The Los Angeles Lakers faced the Boston Celtics without LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Marcus Smart on Friday. It didn’t go well.

All three players were ruled out before the game, with James’ injury designation for right sciatica and left arthritis getting downgraded from doubtful to out. Smart is dealing with a left lumbar muscle strain, while Dončić has been away from the team for the birth of his second child in Slovenia.

The Boston Celtics had little trouble against the short-handed Lakers. Facing their old rival on a nationally streamed game on Prime Video, the Celtics were up 39-17 by the end of the first quarter, built a lead as large as 29 points and stayed up by double-digits for the entire rest of the game.

All five Boston starters scored in double figures, as did Sam Hauser off the bench. Jaylen Brown led the team with 30 points on 10-of-22 shooting with 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

One of those assists saw him leave poor Jake LaRavia on the floor.

On the Lakers side, Austin Reaves again stepped up as the team’s first and second option, finishing the game with 36 points on 9-of-18 shooting and eight assists. In five games played without Dončić, he is now averaging a cool 40 points per game.

James was coming off a notable performance Thursday night, when his incredible 10-point streak — which has stood since 2007 — ended in thrilling fashion. With eight points on the stat sheet, James had the ball in the waning seconds of a tie game against the Raptors, but opted to pass to Rui Hachimura, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer.

Friday represented the second leg of a back-to-back, making an appearance more demanding for the 40-year-old.

James has played in just six of the Lakers’ 21 games this season because of sciatica, and his 14.0 average points per game are easily the fewest of his career. His next-lowest total was in his rookie year in 2003-04, when he averaged 20.9 points in 79 games.

Despite the loss, the Lakers (16-6) are still tied for second in the Western Conference behind the one-loss Oklahoma City Thunder.

As it turns out, meeting newly-introduced Head Football Coach Collin Klein was the pinnacle of the afternoon in Bramlage, as K-State (5-4) dropped their fourth straight – second in a row in the Octagon of Gloom – to the Seton Hall Pirates (9-1), 78-67. K-State entered the game as a 2.5-point favorite, but produced another bed-soiling.

I apologize we have to come down off this high and get kicked in the nuts by reality.

K-State came out of the gate with a little more fire than the last game (let’s not stub our toes stepping over that bar), connecting on a backdoor alley-oop set play to Nate Johnson to get the crowd fired up and get on the board first 2-0. K-State would never lead again the rest of the way. Poor perimeter defense allowed Seton Hall to connect on a few early threes to steal the lead. K-State’s Dorin Buca – who didn’t see the floor against Bowling Green despite averaging 10 minutes a game – provided a heroic spark off the bench in the half, posting 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in the half, while turning away the Pirates at the rim on several occasions. The Cats were able draw even at 26-all, before Seton Hall went on an 8-0 run (with Buca out) to regain the lead at the half, 35-29.

Only one team came out after the halftime break – and it wasn’t the team in white and purple. Seton Hall a six-point advantage to a 13-point lead, 44-31, before coach Jerome Tang would call a quick timeout to try to stop the bleeding. Lots of frustration as Seton Hall continued to hold the Cats off – leading to Tang eventually boiling over and picking up a T on a no-call where PJ Haggerty looked to be tripped on a drive to the bucket (honestly, the contact wasn’t a foul; Haggerty tripped over his own feet). Haggerty then picked up two quick personals on absolute crap calls right in front of Tang on a side-out play by Seton Hall, and how Tang managed to not get kicked out is incredible. The technical free throws stretched the Pirate lead out to 16, before K-State went on a run to draw it back to 9 and 51-42. Didn’t take long for the Cats to turn it over a couple of times and let Seton Hall stretch the lead back out to 16 at 60-44. Another nice little run and K-State cuts the lead to 8, only to have Seton Hall stretch it back out to 17 just before the under-4 media timeout. It became pretty obvious after the timeout that the only thing in question would be the final spread, which ended at 78-67 after a late flurry from the Cats.

All five starters for K-State finished in double-figures, with Khamari McGriff leading the way with 12 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks. Haggerty finishes with 11 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, and somehow only 6 turnovers. Buca had a solid game; only 5 points, but 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and as mentioned before, his presence on the interior turned away a number of Seton Hall advances.

The Pirates were paced by AJ Staton-McCray with 16 points (albeit on 3-15 shooting), with 5 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

THREE IN THE KEY

1) Defense? Optional.

Open looks from 3? Check. Overplaying the passing lane giving up an easy bucket? Check. Allowing a coast-to-coast layup when your “defense” is more or less back and set? Check.

