserve to be taken that much more seriously in the title conversation.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams are the final pieces to the Lakers’ much-anticipated starting lineup.

The free-agent acquisitions will join guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and center Walker Kessler in the Lakers’ first starting lineup of the new season Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. Lakers coach JJ Redick previously said he already knew three of the starting spots, marking down the team’s star backcourt and the center they traded four first-round picks to get, but left the other spots open for competition during training camp.

Williams emerged as a winner of the competitive preseason. He started both of the preseason games he played in, giving the Lakers the type of versatile defender they coveted to cover up for Doncic’s and Reaves’ defensive deficiencies. The 6-foot-9 forward who signed a veteran minimum contract showed willingness to pick up opposing ball-handlers full court. He also made all five of his preseason three-point attempts.

Thybulle, a 6-foot-5 wing, is a maestro guarding off the ball. The rangy defensive specialist had 1.3 steals per game during the preseason. He flummoxed his teammates during training camp practices by jumping into passing lanes.

Quentin Grimes was considered a strong option to start after he signed a four-year, $60-million contract this offseason. Grimes started the first four games of the preseason, averaging 12 points and 2.6 assists while 51.3% shooting in 25.1 minutes per game.

The Lakers are without guard Collin Sexton, who is out because of a right soleus strain. Sexton, who missed all five preseason games, was a full participant in practice Monday and did not suffer a setback, Redick said.

Read more:Lakers center Walker Kessler believes his competitive side will overcome pressure

“Collaborative decision with performance, everyone involved,” Redick said of the decision for Sexton to sit out Wednesday after previously participating in a full practice. “I always say this with soft-tissue injuries, the athlete has to have confidence and full confidence.”

Rookie Cameron Carr is out and day-to-day because of a right oblique strain. Forward Adou Thiero is sidelined with a left knee effusion. After struggling with chronic knee injuries during his rookie season, Thiero will be “shut down for a couple of days,” Redick said, then be considered day-to-day while he ramps up.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Point guard Darius Garland and the Los Angeles Clippers will begin the 2026-27 season against the Sacramento Kings at the Intuit Dome on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Garland will serve as the featured player for the Clippers this season after the departure of Kawhi Leonard.

Leonard was traded during the offseason to the Toronto Raptors for a package that included forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick and various draft picks.

Ingram would've played a big role for the Clippers to start the season but is expected to miss time as he recovers from right heel surgery. He also has a partially torn right Achilles tendon.

Garland will be in the starting lineup alongside Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura and Isaiah Jackson.

A fast start for either of the last two tanking Nets teams would’ve been a disaster. 

But for a franchise finally trying to win, now it’s the goal. Maybe even the expectation.

Expectations that started with Wednesday night’s opener against visiting Charlotte. 

“It’s about us setting the tone, how we play, our staples and how we approach every single game,” Julius Randle said before the Nets’ 110-103 season-opening loss. “I’ve always been somebody that’s fallen in love with the process and the results usually follow. Yes, we’re playing every game to win. We want to win every single day. It’s about how we’re going about it every single day, and are we doing the right things? 

“You can win a basketball game and not do anything principle-wise how you’re supposed to do as a team. So, we don’t want to do that. We want to win every game playing our style of basketball, holding each other accountable, doing the things that it’s going to take not just to win games but just establish the culture and identity of the team that we want to be.” 

For a young, inexperienced Brooklyn team trying to turn the page after two overtly tanking campaigns — and three straight losing records — setting that culture early this season is going to be vital. 

Or more to the point, factory resetting it. 

A disappointing campaign in 2023-24 convinced the franchise to pivot into a rebuild. They tanked the next two years to get Egor Dëmin and Mikel Brown Jr. 

But between owing a 2027 swap to Houston and the NBA’s lottery reform, now Brooklyn is trying to build a winning atmosphere. That started against the Hornets, and will continue through a nasty stretch of schedule. 

“Since I’ve been here, everybody’s focused on winning. It’s not like we’re putting development at the forefront. Obviously we’re all trying to get better and develop, but it’s what does it take every single day to come in and do the right things to win basketball games,” Randle said. “We’re doing all the necessary things to give ourselves the best possible chance to win every night.” 

Their first chance to win a game that counted in the standings was Wednesday. 

After that comes a stretch of six straight tough playoff hopefuls, so veterans like Randle and Moritz Wagner fully understood the importance of a solid start to build the right kind of momentum. 

“I think everybody knows that. … You want to start off the season right,” Wagner said. “Having a good start to the season — whether it’s one game or five games — means a lot. Yes, I do think it carries weight. It’s funny because I thought about that. We prepare so intensely for the first game, and then in February if you have a back to back you can barely prepare. It’s absurd because they count the same, but it does make a difference because you want to start off to a right start. You’ve worked so hard the last two, three weeks, you want to execute the things you worked on.” 

A slow start is a very real possibility, especially looking ahead at the slate. 

After Wednesday’s opener against Charlotte, the Nets have to run a gantlet of six straight Eastern Conference foes projected for at least 44.5 wins by Las Vegas oddsmakers. 

It’ll start on the road Saturday in Cleveland. And after playing the Pacers, at Boston, the Pistons and at Indiana, it’ll end Nov. 2 in the Garden against the reigning champion Knicks. 

“The East is so deep. There’s not one team where you can say, ‘They’re not good.’ The West, I haven’t even looked at [the schedule] much, but I feel like the league is so deep this year, so unpredictable,” Wagner said. “I just care about us and what we want to do, what we want to execute, and I care more about that momentum.” 

Well that didn’t take long.

Two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, making his Miami Heat regular-season debut Wednesday, Oct. 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, immediately imposed his will and erupted in the first half. The problem, however, for Antetokounmpo and the Heat is that the rest of the team fell woefully flat.

The Timberwolves, thanks to a 45-point outburst from All-Star guard Anthony Edwards and a 21-point showing from new guard LaMelo Ball, smoked the Heat, 131-106, in their regular season opener.

Antetokounmpo finished the game with 35 points on an efficient 13-of-19 shooting. He added 6 rebounds, but recorded only 1 assist, as many of his teammates missed their catch-and-shoot looks when Antetokounmpo found them. That was where Miami imploded: from deep.

The Heat shot just 8-of-33 (24.2%) from 3-point range, compared to Minnesota’s onslaught from beyond the arc, where the Timberwolves drained 21-of-50 (42%), creating a 39-point advantage on 3-pointers.

Antetokounmpo scored his first bucket just 13 seconds into the game, on a 16-foot pullup jumper he laced with ease after the Timberwolves dared him to shoot. That would be the last time Minnesota would do that. Antetokounmpo actually scored Miami’s first eight points of the game and dropped a 14-point quarter to introduce himself to his new fan base.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra empowered Antetokounmpo to handle the ball and attack the paint at will, especially in transition. Antetokounmpo, who played just 36 games last season in Milwaukee because of various calf injuries, used his size, handles and length to charge to the rim. Another byproduct: Antetokounmpo got to the line in the first half, hitting 5-of-8 attempts.

The Heat acquired Antetokounmpo in a June blockbuster deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

If you don’t have the SB Nation app, it comes in real handy for Game Threads. Just sayin’! You’ll see I’m commenting more during the game now. Why? Because I have the app!