Location: Toyota Center – Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network,
Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)
Online: Rockets App, SCHN+
Time: 7:00pm CST
Rockets: Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun
Jazz: Cody Williams, Brice Sensabaugh, Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski, Oscar Tshiebwe
Ninety-nine seconds.
That’s all it took.
Ninety-nine seconds to turn a championship contender into a question mark. Ninety-nine seconds to flip the Lakers from dangerous to delicate.
Ninety-nine seconds to remind everyone how thin the line is between March momentum and April uncertainty.
Because for five weeks, this thing felt real.
A 16-2 stretch. Third place in the Western Conference. Chemistry off the charts. The ball was moving. The defense was rotating, and the belief— that fragile, invisible fuel — filled every corner of the Lakers’ locker room.
But before those 99 seconds could run out, one moment changed everything.
Luka Doncic had already done his damage for the month — 600 points, a scoring binge that earned him Western Conference Player of the Month just hours before tipoff. He was the engine, the reason this entire Lakers experiment suddenly made sense.
Then late in the first quarter, he drove, stopped on a dime, let two defenders fly past him — and laid it in. But his hand immediately grabbed at his left hamstring.
He stayed in. He limped through the rest of the first half.
At halftime, head coach JJ Redick said the team’s training staff checked the hamstring. They worked on it. He was cleared to return.
“It was discussed at halftime. I wanted to give those guys about six minutes,” Redick said. “If we didn’t cut into the lead, I was going to pull them.”
Six minutes.
The Lakers were down 32 to the reigning MVP and champions.
The game was already gone — LeBron James said as much after the first seven minutes of the opening quarter that saw the Thunder race out to a 25-9 lead like an F1 car redlining through open asphalt.
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The Lakers on the other hand? They were a broken down Fiat in need of repairs.
Bad energy. Worse execution. Eight turnovers. Poor transition defense that led to fast break points and second chances for OKC.
“That’s the game right there,” said James after the loss of those first seven minutes.
Then why was Doncic still on the floor?
Why did Redick allow Doncic to push through the nagging injury when his team was down by as many as 35 points in the first half? Why even risk another six minutes to start the second?
With 7:39 remaining in the third quarter, 99 seconds before Redick said he was going to “pull him,” Doncic drove towards the basket on the left wing, stopped at the elbow, went up for a shot, but instead dropped the ball, grabbed his hamstring again and collapsed on the floor.
Luka Doncic headed to the locker room after appearing to tweak his left hamstring via non contact.
— Zero Gravity (@zgsportsmedia) April 3, 2026
Prayers up for Luka.pic.twitter.com/M3um6xUCbv
That 99 second difference between the injury taking place and when Redick was going to pull him now is the pivot point in a season that 24 hours earlier was full of promise.
That’s the moment this season may be remembered by.
Because that time didn’t just cost the Lakers a game they were losing by as many as 46 points. It may cost them everything that came before it as well.
That wave of momentum in March? Gone.
That 16-2 stretch in their last 18 games, climbing from play-in purgatory to third place now feels like a mirage.
Their once-assumed home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs? Suddenly unstable.
The Lakers entered the night in sole possession of third, holding tiebreakers, controlling their destiny. Stay the course, and you’re hosting a first-round series against a manageable opponent.
But without Doncic? That floor collapses.
Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. All in play now. And with it, a potential first-round date with the Denver Nuggets — the worst possible matchup — and no home court to soften the blow.
And the ripples don’t stop there.
The MVP race? It’s over now.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was already the frontrunner, but Doncic had surged — from 100-1 odds to 20-1 in a week, closing ground with five games left, including another head-to-head against OKC. A strong finish, and the conversation changes entirely.
But now? It’s finished.
Even worse for Doncic? The math is cruel now based on an atrocious NBA rule.
Doncic will undergo an MRI on Friday that will determine the severity of the hamstring injury, and with it just how dire the Lakers future looks.
A Grade 1 strain is 1-3 weeks. A Grade 2 strain is 3-6 weeks. A Grade 3 strain is unimaginable. Season over.
Regardless of the outcome, Doncic is done for the remainder of the regular season.
He ends it with 64 total games played. One short of the league’s 65-game threshold to be eligible for major postseason awards like MVP, All-NBA, and All-Defensive teams.
For Doncic, that means no chance at MVP. No All-NBA First Team. No hardware. And more importantly, no financial escalators tied to those honors.
All of that hinged on 99 seconds.
And here’s the part that lingers, like a line you wish you could rewrite as you type it.
Two nights earlier, after beating Cleveland, Doncic was asked if he’d prefer to fast-forward to the postseason and skip the final stretch because everything was clicking for the Lakers. He was in the best scoring flow of his illustrious career, and the team did not need to risk injuries with six games left.
“No,” he said matter of factly. “We need some rest. We need to rest after the season, so I don’t want them to start now.”
