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
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware help Heat rout Wizards
Apr 4, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) defends during the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 32 points, and Kel’el Ware matched his career high of seven blocks, leading the host Miami Heat to a 152-136 win over the Wizards on Saturday afternoon.
The Heat (41-37) also got 24 points and a game-high 19 rebounds from Ware. Miami led by as many as 35 points before taking out its starters.
Washington, which has lost 21 of its past 22 games, was led by Will Riley’s 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting. The Wizards, who have the NBA’s worst record at 17-60, also got 20 points from Sharife Cooper and 19 points from Jaden Hardy.
Bam Adebayo, who burned Washington for 83 points on March 10 – the second-greatest total in NBA history – was held to 14 points this time. The Heat are just 4-8 since he had his 83-point game.
Norman Powell, who leads Miami in scoring (22.1), missed his second straight game due to illness and fourth in a row overall.
Jaquez made 12 of 18 shots as part of his busy weekend. He plans to be in Phoenix on Sunday to watch his sister, Gabriela Jaquez, play for UCLA in the women’s basketball national championship game against South Carolina.
Jaime Jaquez helped UCLA to the Final Four in 2021, but his team lost the semifinal to Gonzaga in overtime.
There were 10 lead changes in a first quarter that ended with Miami on top, 36-32. Miami shot 57.1% and went 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Washington shot just 44.4%, including 2-of-4 from deep, but the Wizards remained close due to a 7-0 edge on second-chance points.
Adebayo, who had 31 first-quarter points on March 10, was held to five on Saturday.
Miami, though, dominated the second quarter, shooting 68.2% to take a 77-57 lead into halftime. Washington shot just 31.0%. Jaquez led all second-quarter scorers with 12 points.
The Heat went over the century mark with 5:40 left in the third on a 3-pointer by Simone Fontecchio, giving Miami a 102-76 lead. By the end of the quarter, Miami led 122-91.
Miami finished with a season high in points. The franchise record of 153 was set last season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
How Los Angeles Lakers Might Need Bronny James in NBA Playoffs
The Los Angeles Lakers just can’t catch a break.
After Luka Doncic’s regular season ended with a hamstring injury, the Lakers just got another dose of brutal injury luck. Austin Reaves is also done for the remainder of the remainder of the regular season due to an oblique strain.
There’s no timetable for Doncic or Reaves, arguably the best two Lakers players, to return. Of course, Los Angeles will remain hopeful that they can play in the NBA Playoffs, but there’s still five more regular season games to get through before those decisions.
For years, a viral internet social media post that reads, “accidentally became important at work and it’s ruining my life,” has become quite the viral meme.
For Lakers point guard Bronny James, that meme might’ve turned into a reality.
Could Bronny really play in the postseason?
Without Doncic or Reaves, Luke Kennard is the only healthy ball handler in Los Angeles that has gotten consistent minutes throughout the regular season. Of course, LeBron James is a ballhandler and can efficiently run an offense – but that takes him out of his current role.
There’s a real world, if Doncic and Kennard can’t suit up, that Bronny could end up playing significant minutes in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Lakers coach JJ Redick has been trusting Bronny a bit more in his second NBA season. As a rookie, he played in just 27 games. This year, he’s already appeared in 37 games. That could be as many as 42 games – especially with the new need for a point guard in Los Angeles.
Bronny averaged just a tick under eight minutes per night when he was called on to enter action for the Lakers this season. He’s played a much bigger role for the South Bay Lakers, where Bronny has played six games this season. In those 14 G League appearances, Bronny has averaged 15 points per game.
That’s not exactly the sort of production that screams to the Lakers that the 21-year-old is ready for action in the NBA Playoffs. The lights are brighter, the pace is faster and the game is way more physical in the postseason.
But out of necessity, could Redick find himself desperate?
In reality, Bronny isn’t going to see postseason minutes. The Lakers still have Kennard and Jake LaRavia would be ahead of Bronny in a playoff rotation if push came to shove.
