Sports
Hawks claim NBA Cup group with another win over Cavs
Nov 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang (20) attempts to block shot against Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter (12) during the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images De’Andre Hunter scored a team-high 23 points off the bench, helping lead Atlanta to a 117-101 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday as the Hawks clinched advancement in the NBA Cup.
Trae Young added 21 points and 11 assists for Atlanta, which beat Cleveland for the second straight game. Jalen Johnson chipped in 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who wrapped up the East Group C title with a 3-1 record when the Boston Celtics (3-1) beat the Chicago Bulls (2-2) later Friday night. The Cavs fell to 1-2 in Cup play.
Onyeka Okongwu scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Zaccharie Risacher had 11 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic tallied 10 points. Clint Capela added eight points and a team-high 13 boards.
Darius Garland paced Cleveland with 29 points while Evan Mobley had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell chipped in 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but shot just 5-for-23 from the field. The Cavaliers have dropped three of five since starting 15-0.
Leading 52-50 at halftime, Atlanta saw its lead climb to 12 — its largest to that point — as Capela and Johnson’s back-to-back baskets forced a Cleveland timeout with 6:06 left in the third.
After Mobley’s free throws trimmed the Cavaliers’ deficit to 82-71 at the 2:06 mark, the Hawks extended their advantage with a 9-0 run — including Okongwu’s three baskets — for a 91-71 lead.
With 6:04 remaining, Young’s fadeaway 3-pointer expanded Atlanta’s lead to 104-86, but a 6-0 Cavaliers’ run prompted a Hawks timeout at the 4:53 mark.
Mobley’s dunk cut the lead to 107-96, before Dyson Daniels’ shot clock-beating 3-pointer with 2:56 all but iced Atlanta’s win.
Atlanta turned the ball over five times in the first four minutes, forcing a Hawks timeout after Mitchell’s steal led to Mobley’s dunk, giving Cleveland a 16-8 lead.
Atlanta answered with a 21-11 run to finish the opening quarter, including Johnson’s triple that put Atlanta ahead 29-27.
After Mobley’s dunk cut Cleveland’s deficit to 41-38, Hunter’s 3-pointer and Johnson’s fastbreak slam forced a Cavaliers’ timeout with 3:03 left in the half.
Young’s floater extended the Hawks’ lead to 10 before Mitchell’s 3-pointer snapped his 0-for-10 shooting start from the field.
Trailing 52-41, Mitchell knocked down another triple before Garland’s back-to-back 3-pointers trimmed Atlanta’s halftime lead to two.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ramos powers Giants past host Nationals
Apr 17, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Francisco Giants infielder Luis Arraez (L) and Giants center fielder Drew Gilbert (R) walk back to the dugout after scoring runs on a two run single by Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (not pictured) against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Heliot Ramos hit a three-run home run, Drew Gilbert and Casey Schmitt added solo shots and the San Francisco Giants beat the Nationals 10-5 in Washington on Friday night.
Matt Chapman had three hits and drove in three runs for the Giants, who have won two in row.
Logan Webb (2-2) went six innings for the win, allowing four runs on seven hits.
After scoring three runs or less in five straight games, the Giants jumped in front with a six-run second inning.
James Wood and Daylen Lile homered, and Jose Tena had three hits for the Nationals.
Washington’s Zack Littell (0-2) gave up eight runs on 11 hits over four innings.
Schmitt and Jung Hoo Lee opened the second inning with singles and Ramos followed with his first homer of the season, a three-run shot to center, to make it 3-0.
After Daniel Susac singled and was thrown out attempting to steal, Gilbert walked and Willy Adames singled. Littell retired Luis Arraez on a groundout as both runners advanced, and Champman lined a single to left center to make it 5-0. Rafael Devers doubled over the head of Wood in right and the lead was 6-0.
The Nationals got one back in the third. Tena singled and went to third on a single by Keibert Ruiz. Wood struck out, but Brady House grounded into a fielder’s choice and Tena scored.
Gilbert homered leading off the fourth to make it 7-1. Adames doubled and went to third on a ground out. With the infield in, Chapman singled between short and third to increase the lead to 8-1.
Joey Wiemer singled leading off the bottom half and Lile homered to center to pull Washington within 8-3.
