Sports
Magic hope to begin a big run, starting in Portland
Jan 27, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Tristan da Silva (23) drives to the basket past Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson (55) during double overtime at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Getting healthy has presented some unexpected challenges for the Orlando Magic.
Orlando has dropped six of its past seven games despite having its stars back in the mix, but the Magic feel like a turnaround is imminent as they head into a meeting with the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
It was a rough start to the season for Orlando, which lost Paolo Banchero to a torn oblique on Oct. 30 before Franz Wagner went down with the same injury on Dec. 6. Banchero returned on Jan. 10 and Wagner came back 13 days later.
Having Banchero and Wagner on the floor again hasn’t translated to winning basketball, though, with Wagner attributing some of Orlando’s struggles to the recent lineup changes.
Still, Wagner has seen flashes of the Magic’s full potential, even in a 125-119 double-overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Monday night.
“I thought we had great stretches in the game,” Wagner said. “Moving the ball really well, creating open shots for all kinds of people. … I think we’ll be fine. We just gotta improve there and get better at it and work at it and we’ll be just fine.”
Wagner finished with 29 points and eight rebounds against Miami, while Banchero crawled to 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Reserve Tristan da Silva also netted 17 points for Orlando.
The Magic are now just waiting for Jalen Suggs to be good to go. Suggs missed 10 games due to a back injury and returned for a win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, but now he’s dealing with a quad contusion that held him out of the loss to the Heat.
Suggs is listed as questionable for Thursday.
One of the setbacks during Orlando’s rut came against Portland, a 101-79 decision last Thursday. The Trail Blazers have been on a roll with February fast approaching, winning five of their past six games.
Portland most recently beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-112 on Tuesday night to spoil Damian Lillard’s second game in Portland since he went to Milwaukee. Deni Avdija went off for 30 points and nine boards for the Trail Blazers, who also got a double-double from Deandre Ayton (21 points, 14 rebounds) and 25 points from Anfernee Simons.
Avdija feels like Portland is really starting to hit its stride. The Blazers are 18-29 on the season, only 6 1/2 games removed from a play-in tournament spot in the Western Conference.
“I just feel so much different since the beginning of the year in terms of how we play, how we share the ball, how we bond together,” Avdija said. “It’s just a different team right now, so I’m happy.”
Both the Magic and Blazers have a reason to look forward to All-Star Weekend in just over two weeks, as Orlando’s da Silva and Portland’s Scoot Henderson have been selected to participate in the Castrol Rising Stars showcase.
da Silva, a rookie, is averaging 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists this season, while Henderson, a second-year man, is putting up 12.3 points, 3.0 boards and 5.2 assists per game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Giants planning to release LB Bobby Okereke
Nov 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) leaves the field after losing to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images The New York Giants are planning to cut inside linebacker Bobby Okereke in a cost-saving move, The Athletic reported Saturday.
Releasing the seven-year NFL veteran, who turns 30 in July, will save the Giants $9 million against the 2026 salary cap.
Okereke has led New York in tackles in two of his three seasons with the team, including 143 stops in 2025 and 149 in 2023.
Okereke added one sack, two interceptions and one fumble recovery in 17 games (all starts) for the Giants in 2025.
He has recorded 805 tackles, 7.5 sacks, seven interceptions and 11 forced fumbles in 110 career games (95 starts) with the Colts (2019-22) and Giants. Indianapolis drafted him in the third round in 2019.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Report: Giants planning to release LB Bobby Okereke
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
