Sports
Dillon Brooks, Suns seek to cool down streaking Cavaliers
Jan 29, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) reacts against the Detroit Pistons in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Phoenix Suns distributed “Dillon the Villain” T-shirts to fans on Thursday.
Dillon Brooks turned it into more than just a fashion statement.
Brooks scored a career-high 40 points and made four 3-pointers as the Suns opened a back-to-back set with a 114-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
“I didn’t want to disappoint and lose on my villain night,” Brooks said in a postgame TV interview.
The Suns on Friday night will host the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers, who are in a four-team scramble for the second seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Pistons. The Cavaliers have won a season-high five games in a row.
“I was just getting to my spots, something I work on every day,” Brooks said. “My teammates and my coaches are trusting my work, my shooting, and my scoring ability.
“I’m just in a flow state (as the game progress), just trying to keep scoring, keep playing hard, not give into the fatigue and try to win the game.”
Brooks added eight rebounds and four assists as the Suns won their second straight game without leading scorer Devin Booker (sprained ankle) while finding their outside shooting touch.
Collin Gillespie made five 3-pointers and Grayson Allen added four for the Suns, who were 16 of 42 from beyond the arc. They were 12 of 55 from long distance in the last two games.
Suns coach Jordan Ott said he was unaware of the Brooks T-shirt giveaway until afterward.
“We can give it away every night if it looks like that,” said Ott, a Cleveland assistant last season.
The Cavaliers blew out the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 129-99 in their most recent game Wednesday.
Cleveland has won seven of its past eight games as it enters the first contest of a five-game road trip that includes games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets.
Donovan Mitchell had a team-high 25 points Wednesday for the Cavaliers, who outscored the Lakers 72-44 in the second half. Second-year wing Jaylon Tyson had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds while making his eighth straight start alongside Mitchell.
“Our intensity level on both ends of the floor,” Mitchell said of the reason for the recent success in a postgame TV interview. “Not getting too high, not getting too low. Starting the games off strong. That is what we do, find ways to be connected and be together. And this guy (Tyson) has been phenomenal.”
Mitchell averages 29.4 points per game, fifth-best in the league, and has 170 3-pointers, one behind Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry for the league lead.
While Mitchell has been a constant, Tyson’s strong play has helped mitigate the injury losses of starting guard Darius Garland (toe) and center Evan Mobley (calf). Garland has missed the last seven games, and Mobley will sit out his second straight contest.
“There is a lot more required of both of us,” Mitchell said. “We’re ready to step up.”
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said he has been “blown away” by the play of Tyson, who is averaging 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 44 games (29 starts).
“It bodes really well for our future if we can get a 6-foot-7 wing, kind of a secondary playmaker,” Atkinson said.
The coach said he would not call the victory over the Lakers’ a “statement” win but did say there are “wins that feel better … LeBron (James) here, and it’s the Lakers. I think that’s important. You don’t want to go into this long, tough road trip with a loss.”
James, a longtime former Cavaliers star and fan favorite, was held to 11 points as he suffered his worst defeat in Cleveland as a visiting player.
–Field Level Media
Sports
JT Toppin, No. 16 Texas Tech outlast No. 1 Arizona in OT
Feb 14, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) dribbles the ball while Texas Tech Red Raiders forward LeJuan Watts (3) attempts to block him during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images JT Toppin had 31 points, eight of them in overtime, and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead No. 16 Texas Tech a 78-75 win over No. 1 Arizona on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
Toppin recorded his 16th double-double of the season for the Red Raiders (19-6, 9-3 Big 12), who have won three straight.
Arizona (23-2, 10-2) has lost consecutive games after starting the season unbeaten through its first 23 games.
Christian Anderson, who played all 45 minutes, finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Texas Tech.
Arizona had five players in double figures, led by 16 points from Tobe Awaka and Brayden Burries. Ivan Kharchenkov finished with 13 points, Jaden Bradley had 11 and Motiejus Krivas scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. .
Toppin scored Texas Tech’s first six points of overtime to give the Red Raiders a 72-69 lead with 2:34 left.
