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Hornets face Pistons in search of 10th straight win

NBA: Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta HawksFeb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges (0) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Next on the to-do list for the Charlotte Hornets is picking up their 10th consecutive victory.

That will be the objective against the visiting Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

“It means the world because I’ve been through a lot with this team,” Hornets forward Miles Bridges said. “I’ve been through the lows, I’ve been to the play-in, and now I think we’re at the highest of our highs and want to keep going.”

It seems different even from rookie guard Kon Knueppel’s vantage point.

“We’re playing meaningful basketball, meaningful games,” Knueppel said. “And so every game, it’s going to be kind of looking at the standings and all that, and we’re battling for playoff position as we hit the home stretch of the season after the All-Star break.”

When the Hornets won 126-119 Saturday night at Atlanta, Bridges had 26 points and Knueppel had 23 points. Knueppel made six 3-point shots. That matched the Charlotte franchise’s longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.

The Hornets also claimed the longest active winning streak in the NBA.

The Pistons have been humming along as well, winners of six of their last eight games. That includes Friday night’s 118-80 home rout of the New York Knicks.

The Pistons hold the best record in the Eastern Conference, so this should be a challenge for the Hornets along the lines of their Jan. 31 home win over San Antonio and Thursday’s win at Houston.

“We’ve shown that we can beat teams that are good teams, playoff teams, and we want to keep that going,” Bridges said.

Charlotte has shown necessary elements that would allow it to rise in the standings. The Hornets have climbed from 12th to 10th in the Eastern Conference — the final play-in spot — during their winning streak.

“It’s about learning along the journey and embracing every part that comes with it,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “… The care factor in that locker room between the players. The ability to want to adapt. We’ve thrown a lot of different lineups at them.”

Cade Cunningham has been the big source of offense for Detroit, leading the team in scoring in five of the last eight games. He averages 25.1 points and 9.7 assists per game.

The Hornets will have to be attentive defensively, where they’ve shown improvement.

“The communication got better, our defensive execution and coverages were a lot cleaner,” Lee said of the most-recent game. “The physicality on the boards, it takes all five guys to participate.”

The Pistons also are working to see how newly acquired Kevin Huerter fits into the plans. He played late in the Knicks game and provided eight points in eight minutes.

“I don’t want to put him into a situation where he’s uncomfortable and he can’t succeed,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

Huerter played briefly in that game without a practice with the team. So the weekend should have provided an opportunity to groom him for whichever role he lands with the Pistons.

“We need to get some time so he can be successful when his number is called,” Bickerstaff said.

The Pistons will monitor the status of Jaren Duren, the team’s No. 2 scorer (17.7 ppg) and leading rebounder (10.5 rpg) who missed Friday’s game because of knee soreness.

On Monday, Detroit begins a stretch of four consecutive road games that will be interrupted by the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media

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Rockets' Alperen Sengun replaces Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in ASG

NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston RocketsJan 15, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) looks to pass the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) defends during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun on Sunday was named to replace injured Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Team World for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

The selection of Sengun, 23, was made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The All-Star Game will take place next Sunday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.

Sengun, of Turkey, earned his second consecutive All-Star selection after averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and a career-high 6.3 assists in 44 games (all starts) this season.

Gilgeous-Alexander, of Canada, is nursing an abdominal injury that has forced him to miss consecutive games heading into a road contest against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP last season, has been named an All-Star in four consecutive seasons.

–Field Level Media

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Lindsey Vonn undergoes surgery on broken leg suffered in downhill crash

Lindsey Vonn hospitalized in stable condition after downhill crashThis screen grab taken from a video shows Lindsey Vonn of the United States crashing during the women’s downhill on Sunday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — U.S. ski great Lindsey Vonn had surgery on a broken leg after her bold bid to win Olympic downhill gold with a ruptured knee ligament ended in a horrific crash after 13 seconds on Sunday.

Vonn was being treated in the Ca’ Foncello Hospital in the northern Italy city of Treviso after being flown there by helicopter after the high-speed crash in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

“In the afternoon, she underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilize the fracture sustained in her left leg,” the hospital said in a statement. A source told Reuters that she was being monitored in the intensive care unit where she could have more privacy, and stressed there was no threat to her life.

A helicopter took the 41-year-old to the hospital after she was strapped into a medical stretcher and winched off the sunlit slope.

It was the second time in nine days that she was airlifted off a mountain. She crashed in a World Cup race in Switzerland on Jan. 30 and suffered the ACL tear in her left knee.

Vonn, whose battle to reach the start line despite her knee injury dominated the opening days of the Milan Cortina Olympics, saw her unlikely quest halted in screaming agony on the snow.

Wearing bib number 13 and with a brace on the injured left knee, Vonn looked pumped up at the start gate.

