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Watch ‘FCHWPO: Jaylen Brown's Boston,' a documentary on Celtics star's journey

Watch ‘FCHWPO: Jaylen Brown's Boston,' a documentary on Celtics star's journey originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jaylen Brown’s road to stardom with the Boston Celtics began with a bit of a speed bump.

When the Celtics selected the young guard from Cal with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, fans at a TD Garden watch party booed, expressing their frustration that the team didn’t swing a trade for Jimmy Butler or take a different top prospect such as Providence’s Kris Dunn.

But Brown declared he’d “go to war for this city,” and he’s backed up the promise both on and off the court.

NBC Sports Boston is kicking off its “Seven Days of Jaylen Brown” content series with an exclusive documentary on the Celtics star titled FCHWPO: Jaylen Brown’s Boston. (The acronym “FCHWPO” is a nod to Brown’s mantra, “Faith, Consistency and Hard Work Pays Off,” which also serves as his social media handle.)

The documentary, which is narrated by Boston’s own Donnie Wahlberg, follows Brown’s entire NBA journey: from the draft night boos, to the strong rookie campaign, to the persistent trade rumors, to the crucial social justice work, to becoming NBA Finals MVP and a champion, to this upcoming season, where he’ll take the lead for the Celtics without Jayson Tatum by his side.

Check out the full documentary in the video player above or watch below on YouTube, and stay tuned in the coming days for more Jaylen Brown content on all of NBC Sports Boston’s platforms.

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NBA fines Jonathan Kuminga $35K for ‘inappropriate contact' with official

NBA fines Jonathan Kuminga $35K for ‘inappropriate contact' with official originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jonathan Kuminga is paying the price for his actions on Tuesday night, literally.

The NBA has fined the Warriors forward $35,000 for “making inappropriate contact with and continuing to pursue a game official,” the league announced Thursday morning.

The incident occurred in the second quarter of Golden State’s fourth preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, when Kuminga was ejected for the first time of his career after arguing a no-call.

During the play, Kuminga used his speed to drive to the basket, forcing his way through multiple Trail Blazers defenders. As ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted, Kuminga was frustrated that the no-call impacted the right ankle he injured during the 2024-25 season.

Kuminga left the game with seven points, six rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes.

After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters he liked the “fire” Kuminga played with.

“I love the way he played,” Kerr said. “I love the fire, the passion. I don’t mind the objection at all; I kind of liked it, actually. I thought JK was terrific tonight.”

Well, that fire cost him, but maybe it was worth it.

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Observations From Blues' Embarrassing 8-3 Loss Vs. Blackhawks, Falling To 0-2 At Home

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues thought they had their game trending in the right direction following a two-game Western Canada sweep.

Wins over the Calgary Flames (4-2) and Vancouver Canucks (5-2) were supposed to get the Blues continuing in their march and trending in the right direction.

Well …

They hit the home ice for the second time in as many games this season, this time against their Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks, who they had beaten five games in a row and outscored 28-15, but the Blackhawks took advantage of a rare night of shoddy goaltending and poor team habits and play, blitzing the Blues 8-3 at Enterprise Center on Wednesday.

Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist, Dylan Holloway and Tyler Tucker scored for the Blues (2-2-0), but Joel Hofer, who was terrific last Saturday in Calgary, was pulled in the second period before re-entering the game in the third.

“I thought that our game was building the right way in Vancouver, but our execution today did not match the Hawks’ execution,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re playing the hawks, division rival, our biggest rival. I don’t think that was the case. We didn’t execute well. That’s just our mental sharpness was not great.”

Let’s look at Wednesday’s observations:

* Hofer had a rare bad night – In his young career, Hofer has had off nights, but nothing like this.

He allowed four goals on 14 shots, and the first two that went inset the tempo for what would be a horrendous night. He departed the game at 7:09 of the second period, then Jordan Binnington finished the rest of the period before returning for the third. In the end, it was seven goals allowed on 22 shots. His numbers after one game (2.00 goals-against average, .931 save percentage) ballooned to 5.01 GAA and .824 save percentage at the end of the night.

“Our tandem is excellent,” Montgomery said. “Some nights, you’re going to win games 2-1. We won in Calgary, we won in Vancouver because our goaltenders were excellent. Sometimes we need to win 5-4.”

