Sports
Michael Porter Jr. returns to face Nuggets as leader of Nets
Jan 27, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. (17) against Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Michael Porter Jr. was integral in Denver winning the 2023 NBA title, but salary cap problems prompted the Nuggets to deal him to the Brooklyn Nets last summer.
Porter makes his first trip back to Denver when Brooklyn visits Thursday night in the middle of its five-game road trip.
Porter, who leads the Nets in scoring with a career-best 25.2 points a game, thrived playing alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but the Nuggets decided they had to trade him for salary flexibility in order to remain a contender.
The Nets also received a future first-round draft pick, adding to their stock for the current rebuild.
Brooklyn is coming off a 106-102 loss at Phoenix on Tuesday night that was more costly than just its 14th loss in 16 games. Forward Ziaire Williams was injured in a scuffle at the end of the game when a Suns staffer ran on the court to try to break up the melee, according to the New York Post.
“Yeah, he’s hurt. We don’t know exactly what it is right now. It was a member of the other team running in to break up the fight, and he ran into him and hurt him,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “So, we’ll see how long it is. Hopefully, it’s not a long time.”
Williams was diagnosed with a left calf contusion and ruled out for Thursday’s game.
Williams averages just 9.5 points a game but leads the Nets with 1.1 steals. Cam Thomas is second on the team in scoring (15.9 points) and Nic Claxton leads Brooklyn in rebounds (7.4) and assists (4.0).
One of the Nets’ two victories over the last month came against Denver on Jan. 4 when Porter poured in 27 points. It was the Nuggets’ third game after losing Jokic to a knee injury, but they’ve been able to stay near the top of the Western Conference without the three-time MVP.
Denver has struggled at home, where it lost its third in a row Tuesday night, 109-107 against the visiting Detroit Pistons. The Nuggets are just 12-9 on their court where they have historically dominated.
Tuesday’s loss came with four starters — Jokic, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun — sidelined. Jokic and Johnson have been out for four weeks and Braun has missed 33 games with a left ankle injury.
Gordon aggravated a right hamstring injury last Friday in Milwaukee. He will miss his 24th game since mid-November.
Murray has helped carry Denver to a 9-6 record without Jokic with his 25.9 scoring average. He missed three of six critical free throws in the final seconds against the Pistons after twice getting fouled on 3-point attempts.
The bright spot was Jonas Valanciunas, who returned from an 11-game absence against Washington on Thursday before sitting out the second game of a back-to-back. Valanciunas had 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds against Detroit.
“I missed some time, so I need to get into game shape,” Valanciunas said. “It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I feel good just playing basketball.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Collin Morikawa (back) WDs from Players Championship
Mar 7, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Collin Morikawa plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa withdrew from The Players Championship on Thursday after playing one hole.
The PGA Tour cited a back injury as the reason for the withdrawal of the world’s fourth-ranked golfer.
Morikawa began the opening round at TPC Sawgrass on Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., on the 10th hole and made a par. In taking some practice swings on the 11th hole, he appeared to be in discomfort. After talking with the trainer, Morikawa withdrew.
His playing partners, Ludvig Aberg and Si Woo Kim, will finish the round and play together Friday as a twosome.
In five events so far this season, Morikawa has a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and two top-10 finishes — a tie for seventh at The Genesis Invitational and fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Also on Thursday, Ryan Fox withdrew prior to the start of the tournament due to illness. David Ford will replace Fox in the field.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Victor Wembanyama, surging Spurs set sights on Nuggets
Mar 10, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) walks off the court in the second half against the Boston Celtics at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images The San Antonio Spurs have been the hottest team in the league since Jan. 1.
They will look to continue their run of success on Thursday when they host the Denver Nuggets.
The Spurs boast MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama and a supporting cast that seems to showcase a different player every game, They have won five straight games and 16 of their past 17 games.
San Antonio is 24-8 since the calendar turned to 2026 and undefeated during an 11-game stretch in February.
The Spurs kept rolling on Tuesday, as Wembanyama scored 39 points while hitting a career-high-tying eight 3-pointers in a 125-116 win over the Boston Celtics.
