Connect with us

Sports

Nikola Jokic, Nuggets look to keep guard up vs. lowly Jazz

NBA: Milwaukee Bucks at Denver NuggetsMar 26, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball as Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) guards in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets are in a tight battle for the second seed in the Western Conference in part because they haven’t beaten teams they should have defeated.

Two losses to the lowly Washington Wizards, two to the Portland Trail Blazers, and they escaped a depleted Milwaukee Bucks team on Wednesday night.

Denver (46-28) will face another mental test when it hosts the Utah Jazz on Friday night. Utah (16-58) owns the worst record in the NBA and played at home on Thursday night, so the team may be weary from a late arrival in Colorado.

The Jazz lost to Houston 121-110, their fourth setback in a row and 14th in their last 15 games.

Friday night kicks off a five-game road trip for the Jazz and continues a stretch in which they will play eight of nine games against teams holding a postseason or play-in spot.

Utah imploded in the second half against Memphis on Tuesday night, prompting coach Will Hardy to call out his team’s effort.

“At some point, every person needs to look in the mirror and understand what’s being asked of them, and try to do it to the best of their ability, at the highest level of intensity that they can,” he said.

The Jazz had a better effort Thursday but were missing some key pieces, including season scoring leaders Lauri Markkanen and John Collins. Markkanen hasn’t played since March 17 due to conditioning, while Collins has been out since March 12 because of a left ankle injury.

Both players are averaging 19 points a game. Collin Sexton (18.1) is third on the team in scoring, and Keyonte George (16.6) is fourth.

Utah announced Thursday that Jordan Clarkson is out for the rest of the season after the guard underwent a procedure to address plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

The Nuggets are dinged up but got three-time MVP Nikola Jokic back in the 127-117 win over the Bucks. He returned after missing five games with a left ankle injury and recorded his NBA-leading 30th triple-double of the season.

“I felt good. I felt much better than I thought,” Jokic said after posting 39 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. “I’m happy that we won the game, I’m happy that I feel good. So, it was good.”

Jokic is third in the NBA in scoring (29.3 points a game), third in rebounds (12.8) and second in assists (10.3). He leads Denver in those categories as well as steals (1.7). Jamal Murray is second in scoring (21.6 ppg), and Michael Porter Jr. is third (18.2).

Porter has been playing through a balky hamstring and hopes the upcoming three-day break will give him a chance to heal. After Friday night, the Nuggets don’t play again until Tuesday against Minnesota.

“I feel like it’s affecting my overall power a little bit on my shot, not being able to get as much lift,” he said. “But, yeah, I’m just trying to work through it and have it be 100 percent by the time the playoffs come around.”

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

Orioles 2B Jackson Holliday (hand) suffers setback

MLB: New York Yankees at Baltimore OriolesSep 20, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday (7) looks on during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday will have an MRI following another setback in his recovery from a right hand injury.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick was removed from Triple-A Norfolk’s game against Memphis on Tuesday after he experienced discomfort during a swing.

Holliday, 22, has been working his way back to the majors since fracturing a hamate bone in batting practice in February. This is the second time in a week that he has experienced soreness in his hand and wrist.

“We’re getting him up to Baltimore for an MRI,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said following the team’s 6-5 loss at Kansas City on Tuesday.

Holliday played 11 rehab games at Norfolk from March 27 to April 12 and two games at High-A Fredericksburg on April 18-19 before returning to Norfolk on Tuesday. He is batting a combined .176 (9-for-51) with no homers and four RBIs in 14 games.

Holliday, the top pick in 2022 and the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday, batted .242 with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 149 games with the Orioles in 2025.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Steelers owner has Ravens' fan seating moved at Pittsburgh draft

NFL: NFL Draft City ScenesApr 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; A general overall aerial view of Acrisure Stadium, the site of the 2026 NFL Draft. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Brotherly love is not in the air in Pittsburgh, where Steelers owner Art Rooney II ceases to give the franchise rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens a day off.

Rooney surveyed the stage and draft layout ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft in his home city and was surprised to find the chart called for Ravens fans to be seated in front of the hometown Steelers fans positioned outside of Acrisure Stadium.

He asked the NFL to do something about it.

“On the normal seating chart, I noticed that the Ravens fans were sitting in front of the Steeler fans in one section of the draft theater,” Rooney said in a radio interview with WDVE 102.5 FM. “So I asked (the NFL) to make that change — and they agreed to make that.”

The Steelers and Ravens both changed head coaches in the offseason but the rivalry remains intense.

Baltimore lost a virtual division championship game in the stadium where the draft is held starting Thursday and will pick 14th overall. The Ravens attempted to trade that pick and more to the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby, but general manager Eric DeCosta backed out of the deal for what he claimed were concerns with Crosby’s physical.

Pittsburgh has pick No. 21 in the first round Thursday but will be readily apparent Friday during a stretch in the second and third rounds in which the Steelers hold four picks between selections Nos. 53 and 99.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Led by CJ McCollum, Hawks look to seize series lead vs. Knicks

NBA: Playoffs-Atlanta Hawks at New York KnicksApr 20, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) and New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) are separated by referee Zach Zarba (15) during the third quarter of game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

CJ McCollum is filling the exact role the Atlanta Hawks had in mind when they acquired him in January. The veteran is not only scoring plenty of points, but he’s also providing an experienced presence for a young team.

McCollum scored 32 points on Tuesday to spark Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback and 107-106 road win against the New York Knicks. The best-of-seven first-round series is tied 1-1 and shifts to Atlanta on Thursday for Game 3.

“I really liked CJ’s leadership as much as the shot making,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “CJ’s leadership was really good with the ball in his hands.”

The Knicks had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when leading by 12 or more points after three quarters. The only loss was when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.

“It’s something that we’ve talked about over the course of the last couple of months,” Snyder said. “It’s a different type of leadership in my mind than he’s had at other times, because he’s got to find a balance of communicating and talking to the guys but still not losing his aggressiveness scoring the basketball.”

The mild-mannered McCollum also stepped into an unfamiliar role as villain. The crowd at Madison Square Garden, turned their vitriol — formerly directed at ex-Hawk Trae Young — toward McCollum. He just shrugged it off.

“I ain’t no villain, I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife,” McCollum said. “I think it’s admiration. Great passionate fans in a really hostile environment. It’s fun, it’s basketball, it’s the playoffs.”

The Knicks lost the game despite 29 points from Jalen Brunson. He scored 10 of the team’s 15 fourth-quarter points when New York shot just 5-for-22 from the floor.

“We got the ball in the right people’s hands down the stretch and we didn’t convert,” New York coach Mike Brown said.

Brunson has been outstanding in both games. He scored 28 in the series opener. But Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 25 in the first game, scored only 18 — and none in the fourth quarter in Game 2. Brown blamed 14 turnovers, which led to 18 Atlanta points, and shooting 63 percent (17-for-27) at the line.

“At the end of the day we’ve got to lock in at the free-throw line, and we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Brown said. “And in that fourth quarter you could tell they were playing with a level of desperation. They got three of four 50-50 balls in the fourth quarter, which is what we use to measure the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter their aggression stepped up.”

The competition between the teams has been close all season. New York won the first playoff game 113-102, the most lopsided score this year. The Knicks won two of the three regular-season games by three points, while Atlanta had a two-point win.

“Atlanta did what they wanted to do. They came in here and took one from us at home,” Brown said. “In my opinion, you’ve got to be able to win on the road if you expect to get where you want to do. So, for us, we’ve got to go win on the road.”

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading