NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season Openers
Last Night
Detroit Pistons 113, Orlando Magic 109
Chicago Bulls 116, Miami Heat 108
Washington Wizards 114, Indiana Pacers 107
Pistons 113, Magic 109 – Bogdanovic shines in Detroit debut, helps Pistons beat Magic
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points in his debut with Detroit, helping the Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 113-109 on Wednesday night. Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 overall pick last summer, had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in an impressive NBA debut. Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick last year, had 18 points and 10 assists. Cunningham’s last assist set up Isaiah Stewart for a 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left that gave the Pistons a four-point lead. Bogdanovic made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to restore Detroit’s four-point cushion, sealing the victory.
Bulls 116, Heat 108 – DeRozan scores 37, Bulls top Heat 116-108 in season opener
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 of his 37 points in the second half, Ayo Dosunmu added 17 and the short-handed Chicago Bulls topped the Miami Heat 116-108 in the season-opener for both teams on Wednesday night. Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Bulls, and Goran Dragic added 12 off the Chicago bench. Jimmy Butler scored 24 points and Tyler Herro added 23 for Miami, which got 22 from Max Strus and 12 from Bam Adebayo.
Wizards 114, Pacers 107 – Beal, Wizards open season with 114-107 win over Pacers
Bradley Beal scored 23 points and Kyle Kuzma added 20 as the Washington Wizards led from wire to wire, beating the rebuilding Indiana Pacers 114-107. Kristaps Porzingis added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Wizards won consecutive season openers for the first time since 2004-05. Indiana was led by Tyrese Haliburton’s 26 points and 19 from rookie Bennedict Mathurin. The Pacers’ losing streak reached 11 games overall, including 10 to end last season.
MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs – League Championship Series (best of 7)
Yesterday
Houston Astros 4, New York Yankees 2 (HOU leads 1-0)
San Diego Padres 8, Philadelphia Phillies 5 (Series tied 1-1)
Astros 4, Yankees 2 – Verlander Ks 11 to lead Astros over Yankees 4-2 in ALCS
Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña all homered to power the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in their AL Championship Series opener. The Astros are in their sixth consecutive ALCS, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time in that span, against a New York team in the LCS for the first time since being eliminated by Houston in 2019. The game was tied 1-all in the sixth when Gurriel connected off reliever Clarke Schmidt for a solo shot that put Houston on top. Two batters later, McCormick sent a sinker from Schmidt into right field to make it 3-1.
Padres 8, Phillies 5 – Drury, Padres rally to beat Nola, Phillies 8-5, tie NLCS 1-1
Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth inning and the San Diego Padres stunned Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 to tie their all-wild card NL Championship Series at one game apiece. The outburst started with Padres catcher Austin Nola hitting an RBI single off his younger brother that brought the sellout, towel-twirling crowd of 44,607 at Petco Park to life. Three innings earlier, the Phillies took a 4-0 lead with a rally that included bloop hits, a sun-aided double on a gorgeous, 92-degree afternoon and some shoddy Padres defense.
Tonight
NY Yankees (Severino 7-3) at Houston (Valdez 17-6), 7:37 p.m. (HOU leads 1-0)
NHL – Red Wings’ Vrana enters NHL/NHLPA player assistance program
Detroit Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana has entered the player assistance program of the NHL and NHL Players’ Association. The league and the union made the announcement. They did not specify why he entered the program. Vrana will be paid while he is receiving treatment. The program administrators will determine when he’s cleared to compete for the Red Wings. The 26-year-old Vrana is from the Czech Republic. He had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s win at New Jersey. He did not play in a home game two days later against the Los Angeles Kings due to personal reasons.
NFL – National Football League – Week 7
Tonight
New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals, 8:15 p.m.
NCAAFB – Notre Dame Stadium no longer place of solace under Freeman
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman understands the problem. The Fighting Irish have lost their home-field advantage. Finding the solution has proven to be challenging. Notre Dame is an inexplicable 1-2 in South Bend in Freeman’s first season, despite entering each game as a double-digit favorite. And they easily could be 0-3. They’ll have a chance to turn things around Saturday when UNLV comes to town. Notre Dame is a heavy favorite but will need to sweep its final three home games to post a winning record at Notre Dame Stadium.
