Miami, hosting the Toronto Raptors for the second straight game, is still competing for a top-six berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The game begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, or follow along with our NBA Live Tracker.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods is back at Augusta National on Saturday, playing another picturesque weekend at the Masters, just as the five-time champion always has when he’s been healthy enough to do it as a professional.
After making the cut for a record 24th consecutive time, Woods began the third round 1-over par and still in the hunt for a record-tying sixth green jacket. He had plenty of ground to make up, seven shots adrift of overnight leaders Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, and with 21 players separating him from the top of the leaderboard.
Yet provided his balky back and fused ankle hold up, there is reason to believe the 48-year-old Woods can, too.
He had to play 23 holes on Friday after darkness brought an early end to his opening round. Yet he not only persevered through a marathon day, Woods shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that the average score was 75.09, the highest for the second round of the Masters since 2007, when it was not only windy but also cold.
Woods has driven the ball well, hitting 22 of 28 fairways, and he’s offset some poor approach shots — just 17 of 36 greens in regulation — with an excellent short game. Woods began the day in the top 10 in putting this week.
“A lot of those chip shots I was able to get up-and-down because I left it in the perfect spot, and that’s understanding how to play this golf course,” Woods said. “Most of the up-and-downs I was in a perfect spot.”
Indeed, Woods knows his way around Augusta National. He will be playing his 100th round at the Masters on Sunday.
He set off Saturday trying to make sure he would be in contention.
“I’ve been able to play here since I was 19 years old,” he said. “It’s one of the honours I don’t take lightly, being able to compete. The years I have missed, I wish I was able to play because there’s such an aura and mystique about playing this golf course that I don’t think that — unless you have played and competed here, you probably don’t really appreciate.”
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate says he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson’s will was filed Friday in a Clark County court in Nevada, naming his longtime lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, as the executor. The document shows Simpson’s property was placed into a trust that was created this year.
LaVergne told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the entirety of Simpson’s estate has not been tallied. Under Nevada law, an estate must go through the courts if its assets exceed $20,000.
Simpson died Wednesday without having paid the lion’s share of the civil judgment that was awarded in 1997 after jurors found him liable. With his assets set to go through the court probate process, the Goldman and Brown families could be in line to get paid a piece of whatever Simpson left behind.
LaVergne, who had represented Simpson since 2009, said he specifically didn’t want the Goldman family seeing any money from Simpson’s estate.
“It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing,” he told the Review-Journal. “Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
LaVergne did not immediately return phone and email messages left by The Associated Press on Saturday.
Although the Brown and Goldman families have pushed for payment, LaVergne said there was never a court order forcing Simpson to pay the civil judgment. The attorney told the Review-Journal that his particular ire at the Goldman family stemmed in part from the events surrounding Simpson’s planned book, titled “If I Did It.” Goldman’s family won control of the manuscript and retitled the book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”
Simpson earned fame and fortune through football and show business, but his legacy was forever changed by the June 1994 knife slayings of his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles. He was acquitted of criminal charges in 1995 in a trial that mesmerized the public.
Goldman’s father Fred Goldman, the lead plaintiff, always said the issue was never the money, it was only about holding Simpson responsible. And he said in a statement Thursday that with Simpson’s death, “the hope for true accountability has ended.”
The Goldman and Brown families will be on at least equal footing with other creditors and will probably have an even stronger claim, as Simpson’s estate is settled under terms established by the trust created in January. The will lists his four children and notes that any beneficiary who seeks to challenge provisions of the will “shall receive, free of trust, one dollar ($1.00) and no more in lieu of any claimed interest in this will or its assets.”
Simpson said he lived only on his NFL and private pensions. Hundreds of valuable possessions had been seized as part of the jury award, and Simpson was forced to auction his Heisman Trophy, fetching $230,000.
The Toronto Blue Jays are making a couple of changes to the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
Daniel Vogelbach, Davis Schneider and Brian Serven will come in for Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier and Alejandro Kirk. With Kiermaier sitting, Daulton Varsho will move over to centre field.
Schneider came into the game as a pinch hitter on Friday and is hitting .261/.320/.609 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 11 games. In six games this season, Vogelbach is hitting .222/.462/.333.
Serven has appeared in six games this season but has not recorded a hit yet.
The Blue Jays turn to Yariel Rodriguez, who makes his big-league debut for the Blue Jays against the Rockies. Toronto is looking to bounce-back from a 12-4 loss to Colorado in the series opener
The Islanders are looking to keep their six-game win streak going when they visit the Rangers. You can watch the game at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+ or follow along with our live NHL tracker.
Aaliyah Edwards is set to achieve yet another dream.
The Kingston, Ont., native is a projected first-round pick for Monday’s WNBA draft after a successful four-year career with the UConn Huskies.
The six-foot-three forward was a two-time all-American with the storied NCAA program, finishing out her senior season with career highs of 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing pro and playing in the WNBA,” Edwards told reporters last week in a Zoom availability. “To have my name among those lists and those rankings of projected top five, it’s crazy. If you were to ask me when I was 10 years old, I’d be, like, ‘no way.’
“It’s also humbling at the same time, because even though my name’s out there, it’s more just a credit to all the hard work and the effort I put in behind the scenes and put into the game that I’m passionate about. So I’m just going to go into the draft just being blessed with whatever outcome it is, but truly grateful to be recognized like that.”