She tapped her ski poles before setting off in typically aggressive fashion down one of her favorite ski runs on a mountain that has rewarded her in the past.

The 2010 gold medalist in the Vancouver Olympics and the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, Vonn appeared to clip the fourth gate with her shoulder, losing control and being launched into the air.

She then barrelled off the course at high speed before coming to rest in a crumpled heap.

Vonn could be heard screaming on television coverage as fans and teammates gasped in horror before a shocked hush fell on the packed finish area.

The helicopter took Vonn initially to Cortina’s Codivilla Putti Hospital for a medical assessment.

“The medical team responded immediately and the intervention time was excellent,” the International Olympic Committee said.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said everyone was thinking of Vonn.

“You are an incredible inspiration and will always be an Olympic champion,” she said.

The crash left the other skiers shaken.

“My heart goes out to her,” said Breezy Johnson, her U.S. teammate who won the first American medal of the Games. She had skied before Vonn, and her time held up as the other skiers attempted to better it.

“When you love the course so much and it hurts you like that, it hurts even more.”

Vonn had been hoping to become the oldest Alpine skiing Olympic medallist after winning two World Cup downhills this year and finishing on the podium in the other three.

Double Olympic gold medalist Tina Maze, working the race on TV for Eurosport, said Vonn had risked too much in her run.

“Of course if you’re not healthy then the consequences are even worse, but we know all Lindsey,” she said. “It’s her decision that she wanted to do this no matter what.

“It’s really tough for everyone here to see this and especially for her family and her teammates and everyone working with her. I mean it’s terrible.”

Vonn’s sister, Karin Kildow, said she Lindsey put her “whole heart” into racing at the Olympics, especially as it was being staged on a course she loves so much.

“That’s definitely the last thing we wanted to see,” she told NBC. “When that happens, you’re just immediately hoping she’s OK, and it was scary.”

“She dared greatly, and she put it all out there.”

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

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Patrick Reed continues hot run, wins Qatar Masters by 2 shots

Golf: LIV Golf ChicagoAUG 08, 2025; Bolingbrook, Illinois, USA; Patrick Reed of the 4Aces GC watches his shot on the on 14th hole during the first round of the LIV Golf Chicago tournament at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

After departing LIV Golf last month and with his return to the PGA Tour not set until this summer, all Patrick Reed has done in the interim is win tournaments.

Reed won the Qatar Masters on Sunday in Doha at 16-under-par 272, following his 2-under 70 in the final round of the DP World Tour event. It is the American’s second tournament victory in three weeks after he won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.

It nearly was three trophies in three weeks, but Reed lost in a playoff during last week’s Bahrain Championship.

“This little run I’ve had, two wins and a second, it’s awesome,” Reed said. “We couldn’t ask anything more than what we did. It’s special, to come out here especially to get two wins early on in the season, and hopefully there’s a lot more to come.”

Calum Hill of Scotland finished in second place at 14 under after shooting a 5-under 67 in the final round, while Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen (71) and American Johannes Veerman (68) tied for third at 13 under.

“Golf feels good at the minute (and) it was nice to have a really good week last week,” Hill said. “… Today it was a different story, it was a big chase. You’re trying to get as much on the field as you can and then hopefully Patrick didn’t go too far away.”

Reed was 1-over par over his first nine holes Sunday but was able to hold off the hard-charging Hill with birdies on three of the first four holes on the back nine. He came home with four consecutive pars to win on the European Tour for the fifth time in his career.

Since leaving the PGA Tour in 2022, Reed won one LIV Golf tournament in June of last year at Dallas. The 2018 Masters winner has won nine times on the PGA Tour, with the last in 2021 at the Farmers Insurance Open just outside of San Diego.

Reed’s latest victory was in doubt early after he carried a two-shot lead into the final round. That was erased when Olesen had a birdie on the first hole and Reed posted a bogey on his second hole to create a tie at the top of the leaderboard.

Oliver Lindell of Finland charged into the lead with six birdies and two bogeys over his first eight holes. Lindell, who finished tied for sixth at 12 under, fell by the wayside with a double bogey 6 at the 15th hole that took him to 3 over on the back nine at the time.

“It wasn’t looking very good there on the front nine,” Reed said. “To lose the lead like that and then to be able to kind of flip the switch there on the back nine obviously felt amazing.”

Veerman made a late run with five birdies over his final nine holes before Reed showed a steady hand to close out his round.

“I feel amazing,” Reed said. “This one hasn’t fully sunk in yet but today, with how stressful the day was, I was very proud because it very easily could have gotten away from me. The golf we’ve played since basically the offseason has been some stellar golf. I feel really confident in my golf game right now.”

–Field Level Media

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