NCAAFB – Mississippi State freshman lineman Sam Westmoreland dies
Mississippi State says freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland has died at the age of 18. Westmoreland was an industrial technology major from Tupelo who would have turned 19 on Friday. The news release announcing Westmoreland’s death did not provide details but said the school was working with the athletic department, the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office and the coroner’s office to determine facts and would not comment further. MSU coach Mike Leach said the athletics family was heartbroken by Westmoreland’s death, which he called sudden. Westmoreland was listed on the roster for the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference game Saturday at No. 6 Alabama but had not played this season, according to game notes.
NCAAMBKB – Wolverines add another Howard
The 22nd-ranked Michigan basketball team features three Howards this season. Juwan Howard is entering his fourth season as coach, and his first with two sons on the roster. Highly touted freshman Jett Howard is expected to be in the starting lineup on the wing. Junior Jace Howard will have an opportunity to play a larger role this season as his brother’s backup. Center Hunter Dickinson put his NBA goals on hold to return for his junior season after leading the team in scoring and rebounding the previous two years.
WNBA – Brittney Griner spends 32nd birthday in Russian prison
Brittney Griner spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison, awaiting an appeal to her nine-year sentence for drug possession that’s set for next week. The WNBA star has been especially down lately, according to her lawyers. They were with her for part of her birthday on Tuesday. Attorney Maria Blagovolina says they passed along well wishes from family and friends. The WNBA star’s appeal hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25. While it’s unlikely the appeal will overturn her conviction, her lawyers hope it could lessen the sentence.
NASCAR – Bell says Wallace apologized on flight home from Las Vegas
Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell shared a flight home from Las Vegas, and Wallace apologized during the trip to his fellow Toyota teammate for the incident that crippled Bell’s championship chances. Bell said Wallace also apologized to the entire Toyota group in the Monday competition meeting. Wallace has been suspended one race by NASCAR for a dangerous act of retaliation that inadvertently collected Bell. He will miss Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for deliberately retaliating against reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson at Las Vegas. Wallace hooked Larson in the rear corner of his car to spin him directly into traffic, where Larson drilled Bell and ended Bell’s race.
Olympics – US figure skaters still await medals from Beijing Games
Eight months after finishing behind the Russians at the Winter Olympics, the U.S. team has yet to receive its medals. They do not even know whether they will be silver or gold. That’s because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency only recently finished its investigation into Kamila Valieva. Her positive doping test surfaced during the opening week of the Olympics. It led to its biggest scandal in years. RUSADA did not reveal the results of its investigation, but it did say that the next step in the process would be to hold disciplinary hearings in September or October.
AHL – American Hockey League
Last Night
Grand Rapids Griffins 3, Milwaukee Admirals 2
MCCAA – Junior College Athletics
Yesterday
Women’s Soccer
Jackson College 1, Lake Michigan College 0
Men’s Soccer
Jackson College 5, Lake Michigan College 3
Tonight
Women’s Volleyball
Kellogg Community College at Lake Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
Glen Oaks Community College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division 2 (St. Joseph)
Edwardsburg 3, Sturgis 1
St. Joseph 1, Vicksburg 0
-Championship game Saturday, 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph
Boys Soccer – Districts (Championship)
Division 2 (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg)
Gull Lake 1, Parma-Western 0
Volleyball
Lakeshore 3, Battle Creek Central 1
St. Joseph 3, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0
Michigan Lutheran 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0
Niles 3, Brandywine 2
Tonight
Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division 3 (Paw Paw)
Three Rivers vs. Paw Paw, 5:00 p.m.
Buchanan vs. Watervliet, 7:00 p.m.
-Championship game Saturday, 10:00 a.m. at Paw Paw
Boys Soccer – Districts (Championship)
Division 1 (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix)
Battle Creek Lakeview vs. Portage Central, 7:00 p.m.
Division 3 (South Haven)
Fennville vs. Holland Christian, 6:00 p.m.
Division 4 (Our Lady of the Lake)
Bridgman vs. Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.
Division 4 (Hartford)
Holland Black River vs. Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Volleyball
Benton Harbor at Parchment, 6:30 p.m.
South Haven at Berrien Springs, 1:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m.
Paw Paw at Plainwell, 6:00 p.m.
Dowagiac at Cassopolis, 7:00 p.m.