Hofer is normally so good as a puck handler, and he was already on display killing Chicago’s rims around the net, but when he went behind the net, got a puck, looked up the middle of the ice and tried to play it to Pavel Buchnevich, it was so off the mark and right onto the tape of Ilya Mikheyev, who couldn’t believe his fortune and deposited the biscuit into the net at 3:09 for a 1-0 Hawks lead:

The Blues fought back with Neighbours, who has four goals in four games, finding the back of the net for the fourth time in three games when he collected a loose puck in front of Colton Parayko’s jab at the puck to tie it 1-1 at 4:29:

But Hofer allowed another bad goal, this time to Lukas Reichel from a bad angle at the bottom of the left circle on the short side at 5:23 to make it 2-1 Chicago:

They fought back again when Holloway started a play and finished it, getting his first of the season at 14:54 to tie the game 2-2, creating a turnover in the neutral zone, then finishing from the left circle Jordan Kyrou’s pass:

“In the first period, we showed good resolve, came back twice and then just our habits just weren’t consistent enough to play winning hockey,” Montgomery said. ‘Can’t give up that many odd-man rushes, we can’t give up that many Grade A looks off the rush.”

The Blues are so used to their goalie tandem either keeping them in a game or even stealing them games. They’re not nearly used to having to bail them out, perhaps a reason why they played so poorly after the first period.

“I don't think we're worried about our goaltenders at all,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “We have two of the best goalies in the league and a great tandem. If you want to talk about the goals, let's maybe talk about the team and how we're giving up odd-man rushes and point-blank chances. You can talk about the goals all you want, but if we're not doing a good enough job in front of them, it's just that simple.

“People are going to look at our goaltenders, (but) I think we're looking at ourselves individually and as a team playing in front of them. We just haven't done enough of a good job defensively, especially at home, in front of them. Obviously the goalies would say different, but as a players we feel that we have to do a way better job.”

Chicago’s expected goals in the game were at 3.09, according to naturalstattrick.com, which tells you that there were too many pucks on this night going in that shouldn’t have, including the one Binnington allowed to Jason Dickinson at 8:52 of the second that made it 5-2:

* Two bad results at home – Including the playoffs, the Blues won their last 15 games on home ice and on most of those occasions, done so in convincing fashion.

It’s only two games, yes, and I agree, the result in the opener (a 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild) wasn’t as bad as the score indicated, but this marks two games now in which the Blues have not even been competitive in, in front of their home fans, being outscored 13-3.

“That's a fair question. It's been only two games ... I think through two road games, even six periods on the road, we've played four good periods,” Schenn said. ‘We need to clean up a lot of things with our habits and details and tracking and puck play and willingness to compete for one another. I think it starts with that.”

Why has it happened so often here, though?

“The details are obviously not sharp,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “It’s not our group and not where we want to be. We’re going to rebound as a group, we’re going to come ready to work. We have a great group in this locker room. We all believe in each other. We’re going to rebound, just come prepared to come work for each other in practice Friday and obviously Saturday at the game.”

Former Blue Scottie Upshall said it best in a tweet and I agree with the soft hockey, and that's inexcusable for a team that was a playoff team a year ago and looking to maintain its stature:

* Habits weren’t sufficient enough, play looked very soft – The Blues had their fair share of attacks at the Hawks, and had a goalie (Arvid Soderblom) they’d been able to beat up quite a bit (5-0-0), but the times they either didn’t funnel pucks to the goal or were not connecting in the O-zone, they were getting counter-attacked often and giving up prime scoring chances.

It occurred often in the second period when Chicago outscored the Blues 3-0 and at one point held an 8-1 edge in shots on goal.

“Habits and details aren't there, especially at home,” Schenn said. “We have to take pride in playing for one another, especially at home, make it a hard place to play. I take full responsibility for that. Obviously I can help with that and lead the charge. I think one of the things you can control is your compete level and your habits. We, and I, have to be better at that.”

Montgomery mentioned reloads of the puck, and it was not near good enough, which in turn allowed Chicago to play the way the Blues were playing in the two games they won: on their toes, their front feet and transitioning in five-man units.

“We’ll watch the tape, we’ll look back at it,” Montgomery said. “This game got away from us because of our own habits and actions.

“Reloads and gaps are a big part of how we want to play. The reloads were not consistent and that makes it hard on the defensemen.”

* Mailloux's struggles continue – It’s tough to pick on one particular player when so many did not meet expectations, particularly that top line of Neighbours, Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, which was a combined minus-6 with three shots on goal and on the ice for four goals against.