The irony cuts clean.
Because now, rest is coming. Whether the Lakers can afford it or not.
Another important question to ask, is even if Doncic does return for the playoffs in exactly two weeks, what version of him will we see?
A compromised engine in a playoff race demands perfection. To play at the highest level it involves sprinting, cutting, stopping, absorbing contact. One misstep and Doncic reaggravates the injury. There’s no margin left.
Which brings us back to the beginning.
Ninety-nine seconds.
That’s all it took.
Not to lose a game that’s outcome was already decided.
But to potentially lose a once-in-a-generation player because of it, that now puts the entire season waiting on the results of an MRI. That verdict will echo far louder than anything that happened on the scoreboard in OKC.
Ninety-nine seconds.
It all started so well, but the Nats dreams of winning the home opener collapsed quickly, as the Dodgers lineup showed why they are elite. The Nats were up 3-0 after two innings thanks to a CJ Abrams homer, but the Dodgers turned that into an 11-4 deficit in what felt like a blink of an eye. While the Nats have competed with the Cubs and Phillies, the Dodgers showed them levels today.
In this game, one thing stuck out like a sore thumb, and it was the performance of starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. He re-wrote Nationals history today, but not in a good way. The veteran right hander allowed 11 earned runs, the most in team history. Both of Mikolas’ starts with the Nats have been shaky at best, and he has not given the team a chance to win.
The craziest part is how fast things got out of control. Through the first two innings, Mikolas was cruising, getting the first six Dodgers hitters out. However, when you don’t have elite stuff, things can get ugly if you make mistakes. That is exactly what happened for Mikolas.
Blake Butera was in awe of the Dodgers lineup, saying Mikolas “had to be almost perfect against these guys”. He was perfect in the first two innings, but when he stopped being perfect, disaster struck. From the third inning on, it felt like the Dodgers were taking batting practice. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages all took Mikolas deep.
He was facing a tough lineup, but it just feels like Mikolas is a guy at the end of the line. The veteran will not be going anywhere, at least for now. Butera said they will watch the video, then Mikolas and the staff will work on how to make adjustments. It would feel a bit unfair to only give Mikolas two starts, but he is going to have to put together some competitive outings, and fast.
Between the third and fifth inning, the Dodgers scored 11 runs. This avalanche just drowned the Nats, even though their offense was solid today. Later in the game, Kyle Tucker hit the Dodgers fifth home run. It was his first one with the club, and it was the cherry on top for the defending champs.
While the Mikolas disaster will rightfully take up the headlines, the Nats offense looked promising once again. Everyone in the lineup actually got a hit. You do not see that often in a game you lose by 7. I guess that just shows the might of the Dodgers lineup.
One guy I want to highlight is the man who got the party started and sent Nats fans into a frenzy in the first. That would be CJ Abrams, who hit his second home run in as many games. Both of his homers were quite similar. He has a unique ability to pull outside pitches for homers. That is what he did for both of his three run shots in the last couple games.
Hot starts are nothing new for Abrams. He has had tremendous first half numbers each of the last two seasons before tailing off at the end. For his part, Blake Butera does not really think Abrams is off to a hot start. He said, “I am not really sure I would call this a hot start, this is just CJ”.
He acknowledged that Abrams does need to put a full season together, but is confident that will happen. Butera talked about how if CJ can stick to his process, take things day to day and not get too wrapped up in small samples one way or the other, the consistency will come.
I am pretty bullish on Abrams keeping things up. With the new coaching staff and technology, he will have more tools to lean on when he inevitably goes through a rough stretch. The big thing for Abrams is preventing those rough weeks from turning into rough months.
Another hitter that has impressed me, really since Spring Training is Brady House. He looks like a completely different hitter this season. The confidence looks way higher and he is much more in control of his at bats.
House taking two walks today felt really notable. He already has four walks in seven games. Last season, he only had 8 walks in 73 games. This is not a fluke, House just looks way more comfortable.
House has a history of starting slow at a new level before solving it. We saw that in Triple-A, where he really struggled in 2024, before mashing his way to a big league call up in 2025. Now, it looks like he is figuring things out at the MLB level. Big league pitchers will adjust back, so he will have to be constantly evolving. However, House feels like he has found his footing in the box.
Obviously, today was a very discouraging home opener, but you could still find some silver linings. Jake Irvin will take the mound tomorrow, and hopefully his new look arsenal will play against the Dodgers. He was impressive in his first start of the season, but the homer prone righty is going up against an unforgiving Dodgers lineup.
Hopefully, the Dodgers got all the runs out of their system today and the Nats can bounce back these next two games. It was not the result anyone wanted, but it was nice to be back at Nationals Park and covering the home opener for the first time in the press booth.
The Golden State Warriors are reportedly getting back their superstar this weekend with Stephen Curry set to return Sunday for their game against the Houston Rockets.