This team is going to get torched in conference play if this is the best that can be conjured on the defensive end. That being said, the defense was probably good enough to win this game.

2) Offense? Offensive.

Turnovers? Check. Bricks? Check. No actual offensive flow? Check. The Best Shooters In America™ managed to go 6-30 from deep (it was 3-26 through the first 38 minutes), 23-62 overall (a blistering 37% FG), and a really good-start on a new facility on campus with all the bricks from the stripe (15-35, 43% FT). It all boils down to offensive execution.

This team looks lost on offense right now – much like the bogged-down offensively-inept teams of the late Bruce Weber era. They aren’t moving well, or more accurately, they’re not moving in ways that gets the defense out of position. The result is a lack of open shots. When we can find open shots, we have really been struggling to make them. The result is a death-spiral of confidence, which is bleeding into the free-throw shooting.

Even if the defense improves, mediocre teams in the Big 12 will beat us handily if we can’t be more efficient scoring the basketball.

3) Haggerty? Demonstrably Average.

3-12 today from the field, with 11 points. 5-12 from the line. His normally pedestrian defense was undeniably awful today. All on the heels of going 6-19 from the floor, 4-9 from the line against Bowling Green. The leading scorer in Division 1 is struggling mightily.

He looks despondent on the floor. He looks despondent on the bench. He’s having more difficulty getting to the basket the last several games, and when he does, the shot attempts have gone from difficult to requiring divine intervention. And he’s getting off the floor begging for a call nearly every single time.

I don’t know if there is a nagging injury or something, but if this is how our best scorer is going to deal with adversity and difficulty, it’s going to be a very long season for him. And for us.

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS:

It was only a matter of time before this came up: the officiating in college basketball is just. so. bad.

So many easy missed calls in our game. Fouls. Goaltends. Travels. So many. And as I sit here watching the CU/CSU game — a late call that a ball was out off CU on a rebound. The refs get together and change the call to off the CSU player. CSU challenges – video review shows the ball going off the fingers of the CSU player – and yet, the refs reverse the call back to being off CU. All the while, what was unreviewable is the fact that the CU player fouled the hell out of the CSU player in the process – and that’s what the call should have been all along.

We all – fans, players, coaches, programs – are held hostage to the incompetence of the zebras, especially in close games. And I’m sitting here wondering why I care about the result of a contest that is so frequently impacted by mediocrity.

CSU ended up winning. Screw CU.

NEXT

Mississippi Valley State comes into the Octagon of Gloom on Monday, 12/8. Can the Cats get something figured out? I’m not holding my breath right now.

LEXINGTON — Ja’Hyde Brown’s outstanding junior season came to an end Saturday with a state championship and a top award from the Kentucky Football Coaches Association.

Before Saturday’s 42-7 victory over Murray in the Class 3A state final, Brown was named the Class 3A Player of the Year by the KFCA.

Brown had six catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns as the Centurions finished 15-0 and captured their fourth straight state title.

“If you’re a ball carrier and you don’t think any time you touch the ball it can go for six, then you shouldn’t have the ball in your hands,” Brown said after the game.

For the season, Brown had 98 catches for 1,556 yards and 24 touchdowns. All three totals ranked No. 1 in the state.

Brown won’t be a nominee for the KFCA’s Mr. Football award, as only seniors are eligible.

The KFCA’s other Player of the Year honors went to Ryle’s Jacob Savage (Class 6A), Madisonville-North Hopkins’ Markezz Hightower (5A), Boyle County’s Seneca Driver (4A), Somerset’s Kris Hughes (2A) and Campbellsville’s Kace Eastridge (A).

The KFCA also started a Lineman of the Year award this year, honoring South Warren’s Malik Butler (Class 6A), Pulaski County’s Brady Hull (5A), Highlands’ Max Merz (4A), CAL’s Kellan Hall (3A), Belfry’s Bo Wolford (2A) and Kentucky Country Day’s Kris Mandy (A).

Coach of the Year honors went to South Warren’s Brandon Smith (6A), Greenwood’s William Howard (5A), Boyle County’s Justin Haddix (4A), CAL’s Hunter Cantwell (3A), Belfry’s Matt Varney (2A) and Campbellsville’s Dale Estes (A).

The KFCA will announce its statewide winners — including Mr. Football — later this month.