The Lakers are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Right now, they’d be matched up with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. However, there’s still more than one week in the regular season, and the seeding can change with all of this injury news.
Before his injury, Doncic was playing at an MVP level. LeBron has enjoyed his role as “OG in residence,” contributing as a consistent third option with Doncic and Reaves handling the workload every night.
If Doncic and Reaves can’t suit up for Game 1 of the postseason, James is back to being the No. 1 option for the Lakers.
In that scenario, nobody should be surprised if Bronny gets a few minutes of run in the postseason. If the Lakers find themselves with their backs against the wall without their best two players against an athletic Anthony Edwards or a talented Houston Rockets team, they might as well bank on chemistry and genetics.
Sports
Five Early 2026 MLB Takes That Might Already Be True
Mar 24, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) on deck in the fourth against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images A week of games is never enough time to evaluate anything in Major League Baseball.
Unless, of course, it is enough time.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will win the N.L. West by 25 games.
This is more of a first impression of the rest of the division, and not even a “if everything goes perfectly” projection. But if the Dodgers win 110 games, which seems not far-fetched, second place needs to go 85-77 for a 25-game margin. That seems about right for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, and don’t even bother worrying about the San Francisco Giants or Colorado Rockies winning more than 85. (Seventy-five? Sixty-five?)
The record margin for winning a division is 23.5 games by the 1995 Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, which came in a strike-shortened season. The top mark for a full season is the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who won the AL West by 20 games, finishing with a 116-46 record. If the Dodgers win that many, they’ll take the West by 30.
Or more.
The San Francisco Giants will lose 95 games.
It’s going to take new manager Tony Vitello a moment to adjust to the big leagues after serving his apprenticeship in college.
But the Giants have had a questionable roster composition all along, which should make everyone also question how long it’s going to take team president Buster Posey to transition from team legend as a catcher to credible as a major league executive.
Brian Cashman will win Executive of the Year for running it back with the New York Yankees.
source: Getty Images The Yanks are 6-1 having played the Giants (oof), Seattle Mariners (middling start) and Miami Marlins (OK, but still meh) so far, not exactly a Murderer’s Row schedule. But they look pret-ty, pre-ty good, especially with Aaron Judge not having to carry them. And without having pitchers Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt on the active roster yet because of injury rehab.
New players include only left-hander Ryan Weathers, backup outfielder Randal Grichuk and Rule 5 reliever Cade Winquest. Well done, Cash! It’s not a World Series champion yet, of course…
You might have heard about rookie catcher Carter Jensen oversleeping and being scratched from the lineup Thursday afternoon. Jensen has a bright future if he’d just literally wake up.
Well, back in Spring Training, KC social media produced a TikTok video asking their players how many alarms and snoozes it takes for them to wake up. The answers varied, but the best one (and also the worst) came from Jensen.
“This is embarrassing,” Jensen began. “I need at least, like, six-to-eight alarms. It’s not good.”
It was all right there in the TikTok scouting report. When people tell you who they are, believe them!
The ABS system will be good for all parties, as long as umpires keep their cool.
Hawk-Eye tracking cameras are positioned around the stadium. Five cameras are used to track pitches. Additional cameras around the stadium are used to track player position and ball location. Major League Baseball is testing an Automated Ball-Stike (ABS) challenge system at select spring training parks. The system allows players to challenge a limited number of ball/stike calls during a game. Calls can be overturned if the pitch tracking technology shows an umpire got a call wrong. On a cold and wet night Wednesday, a hot mic caught umpire Andy Fletcher complaining about the Minnesota Twins challenging his strike zone.
“For God’s sake,” Fletcher whined after one of 11 challenges went up, including nine by the Twins — who were right about eight of them.
As they challenged, the Twins chipped away at an 11-run deficit, losing 13-9 to the Royals but bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle in the ninth. It would have been a less competitive game without ABS.
“There will be some umpires that have an ego behind it,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers told reporters. “But at the end of the day, I think most of them understand that it’s part of the game now.”
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware help Heat rout Wizards
How Los Angeles Lakers Might Need Bronny James in NBA Playoffs
