Sports
Home to close, Spurs push to end series with Blazers in 5
Apr 26, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) reverse dunks the basketball during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Victor Wembanyama is back in full force as the San Antonio Spurs head home looking to finish off the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series.
The Spurs claimed a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series Sunday with a 114-97 come-from-behind win in Portland. If the Trail Blazers win Tuesday, they can force Game 6 in Portland on Thursday.
De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points in Sunday’s win and Victor Wembanyama had 27 in his return from a concussion. He sat out the second half of Game 2 and all of Game 3 due to concussion protocol. Wembanyama also had 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals in Sunday’s victory.
Stephon Castle scored 16 points for the Spurs. He’s dealing with an injured left hand and was in foul trouble in Game 4, when Devin Vassell added 11 points. San Antonio trailed by 19 points following a ragged second quarter but dominated after halftime, outscoring Portland 73-35.
“We need to find the answers, you know, before having our back against the wall,” Wembanyama said. “But that also shows the strength of our team. In adversity, we stick together, we get closer to each other. We feed off of each other’s energy. There’s no useless drama between us. You know, we thrive when we do the invisible efforts that benefit others. There’s no jealousy. There’s no nobody cares about their stat line, so it’s our greatest strength.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson has witnessed a maturation process with his young team that became more evident with the road playoff win. The next step might prove most difficult — closing out the No. 7 Blazers.
“This gives you a lot of takeaways,” he explained. “A lot of feedback on things you got to be better on and improve upon, and try to not put yourself in a position when you got to dig yourself out of a hole. We have to continue to balance that attack mentality, starting off games while still anchoring to our fundamentals and discipline of game plan, execution.”
Deni Avdija had 26 points in Game 4 to rebound from his poor shooting in the previous two games. Avdija was 8-of-31 shooting combined in Games 2 and 3. The Blazers will need him on his game along with Scoot Henderson, who had a season-high 31 points in the Trail Blazers’ Game 2 win in San Antonio but missed all seven of his shot attempts Sunday.
A hot start could do wonders for Portland’s confidence Tuesday following abysmal second-half showings in Portland.
“We knew they were going to come out and be more aggressive,” Avdija said. “We expected it. I just think coming out the half, we didn’t make shots, and they went on a run. Suddenly, you look up at the scoreboard, and it’s a closer game.”
Portland coach Tiago Splitter said his team would go back to work to try to find a solution and extend the series.
“I think the guys fought hard,” Splitter said. ” In the second half, we mentally kind of like broke down, couldn’t get over the fact that we were up, and then they just came back to the game. Didn’t shoot the ball well, turned over the ball.
“We’ve got to hold our composure and be more present. I tried to, you know, slow down a little bit but couldn’t find a solution. It’s all of us, coaches, players we all got to be better. We got to win every game that we have in front of us, and we’re going to fight one by one.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: LIV Golf postpones New Orleans event in June
Jun 28, 2025; Carrollton, Texas, USA; The LIV Golf logo near the first tee during the second round of the LIV Golf Dallas golf tournament at Maridoe Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images So much for “full throttle.”
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said earlier this month that LIV’s season would continue “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” The Athletic and other outlets reported on Monday that the LIV Golf Louisiana event in June will be postponed.
Per the reports, O’Neil and Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development Susan Bourgeois spoke on Friday and agreed to postpone the June 25-28 tournament in the wake of news that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was preparing to pull funding from LIV.
The two sides hope to plan “a re-envisioned event in the fall,” per The Athletic. NOLA.com reported that LIV is exploring a “smaller, exposition-style tournament” in New Orleans in the fall. LIV Golf’s team championship in late August is the last event currently scheduled.
LIV Golf did not reply to The Athletic’s request for comment.
For the June event at New Orleans’ Bayou Oaks in City Park, Louisiana was to spend about $7 million, with $5 million to go to hosting fees and roughly $2 million to improve the course. The course improvements have gone as planned, but only about $3 million overall had been spent as of last week.
Per The Athletic, the parties agreed that LIV would return the $1.2 million it received from Louisiana, while the state would accept the $2 million spent on the course as an improvement to a state asset.
Meanwhile, O’Neil and LIV Golf are attempting to raise funds to help the league amid the possibility of losing PIF funding after 2026.
Part of the plan involves selling equity in the 13 LIV Golf teams, according to The Athletic. Partnering with national opens is also on the table as the league explores methods to improve the league.
