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LeBron James (foot) out; ineligible for awards, All-NBA honors

NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles LakersFeb 9, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) passes the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) during the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Lakers standout LeBron James will miss Tuesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs due to left foot arthritis, an absence that makes him ineligible for All-NBA recognition and major awards this season.

The game is James’ 18th missed contest of the season and prevents him from playing in 65 games, the minimum number of games to be eligible for All-NBA and other honors. James has been named to an All-NBA team in a record 21 straight seasons.

James, 41, has played in 35 games this season and is averaging 21.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds. He was second-team All-NBA last season. His most recent first-team All-NBA selection was the 2019-20 season.

Lakers star guard Luka Doncic (left hamstring) will sit out for the third straight game. He leads the NBA with a 32.8 scoring average.

Doncic remains hopeful of playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game.

Guards Austin Reaves (left calf) and Marcus Smart (right ankle) also were ruled out against San Antonio. Center Deandre Ayton (right knee) is questionable.

–Field Level Media

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Sounders return home with a bang, rout St. Louis

MLS: St. Louis CITY SC at Seattle Sounders FCApr 18, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; St. Louis City midfielder Dante Polvara (21) heads the ball over Seattle Sounders FC forward Daniel Musovski (19) during the first half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Cristian Roldan tallied twice and Albert Rusnak added a goal and two assists as the Seattle Sounders trounced visiting St. Louis City 4-1 on Saturday night.

Osaze De Rosario also scored and goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made two saves for Seattle (5-1-1, 16 points), which was playing its first league match at home since the Feb. 22 season opener. The Sounders were forced to play five straight on the road while a natural grass surface was installed at Lumen Field in preparation for hosting FIFA World Cup matches this summer.

Roldan, the Sounders’ captain, scored in the 22nd and 37th minutes, both off corner kicks from Rusnak from the left wing.

On the first, Rusnak found Roldan just beyond the far post for a forceful header back across the goalmouth and into the side netting.

The second goal was similar, though this time Roldan put a volley from near the top corner of the 6-yard box that took one bounce off the turf and the hands of diving goalie Roman Burki at the near post. The shot overpowered Burki, with the ball ricocheting into the roof of the net.

Rusnak made it 3-0 on a penalty kick in the 49th minute, blasting a shot into the lower left corner of the net as Burki went the other way. The penalty was awarded by referee Chris Penso when halftime substitute Paul Rothrock was tripped on the left side of the box by St. Louis’ Conrad Wallem.

De Rosario, who came on as a substitute in the 80th minute, capped Seattle’s scoring six minutes later. He took a pass from Jesus Ferreira just inside the top of the penalty box and, with four defenders encircling him, maneuvered his way to get off a shot from 15 yards that found the lower left corner of the net.

St. Louis substitute Eduard Lowen spoiled Thomas’ bid for a sixth shutout in seven matches when he scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. A St. Louis shot was blocked, with the ball falling to Lowen for a 15-yard blast into the upper right corner of the net, leaving Thomas no chance.

Burki made five saves for St. Louis (1-4-3, 6 points), which had a three-match unbeaten streak (1-0-2) snapped.

Seattle completed a sweep of the season series between the clubs. The Sounders won 1-0 on March 7 at St. Louis.

The Sounders also improved to 7-1-0 against St. Louis since the latter joined the league in 2023.

–Field Level Media

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Real Salt Lake stay hot, hand San Diego 3rd straight loss

MLS: San Diego FC at Real Salt LakeApr 18, 2026; Sandy, Utah, USA; San Diego FC forward Lewis Morgan (9) and Real Salt Lake defender DeAndre Yedlin (2) play for a head ball during the first half at America First Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Sergi Solans recorded two goals and one assist and Real Salt Lake scored twice in the game’s first six minutes en route to a stellar 4-2 victory over San Diego FC on Saturday night at Sandy, Utah.

