The QB has been an easy punching bag in the sport, but he showed why the Canes brought him to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl. And now 'The U' is just one win away from being truly back.
Minnesota hold moment of silence for 'unspeakable tragedy'
The Minnesota Timberwolves held a moment of silence in memory of Renee Good - who was shot dead by a US immigration agent - before Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Good, 37, was killed less than four miles from the Timberwolves' Target Center following a confrontation on Wednesday morning.
"As we all know, our community has suffered yet another unspeakable tragedy," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
"We want to just convey our condolences and heartfelt wishes and prayers and thoughts to the families and loved ones and all of those that are greatly affected by what happened."
Minnesota earned a fourth successive win - beating Cleveland 131-122 - with Julius Randle scoring 28 points, with 11 rebounds and eight assists.
The Timberwolves are fourth in the Western Conference with the Cavaliers, who have lost two of their last three matches, eighth in the Eastern.
The Indiana Pacers won 114-112 at the Charlotte Hornets to end a 13-game losing streak and deliver a 1,000th victory for coach Rick Carlisle.
Carlisle has coached the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks and had two spells with the Pacers during his 25-year career.
The 66-year-old is the 11th coach to reach the milestone and the first to join the group since Doc Rivers in 2021.
Indiana remain bottom of the Eastern Conference with the Hornets in 12th.
In Salt Lake City, Utah Jazz halted a five-match losing run with a 116-114 win against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Chicago Bulls' meeting with the Miami Heat was postponed due to condensation on the court in Chicago.
The United Center hosted an NHL game on Thursday and after an unseasonably warm, rainy day in Chicago, the court was not playable 24 hours later.
Players from both teams went through their standard pre-game warm-up but the fixture was called off after 90 minutes following an agreement by the NBA league office, game officials and both teams' coaches.
Finding potential Jonathan Kuminga trade partner proves elusive for Warriors
Finding potential Jonathan Kuminga trade partner proves elusive for Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Jonathan Kuminga is skilled and talented, a basketball superstar-in-waiting who is being subjected to malicious detention by his employers. Once liberated from the Warriors, he will be given space to blossom.
If the rest of NBA reached this conclusion and began competing for the right to add Kuminga, the Warriors take the best offer and general manager Mike Dunleavy and coach Steve Kerr would kiss each other until their lips bled.
There is, however, no such frenzy. There is no love being shown toward Kuminga. Which has him going through practices and sitting on the bench for games in which he does not play – and some fans wondering if Kerr is being punitive.
Of the other 29 teams in the NBA, only the Sacramento Kings have shown interest in acquiring Kuminga, according to league sources. That the Kings are alone on this island makes a statement on its own – use your imagination – but Sacramento general manager Scott Perry is eager to shed high-salaried veterans and begin a rebuild.
The other 28 teams have shown no more than tepid interest, sources say, leaving the market for Kuminga even cooler now than it was last July, when he was a restricted free agent hoping for an offer sheet that never came.
“I hope [Kuminga] figures it out,” one NBA scout tells NBC Sports Bay Area. “But I’ll tell you what: Nobody in the league, none of us, can figure him out – because the Warriors can’t figure him out.”
So, here we are, six months and nine days later, with the Warriors and Kuminga still operating under the same roof, breathing the same air. All parties are generally cordial, according to sources, but it’s clear their differences are irreconcilable. There is “Good morning” and “Good night,” with too many empty hours in between.
Now, as then, Kuminga wants out as soon as possible, and the Warriors would like to move him the moment he is eligible to be traded on Jan. 15. CEO Joe Lacob remains a fan of Kuminga, but Dunleavy is hoping for a call that leads to farewell transaction that brings at least a high-level role player to Golden State.
Until such a call comes, if it does at all, Kuminga and the Warriors must share what only can be described as a generally peaceful but ultimately dreadful existence.
“It’s tough for the kid,” one former NBA player still employed within the league tells NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s not a bad kid, but he’s not in a good situation. Golden State has tried different things, but nothing has worked for them or for him.”
Kuminga opened the 2025-26 NBA season in the starting lineup and remained there for 13 games, averaging 13.8 points, on 47.8-percent shooting, including 32.4 percent from deep, and 6.6 rebounds per game. He was holding his own on offense, but all but two of his assists were offset by a turnover before he left the lineup due to bilateral knee tendinitis.
