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Nikola Jokic fined $50k, Julius Randle $35k for altercation

NBA: Denver Nuggets at Minnesota TimberwolvesApr 25, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) shoots defended by Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the third quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The NBA fined Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic $50,000 and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle $35,000 for their parts in an on-court fracas at the end of Game 4 of their teams’ first-round playoff series.

The fines were handed down by NBA executive vice president and head of basketball operations James Jones on Sunday, one day after the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 112-96 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels made an uncontested layup in the final seconds with the game already decided. Jokic ran from the opposite end of the court to shove McDaniels, prompting the altercation between the teams.

Randle was disciplined, according to the league, because he “escalated the incident by forcefully inserting himself into the scrum” to push Bruce Brown of the Nuggets. Both Jokic and Randle received technical fouls and ejections before the game went final.

There has been bad blood between the Western Conference rivals throughout the series. The Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets from the postseason two years ago.

Game 5 is Monday in Denver.

–Field Level Media

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Brotherly love: Matt, Alex Fitzpatrick capture meaningful Zurich win

PGA: Zurich Classic of New Orleans - Third RoundApr 25, 2026; Avondale, Louisiana, USA; Matt Fitzpatrick hits tee shot on hole 2 during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick of England birdied the final hole after their three-stroke lead vanished on the back nine Sunday, leading them to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at Avondale, La.

The birdie on the par-5 18th hole gave them a 1-under-par 71, pushing their tournament total to 31-under 257 at TPC Louisiana in the PGA Tour’s only team event.

Matt is a PGA Tour winner on back-to-back Sundays after winning the RBC Heritage a week earlier. As for Alex, a DP World Tour player, he’ll receive a PGA Tour card through 2028 and a number of exemptions, including into the PGA Championship.

Sitting in a three-way tie going to the last hole, Alex’s approach went into a bunker in front of the 18th green for the team’s second shot, but on the next swing Matt put the ball within 2 feet of the cup and they avoided a playoff.

Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer (68) and the Norwegian pair of Kristoffer Reitan/Kris Ventura (65) shared second place at 30 under.

Reitan and Ventura pulled even with an eagle 3 at the 18th. Reitan’s shot onto the green left Ventura less than 7 feet for the putt.

Smalley/Springer were tied atop the leaderboard until a bogey on No. 17. They recovered to forge a three-way tie at the top when Springer’s approach shot on the 18th left Smalley a tap-in for birdie.

The Fitzpatrick team still had two holes to finish and they cashed in on the final one.

The Fitzpatrick brothers, who began the day with a four-shot lead, played the first 11 holes in a bogey-free 3 under. Then a double bogey on the 12th — initiated with Matt’s tee shot into the rough and taking a stroke for a drop — and a bogey on the 14th suddenly wiped out their advantage.

The Fitzpatricks set a tournament record by posting 57 in Saturday’s four-ball competition.

Ben Martin/Trace Crowe (66) and the Danish tandem of Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen/Jacob Skov Olesen (66) tied for fourth place at 28 under. Martin/Crowe had eight birdies but two bogeys, while Neergaard-Petersen/Skov Olesen did not make a bogey.

There was a three-way tie for sixth place at 27 under with Billy Horschel/Tom Hoge (68), Eric Cole/Hank Lebioda (68) and Doug Ghim/Jeffrey Kang (70).

The start of the final round was delayed a couple of hours because of morning storms. That led to adjustments with groups beginning on Nos. 1 and 10.

–Field Level Media

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Justin Wrobleski moves to 4-0 as Dodgers blank Cubs

MLB: Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles DodgersApr 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski (70) pitches against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run in 13 games and Justin Wrobleski continued his strong start to the season with six scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a 6-0 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Miguel Rojas hit a two-run double in the first inning and Dalton Rushing had a two-run single in the sixth as the Dodgers won two of three against the Cubs and took a home series for the fourth time in five tries.

Wrobleski (4-0) gave up four hits with six strikeouts, but matched a season-high with four walks. The left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.50 in 30 innings over five appearances and four consecutive starts.

Shota Imanaga (2-2) gave up a season-high five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Imanaga allowed more runs than his last four starts combined (three).

Chicago’s offense was held to four hits and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Michael Busch delivered the only extra-base hit, a double to lead off the second inning.

The Cubs lost their second consecutive game following a 10-game winning streak.

Andy Pages delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the opening inning and Rojas added his two-run double two batters later.

Wrobleski worked through early trouble, leaving two Cubs runners aboard in the first inning and the bases loaded in the second. He put the leadoff batter on base in four of his six innings.

Rushing gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead with his two-run single in the sixth and Ohtani hit a solo home run to left-center in the seventh inning, his sixth of the season. The blast ended Ohtani’s longest stretch without a home run since joining Los Angeles for the 2024 season.

Ohtani was the lone player to produce multiple hits, as he went 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI.

Edgardo Henriquez, Jack Dreyer and Kyle Hurt each pitched a scoreless inning without allowing a hit as the Dodgers earned their third shutout victory of 2026 and the second in the past four games.

–Field Level Media

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Coco Gauff battles illness, tough opponent, but advances in Madrid

Tennis: Miami OpenMar 28, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Coco Gauff of the United States hits a forehand against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the final of the women’s singles at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Coco Gauff is not the retiring type.

The third-seed in the WTA’s Madrid Open became another player this week to struggle during a match due to illness and fell behind Sorana Cirstea by a set and a break on Sunday.

The two-time Grand Slam champion vomited as discreetly as possible outside the court area, took a medical timeout and was able to get some relief. She then proceeded to pull out the second set and cruise in the third to defeat the 25th-seeded Romanian 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours, 21 minutes.

“When I actually threw up on the court, that was like a little bit embarrassing,” said Gauff after the match. ” … I’m someone who doesn’t like to pull out (of matches). I don’t like to do that unless I really feel like I have no other options. So the plan was to always just try to finish, even if it ended up with me just playing just to get through it.”

Gauff recorded her eighth three-set match win of the year, third on tour behind Jessica Pegula (10) and Magda Linette of Poland (nine).

Cirstea, who is retiring at the end of the 2026 season, led 4-3 in the second after breaking Gauff for the sixth time in nine return games. But Gauff broke her opponent at love and captured the set on her second set point against Cirstea’s serve.

Gauff won 36 of 60 third-set points to advance to the fourth round, where she will face No. 13 Linda Noskova. The Czech advanced in a walkover and did not have to face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, who is also suffering from the illness.

Polish No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek retired in the third set on Saturday vs. Ann Li, also unable to overcome illness.

Gauff reached the finals of last year’s Madrid Open, but lost to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) in straight sets.

Another player nearly as hot as Sabalenka –who is 25-1 in 2026 — is Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who eliminated No. 5 Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 6-4 in only 73 minutes. Kostyuk has won eight consecutive matches and comes in off a title in Rouen, France.

“I think I’m definitely enjoying playing tennis since I got injured in the Australian Open,” said Kostyuk. “I’m very happy with the progress that we’re making as a team, and I think that’s all that matters.

“I’ve never had such a long winning streak in my career, so we must be doing something right.”

The 26th-seeded Kostyuk produced 20 winners against Pegula, who responded with only nine. She also saved 10 break points.

Kostyuk will face Caty McNally, who edged Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2).

In other three-setters, second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan rallied to knock off No. 32 Qinwen Zhang of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic upset No. 19 Elise Mertens of Belgium, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3), Austria’s Anastasia Potapova outlasted No. 21 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Argentina’s Sorana Sierra sprinted past Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

–Field Level Media

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