Curry is expected to be cleared to play, according to ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, after missing more than two months – 27 consecutive games – due to a persistent knee injury.
Curry has averaged 27.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 39 games played this season, while shooting 46.8% from the field, 39.1% on 3-pointers and 93.1% on free throws.
The Warriors have posted a 9-18 record in those 27 games without Curry, including back-to-back home losses against the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers on April 1 and 2, respectively.
Prior to the Warriors' April 2 game against Cleveland, the team had a scrimmage which Curry participated in. Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters before the Warriors-Cavaliers game that Curry looked liked himself during the action.
"Everything went well. Yeah, he looked good," Kerr told reporters. "He’s pretty good. He looks like Steph Curry."
The Warriors have suffered a number of injuries in the 2025-26 season. So it's no question that getting their superstar and leader back would be huge, not just for the gameplay on court, but to the team morale, as well, Kerr said.
"Yeah, I mean he brings hope to a tough situation," Kerr told reporters. "I thought [Spurs'] game, we were never really in the game, but the guys fought, they competed, they stayed with it until the end. The vibe was good. When Steph’s around, the vibe tends to be better. It’s definitely better right now so hopefully we’ll have another good effort tonight and he’ll be on the sidelines cheering. We’ll see how it goes the next couple of days but we’re obviously dying to get him back.”
Curry's return in just in time to get back into basketball shape for the post season.
The Warriors are set to play in the NBA Play-In Tournament, as the won't be able to catch the Western Conference's No. 6 seed before the regular season ends. The Warriors (36-41) are currently the No. 10 seed in the West and have five games remaining before the postseason begins Tuesday, April 14.
Atop them, by three games, are the Los Angeles Clippers (39-38) at the No. 9-slot. The Portland Trail Blazers are 40-38, a half game above the Clippers at No. 8.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steph Curry injury update: Warriors star expected to return vs Rockets
DALLAS — Lakers star Luka Doncic will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season because of Grade 2 left hamstring injury he suffered during Thursday’s road loss to the Thunder, the team announced on Friday after Doncic received an MRI.
Even though the Lakers didn’t provide an official timeline for when Doncic is expected to return to the court or be reevaluated, he will also likely miss the start of the playoffs, which start on April 18.
Grade 2 hamstring strains typically come with a recovery timeline of 3-6 weeks. InStreetClothes, which is an NBA injury database ran by certified athletic trainer Jeff Stotts, stated that the average time lost for type of injury Doncic suffered is about 35 days.
The Lakers, who are 50-27 and at third place in the Western Conference standings, already clinched a playoff spot and will bypass the play-in tournament (April 14-17) for the second straight season.
Three weeks from when Doncic suffered the hamstring injury is April 23, which would be around Games 3 or 4 of the Lakers’ first-round playoff matchup.
A timeline closer to 35 days, let alone six weeks, would likely take Doncic out of the Lakers’ entire first-round playoff series, even if it lasted seven games.
Doncic left during the third quarter of the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Thunder after suffering the hamstring injury drive attempt against Thunder wing Jalen Williams.
He was hobbling and limping to stay off his left leg before laying down underneath the basket by the Thunders’ bench, with coach JJ Redick calling timeout to sub Doncic out of the game.
“At this point, at this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” LeBron James said after Thursday’s game. “Anybody on our team, but when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury.”
Doncic was on the injury report because of left hamstring soreness before the March 27 home win over the Nets, but played after being listed as questionable, scoring 41 points in 39 minutes to lead the Lakers to a victory.
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Lakers say Luka Dončić has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out for the remainder of the regular season.
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) April 3, 2026
He sat out of Monday’s win over the Wizards, serving his one-game suspension because of an accumulation of technical fouls after picking up his 16th of the season against the Nets, before having 42 points in Tuesday’s home win over the Cavaliers.
Doncic sat out of the Lakers’ last four games leading into the All-Star break because of a left hamstring strain.
He appeared to injure the left hamstring in the first half but tried to play through.
Doncic was seen grabbing at his hamstring after making a layup late in the first quarter, and again late in the second quarter after driving and passing to Luke Kennard.
“We checked him out,” Redick said on Thursday. “He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”
Doncic walked off the court under his own power before going back to the locker room.
“You wish for the best,” Austin Reaves said on Thursday. “Obviously, you don’t want to see anybody get hurt. But you hold on to some faith for the best news possible. I’ve gotten to know him the last year and a half. He’s a competitor, so he’ll do all he can do to put himself in a position to come back when he can.”
UPDATE: Tonight’s game has been postponed due to expected inclement weather. The game will be made up tomorrow, when the Royals and Brewers will play a double header with games at 1:10 and 6:10. Good news for those without Apple TV access; both games tomorrow will be on Brewers TV.
