Sports
Kristaps Porzingis set for Warriors debut vs. Celts; Stephen Curry out
Jan 30, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts after committing a turnover against the Detroit Pistons in the first quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images Former Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis expects to make his debut with the Golden State Warriors when they host Boston on Thursday night.
However, one of Porzingis’ new teammates will be absent, as two-time MVP Stephen Curry will miss his sixth consecutive game because of a sore right knee.
Porzingis was acquired by the Warriors from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline but hasn’t played since Jan. 7 due to issues with his left Achilles tendon. He said at the time of the trade that Thursday’s game was his target date for returning to the court.
“I look forward to really having a surprisingly good post All-Star break,” he said.
Porzingis, who has played in 17 games this season (12 starts), is considered “questionable” for Thursday per the Warriors’ injury list, but he said he is “ready to go.” He is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per contest.
Porzingis played for Boston last season, but was limited to 42 games with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The Celtics traded him to the Hawks in July. He did not play against Boston while with Atlanta.
“He’s an easy fit,” Kerr said. “You don’t have to change a whole lot. The biggest difference I guess that he provides is post-ups. He’s a pretty good post-up player, especially against switches. You throw him the ball at the foul line, the elbows, even the low block, he can score in those spots. That was one of the things we did today, we worked on our spacing.”
Regarding Curry and his continued absence, Kerr said Wednesday, “Just wasn’t where he needed to be. It’s unfortunate. We’ll have an update (Thursday) after he goes through his time with the training staff.”
The Warriors, who lost four of their last six games before the All-Star break, occupy eighth place in the Western Conference standings. Boston will enter the Thursday game as the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, 5 1/2 games behind Detroit.
Speculation has ramped up regarding the possibility of injured forward Jayson Tatum suiting up for the Celtics in the second half of the season. Tatum, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, began practicing with some of his teammates this week. He had surgery in May.
“He looked like Jayson Tatum, I’ll say that much,” Ron Harper Jr. said. “We’re really excited for the potential of him coming back. We don’t know for sure if he’s going to come back. We’re just really excited to see him progress during his rehab.”
Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and a career-high 6.0 assists per game in 2024-25. The six-time All-Star has averaged 23.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists during his 585-game NBA career.
Thursday night’s matchup will be the first of two for these teams this season and should feature plenty of perimeter scoring. The Warriors lead the NBA in made 3-point field goals (897), while Boston is third (831).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Darren Raddysh sets franchise record, as Lightning topple Bruins
Apr 2, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh (43) controls the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Darren Raddysh scored a franchise-setting, tiebreaking goal late, as the Tampa Bay Lightning closed their seven-game homestand with a three-goal third period in a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
In a career season, Raddysh netted the game-winner, his 21st, with over five minutes remaining in regulation, breaking a tie with teammate Victor Hedman for the most goals by a Lightning defenseman in a single season.
Charle-Edouard D’Astous netted one and Nikita Kucherov hit an empty net to seal it for Tampa Bay (48-22-6, 102 points), which went 5-1-1 on the season-long stand. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.
Casey Mittelstadt tallied for Boston (43-26-8, 94 points), who is 0-2-0 on its four-game road trip, thus far, and lost both matches in Florida. Goalie Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots.
Before the match began, the Lightning learned they had qualified for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season with losses by the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators.
Boston nearly had an easy rebound goal with a loose puck in Vasilevskiy’s blue paint, but charging defenseman Charlie McAvoy was dragged down by Raddysh, preventing the first tally but creating a power play.
However, the home side was successfully able to work through two penalty-kills, and Vasilevskiy and Swayman, who fought one another on Feb. 1 in the Stadium Series game, kept it scoreless.
In the second period, Vasilevskiy stuffed Viktor Arvidsson’s early backhander on a breakaway, but Arvidsson later spun and slipped a pass to a trailing Mittelstadt, who sped all alone through the slot and drilled his 15th at 6:47.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay had just five shots and were outplayed in the frame.
D’Astous put his club on the board by recovering his own rebound and burying the tying goal at 2:11 into the third, giving him two goals and eight points over the past seven outings.
The Atlantic Division opponents continued the tight-checking theme throughout the matchup, which could potentially be a first-round one in the postseason, until Raddysh sent a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the right circle that bounced in off the inside of Swayman’s right arm at 14:29.
Kucherov potted No. 42 with Swayman out of the net at 18:27.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Yuliia Starodubtseva to face Jessica Pegula in Charleston final
Mar 1, 2026; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) hits a shot against Elvina Kalieva (USA) during her qualifying match during the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Yuliia Starodubtseva saved six of eight break points and stunningly stormed her way into the Charleston Open final with a 6-1, 6-4 takedown of fifth-seeded Madison Keys on Saturday.