He missed seven games, returning on Nov. 29 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Kuminga played in the next four games, with one start, but shot 30 percent from the field (12 of 40), including 30.8 percent (4 of 13) from distance.
Kuminga, 23, has played only once since Dec. 6, coming off the bench for 10 minutes on Dec. 18 against the Suns in Phoenix. The last time he was slated to be in the rotation, Jan. 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was a late scratch with back soreness.
Though Kerr this week said there “is a path” for Kuminga to get back in the rotation, all signs indicate that path is through an injury to or absence of a teammate. Barring that, Kuminga likely will remain tied to the bench until he no longer is a Warrior.
Golden State had hoped Kuminga could fill a role, to be an eager on-ball defender on one end and on the other end a slasher who complements an offense guided by the principle of harmonious ball movement to maximize the impact of team touchstone Stephen Curry.
The Warriors, in their sepia dreams, longed for Kuminga to aspire to their version of Alex Caruso or Jaden McDaniels or Ausar Thompson. An athletic, disruptive defender capable of spectacular scoring highlights.
But Kuminga wants to be a star with the ball in his hands. He left The Democratic Republic of the Congo for the United States as a 14-year-old with hoop dreams. He was mesmerized by repetitive viewing of video highlights of Kobe Bryant. Similar size, similar athleticism and . . . visualization took it from there.
More than nine years later, with 6,118 NBA minutes behind him, Kuminga’s handle is unsteady, his shooting spotty and his decision-making, despite signs of improvement, still is considered a weakness.
There is no way Kuminga can be the lead member of a Warriors team with three Hall of Famers, with Stephen Curry being the established centerpiece. Moreover, there is no evidence Kuminga can be the lead member of a contender.
“There are some guys that are just really good when they’re in that No. 3 role,” one front office executive tells NBC Sports Bay Area. “And sometimes they try to be in that No. 2 role or No. 1 role. And it’s too much for them. Jamal Crawford’s a good example. Whenever he was put in position to be the lead guy, he didn’t win. But when he was that guy off the bench, scoring, everybody loved him.”
Kuminga is a good soul who gets his share of love from teammates; Jimmy Butler III has served as a mentor. But the cold truth is that NBA teams have known for months that Kuminga was available, and the Warriors have yet to see an offer that implied a potential trade partner loved him.
If that were the case, this ongoing months-long saga, bereft of joy, would not exist.
No. 8 Gonzaga beats Santa Clara 89-77 behind 34 points and 11 rebounds from Graham Ike
Graham Ike had 34 points and 11 rebounds to power No. 8 Gonzaga to an 89-77 victory over Santa Clara on Thursday night. Ike made 13 of 17 field goal attempts and went 7 for 8 on free throws as the Bulldogs (17-1, 5-0 West Coast Conference) shook off a sluggish first half and won their 10th straight game since getting blown out by No. 2 Michigan in late November. Emmanuel Innocenti added 13 points and Braden Huff scored 12 for the Zags, who shot 58% from the floor to 43% for Santa Clara.
Schmid Steps Up In Relief Again, Smith Scores Two, Golden Knights Top Blue Jackets 5-3
LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-3, on Thursday in the first of two home games.
After losing starting goaltender Carter Hart and falling behind 2-0 by the midway point of the first period, the Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals, including two from Reilly Smith, en route to their second straight win.
Vegas has now won six of the last eight meetings.
Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Brett Howden also scored for the Knights, while Akira Schmid stopped 20 shots in relief of Hart.
Hart was injured when he twisted his left knee awkwardly, and the only shot he faced, by Boone Jenner, gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead. Kent Johnson gave Columbus a 2-0 lead a little more than two minutes later.
Smith scored the first of his two goals in the first period, and then tied the game 5:19 into the second period.
Eichel gave the Knights a 3-2 lead with his 13th goal of the season and 13th point in his last nine games.
Stone notched his 14th goal of the season - and sixth straight in as many games - with a power-play goal late in the second.
Kirill Marchenko's gave Columbus its final goal with 5:23 left in the game, while Howden's goal with 3:46 left provided the final margin.
Columbus goalie Jet Greaves stopped 21 of the 26 shots he faced.
