Mar 2, 2026; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) hits a solo home run against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
The Dodgers are now 2-0 in the month of March this spring, as they connected for four home runs to defeat the Colorado Rockies 7-5 on Monday.
Ryder Ryan made his first start of the spring, completing two innings of work on 35 pitches (23 for strikes) while allowing one hit and one earned run and picking up a strikeout. Paul Gervase, Edgardo Henriquez and Jordan Weems each tossed a scoreless inning in relief after Ryan’s departure.
Dalton Rushing began the scoring with a 450-foot no doubt home run to center field in the top of the second inning against Jimmy Herget, his second home run in as many games.
James Tibbs III outmatched Rushing’s long ball with a two-run home run that traveled 458 feet to deep center field in the top of the fourth inning against Welinton Herrera, also his second home run in as many games.
Colorado would tie the game at three in the bottom of the sixth inning with two consecutive home runs from Mickey Moniak and Kyle Karros against right-hander Carson Hobbs. The D0dgers would get both those runs back and retake the lead in the top of the eighth inning on a two-run shot from Elijah Hainline.
Joe Vetrano added another home run for the Dodgers in the top of the ninth to give them a three-run lead in the top of the ninth inning. Noah Miller drove home the final run of the game with an RBI single to plate Josue de Paula.
After Myles Caba loaded the bases with only one out, Antonio Knowles came in relief, allowing a pair of bases loaded walks to Zac Veen and Braxton Fulford to cut the lead to two. With the running run at first base, Knowles was able to get T.J. Rumfield to ground out to Hainline at second, ending the threat and the game.
The Dodgers are now averaging 6.73 runs per game (74 in 11 games) so far this spring, tied with the San Francisco Giants for the most among cactus league teams.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers look to make it three consecutive wins as they take on the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark on Tuesday (12:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki makes his second start of the spring against left-hander Joey Cantillo.
Matt Targett’s first-half double helped Middlesbrough return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham and further boost their hopes of promotion to the Premier League.
Third-place Millwall’s triumph against Preston at the weekend cut the gap to just the one point coming into the match, but Kim Hellberg’s side responded to restore their four-point advantage in second place. Birmingham lost just their second league game at St Andrew’s since May 2024, meaning their chances of finishing in the playoffs have slipped further away. They remain eight points off the top six.
MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid lost a second straight La Liga match when a stunning volley from Martín Satriano gave Getafe a shock 1-0 win at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Monday.
The result prevented the capital club from cutting the four-point gap to leader Barcelona.
Getafe had lost all eight of its previous league encounters with Real Madrid and early saves from goalkeeper David Soria kept it from falling behind.
Soria turned over a shot from Arda Güler midway through the first half, not long after frustrating Vinicius Junior when he was through on goal.
Madrid had more of the ball but lacked punch up front and it paid a price for its profligacy six minutes before halftime when Getafe took the lead.
A hopeful cross from the right was headed clear but it fell to the feet of Satriano, who volleyed into the roof of the net from 20 meters out.
It was the second goal in three games for the Uruguayan, who joined on loan from Lyon during the last transfer window.
Madrid continued to dominate possession in the second half and Antonio Rüdiger and substitute Rodrygo were among those who came close to grabbing an equalizer.
But it could not find a way past Getafe’s stuffy rearguard and an in-form Soria.
Madrid’s task became even harder when Franco Mastantuono was sent off for dissent in stoppage time and although the numbers were evened up in the last minute when Getafe’s Adrian Liso was also shown a red card it came too late to make any impact.
Getafe held on to secure a historic win, its first at the Santiago Bernabeu since 2008, and a vital three points in its bid to stay in La Liga.
“Coming here is always very difficult," Getafe defender Kiko Femenía told broadcaster DAZN. "We have to congratulate the team, we did a superb job at the back and we scored when had the chance. We might even have scored more on the counterattack.”
They jumped three league places into 11th and were eight points above the relegation zone.
We’re in the full swing of spring training now, and the few roster spots that the Yankees have up for grabs have some good competition going on. Their retooled bullpen has several names that could make the roster or see themselves outrighted to Triple-A Scranton to start the year, as guys like Brent Headrick and Osvaldo Bido try to make their mark. The infield also has some hopefuls looking to make an impression, with Oswaldo Cabrera trying to make it back to the roster after missing most of last season and finding deadline additions Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero ahead of him on the depth chart now.