The Milwaukee Brewers, coming off a 5-1 homestand to kick off the season, take their show on the road for the first time tonight when they take on the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. (Check out Harrison’s series preview here.) Chad Patrick is scheduled to pitch for the Brewers, while Luinder Avila will make his first career start after debuting with 13 (effective) relief outings down the stretch last seasonAv. There is weather in the area, though, so keep an eye out for delays.
Milwaukee swept the White Sox in their first series of the season and then took two of three from the Rays, and there was no shortage of dramatics along the way. Kansas City opened the season by losing two of three in Atlanta, but took two in a three-game series with the Twins to open their home schedule.
Patrick is coming off a start in which his final line wasn’t bad, but in which he didn’t seem to have his best stuff. He allowed just one run in 4 1/3 innings, but the White Sox made some hard, tough-luck contact toward the end of the outing. Still, he walked only one batter compared to four strikeouts, and his pitch count (74 in 4 1/3 innings) wasn’t disastrous.
Avila, a righty, counts as a rookie, though, as mentioned, he made 13 appearances and threw 14 effective innings (1.29 ERA, 2.14 FIP) last season, all but one in September. Avila isn’t a complete non-prospect (he ranked 19th on MLB Pipeline’s Royals list going into 2025 and 9th in 2026), but he’s never been a top 100 prospect. Avila does through pretty hard (he features a four-seam fastball and a sinker which sit at about 96 mph) but intriguingly he threw his curveball more than any other pitch last season, a whopping 43% of the time. We’ll see if that persists into this season, when he’ll presumably take a slightly different approach as a starter. He has struggled with control in the minors, and even when he was so good at the end of last season, he walked almost four batters per nine innings. Avila also made two scoreless appearances totaling four innings for the champions from Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic this spring, though he walked as many guys as he struck out and was perhaps fortunate to get through unscathed.
The Brewers’ lineup is, unsurprisingly, packed with lefties (their clearly stronger side, with Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn out) against the right-handed Avila. Of note, David Hamilton is getting the start at shortstop, while Luis Rengifo slides into the starting lineup at third base. Joey Ortiz will start the game on the bench tonight. One right-handed surprise, though, is Brandon Lockridge in left-field, who gets a start versus the right-hander over the switch-hitter, Blake Perkins.
An old friend is in the Kansas City lineup tonight; Isaac Collins, who has warmed up a bit after a tough start, is in left field for the Royals. The main attraction, of course, is superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., batting second, who might be almost as good as Brice Turang.
There’s also Brewers news that doesn’t directly involve the major-league team: Cooper Pratt’s extension has been finalized, and he’s been added to the 40-man roster (and optioned to Triple-A Nashville, where he played last weekend). Steward Berroa has been designated for assignment to open that roster spot.
Tonight’s game, scheduled for 6:45 (but again, watch the weather), is exclusively on Apple TV. If you’re not an Apple TV subscriber, the game will, as usual, be on the Brewers Radio Network.
Christian Scott’s first start of the season at Triple-A Syracuse did not go as planned, as the Mets’ right-hander was roughed up for seven runs in 3.1 innings.
The 26-year-old, who is coming off Tommy John surgery that cost him nearly two years of baseball, surrendered those seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and one hit batter before being pulled in the fourth after throwing 65 pitches.
On the positive side of things, Scott tallied five strikeouts and was around the zone a lot, throwing 46 strikes. He posted a 37 percent called-strike plus whiff rate and his fastball velocity stayed rather consistent from inning to inning, averaging 95.7 mph, which is up 1.5 mph.
However, he allowed a lot of really solid contact, with the visiting Toledo Mud Hens cracking five balls with an exit velocity over 102 mph.
The first inning was the lone inning the righty didn’t allow a hard-hit ball, but he was stung for a run due to a bit of tough luck when Max Clark’s bloop down the left-field line just stayed fair and MJ Melendez’s errant throw to second base allowed Clark – who wasn’t even attempting to advance – to reach third on a two-base error. On the next pitch, Scott was called for a balk by the home plate umpire, apparently after not coming to a full set, plating the run.
The righty rebounded with two strikeouts to end the frame, getting Trei Cruz looking at a 98 mph heater up in the zone and Jace Jung swinging through an up-and-away slider.
After Melendez atoned for his mistake with a solo shot in the home half of the first, Scott gave the runs right back, surrendering an opposite-field solo homer to right by Eduardo Valencia (103.5 mph off the bat) on a slider and Gage Workman pulling a shot to right-center (109.3 mph) on a down-and-in slider.
Scott then threw six-straight fastballs to get ex-Met Tomas Nido and Ben Malgeri swinging after the homers as he looked to settle back into things.
However, three straight singles started the third, scoring a fourth run off Scott. But that was all, as he got Jung swinging on an offspeed pitch and Valencia to line into a double-play to second on a sharply hit ball (102.7 mph) to end the frame.