KEY MOMENT
With the Golden Knights slowly grabbing momentum and the game tied at 2-all, Stone's backcheck in the neutral zone to grab the puck and get play moving in transition led to the game-changing moment. Stone fed Ivan Barbashev, who took the puck at the blue line and found Eichel alone at the top of the left circle, where he skated to the center dot and ripped home what was the go-ahead goal at the moment. Though it wasn't the game-winning goal, it provided the momentum needed at the perfect time.
"Our guys do bounce back," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I thought they'd have the ability to do that, especially at home, and they did. So once we got our game going, I felt pretty good about our chances. You never want to start from behind. ... We're a better finishing team than starting, and that was the case again tonight."
KEY STAT
55% ... After scoring just three goals in his first 29 games, Smith has now scored five goals in his last nine games - a 55% clip.
"He's a leader in here," Howden said of Smith. "He was here since day one, had a little stint going away, but he's back here, and it's like he never left. He's one of our leaders. He's a voice in the room. ... Him tonight, having two big goals, it was great to see."
WHAT A KNIGHT
Other than the goal he let in right after entering the game, Schmid was once again stellar off the bench in relief of Hart. It marked the fourth time he's come into the game cold, and the third time he's earned the win. Schmid has allowed a total of two goals in the four times he's entered for either Adin Hill or Hart.
"Felt good about Akira going in, he's done the job before ... a couple of times this year, so we knew we're probably going to get good goaltending, and that's the way it worked out," Cassidy said. "Probably tells you a little bit about his demeanor. He's just handled it well.
"And I think our guys responded well, too, for the most part. I think the first shot was a bit of a misread on the rush. But after that, we got going and knew we were going to need to score some goals ... and we did. And we have been a little bit lately, so that's a good thing, that's starting to turn a little as well."
UP NEXT
The Golden Knights finish their quick two-game homestand by hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
PHOTO CAPTION: Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) congratulates goaltender Akira Schmid (40) after the Golden Knights defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 at T-Mobile Arena.
Demond Williams Jr. calls a reverse, decides to remain at Washington rather than transfer
Demond Williams Jr. announces he will honor an an estimated $4.5 million name, image and likeness contract he signed a week ago and stay at Washington.
The 5 plays that defined Miami’s Fiesta Bowl win over Ole Miss
Carson Beck rushed for his first TD since September to get Miami to the national title game.
Did Miami commit pass interference on Ole Miss’ last play? What video shows
Miami won the Fiesta Bowl over Ole Miss after the Rebels' pass to the end zone fell incomplete. But did the Hurricanes commit pass interference?
Ole Miss vs. Miami: Did refs miss pass interference penalty on Fiesta Bowl’s game-ending Hail Mary?
The last play between Ole Miss and Miami saw plenty of contact. And no flag.
What Carson Beck told teammates before Miami’s game-winning drive in Fiesta Bowl
Carson Beck led Miami on a game-winning drive in the Fiesta Bowl, and will now play his final game in the national championship on Jan. 19.
As the new year begins, is a new Mets team incoming? | The Mets Pod
On the latest episode of The Mets Pod, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo kick off 2026 the way they ended last year, waiting for the Mets to make more moves. The guys discuss noise around Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez, and throw around some other names that may match up with the Mets in free agency or trades. Connor and Joe also go Down on the Farm to talk about how "ready" top prospect Carson Benge really is, and answer Mailbag questions about how good the Mets really are, a potential trade match with the Guardians, the starting rotation, and what to do with the current crowd of young infielders.
Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Islanders fall to Predators, 2-1, in a shootout to start road trip
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Nashville Predators over the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night.
Ryan O’Reilly evened the score with a short-handed goal late in the second period and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville before denying all three Islanders attempts in the tiebreaker.
Simon Holmstrom scored midway through the second and David Rittich stopped 26 shots for New York.
In the shootout, Forsberg beat Rittich with a forehand-to-backhand move. Nashville is 3-0 in shootouts this season, all with Saros between the pipes.
Holmstrom scored with 7:46 remaining in the second. Scott Mayfield carried the puck behind the Nashville net and found an unchecked Holmstrom just off the right post, where he scored his second goal in two games.
Holmstrom has three goals and four assists in six career games against the Predators.
O’Reilly has scored two of Nashville’s three short-handed goals this season.
The Islanders have allowed five short-handed goals.
Saros stopped Matthew Schaefer on a breakaway with 20 seconds left in overtime to send the game to a shootout.
