Sports
NBA roundup: OKC ties franchise mark with 14th straight win
Jan 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and guard Aaron Wiggins (21) celebrate after scoring against the New York Knicks during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Aaron Wiggins scored a season-high 19 points — 15 in the fourth quarter — as the host Oklahoma City Thunder stretched their winning streak to 14 games with a 117-107 win over the New York Knicks on Friday.
The streak ties the longest for the Thunder franchise, including its time as the Seattle Supersonics. The Knicks had a nine-game win string ended.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points to lead the Thunder, but Wiggins took over in the fourth as Oklahoma City outscored New York 37-19. Wiggins hit first 3-pointers in the quarter.
Isaiah Hartenstein had 14 rebounds and seven assists in his first game against the Knicks after leaving New York to sign with Oklahoma City in the offseason. He scored just four points, but he hit a floater in the final minute to all but seal the victory.
Pelicans 132, Wizards 120
CJ McCollum tied a career-high with 50 points and host New Orleans ended an 11-game losing streak by defeating Washington.
McCollum made 18 of 27 field-goal attempts, including 10 3-pointers on 16 attempts, as the Pelicans won for just the second time in 22 games. Trey Murphy III added 17 points among six Pelicans who scored in double figures.
Jordan Poole scored 26 points and Alexandre Sarr had 19 to pace the Wizards.
Spurs 113, Nuggets 110
Victor Wembanyama amassed 35 points, 18 rebounds and four assists, and his steal in the final seconds helped San Antonio edge host Denver.
Devin Vassell scored 18 points and had a dunk in the final seconds to seal San Antonio’s win. Keldon Johnson added 16 points.
San Antonio led 111-110 with 17 seconds left, and Nikola Jokic had the ball near the top. Wembanyama, who had eight turnovers, stole Jokic’s pass and fed Vassell for the dunk. Jokic finished with 41 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists.
Celtics 109, Rockets 86
Derrick White and Jayson Tatum combined for 43 points and visiting Boston rode a brilliant offensive first half to a win over short-handed Houston.
White scored 23 points and drilled six 3-pointers while Tatum scored 10 of his 20 points down the stretch of the first half to help the Celtics — who played without Jaylen Brown (shoulder) — cruise to victory. Boston made 19 of 39 3-point attempts.
Houston could not keep pace while falling to 1-3 on its five-game homestand. Jalen Green put up 27 for the Rockets, who were without Amen Thompson (suspension), Tari Eason (leg), and Jabari Smith Jr., who broke his left (non-shooting) hand during shootaround earlier Friday.
Cavaliers 134, Mavericks 122
Evan Mobley collected 34 points and 10 rebounds as visiting Cleveland beat Dallas for its ninth win in a row.
Caris LeVert scored 17 points off the bench while Darius Garland recorded 16 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers, whose streak consists of all double-digit decisions.
Quentin Grimes scored 26 points for the short-handed Mavericks, who have lost four straight games. Dallas was missing Kyrie Irving (illness), Luka Doncic (calf) and Naji Marshall (suspension).
Magic 106, Raptors 97
Rookie Tristan da Silva scored a career-best 25 points and was 5-for-7 on 3-point attempts as Orlando won in Toronto.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15 points for the Magic, who made 19 3-pointers and split a two-game road trip. Goga Bitadze had 11 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Jakob Poeltl scored 25 points for the Raptors, who have lost 12 of their last 13 games. Scottie Barnes added 20 points and nine rebounds.
Pistons 98, Hornets 94
Tobias Harris had 24 points with 10 rebounds and Detroit sent visiting Charlotte to its ninth straight loss.
Cade Cunningham supplied 18 points for Detroit, which has won five of its last six games. Detroit was playing its first game since starting guard Jaden Ivey suffered a fractured left fibula against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Mark Williams had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost 17 of their last 18 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Why Cavaliers Should Cover at Home in Game 7 Against Raptors
In the world of basketball, the saying goes, “a series doesn’t start until someone loses at home”. Well, we’re heading into game seven in Cleveland, and neither the Raptors or Cavaliers have been able to steal one on the road. If the Raptors want to pull off the big-time upset, they’re going to have to end that streak and find a way to pull one out in Rocket Arena.
The Cavs have been heavy favorites each game in this series, and enter Sunday once again as 8.5-point favorites. Cleveland is 2-1 ATS at home this series, and had to go the final two minutes of game five without scoring to not be 3-0 ATS.
That’s been the biggest negative for Cleveland in this series. They’ve struggled to close out games and threw away two road games against the Raptors, and now are battling to avoid a massive collapse here in this one.
However, despite losing game six in dramatic fashion, I think they figured a few things out. Donovan Mitchell finally came alive in the 4th quarter, scoring 11 points, finally figuring out how to get into the teeth of this large, physical Raptors defense.
A big reason Toronto’s defense has looked so great is the play of Scottie Barnes. He’s been the by far best player in the series, shutting down Mitchell and company on defense, and scoring on whoever’s thrown on him from Cleveland.
Shockingly, James Harden has actually done a solid job walling up against Barnes. He and Dean Wade have been the only two players to give Barnes any fits at all. Speaking of Wade, it was shocking to see him out of the Cleveland starting lineup the last few games. He’s been inconsistent offensively, but has still provided spacing and saved Cleveland defensively.
