Sports
NBA roundup: Nuggets get two triple-doubles, down Jazz
Dec 30, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) dunks the ball during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook recorded triple-doubles, Jamal Murray had 20 points and 10 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 132-121 in Salt Lake City on Monday.
Jokic finished with 36 points, 22 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 13th triple-double of the season and the 143rd of his career — third all-time behind Oscar Robertson (181) and Westbrook (201).
Westbrook finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points for Denver, which won its second game in a row.
Jordan Clarkson led a balanced Utah attack with 24 points off the bench. Collin Sexton had 22 as the Jazz took their fourth consecutive loss.
Knicks 126, Wizards 106
Josh Hart posted a triple-double for visiting New York, which extended its season-best winning streak to eight games by pulling away from Washington.
Hart finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in his third triple-double of the season and the ninth of his career. Karl-Anthony Towns produced 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points off the bench for the Wizards, who have lost 23 of 26 since splitting their first four games.
Kings 110, Mavericks 100
De’Aaron Fox recorded 33 points, six rebounds and six assists and Sacramento snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Dallas.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists as the Kings recovered from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to give interim coach Doug Christie his first win. It was Christie’s second game as coach after Mike Brown was fired on Friday.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-best 30 points and P.J. Washington had a season-high 28 points for the Mavericks, who lost their second straight game. Dallas played without Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Luka Doncic (calf), Klay Thompson (illness), Dereck Lively II (hip) and Naji Marshall (suspension).
Bulls 115, Hornets 108 (OT)
Coby White scored 23 points and had the first basket of Chicago’s 8-0 burst to begin overtime to help the Bulls defeat host Charlotte.
White, playing in a return to his home state, also had 10 rebounds and nine assists on a night when the Bulls shot 37.5 percent from the field. They launched more than half of their shots from beyond the 3-point arc, making 18 of 60 attempts from deep.
The Hornets trailed the entire fourth quarter until Miles Bridges hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left. Charlotte played without team scoring leaders LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. Bridges led the way with 31 points despite going 1-for-10 on 3-point attempts before draining the shot that forced the extra session.
Clippers 116, Pelicans 113
Norman Powell scored 35 points, James Harden added 27 — including four decisive free throws in the final minute — and Los Angeles won at New Orleans.
Ivica Zubac had 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won three in a row and five of their past six games.
CJ McCollum scored 33 and Dejounte Murray tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and six steals as the Pelicans lost despite making a season-high 18 3-pointers. It was New Orleans’ 10th straight loss and 19th loss in 20 games.
76ers 125, Trail Blazers 103
Joel Embiid scored a season-best 37 points to guide Philadelphia to a clinical win at Portland.
Embiid went 12 of 21 from the floor and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line and had nine rebounds as the Sixers won their fourth straight game. Tyrese Maxey added 23 points.
Anfernee Simons scored 25 points for Portland while Deni Avdija’s 17-point haul was offset by 10 turnovers. The Blazers shot 8-for-36 from 3-point range while also coughing up 26 turnovers as their two-game winning run ended.
Cavaliers 113, Warriors 95
Darius Garland finished with game highs of 25 points and eight assists as visiting Cleveland cruised to its seventh straight win, defeating host Golden State in San Francisco.
Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points, and his 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc led Cleveland to an 18-of-47 night (38.3 percent) from long distance.
Golden State star Stephen Curry went 4-for-14 and scored just 11 points, his third-lowest output of the season. Moses Moody paced the Warriors with 19 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kylian Mbappe wins second World Cup Golden Boot, Spain claim other awards
July 18, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, U.S.; France’s Kylian Mbappe reacts after the match. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images French superstar Kylian Mbappe became the first player to win multiple FIFA World Cup Golden Boot awards after Spain shut out Argentina 1-0 in the final on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.
Mbappe finished with 10 goals for the tournament after scoring twice in France’s 6-4 loss to England on Saturday in the third-place match.
His only competition still active was Lionel Messi, who was searching for his first Golden Boot along with trying to guide Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup. Messi and Argentina defeated Mbappe and France on penalty kicks in the 2022 final in Qatar.
But Argentina could not muster a shot on goal against Spain’s stalwart defense and had just two total shots, both coming late in the match. Messi went scoreless for the third match in a row. He had collected eight goals across the three group-stage matches, the round of 32 and the round of 16.
At 27, Mbappe already can call himself the greatest goal-scorer in World Cup history. His two second-half goals on Saturday pushed him past Messi for the all-time tournament record with 22 in just 22 matches. Messi — the first to break German Miroslav Klose’s career record early in the tournament before Mbappe caught up — stayed at 21 and may have played his final World Cup match Sunday at 39 years old.
Eight of Mbappe’s 10 goals this summer came in braces. He scored twice against Iraq, Senegal, Sweden and finally England. He was the first with 10 goals in a single World Cup since Gerd Muller of Germany in 1970.
Aside from Mbappe, it didn’t come as a surprise that the rest of the awards went to Spanish players after their remarkable run to the country’s second World Cup title.
Spain midfielder Rodri collected the Golden Ball award, given to the best overall player in the tournament. While he didn’t record a single goal or assist in Spain’s eight matches, he completed more passes, ran more distance and had more player involvements than any other player in this year’s tournament.
He also played a key role in heavily limiting Messi’s touches during Spain’s stifling 1-0 win.
Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon and defender Pau Cubarsi were named winners of the Golden Gloves award and FIFA Best Young Player award, respectively. The pair each played critical roles in La Roja allowing just one goal — a record for a champion team — and 10 shots on goal in eight matches during this World Cup.
Simon finished with seven clean sheets, two more than the previous record for a single World Cup. The 29-year-old’s nine career World Cup clean sheets are one off the record of 10 shared by former France keeper Fabien Barthez and former England keeper Peter Shilton.
Those three awards are decided by FIFA’s Technical Study Group, made up of former professional players, coaches and analysts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
D-Backs rally from down 7 to beat Cardinals in 10 innings
Arizona Diamondbacks baserunner Max Kepler (22) celebrates scoring a run against the St. Louis Cardinals at Chase Field in Phoenix, on July 18, 2026. Max Kepler delivered the game-winning RBI in the 10th inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks scored eight unanswered runs in an 8-7 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Phoenix.
Kepler drove in automatic runner Jorge Barrosa with a one-out double to right field off Luis Gastelum (1-1).
Juan Morrillo (3-4) allowed one hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings across the ninth and 10th innings to register the win.
Arizona’s rally began in the sixth. Adrian Del Castillo knocked a lead-off double, Ryan Waldschmidt singled and Ketel Marte’s single up the middle drove in Del Castillo to cut the deficit to 7-1.
Andre Pallante walked Geraldo Perdomo to load the bases, and Waldschmidt scored one out later when Pallante walked Gabriel Moreno, ending his outing.
Ryne Stanek came in and retired the first batter before issuing a walk to Tyler Locklear which brought Marte across the plate, narrowing it to 7-3.
Perdomo pulled Arizona within two in the seventh when he followed up Del Castillo’s leadoff walk with a two-out inside-the-park home run to left field on a liner that skipped past St. Louis left fielder Jose Fermin and rolled to the wall.
Nolan Arenado’s two-run home run just over the left field wall in the eighth tied the game at 7.
St. Louis opened a 5-0 lead in the third inning. Lars Nootbaar walked and scored on Blaze Jordan’s triple. JJ Wetherholt singled to bring in Jordan and double the advantage.
Wetherholt went to third on Ivan Herrera’s base hit, and Jordan Walker brought him around with a double to push the lead to 3-0. Alec Burleson’s single to center field allowed Herrera and Walker to come in, extending it to 5-0.
Fermin chased Diamondbacks ace Eduardo Rodriguez, who threw 40 pitches in the frame, with a single. Right-hander Drey Jameson came in and walked Nootbaar before getting Jordan to line out to retire the side, stranding the bases loaded.
The Cardinals made it 7-0 in the fifth. Burleson singled, and Fermin and Nootbaar each walked to load the bases. That ended Jameson’s appearance, replaced by Philip Abner. Jordan (3-for-5, three RBIs) greeted Abner with a single to right that brought in two runners.
Herrera and Burleson each added three hits for St. Louis. Del Castillo and Kepler led Arizona with two hits apiece.
Rodriguez surrendered five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. Pallante gave up three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Valkyries seek 10th straight win in rematch with Mystics
Jul 18, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (left) passes against Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron (right) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images The interior-powered Washington Mystics and perimeter-oriented Golden State Valkyries will seek to do a better job defusing the other’s strength when the clubs meet in a rematch Monday night in San Francisco.
The Valkyries (19-7) finished strongly both offensively and defensively to erase a late six-point deficit and earn a 74-69 win in the front half of the WNBA-style doubleheader Saturday night, which was played on Golden State’s home court.
The hosts saved five of their 12 successful 3-pointers for the final 5:55 to account for all their scoring in a 15-4 finish. It allowed them to secure a ninth straight win in a game in which the Mystics (12-12), led by Shakira Austin, had dominated the Valkyries to the tune of 40-16 in points in the paint.
Golden State coach Natalie Nakase noted after the hard-fought win that it’s not like her players will grow a few inches before the rematch with Austin and fellow interior powers Kiki Iriafen and Lauren Betts.
“We understand they’re very tall, big and physical in size. So it’s got to be a team effort,” she said at her postgame press conference. “I just thought attention to detail with KT (Kayla Thornton) and Kiah (Stokes) down the stretch, just defending without fouling, it was beautiful that last five minutes. For us to rely on our defense down the stretch was huge.”
After Betts’ layup gave the Mystics a 65-59 lead with 6:13 remaining, the Valkyries forced the visitors into 2-for-8 shooting the rest of the way, with three turnovers mixed in. Three of the misses were 3-point attempts, where Washington went just 6-for-23 for the game, as the visitors got away from what had been successful earlier.
Mystics coach Sydney Johnson believed his team played well enough to win the opener but needs to improve in close games. Five of Washington’s 12 losses this season have been by five points or fewer.
“Really challenging us to just physically, emotionally, mentally be locked in,” he expressed to the media afterward about his team’s shortcomings. “It’s a demanding league. There’s absolutely no nights off, no easy games. Those are our consistent themes, most importantly, bringing our toughness and togetherness every time we come to the floor.”
One of the challenges will be managing odd scheduling, with the Mystics flying across the country to face the Valkyries twice in three days. They begin a six-game homestand Wednesday night against Las Vegas.
–Field Level Media
