The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a tough time keeping their ideal starting lineup on the floor. We’re not sure if Dean Wade is in their preferred playoff starting lineup, but he has been a starter for most of the season. Unfortunately, the Cavs could be without him for a few games as he went down with an injury during his on-court workout before Wednesday’s game.

According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, Wade seemed to hurt his ankle while warming up for Cleveland’s matchup with the Miami Heat. He landed on a ball boy’s foot after finishing a lay up.

We don’t know the extent of the injury at this time, but we won’t see him for Wednesday’s game against the Heat, as the team has officially ruled him out of this game.

Wade has started 36 of the 57 games he’s played this season. He’s averaged 5.8 points on .432/.354/.711 shooting splits with 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

The Cavs have played some of their best basketball with Wade this season. Cleveland has been 3.1 points per 100 possessions better with Wade on the court compared to when he’s off. That’s been most relevant on the defensive end, where they’ve given up 1.8 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson has been using the last portion of the year to experiment with lineups. We’ve seen that some with Wade’s insertion in the starting lineup, and how they’ve tried to use Wade at the five in lineups alongside James Harden. Groups with Wade at center and Harden on the floor have outscored opponents by 18.4 points per 100 possessions (99th percentile) with a 131.6 offensive rating (100th percentile) in just 76 possessions.

Losing Wade for an extended period of time would be detrimental. But it’s frustrating even if it’s just a short-term issue given how little time the Cavs have had their full compliment of players with the playoffs just around the corner.

With expectations higher around this Mariners team than any other this decade, it makes sense that fans want to know how to watch their hometown nine this season. Frustratingly, despite the early announcement of a new streaming option, details about the cable situation for non cord-cutters have been thin on the ground. Finally, we have some clarification on the eve of Opening Day. Mariners games will indeed be available on both Comcast/Xfinity and Charter/Spectrum cable in the Seattle/Tacoma area, but now we have an exact channel listing.

Xfinity: channel 1261

Spectrum: channel 414

While there was no announcement about DirecTV, this post indicates it will remain on channel 687.

If you had the ability to get Mariners games in the past, the games should still be part of your cable package. If you tune into these channels as a test and don’t get anything today, don’t fret; they’ll only be live during game time. RIP to Root Sports and the pre-game Mariners content where we learned about players’ first baseball gloves and the like, I guess.

You can also of course follow the team in-market with Mariners.TV as a streaming option. Out-of-market fans, as in years past, can watch on MLB.TV. All the various options are described here. [Pro tip: if you are a T-Mobile subscriber, you can get MLB TV free through March 31st by downloading the T-Life app.] On your smart TV, download the MLB app; you can access the games from there. If you can’t figure out how to do that, try an Amazon Fire Stick/Chromecast or similar and connect it through the HDMI port. I use the app on my LG TV, but I hear the external connection is more reliable.

And for those of you who love that old-time magic of a radio broadcast, the Mariners will continue to be on their flagship station Seattle Sports 710 with all the radio voices you know and love, including Rick Rizzs in his final season.

There are a few exceptions to the MLB TV/Mariners TV lineup. Two Mariners games will be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV’s “Friday Night Baseball” this year, and four on Peacock, taking over the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. There are also a pair of games on whatever “ESPN Unlimited” is; I have a request in with the team to clarify if that will be exclusive for ESPN+ subscribers, available on cable, or will be broadcast on Mariners TV still. This story will be updated with clarification.

