Sports
Lakers, Raptors out to right ship after tough losses
Oct 30, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, right, and forward LeBron James warm up before the game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Lakers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images With All-Star Scottie Barnes out for at least three weeks, the Toronto Raptors will continue to be short-handed against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
In their first game without Barnes (right orbital fracture) on Wednesday, the Raptors suffered a 138-133 road loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
They will face a Lakers team out to amend a 134-110 setback to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday in the second of five straight games on the road.
Barnes left the 127-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday late in regulation after an inadvertent elbow to the eye from Nikola Jokic. Barnes nearly had a triple-double before the injury, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
The Raptors’ injury list had become shorter on Monday with the return of RJ Barrett after he missed the first three games with a shoulder sprain.
Barrett scored 20 points on Monday and had 31 on Wednesday while Gradey Dick added a career-best 30.
“It doesn’t really mean anything without this win, that would have been even better,” Dick said.
Coming off his first All-Star campaign, Barnes has averaged 19.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and six assists this season.
“Guys respect the way he plays, the energy that he brings,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “We really tried (Wednesday) to play for him, to try to get this win for him as well.”
The Raptors fell behind 30-16 after one quarter and lost for the fourth time in five games, putting a damper on Dick’s career game and leaving the team determined to rebound.
“They feel terrible, nobody wants to lose but we have guys in the locker room who hate it more than winning,” Dick said. “So I feel like when you have guys like that, who are so competitive, things can change.”
The Raptors have been without Immanuel Quickley (right pelvic contusion), who was injured in the season opener and is doubtful for Friday. Bruce Brown (knee), Kelly Olynyk (back) and Ja’Kobe Walter (shoulder) have yet to play, though Walter is listed questionable.
In the loss at Cleveland, LeBron James scored 26 points but had a game-high six turnovers against his original team.
The Lakers have lost two straight after a 3-0 start.
“I just don’t think we matched their intensity with energy and effort,” James said. “It’s never good to take a step backwards, but we did that. And now we’ve got to figure out how we can take two steps forward next time.”
Los Angeles had a season-high 21 turnovers leading to 31 Cleveland points.
“You play a good basketball team, you can’t make that many mistakes.” Los Angeles coach JJ Redick said. “And we got down early and we couldn’t recover.”
Anthony Davis, who had 22 points and 13 rebounds despite jamming his hip in the first quarter, declared the final three games on the trip as “must-wins.”
“This is the first game where we weren’t grasping (the offense),” Davis said. “We were awful offensively because of our spacing.”
In the fourth quarter, the crowd chanted for LeBron’s son, Bronny, to enter the game. When Bronny hit a jumper for his first NBA points and only points of the game, the crowd erupted. He added two assists in 5:16 of playing time.
“It was insane,” said Bronny James, the Lakers’ second-round pick in June. “Much more than I anticipated for sure. … The chants really got me. I was straight-faced, but I felt it and it felt really good, especially coming from here.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
FaZe Vegas won't be denied at CDL Championship grand final
Jul 19, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of custom PlayStation controllers sold by a vender during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images FaZe Vegas completed an undefeated tournament run with a 5-2 victory over OpTic Texas on Sunday in the grand final of the 2026 Call of Duty League Championship in Las Vegas.
The victory was worth $800,000 in the $2 million prize pool, with OpTic Texas collecting $480,000.
American Chris “Simp” Lehr of FaZe Vegas was named tournament Most Valuable Player.
This was the final event and the world championship of the Black Ops 7 competitive season. Eight of 12 teams qualified for the CDL Championship in the regular season from Dec. 5, 2025 to June 29, led by first-place OpTic Texas (40-12, +69).
The playoff format was a double-elimination bracket, with all matches best-of-five except for Sunday’s grand final, which was best-of-nine.
OpTic Texas took the opening map, Colossus Hardpoint, 250-216. FaZe Vegas responded by capturing the next four maps to be on the brink of the championship.
