Sports
76ers All-Stars Joel Embiid, Paul George practice, still not game-ready
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) dribbles the ball after a pass from Georges Niang (20) against Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner (21) in front of forward Franz Wagner (22) during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Joel Embiid and Paul George are not ready to play in a regular-season game but did practice and participate in a full-court scrimmage with the 76ers on Friday in what the team framed as a sign of progress.
Embiid and George are out with left knee injuries and were ruled out for the fifth consecutive regular-season game Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies. The 76ers play at Phoenix on Monday.
The NBA fined the 76ers $100,000 for statements that didn’t accurately convey the health status of the players.
Embiid’s next game will be No. 434 in his career out of what will be a possible 806 games for the 76ers at the end of Saturday’s game. By comparison, the player selected after former No. 3 pick Embiid in the 2014 NBA Draft, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, has played in 669 regular-season games and 52 playoff games.
“I wish I was as lucky as other ones,” Embiid said Friday of his history of knee injuries and surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Feb. 6. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not trying and I’m not doing whatever it takes to try to be out there, which I’m going to be here pretty soon.”
Embiid, 30, speaking at the team practice facility in New Jersey after the scrimmage, made it clear he’s riled up by the constant chatter about his desire to play.
“When I see people saying, ‘he doesn’t want to play,’ I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that,” Embiid said. “I do think it’s bull—-.
“I’ve done way too much for this f—— city to be treated like this. Done way too f—— much.”
The seven-time All-Star and 2022-23 MVP played for Team USA at the Paris Olympics this summer. Embiid, who did not play for two seasons because of a foot injury after he was drafted in the first round in 2014 by Philadelphia, has averaged 27.9 points with 11.2 rebounds in his career playing only for the Sixers.
Embiid said “everybody has been on the same page” regarding his upramp to return to regular-season games.
Signed as a free agent in July, George said he was cleared for contact work earlier this week. He’s been recovering from a bone bruise.
“Getting that wind up. You can’t really simulate that level of cardio other than playing,” George said Friday. “Just being thrown in the mix again has helped kind of get my wind up, doing some sprints, going off to the side of the court doing sprints up and down. That stuff is helping me get back. That’s it. That’s the last box I’ve got to check. I’m getting there.”
George, 34, averaged 22.6 points with 5.2 rebounds in 74 games for the Clippers last season. In 14 NBA seasons, he has scored 20.8 points per game with 6.3 rebounds in 867 contests (819 starts) for the Pacers (2010-17), Oklahoma City Thunder (2017-19) and the Clippers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cole Caufield, Canadiens grab early lead, cool off Caps
Feb 28, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (13) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Cole Caufield scored two first-period goals and the Canadiens went on to beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Saturday night in Montreal.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who have points in seven straight (5-0-2). Jakub Dobes made 27 saves and improved to 9-0-2 in his past 11 starts.
Alex Ovechkin scored both goals for the Capitals, who had won three straight. Anthony Beauvillier had two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves for Washington, which was playing the second of a back-to-back after a 3-2 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
The Capitals went 0-for-4 on the power play after going 0-for-5 on Friday. Montreal was 0-for-3.
Caufield gave the Canadiens a 1-0 just 30 seconds into the game when he intercepted Jakob Chychrun’s pass, skated in on a breakaway and beat Lindgren with a wrist shot.
Ovechkin tied it at 13:16. Dobes made the save on Declan Chisholm’s shot from the point, but couldn’t control the rebound and Ovechkin knocked in the loose puck from the right post.
Caufield made it 2-1 at 14:19 when he backhanded in a loose puck at the right post after Lindgren made the save on Jayden Struble’s point shot.
Mike Matheson increased the lead to 3-1 at 12:22 of the second when he took a pass from Zachary Bolduc on the rush, skated down the open slot and beat Lindgren glove side with a wrist shot.
After Washington’s Aliaksei Protas hit the post, Suzuki gathered the rebound, skated down into the Washington end and fed Kirby Dach, who scored on a one-timer from the slot to make it 4-1 at 16:34.
Ovechkin pulled the Capitals within 4-2 at 12:12 of the third, scoring from the low slot when he tipped in a pass from Dylan Strome.