Diego Luna had one goal and two assists and Morgan Guilavogui added one goal and one assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1, 16 points), who have a six-match unbeaten stretch (5-0-1).

The seven-game start matches the best of Salt Lake’s 22-season franchise history. The 2011 squad also started 5-1-1.

Marcus Ingvartsen and Anders Dreyer scored goals for San Diego FC (3-3-2, 11 points), who are winless in their past five matches (0-3-2). San Diego has lost its last three by a combined 9-3 score.

Duran Ferree had five saves for San Diego as Real Salt Lake held a 15-9 edge in shots. RSL placed nine on target to San Diego’s five.

Rafael Cabral made three saves for Salt Lake.

Real Salt Lake got the blowout started with goals in back-to-back minutes.

The first occurred on a massive mistake by Ferree, who lazily tried to pass the ball to his left to teammate Manu Duah. Luna timed it perfectly and dashed forward to intercept the pass and poke the ball with his right foot into the net in the fifth minute.

One minute later, Luna was on the right and sent a cross-field pass to Solans, who headed the ball inside the left post to make it 2-0.

San Diego displayed life in the 14th minute as Lewis Morgan’s run created a chance for Ingvartsen, who sent a left-footed shot into the right side of the net.

Salt Lake pushed its lead back to two in the 37th minute as Zavier Gozo sent a pass to Solans, who knocked a header past Ferree.

RSL made it 4-1 in the 45th minute when Solans fed Guilavogui, who booted a shot into the right corner.

San Diego trimmed its deficit to two just before the midway point of the second half. Dreyer and Salt Lake’s Justen Glad were battling for the ball in the 62nd minute and Dreyer fell to the turf.

After a review, a penalty kick was awarded. Dreyer stood at the spot in the 66th minute and easily booted a left-footed shot past Cabral.

Cabral made a big forearm save of Dreyer’s left-footed blast in the 88th minute. He also made a point-blank save of Amahl Pellegrino’s right-footer just before time was called in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time.

–Field Level Media

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Taylor Gray fends off Sheldon Creed, wins eventful race in Kansas

NASCAR OReilly Auto Parts: Kansas Lottery 300Apr 18, 2026; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Taylor Gray (54) poses with his team after winning the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The early bird got the victory on Saturday night.

The first of the frontrunners to pit during the final 95-lap green-flag run in the Kansas Lottery 300, Taylor Gray grabbed the lead during the cycle and held off charging Sheldon Creed to score the second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory of his career.

Crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who won at Kansas with driver David Green in 2003, called Gray into the pits on Lap 143 of 200. Creed and Brandon Jones, running first and second on Lap 146, emerged from pit road after stops on Lap 147 roughly three seconds behind Gray.

Jones, winner of the first two stages, had to serve a pass-through penalty for a tire violation during his stop and lost the chance to win. But Creed, with Justin Allgaier behind him in third, began a methodical pursuit of Gray that ultimately came up 0.718 seconds short.

“How about Jason Ratcliff?” Gray exclaimed after climbing from his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “That pit call was awesome. We had a car capable of winning. I thought the 20 (Jones) was a little better than us before the green-flag cycle started, but we just had to stay locked in, and we had to be a little bit freer.

“Jason made a really good adjustment on the car and a really good pit call and got us in clean air. It’s been a long start to the year, man — not that we’re not bringing speed to the race track. It’s just that things haven’t really gone our way. So it’s nice to finally be able to close one out.”

Gray gained three positions to ninth in the series standings.

As it turned out, Creed also had plenty of reasons to celebrate. By finishing first among four eligible drivers, he earned a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the first time in his career. It was Creed’s fifth attempt to win the Dash 4 Cash prize money.

