Sports
Chicago Cubs Might Get Used to This Frontrunner Thing
Is the race to win the National League Central already over?
You’re not supposed to start a story with a question. They teach you this stuff in journalism school, or at least they did back in the olden days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and we communicated our thoughts about sports by etching random shapes like torpedo bats on the sides of caves.
Anyway. No question marks in the lede. That was the norm.
But the Chicago Cubs are breaking their norm this season, and maybe we should follow suit.
For 109 years, the Cubs have called Wrigley Field home. It’s a lovely ballpark tucked into a vibrant neighborhood, and even though recent renovations have replaced the area’s old-timey charm with a more modern and sterile (and expensive) vibe, there’s still nothing like an afternoon at Wrigley.
One of the many things to love about the stadium is that for decades and decades, it has been a pitcher’s park. And it has been a hitter’s park.
It all depends on the month.
In the early season, before the ivy turns green on the outfield wall, the park traditionally has favored pitching. It can be quite cold in April in Chicago, and the persistent winds off Lake Michigan can knock down fly balls without remorse.
Next comes the transition to warmer temperatures, and by the heart of the summer in late June, July and August, the ball absolutely jumps off hitters’ bats at Wrigley. A routine fly ball to left in some other ballpark easily can end up sailing over the wall and landing in the famed bleachers.
Pretty simple, right?
Cold games in the early season, less offense. Hot games in the heart of the summer, more offense.
Except this season already is different in Chicago. It’s the first week of May, and the Cubs are scoring runs as if July 4 is right around the corner.
Through their first 36 games, the Cubs rank first in the majors in batting average (.262), third in on-base percentage (.338) and third in slugging percentage (.456). That adds up to a .794 OPS, which trails only the New York Yankees (.811) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (.795).
The Cubs rank first in hits, fifth in doubles, first in triples and third in home runs. Oh, and by the way, they lead the majors with 46 stolen bases in 53 attempts.
Runs! We almost forgot runs. They entered Tuesday with 217 runs, which ranked first in the majors. The Yankees are second with 190 runs, which is substantially behind Chicago’s pace.
All of this is happening in the time of season when the Cubs are supposed to face their greatest challenges to score. If they’re doing this now, imagine what they might do when it’s 95 degrees and the sun is beating down.
Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said he and his teammates were scoring in a variety of ways.
“I mean, it’s incredible,” Kelly said after Monday’s 9–2 win over the San Francisco Giants. “You see it today — putting pressure on other teams could lead to some errors and could start a rally. I think that’s what’s so dynamic about this team is we have it in all different aspects.”
It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek to suggest that the NL Central playoff race is over, but the Cubs are in prime position to run away with the division as the season carries on.
Entering Tuesday, the Cubs were 22–14 and had a four-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers. They had a five-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals and a 10-game lead over the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.
Adding to the advantage is that the Cubs are finished playing the Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks for the rest of the regular season. The rest of their NL West schedule features six games against the Colorado Rockies and five games against the Giants.
So the Cubs have defied the odds to start the season as an offensive powerhouse. They’ve created separation against an NL Central division that does not seem to have a monster lying in wait, although the Reds are young and exciting. And they’ve already wrapped up their regular-season games against some of the tougher teams in the league.
Come the trade deadline, they are the team in the NL Central with the most ability to increase their payroll if they so choose. Their group down the stretch could be even stronger than the group they have today.
Is the race over?
It’s a valid question, even if this is just the beginning of the Cubs’ 2025 story.
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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