The Boston Red Sox took a 10-game win streak into the All-Star break, entering the second half of the season with a 53-45 record, the same one they boasted right after last year’s Midsummer Classic.

But this Red Sox team found its way to the postseason, riding improved pitching to secure a finish above .500 for the first time since 2021, the last time Boston made the playoffs.

With a 4-3 walk-off win over the struggling Detroit Tigers on Friday, the Red Sox clinched just their second postseason appearance in the past seven seasons.

Alex Cora’s group accomplished the feat at Fenway Park, just one day after swinging and missing at a clinching opportunity on the road in the series finale against the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays.

In the bottom of the ninth inning Friday, after the Red Sox had erased what was a 3-0 deficit earlier in the night, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela blasted a triple to center field. It bounced off the wall and scored second baseman Romy González from first.

An emotional Rafaela bowed his head at third before he was swarmed by his galloping teammates.

[Get more Red Sox news: Boston team feed]

The Red Sox punched their ticket to the playoffs versus a Tigers team desperately trying to get there amid a collapse MLB hasn’t seen since it introduced divisions in 1969. Detroit was up 15.5 games on the Cleveland Guardians in July, but now the Tigers are chasing the Guardians in the AL Central and trying to stave off the Houston Astros for the league’s final wild-card spot. The two Central teams are tied in the division (Cleveland lost 7-3 to Texas on Friday), with the Guardians holding the tiebreaker.

Boston, meanwhile, is in line to lock up the second wild-card spot.

The Red Sox got off to a slow start this season. They lost four of their first five games and didn’t really turn the corner until their July surge.

Along the way, they survived the drama surrounding three-time All-Star Rafael Devers, who signed the largest contract in franchise history in 2023 and was the last remaining member of the 2018 World Series team. Devers grew disgruntled with the Red Sox front office after now-three-time All-Star Alex Bregman, whom Boston signed in the offseason, took Devers’ place at third base, and then Boston asked Devers to play first following a season-ending injury to Triston Casas.

Boston traded Devers to the Giants. Less than a week before that, top prospect Roman Anthony made his MLB debut for the Sox. He eventually finalized an eight-year, $130 million contract extension with the team, joining a Red Sox core that also features All-Star left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet.

Crochet has headlined Boston’s pitching staff with a 2.59 ERA, teaming up with righties Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito to form a solid front three for the Red Sox.

A 37-year-old Aroldis Chapman has rounded out the bullpen, entering Friday tied for fourth in the majors with 32 saves this season. He completed a scoreless top of the ninth after working around a leadoff double by Justyn-Henry Malloy. 

The Red Sox have firepower in their lineup, too. Shortstop Trevor Story is nearing 100 RBI, González is batting above .300, left fielder Jarren Duran came into Friday leading the AL with 13 triples, and Bregman earned All-Star honors for the first time in six years.

And Rafaela — well, he just sent the Red Sox back to the playoffs.

Everything we learned about Sixers’ injuries at media day  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Injuries again ruled the day as the Sixers formally got the ball rolling on their 2025-26 season.

“Obviously, we know that for us, the biggest thing is health,” Joel Embiid said Friday.

From Embiid’s knee to Kelly Oubre Jr.’s pinkie, here’s what we learned about the team’s health at media day in Camden, New Jersey. 

Joel Embiid 

Embiid had arthroscopic surgery in April on the bothersome left knee that limited him to 19 games last season.

The 2022-23 MVP is pleased with his trajectory since then, although Embiid and the Sixers are not inclined to place any exact public timelines on his next steps. 

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I think we made a lot of progress over the last couple of months. We’ve got a plan in place, try to check off all the boxes. … This is still kind of like a feel period where we’re just taking it day by day. Keep getting stronger, keep getting better. 

“There’s been a few court sessions, so everything has been on schedule. … I think there’s not necessarily an expectation. It’s more about making sure everything is right and doing everything right, and then going from there.” 

Embiid acknowledged that, as his injury-filled, unlucky history suggests, the season may not be an ultra-smooth ride. 

“I think I want to be as honest as possible,” he said. “I think going forward, I’m just going to listen to the body. I’ll be honest and say it’s going to be unpredictable at times, and that’s OK. We’ve got to work with that. We’ve got to take it day by day and go from there. 

“So I think the only thing I’m focused on is every single time we’re on the right path, keep going. If there’s something that happens in that time, it’s OK. Just focus on fixing it and keep going. That’s my mentality.” 

