Sports
Pelicans host Timberwolves with Zion Williamson close to return
Jan 5, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Injured New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (R) looks on from the bench against the Washington Wizards in the second quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Zion Williamson is getting closer to returning to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Williamson, who has missed more than two months because of a strained left hamstring, is listed as questionable for New Orleans’ home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Even if Williamson doesn’t play versus the Timberwolves, things are looking a bit better for the struggling Pelicans.
They have won two games in a row for the first time since the first two games of the season.
Both of the most recent victories came against the Washington Wizards, who are neck-and-neck with the Pelicans for the worst record in the NBA. Then again, any win is a good win for a team that had lost 11 in row and 20 of 21 before running into the Wizards.
“It’s great,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said. “Two wins in a row. We’ll continue to ride this momentum.”
The Pelicans beat the same team twice in three nights but did so in different ways. CJ McCollum tied his career-high with 50 points in a 132-120 victory on Friday night in New Orleans, but he led a more balanced scoring effort that made the difference in a 110-98 road win on Sunday night.
“He was fantastic again,” Green said of McCollum. “Whenever we needed a point, we put the ball in his hands and he made really good decisions.”
McCollum had half the points he had two nights earlier, leading four other Pelicans in double figures. Dejounte Murray had a triple-double with 14 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
“He’s keeping the game simple and making solid decisions and he’ll continue to build from there,” Green said of Murray.
McCollum has helped lead improved 3-point shooting for New Orleans, which made a season-high 18 shots from beyond the arc in both games against Washington and against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 30. In those three games McCollum has made 24-of-41 3-pointers.
The Timberwolves will be finishing a back-to-back set after ending a three-game losing streak with a 108-106 home victory against the Clippers on Monday. The Wolves also have a pretty hot scorer of their own.
Minnesota scored just 46 points in the first half against the Clippers and trailed by seven points at intermission. The Timberwolves, however, finished with 62 points in the second half as Anthony Edwards scored 28 of his 37 points after halftime.
“You’ve got to start games better, but it’s how you finish that matters,” center Naz Reid, who scored 18 points off the bench, said on the Wolves’ post-game TV.
Edwards’ outburst came on the heels of scoring a career-high 53 points in a 119-105 loss at Detroit on Saturday. He made 10 of 15 3-pointers against the Pistons.
But it was the outcome against the Clippers that was most important to Minnesota, which plays four of its next six games on the road.
“This is a great bounce-back win,” Reid said. “You’ve got to use this momentum and carry it on to the next couple of games and boost our confidence and keep it rolling.”
This is the first meeting of the season between these teams, who will square off again March 19 and 21 in Minneapolis.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees to honor late broadcaster John Sterling with uniform patch
May 4, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees wear “JS” stitched on their hats honoring radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images The New York Yankees will honor longtime radio announcer John Sterling, who died on Monday at the age of 87, with a patch on their uniforms for the reminder of the season.
The Yankees will continue to wear caps with the initials “JS” on the back through May 17. The team will switch to the patch as their tribute to Sterling on May 18, when the Yankees’ next homestand begins.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone approves of the tribute.
“I think it’s appropriate, certainly,” Boone told the New York Times after the Yanks’ 7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers. “(I’m) glad we’ll be able to honor his legacy throughout the rest of the season.”
The patch will feature Sterling’s name, as well as a microphone with the Yankee logo on a pinstriped background.
Sterling passed away from complications of heart failure on Monday, the Times reported. Sterling was honored prior to Monday’s game with a ceremony that featured a moment of silence and a video of some of Sterling’s most iconic radio calls.
After Monday’s game, Sterling’s signature call of “Thuuuuuuuuuuh Yankees WIN!” was played over the PA system at Yankee Stadium, followed by Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York.”
Both manager Boone and Yankees captain Aaron Judge called for making that combo a permanent tradition. But Sterling’s call was not part of Tuesday’s post-game victory celebration, and it was unclear if the team intends to continue it, the Times reported.
Count Jazz Chisholm Jr. among those who feel the patch is a good way to honor Sterling this season.
“He was here for a long time,” said Chisholm. “He represented the Yankees well. We all, in our childhood, have that John Sterling call rising in our ears. I think it’s pretty cool that we, as a team and organization, get to recognize him for all the great things that he’s done here.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
MLB Panic Meter: Mets, Red Sox, Angels Among Biggest Early Concerns
May 4, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The season isn’t one-fourth complete, meaning it’s relatively early by MLB standards.
But it’s also time for concern for a spate of underachieving teams and players to be calibrated against the potential for a rebound.
Here’s our look at some particularly worrisome slow starts around the game.
1. The New York Mets
David Stearns’ nonsensical off-season overhaul — dumping a spate of franchise icons all in the name of improving the defense by signing or moving a bunch of people to positions they’d never played — left the Mets in a much more vulnerable position than any team should be with a $352 million payroll. But it shouldn’t be going THIS badly, even with Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor playing just seven full games together due to their calf injuries.
At least the Mets no longer have the worst record in the bigs after winning three of four from the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies. But when you’ve got to win three of four from the Angels and Rockies just to escape the basement.
2. The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies
May 1, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the third inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images The 2-for-1, you-both-got-your-managers-fired deal here. As with the Mets, the off-season should have provided more of a hint that the Red Sox (who didn’t re-sign valuable veteran leader Alex Bregman) and Phillies (who re-signed every aging veteran this side of Steve Jeltz) might stumble out of the gates. A 4-0 start under interim manager Don Mattingly served as a reminder the Phillies have an immeasurable edge of the Red Sox in terms of postseason-tested players and, especially, competent upper management. Boston’s geniuses apparently thought it’d be a good idea to toss Triple-A manager Chad Tracy into a locker room filled with angry players. Hard to believe “chief baseball officer” Craig Breslow actually played in the majors.