After getting a flyout to start the fourth, the wheels came off. Nido got a measure of revenge, lacing a double (107.1 mph) to left on a first-pitch middle-middle fastball. Scott left another fastball middle-middle, and Malgeri got his revenge, rocketing it to the right-center gap for a double (109.1 mph).
After hitting a batter and a mound visit, Scott left another fastball in the middle of the plate, and Wenceel Perez drove it over Melendez's head for an RBI double, and that ended the right-hander’s afternoon.
The NHL regular season is slowly moving toward the finish line, and there are still some big moves by teams both inside and out of the playoff race.
This week on The Hockey Show, co-hosts Roy Bellamy and David Dwork started things off by discussing the major changes made by the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Vegas fired Head Coach Bruce Cassidy, who won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023, and replaced him with John Tortorella with just eight games remaining until the playoffs.
Toronto, meanwhile, fired General Manager Brad Treliving, furthering a frustrating run of futility for a franchise that had made the playoffs nine straight years.
In addition to those topics, the boys also chatted about the Seattle Kraken’s attempt at making the playoffs.
To help dive into all things Kraken, and the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent, Roy and Dave welcomed Alison Lukan to the show.
This week’s wins and fails of the week included a third goal fight in as many months, a Goal of the Year candidate from Matthew Tkachuk, a rough night for the other Tkachuk brother and a costly overreaction to a big hit.
You can check out this week’s full show and interview in the videos below:
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A beautifully crafted half-century by skipper Shreyas Iyer took Punjab Kings to a second successive victory, by five wickets against Chennai Super Kings, and to the top of the Indian Premier League table on Friday.
On the day it was announced that Ozzie Guillén would be honored with a number retirement ceremony in August, the White Sox responded by grinding out a 5-4 win in 10 innings.
In the 10th, the White Sox lost the lead for the first time in the game after a careless error — then rallied in the bottom half by forcing Toronto in a careless error themselves. Newcomers Derek Hill and Tristan Peters (who both faced key setbacks earlier in the game) were the key to the win, perhaps truly signalling a real difference in the 2026 team.
The pilot of 2005’s famed “grinders” who went wire-to-wire as division leaders and ran off 11 wins in 12 games to capture the title would have been proud. Right after the live announcement after the top of the third inning, the White Sox rallied to take a 3-1 lead over Toronto, buoyed by a double-steal of second and third.
With one out, Miguel Vargas walked and Colson Montgomery singled softly to third base, before triggering the double steal, one that caught Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto on his heels for a pair of easy swipes. From there, Austin Hays turned a full-count inside fastball burning at 98 mph for the lead safety:
And just for extra measure, Chase Meidroth saw Okamoto laying back and dropped a deliciously perfect bunt single in the fourth.
But just like the 2005 White Sox, whose supposed grindiness belied immaculate pitching from 1-12, today’s story was the buff arms on the Chicago side. Reliever Grant Taylor got the start as opener, and threw nine pitches, all strikes. He worked a fast and fearsome first frame.
Taylor gave way to bulk pitcher Sean Burke, and aside from an initial hiccup in the second that saw back-to-back doubles tie the game, 1-1, the righthander carried on what Taylor began. Burke was sharp, aggressive, and efficient enough to take the game through the seventh. Those six innings of four-hit, one-run, seven-K ball represented the longest White Sox outing of the season.
In the other dugout, it was veteran and former White Sox Dylan Cease who seemed to be pitching through some nerves and fighting with his focus and command. His error covering first base on a grounder to Vlad Guerrero Jr. allowed Meidroth to scamper home with the first White Sox run. Always durable but not always efficient, Cease got the collar after 93 pitches with one out in the fourth, and was in line for the loss.
Why just in line for the loss? Well, as is its wont, the White Sox bullpen caved. Two batters after Burke left the game, Andrés Giménez clobbered a first-pitch fastball out to right, and just like that the score was knotted at three.
But let’s not drop this at Leasure’s spikes only; the White Sox shut down their offense just three innings once again, striking out eight times (12 total in the game) and stumbling on the basepaths (Peters was picked off of second base in the sixth inning, and the eighth ended on a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out of Hill).
With the game still tied heading into the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox hoped to improve on their mere three sayonara wins all year in 2025, but despite getting leadoff man Edgar Quero on with a single (four hard hits for Edgar on the day, two dropping for hits) and sacrificing pinch-runner Lenyn Sosa to second, they fell short.
In the 10th, Toronto took its first lead of the game after Vargas pulled Munetaka Murakami off of the bag for an error that allowed Manfred Man David Schneider to score.
A productive out pushed Manfred Man Vargas to third to start the White Sox 10th, and thus commenced a crazy sequence to finish the game. After Austin Hays caught a break on a third strike he did not check on but got a generous call from the first-base ump, catcher Alejandro Kirk then saved the lead with an incredible stop on a wild split-fingered pitch. On the very next toss, Hays fouled the ball off and sent Kirk from the game with an injured thumb.