They’re not headline-grabbing competitions, but they often end up playing a part in enough games down the line to matter — especially in a division as stacked as the AL East. If the difference between being division champs or scrapping for a Wild Card spot comes down to how the middle of your bullpen performs in the middle of June, for instance, you want to have enough weapons to survive the 162-game marathon and avoid nosediving like the Yankees have in recent years. So who is best suited to win spots on the Opening Day roster? Which prospects might impress enough to get a shot midseason? And where is the team’s depth most lacking? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of March 5th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
Mookie Betts, above during a workout at Camelback Ranch last month, played in his first spring training game Sunday. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Since his first full season in 2015, Mookie Betts had either been named an All-Star or received votes for most valuable player every year.
That held true until last year. In his sixth season with the Dodgers, Betts posted career lows in batting average (.258), on-base percentage (.326), and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.732) while playing 148 games at shortstop.
Betts, now 33, believes last year was an outlier and he can get back to his previous form.
“That’s what I expect,” Betts said after making his Cactus League debut Sunday. “I haven’t felt this way in a long time. So, the way I feel now, I’m healthy, my swing’s in a really good spot. My head’s in a really good spot. I haven’t had any bad days in the cage. I haven’t had any bad days [taking batting practice]. Usually by now, I would have taken a thousand swings, trying to fix stuff, trying to get game-ready, and now I’m just cruising. I’m just cruising and I’m ready to go.”
This spring, manager Dave Roberts offered an unequivocal vote of confidence.
“He will be in the MVP conversation this year,” Roberts said. “But again, I think, speaking for Mookie, his main goal is to help us win a championship. So, I think whatever falls out from there, I think that will happen.”
A stomach bug that caused him to lose a considerable amount of weight put Betts behind last spring, and he never quite caught up. Through his first 103 games, he batted .231 with a .302 on-base percentage and .657 OPS. Enduring the longest cold spell of his career, Betts was forced to retool.
“It’s really just going back to what I what I do best, and really just honing in on it,” Betts said. “Instead of trying to fix problems, I was more able to just hone in on what I do best. And kind of groove those patterns instead of trying to fix old habits.”
Betts says in a bizarre way, he enjoyed his season of soul searching.
“I learned a lot about myself,” Betts said. “I learned a lot about how I operate. I was able to get in the right headspace, and sustain the right headspace. And then once I was able to kind of get in the right headspace and stay there, I haven’t been searching, I haven’t been doing anything since I’ve been here outside of just working and preparing.”
Things started to click in late summer. Over his final 47 games, he batted .317 with a .376 on-base percentage and .892 OPS.
It wasn’t the stats that bothered Betts as much as his lack of production through the first four months.
“Once I was able to help the boys, I was fine," Betts said. But before that, I was really upset, not with the numbers per se, but not being able to help. Not doing my job, carrying my weight. Once I was able to do stuff, especially later on in the season, I was able to just take a step back and say, ‘You did pretty good.’"
Part of the plan for maximizing Betts’ abilities is minimizing his work in camp. Betts was the last healthy position player to appear in a spring game, starting Sunday after sitting for the first nine games. He was back in the lineup Monday, collecting his first hit with a single in three at-bats against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s intentional,” Roberts said last week. “It’s load management. I wanted Mookie to start a little bit later, as far as not getting into spring training ready to go and kind of use spring training to build up, given it’s six weeks.”
Gavin Stone suffers setback, Dodgers ‘pause’ his throwing
Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone delivers in the first inning a during a spring training game against the Guardians last Tuesday. (Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Six days after Gavin Stone made his Cactus League debut and threw a scoreless inning, Roberts said Stone suffered a setback and will pause throwing activities. Stone missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in October 2024.
“Stone threw the inning and then he had a bullpen the next day, and then his shoulder flared up and was sore,” Roberts said before Monday's game. “And so right now, we put him on ice, and trying to let the soreness dissipate. So, given everything that he’s gone through with the shoulder, we wanted to make sure that we kind of pushed pause, so I don’t know when he’s going to start throwing again, but I think it is a setback unfortunately.”
“He’s worked so hard to kind of get back to where he was pitching in a game," Roberts said. "We’re excited about that. He threw the baseball really well, and it was one inning, so it wasn’t too taxing. So, to come back in his 'pen and not feel good, that’s disappointing, and it’s not from lack of effort, but yeah, just disappointing.”
Roberts also confirmed right-hander Roki Sasaki would make his second Cactus League start Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians, with the expectation he would go three innings, and right-hander Tyler Glasnow would start Wednesday's game against Team Mexico in a World Baseball Classic tuneup.
Etc.
