There’s no rest for the weary. The Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks after two straight seven-game series. We’ll see if the Cavs are up for the challenge.
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Go Cavs!
NEW YORK (AP) — OG Anunoby was in New York's starting lineup Tuesday after missing two games with a strained right hamstring, putting the Knicks back at full strength to begin the Eastern Conference finals.
Anunoby was hurt late in Game 2 of the Knicks' second-round sweep of Philadelphia and sat out the next two games. He returned to practice during New York's lengthy wait between rounds and fully participated during the final three practices leading into this series.
Anunoby injured his other hamstring two years ago, also during Game 2 of the second round, missed the next four games and was able to play only five minutes in Game 7. He said the pain this time wasn't as bad.
Anunoby is averaging 21.4 points in the postseason while shooting 61.9% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Texas Rangers @ Colorado Rockies
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 7:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)
Coors Field
LHP Tyler Alexander vs. LHP Sammy Peralta
Go Rangers!
In Game 1, the Colorado Rockies managed to come out with a win, despite some white-knuckle moments in the eight inning.
Tonight, they will look to take the series from theTexas Rangers.
Starting for the Rangers is Tyler Alexander.
The lefty has a 2.14 ERA in 23.0 IP. He’s struck out 16, walked six, and given up one home run. Alexander has a 1.38 WHIP.
Presumably, Alexander will act as an opener for Kumar Rocker. In 37.1 IP, he has a 4.34 ERA.
Starting for the Rockies in what will be his first start in purple pinstripes is Sammy Peralta, a lefty reliever the Rockies claimed from the Milwaukee Brewers on April 4. His arsenal includes a five-pitch mix, none of which average more than 89 MPH: a slider, a sinker, a changeup, a four-seam fastball, topped off with an occasional sweeper.
In 2026, he has pitched for two Triple-A teams. With the Nashville Sounds, Peralta earned a 27.00 ERA in 1.0 IP. In Albuquerque, Peralta has 19.0 IP with a more-respectable 3.79 ERA.
Presumably, Peralta will be opening for RHP Tanner Gordon, who will pitch most of the game.
Currently, Gordon has an ERA of 5.19 in 21.0 IP primarily in long relief. He’s struck out 25 while giving up five walks and five home runs with a 1.33 WHIP.
And now to the details.
First Pitch: 6:40 pm MDT
TV: Rockies TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
SB Nation Rangers site:Lone Star Ball
Lineups:
For the visiting Rangers:
And the home Rockies:
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OG Anunoby is back.
The Knicks’ best performer during their dominant postseason is officially active and starting Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden, returning Anunoby to action for the first time since injuring his hamstring 13 days prior.
Entering Tuesday, Anunoby had been a two-way force in the playoffs, averaging 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and a team-best 1.9 steals, while shooting 61.9 percent from the field (a team-high 53.8 percent on 3-pointers).
Anunoby, whose hamstring injury two years ago played a large role in derailing the Knicks’ postseason run, was a full participant in recent practices and declared he was feeling better every day, while noting that the injury he suffered in Game 2 against the 76ers wasn’t as severe as the one that sidelined him two years ago against the Pacers.
The Knicks’ second-round sweep of the 76ers — combined with Cleveland’s seven-game series against the Pistons — gave the 28-year-old an unusually long time to rest and rehab, unlike when he rushed to return for Game 7 of the 2024 conference semifinals against Indiana and was removed after hobbling through five minutes.
It is unclear if Anunoby will be on a minutes restriction in Game 1.
The 6-foot-7 forward struggled in his most recent return from an injury, having missed four games with a right toenail avulsion before the All-Star break. Anunoby was uncharacteristically out of rhythm in his first game in 15 days — shooting 3-of-13 (1-of-8 3-pointers) for eight points with zero rebounds in 32 minutes — and also failed to contain Cade Cunningham, who put up 42 points and 13 assists in Detroit’s 15-point win despite largely being guarded by the Knicks’ top defender.
The Dallas Mavericks announced on Tuesday evening that the organization and coach Jason Kidd have “mutually agreed to part ways”. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Kidd had four years and well over $40 million left on his contract after being extended twice in both 2024 and 2025. Kidd and former general manager Nico Harrison came to the organization as a package deal in 2021. Now, just over a year after making the defining move of their tenure when they traded Luka Doncic, both Harrison and Kidd are now out.
