Freshman Cam Ward had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Coen Carr scored 15 points and had seven rebounds and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 14 Arkansas 69-66 on Saturday night in a matchup of Hall of Fame coaches. The Spartans (2-0) grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and converted them into 18 points, a staple of Tom Izzo's program for 31 seasons.
Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green appeared to aggravate a right hamstring injury during the first quarter of Saturday's game against the LA Clippers and had to be helped off the court. Green suffered the injury on a drive with just over 40 seconds left in the first quarter. He pulled up short and was left limping for the remainder of the possession. He was later ruled out.
Things started to look ugly in the second quarter, though, as the Hawks went on a 13-2 run, the Raptors were 1-12 (1-12!) to start the second frame and their 3-point shooting went cold. To add salt to the wound, Scottie Barnes & RJ Barrett really struggled to put points on the board.They only had 18 points in the second frame, but their spirited effort set the tone of what would be a much different second half.
Cunningham was 13 for 18 from the field and made all six of his free throws to help lead Detroit to its fifth straight victory and a 7-2 record. The All-Star point guard has averaged 29.8 points and 11.2 assists while shooting 54% from the field during the streak. Ausar Thompson had 14 points, and Caris Levert added 10 for the Pistons. They have won their last four meetings against Brooklyn.
They've been buddies forever, but this was the first time Jokić paid attention to how his friend makes a living. Pavkov was in constant motion, going from his phone to his customers in the front of his shop to the back, where he oversaw a paint job for one of Jokić's sulkies, the two-wheeled, chariot-like vehicles that attach to Jokić's horses as they race around his track down the street.
From time to time in this column, I like to look at something I wrote in the past and see if it holds up to retrospective scrutiny. Early last year, after the baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara were ensnared in a major gambling scandal that ended with Mizuhara in jail, I wrote a column titled "Online Gambling Is Changing Sports for the Worse," in which I expressed concern for the "integrity of the game," and worried that betting by athletes and others around them—Ohtani himself denied any involvement and was never charged with anything—might begin occurring with such frequency that it would cause the public, including children, to lose faith in what they were watching.
I wrote a couple of pieces about ex-Raptors big man Precious Achiuwa over the offseason after I noticed he wasn't gaining any traction in free agency. That is, until news broke that he signed a non-guaranteed training camp deal with the Miami Heat, which I described as the Kyle Lowry trade coming full circle in a somewhat ironic way. However, that reunion in South Beach proved to be short-lived, as he was let go before the start of the 2025-26 season.
During the Summer League, Goldin looks like a decent option for a rotational big man and looks like a solid pickup for the Heat. But while he was on Miami's preseason roster, the October slate revealed just how far he still has to go in his development. He only appeared in three games, and even then, he only averaged 7.8 minutes in those three games.
Westbrook has suddenly become a focal point for the Kings and he went off for a huge triple-double (his 204th) on Wednesday with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over the Warriors. He became the all-time rebounds leader for guards in the process, passing Jason Kidd. He also had 26 points, 12 rebounds and six dimes in his previous game and has benefited from the absences of Zach LaVine (back) and Domantas Sabonis (ribs).
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James continues to work out individually while recovering from the sciatica affecting his lower back and right side, and the next step in his return will be progressing to live 5-on-5 reps in practice, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday. James will not travel with the Lakers on their upcoming five-game road trip through Atlanta, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Milwaukee, sources told ESPN.
