Malachi Moreno scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds to lead No. 9 Kentucky to a 107-59 win over Valparaiso on Friday night. The freshman forward led six Wildcats in double figures as Otega Oweh had 15 and Mouhamed Dioubate and Collin Chandler had 14 points each. Brandon Garrison and Denzel Aberdeen scored 12 points each for Kentucky.
Freshman Caleb Wilson had 24 points, big man Henri Veesaar added 20 and No. 25 North Carolina dominated the second half to pull away from No. 19 Kansas 87-74 in Friday night's battle of college basketball bluebloods. Senior Seth Trimble added 13 of his 17 after halftime, proving to be a catalyst for the Tar Heels (2-0) in taking control of the second-half tempo as UNC roared out of the break.
The New Jersey Devils defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–3 in a shootout last night, but for one player, it was more than just another game - it was a mini-reunion and a taste of home.
Devils rookie Arseny Gritsyuk was reunited with his friend Ivan Demidov before the matchup. The two played together last season with SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), before Demidov made the jump to the NHL to join the Canadiens.
Gritsyuk told NHL.com that when he traveled from Russia to New Jersey this offseason, he stopped in Montreal to visit his old teammate.
The two have stayed in touch as Demidov adjusted to his first NHL season and Gritsyuk prepared for his own North American debut.
“I talked to him after Montreal lost in the playoffs,” Gritsyuk said to NHL.com. “I called him for a lot of details. He said it’s always a challenging game — every game. There’s always pressure, not much time. And the micro-battles are so important. When you go back for the puck — body check, body check, body check.”
Ahead of the game, Gritsyuk posted on his Telegram channel, Grit’s Diary, that he had invited Demidov over for dinner.
“It was my turn to receive guests — for example, today Vanya Demidov stopped by 🤝 We had a delicious meal, chatted, and just had a great time. 😇 See you on the ice, brother 🤙”
Gritsyuk has mentioned having dinners with several familiar Russian faces during his first 14 NHL games and was happy to return the favor by hosting Demidov ahead of their matchup in Newark.
In the game, Demidov logged 10:27 of ice time, finishing with no points and two penalty minutes, while Gritsyuk played 15:29 and recorded two shots on goal.
As Gritsyuk navigates his rookie season and Demidov continues his sophomore campaign, the two continue to lean on each other for advice, familiarity, and friendship, both on and off the ice.
The Philadelphia Flyers have generally rolled with the same lineup over the last few games, but their latest transaction indicates that may not be the case for long.
On Friday, the Flyers announced that they had recalled forward Carl Grundstrom, acquired in the Ryan Ellis trade, and sent Aleksei Kolosov back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
That move comes on the heels of a separate switch that saw goalie Sam Ersson come off injured reserve and center Jacob Gaucher head back to the Phantoms.
The key here, though, is that Gaucher had originally been called up by the Flyers because the team needed a right-shot center.
Grundstrom, 27, is neither a right-shot forward nor a center, and he gives the Flyers 13 forwards on their active roster with Tyson Foerster still on injured reserve.
The Flyers also, however, have eight defensemen, which is not a particularly common denomination around the NHL.
Grundstrom's sudden addition to the NHL roster, and replacing Gaucher, especially, has created some questions that will be solved sooner or later.
For instance, eccentric rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin has played fewer than 10 minutes in three of his last five games, and veteran tough guy Nick Deslauriers just played a season-high 10:01 in his sixth appearance of the season in Thursday night's 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
One of Deslauriers or Grebenkin could come out of the lineup for Grundstrom if the Swede is to draw in at some point, especially given that Rodrigo Abols appears to have the fourth-line center role on lock.
And, if and when Foerster does return, the Flyers will need to send another player down to the AHL.
Would Grundstrom head back to the Phantoms so soon, sticking around for just a cup of coffee? Or will the Flyers decide they've had enough of the eight-defenseman rotation on the blueline?
Adam Ginning has played just one game since Oct. 16, and Emil Andrae appears to have usurped Egor Zamula's place in the lineup with his transitional skills outweighing his lack of size.
No matter the outcome, the Flyers are almost inevitably heading towards some kind of further change to the lineup and roster, which could some as soon as the end of the weekend.
Lakers coach JJ Redick and forward Rui Hachimura meet on the sideline after Hachimura scored against the Spurs on Wednesday. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.
Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.
The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.
PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Lakers' version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.
“A lot of times most of the interactions you'll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it's good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better."
Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.
One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.
“We're just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you're connected off the floor, you're connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I'm not trying to take credit for my staff here. It's the guys on the team, they're bought into that.”
Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.
Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.
Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.
Lakers coach JJ Redick, with injured forward LeBron James next to him, questions a call along with guard Marcus Smart during the game against the Spurs on Wednesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.