The Dodgers announced they were reassigning pitchers Patrick Copen, Luke Fox, Jerming Rosario, Adam Serwinowski, Nick Frasso and Jose Rodriguez, catchers Nelson Quiroz and Chuckie Robinson, infielders Keston Hiura and Matt Gorski and outfielder Chris Newell to minor league camp.
San Diego Padres hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
The 2025 San Diego Padres finished with a 90-72 record, driven by a pitching staff widely regarded as one of the best in the majors. The offense was another story.
Collectively, the team batting average was .252, as they scored 4.33 runs per game. A sharp decline from the season before, with 4.69 runs per game.
Changes occurred at the managerial position, out went Mike Shildt, and in came Craig Stammen. Shortly after his announcement, Stammen reached out to an old teammate, Steven Souza Jr., to become the Padres’ new hitting coach. He accepted the challenge of resurrecting the offense.
Souza Jr. offers a simple hitting philosophy
Souza Jr. has a simple hitting philosophy of controlling the strike zone. It is an approach that allows hitters to become more aggressive and capitalize on pitchers’ mistakes. Souza Jr. encourages his hitters to visualize their at-bat before stepping into the batter’s box. It helps them identify the holes in the opponent’s defensive alignment.
It removes the threat of the batter overthinking and swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. Now, they can relax at the plate, as their approach only changes with two strikes. All that needs to take place is putting the ball in play.
Often, the result is that the pitch travels to the gap for an extra-base hit or possibly a home run. The Friars had trouble putting the ball over the fence. They hit 152 home runs, which ranked 28th in the majors last season.
Souza Jr. believes his hitting philosophy will limit batting slumps throughout the season. To reach this goal, his focus is raising the lineup’s confidence in the batter’s box.
2025 Padres offense: A big disappointment
The Padres’ offense was too inconsistent last season, especially with runners in scoring position. They left an average of 3.55 runners in scoring position per game, which ranked near the bottom of the majors.
The highs and lows were too far apart between an optimal offense and a dreaded run-scoring drought. Yes, lineup stability was a challenge due to injuries sustained by key offensive contributors last season. Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts all missed significant time, and the run production suffered. Still, the Friars ranked 18th in team scoring with 702 runs, despite being seventh in team batting average.
They essentially have the same lineup that concluded the 2025 season. To boost production, Souza Jr. must improve their mindset when batting with runners in scoring position. He must take down their stress level that should generate more productive swings.
Improved offensive production must occur in 2026. While the process may have a slow start, this lineup is too talented not to turn things around.
Hopefully, the bats will come into their own this season.
The Kings are playing their first game since firing their old head coach, Jim Hiller. Tonight will be the first game for D.J Smith as the head coach, and while it is not his first time being a head coach, it is his first time being the head coach for the Kings, and they do not get the easiest first matchup as they host the Colorado Avalanche, who are 1st in the NHL.
Kings Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:
Artemi Panarin - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Alex Turcotte - Quinton Byfield - Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele - Kenny Connors - Corey Perry
Jeff Malott - Samuel Helenius - Taylor Ward
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Mikey Anderson - Cody Ceci
Jacob Moverare - Brian Dumoulin
Anton Forsberg
Erik Portillo
Avalanche Projected Lines
Here are the projected lines for the Avalanche tonight:
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Martin Necas
Artturi Lehkonen - Brock Nelson - Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton - Jack Drury - Victor Olofsson
Zakhar Bardakov - Parker Kelly - Gavin Brindley
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Josh Manson - Brent Burns
Brett Kulak - Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Line Changes and Injuries
The Colorado Avalanche are expected to use the same lineup as they did in the Chicago Blackhawks game. The Kings will be without Trevor Moore and Darcy Kuemper, who are both out due to illness. With those 2 players out, the Kings have called up Kenny Connors, who will make his NHL debut tonight, and Erik Portillo to back up Anton Forsberg.
Key Factors
The Kings are coming off a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames, which was the first win for Artemi Panarin as a member of the Kings. The Kings currently sit 3 points back of the final wildcard spot, and a win tonight would be huge in their playoff race.
Tonight's matchup is one of the toughest for the Kings, as the Avalanche have firepower on offence and defence, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe have been playing very well together; in their last 3 games, they have both scored 3 points, and this duo can be a big enough factor for the Kings to pull off the upset.
The goaltending matchup tonight looks like Forsberg vs. Blackwood. Forsberg is coming off his 2nd shutout of the season, where he made 29 saves. Blackwood is coming off a 14-save win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Overall, this game is going to be a tough one for the Kings, but with their new dynamic duo and strong defence, there is a good chance they can pull off the upset.