There was a certain level of speculation about Kidd’s future when Team President Masai Ujiri fielded questions at his introductory presser. In that, Ujiri said he will give the team a “head-to-toe” examination, including at the head coaching position. We now know the results of that exam. As pointed out by Charania, Ujiri and Governor Patrick Dumont decided to “move on” from the coach early in the week.
Upon the release of the news, Team President Masai Ujiri released the following statement:
“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team. We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention. We will conduct a thorough, disciplined search for our next head coach and continue to evaluate our entire basketball operations staff to ensure we compete at the standard Mavs fans expect and deserve.”
The coach will always have a complicated legacy in Dallas, for numerous reasons. As a player, Kidd unceremoniously left just one year removed from winning a championship to sign with the Knicks. Upon his return to Dallas after a stint in coaching rehab with the Lakers under Frank Vogel, Kidd led Dallas to heights it had never seen before, making its first Western Conference Finals since 2011 in his first year at the helm. After a rough 2022-23 campaign, Kidd helped guide Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to win the Western Conference as the fifth seed, before losing to the Boston Celtics in five games in the NBA Finals. Outside of those two fantastic years, Kidd failed to lead Dallas to the playoffs in the other three years of his five-year term in Dallas.
Kidd leaves Dallas with a record of 227-223, including an exactly .500 record of 205-205 in the regular season.
Perhaps what Kidd will be remembered most for is his alleged role in the trade of Doncic. That scene on February 2nd from the press conference room in Cleveland is one that will stick in the memory for Mavericks fans forever. We likely will never know the honest truth on who was responsible for what in that, but what can’t be debated is that ownership and the new front office would like to move forward from the ordeal all together. As the Cooper Flagg era begins in earnest, a clean slate is probably best for everyone.
Per the Mavs, Team President Masai Ujiri will be holding a news conference Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CT at the American Airlines Center to speak on the decision. It also seems logical to assume that Ujiri will heading up the search for the next head coach of the team. As the story develops, we’ll continue to update you on Mavs Moneyball.
The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed a badly-needed day off Monday, but return to Busch Stadium Tuesday night for a NL Central battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Matthew Liberatore gets the start for the Cardinals while the Pirates will depend on Mitch Keller. First pitch scheduled for 6:45pm central time. Here’s the lineup for the Cardinals tonight. Note that Masyn Winn is out of the lineup as he’s dealing with knee discomfort.
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The New York Knicks host the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at MSG, in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. (ECF for the second straight season? What a time to root the orange and blue.) Both sides should be at full strength, with the Knicks coming off a nine-day rest and all healed up. Fun fact: New York has a 12-2 record versus the Ohio Players in the playoffs all-time.
Tip off is at 8 PM EST on ESPN. This is your game thread. This is Fear the Sword. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Behave, you magnificent creatures. And go Knicks!
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but eight runs are better than zero.
The Braves are back in the win column, winning their 33rd game of the season in Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return to the lineup.
The Braves took advantage of command issues from Marlins starter Braxton Garrett, who loaded the bases with no outs to start the game. They’d only cash in two runs on an Ozzie Albies sac fly and a Michael Harris II two-out single.
However, Martín Pérez would give them those runs back plus one more in a rocky bottom of the first. Xavier Edwards tagged Pérez for a leadoff homer, Otto Lopez singled, Esteury Ruiz walked, and Kyle Stowers doubled to drive in two more and make it 3-2 Marlins.
Pérez walked the tightrope for the rest of his five innings of work. It was a mixed bag of an outing – he worked around traffic, made his pitches in big moments, and even racked up a career-high of ten strikeouts. But he would depart after the fifth inning with the Marlins leading 4-2. Not a quality start, but it could’ve been much worse / he did enough to keep the boys within striking distance.
Braxton Garrett settled down after a 30+ pitch first inning, but had a curiously short leash. He was relieved by Anthony Bender who worked a perfect fourth.
Bender would give up a leadoff double to Acuña Jr. and get Mauricio Dubón to fly out before they made the call to bring in the lefty Andrew Nardi to face Matt Olson. They regretted that immediately when Matt doubled to drive in Ronald, chipping away at the lead to make it 4-3 Marlins.
A Money Mike home run to straightaway center tied the game 4-4 in the top of the sixth.
Didier Fuentes and Dylan Lee would combine to work a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Lee stayed in to pitch the seventh to face the top of the Marlins order. Consecutive singles from Lopez and Heriberto Hernández had Miami threatening, but Lee would strand both.