“Honestly, the feeling is I'm enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We're still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it's very enjoyable to play.”
Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.
James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.
“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren't in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”
Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.
The Vancouver Canucks are 15 games into the 2025–26 season. While they most recently went 2–1–0 on their Central Division road trip, they suffered a difficult 5–2 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks last night, giving them a losing record yet again. Here’s how they’re performing compared to the rest of the NHL.
Team Stats
Vancouver’s recent stretch of play has skidded them into the bottom-half of the NHL in all of their team stats. Their lone stat still near the middle of the pack is their power play (19.2%). Their two lowest are their work in the faceoff dot (45.5%) and their infamous penalty kill (68%), which has allowed a goal against in each of the past four games.
Individual Skaters
Despite some difficult numbers on offence, the Canucks nearly lead the NHL in two categories thanks to efforts from two individual players. Filip Hronek is currently third in the NHL in TOI with 370:19 minutes played since the start of the season (partially in-part due to filling in for an injured Quinn Hughes). On the other hand, Kiefer Sherwood is second in the NHL in hits with 67. This is not the only stat that Sherwood leads his team in, as he is also the Canucks’ leading scorer right now with nine goals (tied for eighth in the NHL).
Goaltenders
Again, due to the amount of games played over Kevin Lankinen, Thatcher Demko leads the Canucks in all stat categories for goaltenders. Of all goalies who have played a minimum of three games this season, Demko’s SV% (.911) and GAA (2.57) are towards the middle of the league. He has faced the 10th-most high-danger shots and has a SV% of .857 in these circumstances. Demko is currently taking time to rest, resulting in the team calling up goaltender Jiří Patera from Abbotsford in the event he is unable to play this weekend.
The Canucks continue their current homestand with a back-to-back this weekend against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche. They take on the Winnipeg Jets next Tuesday before heading back on the road for an Eastern Conference road trip kicked off with a stop in Carolina to face the Carolina Hurricanes.
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There have been some collective weights lifted off the shoulders of a pair of key Detroit Red Wings players in the last several games.
Late last month on Oct. 25, forward Alex DeBrincat sniped home his first goal of the season, ending a goalless streak that included several Grade-A chances that he was robbed of by opposition goaltenders along with more than a few hit posts.
He's since scored three more goals, increasing his total to four.
Forward Marco Kasper, who traditionally plays alongside DeBrincat, got the monkey off his back by scoring twice as part of the Red Wings' 4-3 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 30.
For Kasper, it was the first time that he'd lit the lamp since scoring against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 11.
"It feels good to score," Kasper said on Friday. "It's always a relief to score again, and you just always want to chase this feeling."
"It all starts with playing good, sound game overall and competing hard," he continued.
Kasper would cap a beautiful three-way passing play between Alex DeBrincat, Mason Appleton, and himself in the third period against the Kings for his second tally of the night:
The second half of last season was a true breakout for Kasper, who earned a call up to the Red Wings in late October and never looked back. While he got off to a bit of a slower beginning to his NHL journey, he began to thrive once Todd McLellan was hired in late December.
From January 10 through the end of the season, Kasper led all NHL rookies with 17 goals. In that span, he also ranked fifth overall in total rookie scoring.
“I think Marco’s playing harder,” McLellan said following the win over the Kings. “The second goal, he’s going to the net, he’s stopping in the paint. So he’s a competitive individual that has put some pressure on himself. Maybe this will really get him going, but we’re counting on him, and we forget he’s like 20, 21 years old. You’d think he was 27 the way he played last year.”
The Red Wings are also set to welcome Patrick Kane back into the lineup after he missed the previous nine games with an upper-body injury.
"It's huge to get him back, just his experience and his skills on the power play," Kasper said. "It'll be fun to have him back out there."
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As if things were not rough enough to start the season in Brooklyn...
Cam Thomas, the Nets' second leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, is out with a left hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks, the team announced.
Brooklyn Nets Medical Update:
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain. The injury occurred during the first quarter of Wednesday’s game at Indiana. Thomas will be reevaluated in approximately three to four weeks.
This has been an ongoing issue for Thomas: This is his fourth left hamstring strain since the start of last season (he only played 25 games last season because of it).
The big question for Thomas is whether this impacts his free agency next summer. Thomas is playing on a $6 million qualifying offer with Brooklyn this season, which will make him an unrestricted free agent next July 1. Thomas bet on himself, and was putting up 21.4 points a night and shooting 35.6% from beyond the arc this season (although his true shooting percentage of 54.6 is a little below the league average). There are certainly teams that could use his scoring, but his injury history could (will?) give teams pause, and that might cost Thomas money. It depends on how he plays when he returns, but teams will remember.