Burries made two free throws with 2:17 remaining in the extra period to cut that lead to one point before a 3-pointer by Donovan Atwell, who finished with 11 points, gave the Red Raiders a 75-71 lead with 2:03 left.
Awaka was fouled and he made both free throws with 1:37 remaining.
After Toppin made a shot in the lane, Awaka converted a putback to cut the lead to 77-75 with 59 seconds left.
Texas Tech had two offensive rebounds before LeJuan Watts was fouled with 4.5 seconds left. Watts made one of two free-throw attempts to give the Red Raiders a 78-75 lead.
A would-be game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer by Bradley was off the mark.
Trailing by seven with 3:15 left in regulation, Texas Tech went on a 9-0 run down the stretch, taking advantage of Arizona missing seven straight field-goal attempts.
After a missed layup by Bradley and a failed tip-in attempt by Krivas, Atwell made a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to give Texas Tech a 66-64 lead.
Kharchenkov was fouled and he made two free throws with 16 seconds left to tie the game. A last-second attempt by Anderson bounced off the rim and out.
Heralded Arizona freshman forward Koa Peat, who did not attempt a field goal, did not play in the second half because of a lower-body injury.
Dwayne Aristode, a freshman reserve for the Wildcats, was sidelined due to an illness.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Austin Hill holds the line at Daytona in NASCAR O'Reilly Series opener
Feb 14, 2026; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill (21) reacts after winning the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Austin Hill continued his mastery of NASCAR’s big tracks, dominating Saturday’s United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway — the Georgia native’s fourth win in this NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season-opener here in the last five years.
As typically happens on Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway, the outcome came down to the dramatic last few laps and the race was decided by a split second.
Although he started from pole position and led a race-high 78 of the 120 laps, Hill was tested all night — ultimately having to prevail on three restarts in the final 12 laps. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet beat 2024 season champion Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports in another Chevrolet to the finish line by a slight .081-seconds.
It marked the famed Richard Childress Racing team’s fifth consecutive win in this race, tying a mark set by Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 1990-94. It was Hill’s 15th career victory and 11th on a drafting style track.
Even after holding the lead for most of the event, Hill said after the race that he had some concerns following a mid-race green flag pit stop. At one point, he was fairly certain that he would end up on a wrecker unable to handle the tight draft and aggressive pushes the conclusion of this race so typically includes.
He dropped back to 12th, but the new tires he took and some choice maneuvering landed him right back into the mix up front.
“Just shows how good this team is,” Hill, 31, said of being able to pit late and out of sequence but still move forward when it mattered most. “It was a really tough decision to go from being 14th or wherever it was we re-started. But it just goes to show how good this team was. We had that re-start and no one was going middle, so I was like, ‘Sure I’ll take it.’ Drove right up through there.”
On the final restart with two laps remaining, Hill said he thought he may have misjudged one move.
“Luckily, I was able to make the block on the (number) seven (Allgaier), almost missed the block, and had to save the car,” Hill said. “After that, it was just hammer down and hope they didn’t get back to me.
“Daytona has just been so good to me,” said Hill, who swept both stage wins in addition to leading the most laps. “I love this place and it’s always fun to win.”
RSS Racing owner-driver Ryan Sieg finished third despite being caught up in a mid-race incident. Another owner-driver — Jordan Anderson Racing’s namesake Jordan Anderson — was fourth, followed by Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith.
Ryan Ellis, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Hill’s teammate Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth rounded out the top 10.
Love led 27 laps, second only to Hill, but got caught up in the frantic final laps — his ninth-place showing not truly indicative of his evening.
“At the end, I feel for my guys,” Love said. “They want to be where that 21 group (Hill) is. I’m still a step behind Austin. He’s so great at this craft. I feel like he’s a little more patient than I am right now, and I think that’s what my learning lesson is after tonight.
“I think I just wasn’t patient enough when I really needed to be. You know, taking Sammy (Smith) three-wide probably wasn’t the right move there. Made some other moves along the way in waning laps that I could have done about. I’ll look back at it and learn from it, and next week is a similar style of flow of things. I’ll try to take this learning lesson and bring that to Georgia.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 (5 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill, from Winston, Ga., is the defending race winner and has won five of the last seven races at his home track.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — United Rentals 300
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Saturday, February 14, 2026
1. (1) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 120.