But for Mailloux, who was a team-worst minus-4 Wednesday and now is a minus-7 for the season in just four games, he’s been on the ice for exactly zero goals-for at 5-on-5 and seven against.

He coughed up the puck trying to rim it around the net early in the second period that was picked off by Connor Bedard that led to Reichel’s go-ahead goal that made it 3-2 at 2:49 that started a snowball affect for the game:

I’ll say it over and over that comparing Mailloux to Zack Bolduc is like comparing apples to oranges. One is a defenseman that has barely scratched the surface, one is a forward who has more experience and who was ahead of the curve as far as teaching last season that was coming on.

The Blues believe in the 22-year-old and understand this is going to take time.

“He’s going to be a great player,” Parayko said. ‘You watch him skate, you watch him shoot, he’s steady, he’s strong back there. There’s no doubt about that. I’m looking forward to watching that guy grow and become a dominant force back there. I have full faith in him. He’s a great player. We’re just all looking forward to watching him grow, but at the end of the day, it’s a group effort no matter what. That’s the bottom line. We’re all wearing the Bluenote together.

“It’s got to be difficult obviously going to a new team and you want to play well and things like that. He’s a great player. I have full confidence in him. I’m just looking forward to watching him continue to grow and just keep building.”

We know the offensive capabilities Mailloux has, but here’s an example of a pinch that went awry when he pinched along the right boards, the puck was tipped out and Mailloux is caught out of the play and Frank Nazar turns it onto a goal with Neighbours trying to chase him down when Philip Broberg probably should have:

They’re details that – again – with time will be worked out. By the way, Mailloux did get physical on the play when Neighbours was tackled after the goal when he was trying to defend Hofer after Nazar ran into him in the net.

There are options the Blues will have to look at here.

Do they sit Mailloux in favor of Matthew Kessel? Do they go with seven defensemen inserting Kessel into the lineup to watch some of Mailloux's minutes? Or ... do they send him down to Springfield since he is waiver's exempt? Remember, GM Doug Armstrong said it's Mailloux's job to lose.

“He's played 11 games or 12 games,” Schenn said. “There's a lot of pressure on him coming from outside. I believe in Logan Mailloux, we believe in Logan Mailloux, and the organization does. I think people are always going to look at this one-for-one. It's not a one-for-one. It's a long-term plan, and he's a great player.

“Like I said, he's played four games for us and it's a new organization ... new coaching, new system, there's a lot of stuff that goes into it. Honestly, I think he's getting ... there's no reason to put pressure on the kid. He's young, and he's getting his feet wet, and he's going to be a good player for a long time, and I firmly believe that.”

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Gabe Vincent is hot from three in Lakers' preseason loss

Los Angeles Lakers guard Gabe Vincent, left, and Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) contest for a loose ball during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent, left, and Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg vie for a loose ball in the first half Wednesday. (Ian Maule / Associated Press)

Gabe Vincent pulled up for a three-pointer and nailed it. And then Vincent nailed his next three and his next three and his next, giving him four straight made treys.

Vincent was on fire to start the game for the Lakers during their exhibition game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Before Vincent could even think about getting off his fifth three-pointer, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg smothered him. Vincent stumbled and fell, scrambling to keep control of the ball. He did and passed it to a teammate.

When Vincent got to his feet and got the ball back, the fans began to shout, “Shooot it!” So, Vincent did, nailing his fifth three-pointer over the outstretched hand of the 6-9 Flagg, drawing more cheers from the pro-Lakers crowd.

Vincent was fouled on his sixth three-point attempt, sending him to the free-throw line for three free throws, all of which he made. That gave Vincent 18 points in what seemed like a flash in the first quarter.

Read more:LeBron out, Luka in: Where the Lakers stand one week from opening night

He missed his next two three attempts, but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd. Vincent had put on a show.

Vincent finished the game with 22 points on six-for-15 shooting and six-for-11 on three-pointers during the Lakers’ 121-94 loss to the Mavericks that saw L.A. get outscored 37-8 in the fourth quarter.

“I just wanted to come out aggressive,” Vincent said. “Obviously we were a few guys down. We knew we needed to play a little fast and I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and look for my shot. Guys found me early. They went in. That’s always helpful.”

