las vegas- Lady luck was not on Vegas’ side as the Utah Mammoth (1-1) defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (1-1) 3-2 to tie the first-round series at one on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena. Both teams took advantage of their opponent’s mistakes, but both teams also took advantage of some puck luck. In Game 2, it was Utah that had a little more luck on its side, otherwise it was a fairly evenly played game.

In an eventful first round, Lady Puck Luck was on the side of both teams. With Utah’s Logan Cooley held for interference, the Vegas power play began to work. Mark Stone (2) gained control of the puck low and attempted a cross-crease pass to teammate Tomas Hertl. However, instead of the puck reaching Hertl, it deflected off the skate of Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and into the net at 11:42 of the first. It was Stone’s 12th career power play goal in the postseason, the most in Vegas franchise history, and his 43rd postseason goal overall.

Utah got a bit of a run of luck when they tied the game at one each. With 3:01 left in the first, McKenzie Weegar (1) took a shot from the point that bounced off Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin, then off the stick of netminder Carter Hart, then off the right shin pad of Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersen once again and past an unmarked Hart.

A total of eight penalties were called in the first period, five against Utah and three on Vegas. To no one’s surprise, five of the eight penalties in the first period were for roughing. The penalty box parade will continue to start the second period. At 2:27 of the second frame, Nick Dowd was whistled for tripping and the Utah power play went back to work. This power play was notable, not because of the Utah goal, but because of four Vegas blocked shots during the penalty kill, two of which seriously fouled Hanifin and Jeremy Lazaun, respectively. While both players were hobbled on the bench, they were both able to continue the game after some recovery time. Vegas would kill all four Utah penalties in the game.

Unsuccessful attempts by both teams resulted in the next two goals of the game. Four seconds after Utah killed another Vegas power play, the Mammoth took that momentum and then took their first lead of the night. Mitch Marner attempted to clear the puck from under his own goal line, but Utah defenseman Kyler Yamamoto was able to thwart the clearing attempt with his right glove and then completed a backhand, cross-ice pass to Dylan Guenther (1), who was positioned at the top of the left circle. He then fired a one-time blast that sent Hart high up to his stick-side. The goal came at 14:56 of the second minute, giving Utah a 2-1 lead. However, this gain will be short-lived.

Just 1:02 later, Ivan Barbashev (2) deflected a Sergachev pass attempt at center ice and then skated in a one-on-three, but somehow managed to dance past all three Utah players like the Bellagio fountain and then backhand over the glove of Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka to tie the game at two and that’s how the score stood until the second intermission.

The goaltenders took center stage in the third period, as both teams gave the opposing netminders a tough run, but each played brilliantly. However, late in the third, Utah was able to solve Hart for the third time through sheer tenacity. Guenther took a shot at Hart, then got his rebound and fired it off the post. As Guenther looked up to the sky in disbelief, his teammate Logan Cooley (2) swooped in and intercepted the rebound off the post and pushed it past Hart to put Utah ahead 3-2 with exactly six minutes left in regulation. With the goal, Cooley became the youngest American-born player to score in the first two playoff games of his career.

Vegas pulled Hart for an extra attacker and put some pressure on him late, but could not get the equalizer. Utah’s win is considered their first in franchise history as they were considered an expansion franchise after relocating to Utah from Arizona the previous season. While this was the first playoff win for Utah, it was the first regulation loss for Vegas under coach John Tortorella. Vegas was 8-0-1 since Tortorella became the new bench boss on March 30.

The series will now change venues to Salt Lake City’s Delta Center for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 will take place on Friday night and will be Utah’s inaugural home playoff game.

notes

• The final shots on goal were 29–21 in favor of Utah.
• The Hites defeated Utah 33–31.
• Blocked shots also led to a 17–15 win in Utah’s favor.
• The faceoff winning percentage was split equally at 50%.

The situation continues to worsen on the injury front for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Another Grizzlies player has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 NBA season, as Santi Aldama was recently injured due to knee problems. He will no longer see action on this campaign.

“Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama underwent a successful arthrosporic procedure and received an orthobiological injection today to relieve discomfort in his right knee. He will miss the remainder of the 2025-2026 season and is expected to be healthy for the start of the 2026-2027 season,” ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, formerly of the Ax, shared via a social media post on Twitter on Tuesday.

It has been over a month since Aldama last played a game, which was a February 4 meeting with the Sacramento Kings. The 25-year-old big man finished his fifth season in the league with averages of 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists through 43 games, including 11 starts – all career highs.

Memphis entered Tuesday in 11th place in the Western Conference standings with a 23-44 record, 9.5 games out of last place in the conference play-in tournament picture. Given the long odds for the Grizzlies to make the play-ins, let alone the NBA Playoffs, the decision to have Aldama undergo a procedure before the season ends rather than in the summer seems like a smart move.

Aldama was joined on the sidelines by guards Scottie Pippen Jr., Zach Eddy and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, all four of whom were ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

Meanwhile, GG Jackson and Olivier-Maxence Prosper can be expected to enjoy solid minutes amid this development on Aldama, who was a first-round pick by the Utah Jazz in 2021.

Team USA lost an influential member of its pitching staff before a big game in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic, as the New York Mets demanded he be sent back to spring training.

Team USA is feeling a lot of pressure ahead of the start of the elimination rounds at this year’s World Baseball Classic. After a surprise loss to Italy earlier this week, the United States needed the Italians to beat Mexico on Wednesday night to avoid going home early from the tournament.

Nevertheless, they are expected to defeat Canada in their quarterfinal game and move one step closer to winning their first WBC title in nearly a decade. However, it looks like they won’t have two-time All-Star Clay Holmes for the matchup with Canada and any other games in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

NY Mets demand Clay Holmes withdrawal from World Baseball Classic

“Clay Holmes will return to the Mets from the World Baseball Classic and take part in tomorrow’s Grapefruit League game,” MLB Network’s Anthony DiComo reports. “The Mets wanted him back because Team USA could not guarantee him the workload he needed for the season.”

Despite Team USA having four games under their belt during pool play, Holmes has only taken the mound once. This happened during their win over Great Britain last week when he pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six.

With Holmes set to be a part of the NY Mets’ starting rotation again in 2026, it’s understandable if the organization feels he isn’t being prepared adequately for the start of the season in a few weeks.

This is a significant reduction in the WBC for American fans, as MLB teams are prioritizing their goals over Team USA. So now the US club will have no meaningful respite for some big matches in the next few days.

After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos

While many are celebrating Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game, some are disappointed, like Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr., who is upset that he beat out Kobe Bryant’s famous 81-point game.

Jackson He continued to post throughout the game, beginning with, “Kobe’s hate campaign is insane.”

He then called out the Heat and Adebayo for stat-padding. Jackson was not happy with the fact that the Heat allowed Adebayo to score in a big win over the Washington Wizards.

“Did they never have a lead? And then you give them the record for most free throws in a game. You’re intentionally committing fouls to manipulate the clock. And the refs are still giving the call!” Jackson wrote. “Shout out to whoever found that in the fantasy.”[,] But it was a collective effort by the league to get the Wilts record tonight and they missed. Adam Silver you are a wild MF.”

Fortunately, Adebayo could not break Wilt Chamberlain’s record-setting 100-point game. Jackson claimed that the NBA “tried too hard to break Wilt’s record” with Adebayo’s play. However, this did not happen.

Jackson claimed, “He showed us that he just has to choose on a given night.” “I have full hope [Victor Wembanyama] Finally doing it now. [Stephen A. Smith,] You better not disappoint me when you talk about this. Thank you very much [LeBron James] Don’t know how, but it’s you[ur] Mistake.”

Ultimately, Jackson’s perspective about the NBA “has really changed.” He’s upset, and now can’t even believe the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 3-1 comeback win against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Jackson concluded by saying that Kobe Bryant fans “would have loved and respected someone who took Kobe’s record because it would have been the closest they would have come to seeing Kobe.”

