Sports
Thunder put 11-game winning streak on line vs. Timberwolves
Dec 26, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) dribbles the ball while Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the hottest teams in the NBA for plenty of reasons.
Two-time All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks during the Thunder’s 11-game winning streak.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s performances, as good as they’ve been, have been expected. But rookie Ajay Mitchell’s recent surge wasn’t as easy to predict.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell and Oklahoma City will try to extend their winning streak when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
A win would tie the Thunder’s longest winning streak since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City ahead of the 2008-09 season.
Tuesday’s game is the first of the season between the teams and the second of a five-game homestand for the Thunder.
Mitchell, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, has surged of late, giving Oklahoma City a versatile option both to pair on the floor with Gilgeous-Alexander and to be a primary ball-handler when the latter is on the bench.
That’s been particularly important with Alex Caruso having missed the last three games with a right hip strain.
“He is just another guy that is a steady hand on the wheel,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “When he has the ball in his hands, he makes very sound plays. He can score, he can shoot, he can play in the midrange, he can get to the rim. Then, he makes the right reads. So, he can play on the ball, he can play off the ball.”
After averaging 5.3 points and 1.7 assists in 15.4 minutes over the first 27 games of the season, Mitchell is averaging 13.0 points and 2.3 assists in 22.6 minutes over the last four games. He’s also shooting 64.5 percent from the field during that stretch, and his turnovers have ticked down despite the greater usage.
But while Mitchell’s offensive numbers have been “loud,” as Daigneault said, it’s on the other end of the floor where Mitchell has earned his expanded playing time.
“He defends in a way where you can play him,” Daigneault said. “He does it on both ends.”
While the Thunder have the longest active winning stretch in the NBA, the Timberwolves also enter with some momentum thanks to a three-game winning streak.
Those victories have come over a trio of teams near the Timberwolves in the Western Conference standings – Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
After entering the month below .500, Minnesota has gone 8-4 so far in December.
Donte DiVincenzo, acquired from the Knicks in an offseason trade, has been a big piece of that turnaround.
After averaging just 8.9 points and shooting 35.4 percent overall and 32.6 percent on 3-pointers through October and November, DiVincenzo is averaging 11.5 points on 44.3 percent overall shooting and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc in December.
“He’s been himself,” Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert said of DiVincenzo. “Just making playing on both ends, making high IQ plays, making the right play and knocking down big shots. That’s who he is.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Surge, Gentle Mates unbeaten in CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
The Paris Gentle Mates and Vancouver Surge are atop the standings at 2-0 after Saturday, the second day of qualifying for the Call of Duty League’s Stage 3.
The Surge outlasted the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-2, while Paris topped G2 Minnesota 3-1.
FaZe Vegas swept Boston Breach 3-0 to open play, and Toronto KOI got the better of the Riyadh Falcons 3-1 in the other match of the day.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the third major of the season, to be held May 15-17 as part of the DreamHack Atlanta event.
On Saturday, FaZe Vegas dominated Boston Breach, winning 250-98 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-3 on Fringe Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Scar Overload.
Toronto KOI started strong, winning 250-183 on Den Hardpoint and 6-2 on Plaza Search and Destroy before the Riyadh Falcons notched a 4-3 decision on Exposure Overload. Toronto closed out the match with a 250-179 victory on Sake Hardpoint.
The Paris Gentle Mates opened with a narrow 250-230 win on Sake Hardpoint before G2 Minnesota responded with a 6-4 win on Scar Search and Destroy. Paris edged Minnesota 6-5 on Den Overload before taking Colossus Hardpoint 250-157.
The Vancouver Surge emerged from a back-and-forth battle with the Carolina Royal Ravens. The Surge won on Sake Hardpoint (250-233) and Fringe Search and Destroy (6-1), then the Royal Ravens drew even with victories on Scar Overload (3-2) and Gridlock Hardpoint (250-223). Vancouver secured the victory with a 6-1 triumph on Plaza Search and Destroy.
Sunday’s schedule:
–Toronto KOI vs. Boston Breach
–Riyadh Falcons vs. FaZe Vegas
–OpTic Texas vs. Cloud9 New York
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying, with match record and map differential
T1. Paris Gentle Mates, 2-0, 6-2
T1. Vancouver Surge, 2-0, 6-2
3. FaZe Vegas, 1-0, 3-0
T4. Los Angeles Thieves, 1-0, 3-1
T4. Toronto KOI, 1-0, 3-1
T6. Cloud9 New York, 0-0, 0-0
T6. OpTic Texas, 0-0, 0-0
T8. Miami Heretics, 0-1, 1-3
T8. Riyadh Falcons, 0-1, 1-3
T10. Boston Breach, 0-1, 0-3
11. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0-2, 3-6
12. G2 Minnesota, 0-2, 1-6
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 remains unbeaten in Week 3 opener of LCS Spring
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Cloud9 improved to 3-0 and Sentinels earned their first win to kick off Week 3 of the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.
