Sports
Wolves take care of Thunder behind Anthony Edwards
Jan 29, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) defends Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) in the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images Anthony Edwards scored 26 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves jumped on the Oklahoma City Thunder early and rolled to a 123-111 home win Thursday.
Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Timberwolves had plenty of juice right off the bat, jumping out to a 12-point first-quarter lead and leading the whole way.
Edwards was at the center of things early, hitting a 3-pointer off a Donte DiVincenzo steal on Minnesota’s first possession of the game and scoring 12 of the Timberwolves’ 34 first-quarter points.
Jaden McDaniels added 21 points, going 5 for 5 on 3-pointers while Naz Reid added 18 points off the bench. Rody Gobert had 14 rebounds and 11 rebounds. McDaniels’ 3-point total tied a career high.
Gilgous-Alexander scored 11 in the second quarter and 15 more in the third, finishing with a game-high 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting. It was Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33rd 30-plus point game of the season.
The Timberwolves’ first four field goals came from behind the arc and they hit eight 3-pointers in the opening quarter, three from Edwards.
Minnesota tied its season high with 22 3-pointers, hitting 46.8% from beyond the arc.
The win was the third consecutive for the Timberwolves since snapping a five-game losing streak Monday with a win over Golden State.
The loss was the third in the last four games for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City never got closer than 11 points after the first quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander tied a season high with five turnovers.
Oklahoma City big man Isaiah Hartenstein returned for the first time since Dec. 28, coming off the bench for the first time this season.
Hartenstein’s minutes were limited in his first game back from a calf strain, and he finished with 11 points and five rebounds in more than 18 minutes.
Chet Holmgren added 15 points and three blocks in the loss
–Field Level Media
Sports
Adam Silver Faces Mounting Pressure as NBA Tanking Problem Grows
Once considered the best commissioner in all of sports, Adam Silver faced more questions than he had answers for at the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Silver has a low bar to clear – as Roger Goodell’s fascination with global expansion in the NFL outweigh his interest in consistent officiating of league discipline for off-field matters. Rob Manfed is in a league of his own, especially if baseball isn’t played in 2027 due to the looming MLB lockout.
But the NBA is facing many of their own challenges. During NBA All-Star Weekend, Silver was peppered with questions about expansion, which doesn’t seem any closer to happening. But more significantly, he was asked about the league’s growing tanking issue.
Over the weekend, Miami Heat two-way player Keshad Johnson won the dunk contest by default, and Damian Lillard won the three-point competition despite not suiting up for a single game with the Portland Trail Blazers yet this season. But tanking is a bigger issue than the lack of buzz or excitement around the NBA’s All-Star festivities.
Right now, a third of the NBA is completely non-competitive.
In the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls are in the Play-In Tournament slots despite records under .500. Out west, five teams have 20 wins or less.
The race to the bottom has been aggressive. While the 2026 NBA Draft class has coveted prospects including Kansas superstar Darryn Peterson and BYU star AJ Dybantsa, only two teams are going to select those players.
According to The Athletic, Silver is willing to threaten removing the NBA Draft altogether, allowing an entire rookie class to enter free agency. While drastic times call for drastic measures, abolishing the draft would likely be frowned upon by the NBA Player’s Association as well as small market teams that would always have a difficult time competing for premier rookies.
The truth is, Silver has no solution to fix the league’s tanking epidemic. The NBA can fine teams until they are blue in the face – these billionaire owners have plenty of money.
Back in the day, teams would strategically tank by assembling teams that had no business on an NBA court. But in modern day? Teams are shutting stars down left and right to load up their probability for the NBA Draft lottery. There’s no reason for the Utah Jazz to have shut down Jaren Jackson Jr., who they had just played for. The Milwaukee Bucks shouldn’t be allowed to shut down Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Some could argue that the Oklahoma City Thunder, who look primed to be the NBA’s next dynasty, are a product of tanking. But those were bad rosters. They weren’t willingly shutting down superstars.
The NBA is a wildly popular league with the youth. That’s the good news for Silver, who has done a great job appealing to younger fans utilizing social media. But is that younger demographic actually interacting with full games, which is the NBA’s core business?
Silver has to find a way to keep superstars on the floor. Then once they’re on the court, they need to be competing with full effort in the league’s way-too-long 82 game season. From there, he needs to figure out how to stop teams from intentionally tanking seasons, because it turns into an endless pattern.
Does that much losing really serve the fans? For what? A better draft pick?
They have to figure this out with no clear solution. Good luck, Silver.
Sports
No. 3 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State both begin series of Big 12 clashes
Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) celebrates after winning 74-56 over Kansas in the Big-12 conference basketball showdown on Feb. 14, 2026, at Hilton Coliseum, in Ames, Iowa. Expect the fur to fly and defense to be front and center when No. 3 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State square off Monday in the latest of a series of titanic Big 12 Conference clashes in Ames, Iowa.
