Sports
Thunder put home mastery vs. Magic on the line
Feb 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images In his eighth NBA season and after earning his first Most Valuable Player award, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s game continues to evolve.
Heading into Tuesday’s home game against the Orlando Magic, Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting a career-high 55.8% from the field and averaging 6.4 assists per game, which would tie his career high set last season.
“As I go through my career and go through seasons and games and see more coverages and different type of bodies, I just try to grow,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The better you get at individually scoring, the more they make you pass. … I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t.”
The biggest change, Gilgeous-Alexander said, is reacting possession by possession to how he’s played defensively instead of trying to assert himself as a scorer or force passes that aren’t there.
“I used to try to balance the two and I think I just got to the conclusion that me trying to decide before they show what they’re going to do is pointless,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It just becomes now, taking what they give me every time down and just trusting the guys that I’m out there with to make the right plays.
“The only way the double teams stop is I make them pay by passing the ball and if my teammates are comfortable in those positions.”
The Thunder come into the game having won two of their last three, including Sunday’s 121-111 win in Denver.
The Magic have also won two of their last three, but are coming off a 112-103 loss Sunday in San Antonio.
In that game, Orlando trailed by 18 in the first quarter before battling back to take the lead, but ultimately fell.
“Just the initial fight, I think that’s what needs to start in our game,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You’ve got to start the game in an aggressive manner, a focused manner, understanding exactly how we’re guarding, what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to take away, and be disciplined in that regard.
“They’re the best team in the West for a reason.”
Tuesday’s meeting is the first of two between the teams this season.
The Thunder have swept the Magic each of the last two seasons, and Orlando has not won in Oklahoma City since Dec. 29, 2020. The Magic haven’t beaten the Thunder on the road with fans in attendance since November 2016.
Oklahoma City and Orlando are both among the top five teams in the league at limiting points off turnovers, with the Thunder second, allowing 15.0 points per game. The Magic are fourth, with opponents scoring 16.1 points off turnovers.
The Thunder remain without Jalen Williams, who has missed the last seven games with a hamstring strain. Ajay Mitchell has missed the last five games with an abdominal strain, while Alex Caruso has missed the last six games with an adductor strain.
Orlando has been without forward Franz Wagner, who has missed the last six games due to a high ankle sprain.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Argentina club looking to lure Lionel Messi home in 2027
Dec 6, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on with the Philip F. Anschutz trophy after winning the 2025 MLS Cup against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Argentina club Newell’s Old Boys is working on a plan to bring two-time MLS MVP Lionel Messi home next year.
A team executive confirmed that it’s trying to entice Messi to return to his boyhood club for the first half of 2027.
“It’s a project that goes beyond Newell’s. It involves the city of Rosario, the province, and Argentine football,” first vice president Juan Manuel Medina said, according to an ESPN story published Wednesday.
Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player, signed an extension with defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami in October that runs through the end of the 2028.
Messi, 38, played for Newell’s youth teams from 1995-2000 before moving to the FC Barcelona academy.
Inter Miami will open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC. Messi also is preparing to defend Argentina’s World Cup championship this summer in North America.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lindsey Vonn's coach, Stefon Diggs confident she can ski with ACL injury
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 3, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITALY; Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference at a press conference at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Mandatory Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters via Imagn Images Lindsey Vonn’s coach and New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs are confident that the American skiing great can compete at the Milano Cortina Olympics with a ruptured ACL in her left knee.
Vonn, 41, is set to try her luck in the women’s downhill race on Sunday
“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Vonn’s head coach Chris Knight told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”
Knight’s comments came one day after Vonn said that she’s not interested in discussing surgery at the moment.
“It’s not really on my radar screen right now. The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” she said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better. And every day we’re discussing with a full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone, to make sure we’re doing everything to make sure I am making smart and safe decisions.”
Diggs knows a thing or two about a torn ACL. His lone season with the Houston Texans in 2024 was cut short by the same injury.
“Prayers to her. I hope the surgery does go well when she does have it,” Diggs said Wednesday of Vonn. “Anybody who has torn an ACL, it’s kind of a weird injury. You can run after about two weeks when the swelling goes down. … As long as she doesn’t have to (decelerate), she should be fine.”
Like Vonn, Diggs has a big day ahead on Sunday. Diggs and the Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.
As for Vonn, she must complete at least one official training run to take part in the Sunday downhill. Vonn is no stranger to the mountain. She collected 12 of her 84 World Cup victories there, the most of any skier.
Vonn earned gold (downhill) and bronze (Super-G) medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Vonn retired after the 2019 world championships due to injuries. She subsequently received a partial replacement of her right knee and launched a comeback late in 2024 with the Olympics in her sights.
She has won the downhill twice this winter and leads the World Cup standings in the discipline and was considered a favorite to win the gold medal in the event in Italy.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Washington Post shutters sports department
Sep 15, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos in attendance before the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Washington Post shuttered its venerable sports department on Wednesday, part of a larger layoff involving one-third of the newspaper’s staff.
“The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future, in what amounts to a significant restructuring across the company,” a Post spokesperson said in a statement. “These steps are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.”
Executive editor Matt Murray announced the changes in a video conference with employees.
The move comes with Post reporters already on site covering Super Bowl LX and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
“It’s like somebody taking a hammer to my heart,” Sally Jenkins, who wrote a Post sports column until she left the paper last summer, told The Ringer. “It’s not just broken. It’s broken into about 20 pieces, one for every single one of my close friends there.”
Some sports reporters are expected to move into other roles, but the exact number was not reported.
A skeleton crew will continue to produce what Murray described as features about sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon.”
The Post has undergone repeated changes, downsizings and reinventions since Amazon chief Jeff Bezos purchased the paper in 2013.
In addition to cutting the sports pages, the Post is reducing its international footprint, making the Metro section more “nimble and focused” and eliminating the Books section.
–Field Level Media
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