Now, he has suffered a “disappointing” setback that raises renewed questions about the Dodgers’ opening day rotation.
As manager Dave Roberts announced Monday morning, Stone’s surgically repaired shoulder “flared up” on him last week, after the 27-year-old made his long-awaited return from an injury that sidelined him for all of last year.
Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone delivers in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians, Feb. 24 in Phoenix. AP
In his Feb. 24 outing, Stone looked promising during a scoreless inning of work, striking out two batters in what was his first game action since his breakout rookie season in 2024. He came away encouraged by the quality of his stuff, too, hopeful he was finally past the extensive shoulder surgery that repaired his labrum, rotator cuff and shoulder capsule two years ago.
In the days after that outing, however, Stone threw a bullpen session that left his shoulder feeling sore. Thus, the Dodgers have “put him on ice” and shut him down from throwing for now, Roberts said. The team has not set an immediate timeline for when Stone could resume pitching activities. But Roberts indicated the development will likely rule the right-hander out for the opening day roster.
“Given everything he’s gone through with the shoulder, we wanted to make sure we push pause,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s gonna start throwing again. But it is a setback, unfortunately. With the shoulder soreness, we’re just trying to be thoughtful and mindful for Gavin. And right now, he’s trying to get everything to calm down.”
Before Monday’s development, Stone seemed to be in strong position for an opening day roster spot.
With Blake Snell still working back from his own shoulder problem, and Shohei Ohtani unlikely to be fully built up as a pitcher by the time the season begins, the Dodgers appeared to have at least one spot up for grabs that Stone was competing for.
Now, the process of filing it could be trickier.
Stone throws to the New York Mets in the third inning at Citi Field in Queens, May 28, 2024. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is ahead of schedule, and off to represent Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic. Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki are also ramping up in camp, and set to make their second starts of the spring the next two days.
How they round out the rest of it will now be a central question for the rest of this spring.
Emmet Sheehan figures to be a leading candidate, but is a bit behind schedule after dealing with a sickness at the start of camp, having yet to appear in a Cactus League game. River Ryan and Justin Wrobleski are in the mix as well –– though Ryan is still dialing in his command as he returns from Tommy John surgery.
“River is still trying to make his way back, find his way back,” Roberts said. “I was talking to him on the bench a couple days ago, where he said there’s a timing mechanism that he and the guys … in our (pitching development) department kind of figured out. So I want to see how that looks. But he’s still gotta pitch well. He hasn’t pitched a whole lot for us.”
Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski pitches during Game 7 of the 2025 World Series on Nov. 1, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. MLB Photos via Getty Images
One pitcher who isn’t a rotation candidate: Kyle Hurt.
Like Stone and Ryan, he is coming back from a lost season in 2025 that was spent recovering from Tommy John. And while he is “one of the guys that has stood out for me early in camp,” Roberts said, the Dodgers are viewing him as more of a multi-inning relief option than traditional starting pitcher.
Another name to watch could be 32-year-old left-hander Cole Irvin. He is a six-year MLB veteran (with a 4.54 ERA in 134 career outings) who signed a minor-league deal with the team this spring after pitching in South Korea’s KBO last season.
“We’re gonna look at the guys we have,” Roberts said. “We’ve got some good candidates for starters.”
Just, with Stone now hurt again, one less than they were hoping to.
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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Sung-Mun Song #24 of the San Diego Padres gets ready in the batter's box during the third inning of a spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 27, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As the third week of Spring Training gets underway, the San Diego Padres have continued to show promise in their Cactus League play. They have remained competitive in games they had no business being competitive in. As hard as it is to gauge the weight of spring performance, it has been exciting to watch.
Now that players’ roles have become slightly more concrete, it might be time to take a look at lineup projections for left-handed starters versus right-handers. How will the lineup math work when facing lefty Tarik Skubal on Opening Day in comparison to righty Jack Flaherty a few days later?
Against lefties
Xander Bogaerts SS
Jackson Merrill CF
Manny Machado 3B
Fernando Tatis Jr. RF
Miguel Andujar DH
Jake Cronenworth 2B
Ramón Laureano LF
Nick Castellanos 1B
Freddy Fermin C
Week one of Spring Training found San Diego with an interesting order for the Padres’ starting four. Manager Craig Stammen stated that it’s uncertain whether or not this will be a part of the Opening Day lineup but also argued for the logic behind the change.
