Connect with us

Sports

Hornets perform in clutch vs. Hawks, win 9th in a row

NBA: Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta HawksFeb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots over Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James (4) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Moussa Diabate scored six straight fourth-quarter points, including a pair of thunderous dunks, to spark the visiting Charlotte Hornets to their ninth straight victory, a 126-119 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

WIth Charlotte trailing 110-109 with 6:31 remaining, Diabate made two free throws and threw down back-to-back slams to give the visitors a five-point lead. Atlanta could never catch up but had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds left when Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed a 3-pointer.

The Hornets were led by Miles Bridges with 26 points and Kon Knueppel with 23 points, including six 3-pointers, and eight rebounds. LaMelo Ball added 19 points and nine assists. Diabate finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Zaccharie Risacher scored 18 and Onyeka Okongwu, who returned from missing four games with a facial fracture, had 16 points and six rebounds.

The Hornets matched their longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.

Atlanta led by nine with 2:42 left in the first quarter, but the Hornets cut it to 35-32 by the end of the quarter. Charlotte tied the game on a three-point play by Ball at 11:21, setting off a back-and-forth period that ended with the game tied 60-60 at halftime. There were 13 lead changes and four ties in the first half.

The Hornets, behind nine points from Ball, scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and took a 98-90 lead into the final period. A 3-pointer by Ball gave Charlotte a 101-92 lead, but Atlanta went on a 16-4 run to take a 108-105 lead on a 3-pointer by Risacher with 7:55 left.

The Hornets lead the season series 2-1 and ended a three-game losing streak in Atlanta. The teams meet for the final time on Wednesday in Charlotte.

Atlanta’s newly acquired Buddy Hield and Gabe Vincent were available but did not play. The team said Jonathan Kuminga, the other player who came over in the trade, will be out until the All-Star break with a left knee bone bruise.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

No. 14 North Carolina hits last-second shot to upset No. 4 Duke

NCAA Basketball: Duke at North CarolinaFeb 7, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Caleb Wilson (8) with the ball as Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Seth Trimble hit a 3-pointer for No. 14 North Carolina’s with 0.4 seconds left for the Tar Heels’ only lead of the game to knock off No. 4 Duke 71-68 on Saturday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

There was a delay to clear the floor following a court storming before Duke had a chance to inbound. North Carolina scored the game’s final nine points.

Caleb Wilson racked up 23 points, Trimble finished with 16 and Henri Veesaar posted 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels (19-4, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) wiped out a six-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Cameron Boozer scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but Duke’s 10-game winning streak ended. Dame Sarr notched 13 points and Isaiah Evans had 11 points for the Blue Devils (21-2, 10-1).

Wilson shot 8-for-12 from the field and his 6-for-6 free-throw shooting marked more made foul shots than the Duke team (5-for-6).

North Carolina used a 7-2 spurt to close within 64-60 and then Wilson missed a jumper with a chance to tighten the score.

Derek Dixon and Veesaaar hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and the Tar Heels were even at 68-68 with 1:40 left. A Duke miss was followed by a North Carolina timeout and turnover.

Duke took a timeout at the 39-second mark. Boozer missed and the Tar Heels regained possession and used a timeout with 10 seconds left before Trimble’s winning shot on his only 3-point attempt of the game.

Buoyed by an 11-2 closing stretch, the Blue Devils were up 41-29 at halftime, but they were battling foul trouble. That closing burst included Cayden Boozer’s first 3-point basket in five games.

Duke shot 53.3% (16 of 30) in the half — making 10 of its first 13 shots — compared to North Carolina’s 33.3% (9 of 27).

Duke center Patrick Ngongba II picked up his fourth foul with 15:37 to play, with Wilson already at the 21-point mark (after 17 by halftime).

Duke broke out to an 18-5 lead, but the Tar Heels closed within 22-20 courtesy of a 9-0 run. Wilson had 11 of North Carolina’s first 19 points.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

FURIA, Team Vitality advance to grand final at IEM Krakow

Syndication: Arizona RepublicA backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.