“I’m adapting to what the defense gives me,” Wembanyama said. “I think that’s something that defines me. It’s something I don’t want to lose, ever. Someday, the goal is to be kind of unguardable.”
The Spurs led by seven entering the fourth quarter but were only up 106-105 before Wembanyama delivered a powerful dunk followed by a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions.
“He did a good job with his mechanics of being disciplined, and he’s shown he can obviously get out and make shots, and it really can put defenses in a tough place in terms of how they want to play,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Because if you take the gravity away from him, obviously he can open up the rest of the floor.”
De’Aaron Fox added 25 points and nine assists for the Spurs in Tuesday’s win.
Wembanyama was listed as questionable for Thursday’s game because of a gimpy ankle.
The Nuggets will play the second game of a back-to-back set on the heels of a 129-93 win over visiting Houston on Wednesday.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 30 points in the victory while Christian Braun had 19, Cameron Johnson added 17 and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic collected 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds.
Denver shot 55.2% from the floor and forced 15 turnovers while outscoring the Rockets by 30 points after halftime.
Wednesday’s victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Nuggets, who had their preferred starting lineup intact for just the 11th time this season. Denver is now 9-2 with that group starting a game.
“When the group was whole, we were 8-2 with a top-five defense and top-five offense.” Denver coach David Adelman said before Wednesday’s game. “We lost two fourth-quarter leads. We could’ve easily been 10-0 to start the season.
“But since then, it has been different, just different lineups every week, every day. If we can get enough games under our belt and lucky enough to get in (the playoffs), we’ll be an issue. We’ll be a problem.”
Denver has 16 games left in the regular season to climb up the Western Conference standings and get back into sync.
“There’s going to be some growing pains,” Adelman said. “Patience is the key. We had (a full rotation) for 10 games to start the season which went really well. Just get them back into the fold, get the flow back in. When you go into the playoffs or play-in (tournament), you want to be going up. You want to feel you’ve hit your mark. So we do need time.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Oklahoma in desperation mode for SEC tourney clash vs. Texas A&M
Mar 11, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Nijel Pack (9) dribbles the ball past South Carolina Gamecocks forward Nordin Kapic (24) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Oklahoma rolled past South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday in Nashville to set up a third season meeting with Texas A&M, a match that means much more to the Sooners than denying the Aggies a season three-peat.
Playing for their NCAA Tournament lives, the 11th-seeded Sooners overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to beat the Gamecocks 86-74.
Nijel Pack scored 24 points and Derrion Reid had 20 for the Sooners (18-14), who are projected to be one of the final teams left out of the 68-team NCAA field before conference tournaments began.
“We know this is a survive-and-advance type of time,” Pack said on the SEC Network. “It’s one game at a time. That’s all we’re focused on.”
Sixth-seeded Texas A&M (21-10), which had a first-round tournament bye, beat the Sooners 83-76 and 75-71 in the regular season.
The latter was the Sooners’ 11th loss in 13 games and seemed to doom their NCAA chances, but they have won five straight since. That streak includes wins over Auburn, Missouri and Texas, all considered to be in the tournament field after Wednesday games.
“We had a different route that we had to take,” Pack said. “Sometimes it sucked to go through hard times, but I’m glad it shaped us into the team we are today.”
The Aggies have won two in a row and four of six after a season-worst four-game losing streak in early February that included setbacks to now-No. 15 Alabama, then-No. 17 Florida and then-No. 19 Vanderbilt.
“The way we ended the season, we aren’t going up there with the weight of the world on our shoulders,” Aggies coach Bucky McMillan said. “Our players should be able to go up there and play loose.”
The Aggies come in waves with their full-game, full court press. Forward Rashaun Agee leads five double-figure scorers with 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Nine players average at least 15 minutes per game.
Agee had a season-high 26 points and his 12th double-double in a 94-91 triple-overtime victory over LSU in the regular-season finale on Saturday. He has averaged 19.0 points per game in the last six.
The Aggies averaged 29.8 three-point attempts and 10.9 makes entering the SEC tournament, both 14th in Division I.
–Field Level Media
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