Sports
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers ready to feast on porous Jazz defense
Jan 1, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dunks the ball during the first quarter against the Utah Jazz at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images It’s tough to find an NBA team currently playing better basketball than the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers enter Tuesday’s clash with the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City as winners in eight of their last nine games — the league’s best run over the last three weeks. It has thrust a team seemingly bound for the NBA Draft lottery back into the playoff picture.
Los Angeles comes off its most dominant win in that stretch, a 126-89 blasting of Brooklyn on Sunday behind 28 points from Kawhi Leonard. Helped by 21 first-half points from Leonard, the Clippers led by as many as 38 points in the second quarter.
Leonard has been the catalyst for success after Los Angeles endured a rough start to the season. The Clippers are 13-2 in his last 15 games in the lineup and have won six straight with the veteran forward on the court. He has appeared in 32 games and averaged a career-high 28.1 points on 49.8% shooting from the field. Leonard has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 24 games.
The win over Brooklyn was Leonard’s second game after missing three games with a knee contusion. He returned to the lineup three days earlier and scored 24 points to power a 112-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“It was good, it was basketball,” Leonard told The Athletic following the win over the Lakers. “Same thing. Go out there and play. When you’re out there, try to make plays, be aggressive.”
Utah is on a much different trajectory as January winds down.
The Jazz are just 3-11 this month with one win in their last seven games. Porous defense has been a persistent culprit as the losses pile up. Utah has allowed opponents to score at least 123 points in each of its last 10 losses, which puts the squad last in the NBA with 127.8 points allowed per game.
Saturday’s 147-116 home loss to Miami offered another low point in those defensive struggles. In addition to surrendering 19 3-pointers as the Heat shot 40.4% from long distance, the Jazz also got hammered by a 64-34 count on the boards. Miami’s 26 offensive rebounds led to 23 second-chance points.
“Just got obliterated on the glass,” Utah coach Will Hardy told the Deseret News after the game. “You lose the glass by 30 and give up 26 offensive rebounds, there’s not really a pathway to winning in that game.”
Jusuf Nurkic continued to be a bright spot for the Jazz as Saturday he became the first player in franchise history to log a triple-double in three consecutive games. He finished with 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes against the Heat.
Before his current three-game streak, Nurkic registered one triple-double in his career — on Jan. 16, 2019, when he still played for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Utah and Los Angeles split the previous two games in the season series. The Jazz prevailed 129-108 at home in the season opener for both teams, then the Clippers won 118-101 on New Year’s Day in Inglewood, Calif.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Apr 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) gaol against there Dallas Stars in the first period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist for the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 6-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series on Saturday.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, and Mats Zuccarello had three assists for the Wild, who are trying to win their first playoff series since 2015 after getting eliminated in the opening round eight times since then.
Jesper Wallstedt got the start over Filip Gustavsson and the rookie made 27 saves for Minnesota.
Jason Robertson scored and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, which lost Game 1 of its first-round series 5-1 against the Colorado Avalanche last season before rebounding and eventually reaching to the Western Conference Finals.
Minnesota was on the first power play of the game when Zuccarello passed the puck from above the left faceoff circle to Boldy just below the goal line. He made a touch pass to Eriksson Ek cutting into the slot area and Ek scored with a one-timer from the left hash marks for a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period.
Minnesota scored 56 seconds into the second period to extend the lead to 2-0.
Kaprizov received a pass along the wall in the Dallas zone after he was left alone coming down the right side. He had room to skate just below the right faceoff dot before scoring shortside with a wrist shot for his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise for the most in franchise history.
Brock Faber shot a bouncing puck from just above the left circle that Hartman redirected into the net from in front of the crease to make it 3-0 at 3:28.
Boldy made it 4-0 at 6:30 when he tapped in a loose puck from the side of the net.
Robertson backhanded the puck into the net from in close while on a power play to cut it to 4-1 at 15:10 of the second period.
Eriksson Ek tacked on a power-play goal at 8:13 of the third period to make it 5-1, and Boldy scored into an empty net with 3:08 left for a 6-1 lead.
Game 2 is Monday in Dallas.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Brayan Rocchio hit a three-run homer and Gavin Williams pitched seven strong innings to lead the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Bo Naylor also homered for the Guardians, who won for just the second time in the past five games. Cleveland had just three hits.
Williams (3-1) struck out 11 and allowed one run, three hits and one walk. It marked the second time this season and sixth time overall that he has struck out 10 or more in a game.
Cade Smith fanned the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson (two hits) hit solo homers for Baltimore, which had just four hits while losing for the fourth time in the past five games.
Dean Kremer (0-1) pitched six innings for the Orioles and gave up three runs and two hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Baltimore’s Pete Alonso and Colin Cowser struck out in all four at-bats. Dylan Beavers fanned three times as 16 Orioles went down on strikes.
Taveras came up with one out in the fourth and drilled a 1-0 curveball from Williams over the fence to right for the game’s first run.
Meanwhile, Kremer tossed 4 1/3 no-hit innings and his walk to Rhys Hoskins was followed by Daniel Schneemann’s line single to right. After Naylor fanned, Rocchio jumped on a 2-2 fastball from Kremer and deposited the ball over the fence in right to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.
Williams picked up where he left off after the Taveras homer by retiring the final 11 batters he faced.
Hunter Gaddis replaced Williams and Henderson touched him up for a one-out solo shot to right in the eighth.
But Naylor got the run back leading off the bottom of the inning when he launched a 1-1 changeup from Albert Suarez into the bleachers in right.
Smith fanned Beavers, Cowser and Taveras while closing it out as Cleveland gained a 2-1 edge in a series that concludes Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick rules AdventHealth 400 qualifying, collects another pole
May 11, 2025; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) races during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A fourth victory from the pole position would suit Tyler Reddick just fine after the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota prevailed in Saturday’s highly competitive qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.142 seconds (185.300 mph) to claim his third pole of the season, his second at Kansas and the 14th of his career.
In doing so, Reddick edged his car owner, Denny Hamlin (185.179 mph), by 0.019 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the ninth NASCAR Cup Series race of the year.
The pole was the fifth in the last six Kansas races for Toyota drivers.
The 2026 season already has been a remarkable one for Reddick, who won the first three races and added a fourth victory March 22 at Darlington Raceway. Reddick’s last three wins have come from the pole position: at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (starting on metrics after a qualifying rainout), Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Darlington.
Should Reddick win on Sunday, he would become the fourth driver in Cup Series history –and the first since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 — to win five of the first nine events of a season. Reddick tops the series standings with a 62-point edge over second-place Ryan Blaney.
“We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta,” Reddick said of his and his team’s ability to convert qualifying speed into race wins. “COTA, obviously I felt like the 12 (Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run (really helps). So, Darlington, same thing.
“Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short-run speed that we have, appears to be all there today.”
Bristol winner Ty Gibbs and defending series champion Kyle Larson posted identical times (29.192 seconds for 184.982 mph) and will start third and fourth, respectively, with Gibbs getting the nod on owner points. Larson is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe qualified fifth at 184.938 mph as Toyotas claimed four of the top five starting positions. Carson Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