Cloud9, one of just two unbeaten teams left, swept Disguised 2-0 as Sentinels came away with a 2-1 win over FlyQuest.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 didn’t face much interference in its third straight victory, winning both games in 25 minutes over Disguised, which fell to 1-2. Robert “Blaber” Huang and Denmark’s Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen led the victory with very similar kill-death-assist ratios of 12-1-18 and 12-2-18, respectively.
Sentinels won the opener vs. FlyQuest in 30 minutes, lost the second game in 31 minutes and won the deciding third matchup in 39 minutes. Cho “Rahel” Min-seong of South Korea led the victory with a 20-4-13 K-D-A ratio.
Week 3 concludes Sunday with LYON facing Shopify Rebellion and Dignitas versus Team Liquid.
Regular season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
1. Cloud9, 3-0, 6-2
2. Team Liquid, 2-0, 4-1
3. LYON, 1-1, 3-3
4. Shopify Rebellion, 1-1, 2-2
5. FlyQuest, 1-2, 4-4
6. Sentinels, 1-2, 4-5
7. Disguised, 1-2, 2-5
8. Dignitas, 0-2, 1-4
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees out to continue success vs. lefties, sweep Royals
Apr 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) and center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images The New York Yankees struggled in most of their encounters against left-handed pitching until Saturday. Then they dominated Kansas City southpaw Noah Cameron and rolled to their most lopsided victory of the season.
After their best showing at the plate, the Yankees seek a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon when they host the Royals.
The Yankees will face another left-hander in Cole Ragans (0-3, 3.78 ERA) after going 7-for-20 with three homers off Cameron. New York raised its batting average against left-handed pitchers 19 points to .179 after Saturday’s 13-4 win.
Cody Bellinger, who entered Saturday 3-for-17 off lefties, hit a pair of two-run homers and drove in five runs. Bellinger also is 10-for-28 (.357) over his past seven games.
Ben Rice homered for the third straight game for the first time in his career and is 5-for-16 (.313) off lefties after hitting .208 against southpaws last season. Rice will remain in the lineup Sunday along with Paul Goldschmidt while Giancarlo Stanton gets a scheduled day off ahead of Monday’s off-day before the start of a three-game series at Boston.
The Yankees scored their most runs all season after their previous five wins were decided in the final at-bat. Amed Rosario hit a two-run homer, drove in three runs and is hitting .293 off lefties since the start of last season.
“We’re a talented team that can win in many different ways,” Bellinger said. “Obviously these games are more ideal but I like where we’re at.”
Since their 6-5 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2024 ALDS, the Royals are on a 10-game losing streak against New York. Kansas City has lost six straight and nine of 11.
The Royals were blanked until Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer in the seventh and also scored on a two-run double by Michael Massey in the ninth. Bobby Witt Jr. had one of Kansas City’s seven hits and is 5-for-20 on the road trip.
The Royals are coming off their most lopsided loss of the first 21 games after 10 of their previous 11 games were decided by two runs or fewer.
“It looks bad when you get your butt kicked like today, but every game this week has been a really close game,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “Guys are running hard, they’re playing hard, they’re preparing hard. It just hasn’t worked out.”
After getting seven sharp innings from Will Warren and not using any high-leverage relievers, the Yankees will send lefty Ryan Weathers (0-2, 4.29 ERA) to the mound.
Weathers, who struggled at times with his fastball command Tuesday in a 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, makes his first career start against Kansas City. Weathers is allowing a .268 average to opposing hitters and allowed three homers in a span of five pitches on fastballs to Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler.
Weathers also gave up a homer to Oswald Peraza on his changeup but wound up with 10 strikeouts in five-plus innings when he allowed five runs. He also became the first Yankee and 17th pitcher all-time to get at least 10 strikeouts and allow four homers.
In four starts, Ragans (0-3, 3.78) has received four runs from his offense and is coming off his best start this season. Ragans allowed one hit in six scoreless innings in a no-decision during Kansas City’s 2-1 loss at Detroit on Tuesday.
Ragans does not have a decision and a 2.57 ERA in a pair of appearances (one start) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Surge, Gentle Mates unbeaten in CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying
Cloud9 remains unbeaten in Week 3 opener of LCS Spring