Rookie Johni Broome provided a bit of insight into how Embiid’s looked in pre-training camp action.

“He’s great. He practiced the other day and I had to guard him. He scored a couple in a row,” Broome said with a smile. “That’s what you kind of expect. You play good defense and he has better offense. That’s the type of player he is, but I’m glad that I’m going against him in practice and I’m going to have him on my side during the year. He’s a great person to learn from and he’s very open to talk to you about things you need to improve on.” 

Paul George 

George underwent a more recent arthroscopic left knee surgery than Embiid’s. 

He said he’s “getting better and better, feeling stronger and feeling” following that July procedure. However, the 35-year-old forward does not expect to participate in the Sixers’ weekend training camp practices. George noted he’s able to do “pretty much everything besides full contact.”

“I’m in the weight room, I’m lifting, I’m working out every day,” he said. “I’m on the court. Not ready to start the full ramp-up of conditioning on court with running and stuff like that, but I’m on the court, I’m working out. I’m doing stationary drills … one-to-two dribble moves. I’m still able to move and be active on the court, I’m just not ready to be a full-on contact participant right now.”

George played in just half of the Sixers’ games last year. He also tried to grind through several significant lingering injuries — knee, groin, pinkie — even when the Sixers were many games below .500. It didn’t work well for him or the team.

Will his attitude be any different moving forward about playing with nagging issues? 

“I’m not a doctor, but I think just trusting my body, trusting the process going into this season,” George said. “The team is allowing me to kind of be as (close) to 100 (percent) as possible, because that’s what I signed up for. That’s what they signed me for, to come in and be the Paul George that they went out and recruited last year. So for me to do that, I do have to be healthy. That’s really it. 

“Again, I’m putting the work in, I’m putting the time in, I’m seeing the progress. I’m feeling more and more like myself each day, and that’s the most important thing as the dates are winding down and we’re getting ready for the season to start. So I like where I’m at, I like how we’ve progressed things, and that’s the only way I can look at it right now.”

Jared McCain 

A day after suffering a UCL tear in his right thumb, McCain was absent from media day.

“He’s still consulting with specialists. … Still gathering that feedback,” Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said. “We know Jared’s going to attack this just like he did the last (injury) and be back even better.”

Kelly Oubre Jr. 

Oubre went into detail Friday about addressing the long-term finger injuries that he’s previously indicated have posed challenges with his jumper. 

“I have had surgery on my left pinkie and my thumb as well,” he said. “Different years, different surgeries. I got hurt for the first time around (the start of) COVID and the rehab process was kind of non-existent because the world shut down. So I built up a lot of scar tissue in those areas. And then in my thumb, I have a brace. 

“I did attack that really hard this summer. I was able to see my old therapist. Her name’s Mo; shoutout Mo, she’s amazing. Get some more range of motion in my wrist, in my hand, in my fingers. Get my fingers straighter. … I’ve just got to put the ball in the hole and then you guys can talk about it when I do.”

Oubre had an offseason follow-up consultation.

“I actually saw the doctor who did it this summer, just to go over everything, let him know how I’m healing,” he said. “We thought about taking the brace out of my thumb. But I’m going to take that out, gain some range (of motion) but lose something on the back end somewhere else. It’s not really worth it. And over these years, I’ve been able to compensate and my body does a good job of adapting to less flexion and range of motion. 

“I’ve been just figuring it out, honestly. But with this range, I have to re-write the patterns in my brain of shooting like I used to before all of these things. I’m just a hooper, man. I’m just looking forward to going out there and making it work. The triumph will be better than the adversity for sure.”

Andre Drummond 

Drummond had a straightforward report on the left big toe injury that hindered him for much of last year. 

“It was a good summer for me,” the veteran big man said. “I did all the necessary things to build the strength back in my foot and I’m 100 percent to go. I’ve looked great during (offseason workouts) and I’m ready.”

Drummond ventured into new territory with his rehab.

“Honestly, I didn’t know there was such a thing as toe yoga,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of toe yoga this summer to be able to really get that strength back in my big toe, being able to move it freely without having to tape it. … If you don’t know what it is, look it up. It’s definitely not a fun experience, but it worked out for me.”

Eric Gordon

The 36-year-old Gordon is back for a second season in Philadelphia. His first ended with right wrist surgery.

“I would say a couple of months after the surgery, I was really able to shoot,” Gordon said. “So I’ve been able to shoot all summer. Anytime you have a surgery, you’re always going to have ups and downs, but so far everything’s been good. I’m looking forward to practice tomorrow with really no limitations.”

