After Las Vegas served as the ultimate destination of the first three editions of the NBA Cup, the league is taking the finale of its in-season tournament to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The NBA announced Tuesday that the NBA Cup championship game for 2026 will be played at Hinkle on Friday, Dec. 11.

The longtime home of Butler University, Hinkle has also hosted the likes of the National Invitation Tournament, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and the NBA’s Indianapolis Olympians (1949-53). It was the home of the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament for decades and the site of the game that inspired the movie “Hoosiers.”

A news release from the league said the NBA intended to bring the NBA Cup championship to “distinctive stages that honor the sport’s history.”

“Hinkle Fieldhouse offers a special setting to capture the excitement and drama of the Emirates NBA Cup Championship,” NBA Head of Global Events Kelly Flatow said in a statement. “Playing the Championship in an iconic basketball environment like this will further establish it as a signature moment on the NBA calendar.”

The in-season tournament pits representatives from the Eastern and Western Conferences in the championship game with a cash prize for players on the line. In 2025, the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs for the title, which turned out to be a preview of the NBA Finals that saw the same matchup and same result.

It was not clear whether the semifinals will also be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse. From 2023 through 2025, the final four teams standing went to Las Vegas to contest the semis as well as the title game.

–Field Level Media

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kylian Mbappe said he wanted to enjoy his third World Cup.

Apparently, that’s bad news for his opponents.

Mbappe scored his 17th and 18th career World Cup goals to keep chasing Lionel Messi and tournament history in France’s 3-0 victory over Sweden in Tuesday’s round of 32 clash.

In doing so, the 27-year-old star for the two-time World Cup champions visibly embraced the big moments.

After scoring his first goal, he raced to the sideline and hugged manager Didier Deschamps, who recently had returned to the team after missing the group finale due to the death of his mother.

And when he was summoned off the pitch in the 85th minute to a standing ovation — particularly from French fans behind the north goal — he raised both arms and spun around to the whole stadium in a wave of appreciation.

“I did say that I wanted to enjoy this World Cup to the fullest,” Mbappe said through an interpreter. “I’m not saying that the other World Cup(s) I did not enjoy, but I was younger. I was focused then in delivering the best performances.

“And today, I believe I can do both: delivering great performances and obviously enjoying (it).”

Mbappe moved within one goal of Messi on the all-time tournament list and, with his fifth and sixth goals of this year’s tournament, pulled even with the 39-year-old in the Golden Boot chase.

Provided his favored France side makes another deep run, he’s on pace to shatter his total of eight in a single World Cup from 2022, when he helped Les Bleus to a runner-up finish against Messi’s Argentina and scored the second hat trick in a World Cup final.

He also scored four times during France’s run to the 2018 World Cup title.

“Well, I’m happy, but it’s not the most important (thing) today,” Mbappe said of his brace. “We continued delivering great performances.”

Messi and Argentina face Cape Verde on Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla., in their round of 32 meeting.

Bradley Barcola added his second goal of the tournament after halftime, and Michael Olise had two assists.

Deschamps’ side will next play on Saturday in Philadelphia against Paraguay, who shocked four-time champions Germany on penalties following a 1-1 draw on Monday in Foxborough, Mass.

“This game was important. It is a new competition starting (in the knockout phase), as we said earlier on,” Mbappe said. “Now we have to focus on Paraguay. We have another game to win.”

Sweden are eliminated following one of the more turbulent World Cup stays in recent memory, defeating Tunisia 5-1 and then losing to the Netherlands by the same score before drawing their group finale 1-1 against Japan to reach the knockout phase.

It was their first time advancing from a group in a major tournament since the 2020 European Championships (played in 2021). Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Euros.

“I thought, in terms of the game, we had to be perfect,” said Sweden manager Graham Potter. “And even if we were, I’m not sure that would’ve been enough, if I’m being brutally honest. Because the opponent was of a high level.”

Les Bleus were dominant in the first half, with Mbappe and Olise both hitting the woodwork and Olise forcing Jacob Widell Zetterstrom into an exceptional low diving save.

After the exasperation of those near misses, Mbappe gave Les Bleus the deserved lead in the 45th minute.

Olise and Ousmane Dembele combined from a short corner to slip Mbappe in on the left side of the box. Mbappe cut back to his right against Viktor Gyokeres, then finished emphatically past Widell Zetterstrom.

Barcola doubled the advantage eight minutes after the break, finishing past Widell Zetterstrom on the break after running into Olise’s slick throughball that passed through a Sweden defender’s leg.

Mbappe completed the French scoring in the 74th minute, running onto yet another slicing ball from Olise through the left side of the penalty area before scoring on a very similar finish to his opening goal.

–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media

Sergio Garcia’s latest attempt to play his way into the Open Championship ended with a missed qualifying spot and an unexpected explanation.

Garcia fell short on Tuesday in 36-hole final qualifying at West Lancashire, where a second-round dip left him outside the group heading to Royal Birkdale next month. The 46-year-old opened with a 4-under-par 68 and was in position to contend for one of the available spots, but he followed with a 75 in the afternoon to finish at 1 under.

Afterward, Garcia pointed to the meal he ate between rounds as part of the reason he faded.

“I only ate the lasagna,” Garcia told reporters. “I thought ‘have a little pasta,’ but for some reason it didn’t sit well with me and I just felt nauseous the whole front nine of the afternoon.”

Garcia said he considered withdrawing because of the discomfort, but tried to keep playing in hopes of turning the round back around.

“I felt like I was going to vomit pretty much on every hole and I thought about stopping,” he said. “But I thought, well, let’s play a couple more and see if I get something going, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

The missed opportunity means Garcia will be absent from The Open for the third time in four years. He has long been one of the game’s better links players, with two runner-up finishes and three other top-five results at the major championship, but he’s lost yet another chance to chase a first Claret Jug.

Garcia said he hit the ball well when he felt healthy, including late in the second round, but the damage had already been done during his difficult opening nine in the afternoon.

“When I was feeling healthy today I hit a lot of good shots. Even on the second nine of the afternoon, when I kind of started feeling a bit better again, I hit a lot of good shots. But those first nine holes killed me,” Garcia said. “It’s a shame. When you’re this age and you’re playing 36 holes, you need to eat between the rounds and you do that and it doesn’t sit well with you and you’re struggling with your stomach pretty much the whole second round, it’s tough.”

Englishman Samuel Bairstow led the qualifiers at West Lancashire at 10 under. Garcia’s LIV Golf colleague Josele Ballester of Spain also grabbed one of five spots available at the site, while Caleb Surratt advanced from Burnham & Berrow and Peter Uihlein earned a spot through Royal Cinque Ports.

–Field Level Media