Hays ended up striking out, but Hill stepped right out with a gutsy bunt, challenging new catcher Tyler Heineman and succeeding, as Heineman threw the ball past first base and allowing Vargas to tie the game.
Two pitches later, Peters stroked a single to right for the game-winner.
“There’s a ton of fight here,” Peters said postgame, after being doused by ice water in 50° weather. “We’re just going to move forward on every game.”
Observations after Sixers find another gear in 2nd half to top Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers roared into a higher gear in the second half to surge past the Timberwolves and earn a 115-103 win Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The win ensured the Sixers stayed in sixth place (and out of the play-in tournament places) in the Eastern Conference standings. At the final buzzer, the seventh-seeded Raptors held an 18-point halftime lead over the Grizzlies. Toronto would join the Sixers at 43-34 with a victory.
Paul George’s 23 points led the Sixers. Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 21 apiece.
Joel Embiid had 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Bones Hyland and Julius Randle each posted 21 points for the T-Wolves, who fell to 46-31.
The Sixers will conclude their back-to-back by hosting the Pistons on Saturday night. Here are observations their win over Minnesota:
VJ Edgecombe scored the game’s first basket with a slick fadeaway jumper. George put the Sixers up 5-1 when he swished a three-pointer after Dominick Barlow grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out.
Barlow had an excellent, typically scrappy opening stint that included three offensive boards, four defensive rebounds, five points on 2-for-3 shooting and sturdy defensive work against Julius Randle. Not that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse needs it, but Barlow provided further evidence Friday that he’s a viable starting option in the postseason.
Embiid was back in the Sixers’ starting lineup after missing the team’s victory Wednesday over the Wizards with an illness. He didn’t look anywhere near his peak level at the start of the game.
The Sixers’ star big man was slow to run up the floor and join the offense a couple of times in the first quarter. He began 0 for 4 from the floor, had a three-point attempt blocked by Naz Reid and turned the ball over on a casual first-quarter outlet pass.
The Timberwolves started 4 for 26 from the field and 1 for 13 from three-point range.
Minnesota only mustered 17 points in the first quarter … and trailed by just two entering the second. Not the finest quarter for either offense.
Hyland gave the T-Wolves a serious spark in the second quarter.
A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Hyland had gleeful reactions to just about every positive play. He made three long-range jumpers in the second quarter, helped Minnesota build a lead as high as nine points, and posted a team-high 14 in the first half. Hyland’s outing brought back memories of his 21-point performance as a rookie in the Nuggets’ March 2022 win over the Sixers.
Meanwhile, Embiid shot 1 for 10 from the floor in the first half and the Sixers went 2 for 13 beyond the arc.
George was by far the most productive Sixer in the first half.
He did much of his damage before halftime as an aggressive driver. George reached double-digit free throw attempts early in the third quarter. He took a season-high 10 foul shots in the game and made eight.
Embiid hit a mid-range shot on his first attempt of the second half. The Sixers gained momentum during a stretch in which T-Wolves superstar Anthony Edwards missed a wide-open dunk. Embiid’s jumper cut the Sixers’ deficit to one point and a fast-break Edgecombe jam pushed the team into the lead.
Fatigue was surely a factor on the second night of a back-to-back for the Timberwolves, who had an eight-man rotation until Terrence Shannon Jr. subbed in late in the third quarter.
Nurse’s fourth man off the bench was quite surprising.
Andre Drummond subbed in with 2:04 to go in the third quarter and played next to Embiid. The Drummond-Embiid frontcourt minutes went extremely well for the Sixers. Two Quentin Grimes fast-break layups gave the Sixers an 83-71 lead. Drummond didn’t drain threes or make tons of highlight plays, but he was solid on both ends of the floor. The veteran big man ended up with four points and six rebounds in nine minutes.
Nurse had hinted pregame at still having a few rotation ideas he wanted to explore before the postseason. Perhaps Drummond-Embiid minutes were one of them.
The Sixers expanded their lead early in the fourth quarter with Embiid and Maxey on the bench. George drilled two threes to extend their advantage to 99-82.
The Maxey-Embiid duo subbed back in with a little under five minutes left and the Sixers holding a 14-point lead. Minnesota hung around, but the Sixers ultimately secured a winning start to their back-to-back without much late-game drama. Oubre canned a pair of threes down the stretch to ice the win.
Salah critical of head coach in December after being left out
Slot: ‘The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself’
Arne Slot has no regrets over his treatment of Mohamed Salah and claimed it was entirely the forward’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Liverpool head coach declined to divulge why or when Salah decided to leave the club as he faced the media on Friday for the first time since the Egypt international’s announcement. Slot believes it should be left to Salah to explain the reasons for exiting 12 months before his contract is due to expire.