Kyle Lowry 

Lowry, 39, spoke with great enthusiasm Friday about mentoring Sixers youngsters like VJ Edgecombe and McCain, who he said have a “pureness” in their approach to the sport.

As far as on the floor, Lowry’s last season was frequently disrupted by a right hip problem. That’s improved over the summer. 

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel really good. I think just being able to be on the court to help these guys the best that I can. But I know my role this year. So if I’m needed, I’ll be there, but my role is to help these guys. I would love to play 25, 30 minutes (per game), but that’s not my role, that’s not my job.” 

A question was posed to Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick on Thursday during Los Angeles Lakers media day, an inquiry that said the quiet part out loud.

The reporter asked if Pelinka and Redick have had conversations with LeBron James about, in the reporter’s words, “the transition that we are seeing take place from this kind of going from LeBron’s team to Luka [Dončić]’s team.”

Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, turned to Redick, his newly extended head coach, and Redick stepped up to answer the question that arrived about 16 minutes into the news conference.

“I’ve talked to LeBron fairly frequently and had two great in-person meetings with him,” Redick said. 

“One, he finally made it out to The Hamptons, so he and I had dinner in Sag Harbor right around free agency, and then I was able to spend some time with him here in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. And I came away from that thinking that he’s in a great spot mentally, and I know he’s going to give us his absolute best.”

Redick and James co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast before Redick was hired as his head coach last June. In their first year together on the Lakers — Redick coaching at 40 years old, and James playing at 40 years old — Los Angeles went 50-32 and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before falling in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first round of the playoffs.

In early February, the Lakers pulled off one of the most surprising trades in sports history, acquiring Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks. Then, in August, the Lakers signed the 26-year-old Dončić to a three-year, $165 million max extension.

Meanwhile, according to an ESPN report from July 11, the Lakers didn’t offer James an extension or give him a heads-up about the sale of the franchise from the Buss family to Mark Walter, whereas Dončić reportedly was clued in about the transaction.

Although James picked up his $52.6 million player option in June, the four-time NBA MVP’s future with the Lakers has remained a hot topic this offseason.

Pelinka was asked earlier in Thursday’s news conference how James being in a contract year affects the Lakers’ team-building process.

“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said.

“He’s earned that right, and he’s the best one to talk about that in terms of how many years he’d like to play. But we were very intentional this summer in terms of the pieces we added with Luka and LeBron — once LeBron opted in — making sure that they had the necessary pieces around them to be on a really competitive, strong team. And we built into that and for that.”

A follow-up question was directed Pelinka’s way, inquiring for the GM’s feelings about the possibility of James wanting to play for the Lakers beyond the 2025-26 campaign.

“We would love if LeBron’s story would be to retire as a Laker,” Pelinka said, doubling down on his Aug. 2 comments. 

“That’d be a positive story.”

Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain suffered a UCL tear in his right thumb during a workout Thursday, the team announced.

“McCain and the 76ers are consulting with specialists on next steps, and further updates will be provided as appropriate,” the Sixers said in a statement.

Philadelphia selected McCain out of Duke with the No. 16 overall pick in last year’s draft. He averaged 15.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in the 23 games he played before suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee in December and missing the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Injuries plagued the Sixers last season, Philadelphia’s first missing the playoffs since 2016-17. In the second year of Nick Nurse’s run as head coach, the Sixers had a whopping 54 starting lineups. Star center Joel Embiid played only 19 games. Paul George, whom Philadelphia brought aboard last offseason on a four-year, $212 million max contract, played just 41 games. Even standout point guard Tyrese Maxey was limited to a career-low 52 games.

When Maxey was out early last season, McCain took over at point. In that six-game span, McCain averaged 25.2 points, 4 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 44.1% from deep. In the process, he turned in 27-, 29- and 34-point performances. 

Even after Maxey returned to the lineup, McCain still registered another 30 piece. That outing against the Brooklyn Nets gave McCain seven straight 20-plus-point games and, more importantly, the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in the first five starts of a career (26), the Sixers’ record for most 3-pointers made through the first 15 games of a career (37) as well as the NBA rookie record for most consecutive games with at least three 3-pointers made (8).

McCain became the early favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year before his knee injury. He’s part of a Sixers backcourt that features Maxey but also includes this year’s No. 3 overall pick V.J. Edgecombe.

