Sports
Knicks look to limit SGA in rematch vs. Thunder
Mar 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is guarded by New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images The last time the New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder squared off, Knicks coach Mike Brown had some things to say about Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after the game.
“SGA, he’s a tough cover, and he does a great job of convincing the referees — probably better than anyone in the league — that he’s getting hit,” Brown said after Oklahoma City’s 103-100 win March 4.
Sunday, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder take on the Knicks at home in a key game for both teams in the playoff race.
In that earlier meeting in New York, Brown was assessed a technical foul late in the first quarter after he felt Gilgeous-Alexander should’ve been called for a foul as Jalen Brunson defended him.
That would’ve been the third foul on Gilgeous-Alexander, who ultimately finished with 26 points and picked up just one more foul the rest of the way.
Sunday’s game is the second in a four-game road trip for the Knicks, who fell 114-103 in Charlotte on Thursday to snap a seven-game winning streak.
New York (48-26) comes into Sunday’s matchup 1.5 games behind Boston for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and two games ahead of Cleveland for the No. 3 spot.
Late in Thursday’s loss, Brown went with Mitchell Robinson on the floor instead of Karl-Anthony Towns.
“The guys are starting to trust me a lot more,” Robinson said. “They’re putting trust in me, so I’m telling them what I see and things that I think we can get better at. Being more vocal, it’s coming naturally.”
The Thunder (58-16) are coming off an 18-point win over Chicago on Friday, their 13th win in 14 games.
But Oklahoma City has needed to keep on a roll to try to hold off surging San Antonio for the No. 1 overall spot in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams has missed 45 games due to various injuries this season, but he is starting to find some sense of a rhythm three games after returning to the lineup from another extended absence.
Williams had 18 points, eight assists, and six rebounds in Friday’s win.
“That was nice getting back to how I usually play,” Williams said. “That was a good — a really big — step forward.”
As one of the primary ballhandlers alongside Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams’s progress affects the rest of the team offensively as well.
“They have to focus on him. When he’s being aggressive, getting downhill like that, it opens everything else up,” Isaiah Joe said.
Joe added: “He’s a hell of a player, and he’s getting his legs back, and he’s looking good.”
The Knicks have been without Landry Shamet for three games with a right knee injury, and though Shamet doesn’t appear close to returning, Miles McBride does appear to be nearing a return.
McBride hasn’t played since Jan. 27 due to a sports hernia but has recently returned to practice and could return as soon as Sunday.
Oklahoma City was without All-Star Chet Holmgren (right hip contusion) in Friday’s win.
–Field Level Media
Sports
New blood: Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca all reach French QFs
Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – May 31, 2026 Spain’s Rafael Jodar in action during his fourth round match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta. With Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic eliminated in earlier rounds, there’s room for a youth movement at the French Open.
No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany is the new favorite and advanced to the quarterfinals handily Sunday, but he was flanked by Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca as all three youngsters extended their Grand Slam dreams with impressive victories in Paris.
Mensik, Jodar and Fonseca — the 26th, 27th and 28th seeds — are aged 20, 19 and 19, respectively.
Two days after stunning Djokovic, Brazilian phenom Fonseca felled Norwegian 15th seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-2 in the fourth round. Ruud is a clay-court specialist and two-time finalist at Roland Garros.
“It was tough. Casper plays good here,” Fonseca said in his on-court interview. “He’s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here in this amazing court. He has two finals, so it was tough in the beginning, but I played really good in the important moments in the first and second set. I was very happy because of that.”
Fonseca and Ruud had matching totals of 51 winners and 52 unforced errors, but Fonseca saved 7 of 9 break points while managing to break Ruud four times.
Neither Fonseca nor Mensik had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before Sunday, and now one of them is guaranteed to make their semifinal debut as they’re set to square off in the next round. Mensik, from the Czech Republic, also won in upset fashion as he outlasted Russian 11th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 2-6, 6-3.
Mensik finished with a 69-45 edge in winners and survived committing 65 unforced errors to Rublev’s 36 in the three-hour, 45-minute affair.
Earlier in the day, Spanish rising star Jodar rallied from two sets down to oust veteran countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Carreno Busta lost the first three games of the match, but steadied and won the final five of the first set to stun the youngster. He carried that momentum in the second set, sprinted to a 4-0 lead and hung on to take a two-set edge.