Lile walked with one out in the sixth and scored on a two-out single by Tena.
Schmitt homered in the seventh to make it 9-4, but Wood answered in the bottom half to make it 9-5.
Ramos walked with the bases loaded in the ninth to push the lead to 10-5.
Luis Arraez had two singles and has hit safely in each of his 12 career games at Nationals Park.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ryan McMahon the unlikely hero as Yankees edge Royals
Apr 4, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon (19) runs out a ground ball and is safe on a fielding error by the Miami Marlins during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Ryan McMahon hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees earned a 4-2 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
After not starting the game, McMahon entered at third base for Amed Rosario. Ben Rice kept the inning going with a two-out single, and McMahon snapped a 2-2 tie by sending a 2-1 changeup from Alex Lange (0-1) into the left field seats. McMahon’s homer sent left fielder Starling Marte back, but the wind appeared to carry it over the fence.
It was McMahon’s sixth hit in 43 at-bats this season — his first extra-base hit — and it occurred after manager Aaron Boone said the left-handed hitting McMahon was working on some things with his swing behind the scenes.
The Yankees have won five games in their final at-bat this year, which are their five most recent victories. McMahon drew a walk on Monday when Jose Caballero scored on a wild pitch by Jordan Romano in an 11-10 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
McMahon delivered his clutch homer after Camilo Doval (1-0) allowed a tying homer down the right field line by Vinnie Pasquantino. Doval quickly got the final out and David Bednar notched his sixth save.
Rice hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Michael Wacha as the Yankees did enough with five hits to win for just the third time in their past 10 games.
Before Doval faltered, New York’s Cam Schlittler allowed an unearned run on three hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked two while throwing mostly four-seam fastballs, sinkers and cutters among his season-high 93 pitches.
Schlittler pitched around a dropped fly ball by center fielder Trent Grisham in the sixth.
With one out and Maikel Garcia on first, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a fly to the warning track in center field in front of the New York bullpen. As Grisham settled under it, the ball caromed off his glove for a two-base error and Garcia advanced to third.
After allowing Pasquantino’s RBI grounder, Schlittler struck out Salvador Perez to end the sixth.
The Royals lost for the fifth game in a row and the eighth time in 10 games. Nine of those games have been decided by two runs or fewer.
Wacha allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked three.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Spirit, Team Vitality punch tickets to IEM Rio semifinals
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Spirit and Team Vitality kicked off the playoff stage at the $300,000 Intel Extreme Masters Rio event with quarterfinal victories Friday, moving into the final four in Brazil.
Spirit blanked MOUZ 2-0 and Vitality did the same to Natus Vincere. While the losing sides were eliminated, Spirit will meet Team Falcons and Vitality will oppose FURIA in the semifinals Saturday.
Sixteen Counter-Strike 2 teams are competing this week for a top prize of $125,000.
The double-elimination group stage began with two groups of eight teams, with all matches best-of-three. The group winners advanced to the playoff semifinals, with the group runners-up entering the quarterfinals as high seeds and the third-place teams entering the quarterfinals as low seeds.
In the single-elimination playoffs, all matches are best-of-three until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final.
On Friday, Spirit defeated MOUZ 13-5 on Dust II and 13-8 on Mirage. Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich of Belarus paced the winning side with 39 kills and a 1.86 match rating. Dorian “xertioN” Berman of Israel had 25 kills to lead MOUZ.
Meanwhile, Vitality rolled past NaVi 13-4 on Mirage and 13-6 on Dust II. Frenchman Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut starred for Vitality with 44 kills and a 1.92 rating. Ukraine’s Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov had a team-high 25 kills for NaVi.
Play continues Saturday with the two semifinal matches:
–Team Falcons vs. Team Spirit
–FURIA vs. Team Vitality
IEM Rio prize pool:
1. $125,000
2. $50,000
3. $30,000
4. $20,000
5-6. $12,500 — MOUZ, Natus Vincere
7-8. $7,000 — G2 Esports, Aurora Gaming
9-12. $5,000 — RED Canids, 3DMAX, B8, HOTU
13-16. $4,000 — Gentle Mates, Team Liquid, Passion UA, Legacy
–Field Level Media
Ramos powers Giants past host Nationals
Ryan McMahon the unlikely hero as Yankees edge Royals
