Sports
Soaring Suns collide with red-hot Clippers
Jan 30, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) talks to Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball (2) in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Phoenix Suns dominated both sides of the floor in recent back-to-back victories over Eastern Conference contenders Detroit and Cleveland.
The Suns will look to cap a strong stretch on Sunday when they host the Los Angeles Clippers to conclude a five-game homestand, their longest of the year.
Phoenix ran up leads of 21 and 33 points in harassing the Pistons and Cavaliers in double-digit victories Thursday and Friday, which stretched their winning streak to three.
“That’s our coaching, our DNA,” reserve guard Jordan Goodwin said in a TV interview. “We’re going to bring it every night. Make it difficult for teams. It’s fun watching us now. It’s our vibe, it’s our culture, our mindset. Next-man-up mentality.”
“We’re rolling right now.”
The Clippers had their roll slowed in a 122-109 loss at Denver on Friday, but that was just a blip in a stretch where they have gone a league-best 16-4 since Dec. 20 to emerge as a viable playoff contender after a 6-21 start.
“We’re confident,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We’re playing well, but we’ve still got to play better. We still have to run through the tape and continue to execute the right way.”
Phoenix has made similar forward progress. The Suns are 15-7 since Dec. 20, the third-best record in league, and are 29-15 since Halloween, the fourth-best.
They also got deeper Friday, when Jalen Green scored 11 points in 16 minutes after missing a week with a right hamstring injury that has bothered him since training camp. He has played in only five of the Suns’ 49 games.
The Suns played arguably their two most complete games against Detroit and Cleveland, focusing defensively on top scorers Cade Cunningham and Donovan Mitchell, respectively.
Detroit shot 42.5% from the field and made only 6 of 29 3-pointers (20.7%). Cunningham, who had 26 points, was 8 for 22 shooting and 2 of 9 from distance.
Against Cleveland, the Suns shot 52.9% from the field and made a season-high 23 3-pointers in 48 attempts (47.9%), while limiting Mitchell to 16 points, 13 below his season average, on 6 of 12 shooting. He had eight of Cleveland’s 22 turnovers.
“The group that we found, the connectiveness that we found, the system (coach Jordan Ott) has with the personnel that we have, everything has just clicked so far,” Suns guard Grayson Allen said.
“It feels like everything is going to get better. We’re moving the ball better offensively as it goes on. Figuring out our pressure defensively and rotations and trusting each other. It feels like we’ve gotten a lot better since the first month of the season.”
The Clippers ran into an historic performance Friday, when Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists in 24:32 in his return from a left knee injury that kept him out for 16 games. He is the first player in league history to reach those plateaus in less than 25 minutes.
James Harden had 25 points and nine assists, and Kawhi Leonard had 21 points and six assists against the Nuggets.
Leonard has scored at least 20 points in 26 straight games.
“We’re still in a hole,” Leonard said. “We still have to win our games no matter what the circumstance is right now. We have to keep moving forward and try to become a better basketball team right now.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Isaiah Evans, No. 1 Duke overwhelm No. 11 Virginia
Feb 28, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Isaiah Evans (3) grabs a pass as he moves around a pick center Patrick Ngongba II (21) as Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Isaiah Evans used a hot start on the way to 19 points and top-ranked Duke’s defense contained No. 11 Virginia for much of Saturday afternoon’s showdown in a 77-51 victory at Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils, with two games remaining, secured at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and locked up the top seed for the upcoming ACC tournament.
Cameron Boozer racked up most of his 18 points on free throws for Duke (27-2, 15-1 ACC), which built its lead to 28 points in the second half. Boozer also had a team-high nine rebounds, while Patrick Ngongba II added 11 points.
Thijs De Ridder had 16 points for Virginia (25-4, 13-3), which was bidding to pull even atop the ACC standings. Instead, the Cavaliers’ nine-game winning streak was halted as they were held to a season-low point total.
Virginia went 29.1% from the field, including 7-for-35 on 3s, so the Cavaliers’ 12-for-13 shooting at the foul line couldn’t save them. Virginia collected nine offensive rebounds despite its volume of missed shots.
Evans shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and was 7-for-11 overall from the floor, accounting for nearly half of Duke’s 12 baskets from 3-point range.
Boozer had 11 first-half points on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting, but didn’t make a field goal until a 3-pointer early in the second half. He ended up 3-for-9 from the field in 33 minutes in Duke’s second-to-last home game of the season.
Aside from De Ridder, Virginia’s starters shot a combined 4-for-22 from the field.
An 11-0 run in the second half stretched Duke’s advantage to 70-43.
Duke built an 18-9 lead across the first 11 minutes, with Evans providing 14 of those points. The Blue Devils carried a 41-26 lead into halftime.
Virginia shot 4-for-17 on first-half 3s, while going 4-for-8 on 2-point range attempts.
By game’s end, Boozer attempted 12 of Duke’s 14 free throws.
–Field Level Media
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
