NBA
Jalen Brunson had 39 points and 12 assists, and the New York Knicks moved a win away from their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years and pushed the defending champion Boston Celtics to the brink of elimination with a 121-113 victory last night in Game 4. The Celtics will have to make the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit to extend their title reign and may have to do it without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was carried off the court with a leg injury with 2:58 left. Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 23 points for the Knicks.
Jayson Tatum was carried off the court with a lower right leg injury with 2:58 remaining in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night. The Celtics had just turned the ball over and as Tatum moved for the loose ball, his leg gave out and he went down. He buried his face in a towel in obvious pain while grabbing at his leg above the ankle after the non-contact injury. Tatum scored 42 points, his high in these playoffs, before he was hurt. The Celtics lost 121-113 to fall behind 3-1 to the Knicks. Game 5 is at 7 Wednesday night in Boston.
Anthony Edwards scored 30 points for his second straight 30-point performance, Julius Randle had 31 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 117-110 for a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series. Now, it’s back home to Minneapolis for the Wolves with a chance to clinch the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series in Game 5 at 9:30 Wednesday. The Warriors will still be without Stephen Curry, who sat out his third game in a row and is scheduled to have his strained left hamstring re-evaluated that day.
The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg might be headed to Dallas to start his NBA career. And a fan base that lost Luka Doncic this season might have a new star to cheer for. The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night, giving them the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft — and the first chance to take Flagg, the freshman who led Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season and the consensus player of the year.
Michael Jordan is joining NBC Sports as a special contributor to its NBA coverage when the 2025-26 season begins. NBC made the announcement on Monday morning during its upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall previewing the networks offerings during the upcoming television season. NBC returns to carrying the NBA after a 23-year absence. It had NBA rights from 1990 through 2002 and carried all six of Jordan’s championships as a member of the Chicago Bulls. This is the first time Jordan has joined a network. His appearances and comments during the 2020 “The Last Dance” documentary about his career and the end of the Bulls dynasty in 1998 created plenty of headlines.
MLB
Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera was taken off the field in an ambulance after he injured his left ankle in the ninth inning of New York’s 11-5 victory over Seattle. Cabrera was hurt on an awkward slide when he reached back for the plate and scored the Yankees’ final run on Aaron Judge’s sacrifice fly. Manager Aaron Boone said Cabrera had a brace put on his left ankle before entering the ambulance on a stretcher. Cabrera was taken to a hospital with team athletic trainer Tim Lentych. Cabrera is hitting .243 this season with one home run and 12 RBIs.
Pete Alonso hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and the New York Mets took advantage of a costly error by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3. Pirates ace Paul Skenes pitched out of trouble all night and exited after six innings with a chance to win. But the Mets scratched across two runs against Pittsburgh’s bullpen in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. New York left fielder Brandon Nimmo robbed Joey Bart of a leadoff homer in the eighth, but Pittsburgh tied it at 3 in the ninth.
Gleyber Torres homered and drove in three runs and the Detroit Tigers cruised to a 14-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Trey Sweeney also homered and leadoff hitter Kerry Carpenter scored three times in the first three innings for the Tigers, who improved to an AL-best 27-15. Jackson Jobe gave up one run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked five. Wilyer Abreu and Abraham Toro homered for Boston. Tanner Houck allowed 11 runs in 2 1/3 innings. It’s the second time he has given up 11 earned runs in a start this year, making him the first Red Sox pitcher to do it.
Masyn Winn homered in the seventh inning to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 for their ninth consecutive win. Ivan Herrera also went deep for St. Louis, and Lars Nootbaar had two of the Cardinals’ five hits. The game was tied at 2 when Winn hit a two-out drive to left-center off Matt Strahm. Kyle Leahy pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. JoJo Romero escaped a jam in the eighth, and Ryan Helsley recorded his eighth save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Cristopher Sánchez struck out eight in six innings for Philadelphia. He allowed two runs and four hits.
Alex Verdugo’s single off Andrew Chafin drove in Eli White from second base in the bottom of the ninth and the Atlanta Braves recovered after blowing a two-run lead to beat Washington 4-3 to hand the Nationals their sixth consecutive loss. White led off the ninth with a single off Jackson Rutledge before advancing to second on Nick Allen’s sacrifice. Verdugo’s single up the middle drove in White to end the game. James Wood homered for Washington. Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs with two hits, including a 464-foot homer off Jake Irvin in the fifth.
Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki homered in the fifth inning to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 5-2. Miguel Amaya went 3 for 3 for Chicago, and Kyle Tucker hit an RBI triple. The NL Central leaders had dropped four of five. Cubs right-hander Colin Rea allowed two runs and six hits in a season-high 6 2/3 innings. Rea was replaced by Daniel Palencia after Derek Hill hit a two-run homer for Miami. Palencia got four outs before Drew Pomeranz handled the ninth for his first save since 2020. Last-place Miami lost for the 12th time in 15 games.
Corbin Carroll hit two homers off Justin Verlander and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1. Carroll hit a 2-1 pitch from Verlander over the wall in left-center in the third. He went deep again on a 1-1 pitch leading off the fifth for a 2-0 lead. The Giants got their lone run in the bottom half off Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly. Willy Adames led off with a double and scored on a two-out single to right by Christian Koss. Verlander was pulled after allowing a leadoff single to Geraldo Perdomo in the seventh. He fell to 0-3.
José Ramírez has shown he can turn a game around with one swing of the bat. On Monday night, the Guardians All-Star third baseman did it with his glove and legs. Ramírez made a nice play to get Milwaukee’s Andruw Monasterio out at second base with the bases loaded for the final out. In the home half, he stole two bases after getting aboard with a single and scored on Gabriel Arias’ double with the bases loaded to put the Guardians up 3-0. Ramírez ended up with three stolen bases and moved into third on Cleveland’s all-time list as the Guardians opened the series with a 5-0 victory over the Brewers.
Wyatt Langford hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning for Texas to end a no-hit bid by the Colorado Rockies in their first game after manager Bud Black was fired. The Rangers went on to a 2-1 win Monday night. It was the ninth loss in 10 games for 7-34 Colorado. Rockies rookie right-hander Chase Dollander walked the first batter he faced in his seventh big league start, then retired 15 in a row before getting into trouble in the sixth when Langford went deep. Texas starter Tyler Mahle struck out five and walked one in his 6 1/3 innings.
Taylor Ward hit a grand slam to cap a six-run ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the San Diego Padres 9-5. The Angels rallied against Robert Suarez, who had converted 18 consecutive save opportunities — including 15 this season. Alek Jacob replaced Suarez and struck out Jorge Soler before Ward delivered. Suarez yielded a one-out single before walking four straight batters, forcing in two runs. The right-hander allowed just one run in his first 18 appearances this year.
Bobby Witt Jr. and Jonathan India each drove in two runs to help Michael Wacha and the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros 7-5. Michael Massey homered as Kansas City improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games. India finished with three hits, and Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel each had two. Wacha allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. Carlos Estévez got three outs for his 12th save. Massey sparked Kansas City’s four-run second with a leadoff drive against rookie Ryan Gusto for his second homer.
NHL
Sean Walker scored late and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series. Walker's score came at the 16:45 mark of the third period after the Capitals had pulled to within 3-2 on Alex Ovechkin's one-timer on a 5-on-3 power play. Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, while Shayne Gostisbehere and Seth Jarvis also scored. Jakob Chychrun also scored for Washington. The series shifts back to Washington for Game 5 at 7 Thursday night with the Capitals facing elimination.
Adam Henrique had two goals, Stuart Skinner made 23 saves and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round NHL playoff series. Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Connor McDavid picked up an assist. The Oilers need one more win to advance. Game 5 is 9:30 Wednesday night in Las Vegas. Adin Hill made 29 stops for the Golden Knights, who posted a dramatic 4-3 victory in Game 3 on Saturday night.
NFL
The Philadelphia Eagles will start defending their championship at home on Sept. 4 against the division rival Dallas Cowboys. The matchup for the annual regular-season kickoff game was revealed by the NFL in the first in a series of announcements this week ahead of the full schedule release. The Cowboys-Eagles matchup will be on Thursday night in the first game in NBC’s package of primarily Sunday night games. The Eagles are also featured in a Saturday doubleheader on Fox on Dec. 20 against the Washington Commanders and on Nov. 28 on Prime Video's Black Friday game against the Chicago Bears.
TENNIS
Novak Djokovic is splitting with coach Andy Murray, just two weeks ahead of the French Open. Murray’s representatives said in a statement Tuesday that the two former No. 1-ranked players will “no longer be working together.” Murray thanked Djokovic for the “unbelievable opportunity to work together.” Djokovic said “I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together." Djokovic and Murray joined forces ahead of the Australian Open in what initially was seen as an unlikely pairing. After Murray retired last year, Djokovic reached out with the coaching proposition.
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