As of Monday, the LIV Golf Virginia event at Trump National Golf Club is scheduled to begin May 7 outside Washington, D.C.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Prosecutors to introduce additional charges in Terry Rozier case
Mar 31, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) and guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) celebrates during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images In court Monday to seek a dismissal of federal charges, former Miami Heat point guard Terry Rozier learned prosecutors are expanding the case against him with intentions to present new charges to a grand jury.
Federal prosecutors informed Rozier’s legal team two hours before a court appearance on Monday that they plan to bring new charges alleging Rozier committed crimes of bribery and fraud, depriving the Charlotte Hornets and NBA of “honest services” when he conspired to produce a specific ill-gotten result for the financial benefit of an alliance of acquaintances and bettors.
The new charges will not automatically expand the federal case against Rozier. A grand jury would weigh new evidence presented before deciding whether it merits being added to the case.
Rozier, 32, pleaded not guilty in December to conspiracy charges involving wire fraud and money laundering.
He successfully fought for his $26.6 million salary from the Miami Heat before his release became official earlier this month. The Heat placed Rozier on administrative leave and began depositing his paychecks into an interest-bearing escrow account shortly after his Oct. 23 arrest.
Rozier is accused of alerting gamblers that he would leave a game early while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in March 2023. The gamblers then bet large sums on the “under” for Rozier’s stats in that contest.
Rozier averaged 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 64 games (23 starts) for the Heat last season. His career averages through 10 NBA seasons for the Boston Celtics, Charlotte and Miami are 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mets-Nats to feature punchless offenses vs. generous pitching
Apr 26, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets third baseman Bo Bichette (19) talks with catching coach J.P. Arencibia (68) following a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images No team in baseball has scored fewer runs than the New York Mets. And no team in the National League has allowed more runs than the Washington Nationals.
Something will have to give starting Tuesday, when the skidding Mets host Washington in the opener of a three-game series between the longtime National League East rivals.
Clay Holmes (2-2, 2.10 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Zack Littell (0-3, 7.56) in a battle of right-handers.
Both teams were off Monday after concluding a three-game series Sunday. The Mets continued slumping as they were swept in a doubleheader by the visiting Colorado Rockies, who won the opener 3-1 before recording a 3-0 victory in the nightcap. The Nationals recorded a series win by edging the host Chicago White Sox 2-1 in 10 innings.
The wins by the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Mets and dropped them to 2-15 since April 8, the worst 17-game stretch for the club since New York went 2-15 from Aug. 28 through the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 13, 2004.
The Mets are 9-19 overall, tied with the division rival Philadelphia Phillies for MLB’s worst record entering Monday. The 28-game start is tied for the worst in franchise history, while New York’s 92 runs are the sixth fewest through 28 games and its fewest since the 1981 team that had 88 runs while starting 8-19-1.
Offense may remain hard to come by for the Mets, who will be without Francisco Lindor and Jorge Polanco — their Opening Day leadoff and cleanup batters, respectively — indefinitely. Lindor is out with a strained left calf, while Polanco is battling left Achilles and right wrist ailments.
“We’ve got to continue to go through it and find ways to get the guys going,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “There’s no other way to put it. I can sit here and tell you guys a lot, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out and do it.”
The series against the White Sox indicated the Nationals might be in the process of figuring out their pitching issues. Although Washington has given up the second-most runs in the majors entering Monday (171, three behind the Houston Astros’ 174), the Nationals surrendered just nine runs against the White Sox despite going to extra innings in each of the last two games.
That’s the second fewest Washington has allowed in a three-game span this season, behind the eight runs it gave up while taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs and the Phillies from March 29-31.
Two of the White Sox’s four runs over the last two games came in extra innings, when the automatic runner is placed at second.
In addition, the win and save Sunday were recorded by Richard Lovelady, who began the season with the Mets, and Paxton Schultz, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester prior to the series finale.
“This team works, they get after it,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “We’ve made some mistakes, no doubt, along the way. But the one thing I couldn’t be more proud (of) is just the way these guys have worked every single day.”
Holmes didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Wednesday, when he allowed two runs over seven innings in the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Littell took the loss Wednesday after giving up eight runs (six earned) over six innings as the Nationals fell to the Atlanta Braves 8-6.
Holmes is 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA and one save in six career games (one start) against the Nationals. Littell is 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA in seven games (one start) against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
Report: LIV Golf postpones New Orleans event in June
Prosecutors to introduce additional charges in Terry Rozier case