The tie would finally break in a very silly eighth inning. Marlins reliever Calvin Faucher came in and struck out Michael Harris II before issing a free pass to Mike Yastrzemski. Walt Weiss was hoping for a Big Dom Smith Moment, but he’d strike out in Sandy León spot to make it two outs. But the Braves weren’t dead yet. Faucher walked Ha-Seong Kim and Ronald to put a Brave on every base. This, as we know, is Mauricio Dubón’s favorite situation. He would reach on an infield single (featuring a very welcome lapse in Marlins defense), allowing Yaz to score and make it 5-4 Braves.
Matt followed up with a two-run single to make it 7-4. Ozzie’s hard-hit liner to his counterpart Edwards ended the top of the eighth. We’ll take a lucky inning any day.
Chadwick Tromp made his season debut, entering to catch and bat eighth after Dom Smith struck out for León. He’d work with Robert Suarez for a scoreless bottom of the eighth and record a single in his first at-bat in the top of the ninth. Welcome back, Trompy. Please stay healthy.
Ha-Seong Kim singled in Austin Riley for a little extra insurance to make it 8-4. And Raisel Iglesias did Iggy things to close the book on this one. Braves win and even up the series 1-1. Game 3 and 4 will start at 6:40 pm ET.
Shohei Ohtani is on the mound for the Dodgers at the end of their stretch of 13 game days in a row, starting the series finale against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night at Petco Park.
Ohtani was named the National League pitcher of the month for March/April, and has allowed six total runs (four earned) in his seven starts this season. He’s led the league in ERA after each of his starts and is currently at 0.82 with 50 strikeouts against 11 walks. With 44 innings thus far, he’ll need at least six innings on Wednesday to once again qualify for the leaderboard, as this will be the Dodgers’ 50th game.
Randy Vásquez starts for the Padres in the series finale, having allowed just one run over 11 innings in his last two starts. On the season the 27-year-old right-hander has a 2.68 ERA and 4.78 xERA through nine starts.
The Mavericks are moving on from Jason Kidd.
The team announced on Tuesday that it “mutually agreed’ to part ways with Kidd after he’s led the team for five seasons.
Kidd still has four years and more than $40 million left on his contract, ESPN reported. It was clear that new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri wanted to take the organization in a different direction.
“As we evaluate the future of our basketball program, we believe this is the right moment for a new direction for our team,” Ujiri said in a statement. “We have high expectations for this franchise and a responsibility to build a basketball organization capable of sustained championship contention. We will conduct a thorough, disciplined search for our next head coach and continue to evaluate our entire basketball operations staff to ensure we compete at the standard Mavs fans expect and deserve.”
Kidd was named Mavericks head coach in 2021 and led Dallas to a number of postseason appearances, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2024 and the Western Conference finals in 2022.
He went 205-205 during his five-year run with the Mavs, but his record was severely impacted by the presence — and later lack thereof — of star Luka Doncic.
The Kidd-led Mavericks were 136-87 when Doncic was in the lineup and 69-118 when he wasn’t, including the 26-56 record — even with Rookie of the Year winner Cooper Flagg — Dallas had during the 2025-26 season, the first full campaign following the controversial Doncic trade in Feb. 2025. The architect of that trade, Nico Harrison, was fired in November.
Kidd’s future with the Mavericks seemed up in the air after Ujiri took over his post earlier this month and was non-committal about keeping him on during an introductory press conference.
“He’s done a great job, but we are going to look at this thing from head to toe,” Ujiri said. “That’s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate in every single way we can.”
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Kidd is out after five seasons as coach of the Dallas Mavericks, team says.
The Dodgers on Tuesday activated pitcher Eric Lauer, the left-hander they acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday for cash considerations. Right-hander Wyatt Mills was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
After a 3.18 ERA and 3.88 xERA in 2025 for the Blue Jays, Lauer this year had a 6.69 ERA and 5.86 xERA in eight games, including six starts, with 26 strikeouts, 16 walks, and an American League-high 11 home runs allowed. That led to Toronto designating Lauer for assignment on May 11, before trading him to Los Angeles on Sunday.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes spoke with reporters on Monday at Petco Park in San Diego and said that Lauer, who last pitched on May 10, will be inserted into the Dodgers rotation at some point in the next week, but might pitch in relief in the interim. From Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times:
“Part of the thinking is to not create this domino effect of chasing our tails,” Gomes said. “Trying to maintain a similar schedule as we’ve had, and when we can get guys extra days’ rest, do it. If we don’t need it, and we’re trying to line things up a different way, just maintain the flexibility to be able to do that.”