2. (13) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 120.
3. (10) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
4. (17) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 120.
5. (12) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 120.
6. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 120.
7. (11) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 120.
8. (14) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 120.
9. (2) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 120.
10. (7) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 120.
11. (26) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 120.
12. (25) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 120.
13. (19) Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, 120.
14. (27) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 120.
15. (36) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 120.
16. (37) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 120.
17. (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 120.
18. (8) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 120.
19. (38) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 120.
20. (20) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 120.
21. (33) Daniel Dye(i), Ford, 120.
22. (30) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 118.
23. (23) Luke Fenhaus #, Ford, 117.
24. (5) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 116.
25. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, DVP, 107.
26. (4) William Sawalich, Toyota, DVP, 99.
27. (6) Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 99.
28. (9) Taylor Gray, Toyota, Accident, 99.
29. (24) Harrison Burton, Toyota, Accident, 98.
30. (15) Brandon Jones, Toyota, DVP, 92.
31. (3) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
32. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
33. (35) Natalie Decker, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
34. (31) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Engine, 77.
35. (18) Dean Thompson, Toyota, Suspension, 68.
36. (28) Nick Sanchez, Ford, Accident, 32.
37. (16) Giovanni Ruggiero(i), Toyota, Accident, 29.
38. (21) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.618 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 34 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.081 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Hill 1-6;W. Sawalich 7-8;A. Hill 9-34;J. Love 35-44;A. Hill 45-57;R. Caruth 58;A. Hill 59-80;S. Mayer 81-86;J. Anderson 87-90;R. Ellis 91;J. Love 92-97;S. Smith 98;J. Love 99-108;A. Hill 109-113;J. Love 114;A. Hill 115-120.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Hill 6 times for 78 laps; Jesse Love 4 times for 27 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 6 laps; Jordan Anderson 1 time for 4 laps; William Sawalich 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Ellis 1 time for 1 lap; Sammy Smith 1 time for 1 lap; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,2,1,7,31,00,18,25,51,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,1,7,18,88,99,8,51,27,31
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Sports
Reports: Padres agree to deals with RHP German Marquez, Griffin Canning
Jul 5, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher German Marquez (48) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The San Diego Padres agreed to a one-year deals with right-handers German Marquez and Griffin Canning pending physicals, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
Marquez has played all 10 of his MLB seasons for the Colorado Rockies. He owns a career record of 68-72 with a 4.67 ERA and 1.334 WHIP.
He earned his sole All-Star selection in 2021, in which he posted a 4.40 ERA, 1.272 WHIP, 176 strikeouts and a league-leading three complete games across 32 starts.
Marquez, who turns 31 on Feb. 22, starting just five games from 2023 to 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. He is looking to bounce back from an underwhelming 2025 campaign. Across 26 games, he went 3-16 with a 6.70 ERA, 1.710 WHIP, 48 walks and 83 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings pitched.
The metrics were concerning, as well. He ranked in the bottom five percentile in pitching run value (-42), fastball run value (-29), breaking run value (-11), xERA (5.81), xBA (.287) and strikeout percentage (14.0).
Pitching at Coors Field is a well-known challenge, and Marquez’s away splits are slightly better. For his career, he has a 5.17 ERA at home and a 4.22 ERA on the road.
Canning, 29, was 7-3 last season with a 3.77 ERA, 35 walks and 70 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings in 16 starts for the New York Mets. He ruptured his left Achilles tendon in June to end a solid start to his lone campaign with the Mets, who had signed him as a free agent.
He has a career mark of 32-37 with a 4.65 ERA, 218 walks and 553 strikeouts in 584 1/3 innings over 115 regular-season games (110 starts) for the Los Angeles Angels (2019-21, 2023-24) and Mets. Canning missed the 2022 season due to a back injury.
The Angels selected Canning in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of UCLA. He earned the Gold Glove for American League pitchers in 2020.
–Field Level Media
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 15, 2026
JT Toppin, No. 16 Texas Tech outlast No. 1 Arizona in OT