Edwards declared for the draft on March 21, referring to the recent NCAA women’s basketball tournament as her “last dance.” She helped lead UConn to a Final Four appearance before the Huskies dropped a close game to eventual runner-up Iowa.
The 21-year-old Edwards said she was ready to move on, passing up on one remaining year of college eligibility she had due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been a big dream for me, not only just how much I’ve achieved here at UConn, but also just making that step to go across the border,” she said. “It’s not an easy decision to make, to leave your family and to leave what you call home to come into a new environment and a new change.
“I was able to develop not only my skills on the basketball court, but also (interpersonal) skills. … I can say UConn really opened a lot of doors for me and it really helped me be pro ready and ready for the next chapter of my career.”
Edwards could make it two consecutive years a Canadian has her name called in the first round. Laeticia Amihere went eighth overall in last year’s draft.
Edwards broke out in her junior season at UConn, averaging 16.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and being a staple of the team’s success as the Huskies dealt with injuries.
She earned AP third-team all-America honours, while also being named all-Big East first team, Big East most improved player and Big East Tournament most outstanding player in 2022-23.
“Did I expect this? No,” Edwards said of her individual accolades. “I’m a team player so I’ll do anything for the team to get the win at the end of the day and to impact any way that I can, so the individual awards and accolades are just a piece of recognition that’s raising my game.”
Her success has come with plenty of improvement.
“I think Aaliyah is going to be a great pro,” Canadian senior women’s assistant coach Steve Baur said in a phone interview. “I think defensively she’s taken some huge strides in the last few years. … but I think her offensive game is where she’s really evolved.
“She’s a much more dynamic offensive player. And I think if you give Aaliyah two to three more years in pro context, she’s going to continue to expand her range shooting, and I think she’s going to continue to expand her offensive game.”
Canada Basketball president and chief executive officer Michael Bartlett says Edwards’ rise serves as an example of what younger Canadian talent can accomplish.
“It’s a big deal for our young athletes … and it’s a big deal, I think, for the slate of athletes that are coming through the pipeline and will find themselves in WNBA drafts well into the future,” Bartlett said in a phone interview. “You think of athletes like Toby (Fournier) and Syla (Swords) and Jasmine Bascoe, who haven’t even started their NCAA careers yet.
“It also just further emphasizes the fact that our Canadian talent on the women’s side, just like on the men’s side, this isn’t fringe talent. This is build-your-team-around-this talent. This is lottery pick talent coming up through the pipeline.”
On March 27, the Pittsburgh Penguins were nine points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left in the season. Their odds of making it were 2.5 per cent.
Fast forward to Thursday, and those odds have jumped to 41 per cent. The Penguins, who have earned points in nine consecutive contests (6-0-3), could accomplish something that has never been done in NHL history — overcome a nine-point deficit in their last 11 games to qualify for the playoffs. (The expansion era record is seven points, held by the 1977-78 Colorado Rockies.)
Of course, it helps that the other teams in the Eastern Conference wild-card race have stumbled (or, in the case of the Philadelphia Flyers, run right off a cliff). But here is what else has been going right for the Penguins:
SIDNEY CROSBY
As has been the case for two decades, Sidney Crosby is the catalyst for the Penguins’ success. He recently clinched the 19th point-per-game season of his career, tying Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history.
Crosby has seven goals and 17 points over his past nine games. If the Penguins reach the postseason in miraculous fashion, the 36-year-old will likely end up on a lot of Hart Trophy ballots. As The Athletic’s Josh Yohe pointed out Wednesday, Pittsburgh is 6-12-3 this season when Crosby does not register a point.
STABILITY IN NET
Backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has seized the crease from Tristan Jarry, starting each of the Penguins’ past nine games.
Nedeljkovic’s numbers do not pop off the screen; he has saved 0.31 goals above expected per 60 minutes since March 24 — ninth most out of 23 goaltenders who have started at least five games over that span. But Nedeljkovic has been steady enough, recording four quality starts during his run in net. (A goaltender is credited with a quality start when he saves more goals than expected.)
“If they keep calling my name, I’ll just keep doing the best I can,” Nedeljkovic told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “And if it’s back to (Jarry), it’s back to (Jarry) and I’ll be cheering him on and doing what I can to help him out as well.”
A REVITALIZED SECOND LINE
Jake Guentzel is thriving with the Carolina Hurricanes, recording 22 points in 15 games since the Penguins traded him there last month. But he is not the only player involved in that deal who is doing well.
Michael Bunting has carved out an important role for himself on Evgeni Malkin’s wing. Since Bunting joined Malkin and Rickard Rakell on March 16, Pittsburgh has generated 71.9 per cent of expected goals at even strength with that line on the ice. The Penguins have outscored opponents 11-5 and out-chanced them 69-33 (29-11 off the cycle and 10-2 off the forecheck) as well.
Bunting and Malkin each have four goals and 10 points at even strength in 13 games as linemates. Their partnership has paid dividends.
The Penguins’ remaining schedule is challenging with games against the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators and New York Islanders. But Pittsburgh has an opportunity to do something unprecedented.
All stats via Sportlogiq
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