Continue reading...Manchester City midfielder can leave if ‘not happy’
‘My wish is that Rodri could stay as long as possible’
Pep Guardiola will not stand in Rodri’s way if the midfielder wishes to leave Manchester City for Real Madrid, though the manager believes he will stay at the club beyond this summer.
During the international break Rodri, whose contract expires in June 2027, was asked about reports that Real’s president, Florentino Pérez, wished to sign him. When answering, the 29-year-old referenced how being a former Atlético Madrid player would be no obstacle.
Continue reading...
Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:What are your general thoughts about the team as currently constructed?Good enough as is? Need a big splash at the deadline? Few tweaks to get the job done? Not good enough?
We’ll give the obvious caveat that things are early, injuries can and will pop up at some point, and that can affect how the trade deadline looks for the Yankees down the line. However, out of the gate it looks like the Yankees are getting vindicated in their choice to run it back with largely the same roster as last year. Things aren’t perfect — I’m not expecting much from Ryan McMahon’s bat, for instance, but starting off ice cold isn’t going to do him any favors — and so minor tweaks looks like the soundest option of the bunch, but the pieces are there to make a charge at the best record in the AL again. The rotation firing on all cylinders right off the bat is a massively encouraging sign, as we all know the cavalry is coming to reinforce their ranks over the next month or so and if the likes of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt start off close to form they’ll have one of the most dominant pitching staffs we’ve seen in a minute.
The question of how they actually improve the roster when it comes time to scan the market in the summer is a curious one, and might prove to be one of the more challenging midseason revamps Brian Cashman has had to navigate with this core. There’s a lot of money locked down to the contracts and starters that they have, so on top of getting any additions they’d have to weigh what they do with the players getting replaced. The cost of game-changing deadline acquisitions is always pricy, and the Yankees have rarely waded in those waters unless it was for a need rather than a want, but even dealing with more of the mid-tier pickups like they tend to browse through will still come at a cost if they’re shipping off contracts in exchange/in separate deals. For now, it’s just speculation, but I could see this being a quieter July much like the winter was unless something drastically changes.
OLDY MOLDY asks:Will MLB start seeing the tanking problems like the NBA?
The sport isn’t set up the same way to enable tanking, so no. There’s the rare uber prospect that jumps straight through the minor leagues and reaches the majors within a year or so, but you’re just as likely to see that happen from the 30th overall pick as you are the 3rd. Most prospects instead follow the similar pattern of needing multiple years of seasoning down on the farm before ever making an impact with their big league club, and crucially the success of a franchise is dependent on how well they hit across a draft class as a whole rather than who’s available with their first-round pick. Sure, the earlier picks have a clearer road to the majors overall, but more than any other sport baseball has rosters filled with players picked late in the draft — and that’s without even touching the separate system they have for international prospects that is unique to them. Add onto that the multiple roads to professional baseball allowing players to make the jump straight from high school ball or wait out almost all of their college years provides a stark difference in how classes can differ — one year can skew heavily towards prep players that showcase high ceilings but their floors have sunk into the basement, while others can provide consistency with a depth of college stars. Which way organizations lean can allow them to drastically outdraft their rivals regardless of where they sit on the draft boards, and the top teams in MLB are certainly not scared to sacrifice draft positioning to secure top-tier talent in free agency.
MSP Giant asks: It is a reasonable guess that Grisham is not the Yankees CF next year. IMHO he will find it hard to duplicate 2025 numbers again. I could be wrong, but… Riddle me this. That being the case, if Spencer has a good season, cuts down on his SOs and still hits well and Domínguez has a solid season. Does acceptably well from both sides of the plate and improves his D…. Who joins Judge in the starting OF next year?
In a world where both of these things align simultaneously, the Yankees would have a difficult choice on their hands, but I think they’d ultimately side with the younger player in Domínguez. Yes, the clock has already started on his service time, but a near-two year gap feels significant and Domínguez has already shown them something in the majors while Jones would still be an unknown at this level. However, if you asked which one of them feels more likely to find that adaptation, I’d lean towards Jones figuring out the hole in his swing faster than Domínguez manages to fix whatever has gone wrong with him in the outfield. Add onto that Domínguez’s secondary issue with his lefty-right splits (which, to his credit, looked better in spring than they did last year) and there’s less of an impediment for Jones to cross. Still, it won’t be as easy as hand-waving the strikeouts away — he swings and misses a lot, and that would be exposed just as much as Domínguez’s defense was in the majors.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the San Antonio Spurs waltzed into Los Angeles and beat a potential first-round playoff opponent. The Spurs beat the Clippers 118-99 without their star player, Victor Wembanyama.
Instead, the team was led by its trio of guards. De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper have been playing great basketball with and without Wembanyama this season. The trio is one of the big reasons the team is -170 to make the Western Conference Finals on FanDuel. They’ll headline our player grades for the win over the Clippers.
As a quick reminder, these grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “B” grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.