Wade has a +23 net rating for the Cavs in the postseason, easily the best on the entire team. Max Strus, who replaced him in the starting lineup, has been a -8.3. More specifically, the starting lineup with Strus has been a -19.7, while the one with Wade has been a +30.8. Cleveland ran the lineup with Wade as they made their comeback in game six, so if he’s inserted back in the starting lineup, I think they have a great chance to cover in this one.
Lastly, Toronto’s offense fell incredibly stagnant in game five after Brandon Ingram’s injury. If he’s unable to go in game seven, I can’t see a way they’re able to pull off the upset.
I love Cleveland -8.5 and o211.5 as they will move on to face the winner of Detroit and Orlando.
Sports
Braves' Spencer Strider set for season debut in finale vs. Rockies
Feb 20, 2026; North Port FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (99) poses for a photo during media day at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images It’s been a long road for Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider since his 20-win All-Star season in 2023.
Strider, 27, will be out to prove he’s not a shadow of his former self on Sunday afternoon when he makes his first start of the season as the Braves bid for a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
After becoming the fastest pitcher to record 100 strikeouts (61 innings) in a season in modern MLB history in 2023, Strider made just two starts in 2024 before undergoing season-ending UCL surgery.
Last season, the right-hander went 7-14 with a 4.45 ERA across 23 starts in his return from injury.
Strider began this season on the injured list with an oblique strain but is prepared to rejoin the sizzling Braves. They have won both games of the weekend series to expand on the best record (24-10) in the majors. Atlanta remains the only team in the majors that hasn’t lost a series and holds a 7 1/2-game lead on the second-place Miami Marlins in the National League East.
The bad news for the Braves in their most recent win, 9-1 over the Rockies on Saturday, was the first-inning exit of star right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. due to a lower-body injury. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday.
“It didn’t look great, him coming off the field,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “I am hoping it’s just some cramping and that type of thing, but he’s getting an MRI. That’s never good when you have to get an MRI.”
Acuna hit a leadoff single in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to 23 games.
“You never like to be challenged like this,” Weiss said of the potential impact of losing Acuna. “He’s one of your best players and most talented players. If it happens, we’ll be OK. We’ve got lots of moving parts.”
Strider, meanwhile, has dominated the Rockies in three career appearances (two starts), going 2-0 with an 0.50 ERA. He struck out 16 batters and scattered two hits over eight innings in a 3-0 win over Colorado on Sept. 1, 2022, before fanning 13 Rockies in a six-inning win last June 14.
The Rockies, who have lost four of their past five games, will turn to veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-2, 3.48 ERA) in the series finale. He will make his fifth start of the season.
Freeland, 32, will appear in his second outing since being activated from the 15-day IL with left shoulder inflammation. On Tuesday, he surrendered four runs on five hits across five innings in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
“I thought (Freeland) was really good,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I considered taking him out after the fourth, but had him go back out for one more and he was good. He competed, kept us right in the ballgame.”
Freeland, the all-time leader in franchise history in starts (235), is 1-5 with a 5.93 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Boston Celtics Title Window Could Be Closed After First-Round Exit
The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off the upset of the playoffs, knocking off the heavily favored Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the first round 109-100. Boston blew a 3-1 lead in this series and that became another brutal end to a Celtics season.
This core was able to win a finals in 2024, but outside of that important win, Boston has had a lot of disastrous playoff losses that seemingly go under the radar. The Celtics have owned the 76ers over the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era, and that makes this loss so much worse.
Of course, Tatum was absent from game seven due to injury, but Joel Embiid was missing for the entire first half of this series, so that feels like a bit of a wash. Not only that, but the Celtics were the two seed with Tatum missing most of the season anyways.
In recent years, the Celtics have now lost to the eight seed Miami Heat in the Conference Finals, got destroyed by the New York Knicks in the Conference Semis last year, had horrible playoff performances in the final two years of the Brad Stevens era to start the 2020s. They were able to win a Finals in a very down year across the board in the NBA, but this team has had let down spots all over the place in the playoffs.
Currently, it feels like the media has put a spotlight on the Cleveland Cavaliers first round struggles against the Toronto Raptors, but at least those struggles are coming in a 4 vs 5 first round matchup. Boston was completely outplayed by the 7-seed Sixers, who were missing their best player most of the series.
Of course VJ Edgecomb and Paul George having great runs as role players helps, and Tyrese Maxey is a full blown super star; however, this series feels like it’s being swept under the rug by the media. Boston got their ring, but I’m starting to think the window from that core is quietly closing. I’m also interested to see how much grace Boston fans will give to head coach Joe Mazulla.
Boston shot themselves out of this series. This is a team that lives and dies by the three, but at some point you need to make an adjustment when shots simply aren’t falling. Not only that, but the Sixers simply just felt like the better team in this series. I don’t think it’s just bad shooting that won Philly this series. They controlled this series and were able to do whatever they wanted against the Celtics.
The Sixers now head to New York to take on the Knicks, where they are far less of an underdog at only +198 to advance. I think this is a bit of a market overcorrection, and I wouldn’t bet on the Sixers to win this series. Boston might’ve just been a bit of an overrated team, that over performed without Tatum.
Why Cavaliers Should Cover at Home in Game 7 Against Raptors
Braves' Spencer Strider set for season debut in finale vs. Rockies