Up next
Islanders: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Predators: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Takeaways: In Malkin's Return, Penguins Oust Devils To Earn Sixth Straight Win
For 15 consecutive games, the Pittsburgh Penguins operated without the services of one of their best players in Evgeni Malkin.
That changed Thursday, when he made his return to the lineup against the New Jersey Devils. And - even if he started off a bit slow - he did not disappoint.
The 39-year-old veteran scored a crucial five-on-three power play goal late in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over the struggling Devils, who earned their third consecutive loss. In contrast, Pittsburgh earned its sixth straight win, all since the holiday break, and climbed into the East's first wild card spot. And they are a team that is clicking on all cylinders right now.
"I feel like right when we came back from the break, we just got back to work," goaltender Stuart Skinner said. "I feel like our details in here are really solid and just our commitment to those details. So, ever since we got back, I feel like we've been rolling pretty good, and it's our job to keep that consistency going."
The Penguins - coincidentally, for the sixth consecutive game - secured an early lead when Rickard Rakell fed a breaking Erik Karlsson on the rush down the right side, and he put a puck top-shelf over Devils' goaltender Jake Allen to put his team up, 1-0. Things got a bit rocky in the opening frame, though, as the Devils outshot the Penguins, 11-7, but Skinner was there to shut the door and preserve the narrow lead.
Connor Dewar took an early second-period penalty that the Penguins managed to kill off, and - upon his return to the ice - Rakell connected with him on an impressive stretch pass for a breakaway opportunity. He beat Allen five-hole, gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead, and turned the tables in favor of Pittsburgh.
HOW DEW YOU LIKE THAT? 💪
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026
out of the box and on the board! pic.twitter.com/QKXaFDM0it
Nearing the end of the second, Timo Meier went to the box for slashing, and Connor Brown followed him there with a tripping penalty just 22 seconds after to give the Penguins a five-on-three. Although the power play was sloppy early on, Malkin eventually capitalized with less than a minute to go in the middle frame from the right circle off a one-time feed from Sidney Crosby.
Malkin also took a slashing penalty early in the third, and the Penguins surrendered a goal to Luke Hughes on the Devils' man advantage. But Pittsburgh recovered from there, and they got a late insurance goal from Blake Lizotte to seal the deal and send the lively crowd home happy.
"It's a huge credit to [the team]," head coach Dan Muse said. "They came out of that break, and right away, we felt refreshed just having a little bit of time. And now, you start to build some momentum. You build from one game to the next."
He added: "I also feel like the ebbs and flows of the game are being controlled better. And that's probably, if I was going to say one thing in terms of there's a difference between these last six games and maybe the 6-10 games prior, it's that. It's part of a season, too. You learn from the things that go well, you learn from the things that don't, and you keep moving forward."
The Penguins Have Found Something With Novak Centering Brazeau And ManthaTommy Novak found instant chemistry with Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau once he started centering them.Here are some thoughts and takeaways from yet another Penguins' win:
- To start this game, Malkin looked like a guy who hadn't played the last 15 games.
He was slow-footed, he couldn't handle passes, the puck was floating off his stick, and he couldn't connect on passes. And that's all to reasonably be expected from a 39-year-old player who missed a month of game action and came back playing in a pretty unfamiliar position.
However, he woke up in the second period. He looked like he was playing angry, which is never a good thing for the opposing team. He broke through on the five-on-three, and that was after a botched three-on-one opportunity earlier in the period as well as a few other chances.
"It's not easy changing positions," Malkin said. "Long time ago, I play wing. But, after first, I think I take a couple pucks, use my stickhandling. You know, it feels a little better, for sure. Unusual for me, and I hope we play same next game, too."
As for his line, Ben Kindel got better as the game progressed. And I do quite like Egor Chinakhov's game. This guy wins puck battles, is strong on the puck with possession, and isn't trigger-shy. Once Kindel, Chinakhov, and Malkin gel, I think this has the makings of a good line for the Penguins.
HE🔥IS 🔥 BACK🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ya2msWrSjI
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026
- Talk about a goal providing a spark.
Dewar was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking early in the second period, and the Penguins managed to kill it off. Rakell - already with an assist in the game - sprung Dewar for the breakaway with a beautiful stretch pass, and Dewar - as mentioned before - didn't miss.