3. The Los Angeles Angels
May 5, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) is greeted after hitting a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images We should all be immune to being disappointed by the Angels, who have the longest playoff drought in the majors as well as the longest streak of consecutive sub-.500 finishes despite employing both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout from 2018 through 2023.
But the American League is a mashup of mediocrity and Trout is enjoying a renaissance season, so it wouldn’t take much for the Angels to at least hover around the fringes of contention. So of course they’ve lost 13 of 15 to fall to 13-23, which is the worst record in the bigs and puts the Angels on pace to lose 100 games for the first time ever. So there is that.
4. Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants SS/1B
Buster Posey’s weird plan to construct a contender around a bunch of singles hitters was always contingent on Adames, the one Giants position player star who chose to play in hitter-unfriendly Oracle Park, and Devers, a blockbuster trade addition last year, providing the token bit of power.
But the duo have combined for just five homers and rank 161st and 163rd, respectively, in OPS at .579 and .572 as the Giants have started 14-21. Adames’ poor strikeout-to-walk ratio — he’s struck out 45 times while drawing just six walks — is a big red flag after he increased his walk total each of the previous three seasons.
5. Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds P
Jun 10, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott (41) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images Abbott outperformed his peripherals (a 2.87 ERA but a 3.66 FIP) while making the All-Star team for the first time last season. But the market correction has been unforgiving for Abbott, whose 5.97 ERA is seventh-worst in the NL amongst pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings. He is also striking out just 6.2 batters per nine innings, easily the lowest figure of his career and a concerning trend as the Reds bank on a bounce-back.
Sports
Should the Celtics Blow It Up? Analyzing Every Major Option
Feb 28, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens before their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Everyone seems to have an opinion on how to “fix” the Celtics.
You’ll probably not be surprised to hear I have a few myself. OK, more than just a few.
Raising a 7-foot bar on a bunch of wishful thinking among Celtics fans and senseless knee-jerk reactions among the unfaithful, here’s where I stand on some of the more popular suggestions:
Fire Brad Stevens.
Let’s get the most ridiculous one out of the way.
Stevens was NBA Executive of the Year this year for a reason. He did the seemingly impossible (or so Golden State tells us) … He got rid of a bunch of overpaid veterans, remained competitive even without Jayson Tatum for the most part, and restructured a roster that should be able to compete for Eastern titles for most of the next decade.
Fire him? I say: Reward him.
Fire Joe Mazzulla.
He did such a great job during the regular season, he set himself up for a hard fall in the playoffs. And even at that, you have to wonder what might have happened had Tatum not contracted a case of Embiid-itis.
Did he mismanage the Philadelphia series? Sure. The Pistons would have fired their coach if he’d done that. Maybe even the Knicks and Cavaliers. But they haven’t won a title, made the Finals twice and been a perennial contender for the better part of a decade.
Based on the improbable regular season alone, Mazz deserves the benefit of the doubt. But don’t let it happen again.
Trade Derrick White.
On the surface, this one makes sense. As the 76ers series demonstrated, the Celtics could use a Robert Williams III type more than a White type. But that’s what Stevens, in a rare blunder, thought when he exchanged Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic.
Look at the Eastern Conference. When Joel Embiid isn’t playing – which is most of the time – the top players are almost all guards: Cade Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Tyrese Haliburton … You need somebody to slow them down.
Yeah, the Celtics could move Jaylen Brown fulltime to the backcourt, but that likely would force Tatum to actually have to guard somebody. Giving Brown the tough frontcourt assignments allows Tatum to freelance, grab cheap rebounds and stay fresh for his late barrage of missed 3-pointers. Wait, that was supposed to be a positive.
Trading White maybe gets you Wendell Carter Jr., but does that make you better? I say: Just bigger.
Trade Jaylen Brown.
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) talks with Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7)after Philadephia’s win in game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Let’s be honest: Breaking up the Brown/Tatum tandem would take a lot of guts. But after watching the Celtics play without Tatum for two-thirds of last season, it’s at least worth considering.
So which one gets shopped? That depends what type of team you want.
We’ve seen what the Celtics look like without Tatum – energetic, defensive-minded and all-inclusive on offense. And that’s without whatever high-level player or players you would get by trading Tatum.
You turn Brown into, say, Naz Reid and Terrence Shannon Jr., and you improve defensively on the interior and offensively on the perimeter. But you lose what made the Celtics so fun to watch this season – the team’s best defender and emotional leader.
I’d keep Brown.
Trade Jayson Tatum.
It might take just one call to turn the Celtics into the Eastern frontrunner again …
Stevens: If we give you Tatum for Giannis, how many first-round picks would you want?
Bucks GM Jon Horst: Let me get back to you on that.
If the response is anything you can count on one hand, the Celtics’ off-season is complete.
Tatum has done a lot of good things for this team, but he’s not in Giannis’ league. Few players are.
The Celtics would get their interior force, a runner who would allow the team to pick up the pace and another elite shot-blocker who would make Boston the most well-rounded defensive force in the league, with White shadowing star little guys, Brown locked onto mid-sized scorers and Giannis pitching a tent in the middle.
Stop dreaming? OK, then I’d settle for Domantas Sabonis and De’Andre Hunter.
Stand pat.
Stevens earned a nice, long vacation. Maybe he should take one.
No phones. See you in October with the same pieces that made the Celtics the favorite in the Eastern playoffs. Even with Tatum at less than 100 percent.
After all, it ain’t broke.
Unless, of course: Brad, this is Horstie getting back to you …
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