This lineup utilizes newcomers Andujar and Castellanos for their strengths against left-handers, putting the latter at his new position of first base. Andujar would likely be taking the starting reps at DH most of the time, except to give one of the starting outfielders a day off.
The rest of the lineup is pretty straightforward, with it being balanced between lefty and righty bats, it could make for a markedly better year against left-handed pitchers.
Against righties
Xander Bogaerts SS
Jackson Merrill CF
Manny Machado 3B
Fernando Tatis Jr. RF
Gavin Sheets 1B
Ramón Laureano LF
Miguel Andujar DH
Jake Cronenworth 2B
Freddy Fermin C
Sticking with the top four from the last lineup (since that’s much less likely to change due to pitching), this supplants Castellanos at first base for Gavin Sheets. The 2025 breakout player for San Diego mashes against righties, and can play passable defense at the cold corner.
The rest of the lineup is likely about the same. The problem is the lack of left-handed bats in the lineup. There’s only three lefty bats (Merrill, Sheets, and Cronenworth) with the rest being right-handed batters.
It’s possible that it won’t affect too much as long as they’re spread throughout the lineup. But the lineup math could get difficult if you move one of them and then the Friars are struggling to solve for a streak of right-handed bats.
Who’s warming up the bench?
Luis Campusano C
Samad Taylor/Jose Miranda INF
Sung-Mun Song INF
Bryce Johnson/Alex Verdugo OF
These players are the ones likely on the bench no matter who’s on the mound. Apart from them, San Diego would probably have Sheets benched against lefties and Castellanos and Andujar versus righties.
Campusano is currently the favorite for the backup catcher role behind Fermin. It’s incredibly unlikely that he gets beat out for that role since he is out of options and needs to make the major-league roster or else clear waivers to be sent down to Triple-A.
Song has been battling back from a minor oblique injury that has slowed his emergence into MLB, but has still managed to log two hits across his first five games. He’s likely to fill a versatile utility role for the club, playing wherever is needed.
The fight for the last spots is now between Taylor and Miranda for the infield, and Johnson and newcomer Verdugo for the outfield. The former have been destroying baseballs so far in Cactus League play, hitting .462 and .412, respectively.
Johnson is the likely candidate for outfield depth, given his tenure and consistency with San Diego. That said, if Verdugo manages to turn it up in the next few weeks, he could make his way onto the big-league roster.
How the lineup math works out will be a matter of scrutiny on Stammen’s part, and it’s likely it won’t be figured out for the next few weeks. Whatever happens, the Friars have a great problem on their hands: too many good options.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
The Instagram post includes a reel of Young going through drills in Wizards gear and includes B-roll footage of Washington D.C. The caption of the post simply reads: “March 5th."
This comes as the Wizards remain well outside of the play-in picture, at 16-43 and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Washington has lost eight consecutive games while dealing with several key injuries.
Young, 27, is a four-time All-Star who is averaging 19.3 points, 8.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game this season. Though he remains one of the top distributors in the NBA — Young led the NBA in assists last season with 11.6 per game — his defense has been a significant issue.
Washington is navigating a delicate balance for its first-round draft pick. The selection is Top-8 protected, which means that it will convey to the New York Knicks, if it falls to No. 9 or below. This means that any victories over the final quarter of the season could compromise Washington's draft positioning; the Wizards currently have the NBA’s fourth-lowest winning percentage (.271).
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 1: The Los Angeles Lakers celebrate before the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 1, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Lakers’ pregame routine has gone viral across social media this season. Led by LeBron James, the Lakers wrap up their warm-up with a bit of synchronisation before walking off the floor.
Is it a bit silly? Sure. But basketball is a game and not everything has to be serious. It’s a fun tradition the team does every game, home or away.
However, for reasons unclear, LeBron wasn’t around pregame on Sunday and, unfortunately, disaster struck. Rui Hachimura attempted to step in and lead things, but failed miserably at just throwing the ball up in the air in the right direction.
Rui Hachimura tried to replace LeBron in the Lakers pre-game ritual but botched it lmao
Fortunately, this did not set a tone for the night as the Lakers comfortably took care of business, blowing out the Kings for their second win in as many days. Those good vibes from the win meant the elephant in the room could be addressed pregame.
“I literally said no to everybody, but they all pointed at me,” Rui said. “I don’t know…You know what it is, I think because I was doing it before [when] [LeBron] was coming back from the injury. So, they all pointed at me, but I wasn’t really feeling doing it. I was like ‘No, no, no.’ The time was going on, so I was like, ‘Alright, come on.’ I did it. I got booed.”