Monday’s game is the second of three contests in a row against ranked teams for Iowa State, and the first of a three-game stretch versus opponents ranked in the top 25 for the Cougars over an eight-day period.
The Cyclones (22-3, 9-3 Big 12) bounced back from a mid-week road loss to TCU with a dominating 74-56 win at home over No. 9 Kansas on Saturday. The 18-point margin in the victory was Iowa State’s largest in a win over the Jayhawks since 1973, and the win avenged a 21-point loss to Kansas on Jan. 13 that handed the Cyclones their first setback of the season.
Milan Momcilovic poured in 18 points for Iowa State in the win while hitting four 3-pointers. Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Blake Buchanan and Jamarion Batemon added 11 points each for the Cyclones, who held Kansas to 37.3% shooting from the floor and won for the sixth time in their past seven games.
“Our guys were really locked in,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “I thought it was at a very high level in terms of how we pressured the ball, how physical we were, how we were ahead of plays in the first half to turn them. Our defensive intensity was at a very high level.”
Iowa State is a perfect 14-0 at home this year and 47-2 on its home court over the past three seasons. That streak will be tested — in a big way — by Houston’s visit.
“We have tremendous respect for their program,” Otzelberger said about the Cougars. “We know how good they are and the things that they can do, the problems they can pose. It’s always balancing the necessary amount of get rest and get your body to bounce back, come to practice with great mental focus and intent and get prepared to play a really good team.”
Houston (23-2, 11-1 Big 12) heads north after riding its defense to a 78-64 win at home over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon. Emanuel Sharp scored 23 points to pace the Cougars, who overcame a ragged first half in which they made just two of their first 15 shots before finding their stride. Houston held Kansas State scoreless over the final 5:24 of the first half, during which it turned a one-point lead into a 14-point advantage.
“Basketball is not a very complicated game — when you make shots, you look pretty, and when you miss them it’s ugly,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I think we lead the world in ugly wins, but we are still 23-2, 11-1, so that’s pretty good.”
Milos Uzan and Kingston Flemings added 12 points each for Houston, which won its sixth straight game despite committing a season-high 15 turnovers.
“I won’t spend one minute tonight worrying about this game — not one minute,” Sampson said after Saturday’s win. “We’ll see if we can go and shock the world because that’s what it would be. Iowa State doesn’t lose at home. Neither do we. Neither does Kansas. Neither does Arizona.”
After Monday’s contest, Houston hosts No. 1 Arizona on Saturday and then travels to No. 9 Kansas on Feb. 23.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 8 Illinois stifles Indiana for easy win
Feb 10, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood reacts during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images David Mirkovic poured in 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead No. 8 Illinois to a 71-51 Big Ten victory over Indiana on Sunday afternoon in Champaign, Ill.
Keaton Wagler contributed 18 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 14 as the Illini (21-5, 12-3) snapped a two-game losing streak by turning 15 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points and committing a season-low two turnovers.
Kylan Boswell added nine points and seven rebounds as he returned to the Illinois lineup after missing seven games with a fractured right hand. Andrej Stojakovic sat out his second straight game with a high ankle sprain.
Lamar Wilkerson paced Indiana (17-9, 8-7) with 21 points, while Tucker DeVries posted 13 points and Sam Alexis added 11. However, the Hoosiers scored their fewest points since Dec. 3, 2022, at Rutgers as they hit 6 of 24 from 3-point range and lost the rebound battle by a 38-25 count.
Both teams’ key players showed up immediately. While Wilkerson and DeVries canned their first 3-point attempts for Indiana, Wagler produced seven points in the first five minutes to forge an 11-11 tie.
Then, Mirkovic asserted himself. He cashed a 3-pointer on a pick-and-pop with Wagler at the 11:17 mark to highlight a 10-0 run that gave the Illini a 24-15 lead with 9:46 remaining. After Indiana’s Jasai Miles and Wilkerson answered with 3-pointers, Mirkovic hit back-to-back 3-pointers and fed Ivisic for a layup to restore a 32-23 lead with 5:28 to go.
Mirkovic posted 15 points in the first half, and Wagler added 11 to offset Wilkerson’s 14 and give Illinois a 38-31 halftime lead.
Ivisic scored the first five points of the second half to produce the game’s first double-digit lead, but Wilkerson responded with five of his own. Then Illinois reeled off 11 points in a row — highlighted by a Wagler 25-footer and a Mirkovic running bank — to claim a 54-36 lead with 12:33 to play.
Wilkerson was the only Hoosier to score in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the rest of the squad went 0-for-6 from the field with four turnovers. Though Alexis finally broke through with a dunk at the 9:31 mark, Indiana never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
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