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Hornets perform in clutch vs. Hawks, win 9th in a row

NBA: Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta HawksFeb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots over Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James (4) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Moussa Diabate scored six straight fourth-quarter points, including a pair of thunderous dunks, to spark the visiting Charlotte Hornets to their ninth straight victory, a 126-119 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

WIth Charlotte trailing 110-109 with 6:31 remaining, Diabate made two free throws and threw down back-to-back slams to give the visitors a five-point lead. Atlanta could never catch up but had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds left when Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed a 3-pointer.

The Hornets were led by Miles Bridges with 26 points and Kon Knueppel with 23 points, including six 3-pointers, and eight rebounds. LaMelo Ball added 19 points and nine assists. Diabate finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Zaccharie Risacher scored 18 and Onyeka Okongwu, who returned from missing four games with a facial fracture, had 16 points and six rebounds.

The Hornets matched their longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.

Atlanta led by nine with 2:42 left in the first quarter, but the Hornets cut it to 35-32 by the end of the quarter. Charlotte tied the game on a three-point play by Ball at 11:21, setting off a back-and-forth period that ended with the game tied 60-60 at halftime. There were 13 lead changes and four ties in the first half.

The Hornets, behind nine points from Ball, scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and took a 98-90 lead into the final period. A 3-pointer by Ball gave Charlotte a 101-92 lead, but Atlanta went on a 16-4 run to take a 108-105 lead on a 3-pointer by Risacher with 7:55 left.

The Hornets lead the season series 2-1 and ended a three-game losing streak in Atlanta. The teams meet for the final time on Wednesday in Charlotte.

Atlanta’s newly acquired Buddy Hield and Gabe Vincent were available but did not play. The team said Jonathan Kuminga, the other player who came over in the trade, will be out until the All-Star break with a left knee bone bruise.

–Field Level Media

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Cloud9 rally past LYON in LCS Spring opener

Syndication: The Courier-JournalA custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020.

Cloud9 recorded a 2-1 win over LYON to begin the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.

LYON posted a 35-minute victory on blue before Cloud9 bounced back with a 33-minute triumph on red and 30-minute victory on blue.

Canadian Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme and South Korean Seung-gyu “Thanatos” Park were tabbed as MVPs for Cloud9, while Australian Jonah “Isles” Rosario earned the distinction for LYON.

Also on Saturday, Disguised overcame dropping the first map in 32 minutes to secure a 2-1 victory over Sentinels. The former capped the win with a 30-minute win on blue.

Canadian/Romanian player Christian “KryRa” Rahaian earned a pair of MVP honors for Disguised, while South Korean Yoo-jin “HamBak” Ham received the distinction for Sentinels.

Eight teams will compete in best-of-3 matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs, which will be contested in best-of-5 matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.

Regular season standings

T1. Cloud9, 1-0, 2-1

T1. Disguised, 1-0, 2-1

T3. FlyQuest, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Team Liquid, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Dignitas, 0-0, 0-0

T3. Shopify Rebellion, 0-0, 0-0

T7. LYON, 0-1, 1-2

T7. Sentinels, 0-1, 1-2

–Field Level Media

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Renato Moicano snaps losing streak with submission victory

MMA: UFC 317- Dariush vs MoicanoJun 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Renato Moicano of Brazil snapped a two-fight losing streak with a rear-naked-choke submission victory over Scotland’s Chris Duncan at 3:14 of the second round in the lightweight main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

Moicano (21-7-1) dominated the fight, allowing Duncan (15-3-0) just one second of control time while landing over twice as many strikes (62-30). Duncan had a four-match win streak snapped, taking his first defeat since Feb. 24, 2024.

In the co-main event, Virna Jandiroba (23-4-0) came away with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over fellow Brazilian Tabatha Ricci (12-4-0) in a strawweight fight. It was a bounceback for Jandiroba after she had a five-fight win streak snapped in a title-fight loss to Mackenzie Dern last October.

Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev of Turkey also had a rear-naked-choke submission win on the main card, beating Brazil’s Brendson Ribeiro (17-10-0) 2:52 into the opening round to improve to 9-0-0 in the light heavyweight division.

Ethyn Ewing (10-2-0) came away with a third-round KO/TKO bantamweight victory to hand Brazilian Rafael Estevam (14-1-0) his first MMA loss. Before that, Tommy McMillen (10-0-0) won his UFC debut in the featherweight division with a first-round KO/TKO via a series of blows culminating with a knee strike which took Italy’s Manolo Zecchini (11-5-0) to the mat.

In the main-card opener, Jose Delano (17-3-0) of Brazil won via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Poland’s Robert Ruchala (11-3-0) in his UFC debut.

–Field Level Media

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Padres, Red Sox chasing first series win of season

MLB: San Francisco Giants at San Diego PadresMar 30, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler (10) delivers during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

With both starting pitchers seeking bounce-back outings for their new teams, the Boston Red Sox and visiting San Diego Padres face off to close a three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon.

The Padres scored a 3-2 victory on Saturday after Ramon Laureano’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning. San Diego now turns to a familiar sight on the Boston mound in Walker Buehler (0-1, 6.75 ERA) for his second start.

Buehler, who began last season with the Red Sox before he was released in September, will face Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.31). Both teams are searching for their first series victory of the season.

“Laureano has been doing that the last few years, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Gotta regroup and get ready for (Sunday) to win the series.”

Though the Padres entered Saturday hitting a National League-worst .192, Laureano continued a strong early-season run with the big hit. He now boasts a .308 batting average and has reached base safely in six of his first seven games.

“I think Laureano has had the best results and best at-bats we’ve gotten so far, so we’ll probably see him more at the top of the lineup going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.

A two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed a free-agent contract in February, Buehler made his Padres debut Monday against the San Francisco Giants, allowing three runs on five hits across four innings.

“Our hope is that he kind of returns to who he’s been in the past,” Stammen said last week. “And that we have somebody that was a former All-Star pitcher, someone that was a thorn in our side as the Padres, and becomes a thorn in the side for other people.”

Buehler’s only career start against the Red Sox came in the 18-inning marathon Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. He started and went seven scoreless innings.

The Red Sox were in position to win the series on Saturday, holding a one-run lead with Aroldis Chapman taking the mound in the ninth looking for his second consecutive save. Andruw Monasterio’s pinch-hit RBI fielder’s choice had tied the game for the Red Sox in the eighth.

Instead, Boston fell to a major league-worst 2-6 for the first time since 2019 and has now lost all three of its one-run games this season.

Cora’s offense has also struggled, scoring two or fewer runs for the fourth time in eight games and going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

“We have to make sure when we are ahead in the count, get a pitch you can handle. If not, pass the baton,” Cora said.

The Red Sox had an 8-7 advantage in hits on Saturday, with Roman Anthony (triple) and Ceddanne Rafaela each recording a pair.

Suarez looks to deliver an improved start in his first Fenway Park outing for Boston. He allowed four runs, including a pair of home runs, in 4 1/3 innings Monday against the Houston Astros.

“I feel very good physically,” Suarez said. “I missed a couple (pitches), but I’ll just keep working for the next outing.”

Suarez, who is 3-1 with a 2.39 career ERA in eight appearances (five starts) against the Padres, is coming off back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins and recorded a career-high 151 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings in 2025 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

–Field Level Media

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