Sports
No. 14 Virginia routs Georgia Tech for 7th straight win
Feb 18, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory (2) shoots against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Thijs De Ridder scored 22 points in 22 minutes on Wednesday, helping No. 14 Virginia pummel Georgia Tech 94-68 in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Atlanta.
Malik Thomas added 17 points and Dallin Hall had 12 points and 10 assists for Virginia (23-3, 11-2 ACC), which extended its winning streak to seven. Johann Grunloh finished with 11 points in the dominant win.
Jaeden Mustaf paced Georgia Tech (11-16, 2-12) with 18 points, followed by Baye Ndongo’s 13 and Kowacie Reeves Jr.’s 12. The Yellow Jackets trailed by as many as 38 points in their eighth straight loss.
Virginia tacked on to its 32-point lead in the opening minute of the second half, as Thomas’ trey and Grunloh’s layup gave the Cavaliers a 64-27 advantage.
Mustaf’s 3-pointer and Ndongo’s subsequent free throws marked a rare set of consecutive scoring trips for Georgia Tech, which trimmed Virginia’s lead to 31 with 12:59 left.
De Ridder answered with back-to-back fastbreak dunks and a layup to extend the lead to 80-43.
Georgia Tech pieced together a 16-5 spurt to pull within 26 with five minutes remaining. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cavaliers 41-35 in the second half.
Virginia opened the game on a 14-3 run, holding Georgia Tech without a made field goal until Mustaf’s floater at the 14:39 mark.
The visitors answered the rare Yellow Jackets basket with a 13-0 spurt, taking a commanding 27-5 lead on Hall’s layup and De Ridder’s three-point play. Georgia Tech reserve Cole Kirouac’s hook shot temporarily stopped the bleeding, before another run — this time a 12-0 stretch — extended Virginia’s overwhelming advantage to 39-7 with 7:47 left in the first half.
Virginia’s eighth 3-pointer of the first half, drilled by Chance Mallory, was followed with Ugonna Onyenso’s jumper, pushing the margin to 35 with 4:18 remaining.
Hall buried Virginia’s 10th triple of the first half in the closing minutes, sending the Cavaliers into halftime with a 59-27 lead. De Ridder led all scorers with 13 first-half points, while Reeves and Mustaf scored eight points apiece for the Yellow Jackets.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Lakers G Austin Reaves (oblique) out for the regular season
Feb 26, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) reacts against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Lakers continue to get troublesome news in the injury department with star guard Austin Reaves sidelined for the remainder of the regular season, per ESPN.
He has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury. As a result, he is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Reaves came away from Thursday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with discomfort in his oblique area. In the same game, fellow star guard Luka Doncic injured his left hamstring and likely will miss the final five games of the regular season.
“I went back to get a rebound, overextended a little bit and I felt something,” Reaves said after the loss to the Thunder.
Reaves, 27, has averaged a career-best 23.3 points with 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 51 games (45 starts). He missed 19 consecutive games earlier this season with a calf injury.
In five seasons, all with the Lakers, Reaves has averaged 15.8 points with 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 331 games (216 starts).
With Reaves and Doncic both out, Los Angeles also could be without guard Marcus Smart (ankle) against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Smart was not a full participant in the Lakers’ practice on Saturday, ESPN reported.
Given the injuries, Redick said he plans to expand the rotation from nine players to possibly 11.
“All hands on deck,” Redick said, adding that Kobe Bufkin, Dalton Knecht, and Nick Smith Jr. will join the team in Dallas after playing for the South Bay Lakers in the G League playoffs.
“Our mission, it hasn’t changed. The rest of these guys and my staff, we’re going after the 3-seed and we’re going to try to win a playoff series. And we’ll see what happens with Luka.”
When asked how he’ll mentally prepare for the challenge ahead in light of the injuries, Lebron James said, “You got to flip the mindset a little bit when your role changes, whatever the case may be, or what’s needed out of [you for] the team. So, the mindset changes a little bit, for sure.”
The Lakers traveled to Oklahoma City feeling good about their playoff prospects while winning 13 of their previous 14 games to reach third place in the Western Conference. But their night against the Thunder has proved costly and not just because of a 139-96 blowout loss.
Doncic leads the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game and is also averaging 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds. Doncic was just named Western Conference Player of the Month for March when he averaged 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.3 steals.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware help Heat rout Wizards
Apr 4, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) defends during the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 32 points, and Kel’el Ware matched his career high of seven blocks, leading the host Miami Heat to a 152-136 win over the Wizards on Saturday afternoon.