But Jodar would not face a break point in the final three sets. He won 38 of 47 (80.9%) of his first serves in that span. In the deciding set, the No. 27 seed broke the veteran at love in the fourth game and eventually won on his fifth match point of the eighth game.
“It’s difficult because he has a great backhand,” Jodar said after the match. “When we’re playing cross with the backhand, it’s difficult to change because he’s playing deep in the court. I tried not to rush the shots and not make a lot of unforced errors. I think that was the key in the first two sets, so I tried to change that.”
Jodar won his ATP-leading 19th match on clay this season.
He and Zverev will meet for the first time on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals, after Zverev cruised past Dutchman Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
Zverev has become the heavy favorite to win his first Grand Slam title. He lost two years ago to Carlos Alcaraz in the finals in Paris.
He fell behind de Jong 3-0 in the first set, but broke in the fifth game and held steady to send it to a tiebreaker. Zverev again fell behind 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but reeled off seven consecutive points to take all of the momentum into the rest of the match.
“In the beginning, it was a bit difficult,” Zverev said. “I didn’t start off strong and he started off really fast and really well. But once I found my rhythm, I felt very comfortable on the court and that’s the most important thing for me. I feel like my game is there, now it’s about showing it on the match court.”
Zverev struck 43 winners and committed only 26 errors.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Emma Clarke homer powers Tennessee past Texas Tech in WCWS
May 30, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers infielder Emma Clarke (13) hits a walk-off home run in the ninth inning beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the NCAA Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images Emma Clarke’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning ended a deadlock and gave Tennessee a walk-off 2-1 win over Texas Tech Saturday in a winner’s bracket game at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Clarke, who had been 0-for-3 when she stepped up to bat lead-off in the ninth, lifted pitcher Kaitlyn Terry’s hanger to deep left, making short work of any late inning dramatics.
Tennessee (49-10) also got a solo home run from Taelyn Holley against Nijaree Canady in the fifth inning.
The two dingers proved enough for starting pitcher Karlyn Pickens and reliever Sage Mardjetko, who combined to surrender one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and five walks over nine innings.
Texas Tech (58-8) got on the board to tie things up in the seventh when Taylor Pannell led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a walk, stole third base and then finally reached home when Desirae Spearman hit a sacrifice fly to center. Tennessee center fielder Sophia Knight made a strong throw home and Pannell was initially ruled out before the play was challenged and overturned when replays showed catcher Elsa Morrison missed the tag.
But that was it for scoring for the Red Raiders, who could only manage just one extra-base hit, a double by Mia Williams.
Tennessee advances to the semifinals of the tournament. The Red Raiders will now face UCLA (53-9) in an elimination game Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rain washes out qualifying, Denny Hamlin to start on Nashville pole
May 30, 2026; Lebanon, Tennessee, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin (11) will start from the pole tomorrow at Nashville Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images LEBANON, Tenn. — Intermittent light rain showers forced the cancellation of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Nashville Superspeedway, resulting in Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin starting from pole position in Sunday night’s Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Championship points leader Tyler Reddick will start his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota alongside Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota on the front row as Toyota hopes to earn its first ever series win at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
Last week’s Charlotte race winner Daniel Suarez will start third in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with JGR’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and two-time and reigning series champion Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet) rounding out the top five on the 38-car grid.
Defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, will start his No. 12 Ford seventh.
Bell, who was fastest in the practice session, said he didn’t expect the cancelled time trials to make a big difference in either the run of the 400-miler or ultimately the outcome of the race. Especially with the field getting some time on track with practice.
“Well, it’s good for me today, because I have a good metric, so I’m okay with that,’ Bell said smiling of the formulation NASCAR used to set the field in lieu of qualifying.
His competitors were not overly concerned with the cancellation of qualifying, either — instead just glad to turn some laps and dial in their cars.
“They put a lot of resin down in both corners, more than they’ve done in the past and we’re really curious how the cars are going to drive,” said Roush Fenway Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski. “So it’s semi-important (to qualify) although we’ve been racing here for the last three or four years, so we all have a pretty good feel for it.”
–Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
Making sense of the debate over AI psychosis
New blood: Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca all reach French QFs