The Ukraine native and former college standout at Old Dominion was a qualifier at this tournament before a withdrawal elevated her into the main draw. Now, she will have an opportunity to claim her first WTA title when she faces defending champion Jessica Pegula.
The top-seeded Pegula had 23 winners against 25 unforced errors while registering a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 over fourth-seeded Iva Jovic. All four of Pegula’s matches in Charleston have gone three sets.
Copa Colsanitas Colsubsidio
Top-seeded Czech Marie Bouzkova saved five of seven break points en route to posting a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over Argentina’s Jazmin Ortenzi to reach the title match in Bogota, Colombia.
Bouzkova had a 5-2 lead in the opening set, but Ortezni rallied to force a tiebreak before Bouzkova was able to prevail. She sailed through the second set to earn the championship match appearance against eighth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary.
Udvardy engineered an impressive rally for a 6-7 (8), 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Emiliana Arango of Colombia. The home country favorite led 5-2 in the third set before Udvardy won four straight games to take the lead and eventually win the match.
–Field Level Media
Sports
South Carolina, UCLA face off in national championship game
Apr 3, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) shoots the ball against the Texas Longhorns during a semifinal of the Final Four of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images PHOENIX — Perennial powers South Carolina and UCLA avenged recent setbacks in the semifinals of the NCAA women’s Final Four on Friday.
Each could do it again when they meet in the championship game Sunday afternoon.
UCLA (36-1) broke the Gamecocks’ 43-game winning streak in a 77-62 victory in their last meeting Nov. 24, 2024, when star center Lauren Betts had 11 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks.
“It was one of those games at home where we were really clicking on both sides of the ball,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of the most recent meeting, the Bruins’ only win in the five-game series.
Two seasons prior, South Carolina (36-3) beat the Bruins twice, the second time 59-43 in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen on March 25, 2003.
“I’ve been on both sides of that,” Close said. “What I remember is, the team that rebounds the best and defends the best down the stretch won both those games. I don’t think it is probably going to be that different.”
South Carolina is playing for coach Dawn Staley’s fourth national championship, her third in five years, in their sixth straight Final Four.
UCLA coach Cori Close is going for her first. The Bruins have not won in the NCAA era, although they did win the 1978 title while competing in the precursor AIAW. The Bruins are in their second straight Final Four after losing to UConn in the semifinals a year ago.
South Carolina made the finals with a decisive-at-this-level 62-48 victory over tournament No. 1 seed and undefeated UConn, which had beaten the Gamecocks by 23 in the 2025 championship game.
The Gamecocks won the rematch with an aggressive, active defense that limited the Huskies to 31.1% shooting. It was punctuated by a late-game exchange between Staley and UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who issued an apology Saturday for how he “handled the end of the game.”
“For me, no distractions at this time,” Staley said in response. “Concentrating on winning the national championship. That’s it.”
Ta’Niya Latson had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Agot Makeer scored 14 points, and two other Gamecocks scored in double figures against UConn.
Staley would be one of four coaches with four national championships.
“We’re going to be challenged because they are pretty methodical in how they want to cut you apart,” Staley said of UCLA. “They got bigs, they got shooters, they got a point guard that’s super smart.
“They’ve been together. They’re an experienced group that’s used to playing well with each other. They’re battle-tested. We got all of that that we’re up against.”
UCLA advanced with a 51-44 victory over Texas behind 6-foot-7 Betts’ 14th double-double, her blocked shot in the final 18 seconds, and a defense that held the Longhorns to 31% shooting. Texas handed the Bruins its only loss this season in Las Vegas on Nov. 26.
Betts, one of the five Bruins’ senior starters, is averaging 17.2 pointers and 8.7 rebounds.
“She brings about a great challenge,” Staley said. “A couple years ago you could kind of be real physical with her, she would kind of back down a little bit. Now she embraces it, right? Now she welcomes it.
“She can play off of it so well. You have to make a decision whether you’re going to double her, single-cover her, whether you’re going to triple her, then figure out how you’re going to scramble out of that and prioritize who because they can shoot the basketball.”
Kiki Rice (15.1 points), Gabriela Jaquez (13.3), and Gianna Kneepkens (12.8) provide complementary alternatives.
“Against a team like that, it’s going to be about our aggressiveness on both ends of the floor,” Betts said.
–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media
Darren Raddysh sets franchise record, as Lightning topple Bruins
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