More high school football: Kentucky Country Day holds off Raceland, wins first state title

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Christian Academy football star Ja’Hyde Brown among KFCA award winners

The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the seventh of 15 players who wore the No. 33 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State guard alum Kenny Battle. After ending his college career at Illinois, Battle was picked up with the 27th overall selection of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

The Aurora, Illinois native played parts of the first two seasons of his pro career with the Phoenix Suns after a draft night deal. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, and Boston Celtics before he signed with the Dubs in 1992. His stay with the team lasted until he signed with the Celtics again the next offseason.

During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Battle wore only jersey No. 33 and put up 2.3 points per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 33 – Kenny Battle (1992)

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.

And for today’s article, we will continue with the 10th of 22 people to wear the No. 33 jersey, guard alum Leon Wood. After ending his college career at Cal State Fullerton, Wood was picked up with the 10th overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Columbia, South Carolina native played parts of the first two seasons of his pro career with the Sixers, and also played for the (then) Washington Bullets (now, Wizards) before he signed with the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1990 for his first stint with the team.

In between he spent time playing for the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, and in other leagues until he signed with the Nets for the last time in 1990 for the rest of the season. During his time suiting up for the Nets, Wood wore only jersey No. 33 and put up 5.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 33 – Leon Wood (1990)

The Houston Rockets have had players donning a total of 52 different jersey numbers (and have one not part of any numerical series for Houston assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson) since their founding at the start of the 1967-68 season, worn by just under 500 players in the course of Rockets history.

To honor all of the the players who wore those numbers over the decades, Rockets Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who wore them since the founding of the team all those years ago right up to the present day.

With seven of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Rockets of all time to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.

And for today’s article, we will continue with the 13th of 18 players who wore the No. 2, guard alum RJ Hunter. After ending his college career at Georgia State, Hunter was picked up with the 28th overall selection of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

The Oxford, Ohio native played the first season of his pro career with Boston, and also played for the Chicago Bulls before he signed with Houston in 2018. His stay with the team lasted until he was cut that offseason.

During his time suiting up for the Rockets, Hunter wore only jersey No. 2 and put up 3.8 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets jersey history No. 2 – RJ Hunter (2018)

Earlier this week, I asked the following questions about tomorrow’s game:

What are your predictions for the upcoming game between your Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets? Final score? MVP of the game? Other bold predictions? Additionally, which New York Jets players would you, if you could, steal to place on the Miami Dolphins roster?

Below are some of your thoughts and answers-

Jptapt isn’t all that impressed…

Don’t we already have one? Zach something? Can we unsteal?

PA phinphan wants to bring JT’s kid home.

Mason Taylor because I hate seeing the Taylor name on a Jests uniform knowing that it is Jason’s son.

FLexile is finally ready to try his/her time machine that they have been building in the garage.

Mark Gastineau, Ken O’brien, Al Toon.

dedstrk wants a two-headed monster in the backfield.

Breece Hall. Could you imagine Hall and Achane combo?

The Earl wants a new tackle.

Armand Membou. He was a player I liked in the draft. He plays RT for them and give Miami a RT to replace AJ.

Alpha6 has another win for the Phins just around the corner.

What are your predictions for the upcoming game between your Miami Dolphins and the hated New York Jets?

Run-stuffing Defense, Miami.

Confusion, New York.

Final score?

Jets 24… Dolphins 28

MVP of the game?

Offense: Waddle, Defense: Douglas

Other bold predictions?

Miami’s Defense: 2 interceptions, 1 fumble.

Rspeckhardt, I think, is hoping that Tua doesn’t have to throw it to win.

MIA 24 – NYJ 17 The Jets D, bad already, is seriously banged up, while the Fins are about as healthy as they’ve been all year. Tua will barely need to throw the ball.

TuaTime1! asks who else?

Final score?

27-16 Fins Up!

MVP of the game?

De’von Achane. Who else?

Other bold predictions?

Defense creates at least 3 turnovers, hopefully!

BurstingFireLegend has Miami letting this game slip away.

Miami has been on the right side of some close games, I think that flips this week.

I don’t trust Tua on the road in cold weather to have a good game.

I don’t trust the DEF to make enough big plays (sacks, tfl & turnovers).

MIA 17 – 20 NYJ

AussieFin1 has Tua being benched following a possible loss to a horrible team.

If we lose this one then I predict that Tua is benched. These games are notorious for any predictions – I just hope that we win. We have the better team but……….

That’s our selection of answers for this evening’s post. I want to thank each of you who takes the time to join us and join in each evening. Please be sure to join us tomorrow afternoon to follow and discuss our Miami Dolphins at the New York Jets live.

UFC 323 Preview

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is live TONIGHT (Sat., Dec. 6, 2025)withits final pay-per-view (PPV) of the year (and forever). UFC 323 is set to take place inside the familiar T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with two title fights and a pretty good supporting cast.