“It was a great day for us after starting in the back,” said Creed who dropped to the rear of the field at the beginning of the race after his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection. “I kind of knew right away my car was really fast, and I was able to drive to the front, and I just had a lot of fun today…

“It’s just really cool to be able to bring a hundred grand back to the Haas Factory Team. I definitely wanted to win and add to it, but the 54 (Gray) did a really good job short-pitting us. He ran a really good last 40 laps there and got through traffic quick and made it where I never really got close enough.”

Allgaier came home third, followed by defending series champion Jesse Love and Brent Crews. William Byron, Cole Custer, Jones, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10 in a race that featured 11 lead changes among eight drivers.

Allgaier finished third in both stages and added one point to his series lead over second-place Creed. The margin is now 131 points.

Long before Gray took the checkered flag, there was plenty of action in the first stage.

The race wasn’t two laps old when an accident on the backstretch launched the No.1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Carson Kvapil into the air and sent it flipping down the backstretch.

Contact from Byron’s Chevy turned Kvapil’s car sideways near the front of the field. Parker Retzlaff piled into Kvapil’s car near the outside wall. The impact knocked the rear of Kvapil’s Camaro airborne, and the car proceeded to barrel-roll down the backstretch, coming to rest on its roof.

With the use of tethers and a tow truck, safety workers righted the car, and Kvapil climbed out before a mandatory trip to the infield care center.

“Maybe on dirt, I’ve flipped a few of them, but definitely never asphalt racing or a big stock car race,” Kvapil said after being evaluated and released from the care center. “It was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be, once I realized I was going over, but it just sucks.”

On Lap 38, Jesse Love crowded Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill down toward the apron as the two raced side-by-side in Turn 4. Hill spun sideways, and as he fought to control his No. 21 Chevrolet, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of William Sawalich plowed into Hill’s car.

“I’ll remember this,” Hill promised on his radio, referring to racing from his teammate he thought was unnecessarily close.

Hill fell out of the race in 34th place. Corey Day saw his streak of eight straight top 10s end with a 12th-place finish after rallying from an accident on Lap 101 and subsequent flat tire.

Gray, Creed, Allgaier and Love qualified for the third Dash 4 Cash race of the season, Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Kansas Lottery 300

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, April 18, 2026

1. (10) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 200.

2. (4) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 200.

3. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.

4. (9) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200.

5. (5) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 200.

6. (2) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 200.

7. (36) Cole Custer(i), Chevrolet, 200.

8. (14) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.

9. (19) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.

10. (12) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.

11. (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 199.

12. (6) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 199.

13. (16) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199.

14. (24) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, 199.

15. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 199.

16. (11) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 199.

17. (30) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 199.

18. (27) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 198.

19. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 198.

20. (7) William Sawalich, Toyota, 198.

21. (13) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 198.

22. (29) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 198.

23. (21) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 198.

24. (32) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 197.

25. (25) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 197.

26. (23) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 196.

27. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 194.

28. (20) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 190.

29. (28) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Engine, 120.

30. (31) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 65.

31. (37) Blake Lothian, Chevrolet, Brakes, 62.

32. (35) Austin Green, Chevrolet, Engine, 61.

33. (34) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Engine, 51.

34. (15) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Accident, 37.

35. (26) Luke Baldwin(i), Ford, Suspension, 4.

36. (8) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

37. (1) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, Accident, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 116.946 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 33 Mins, 55 Secs. Margin of Victory: .718 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 37 laps.

Lead Changes: 11 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Kvapil 0;C. Day 1-23;B. Jones 24-48;A. Alfredo 49-54;W. Byron(i) 55;B. Jones 56-70;J. Love 71;B. Jones 72-98;S. Creed 99-146;C. Day 147-149;R. Sieg 150-152;T. Gray 153-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Brandon Jones 3 times for 67 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 48 laps; Taylor Gray 1 time for 48 laps; Corey Day 2 times for 26 laps; Anthony Alfredo 1 time for 6 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 3 laps; Jesse Love 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,17,7,2,96,54,00,19,27,88

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,00,7,2,17,8,54,24,41,26

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

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