McCain’s injury news Thursday raises additional questions about the Sixers and restricted free agent guard Quentin Grimes, who averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 28 games (25 starts) after the Sixers acquired him at the trade deadline last season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that two sides “are very far apart on a deal.”

Charania said Grimes’ agent told him that Wednesday was the first time the Sixers had made a “formal hard offer” to Grimes as a restricted free agent.

Grimes will not be attending Sixers media day Friday, nor will he be traveling with the team this weekend for preseason, Grimes’ agent reportedly told Charania.

“From the 76ers’ side of this all, getting V.J. Edgecombe in the high lottery, obviously that changes the dynamics of their backcourt,” Charania said. And there is a level of uncertainty going into this year health-wise with key players like Joel Embiid, Paul George and where does that leave the Sixers in terms of offering those high-value, high-multi-year deals.”

Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka rattled off his team’s offseason accomplishments Thursday at a Lakers media availability.

He mentioned the Lakers signing center Deandre Ayton, bringing aboard wings Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart and, of course, inking Luka Dončić to a three-year, $165 million max extension. Pelinka also noted four-time NBA champion and four-time league MVP LeBron James picking up his $52.6 million player option. 

But then, in that same opening statement, Pelinka subtly dropped some news:

“And in addition to that, too, recently extending JJ’s [Redick] contract just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader, in terms of our coaching and on-court performance.”

The Lakers hired Redick last year, signing him to a four-year deal at the time despite his lack of NBA coaching experience and limited coaching experience overall.

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

Now they’ve extended the 41-year-old player-turned-coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Redick led the Lakers to a 50-32 record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season before Los Angeles bowed out to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

“Rob and I, we have a lot of the same philosophies on life, and one of the words we always talk about is ‘gratitude,'” Redick said Thursday, when asked about receiving the extension.

“And so I think it starts with just a high level of gratitude to the Lakers, to [Lakers majority owner] Mark [Walter], Jeanie [Buss] and Rob for having that confidence in me. It’s not lost on me, the sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension. I recognize how fortunate I am to be with an organization that supports me that way.”

MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images

Pelinka was asked why he extended Redick now, after just the first year of Redick’s four-year contract.

“Confidence and belief,” Pelinka said. 

“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us to continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence, and we just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”

Redick had the luxury of a full offseason this time around. Last year, he got the Lakers head-coaching job in late June. Pivoting from a media career in which he served as an ESPN analyst and notably co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with James, Redick had to quickly stitch together a coaching staff and gear up for an 82-game season that he last experienced in 2020-21 as a reserve guard first for the New Orleans Pelicans and then for the Dallas Mavericks.

After that six-month sprint — which included the Lakers trading for Dončić and then Redick having to figure out how to maximize the talents of ball-dominant superstars in Dončić and James, plus where burgeoning guard Austin Reaves fit into the equation — Redick finally had a chance to come up for air.

“I thought about a lot of things,” Redick explained. “You certainly reflect on the previous season, both successes and failures, and you do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really where I spent a lot of the first probably four to six weeks.

“But I would say the two words that pop into my mind are philosophy and methodology: the philosophy of how we want to play, the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so that’s where I spent a lot of time this summer.”

Redick explained Thursday that, in May, a few weeks after his Lakers lost to the Timberwolves in five games, he met up with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

Redick said he knows McVay through former Rams and Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. Redick tried to meet up with McVay before last season, but he couldn’t find the time in the chaos of his massive career, and life, transition.

This offseason, Redick had the time.

“I got about three hours along with Sean, and we were picking each other’s brains,” Redick said. “It was very helpful. One of the takeaways from that was ‘utility plays.'”

Redick brought up the anecdote when he was asked about his progression in piecing together the best offense for Dončić, James and Reaves.

“That’s something that is a football term,” Redick said of the “utility plays” McVay spoke of, “and I think every basketball team has those utility plays, and so the utility plays are plays where all three of those guys feel involved in some capacity, and they’re sharing the court together.”

In addition to spending some time with seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady this summer, and asking him about how Bill Belichick coached the dynastic New England Patriots, Redick said he met with a lot of NBA coaches earlier this month when he was in Chicago.

“So, again, it’s really just about continued growth for myself, for my staff, and I feel like we all are in a good place to serve this basketball team and our players,” Redick said.

Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet has reportedly suffered a torn right ACL, per multiple reports. Yahoo Sports’ Kelly Iko reports that VanVleet suffered the injury during a team minicamp in the Bahamas.

Per Iko, VanVleet underwent successful surgery on his ACL on Thursday. He will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2025-26 season.

