Sports
Natus Vincere, Aurora set to fight for title at ESL Pro League Season 23
The hands of an esport gamer clutching the controler at Encore Esports Gaming Lounge in New Rochelle on Thursday, December 20, 2018.
E Sports
Neither took the easy route, but Aurora Gaming and Natus Vincere are the last two teams standing at the ESL Pro League Season 23 Main Event at Stockholm.
Natus Vincere opened Saturday’s semifinals with a 2-1 win over FUT Esports, with Aurora following with its own 2-1 win, against Astralis.
The eight-team Counter-Strike: Global Offense event features a $275,000 prize pool. The single-elimination bracket consisted of best-of-three matches until Sunday’s grand final, which will be best-of-five. The championship side will receive $100,000.
Natus Vincere’s semifinal win was noteworthy in that the Ukrainian outfit was the last of the eight teams to advance to the main event out of online qualifying. After opening Saturday’s match with a 13-5 win on Mirage, Natus Vincere lost 13-11 on Ancient as FUT forced a winner-take-all third map. Natus Vincere took the map — 13-7 on Dust II — to advance and relegate FUT to Sunday’s third-place match.
Natus Vincere 67 kills and a plus-30 kill-death differential from Romanian Mihai “iM” Ivan. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri of Kosovo netted 51 kills. Romania’s Laurentiu “lauNX” Tarlea had 44 kills but a minus-4 differential as no FUT member had a positive differential.
Aurora, like Natus Vincere was one of the sixth- through eighth-place teams from the online tournament. Aurora had an even more difficult time in the semis, losing 13-11 on Nuke to open the match against Astralis. That forced Aurora in need of a reverse sweep in order to make the grand final … which they got, winning 13-2 on Dust II and 13-10 on Inferno.
Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalcin led the all-Turkish Aurora squad with 57 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Love “phzy” Smidebrant of Sweden led Astralis with 41 kills but had a minus-6 differential. Victor “Staehr” Staehr of Denmark had 39 kills and a plus-2 differential — the only Astralis player in the black — in the loss.
ESL Pro League Season 23 Main Event schedule
Sunday
–Astralis vs. FUT Esports (third-place match)
–Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere (grand final)
ESL Pro League Season 23 prize pool
1. $100,000
2. $55,000
3. $37,500
4. $22,500
5-8. $15,000 — Team Spirit, Legacy, The MongolZ, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lakers edge Nuggets in OT Luka Doncic's last-second shot
Mar 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) controls the ball while under pressure from Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images Luka Doncic hit a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left, and the host Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-125 in overtime on Saturday night.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season. With its fifth straight win, Los Angeles clinched the season series against Denver.
Austin Reaves had 32 points, including a bucket in the final seconds of the fourth to send it to overtime. Marcus Smart added 21 points and LeBron James scored 17 for the Lakers.
Smart’s fifth 3-pointer of the night gave Los Angeles a 125-123 lead with 30 seconds left in overtime. Nikola Jokic tied it with 15.1 seconds left but Doncic’s 17-foot fadeaway won it for the hosts.
Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season and fifth in his last six games. Aaron Gordon finished with 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 20, Cam Johnson scored 18 and Bruce Brown and Christian Braun had 12 apiece for the Nuggets.
Both teams struggled to hit shots in the overtime before Deandre Ayton’s floater gave the Lakers a 122-120 lead. Gordon hit Denver’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, to make it 123-122, setting up the final moments.
Hardaway’s 3-pointer to open the fourth gave the Nuggets a 90-87 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game, and then went ahead 106-98 with 5:13 left.
It was a seven-point Denver lead when Doncic hit a 3-pointer and drained three free throws with 1:57 left to tie it at 109. Gordon hit a corner 3-pointer, Reaves made a driving layup and Smart had a steal and layup to give the Lakers a 113-112 lead with 47 seconds left.
Hardaway hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Nuggets back in front, and Gordon split a pair of free throws to make it 116-113. It was 118-115 when Reaves was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He made the first, intentionally missed the second, got the rebound and scored to send it to overtime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lakers top Nuggets in OT Luka Doncic's last-second shot
Mar 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) controls the ball while under pressure from Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images Luka Doncic hit a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left, and the host Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-125 in overtime on Saturday night.
Doncic finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season. With its fifth straight win, Los Angeles clinched the season series against Denver.
Austin Reaves had 32 points, including a bucket in the final seconds of the fourth to send it to overtime. Marcus Smart added 21 points and LeBron James scored 17 for the Lakers.
Smart’s fifth 3-pointer of the night gave Los Angeles a 125-123 lead with 30 seconds left in overtime. Nikola Jokic tied it with 15.1 seconds left but Doncic’s 17-foot fadeaway won it for the hosts.
Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season and fifth in his last six games. Aaron Gordon finished with 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 20, Cam Johnson scored 18 and Bruce Brown and Christian Braun had 12 apiece for the Nuggets.
Both teams struggled to hit shots in the overtime before Deandre Ayton’s floater gave the Lakers a 122-120 lead. Gordon hit Denver’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, to make it 123-122, setting up the final moments.
Hardaway’s 3-pointer to open the fourth gave the Nuggets a 90-87 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game, and then went ahead 106-98 with 5:13 left.
It was a seven-point Denver lead when Doncic hit a 3-pointer and drained three free throws with 1:57 left to tie it at 109. Gordon hit a corner 3-pointer, Reaves made a driving layup and Smart had a steal and layup to give the Lakers a 113-112 lead with 47 seconds left.
Hardaway hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Nuggets back in front, and Gordon split a pair of free throws to make it 116-113. It was 118-115 when Reaves was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He made the first, intentionally missed the second, got the rebound and scored to send it to overtime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lasse Johnsen's debut goal helps Kansas City earn 1st win at Galaxy
Mar 14, 2026; Carson, California, USA; Sporting Kansas City defender Jayden Reid (99) handles the ball while LA Galaxy midfielder Marco Reus (18) defends during the first half at Dignity Health Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images Dejan Joveljic scored a goal against his former team and Lasse Johnsen also scored in his MLS debut as Sporting Kansas City earned a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy for their first win of the season Saturday at Carson, Calif.
John Pulskamp made four saves as Sporting KC (1-2-1, 4 points) doubled its goal total on the season after they were shut out twice over the first three weeks. It was the first victory with Sporting KC for new head coach Raphael Wicky.
Marco Reus scored a late goal and Novak Micovic had two saves for the Galaxy (1-2-1, 4 points), who lost their second consecutive MLS match after starting the season with a draw and a win.
Los Angeles played without midfielder Gabriel Pec, who was given a red card in last Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids. Pec scored three goals in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match Wednesday.
Joveljic, who scored 34 goals with the Galaxy from 2021-24, delivered his third of the season just before halftime when he moved into the penalty area, made his way around a Los Angeles defender and scored with his right foot past Micovic.
Johnsen, who was acquired in February from Malmo FF in Sweden, had his debut delayed by visa issues but made the wait worthwhile when he scored in the 74th minute. His score came off a touch pass from Joveljic.
Johnsen’s goal proved pivotal when the Galaxy finally got on the scoreboard in the 82nd minute after an offensive flurry when Pulskamp made a diving save and saw two subsequent shots hit off the right post before Reus was finally able to deliver his first of the season on a header.
Los Angeles forward Joao Klauss was replaced by a substitute in the 63rd minute and held without a goal for the first time in four regular-season games with his new club. Klauss was acquired from St. Louis City FC in a January transfer.
–Field Level Media