Luka, the de facto leader of the team, could only react in one way to Rui’s performance: disgust.
“I don’t know why,” Luka said postgame. “Never again. Never again. It was terrible.”
In a contract year, you’d expect a better showing from Rui. Will this hurt him in contract negotiations? Do the Lakers want to bring back someone who struggles to throw the ball up in the air?
If the Lakers want to move into the post-LeBron era seamlessly, then someone is going to need to go through a crash course over the final weeks of the season to learn how to properly toss the ball into the air. Otherwise, that could be another skillset they will look to acquire this offseason.
The Detroit Red Wings picked up two huge points in the standings on Monday afternoon, defeating the Nashville Predators by a 4-2 final score at Bridgestone Arena.
Albert Johansson scored the go-ahead game-winning goal while shorthanded in the second period, helping the Red Wings leapfrog the Montreal Canadiens for third place in the Atlantic Division.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 2, 2026
They have the same number of points as the Buffalo Sabres, who are in second place with a game in hand.
However, the question on the minds of fans everywhere will be the status of starting goaltender John Gibson, who left after the opening 20 minutes of play with an upper-body injury and did not return.
It was the Red Wings who opened the scoring in the first period thanks to rookie forward Emmitt Finnie, who banged home a rebound for his first goal since Detroit's 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on Dec. 23.
A would-be goal from Simon Edvinsson, which would have increased Detroit's lead to 2-0, was overturned after Marco Kasper was ruled to have interfered with Predators goaltender Juuse Saros.
Nashville, who had a goal of their own waived off due to goaltender interference earlier in the frame, then knotted the score at 1-1 thanks to a power-play goal from Filip Forsberg, who now has 24 points in his last 24 games against Detroit.
A turnover from defenseman Simon Edvinsson in his own zone burned Detroit in the second period, as his pass was intercepted by Ryan O'Reilly, who fed a wide-open Jonathan Marchessault at the side of the net for a tap-in goal.
However, Lucas Raymond responded by beating Saros from a sharp angle after taking a beautiful cross-ice feed from Alex DeBrincat.
While shorthanded, the Detroit Red Wings grabbed a lead they would not relinquish when Albert Johansson beat Juuse Saros with a one-timer on a two-on-one rush alongside Marco Kasper.
With Saros pulled and the Nashville Predators pressing for the equalizer, Detroit sealed the win when Alex DeBrincat netted his 31st goal of the season.
Talbot, who replaced Gibson after the first period, finished with 18 saves; Gibson stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced. Meanwhile, Saros made 27 saves.
The Red Wings will return home to face the Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday evening.
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DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 27: Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks the ball during the game against the Detroit Pistons on February 27, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Fortunately for the Cavs, they don’t have to wait long to get even. They take on the Pistons again on Tuesday and should be healthier. James Harden returned to the lineup Sunday and looked like he didn’t miss a beat as he nearly put up a triple-double in his return against the Brooklyn Nets.
This is the Cavs’ and Pistons’ last meeting of the regular season. And it should give us our best chance to see how these two teams match up if they were to meet in the playoffs this spring.
TV: FanDuel Sports Network – Ohio, FanDuel Sports Network App, NBA League Pass
Point spread: Pistons -1
Cavs injury report: Donovan Mitchell – OUT (groin), Dean Wade – QUESTIONABLE (ankle), Max Strus – OUT (foot), Riley Minix – OUT (G League), Darius Brown – OUT (G League)
Pistons injury report: Isaac Jones – OUT (G League), Bobi Klintman – QUESTIONABLE (G League), Chaz Lanier – QUESTIONABLE (G League), Wendell Moore Jr. – OUT (G League), Tolu Smith – QUESTIONABLE (G League)
Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves signed 12-year veteran forward Kyle Anderson on Monday, bringing back a popular role player after he was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Anderson played two seasons for the Timberwolves, contributing to their run to the Western Conference finals in 2024. He then signed with the Golden State Warriors in free agency and has been traded three times since, most recently to the Grizzlies by the Utah Jazz.
The 32-year-old Anderson has averaged 7.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 20.4 minutes in 24 games this season between the Jazz and the Grizzlies.
Anderson started 56 games over two years with the Timberwolves, averaging 25.3 minutes for the highest mark of his tenure with any of the six teams he's been with in his NBA career. The 2014 first-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs had three triple-doubles with the Timberwolves and became a fan favorite for his toughness, leadership and deliberate style on offense that has drawn him the nickname, “Slo Mo.”