Vegas won 6-5 on Raid Search and Destroy, 4-3 on Scar Overload, 250-194 on Scar Hardpoint and 6-5 on Den Search and Destroy.
Texas stayed alive with a 4-3 victory on Den Overload, before FaZe Vegas closed out with another close outcome, 6-5 on Hacienda Search and Destroy.
Zack “Drazah” Jordan paced FaZe Vegas with a match-high 153 kills for a plus-23 kill-death differential. Teammate Jordan “Abuzah” Francois of Belgium posted 151 kills and a match-best plus-40 K-D differential. All four Vegas players had positive differentials.
All four OpTic players were in the negative, with Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro recording a team-best 129 kills but also a team-worst 156 deaths for a minus-27 K-D differential.
FaZe Vegas went unscathed in the tournament, downing G2 Minnesota 3-1, the Riyadh Falcons 3-0 and OpTic Texas 3-2 in the upper bracket to advance to the grand final.
OpTic Texas opened with a sweep of the Miami Heretics 3-0, then topped the Paris Gentle Mates 3-1. After losing to Vegas and dropping to the elimination side of the bracket, Texas beat the Falcons 3-1 on Saturday to get another shot at FaZe.
Call of Duty League Championship prize pool
1. $800,000, FaZe Vegas
2. $480,000, OpTic Texas
3. $320,000, Riyadh Falcons
4. $160,000, Paris Gentle Mates
5-6. $80,000, Miami Heretics, G2 Minnesota
7-8. $40,000, Los Angeles Thieves, Toronto KOI
–Field Level Media
Sports
IndyCar Series race at Nashville postponed to Monday
NTT IndyCar Series Santino Ferrucci’s car his pushed back to the garage during a weather delay at the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday, July 19, 2026 The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix was postponed to Monday at 3 p.m. ET after inclement weather delayed the start of the race Sunday evening before a second round of storms made racing impossible.
The 12th race of the IndyCar season was slated for Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.
The official X account of the IndyCar Series initially posted that the race, scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start, was on hold until the end of the FIFA World Cup final. Fox broadcasts both the World Cup and the IndyCar series, and the Spain-Argentina final required extra time and went past 5:30 ET before Spain prevailed 1-0.
Then came the rain. Race organizers worked to dry the track after a storm passed through the Nashville area, and because the track has floodlights, there was a chance to fit in the race Sunday night.
But another powerful storm ripped through. As a Fox host describing the scene put it, “The dry track has been utterly sodden in a sudden and almighty deluge.”
Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood will hold pole position when drivers bring their cars to the starting line Monday afternoon.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Paige Buckers leaves game after collision, hitting head on floor
Jul 19, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Los Angeles Sparks guard Erica Wheeler (17) react after a play during the second half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images Dallas Wings star guard Paige Bueckers suffered a scary fall late in her team’s 90-82 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday in Arlington, Texas, leaving with 3:33 to play and not returning.
As Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike was dribbling down the court, she was fouled and lost her balance. She tumbled into the legs of Bueckers and the second-year player fell straight back, landing on her back.
The back of Bueckers’ head appeared to hit the floor when she fell and the 24-year-old immediately grabbed her head.
After lying face down on the floor briefly, Bueckers walked off the court on her own but with members of the Wings’ staff flanking her as she continued to hold her head and had a slight limp.
Before walking off the court, she hugged Ogwumike after the two got up. Both players were selected to the WNBA All-Star Game on July 25 in Chicago.
Bueckers finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, as well as five assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes. Ogwumike led the Sparks (10-15) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
There was no update provided on Bueckers’ status after the game. Last season’s rookie of the year after being selected No. 1 overall out of Connecticut, Bueckers entered the day averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 assists while shooting 38.1% from distance.
The Wings are now 17-8, fourth in the WNBA and a half-game behind the Las Vegas Aces for third place.
–Field Level Media
FaZe Vegas won't be denied at CDL Championship grand final
IndyCar Series race at Nashville postponed to Monday