However, the NBA “created it and forced it to happen.” Jackson believes this was done in an attempt to “desecrate” the Bryant statue.

His love for Bryant is unwavering. Jackson said that Bryant “is still the best of any guard or perimeter player.” He just wishes the NBA wouldn’t make it clear that “a bunch of refs can decide whether you’re getting everything that’s called for you.”

The LA Clippers have been trending in the right direction over the past few months and were finding their rhythm after acquiring Darius Garland, Benedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson at the trade deadline. But the franchise was dealt a blow on Thursday when they received news of his latest injury.

With 8:32 minutes remaining in the second quarter of the Clippers’ home win against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, center Yannick Konan Niederhauser went up for a blocked shot and landed very strangely On his right leg. The Clippers’ promising young backup center immediately began screaming in pain and clutching his right ankle.

Conan Niederhauser had to be helped off the floor by head athletic trainer Jason Powell after he was unable to put any weight on his injured right leg. The team immediately ruled Konan Niederhauser out for the remainder of the game with an undisclosed right foot injury.

Yannick Konan Niederhauser comes off awkwardly from the chased block, as his foot got caught during it (with replays). He was taken to the locker room, but did not return.

Poor man 🙁 pic.twitter.com/vnzzEPKlJZ

– MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) 5 March 2026

After the game, the team announced that Penn State’s 22-year-old big man would not travel on the team’s upcoming two-game road trip, but would instead remain in Los Angeles for further evaluation of his injured right foot.

on thursday night Clippers announced Yannick Konan Niederhauser was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. He will undergo surgery and be out for the rest of the 2025-26 season

Yannick Konan Niederhauser was diagnosed with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.

The Clippers center will require surgery and be out for the remainder of the season.

-Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) 6 March 2026

In 41 appearances this season, Yannick Konan Niederhauser averaged 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 10.3 minutes per game off the bench. Over his last 12 games, Konan Niederhauser was averaging 6.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in 15.7 minutes per game.

Brook Lopez has been the Clippers’ starting center since the trade of Ivica Zubac at the NBA trade deadline, and will likely play a bigger role with more playing time. Since December 20, 2025, López has started 19 of his 34 games played, averaging 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about the changing dynamics within the Boston Celtics. Much of it revolves around the return of Jayson Tatum to what is otherwise known as Jaylen Brown’s team.

ESPN has joined the debate over whether this is Brown’s team or Tatum’s. That debate has deeply concerned media personality and longtime Celtics fan Bill Simmons.

He met Stephen A. An image from ESPN’s first take with Smith, Jay Williams and Chiney Ogwuemeke “Are the Celtics Brown’s or Tatum’s team?” Posted under the title. Simmons posted four crying emojis.

😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ueeWtOqHA7

– Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) 5 March 2026

Tatum is out this season due to an Achilles injury after last season. It has been reported that Tatum will return this Friday when the Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks.

Meanwhile, Boston is doing really well. They have won seven of their last 10 games and are in second place in the Eastern Conference at 41-20. Refuting the adage that Boston would be in the tank without Tatum.

Jaylen Brown has carried the team on his shoulders. He is the leading scorer with an average of 28.9 points per game. Additionally, he averages 7.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

Tatum and Brown played key roles in the Celtics’ 2024 NBA championship. Brown won MVP honors after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in six games.

Meanwhile, Tatum averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

The two combined to win the deciding Game 5, 106–88. Tatum led with 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Brown scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.

The Oklahoma City Thunder arrived at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night looking to prove why they have the best record in the NBA, but they left with more questions than answers regarding their health. In a physical performance against the New York Knicks, Oklahoma City lost two of its most important defensive anchors as Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein were both forced to foul out early via Brett Siegel.

Caruso, a versatile defender known for his tireless perimeter defense, suffered a left hip injury during the heat of the action. The team immediately ruled him out for the remainder of the night, a major blow to a unit that relies on his ability to disrupt opposing stars like Jalen Brunson. Shortly after, the frontcourt suffered a blow of its own. Hartenstein, who was returning to his former home in New York, was sidelined with left calf tightness.