While the goal was an impressive play all-around, it was what happened after that made a huge difference. The Penguins suddenly awoke from their first-period malaise, and they got opportunity after opportunity. Malkin, Kindel, and Chinakhov had that three-on-one shortly after. The first line had an utterly dominant shift in the offensive zone where they were teeing off left and right. The Penguins seized momentum for the period and never really gave it back, outshooting the Devils 17-5 in the middle frame.
Of course, there were some Devils' chances in the third, but the Penguins were, ultimately, able to shut the door and pad their lead. That was a crucial goal in this game, and it was - unsurprisingly - courtesy of one of their fourth-line players.
And - unsurprisingly - that same fourth line earned another big goal at the end to put the cherry on top.
The fourth line coming up clutch again 💪 pic.twitter.com/ptdlRObrrG
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026
- I haven't been enamored with the Penguins' power play in a general sense as of late.
Are they still second in the league? Yes. Are they still scoring with relative frequency? Also yes. But there is not nearly as much player movement or puck movement as there was at the beginning of the season, and they're just not generating as much as they were.
We've seen how high a level this unit can operate at. If they can get back to that level, this team will be even more dangerous than it has been on this six-game winning streak.
- Boy, Skinner was good in this game.
The Penguins didn't get off to a particularly good start. They were clearly shaking off the rust of their three days off coming into this one, and he had to make some key saves to preserve the 1-0 lead - including a breakaway save on Jesper Bratt and a point-blank net-front save on Nico Hischier. And he did the same thing in the third period, when the Devils started to pressure a bit again.
He's not the quickest goaltender post-to-post, but he has size. And when his reads are on, he's a very competitive netminder.
Things are definitely trending up for him. He has been great in his last two starts, and Arturs Silovs has given them a few good starts in a row, too. If the team's goaltending can sustain, I don't see why they won't be hanging around for the rest of the season.
Erik Karlsson’s Confidence Continues To Help Guide The PenguinsErik Karlsson's confidence is through the roof, and it continues to pay dividends for the Penguins.- Rakell and Karlsson were very, very good in this game. Karlsson has been at the top of his game during this winning streak, and he extended his home point streak to nine games, which is the longest home point streak of his career.
And Thursday was the best version of Rakell I've seen since he returned from injury. His pass to Dewar was excellent, he was good on the penalty kill, and he was creating space and opportunity in the offensive zone, using physicality to gain positioning.
The goals will come if he keeps playing this way, but regardless, his distribution game was really good in this one.
- The Penguins have won six straight hockey games. They are now 20-12-9 and sit in the East's first wild card spot. They are only one point back of second in the Metropolitan and six points back of first in the Metro, a spot currently occupied by the Carolina Hurricanes.
They're getting pretty good goaltending at the moment. Their defensive details are much better late in games. They have four lines that they can roll effectively and a fourth line that has quite literally changed the shape of some hockey games recently.
When healthy, this is a good hockey team, especially on the forward front. That's been the case all year.
Malkin's Return Exposes Center Depth As Strength For Penguins This SeasonPittsburgh Penguins' center Evgeni Malkin is poised to make his return to the lineup soon, and his deployment shows just how much center depth the Penguins have on their NHL roster this seasonOnly four of their 11 games for the remainder of the month are against teams - the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Seattle Kraken, and Edmonton Oilers - currently in playoff position. With just three games more games after that in February prior to the nearly three-week Olympic break, the Penguins need to bank as many points as possible against teams below them in the standings. Their schedule in March is condensed, and it's not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, as they play the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights twice each as well as the Hurricanes three times.
If they can pad their playoff positioning a bit prior to the break, that would be huge. And with the way they're playing - and how dangerous this team looks right now - these games should be very winnable.
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No. 12 Michigan State rallies in the 2nd half to beat Northwestern 76-66
Carson Cooper had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. scored all of his 15 points in the second half to help No. Michigan State come back to beat Northwestern 76-66 on Thursday night. Jaxon Kohler added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans (14-2, 4-1 Big Ten), who trailed by seven at halftime and eight in the second half before rallying to win for the sixth time in seven games.
Keaton Wagler scores 17, No. 16 Illinois defeats Rutgers 81-55
Keaton Wagler scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points to lead No. Illinois to an 81-55 victory over Rutgers on Thursday night. Andrej Stojakovic had 12 points and eight rebounds, Jake Davis scored a dozen points and David Mirkovich grabbed eight rebounds for the Illini (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight.