Sports
Spurs battle Suns in Kevin Durant's first return to Austin as pro
University of Texas freshman Kevin Durant walks off the Erwin Center court after playing Texas Tech on Feb. 20, 2007. The San Antonio Spurs will be the de facto home team when they square off against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in Austin, Texas, but they won’t have the game’s most popular player in their huddle.
That’s because the contest will be a homecoming for the Suns’ Kevin Durant. It will mark the first time the former collegiate player of the year has played as a professional in Austin, where he starred for the University of Texas in 2006-07 during his lone college season.
It’s the first of two games for the Spurs in the Texas capital on consecutive nights; San Antonio plays Detroit at the University of Texas’ Moody Center on Friday.
Durant said last week that Thursday’s game will “mean a lot” to the 11-time All-Star and four-time NBA scoring champ.
“I’m excited that we get to go back to play a regular-season game there,” Durant said. “Austin is a place where I kind of started this journey, and to have so many friends and family that are still there from, what, 16, 17 years ago is pretty sweet. So, I appreciate the NBA for setting this up. This is a unique time.”
The Suns return from the All-Star Break in search of a reboot. Phoenix has lost three games in a row and six of its past seven, including a 119-111 setback Feb. 12 in Houston. Durant was brilliant in defeat, scoring 37 points and dishing out a team-high nine assists, but the shorthanded Suns couldn’t break their losing streak.
Bol Bol added 15 points for Phoenix, which played without Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen in the second game of a back-to-back.
With 26 wins and 28 losses at the break, the Suns have plenty of work to do over their final 28 games.
“We’ve got to think about the day ahead of us and trying to get better,” Durant said. “And figure out how to win the next game and go on from there. We expect a lot out of ourselves individually, and it just hasn’t materialized the way we want it to.
“It’s been disappointing to see us play this way.”
The Spurs return from the break also looking to get back on track after dropping three of their last four games — most recently a 116-103 loss Feb. 12 at Boston. De’Aaron Fox led San Antonio with 23 points while Victor Wembanyama had 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, and Harrison Barnes chipped in 14 points in a game the Spurs trailed by as many as 24 points.
At 23-29, San Antonio has matched its season-worst showing in relation to .500.
The Spurs have emphasized physicality and finding easy shots on offense, but they have sputtered at times — especially when teams have been able to limit Wembanyama. Now the team looks to get back on track without its All-Star big man, who is listed as doubtful for the Thursday game due to an illness.
Adding Fox at the trade deadline was expected to help right the ship in San Antonio, but the Spurs are just 2-3 since the mercurial guard was added to the lineup.
“A lot of things that we preached and a lot of things that when we’ve had rough patches, they’ve been a common theme, so we need to improve in some of those areas,” interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “The team has made tremendous strides in their consistency and their maturity and trying to play and execute in what we ask.
“Any time you improve, expectations come with that. Any time you add a good player, expectations come with that. And I think that we will be stubborn and not skipping steps and trusting that we’re going to go about this the right way.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mateusz Bogusz brace carries Dynamo past Austin FC
Jul 25, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo FC midfielder Mateusz Bogusz (19) celebrates after scoring a goal during the first half against the Austin FC at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Mateusz Bogusz had two easy goals in the first 29 minutes and Guilherme Santos had a goal and two assists in a dominating first half as the host Houston Dynamo swamped Austin FC 3-0 on Saturday in a clash between Copa Tejas rivals.
The Dynamo (8-6-2, 26 points) extended their home unbeaten streak to five matches (4-0-1) and earned a split in the season series with Austin FC. Houston is 4-1-2 since a 2-0 loss in Austin to the Verde on April 25.
Jonathan Bond saved five shots to earn his fourth clean sheet of the MLS campaign for the Dynamo.
Austin (4-8-5, 17 points) remains the only MLS team without a road victory this season and has dropped four of its last five contests to the Dynamo away from home. The Verde have won just once in their past six matches (1-4-1) and followed up a stirring 3-1 home win over Seattle on Wednesday by laying an egg against their Lone Star State counterparts.
Houston swept to the front with a stunning trifecta of goals in the first 32 minutes. After Austin pressed the action in the early going, the Dynamo burned the visitors via the counterattack when Bogusz was the beneficiary of passes from Guilherme and Ezequiel Ponce and opened the ledger with a goal in the 12th minute.
Bogusz waited on the doorstep to the right of Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver for the pretty give-and-go sequence that found him wide open for the easy tally and a 1-0 Houston lead.
Bogusz then scored again in the 29th minute, outsprinting two Austin defenders for a long clearing pass from Guilherme before unleashing a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner that Stuver had no chance to save.
The Dynamo continued their onslaught in the 32nd minute as Guilherme scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season after assists from Agustin Bouzat and Felipe Andrade.
That tally was again produced on the counterattack as Bouzat drove his pass deep and high over the Austin defense for Houston’s dynamic star to run under before hitting a shot that Stuver could only watch bounce into the bottom right corner.
The Verde made a tepid attempt to respond over the final 15 minutes of the first half, with Przemyslaw Placheta testing Bond and then Brandon Vazquez producing a pair of low-percentage shots that the Houston keeper gobbled up.
Austin did little to cut into the deficit after halftime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyrese Spicer comes off bench to propel Orlando City past Nashville SC
Jul 25, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando City SC forward Justin Ellis (22) battles for the ball against Nashville SC defense Jack Maher (5) during the first half at Inter.Co Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Second-half substitute Tyrese Spicer scored in the 72nd minute to lift Orlando City to a 1-0 home victory over Eastern Conference-leading Nashville SC on Saturday.
Justin Ellis notched the assist with a clever reverse pass to Spicer, who slipped behind the defense for a clear look at the goal. Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau turned in his second straight clean sheet with two saves.
The Lions (6-9-2, 20 points) had four shots on goal while Nashville (12-2-3, 39 points) had two. Nashville goalkeeper Brian Schwake had three saves.
In the 14th minute, Antoine Griezmann carried the ball wide into the attacking third and curled a cross to Ellis, whose header was on target but saved by Schwake.
Orlando kept up the pressure in the 28th minute when Ellis found Griezmann, whose left-footed shot bounced into Schwake’s hands.
Ellis threatened again moments later, shaking free of a defender before testing Schwake with a shot from the center of the box that lacked enough power to beat the goalkeeper.
As the first half wound down, Shakur Mohammed carried the ball out of midfield before slipping a pass to Andy Najar. Najar then played a through ball to a sliding Alex Muyl, whose attempt was saved by Crepeau at close range before the two collided.
Nashville had its best scoring threat in the 63rd minute when Najar settled a direct pass from midfield with a back-heel flick to Mohammed. The forward from Ghana blasted a shot in stride that Crepeau snared and quickly smothered.
Orlando withstood sustained pressure in the closing minutes. Crepeau came off his line to claim a corner kick in the 87th minute, denying Nashville a second opportunity.
Later, Daniel Lovitz’s cross in the 89th minute was headed away by Wilder Cartagena. Nashville finished with a 7-2 edge in corner kicks and a 52-48 advantage in possession, but couldn’t find the equalizer as Orlando dug in defensively.
Nashville had its five-match winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in 11 MLS matches (8-1-2).
–Field Level Media
Sports
St. Louis City's Tomas Ostrak delivers only goal needed to beat Rapids
May 9, 2026; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) fields the ball ahead of St. Louis City defender Fallou Fall (27) in the second half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Tomas Ostrak scored in the 83rd minute to give St. Louis City a 1-0 home win over the 10-man Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
The victory extended St. Louis City’s winning streak to four regular-season matches and their points streak to seven matches (6-0-1).
After playing 71 minutes with an 11-on-10 advantage, St. Louis (7-6-4, 25 points) finally broke through on Ostrak’s tally. A nice passing play from Tomas Totland set up Ostrak for a superbly-placed shot from the edge of the box that sailed into the right side of the net.
Ostrak’s first goal of the season came seven minutes after the midfielder entered the match as a substitute. It was just Ostrak’s second regular-season match, as leg injuries sidelined him for most of St. Louis’ 2026 campaign.
Rapids defender Rob Holding was issued a straight red card in the 12th minute, and Colorado (6-10-1, 19 points) then went into a defensive shell. St. Louis outshot Colorado 18-2, with no Rapids shots on target.
It made for a quiet night for Roman Burki, as the St. Louis goalkeeper didn’t need to make a single save to earn his second shutout of the season. Nico Hansen made two saves for Colorado.
St. Louis also didn’t deliver much direct pressure, as only three of the home team’s 18 shots were on target. While the Rapids defended well, St. Louis City committed some self-sabotage with a season-high 22 fouls, continually interrupting their own attacks.
Jeong Sang-bin’s shot off the crossbar in the 37th minute was St. Louis’ best chance of the first half. Rapids defender Lucas Herrington made a pair of close-range blocks on Totland and Daniel Edelman during a St. Louis flurry in the 54th minute.
Holding was shown the early red card after he brought down Jeong in open play in the 12th minute, likely preventing Jeong from a breakaway chance. It was Holding’s second ejection in as many matches against St. Louis, as he also received a red card in the 50th minute of St. Louis City’s 1-0 win over the Rapids on May 9.
–Field Level Media
Mateusz Bogusz brace carries Dynamo past Austin FC
Tyrese Spicer comes off bench to propel Orlando City past Nashville SC
