Sports
Kevin Durant carrying Suns as Grizzlies pay a visit
Dec 28, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) waits for play to resume against the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Phoenix superstar Kevin Durant is calling for a “next-man-up” mentality as the short-handed Suns prepare to host the equally depleted Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night.
After a bright start to the season, Phoenix has lost five of its past six games, including Saturday’s 109-105 defeat against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
The Suns led by nine points midway through the fourth quarter before floundering down the stretch.
Devin Booker was sidelined for the fifth game in a row with a left groin strain, forcing fellow All-Star Durant again to carry out the bulk of the heavy lifting.
“We definitely miss Book, you can’t replace what he brings to the team,” Durant said. “But when the game starts, we can’t think about that. We’ve got to have a next-man-up mentality. We want championships here in Phoenix. Moral victories don’t matter.”
Durant’s 31-point haul was offset by a season-high eight turnovers, including three in the final six minutes.
The 2014 MVP knows opposition defenses will continue to focus on him down the stretch, but that won’t stop him trying to make big plays.
“I’m playing against the whole team every time I get the ball,” Durant said. “I’m trying to make something happen late in the clock. Sometimes there’s four or five seconds left on the clock; what do you think a team is going to do when I get the ball with four seconds left in the game? They’re all sent out to try and stop (me), so I’m trying to make something happen.
“I’m trying to be aggressive through all of that, and I’m not going to let a couple turnovers take away my aggressiveness because my team needs me to score the ball, especially right now with the circumstances we’re in.”
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer wants his side to give Durant more room to work his craft.
“We talk about the spacing, we talk about clearing space for him – we’ve just got to continue to work on it,” Budenholzer said. “… The spacing has got to be a bit better.”
Grayson Allen (concussion protocol) is expected to return on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Bol Bol (left knee contusion) and Royce O’Neale are doubtful against Memphis. O’Neale was spotted in a walking boot after spraining his left ankle late in the first half against Golden State.
The Grizzlies will likely be without Ja Morant again as he deals with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.
Morant sat on the bench with his arm in a sling, while Zach Edey (concussion) was also absent, as Memphis slumped to a 130-106 blowout road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
Not much went right for the Grizzlies, who are in the middle of a challenging schedule.
The Arizona visit continues a five-game road swing for Memphis, which plays twice at home out of 11 games either side of the new year.
“We still have a lot of basketball ahead on this trip,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We’ve just got to find ways of getting better. We’ve been playing in crowds, turning it over too much – that’s something that we’ve got to really improve on, and our pace has got to improve.
“There’s some things we’ve got to clean up.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Giants sending DT Dexter Lawrence to Bengals for No. 10 overall pick
New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (97) gestures during a Thursday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Oct. 9, 2025. The New York Giants have traded three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick overall in Thursday’s draft, according to multiple reports on Saturday night.
Lawrence, 28, requested a trade last week and did not report to the Giants’ offseason program, with reports that discussions over a contract extension had reached an impasse.
The Giants have their original first-round pick at No. 5 and now No. 10.
NFL Network reported on Saturday that the Bengals will be giving Lawrence a contract extension. He is set to earn a base salary of $18.5 million in 2026 and is under contract through 2027 but with no guaranteed money remaining.
A 2019 first-round pick (17th overall) out of Clemson, Lawrence has recorded 341 tackles, 30.5 sacks and 103 quarterback hits in 109 games (102 starts) over seven seasons in New York.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2022 through 2024, but not last season when he started 17 games and had 31 tackles, 0.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits and one interception.
Cincinnati already added to its defensive line with offseason signings of former Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe to a three-year, $60 million contract and former Vikings tackle Jonathan Allen to a two-year, $25 million deal.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Galaxy rally from 2-0 deficit, earn draw with FC Dallas
Apr 18, 2026; Frisco, Texas, USA; LA Galaxy forward Joseph Paintsil (28) dribbles the ball as FC Dallas forward Petar Musa (9) defends during the first half at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images The visiting LA Galaxy erased an early 2-0 deficit with a pair of late first-half goals and then choked off the FC Dallas offense in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas.
Lucas Sanabria got LA (2-3-3, 9 points) on the board and Joseph Paintsil equalized three minutes into first-half stoppage time. It appeared that Dallas (3-1-4, 13 points) snapped the tie when Kaick tallied in the 75th minute, but the goal was nullified for offsides.
Petar Musa collected a brace for Dallas, giving him nine goals on the year and enabling him to take the MLS goal-scoring lead over Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Nashville’s Sam Surridge. But the Galaxy kept him in check after halftime.
Musa needed just seven minutes to start the scoring, with the help of a horrific turnover by LA captain Maya Yoshida. Attempting to boot the ball laterally to a teammate in his end, Yoshida instead squibbed the ball right to Musa.
Given plenty of time and space to make his move, Musa measured goalie JT Marcinowski and calmly booted the ball into the lower left corner from just outside the box.
Dallas controlled the ball for most of the half, bolstering its advantage in the 38th minute via a nice buildup inside the Galaxy zone. Logan Farrington crossed from the left side and a sliding Musa poked it past Marcinowski.
Sanabria pulled one back in the 43rd minute as his shot from the top of the box deflected off the shoe of a Dallas defender and eluded goalie Michael Collodi at the right post.
Paintsil, playing his first match of the year after sitting out the first eight with injury, made it level via a fine feed from Gabriel Pec. Left open in the box, Paintsil wired a shot over Collodi and under the crossbar.
Dallas tried 11 shots to LA’s nine as it stretched its unbeaten string to five matches. Both teams got five shots on frame.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Minnesota United blank Timbers for 3rd straight win
Apr 18, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota United FC forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) shoots the ball as Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman (20) and defender Brandon Bye (5) defend during the first half at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tomas Chancalay had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota United won their third match in a row with Saturday night’s 2-0 victory against the Portland Timbers at Saint Paul, Minn.
Kelvin Yeboah scored the other goal, making it three matches in a row that he has a goal for the Loons (4-2-2, 14 points). Minnesota goalkeeper Drake Callender made two saves for the clean sheet.
Yeboah has half of his team’s 10 goals in MLS play. He’s the team’s only player with more than one goal.
James Pantemis made five saves for Portland (2-5-1, 7 points), which fell to 0-4-0 in road matches.
Chancalay scored his first goal of the season in the 16th minute off Jefferson Diaz’s assist.
Yeboah’s goal in the 60th minute capped a fastbreak with a short-range shot after Chancalay provided the final pass. Chancalay has four assists this year.
Portland has surrendered two or more goals in each of its last three road matches.
The Timbers began a busy stretch that includes several road assignments with a largely solid game despite failing to score. They held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks and a 55%-45% possession advantage, but Minnesota outshot the visitors 17-12, including 7-2 on shots on target.
The teams played to a 1-1 draw last August in the same stadium.
Portland stays on the road next Saturday, visiting San Diego FC. Minnesota plays twice next week, visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday before hosting LAFC on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
Reports: Giants sending DT Dexter Lawrence to Bengals for No. 10 overall pick
Galaxy rally from 2-0 deficit, earn draw with FC Dallas