Suzuki sent a back-hander into an empty net at 16:44 to make it 5-2, then Jake Evans sent a shot nearly the length of the ice into an empty net for a short-handed goal during 6-on-4 play at 18:35.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sabres pile up goals early, cruise past Lightning
Feb 28, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs (19), forward Alex Tuch (89) and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli (71) battle for the puck during the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Josh Norris scored twice as Buffalo found the net four times in the first period, and the Sabres easily won their third straight outing since the Winter Olympics break in a 6-2 rout of the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
The visitors’ victory pushed their road point streak to a season-best nine games (8-0-1). The Sabres play six of the next seven contests on home ice.
Rasmus Dahlin hit the net and had two assists, while Zach Metsa had a goal and a helper. Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch also scored, and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves.
Following a four-game absence for an upper-body injury, Zach Benson was back and contributed an assist as the Sabres finished 4-1-1 in February’s shortened slate because of the Olympic Games in Italy.
Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman tallied one goal and had an assist, and Dominic James scored. However, its 10-game home winning streak and Nikita Kucherov’s league-high 12-game active point streak both ended.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy surrendered five goals on 14 shots in 21:54 of ice time. Jonas Johansson stopped 20 of 21 shots in relief.
After losing 4-3 to the Lightning on an overtime goal by Jake Guentzel on Feb. 3, the Sabres struck twice in 50 seconds in the rematch after toppling the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Friday.
Dahlin slid left-to-right through the slot and whistled one past Vasilevskiy at 5:25 of the opening period. Before the visiting celebration could die down, Norris swooped in from the right side and beat the netminder between the pads for a 2-0 lead.
At 8:16 on Buffalo’s fifth shot, Norris stunned the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning again by redirecting Bowen Byram’s shot through two Lightning defenders and Vasilevskiy for his second tally.
Thompson maneuvered his way in and slipped in the club’s fourth goal with less than five minutes left. The Team USA gold medalist extended his point streak to seven games, his third streak that length thus far.
In the second, Metsa’s early goal chased Vasilevskiy from the match, but James put the Lightning on the board at 16:03.
Shortly after Guentzel was ejected for receiving a game misconduct and an unsportsmanlike penalty 2:02 into the third, Tuch hit the net at the 3:53 mark. Hedman scored his first at 5:27 for the final marker.
–Field Level Media
Sports
West Virginia upsets No. 19 BYU to snap 3-game skid
Feb 28, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward DJ Thomas (5) shoots a three point shot over BYU Cougars forward Khadim Mboup (7) during the first half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images Honor Huff scored 19 points and dished out six assists to lead West Virginia to a 79-71 upset win at home over No. 19 BYU in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Brenen Lorient racked up 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and DJ Thomas scored 13 points off the bench for West Virginia (17-12, 8-8 Big 12), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jasper Floyd and Chance Moore each scored 11 points for the Mountaineers, who earned an NCAA Tournament resume-building victory.
Robert Wright III led BYU (20-9, 8-8) with 23 points. AJ Dybantsa scored 20 points, with 16 coming in the second half, while Aleksej Kostic added 12 for the Cougars, who have dropped seven of their last 10 games.
Dybantsa hit a three to cut it to a one-possession game as the Cougars trailed 72-69 with 1:57 left. But West Virginia went back inside for a Lorient layup and a 74-69 lead.
Keba Keita’s steal and layup pulled the Cougars within 74-71. Huff, Floyd and Harlan Obioha combined to make five foul shots down the stretch to seal the win for West Virginia.
BYU led 22-20 at halftime, but the Mountaineers surged with a 20-4 run. Thomas pushed the Mountaineers ahead at 23-22 with a three-point play that sparked the extended rally for West Virginia to close the half.
The Mountaineers bench outscored BYU’s reserves 24-12.
Huff’s three pushed West Virginia to a 28-22 lead. The Mountaineers’ advantage grew to 38-24 as Floyd drove past Wright for a layup. They finished the first half with a 40-26 lead.
A 7-0 run to open the second half was capped by Kostic’s three-pointer and cut the BYU deficit to 40-33. But the Mountaineers rebuilt their double-digit lead with a 7-3 rally that started with a Treysen Eaglestaff three and featured buckets from Lorient and Thomas for a 47-36 lead.
–Field Level Media