• March 27th vs. the Guardians (Apple TV, 6:45)
• March 29th vs. the Guardians (Peacock, 4 PT)
• April 11th vs. the Astros (ESPN Unlimited)
• April 14th at the Padres (ESPN Unlimited)
• May 1st vs. the Royals (Apple TV, 6:45 PT)
• May 17th, Padres at Mariners (Peacock, 4 PT)
• July 5th, Blue Jays at Mariners (Peacock, 5 PT)
• August 16th, Mariners at Astros (NBC/Peacock, 4 PT)

There are also a handful of Mariners games on MLB Network this year, but those games will still be broadcast on Mariners TV. Similarly, the games on TBS (March 31st vs. the Yankees) and FOX/FS1 (April 18th vs. the Rangers; April 27th at the Twins; May 11th at the Astros; May 16th vs. San Diego, May 23rd at the Royals; July 18th vs. the Giants; July 25th at the Rangers; August 1st vs. the Twins). All dates are subject to change.

Got any more questions about how to watch the Mariners in 2026? Let us know in the comments!

The WNBA will hold an expansion draft for its new franchises in Portland and Toronto on April 3, the league announced Wednesday.

A coin toss will be held Friday, with the winning franchise getting to choose either the first pick in the expansion draft or the No. 6 pick in the college draft on April 13. Whichever team doesn’t get the sixth pick in the college draft will choose seventh.

The rules for the expansion draft were announced a day after the league’s Board of Governors ratified the new collective bargaining agreement that was reached last week.

The expansion draft will have two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams will alternate picks, with the team that picks second in the first round going first in the next round.

The new teams will pick among players left unprotected by their current WNBA teams, with no more than one player per existing team getting chosen. Teams have until Sunday to submit a list of five protected players.

Teams can protect players they had rights to on the final day of the 2025 regular season.

Any player who has five or more years of service after the 2025 season must be put on the roster list as an unrestricted free agent or included on the unprotected list. Only two veteran players — Lexie Brown and Kalani Brown — had contracts that didn’t expire last season..

Toronto and Portland each may only select one player who’s a potential unrestricted free agent. The Tempo and Fire would then be allowed to negotiate a supermax contract with those players, which could be worth up to $1.4 million annually under the new CBA.

It’s the second consecutive year that the league has held an expansion draft. Golden State entered the league last year and became the first expansion team to make the playoffs.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The Detroit Pistons were struggling after the All-Star break. They suddenly lost four games in a row for the first time all season, and then lost their All-NBA guard in Cade Cunningham. They had every reason to go into a true tailspin. Instead, the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 team has won seven of its past eight, including three in a row without Cunningham. The Pistons are coming off of a win against the team that was the hottest in the NBA in the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, they face the second-hottest team in the NBA in the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks are winners of 13 of their past 14 games, and possess the league’s stingiest defense in that span. They share the basketball, have the second-best rebounding percentage, and force their opponent into turnovers better than anyone in the NBA in that span. That allows them to maximize defensive talent on the floor because, even if they are offensively limited, they can turn defense into offense via transition buckets and opportunities in the paint. Sound familiar? They are headed up by three capable scorers — Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, which allows others on the floor to focus on defense and finding gaps to create easy opportunities. There is going to be a huge premium on taking care of the ball, which the Pistons sometimes struggle with, and Daniss Jenkins is going to have a Lakers-like showing for Detroit’s win streak to continue.

Game Vitals

When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Odds: Pistons -2

Projected Starters

Detroit Pistons (52-19)

Daniss Jenkins, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

Atlanta Hawks (40-32)

CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu

The Cleveland Cavaliers will try to push their winning streak to five games as they take on the Miami Heat.

Share your thoughts as the game unfolds. If you aren’t a member of the community, sign up so you can talk to your fellow Cavalier fans and make your voice heard!

Go Cavs!

Welcome to the 2026 season of Major League Baseball!

The Colorado Rockies won’t play until Friday, as MLB is doing a bit of a staggered start to the season. Roughly half of the league will start playing on Thursday, with the other handful picking up the action on Friday. However, there is just a single game tonight as the New York Yankees take on the San Francisco Giants to kick off the season and a new broadcasting partnership with the streaming giant Netflix.

Max Fried will take the hill for the Yankees after a spectacular season in 2025. The veteran lefty put his name in the Cy Young race consideration in his first season as a Yankee, where he went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA. The Yankees struggled with putting together the rotation thanks to injuries, but Fried was a constant and looks to replicate that success in 2026.