Jordan Woodruff

FURIA and Team Vitality posted semifinal victories Saturday to advance to Sunday’s grand final at the Intel Extreme Masters Krakow tournament in Poland.

In the first semifinal, FURIA handled Team Spirit 2-1, then Team Vitality swept MOUZ 2-0 to move on to the grand final.

The $1 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament started with 24 teams, with 16 teams advancing to a double-elimination group stage involving best-of-three matches. The group winners earned spots in the playoff semifinals and the group runners-up and third-place teams advanced to the quarterfinals.

The playoffs consist of a single-elimination bracket of best-of-three matches until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $400,000, and the runner-up will get $180,000.

On Saturday, FURIA opened with a hard-fought 16-13 victory in overtime on Mirage, but Team Spirit evened it up with a 13-8 win on Dust II. FURIA bounced back to advance on a 13-7 victory on Nuke. Danil “molodoy” Golubenko of Kazakhstan guided FURIA with a 65-44 kill-death ratio.

Team Vitality had a much easier time, posting a 13-7 win on Nuke and a 13-6 victory on Dust II to quickly finish off MOUZ. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut of France led the way for Team Vitality, notching a K-D ratio of 40-19.

The tournament continues Sunday with two matches:

–Grand final: FURIA vs. Team Vitality

–Third-place match: Team Spirit vs. MOUZ

Intel Extreme Masters Krakow prize pool

1. $400,000

2. $180,000

3. $100,000

4. $60,000

5-6. $40,000 — Aurora Gaming, G2 Esports

7-8. $24,000 — Astralis, Team Falcons

9-12. $16,000 — Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, FaZe Clan, 3DMAX

13-16. $10,000 — The MongolZ, PARIVISION, BC.Game Esports, NRG

17-20. $4,500 — GamerLegion, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, paiN Gaming

21-24. $2,500 — Passion UA, Legacy, B8, HEROIC

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Defending champ Alex Hall 1 of 3 US skiers through to slopestyle final

Olympics: Freestyle Skiing-Slopestyle QualificationFeb 7, 2026; Livigno, Italy; Alex Hall of the United States during slopestyle freestyle skiing qualification during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Livigno Snow Park. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

LIVIGNO, Italy — Olympic medalists Alex Hall of the United States and Jesper Tjader of Sweden made it through the freeskiing slopestyle qualifying round at the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday to set up a showdown in next week’s final in the Italian Alps.

Hall, the defending champion, was one of three Americans to make the field of 12 who will compete for medals in the mountain town of Livigno, near the Swiss border. His teammates Mac Forehand and Konnor Ralph also advanced.

The 27-year-old Hall sounded relieved after securing his spot in Tuesday’s final after two smooth runs under sunny skies.

“It’s always nerve-wracking during the qualifiers,” Hall said. “There is a little bit of strategy involved. You don’t want to show all your cards. You don’t want to try something too hard that you might not land.”

“In the finals, you just go all out,” he added.

The slopestyle event features skiers who slide across rails and perform aerial tricks to impress the judges with difficulty and originality. The best score from each of the two runs determines the rankings.

Tjader, the bronze medalist at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, tumbled off a rail in his initial run, putting him in danger of elimination. A strong second run vaulted the 31-year-old to third place.

“Everybody did amazing runs so I really had to step up to make the final,” Tjader said. “I’m really proud of my run. I did a few new tricks that I haven’t done on a slopestyle run before.”

Norway’s Birk Ruud, the first men’s rider of the day, executed a flawless performance and finished at the top of the pack on Saturday.

“I was just all in on the first one,” the 25-year-old said. “I was focused as if it was my only chance. It felt awesome.”

Ruud finished just ahead of fellow Norwegian Tormod Frostad. Compatriot Sebastian Schjerve finished 11th to also advance.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading