Sports
Islanders avoid recent third-period woes, finish off shutout of Sabres
Nov 30, 2024; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju (10) fight for the puck during the second period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Anders Lee scored a power-play goal with 12:37 remaining in the second period and added an assist a little more than two minutes later as the New York Islanders avoided another collapse in the third period and earned a 3-0 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Elmont, N.Y.
Simon Holmstrom had his second career multi-goal game and second in as many games. He scored New York’s second goal and added an empty-netter in the final seconds.
The Islanders won for the third time in their past 11 games (3-4-4) and avoided an eighth loss when leading into the final 20 minutes. They squandered a 4-2 lead in Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss at Washington.
Lee had his second straight multi-point showing as the Islanders struggled to generate scoring chances at times and had a goal by Matt Martin disallowed due to an offsides call in the first period.
New York goalie Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his 19th career shutout. He highlighted New York’s first shutout of the season by doing a split in the crease to make a sprawling save on Dylan Cozens during Buffalo’s short-handed 2-on-1 rush with 18:49 remaining, then made four more stops when the Sabres had the extra attacker in the final minute.
Buffalo lost to the Islanders for the second time this season and dropped a third straight contest for the third time this season.
Buffalo goalie James Reimer made 17 saves in his second start since joining the Sabres.
Twenty seconds into their first power play, the Islanders ended an 0-for-14 skid thanks to Lee getting in good position in front. He went to the net, jostled Buffalo defenseman Owen Power off the puck, got a pass from Kyle Palmieri and used his backhand to redirect the puck by Reimer.
The Islanders took a 2-0 lead a little over two minutes later by finishing off a 2-on-1 following a Buffalo offensive zone turnover.
Defenseman Henri Jokiharju lost the puck at the blue line and Lee sped down the left side and found Holmstrom racing through the slot. Holmstrom finished the sequence by sending a shot that knuckled over a sprawled-out Reimer.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hawks try again, this time against Blazers, to reach elusive .500 mark
Feb 26, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Corey Kispert (24) goes to the basket between Washington Wizards guard Sharife Cooper (13) and forward Anthony Gill (16) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images The Atlanta Hawks will try to get to the .500 mark for the first time since December when they complete a five-game homestand by hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
Atlanta has won three straight games, including a pair of wire-to-wire victories over woeful Washington. The Hawks haven’t had a .500 record since Dec. 21 when they were 15-15. Since then, they’ve been within a game of break-even three times and failed to win.
Portland is coming off a 109-93 loss to Charlotte on Saturday afternoon. The Blazers are 1-1 on their five-game road trip and 6-4 over their past 10 games.
Atlanta and Portland are in similar places as far as the playoffs, with both fighting to avoid participating in the play-in tournament. The Hawks are tied with Charlotte for ninth in the Eastern Conference, two games behind No. 8 Miami. The Trail Blazers are No. 9 in the Western Conference, 2 1/2 games behind No. 8 Golden State.
“It’s not out of the question,” Atlanta’s Corey Kispert said. “We play these games for a reason. We’re going to let it rip, no matter who’s on the other side.”
The Hawks played without their two leading scorers on Thursday against Washington — Jalen Johnson (left hip flexor) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (sprained ankle). Both are listed as questionable for Sunday.
But the team’s new faces came out strong in the 126-96 win over the Wizards on Thursday. Kispert scored a career-high 33 points. CJ McCollum scored 25 and is averaging 18.6 points per game since Atlanta acquired him and Kispert in a trade with Washington. Jonathan Kuminga, who has played only two games since returning from a knee bruise, produced 27 and 17 points.
“It feels like even since I’ve been here we’ve kind of had a new team every couple of days,” Kispert said. “And now, with the roster set, we’re finally ready to go. We’re putting the pedal to the metal. We’re going to win some games. This is a really good group of guys, guys that want to win and play the right way.”
Portland’s Scoot Henderson, who grew up in the north Atlanta suburbs, has played nine games since missing the first 51 games with an left hamstring injury. He got his first start on Thursday and scored 12 points in a win over the Chicago Bulls. He has impressed coach Tiago Splitter since his return.
“He’s playing freely. I don’t think he’s second-guessing anything,” Splitter said. “He is playing great on defense, great on offense right now, pushing the pace, finding teammates. We expect more from him, as far as being young and still developing, but he’s done a great job after the injury.”
Portland’s Donovan Clingan returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing a game with an illness. The center is No. 3 in the league at 11.5 rebounds per game and has averaged 12.8 over the last five games. In that stretch, he had 18 in a win against Utah on Feb. 12.
Deni Avdija, who averages a team-leading 24.4 points per game, has missed the last three games because of injury management for his lower back. Shaedon Sharpe (21.4 points) has missed the last nine games and will miss four to six more weeks with a stress reaction of the left fibula.
The Trail Blazers have won the past three meetings against Atlanta, including a 117-101 decision on Jan. 15 in Portland.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Why Tiger Woods Playing the Masters Seems Unlikely
I think I’m getting ready to turn off mobile notifications for Tiger Woods’ tweets.
I must have turned them on sometime after the car crash in 2021, when he almost lost his leg and his remaining golf career hung by a thread. Or it could have been later on in 2023, as I waited to see how he’d address the ludicrous PGA Tour-LIV “merger” that never happened.
Really, I just want to hear when Woods will try to play again. But any golf fan knows the two kinds of Woods tweets.
1. The statement announcing he’s going to have another surgery. Or 2. The promotional post, for his foundation or something else.
I got a notification this week that Woods posted, only for it to be a retweet of his apparel brand, Sun Day Red. Did you know “The Pioneer Willow applies a clean blucher construction to our highest performance technology, built from the ground up to serve the athlete first”? Riveting stuff.
He didn’t tweet the week of the Genesis Invitational, perhaps too busy with his responsibilities hosting the event. But he knows how to make a headline, to keep the hype building.
That week, at Woods’ press conference in the capacity as host, he didn’t rule out playing the Masters in two months, or playing the PGA Tour Champions now that he’s 50, or captaining the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team. But the more you think about it, the more you see these as empty headlines. Not ruling it out means no decision has been made one way or another.
OK. Let us know when you know, I guess!
If anyone needs a brief refresher, Woods last played at the 2024 Open Championship. He had his sixth back surgery that fall for a nerve impingement, ruptured an Achilles while ramping up his training in March and had back surgery No. 7 for a disc replacement this past October.
As recently as December, he told reporters he could only chip and putt at that point, but he’s graduated to hitting full shots now. “Yeah, I’m able to. Not well every day, but I can hit them,” Woods said this month at the Genesis.
That’s why I’m skeptical about this Masters return.
He needs to be hitting full shots well, every day, by Round 1 on April 9. If not, his record streak of 24 made cuts will be in danger. The rest of the golf world is getting younger, more fit; Woods’ last three Masters finishes — 47th, WD after making the cut on the number, 60th — are his three worst since he was 20 years old.
I’m intrigued by the idea that he could sign up for the Champions Tour just to get a couple of rounds in while being allowed to drive a cart. Honestly, he’d be near the top of the leaderboard if not lapping the field, and it would send a bunch of people scrambling to figure out just how you can watch the old guys’ circuit.
But as his body breaks down, the real struggle for Woods has been to walk the course for four rounds, and as he’s said in the past, Augusta National is no breeze in that department.
So the not-ruling-it-out declaration was a salesman’s tactic from someone who’s been around the block and who knows the golf media and fandom all too well. Someone give me a ring if he’s playing in April. Notifications — off.
Sports
Lu Dort’s Antics Outshine Big Win for Oklahoma City Thunder
Luguentz Dort is a dirty player.
I’m not saying something entirely unheard of with this take. Dort, along with most players on the Thunder, benefit from a whistle not given to the rest of the league. Friday night’s matchup between the Nuggets and Thunder showed that at full effect.
This game was very physical from start to finish. These two teams do not like each other, and I feel much of that comes from the SGA vs. Jokic MVP debates. Jokic is probably the better player, but Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP last year and knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs.
Things are different this time around. Jokic has far more help than in years past. Denver isn’t quite fully healthy yet, but in spurts, you’ve seen what this team could do in the playoffs.
OKC and Denver met at the start of the month, but the Nuggets were still missing multiple role players, and Jokic had a bit of a down night in only his second game back from injury. Even still, we saw a level of chippiness in this one that you normally won’t see in the NBA.
What happened on Friday had been building for the better part of two seasons.
While trying to get back on defense on a made basket, Dort purposefully hip-checked and tripped Jokic, leading to a mid-court fight between Jokic and Jaylin Williams.
Dort was given a flagrant two and ejected from the game, something Coach Daigneault disagreed with. He claimed that any player who trips someone running up the floor should be ejected now that this precedent has been set.
In most cases, if something like this occurs, a player should probably be ejected. Rocket’s Tari Eason did something similar earlier this week, and it led to Vince Williams Jr. tearing his ACL. Physicality is great in basketball, but dumb plays like the one Dort made are dangerous and could potentially injure a superstar like Jokic.
Another key factor is that Dort doesn’t deserve any benefit of the doubt. This isn’t a one-off play. He’s a Draymond Green-like character who is always toeing the line between fair and foul.
Dort has countless plays like this. If you feel like he’s close to doing anything dirty, he should be removed from the game and fined, because he’s constantly committing non-basketball fouls.
The Thunder did go on to win in OT, but luckily, these teams meet again in less than 10 days, so I doubt this is the end of this beef.
Hawks try again, this time against Blazers, to reach elusive .500 mark
Why Tiger Woods Playing the Masters Seems Unlikely