Taking the pill for the Giants will be Logan Webb. A model of consistency, Webb has become the de facto ace for the Giants and for good reason. He went 15-11 with a 3.22 ERA in 207 innings over 34 starts in 2025, and it seems only a matter of time until he wins a Cy Young in his career. The hope is that he will get a bit more support from the Giants’ offense this season, taking the pressure off the need to be near perfect in every start.

Now here are the details:

First Pitch: 6:05 p.m. MDT (Pregame show 5 p.m.)

TV: Netflix

Radio: KNBR 680, 1510 AM – KSFN (Giants), WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (Yankees)

Lineups:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The 2026 MLB season kicks off tonight at 7:05pm tonight on ESPNFox Sports Netflix, because of course we are starting with some streaming. It is the first day of the new season, but there are only two teams playing, which never quite feels like an actual opening day. Either way I’m excited that we get real games again. Kicking things off, it will be the Yankees at the Giants.

It is a pretty solid pitching matchup plus plenty of star power in the lineups. What’s not to love?

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid will return to the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup on Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls after missing 13 consecutive games due to a right oblique strain.

Embiid has been limited to just 33 games this season due to injuries. The latest injury for the 2023 MVP occurred during a 124-117 win over the Miami Heat on Feb. 26.

The 76ers also are welcoming back Paul George to the lineup after a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.

Philadelphia entered the contest with a 39-33 record and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, which would mean having to play in the NBA’s play-in tournament. The 76ers are 1 1/2 games back of fifth-place Toronto.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

MLB’s Opening Night features the New York Yankees, the San Francisco Giants and the end of one of baseballl’s more curious streaks.

For the first time since 2007, the Giants placed the same left fielder in their lineup as last year’s Opening Day. That player is Heliot Ramos.

The streak goes back to Barry Bonds’ final season with the Giants. Following that season, MLB’s tainted all-time home run leader hit free agency and somehow couldn’t find a team despite having just hit .276/.480/.565 with 28 homers and an MLB-leading 132 walks. Even the Giants didn’t bring him back, and they were rewarded with nearly two decades of instability at the position.

Hence why we could also call this the Curse of Barry Bonds.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB season

Here’s the full group and what happened to them before the next Opening Day:

Giants’ Opening Day left fielders since Barry Bonds

• 2007: Barry Bonds (left in free agency, never played in MLB again)

• 2008: Dave Roberts (retired the next year)

• 2009: Fred Lewis (traded next offseason)

• 2010: Mark DeRosa (benched next year)

• 2011: Pat Burrell (retired the next year)

• 2012: Aubrey Huff (option declined, never played in MLB again)

• 2013: Andrés Torres (left in free agency, never played in MLB again)

• 2014: Michael Morse (left in free agency)

• 2015: Nori Aoki (option declined, left in free agency)

• 2016: Ángel Pagán (left in free agency, never played in MLB again)

• 2017: Jarrett Parker (released next year)

• 2018: Hunter Pence (left in free agency)

• 2019: Connor Joe (DFA’d eight games later)

• 2020: Alex Dickerson (didn’t start Opening Day next season)

• 2021: Austin Slater (didn’t start Opening Day next season)

• 2022: Joc Pederson (left in free agency)

• 2023: Blake Sabol (traded to Red Sox)

• 2024: Heliot Ramos

• 2025: Heliot Ramos!

The 19-year streak of different Opening Day left-fielders was tied for the longest in MLB history among all positions. The St. Louis Browns also had 19 straight different left fielders from 1937 to 1955, via Elias Sports Bureau.

With the Giants’ run over, the new longest active streak belongs to the Cleveland Guardians at right field. Their 15-year streak is already guaranteed to extend into 2026, as 2025 Opening Day right-fielder Jhonkensy Noel was designated for assignment last December.