Sports
RJ Barrett's OT heroics push Raptors-Cavs to Game 7
May 1, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) celebrates after scoring the winning basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the overtime period in game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images RJ Barrett made a dramatic 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in overtime Friday night as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 112-110 to force Game 7 of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Barrett’s Kawhi Leonard-esque bucket from straight away hit the back of the rim, bounced high into the air and fell in between the mesh. The shot was from the same end of the court as Leonard’s four-bounce miracle during Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers that sent Toronto to the Eastern Conference finals in 2019.
Asked by a reporter how many times he dreamed about making a big shot like Game 6’s winning basket, Barrett said, “I still dream about it.”
The hoop set up a deciding game Sunday at Cleveland. The home team has won every game in the series.
Scottie Barnes had 25 points and 14 assists for the Raptors. Barrett finished with 24 points, as did Ja’Kobe Walter. Collin Murray-Boyles contributed 17 points.
Evan Mobley had 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell added 24 points, and James Harden had 16 points, nine assists, nine rebounds and four turnovers. Jarrett Allen scored 14 points, while Dean Wade contributed 10.
“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “We rebounded like we asked them to rebound (Cleveland had a 52-38 advantage). We had some really good looks, you know sometimes it’s make or miss but I like a lot of things we did. That’s why you fight so hard to get home-court advantage. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. This is the playoffs. This is what it’s about.”
Toronto took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter. After two Cleveland defensive stops, Mitchell nailed a corner 3-pointer and then made a driving layup to reduce the margin to three with 6:54 to go. Mobley’s rebound and dunk cut the gap to one with 5:48 left.
A Barnes free throw had the Raptors up by two with 1:17 to go. Toronto’s shot-clock violation gave Cleveland possession with 15.6 seconds remaining. Mobley’s layup tied the game at 104 with a layup with 11.6 seconds to play in regulation. The Raptors’ Jamal Shead missed a 17-footer to set up overtime.
“We tightened up defensively,” Mitchell said of the Cavs’ fourth-quarter comeback. “I think both sides got a little fatigued naturally in a game like this. We put ourselves in position. We had a bunch of good looks, they didn’t fall and now we’ve got to go home and protect home court.”
After a Toronto turnover, Harden hit a 12-footer to give Cleveland a two-point lead in overtime. Barnes tied it at 108 with a floater with 1:25 to go.
Mitchell’s layup put Cleveland up by two with 33.7 seconds left, and then Shead made one of two free throws to cut the lead to one. Mobley’s turnover gave Toronto the ball with 10.9 left to set up Barrett’s shot.
“Call me crazy, call me psychic, but I saw this one coming tonight … It’s surreal,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said, adding that he drew up the play for Barrett. “It was (in the air for) only half a second, but it felt like an eternity. … I was happy for him, for this team, for this city, that the shot went down.”
“To do it in the city where he grew up in, that’s truly amazing,” Barnes said of Barrett, who hails from Mississauga, Ont., about 20 miles southwest of Toronto. “The way that shot went in and when we needed it most, he showed up, that’s big time. It’s hard to wrap your head around.”
After Barrett put the Raptors on top, Mobley was off target on a 29-foot attempt at the OT buzzer.
The game was tied at 32 after one quarter.
The Raptors led by nine points after Barnes spun around Harden before dunking with 7:04 left in the second quarter. Cleveland cut the margin to two before Toronto took a 61-51 halftime lead following Shead’s 3-pointer with 51.3 seconds remaining.
A Cleveland turnover led to Barrett’s running layup and a 15-point lead with 5:02 to play in the third quarter. Toronto led 92-81 after three quarters.
Toronto was without Brandon Ingram (heel) and Immanuel Quickley (hamstring).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
Jul 3, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (48) throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Aroldis Chapman broke the record for most strikeouts by a reliever en route to his 17th save as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.
Caleb Durbin hit a home run and scored twice, Jarren Duran had two RBIs, Ceddanne Rafaela collected two hits and a stolen base and Willson Contreras doubled, singled and scored a run for Boston, which ended a two-game skid. However, the Red Sox won for the sixth time in eight games.
Red Sox starter Jake Bennett (3-3), who began the game throwing 4 1/3 perfect innings, allowed two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Chapman opened the bottom of the ninth by striking out Denzer Guzman with a 99 mph sinker for his 1,364th career strikeout, breaking the all-time reliever record previously held by Hoyt Wilhelm. Chapman then permitted two singles before inducing a game-ending double-play grounder from Jo Adell.
Jose Siri homered and Zach Neto had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which lost its fourth straight game. Reid Detmers (3-6), coming off a June that saw him allow just eight runs over 31 2/3 innings over five starts, permitted five runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and fanned five.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second when Gonzalez hit a sinking line drive for a triple under the glove of a diving Siri in center field, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Duran.
The Red Sox extended the lead to 4-0 in the third on a bases-loaded two-run single by Gonzalez followed by a safety squeeze bunt by Duran.
Durbin led off the fifth with his eighth home run, a 358-foot line drive inside the left field foul pole, to make it 5-0.
Los Angeles got back into the game with two runs in the eighth. Siri hit his fifth homer to right-center to cut the lead to 5-1. Josh Lowe followed with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Neto.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Without A'ja Wilson, Aces survive Sky in OT
Jul 3, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith (3) drives to the basket against Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) in the second quarter at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Las Vegas Aces may have been without perennial MVP A’ja Wilson, but the defending WNBA champions still survived at home despite a turbulent effort in a 98-90 overtime victory against the Chicago Sky on Friday.
Forward NaLyssa Smith picked up where her frontcourt partner Wilson was unable to, tallying a career-high 29 points for the Aces (15-5) on an efficient 11-of-14 shooting while also collecting eight rebounds. Jewell Loyd added 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Chelsea Gray chipped in 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Skylar Diggins paced the Sky (6-14) with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, making two of her four attempts from 3-point range. Natasha Cloud was the driving force behind Chicago’s fourth-quarter rally, adding 15 points and five assists in the loss. Kamila Cardoso also delivered an encore to her 24-point game against the Aces on Sunday, chipping in 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Trailing 86-84, Gray buried a mid-range pull-up jumper with 22.6 seconds remaining to knot the game at 86 and eventually send the game to overtime after an empty Sky possession ended regulation. Diggins gave the Sky an 88-86 lead to open the scoring in overtime, but the Aces answered with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 92-88 with 1:14 left in the extra period and didn’t look back.
After Gray put the Aces ahead by a game-high 14 points with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter, the Sky went on a 26-13 run to cut the lead down to 64-63 with 1:53 remaining in the frame. Loyd promptly answered with a rally of her own for Las Vegas, scoring seven of the Aces’ next nine points to push their lead back to 73-64 early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the fact that the Sky trailed by double digits in each of the first three quarters, they still managed to take their first lead of the game, 82-81, on a Cloud 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining and extended that lead to 84-81 on their next possession on a Diggins lay-in.
The Aces overcame a troublesome 4-of-22 clip from 3-point range (18.2%), while Chicago made 7 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc (35%). Despite that, Las Vegas still shot a superior 35-of-69 (50.7%) from the field overall, while Chicago made 28 of 65 field-goal attempts (43.1%).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Teoscar Hernandez belts grand slam as Dodgers rally past Padres
Jul 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) scores a run past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jon Endow-Imagn Images Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 victory Friday while sending the visiting San Diego Padres to a season-high seventh consecutive loss.
Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over six innings, while allowing three runs on seven hits, and Kyle Hurt (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning as the Dodgers won for the ninth time in their past 11 games.
Tanner Scott pitched the ninth inning for his 12th save while Los Angeles improved to 6-2 against San Diego this season.
Jackson Merrill hit a home run for the Padres and Michael King dominated over six innings before he was chased from the game in the seventh. King gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings.
San Diego’s losing streak is its longest since a seven-game slide late in the 2021 season.
The Padres were in control early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Ohtani on a Gavin Sheets single. Merrill made it 2-0 in the fourth with a home run to center field, his 10th of the season and second in the series.
A Xander Bogaerts RBI double put San Diego up 3-0 in the sixth.
King was cruising after retiring the first 11 batters he faced while not allowing a baserunner until Freddie Freeman singled in with two outs in the fourth inning. He gave up two hits through six scoreless innings.
The Dodgers’ seventh-inning rally started with a Mookie Betts walk, while Max Muncy followed with a single to right field to end King’s night. Kyle Tucker appeared to hit a double-play grounder against Adrian Morejon, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth misplayed the ball for an error that loaded the bases.
Hernandez’s grand slam came on the first pitch from Morejon (6-2) and was his eighth home run of the season and first since returning Monday from a month away because of a hamstring injury.
–Field Level Media
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
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