Brooklyn already had the 25th-ranked offense in the NBA and just lost one of its two most reliable shot creators for a month. With Thomas out, Brooklyn will be looking for more shot creation next to Michael Porter Jr. Look for Terance Mann, Tyrese Martin and Egor Demin to get more run and get their chance.
This isn’t a flash in the pan. These Sharks are hungry and in the midst of a feeding frenzy.
Coming off a resounding 6-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, the Sharks followed up with a signature 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets that had SAP Center rocking like the days of old.
NHL point leader Macklin Celebrini had an eventful first period, getting his teeth knocked out by a stick to the face before responding with an incredible breakaway goal to even things at 1-1.
Friday’s win is the Sharks’ fourth in their last five games, with all four victories coming against teams currently holding playoff spots. That includes wins over the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche, who hold the first-place spots in each conference.
Winnipeg, sitting at the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, offered a tough test for San Jose, coming off its biggest margin of victory this season after dispatching Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic had 32 saves in Friday’s win over the Jets, and the nine-year veteran had plenty of praise for San Jose’s opponent but even more for the Sharks’ ability to remain focused and avoid complacency after Wednesday’s feel-good win.
“Great test. Obviously, a top team in the league,” Nedjelkovic told reporters. “Lot of firepower up front and very solid defensively. I thought it was great. Coming back from a big win like that in Seattle, I think there might be a tendency to maybe take your foot off the gas a little bit. We stuck with it, picked up right where we left off, and we had a pretty solid first period. Coming out of there with a 1-1 score, we’ll take it.
“We just kept going, kept pressing. Couple weird bounces and we responded really well every time and we made the most of the opportunities that we got.”
Ned praised the Sharks' effort in tonight's gritty win over a tough Jets team 👏 pic.twitter.com/tIXR9myk7N
The Sharks have made it clear they aren’t the lovable losers of years past, and part of that mentality shift stems from entering games like this against tough opponents with having the confidence and belief that you’re capable of going toe-to-toe with the NHL’s best.
“I think you have to have that mentality. You can’t go into a game scared of anyone, but you obviously have respect but anyone can beat anyone in this league,” Smith said after his pivotal goal.
Center Alex Wennberg highlighted San Jose’s play in the second period, when neither team scored as a crucial factor in the Sharks finding a way to secure a late win over a quality opponent.
“I feel like it was a good played game by us. Winnipeg is a really good team but I feel like our second period especially was really good,” Wennberg said. “Kept pushing them back didn’t really give them any energy. We just kept going at it, obviously we talk about this game, it was going to be a tight one. Have to find a way to score a goal, rebound, whatever it is. Today Smitty came up big and had one. Got to give a shoutout to [Alex Nedeljkovic] in net who made some really good saves and kept us in the game as well.”
The energy is shifting in a major way around this Sharks team, and the raucous crowd at SAP Center gave this young team a glimpse into what the glory years in that building were like when San Jose was a perennial contender firmly situated among the NHL’s best.
That infectious enthusiasm was on full display during the final minute of the third period as the Sharks put up a heroic stand against the Jets’ last-gasp efforts to net a game-tying goal.
“It gives me goosebumps at the end of the game when the crowd is this loud,” Smith told NBC Sports California’s Drew Remenda rinkside after the win.
Smith wasn’t the only one in that building with goosebumps. It’s too early to definitively say the Sharks are all the way back, but it’d be damn hard to overlook what this group is building together.
Hockey is better off when the Sharks are good. And to the rest of the NHL, I have tremendous news.
Green led the Warriors with 17 points and made five 3-pointers, two fewer than the rest of his teammates combined. That was long forgotten, watching how the Nuggets scored with ease against the Warriors.
The only finger Green pointed regarding the Warriors’ defensive letdowns was at himself.
“I’ve failed,” Green said. “If our defense looks as s—-y as it does, I’ve failed. You can send as many messages as you want. Until we do it, I’m failing them.”
The Warriors opened the game with a corner three from Green and then forced the Nuggets into a shot clock violation. It was almost all Nuggets the rest of the way. They responded with an immediate 12-0 run, forcing a Golden State timeout.
Any fire the Warriors came into the game with was quickly extinguished. They trailed by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, 19 in the second, 22 in the third and 28 in the fourth before an eventual 25-point loss.
Aside from the Warriors starting the second quarter on a 10-0 run to bring the game within one while Nikola Jokić was given his first rest, the Nuggets had almost no problems slicing and dicing a leaky defense. The game became a breeze for Jokić, scoring 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting and 2 of 3 from deep. Even his backup, Jonas Valančiūnas, scored 16 points in 16 minutes, going 6 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 on threes.