Just looking ahead, starting Lauer on Monday or Tuesday next week at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies would allow an extra day for the Dodgers to have Shohei Ohtani start for a second consecutive Wednesday directly before a team off day.
UPDATE: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Tuesday at Petco Park told reporters that Lauer is penciled in to start next Tuesday, May 26 against the Rockies, per the beatreporters on-sitein San Diego.
Mills pitched in four of the nine games for which he was active, all at the tail end of lopsided affairs. The 31-year-old right-hander allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings and issued six unintentional walks among his 21 batters faced, with one strikeout. His appearance on May 10 at Dodger Stadium was the first for Mills in the majors since 2022 with the Kansas City Royals, with Tommy John surgery wiping out his 2023 and 2024 campaigns.
“A long road, it’s never a guarantee that you get fully healthy after that. So it was more like a deep breath, kind of peaceful. I felt calm,” Mills said on the homestand. “I put in a lot of work, and my confidence came from that.”
Lauer will wear uniform number 33 with the Dodgers.
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (19-30) visit Target Field in Minneapolis for the second of a 3-game series vs. the Minnesota Twins (22-26).
RHP Jason Alexander (0-0, 14.21 ERA) takes on Twins RHP Zebby Matthews (1-0, 0.00 ERA). Alexander is making his first start of the season while Mathews is making his second start of the season.
ROADIES: Tonight is the 2nd game of a 10-game, 3-city road trip for the Astros. After this 3-game set at MIN, they will visit Chicago for a 3-game series at Wrigley Field (Fri.-Sun.) vs. the Cubs and then travel back to Texas for a 4-game series vs. the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
VS. THE TWINS: The Astros were 5-1 vs. MIN last season, going 3-0 at home and 2-1 here at Target Field. The Astros won 2 of 3 in their last visit to Target Field, April 3-6 of 2025 and then later swept MIN in a 3-game series at Daikin Park, June 13-15.
Since 2021, the Astros are 9-5 at Target Field and 18-13 vs. MIN overall.
ABOUT ALEXANDER: Alexander has been in Sugar Land for most of the season. He has pitched 6.1 innings this year in relief during a previous stint. He was a key contributor last season where he went 4-2 in 15 starts and a 4.77 ERA between the Astros and Athletics.
ABOUT MATTHEWS: Matthews has pitched parts of three seasons with the Twins. He has a career 7-10 record with a 5.59 ERA in 26 starts. He pitched seven scoreless innings in his last time out getting the win.
ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have placed RHP Lance McCullers Jr. on the 15-day IL (retro 5/16) due to right shoulder inflammation and optioned IF/OF Shay Whitcomb to Triple A Sugar Land…to take their places on the active roster, the Astros reinstated OF Jake Meyers and RHP Nate Pearson from the Injured List.
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, May 19, 6:40 p.m. CT
Location: Target Field, Minneapolis, MN
TV: Space City Home Network
Streaming: SCHN+
Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
SS Jeremy Pena
3B Isaac Paredes
DH Yordan Alvarez
1B Christian Walker
RF Zach Dezenzo
LF Zach Cole
CF Jake Meyers
2B Bredan Shewmake
C Christian Vazquez
DH Byron Buxton
LF Trevor Larnach
1B Josh Bell
2B Kody Clemens
RF Austin Martin
SS Brooks Lee
C Victor Caratini
3B Tristan Gray
CF James Outman
The Royals are facing one of their biggest adversaries in tonight’s game: a left-hander. Gasp! The lefties are deadly. If you know one, keep an extra eye on them, because you never know when they’ll kick the teeth into a Royals lineup.
To be fair to the Royals, they are trying something different. Vinnie Pasquantino, who has struggled mightily against lefties over the last few years, moves all the way down to the seventh spot in the lineup. I asked Matt Quatraro before the game why that was and whether it portended anything about Vinnie in the long run. Q was noncomittal about the second part, but he said that Red Sox starting pitcher Ranger Suarez’s more neutral splits were a big part of it.
I don’t know if that makes sense; if Suarez has neutral splits, why isn’t Vinnie in his normal spot on the lineup? But whatever. We’re doing it.
Meanwhile, it’s a bullpen-ish game for the Royals today. Bailey Falter is starting. I expect to spy Luinder Avila down the road. We’ll see how this goes.