The main event features Merab Dvalishvili, who is looking to make history by defending his UFC Bantamweight title for the fourth time in a calendar year. Dvalishvili’s previous defenses were against Sean O’Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen. Petr Yan will try and stop him and become a two-time champion himself. Yan has competed one time this year, defeating Marcus McGhee via unanimous decision.

The co-main event sees UFC’s Flyweight title on the line.

Division champion, Alexandre Pantoja, will go up against Joshua Van, who has blitzed through the division and now has a chance to become one of the youngest UFC champions ever. Pantoja will be trying to defend his belt for the fourth time (in total), a number that would start putting his name in the G.O.A.T. conversation at Flyweight.

The next man up for either Pantoja or Van is likely the winner of Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira. Moreno, a former champ, beat up on Kai Kara-France most recently. Taira, meanwhile. earned this fight with a quick win over Hyun Sung Park (re-live that here).

Rounding out UFC 323’s PPV main card is Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott and Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov. An impressive win for Talbott might help him skip the line at Bantamweight (hopefully there’s no eye pokes in that fight). Truth be told, neither Blachowicz nor Guskov are anywhere close to challenging Alex Pereira anytime soon (that’s if he stays in their division).

UFC 323’s late “Prelims” are headlined by Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres. That portion of the card also has Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan, Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva and Nazim Sadykhov vs. Fares Ziam. That’s a dynamite program of action fights that could produce highlight-reel finishes.

The early “Prelims” are propped up by Edson Barboza vs. Jalin Turner. Our first fights of the night also include Iwo Baraniewski vs. Ibo Aslan, Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli and Muhammad Naimov vs. Mairon Santos.

UFC 323 Start Date and Time

It’s standard operating procedure for tonight’s card. We’ve got the Early “Prelims” at 6 p.m. ET over on ESPN+/Disney+/FX. Then, at 8 p.m. ET, it’s time for the Late “Prelims.” Those air on ESPN2/ESPN+/Disney+/FX. UFC 323’s PPV main card starts at the usual time of 10 p.m. ET. You can watch that on ESPN+ PPV (for the last time).

I will be providing live play-by-play, instant results, highlights and updates for all the fights right here starting at 6 p.m. ET.

See you then! Don’t forget to say ‘Hi’ in the comments, too.

UFC 323 QUICK RESULTS

Main card

• 135 lbs.: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan
• 125 lbs.: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van
• 125 lbs.: Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
• 135 lbs.: Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
• 205 lbs.: Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Grad

Prelims

• 155 lbs.: Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres
• 155 lbs.: Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan
• 125 lbs.: Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
• 155 lbs.: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Fares Ziam

Early Prelims

• 185 lbs.: Official decision: Brunno Ferreira def. Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• 155 lbs.: Jalin Turner def. Edson Barboza by TKO (punches), round 1 (2:24) — HIGHLIGHTS
• 205 lbs.: Iwo Baraniewski def. Ibo Aslan by KO (punches), round 1 (1:29) — HIGHLIGHTS
• 185 lbs.: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Antonio Trocoli by submission (guillotine), round 1 (1:09) — HIGHLIGHTS
• 145 lbs.: Mairon Santos def. Muhammad Naimov by KO (punch), round 3 (0:21) — HIGHLIGHTS

UFC 323 PLAY-BY-PLAY UPDATES

For more UFC 323: “Merab vs. Yan 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

Basha vs. Chandler live score, updates, highlights from Arizona Open Division championship game originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

TEMPE, Ariz, Dec. 6 — The No. 41 Basha [Chandler, AZ] Bears will face off Saturday evening against the Chandler [AZ] Wolves for Arizona’s Open Division state championship at Arizona State University.

Basha and Chandler did not meet in the regular season despite being neighbors in Chandler, Arizona, which has been the epicenter of Arizona’s prep football ranks this season. Three of the four teams in last week’s semifinals, including the Hamilton Huskies, are based in Chandler.

The game is set for an 8 p.m. EST kick (6 p.m. local).

WATCH ON THE NFHS NETWORK:No. 41 Basha [Chandler, AZ] Bears vs. Chandler [AZ] Wolves

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Refresh for updates

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|| FIRST QUARTER ||

Coming soon!

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Basha vs. Chandler start time

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
• Start time: 8 p.m. EST local

Saturday’s game between Central Catholic and La Salle College is being played at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

How can I watch Basha vs. Chandler today?

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
• Live stream on NFHS Network:No. 41 Basha [Chandler, AZ] Bears vs. Chandler [AZ] Wolves

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