Jamal Murray’s 23 points came on 8-of-12 shooting and 5 of 7 from three, and Aaron Gordon got up to 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and was 3 of 4 behind the 3-point line.
The Nuggets scored at least 30 points in all four quarters, finishing the game with a 56.1 field goal percentage and went 48.5 percent beyond the arc. They dominated around the rim and downtown. Trailing from behind for almost all 48 minutes, the Warriors were called for three more fouls than the Nuggets and saw them take 10 more free throws than them.
“No. 1, it’s taking the challenge – a personal challenge,” Green said of the Warriors’ defense. “You’ve got to take the personal challenge to guard your man. Then if you get beat, there’s help. But I think right now we’re just relying on the help to beat everyone. When you don’t give effort, then help can’t get there.
“It starts individually. Everybody must take the challenge individually of guarding their man, and then you build out from there.”
Clearly, the Warriors have a point-of-attack problem. They’ve seen young players trying to make a name for themself like Ryan Rollins and Quenton Jackson drive downhill right past them in losses, and most recently, a contender in the Nuggets pick them apart without breaking a sweat. They can get back to the drawing board, but it all starts up top.
Coach Steve Kerr sent a strong statement to his younger players, calling out a lack of purpose and hanging their heads as the problems piled up on them. Green didn’t mince his words, and neither did fellow veteran leader Jimmy Butler. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post, a third-year center and a second-year center, respectively, took it upon themselves to follow the words of the team’s leaders.
“There were multiple guys that came from the bench tonight that were talking about bringing the energy, and sometimes it’s tough,” Post said. “It doesn’t go your way, but the guys are in the right mindset, and this switch will be flipped. We’ll flip the switch. We got to keep bringing it, the fire, and just go out there and we’ll make it work.”
The schedule has been a battle of its own, mentally and physically. The Warriors already have played 10 games in 18 days, including three back-to-back. And it’s not about to get any easier.
After a flight home and a day off Saturday, the Warriors play the Indiana Pacers at Chase Center on Sunday, and then they hit the road for a six-game trip that opens with a back-to-back in Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
“I mean, hell, every game up to this point is supposed to be one to set the tone,” Butler said. “Now what I will say is – and I say this a lot – when you win, everything’s masked and everything is covered up. So if we go out there and win, it’s going to look like we played hard, it’s going to look like we executed.
“Let’s just win, and then we’ll take it from there. Let’s learn from wins instead of from losses.”
The Yankees are well-represented in the hitting department in MLB's offseason awards, as Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were announced as American League Silver Slugger Award winners on Friday.
Judge was a relative lock to win his fifth Silver Slugger Award. The 2024 -- and perhaps 2025 -- AL MVP had a league-best .331 batting average to go along with an OBP of .457, slugging percentage of .688 and an OPS of 1.144. He also hit 53 home runs and drove in 114 RBI.
The last two times Judge won the Silver Slugger, he also won the MVP (2022,24), which bodes well for his chances this season. The closest competitor to Judge's back-to-back MVP campaign is the Mariners' Cal Raleigh, who was named a Silver Slugger at catcher this season.
Judge joined Byron Buxton of the Twins and Riley Green of the Tigers as outfield Silver Slugger winners this season.
The Yankees outfielder beat a field that included Riley Greene of the Tigers, Julio Rodríguez of the Mariners, George Springer of the Blue Jays and teammate Cody Bellinger.
Bellinger made a great first impression in pinstripes. In his first -- and so far only -- season in the Bronx, Bellinger slashed .272/.334/.480 with an OPS of .813 to go along with 29 homers and 98 runs batted in. He was the perfect second outfielder behind Judge in 2025, giving the Yankees a versatile and dangerous left-handed bat.
Chisholm Jr. had his best season in pinstripes in 2025, securing his second-career All-Star selection in the process and now, his first Silver Slugger. The infielder slashed .242/.332/.481 with an OPS of .813, but hit a career-high 31 homers and drove in 80 runs. He also stole 31 bases this season, becoming just the third player (fourth overall) in franchise history to achieve the 30-30 mark in a season.
He beat out fellow second base finalists Brandon Lowe of the Rays and Jorge Polanco of the Mariners.
Ben Rice was also a finalist for the 2025 Silver Slugger as a utility player. The part-time first baseman/catcher enjoyed his best offensive season as a pro, slashing .255/.337/.499 with an OPS of .836 to go along with his 26 home runs and driving in 65 runs in 138 games. He fell to the Tigers' Zach McKinstry.
Maikel Garcia of the Royals was also a part of the field.
The Yankees, as a team, were also a finalist for the team Silver Slugger Award and beat out the Mariners and Blue Jays.