33 minutes, 20 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, 4 fouls, 8-for-15 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, +5
Castle went head-to-head with Kawhi Leonard and won. Leonard finished with more points, 24 of them, but Castle won the game and looked comfortable in the matchup. Leonard scored more when Castle wasn’t guarding him, and Castle was still able to score efficiently against one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders. He knocked down threes and hit mid-range jumpers. When those shots are falling, he becomes really hard to guard.
The sophomore guard had a few bad turnovers as the Clippers made a run, but other than that, he was a real leader in the Spurs’ win.
Grade: A-
29 minutes, 22 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 9-for-13 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, +24
Fox always seems to turn it on when Wembanyama misses a game. He’s more assertive with the ball in his hands and takes more chances shooting around the rim. Not only did Fox lead the team in scoring, but he was a catalyst on the defensive end, getting into the opposing ball-handlers’ space and racking up 2 steals. One was a clutch interception as the Clippers threatened to cut the lead to single digits.
Fox is a stabilizing force and a leader for the team. Thursday night was an example of how his impact could be felt in a playoff series.
Grade: A
25 minutes, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 4 fouls, 8-for-12 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, +11
Harper was locked in after struggling a bit against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. As the Clippers started to come back in the third quarter, Harper shut things down with some emphatic offensive plays. He also hit one of the craziest shots of the season before halftime, catching the ball with just a second left and heaving a half-court shot that swished in.
This was one of those games where it felt like Harper could get to the rim whenever he wanted to. The Clippers were too small on the perimeter to handle him. He was a big reason the Spurs outscored Los Angeles 66-56 in the paint.
Grade: A-
28 minutes, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 5-for-13 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, +17
One thing that will eventually separate Champagnie from other 3&D wings in the NBA is his ability to attack a closeout. Champagnie did most of his damage inside the arc on Thursday. He struggled to hit threes, but got to the rim and scored fairly efficiently. He continues to be one of the best rebounders on the team and had an effective defensive game against LA.
Grade: B
25 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 foul, 2-for-3 shooting, +14
Was that Luke Kornet or baby Jokic out there on Thursday? Kornet was about halfway to a triple-double as he filled in for Wembanyama. He logged 5 assists and had some savvy plays on the offensive glass. It’s so jarring to see even an above-average rim protector replace Wembanyama. You expect every shot to be impacted, but it’s just not the reality for big men who aren’t a once-in-a-generation defender. Still, Kornet had a solid defensive game protecting the paint.
Grade: B
29 minutes, 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 5-for-12 shooting, 3-for-8 threes, +4
Devin Vassell double-double alert! With rebounds, no less! Vassell looked much more comfortable offensively, knocking down three triples. He grabbed two offensive rebounds as the Spurs pounded the Clippers on the glass 48-38.
Grade: B+
21 minutes, 3 points, 2 assists, 1 block, 1-for-2 shooting, 1-for-1 threes, +11
Barnes was quiet but effective on Thursday. The team didn’t struggle when he was on the floor, but he didn’t make a big impact either. You love to see him knock down a three-pointer. The pressure is now on Barnes, though. He is the eighth Spurs player to average double-digits, and he now sits at 10 exactly. We’ll need to see some double-digit performances in the next five games if San Antonio wants to break the record.
Grade: C+
27 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 6-for-11 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, +18
KJ also got the Kawhi assignment on Thursday. He did a good job being physical with the Clippers wing, but wasn’t necessarily the Kawhi stopper. Offensively, he was great at getting to the rim and scoring inside. In other words, it was a typical performance from Johnson.
Grade: B
10 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, -7
The small-ball center lineup with Bryant was not as effective as it was against Golden State. He made some silly mistakes, including a bad turnover in the first quarter. He did have a great put-back after streaking to the basket on a missed shot.
Grade: C
3 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 0-for-1 shooting, +/- 0
Olynyk got to play a bit in garbage time. He grabbed a few boards and missed a deep shot. Olynyk also did the classic move of holding the ball until the buzzer sounded, and then taking a shot to not rub it in the other team’s face. He missed that shot, too.
Grade: Incomplete
3 minutes, 2 points, 1 turnover, 1-for-1 shooting, +/- 0
It was nice to see Ingram get rewarded for his time in the G League. The sophomore has been crushing it in Austin. He had a nice driving layup in garbage time. Maybe we’ll see more of Ingram on next year’s team.
Grade: Incomplete
3 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 foul, +/- 0
The most Biyombo stat line of all time: 1 rebound, 1 foul. Enough said.
Grade: Incomplete
4 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1-for-2 shooting, -2
I love McLaughlin. He’s such a steady fourth guard. He hit a nice-looking floater but couldn’t convert on his second in garbage time.
Grade: Incomplete
Monday’s Inactives: Victor Wembanyama, David Jones-Garcia, Emanuel Miller