He was part of a Lakers’ starting group of Rui Hachimura (19 points), Jaxson Hayes (12 points, 10 rebounds), Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht. None of them played in the game Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Vanderbilt was having a good all-around game until he was forced to leave late in the second quarter with a left quad contusion after banging his left knee with a Mavericks defender. He limped up and down the court, but was still able to score on a dunk after he was injured and he drilled a three-pointer.

But with five minutes and 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Vanderbilt limped back to the Lakers’ locker room and never returned to play. He had five points, seven rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes.

Read more:JJ Redick isn't overly concerned about the Lakers' on-court chemistry

“He can be a really impactful guy on both ends,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about Vanderbilt. “Yyou can see he's moving better than he was last season. You can clearly tell that he's spent a lot of time working on his game this summer…Having him be able to guard multiple positions on the perimeter and be a crasher and hopefully a high-level corner spacer and a cutter…He can do a lot.”

The starting five Lakers who did play against the Suns — Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia — didn’t play in the back-to-back game against the Mavericks, Doncic’s former team that traded him to the Lakers in February. Redick said Bronny James didn’t play because of a sprained ankle.

The Lakers finish their preseason against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, and from the sounds of things, Doncic and those who didn’t play against the Mavericks will play against the Suns.

“And then Friday, yes, the plan is to do another dress rehearsal and likely play most of our guys,” Redick said before the game. “I don’t know the minutes total, but that’s the plan.”

The Lakers open the regular season Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at home.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Backhawks' Offense Breaks Out In 7-3 Victory Over Blues

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the St. Louis Blues 8-3 at Enterprise Center. It was an offensive explosion for the Blackhawks, who hadn't scored more than three goals through the first four games of the season. 

The big story on offense was the play of Lukas Reichel, who scored two goals and had one assist. He was in the lineup in place of Nick Foligno, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. 

Reichel doesn't have to be a bona fide top-six center to be successful in the NHL. It doesn't matter where he was drafted. It matters how he helps the team win. The skill is there for him to make an impact, which was on display on Wednesday night in St. Louis. 

Connor Bedard was one of the forwards being double-shifted as a result of dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. He had one assist on the power play, which was a beautiful cross-ice feed to Teuvo Teravainen, who put one on net that Tyler Bertuzzi deflected in.

The other two assists came by chipping in on goals scored by fourth liners in Lukas Reichel and Ryan Greene. Jeff Blashill admitted after their win over the Utah Mammoth that they will be going 11/7 often this season, which is a great way to develop the defenseman, but it also gets guys like Bedard more touches. 

Greene's goal was his first in the National Hockey League. This was his seventh career game in the big leagues, and the mostly defensive center finally has his first.

When Greene was at Boston University, he proved that he could make plays, which would make him an even more valuable bottom-six forward in the long term. Right now, it's the right decision to have him on the team out of camp. 

Blackhawks: Ryan Greene Scores His First Career NHL GoalBlackhawks: Ryan Greene Scores His First Career NHL GoalChicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Greene scored his first career NHL goal, which made it 8-3 Blackhawks in the third period.

Connor Bedard doesn't have to do it all by himself anymore. There are some good wingers on the team, like Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, and Ryan Donato, but now they have a two-headed monster down the middle. Frank Nazar is turning into a star. 

During this win, Nazar scored a beautiful goal on the rush, which gave the Blackhawks some insurance at a time when the game was much closer. He made contact with Blues goalie Joel Hofer after the puck entered the net, which caused a get-together, but he held his own and still managed to celebrate the goal when it was all said and done. 

After the game was over, TNT had both Bedard and Nazar on the postgame show from the bench for an interview. They were very candid with their answers, while also displaying some confidence in their abilities. 

B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) on XB/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) on XBedsy and Nazar stopped by the @NHL_on_TNT post game and Frank said he loves watching Connor take no s--t this year 😅

Connor Bedard said that he knows he's a good hockey player and that they want to make the playoffs now, not in three years. Those are strong words, but it is the mindset that any team wants their players to have. Finding a winning mentality is half the battle in the NHL, and that was on display on Wednesday night, both on and off the ice. 

Arvid Soderblom made his second start of the season in this win. He made 23 saves on 26 shots. That's not the typical great Soderblom performance, but he did his job well enough to win. None of the goals against were necessarily his fault, but there will be times when the Blackhawks need him at a higher level.

If there was ever a win for a young team to build on, it would be this one. They defeated their biggest rival, who swept them last year, in their first meeting of the 2025-26 season. Nazar mentioned the loss at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic being used as fuel every time they play them going forward, and it worked. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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Blackhawks: Ryan Greene Scores His First Career NHL Goal

The Chicago Blackhawks, while playing the St. Louis Blues, saw one of their bright young players score their first career NHL goal. 

