NBA News

Two months after Clemson’s Dabo Swinney publicly accused Pete Golding of tampering in a 20-minute rant, the Ole Miss coach recounted the acquisition of linebacker Luke Ferrelli from his perspective. “There’s two sides to every story,” Golding said Tuesday. Advertisement Ferrelli, a freshman linebacker from Cal, landed with Clemson via the transfer portal in early January. He began classes and …

PHOENIX (AP) — Zac Gallen outdueled two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, Corbin Carroll homered and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Wednesday to sweep the three-game series. Carroll homered to left-center in the first to give the D-backs a 1-0 lead. It was just the sixth homer the left-handed Skubal had ever allowed to a …

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State’s Tom Izzo said he considered coaching the Phoenix Suns after discussing the possibility last year with one of his former players, Mat Ishbia, who owns the NBA team. “We talked seriously about it,” Izzo said Wednesday on “The Dan Patrick Show,” during a virtual interview from his office on campus. Advertisement The 71-year-old …

CINCINNATI (AP) — Paul Skenes quickly shrugged off the shortest start of his dominant major league career. Pirates fans shouldn’t worry either after Skenes returned to form on Wednesday. The reigning NL Cy Young winner allowed one run in five innings and struck out five in the Pirates’ 8-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Advertisement “I’m pretty insulated from a …

HOUSTON (AP) — Carlos Correa put Houston on top with a three-run homer and Christian Vázquez added a solo shot to lead the Astros to a 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep. It’s the fifth consecutive win for the Astros and gives Boston five straight losses since an opening day victory. Advertisement …

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rookie Justin Crawford had an RBI single in the 10th inning after the Philadelphia Phillies rallied from a four-run deficit for a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. The Nationals led 5-1 in the seventh. J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper hit solo home runs to get the Phillies within 5-3. Edmundo Sosa hit a two-run …

BALTIMORE (AP) — Samuel Basallo made a little history when the Baltimore catcher became the first major leaguer to end a game with a successful challenge via the Automated Ball-Strike System. No word on whether he got to keep the ball. Advertisement Albert Suárez was on the mound for the Orioles in the top of the ninth inning against Texas …

ATLANTA (AP) — Now comes the wait, soccer’s ultimate FOMO. American players across the United States and Europe will count down the eight weeks until coach Mauricio Pochettino picks his 26 World Cup players. Advertisement Those bypassed won’t get a phone call. “It’s going to be painful,” Pochettino said. “In that process, always you create links, no, emotional links, but …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. Our NBA player prop projections are set for tonight’s Western Conference clash between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, with the model pinpointing several standout opportunities. Advertisement By analyzing the data and comparing it to current market lines, we’ve uncovered the bets …

The NBA has received several billion-dollar bids for teams in the proposed European league, BBC Sport understands. Initial plans for ‘NBA Europe’ are for 10 to 12 franchises that would stay in the league on an annual basis. Advertisement It is understood multiple bids worth between $500m and $1bn (£375m to £750m) have been made, while there are also several …

A key deadline has come and gone for the NBA’s venture into Europe, and the league office is buoyed with the result, all of which signals building momentum for the proposed upstart league. The NBA had set a midnight deadline of Wednesday, April 1 for prospective investors to submit non-binding bids for consideration into the league’s proposed NBA Europe expansion. …

ATLANTA (AP) — Drake Baldwin drove in four runs with a pair of two-out hits, Chris Sale pitched one-hit ball over six innings and the Atlanta Braves wrapped up their season-opening homestand with a 5-1 victory over the struggling Athletics on Wednesday. Baldwin had a two-run single off Athletics starter Luis Severino (0-1) in the second and added a two-run …

Geno Auriemma is taking an undefeated UConn team into the women’s Final Four for the ninth time. This group, while extremely talented like the rest, is a bit different than the previous ones for the coach. Advertisement Auriemma recalls those earlier teams with AP Player of the Year winners Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart …

With a few hours to go before his team is set to take on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Joel Embiid’s playing status is unclear. The Philadelphia 76ers originally announced Embiid would miss the contest due to an illness, but the center posted on social media that his injury designation must have been an “April Fools joke.” In his tweet, …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. One of the many reasons the final six weeks of the NBA season are often disregarded is that teams with differing interests meet in messy schedule spots. Advertisement Both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets played last night. This may be a …

In coordination with FIBA, the NBA on Tuesday touted “significant interest from a range of prospective teams and investors” for a new league to operate in Europe. “The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the marketplace’s belief in our proposed model and the enormous, untapped potential for European basketball,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in a …

FIFA appeared to have technical difficulties when it resumed World Cup ticket sales Wednesday after the 48-team field was finalized. Soccer’s governing body did not say which games and price categories were available. Advertisement Some people who clicked on what FIFA called its “last-minute sales phase” when sales opened at 11 a.m. EDT were directed into a queue for “PMA …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The red-hot Atlanta Hawks will be looking to keep rolling tonight as they take on the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center. Advertisement After a big win over Boston, my Hawks vs. Magic predictions are targeting Atlanta to notch their third victory in …

Naomi Girma is going to play at home in Northern California with the U.S. national team later this month for the first time since a send-off game for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Coach Emma Hayes announced Wednesday that Girma, who was born in San Jose and played at nearby Stanford, will be on the roster when the U.S. plays …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The Sacramento Kings have sunk to the bottom of the Western Conference, leaving little to play for. However, my Kings vs. Raptors predictions forecast a motivated showing from veteran forward DeMar DeRozan when Sacramento wraps up its five-game road trip in Toronto. Advertisement …

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 113-127 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate. All grades are based on our usual expectations for each player. Donovan Mitchell 10 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds Advertisement Mitchell felt more like a passive participant. He was mostly just moving the ball around, even in …

Every year, a handful of fantasy basketball managers spot something others miss or move more quickly than the rest of the league. The term “league-winner” gets tossed around for any player who carries a team deep into the playoffs, but that requires both luck and stability. In a game that lasts upwards of 24 weeks, getting any player off the …

On March 1, the New Orleans Pelicans took the floor without Zion Williamson. Normally, this wouldn’t be worth highlighting. NBA star misses game isn’t exactly a rare headline these days, and Williamson isn’t exactly known as an ironman. Except that, leading up to that night, Williamson had played in 35 straight games, a career-best streak. He returned two days later …

Qualifying is done. The lineup is complete. The countdown to the biggest-ever World Cup is on, with the 48-team tournament in North America a veritable hodgepodge of stellar names and unheralded upstarts. Advertisement Here’s a look at what we learned from a qualification campaign that lasted 2 1/2 years, featured 2,527 goals, and finished Tuesday with six nations booking the …

The art of tanking is nothing new for the NBA. Teams have been finding ways to lose games in an effort to improve their Draft position at least as far back as the early 1990s when the league implemented weighted odds favoring the worst teams. Prior to that, there was an outright coin flip between the worst Eastern and Western …