The Heat (41-37) also got 24 points and a game-high 19 rebounds from Ware. Miami led by as many as 35 points before taking out its starters.
Washington, which has lost 21 of its past 22 games, was led by Will Riley’s 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting. The Wizards, who have the NBA’s worst record at 17-60, also got 20 points from Sharife Cooper and 19 points from Jaden Hardy.
Bam Adebayo, who burned Washington for 83 points on March 10 – the second-greatest total in NBA history – was held to 14 points this time. The Heat are just 4-8 since he had his 83-point game.
Norman Powell, who leads Miami in scoring (22.1), missed his second straight game due to illness and fourth in a row overall.
Jaquez made 12 of 18 shots as part of his busy weekend. He plans to be in Phoenix on Sunday to watch his sister, Gabriela Jaquez, play for UCLA in the women’s basketball national championship game against South Carolina.
Jaime Jaquez helped UCLA to the Final Four in 2021, but his team lost the semifinal to Gonzaga in overtime.
There were 10 lead changes in a first quarter that ended with Miami on top, 36-32. Miami shot 57.1% and went 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Washington shot just 44.4%, including 2-of-4 from deep, but the Wizards remained close due to a 7-0 edge on second-chance points.
Adebayo, who had 31 first-quarter points on March 10, was held to five on Saturday.
Miami, though, dominated the second quarter, shooting 68.2% to take a 77-57 lead into halftime. Washington shot just 31.0%. Jaquez led all second-quarter scorers with 12 points.
The Heat went over the century mark with 5:40 left in the third on a 3-pointer by Simone Fontecchio, giving Miami a 102-76 lead. By the end of the quarter, Miami led 122-91.
Miami finished with a season high in points. The franchise record of 153 was set last season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
How Los Angeles Lakers Might Need Bronny James in NBA Playoffs
The Los Angeles Lakers just can’t catch a break.
After Luka Doncic’s regular season ended with a hamstring injury, the Lakers just got another dose of brutal injury luck. Austin Reaves is also done for the remainder of the remainder of the regular season due to an oblique strain.
There’s no timetable for Doncic or Reaves, arguably the best two Lakers players, to return. Of course, Los Angeles will remain hopeful that they can play in the NBA Playoffs, but there’s still five more regular season games to get through before those decisions.
For years, a viral internet social media post that reads, “accidentally became important at work and it’s ruining my life,” has become quite the viral meme.
For Lakers point guard Bronny James, that meme might’ve turned into a reality.
Could Bronny really play in the postseason?
Without Doncic or Reaves, Luke Kennard is the only healthy ball handler in Los Angeles that has gotten consistent minutes throughout the regular season. Of course, LeBron James is a ballhandler and can efficiently run an offense – but that takes him out of his current role.
There’s a real world, if Doncic and Kennard can’t suit up, that Bronny could end up playing significant minutes in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Lakers coach JJ Redick has been trusting Bronny a bit more in his second NBA season. As a rookie, he played in just 27 games. This year, he’s already appeared in 37 games. That could be as many as 42 games – especially with the new need for a point guard in Los Angeles.
Bronny averaged just a tick under eight minutes per night when he was called on to enter action for the Lakers this season. He’s played a much bigger role for the South Bay Lakers, where Bronny has played six games this season. In those 14 G League appearances, Bronny has averaged 15 points per game.
That’s not exactly the sort of production that screams to the Lakers that the 21-year-old is ready for action in the NBA Playoffs. The lights are brighter, the pace is faster and the game is way more physical in the postseason.
But out of necessity, could Redick find himself desperate?
In reality, Bronny isn’t going to see postseason minutes. The Lakers still have Kennard and Jake LaRavia would be ahead of Bronny in a playoff rotation if push came to shove.
The Lakers are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Right now, they’d be matched up with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. However, there’s still more than one week in the regular season, and the seeding can change with all of this injury news.
Before his injury, Doncic was playing at an MVP level. LeBron has enjoyed his role as “OG in residence,” contributing as a consistent third option with Doncic and Reaves handling the workload every night.
If Doncic and Reaves can’t suit up for Game 1 of the postseason, James is back to being the No. 1 option for the Lakers.
In that scenario, nobody should be surprised if Bronny gets a few minutes of run in the postseason. If the Lakers find themselves with their backs against the wall without their best two players against an athletic Anthony Edwards or a talented Houston Rockets team, they might as well bank on chemistry and genetics.
Report: Lakers G Austin Reaves (oblique) out for the regular season
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware help Heat rout Wizards