VanVleet, a 31-year-old vet set to enter his 10th season in the league, averaged 14.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists last season across 60 games. He led the Rockets in assists and steals per game, while lending a level of leadership in the locker room.

He was also elected as NBA Players Association president in July, and will serve a four-year term.

It’s a brutal blow for the Rockets, who lose their starting point guard before the season even starts. VanVleet signed a two-year, $50 million deal to stay with the team this offseason, and was set to be another veteran starter, alongside the recently acquired Kevin Durant, on a young Houston team.

With VanVleet out, Houston will likely need Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson — two young, up-and-coming stars — to step into the starting lineup, while elevating bench players like Aaron Holiday or Jabari Smith Jr. Per Sportrac’s Keith Smith, the Rockets don’t have enough cap room to sign a player at this point, but may be able to add a late-season piece in January.

A new NBA season is looming, and we all know what that means: Some players will explode onto the scene, while others will see their star stock drop.

That is how the NBA has worked since the dawn of professional basketball, and that’s not going to change now.

However, in between the rising stars and the players nearing retirement, another group hides in plain sight: the “under” under-the-radar players.

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

Yes, these players are obscure and simply don’t fit into the classic under-the-radar description, so they aren’t likely to receive a lot of attention.

That hardly seems fair, so let’s talk about them.

Here are four players who could spend the 2025-26 season proving their worth:

Sandro Mamukelashvili, Toronto Raptors

The 6-foo-11 big man has always been a per-minute production monster, yet he’s rarely been given the opportunity to play consistent minutes to see if he could convert said production into a steady role.

Last season in San Antonio, the 26-year-old averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.2 minutes. In 681 total minutes, Mamukelashvili hit 60 3-point shots (37.3% accuracy) and turned into one of the league’s highest-volume long-range-shooting big men.

Now in Toronto, Mamukelashvili is hoping for a role that offers him more stability. With a roster that is certainly in need of complementary spacing, the big man could see a lot of minutes alongside Scottie Barnes, a player who is by no means a natural shooter and who needs optimized floor spacing to get to the rim.

Will this be the year Mamukelashvili finally earns a full-fledged rotation role? Given his age, 3-point prowess, new team and ability to hit the glass, it would make a lot of sense for the Georgian to become a bigger name.

Brice Sensabaugh, Utah Jazz

It’s almost unfair to include a guy who averaged almost 11 points last season, but given that very few people actually watched the Jazz, we think his name is a worthy inclusion.

Sensabaugh appears primed to take another step forward, particularly due to his high 3-point rate (9.4 attempts per 36 minutes) and overall scoring capabilities. The 21-year-old played 20 minutes per game last season, making his presence felt consistently.

While Sensabaugh isn’t projected to become some all-around star, there is value in being supremely good at one thing, which in his case is the ability to flat-out get buckets.

For a team in drastic need of, well, everything, having a guy who could sleepwalk his way to a solid scoring average is nothing to sneeze at.

Ryan Rollins, Milwaukee Bucks

Bucks fans will rightfully scoff at his inclusion, as they’re already painfully aware of his value.

For the rest of the league, though, it’s about to realize how crucial of a role he’s going to play for Milwaukee this season.

While not a traditional point guard, Rollins is capable of locating his own shot, playing off the ball and functioning as a proper spacing fit around Giannis Antetokounmpo. His 40.8% accuracy from long range last season is highly encouraging, as the Bucks are going to need as much floor spacing as possible after the loss of Damian Lillard to an Achilles injury.

The big question for Rollins will be playmaking and whether he can prevent the Bucks from drowning when Antetokounmpo isn’t on the floor. If he solves that conundrum, he should be a household name by April.

Neemias Queta, Boston Celtics

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand a depleted Celtics frontcourt will offer opportunities to those ready to seize them.

The 26-year-old Queta isn’t going to break the mold and offer unicorn production. He’s not a shooter, and is in fact far more of a traditional center as we knew them from the ’80s and ’90s. But that doesn’t mean he won’t get every opportunity to soak up center minutes and provide the Celtics with an interior presence.

Queta is likely to see a significant minutes bump, and should he be able to replicate his per-minute production, odds are good he’ll find himself in a situation where his statistical output is going to be noteworthy.

Of course, Boston will likely maintain its focus on the 3-point shot, meaning we aren’t locked in to see more touches go Queta’s way. In any event, his rebounding and shot-blocking are bound to make some noise.