Young Ryan Greene put one into the back of the net for the first time against the St. Louis Blues. Connor Bedard gained the zone, scanned the ice, and sent it back to Lukas Reichel, who centered it where Ryan Greene was able to score for the first time in the big leagues. 

Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on XChicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on Xlet's hear it for Ryan Greene👏

Bedard was being double shifted due to dressing 11 forwards and 7 defenseman, and it paid off in a big way. This was the third point of the night for both Bedard and Reichel. 

Greene, who is a defensive center first, does have offensive capabilities when he needs to display them. As the captain of Boston University, he scored some big goals while performing well as a two-way player. 

In the NHL, Greene won't be relied on for offense as much as others, but he is more than capable of making plays from time to time. 

Greene's goal made it 8-3 in favor of the Blackhawks in the third period of their fifth game of the season. This is a goal that he won't soon forget. 

Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on XChicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on Xboys are BUZZIN🐝

Greene is the second Blackhawks player to score his first NHL goal this season, joining Sam Rinzel. On the active roster, Artyom Levshunov is the other waiting for his first. Eventually, you'd think Oliver Moore gets his at some point this year as well, but he will have to earn the call-up first. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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Guerrero, Springer sparks Blue Jays, who hit 5 HRs and cut Mariners' ALCS lead to 2-1 with 13-4 rout

SEATTLE (AP) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer woke up Toronto’s offense as the Blue Jays hit five home runs to rebound from an early deficit, routing the Seattle Mariners 13-4 Wednesday night and closing to 2-1 in the AL Championship Series.

Julio Rodríguez’s two-run, first-inning homer off Shane Bieber put Seattle ahead and stirred thoughts of a possible sweep in the best-of-seven matchup by a team seeking its first World Series appearance/

Andrés Giménez then sparked the comeback with a tying, two-run homer in a five-run third against George Kirby.

Springer, Guerrero, Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger also went deep as the Blue Jays totaled 2,004 feet of homers among 18 hits.

Guerrero had four hits, falling a triple short of the cycle, after going 0 for 7 as the Blue Jays lost the first two games at home.

“No one expected us to win the division, no one expected it us to be here, and I think the guys take that to heart." Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I said it when we left Toronto: I hope we find some slug in the air out here. Maybe we did.”

In the 2-3-2 format, teams that lost the first two games at home and won Game 3 on the road have captured the series three of 11 times.

A crowd of 46,471 at T-Mobile Park for Seattle's first home ALCS game since 2001 saw the teams combine to match the postseason record of eight combined home runs, set by the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis in Game 3 of the 2015 NL Division Series and matched by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series.

Giménez hadn’t homered since Aug. 27 before his drive off a fastball from Kirby

“Really big swing to get us going,” Schneider said.

Kirby allowed eight runs, eight hits and two walks, taking the loss. All eight hits were during the first three pitches of the at-bat.

“The first couple innings I thought he was dynamite," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “This is a team that’s going to hurt you if you make mistakes on the plate. It looked like there were a couple that they were able to get to.”

Kirby's run-scoring wild pitch put Toronto ahead 3-2 and Daulton Varsho followed with a two-run double.

Springer homered in the fourth, tying Bernie Williams was fourth on the career list with his 22nd postseason homer. Guerrero hit his fourth of the postseason for a 7-2 lead on the first pitch of the fifth.

Kirk added a three-run homer in the sixth and is hitting .413 (19 for 46) with eight RBIs in 14 games at T-Mobile Park.

Bieber, who got the win, pitched shutout ball after the first and wound up allowing four hits in six innings - the longest outing by a Blue Jays starter in seven postseason games.

“Obviously didn’t the start the way he would have wanted to, but that’s pretty much who he is,” Springer said. "He can battle back from anything.”

After the Blue Jays opened a 12-2 lead, Randy Arozarena connected in the eighth against Yariel Rodríguez for his first home run since Sept. 9 and Cal Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 home runs during the regular season, followed three pitches later with his third of the postseason.

Seattle RHP Luis Castillo, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief against Detroit in Game 5 of the Division Series, starts Thursday against RHP Max Scherzer. The 41-year-old, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is 0-3 over eight postseason starts since the 2019 World Series opener, and hasn’t started a game since Sept. 24.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb