Sports
Struggling without key players, Grizzlies visit woeful Pelicans
Jan 23, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) looks on from the bench area during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images A season filled with key injuries, including those to star guard Ja Morant and second-year big man Zach Edey, is taking a toll on the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies, riding a four-game losing streak, visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. Memphis has dropped seven of its past nine games, including a 112-97 home loss Wednesday to the fast-rising Charlotte Hornets.
Morant, a two-time NBA All-Star, has missed the past three games with a left elbow sprain and projects to be sidelined for at least two more weeks. He sat out six games earlier in the month because of a right calf contusion. Morant has missed 25 of the team’s 45 games this season.
Edey, whose second season had a promising beginning, has been out with ankle issues since Dec. 7. Edey missed the start of the season after undergoing a procedure to stabilize his left ankle, then he returned in mid-November and averaged 13.6 points and 11.1 in 11 games before being sidelined again. He was diagnosed with a stress reaction in the same ankle. When he was re-evaluated on Jan. 14, the Grizzlies said Edey would miss the next six weeks.
The absences of Morant and Edey played a part in the 15-point loss to the Hornets on Wednesday. Without an inside presence like the 7-foot-3 Edey, the Grizzlies were beaten on the boards, 43-39. Six-10 Jaren Jackson Jr. and 6-11 Jock Landale combined for only seven rebounds in 59 minutes.
“Our body language was bad,” Grizzlies point guard Cam Spencer said. “We weren’t connected on either end of the floor. I thought they beat us to every 50-50 ball, killed us on the glass. Just outcompeted us.”
Without Morant, the Grizzlies are without an adept scorer in the lane. Memphis had only 38 points in the paint while Charlotte finished with 52.
“What I was disappointed in at halftime was we were already eight or nine shot attempts less than the Hornets,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “That’s always going to be difficult. We know we are at a disadvantage overall with the injuries and absences, and we’ve seen that in the good games when we are competitive. The possession game is extremely important for us.”
The Grizzlies shot 58.3% in the first half, but still trailed 62-55 at the break. Memphis fell behind by 16 in the first quarter before rallying to take a 43-42 lead, but never regained momentum and spent most of the second half behind by double digits.
As for the Pelicans, their their two-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday by reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City. The Thunder prevailed, 104-95, despite being held to 40.2% shooting by the visiting Pelicans, who forced the Thunder into 16 turnovers.
“I loved the effort,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said. “Probably one of our better defensive efforts against that group.”
New Orleans shot 34.3% against Oklahoma City while dropping its 13th consecutive game to the Thunder. Starting guards Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones combined to go 2-for-20 from long range.
“Obviously, (the defense) gave us a chance tonight,” Borrego said. “We turned them over and won the possession game. Gave ourselves a shot tonight. Just needed a few more buckets.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Orioles place C Adley Rutschman on 7-day concussion list
Jun 18, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Adley Rutschman (35) walks to the clubhouse after being struck in the head by an errant throw while running out a ground ball against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images The Baltimore Orioles placed catcher Adley Rutschman on the seven-day concussion list on Saturday after he was injured on an unusual play on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners.
The move, which is retroactive to Friday, came after Rutschman was hit on the left ear while running to first base on a grounder in the ninth inning. Mariners shortstop Colt Emerson was trying to complete a double play and threw the ball inside second base at close range. Rutschman came out of the game and host Seattle went on to win 3-0.
Rutschman, 28, missed Friday’s 6-5 loss to the Dodgers as well as Saturday’s game in Los Angeles.
“Obviously, it sucks for Adley,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “Especially with concussions and head injuries, it’s tough, and especially the position he plays, with the constant foul tips and balls in the dirt and backswings, plays at the plate. So right now, Rutsch is on the concussion IL and we’ll kind of take it day by day and see where he’s at.”
Rutschman also was on the 10-day IL from April 11-21 due to left ankle inflammation. He is hitting .254 with 15 doubles, eight home runs, 40 RBIs and has a .787 OPS in 54 games.
For his career, Rutschman is batting .254 with 69 homers and 270 RBIs in 559 games. Baltimore selected him first overall in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Oregon State.
In a corresponding move on Saturday, the Orioles recalled outfielder Michael Siani from Triple-A Norfolk.
Siani, 26, has hit .221 (76-for-344) with two homers and 20 RBIs in 160 games over parts of four seasons for the Cincinnati Reds (2022-23) and St. Louis Cardinals (2023-25).
He hit a combined .185 (25-for-135) in 44 games this season for Triple-A Oklahoma City (Dodgers affiliate) and Norfolk (Orioles).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wings rally from 15 down in fourth quarter to stun Sky
Jun 20, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Chicago Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) battle for the loose ball during the first half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Li Yueru converted the deciding free throws with 12.5 seconds left as the Dallas Wings put everything together in the fourth quarter to produce a wild, come-from-behind 93-92 win over the Chicago Sky on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Dallas’ 36 points in the fourth quarter resulted in its highest-scoring period of the season, and the Wings (10-6) needed every one of them to beat Chicago, which dropped its fifth straight game.
Chicago led by 17 points late in the third quarter but the Wings rallied in the fourth, drawing to within 81-80 on a pair of Jessica Shepard free throws with 3:21 to play. Paige Bueckers’ layup with 1:35 left tied the game at 86 before Sydney Taylor poured in a 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining to put Chicago up 89-86.
Skylar Diggins had a steal that resulted in her two free throws with 35.7 seconds left to push the Sky’s advantage to six points. A free throw by Azzi Fudd and then a four-point play from Bueckers got Dallas to within one, and Chicago turned over the ball with 29.8 seconds to play.
Kamilla Cardoso then fouled Yueru, who made both free throws to give the Wings their first lead of the game. Chicago’s Jacy Sheldon then missed a short jumper with three seconds left, and Azura Stevens’ putback layup just before the buzzer glanced off the rim and away, allowing Dallas to walk off with the unlikely victory.
Shepard led the Wings with 21 points, with Bueckers adding 19, Fudd scoring 13 and Arike Ogunbowale hitting for 12 points.
Cardoso’s season-high 26 points led all scorers. Taylor added 18 for the Sky (4-11), while Diggins had 14 and Natasha Cloud tallied 10. Stevens led all players with 11 rebounds.
The Sky dominated the first quarter, going up 25-13 after a running jumper by Gabriela Jaquez at the 2:24 mark before carrying a 28-16 lead after 10 minutes of play. Dallas eventually pulled to within a point and missed on multiple chances to take the lead before the Sky swung back as Cloud’s left-handed layup with 5.7 seconds left allowed Chicago to take a 43-38 advantage into the break.
Cardoso led all scorers with 14 points at halftime, while Maddy Siegrist paced Dallas with eight points off the bench in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyweight Manel Kape continues successful run at UFC Fight Night
Dec 14, 2024; Tampa, Florida, UNITED STATES; Manel Kape (red gloves) reacts during he fight against Bruno Silva (blue gloves) at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Flyweight Manel Kape stopped Kyoji Horiguchi in the third round for his fourth straight victory on Saturday night in the UFC Fight Night main event in Las Vegas.
Kape’s TKO at 2:42 in the third of five scheduled rounds marked a transition period in a division whose champion, Joshua Van, successfully defended his title for the first time last month at UFC 328.
Kape (23-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC), a native of Angola fighting out of Portugal, exacted revenge against Japan’s Horiguchi (36-6, 1 NC MMA) from their 2017 bout in RIZIN, when Kape suffered one of only two submission losses in his career.
Kape paid respects to Horiguchi, recognizing that without him, his path to a potential title shot would look a little different, as he faced adversity in both fights.
Kape did make one thing clear, though.
“I knew he was going to touch me at some point,” Kape said after the fight about Horiguchi. “Because I felt his hand (speed) before. But, if I touch you one time — believe me — you’re gonna be dead.”
Kape, who has won seven of his last eight bouts, said he doesn’t know if he’ll get a title shot against Van immediately but was gracious toward UFC brass, including CEO Dana White.
The co-main event featured a pair of surging light heavyweights in New Zealand’s Navajo Stirling and Ion Cutelaba of Moldova.
After surviving five takedowns and a few potentially fight-ending submission sequences, including a standing guillotine, Stirling railed to secure a brutal TKO against Cutelaba at 3:23 of Round 2.
Since making his promotional debut in 2024, Stirling (10-0 MMA) is 5-0 in the UFC with back-to-back finishes and 10 straight victories.
Cutelaba (20-12-1), on the contrary, is 3-3 in his last six UFC fights, having been a fringe top-15 contender in the division and remaining part of the promotion since 2016.
The finishes kept coming in a trio of featherweight bouts, as Christian Rodriguez’s first-round head-kick marked the beginning of the end for Hyder Amil of the Philippines.
At 3:43 of the round, Rodriguez (13-4) successfully found an opening to secure a guillotine choke following the kick, after much of the fight was spent on the feet. The American has won four of his last seven, while Amil (11-3) fell to 3-3 in the promotion after three straight losses.
Featherweight Murtazali Magomedov added his name to the UFC history books with a modified twister submission 1:17 into the opening round against the usually durable Melsik Baghdasaryan.
Since the UFC’s inception in November 1993, only three other fighters have successfully executed the combined version of a neck crank and a spinal lock: Chan Sung Jung (2011), Bryce Mitchell (2019) and Da’Mon Blackshear (2023).
Magomedov (11-0 MMA) of Kyrgyzstan was making his UFC debut, while Armenia’s Baghdasaryan (8-4 MMA) has dropped two in a row and three of his last four.
The UFC Vegas 119 main card kicked off with Brazilian featherweight Vinicius Oliveira securing a second-round TKO (4:56) against Andre Fili of the United States to secure his fifth win in his last six outings.
Oliveira (24-4 MMA) now has two UFC wins by KO/TKO, marking the 19th finish of his career. Meanwhile, Fili (25-14, 1 NC MMA) fell to .500 in the UFC (13-13) since 2013.
The UFC caps off June with a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, next Saturday for the second straight year.
–Field Level Media
Orioles place C Adley Rutschman on 7-day concussion list
Wings rally from 15 down in fourth quarter to stun Sky
