The Boston Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead and lost Game 7 to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

A day after Saturday’s season-ending loss, Jaylen Brown took out his frustrations on a Twitch stream. To the surprise of few, those frustrations largely targeted game officials, whom he declared had an “agenda” to call him for offensive fouls throughout the series.

For that, the NBA fined Brown $50,000. The NBA announced the fine Tuesday evening, citing “public criticism of the officiating” on “a livestream.”

The fine is the second this season for Brown, who was docked $35,000 in January for complaints about officiating. There were multiple other instances of Brown complaining about officials this season that the NBA overlooked.

Here’s the latest from Brown that lightened his bank account.

“They keep saying, like there’s push-offs and stuff like that,” Brown said. “Do you know how many players do that? That’s the common play, a basketball play. Every player does it. So why are you targeting me?

“They clearly had an agenda. Maybe because I had spoken and was critical of the refs in the regular season. So you know how they responded? We’re gonna call every — you’re going to lead the playoffs in offensive fouls. That was the response from the officiating crew.”

Brown went on to say that officials even told him that they planned to target him for foul calls.

“I actually spoke to some refs, and they said there was an agenda going into each game,” he continued. “Anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it.”

The NBA did not appreciate this. And now Brown is $50,000 poorer.

Framber Valdez made a quick exit from the mound Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

The Detroit Tigers starter drilled Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story in the shoulder in the fourth inning. That led to his immediate ejection, and sparked a benches-clearing scrum in the middle of the field. 

The incident didn’t really lead to much. Story was held back and kept away from Valdez, and it ended up being a bunch of players just standing around before the two sides were eventually separated. When it comes to benches-clearing brawls, this one was undoubtedly on the tame end.

The incident immediately after Valdez gave up back-to-back home runs. Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu each hit solo shots to start the fourth inning, which pushed the Red Sox’s lead to eight at the moment. 

While it’s unclear how intentional the pitch was, it was classified as a four-seam fastball. Valdez has only thrown a single four-seamer all season.

Valdez entered the night with a 2-1 record and a 3.35 ERA this season, his first with the Tigers after he signed a three-year, $115 million deal with the team this past offseason. 

The Tigers carried an 18-18 record into Tuesday’s contest after they dropped the series-opener with the Red Sox on Monday night. 

Framber Valdez made a quick exit from the mound Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

The Detroit Tigers starter drilled Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story in the shoulder in the fourth inning. That led to his immediate ejection, and sparked a benches-clearing scrum in the middle of the field. 

The incident didn’t really lead to much. Story was held back and kept away from Valdez, and it ended up being a bunch of players just standing around before the two sides were eventually separated. When it comes to benches-clearing brawls, this one was undoubtedly on the tame end.

The incident immediately after Valdez gave up back-to-back home runs. Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu each hit solo shots to start the fourth inning, which pushed the Red Sox’s lead to eight at the moment. 

While it’s unclear how intentional the pitch was, it was classified as a four-seam fastball. Valdez has only thrown a single four-seamer all season.

Valdez entered the night with a 2-1 record and a 3.35 ERA this season, his first with the Tigers after he signed a three-year, $115 million deal with the team this past offseason. 

The Tigers carried an 18-18 record into Tuesday’s contest after they dropped the series-opener with the Red Sox on Monday night. 

The Dodgers conclude their road trip with a daytime start against the Houston Astros on Wednesday at Daikin Park.

This will be the third consecutive daytime getaway day start for Tyler Glasnow, who led the Dodgers in strikeouts (47) and innings (38 2/3) through the end of April. He has a 1.83 ERA and 37-percent strikeout rate in 19 2/3 innings in his three daytime starts this season.

Lance McCullers Jr. starts for Houston. The veteran right-hander has a 6.32 ERA and 4.38 xERA in six starts this season.

The Dodgers are 7-4 in the final game of series this season, including 4-1 in such games on the road.

Wednesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Astros
• Ballpark: Daikin Park, Houston
• Time: 11:10 a.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Triple-A Oklahoma City has been a busy place for Dodgers on the mend for the past few weeks, with rehab assignments piling up over the last few days. Utility man Kiké Hernández is the latest to work his way back with the Comets, starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday night.

Hernández on Tuesday started at third base and batted second against the Salt Lake Bees, an Angels affiliate.

Hernández is coming off left elbow surgery in November, and also missed 40 games last July and August with left elbow inflammation. Oklahoma City Comets play-by-play announcer Alex Freedman during the broadcast in the first inning on Tuesday said Hernández mentioned earlier during batting practice that this was the first time he’s felt fully healthy in about a year.

This is going to be a lengthy rehab for Hernández, who has been on the 60-day injured list since February, and his earliest possible return to the Dodgers is May 24.

Hernández is the fourth Dodger to play for Oklahoma City since Saturday. Blake Snell pitched four innings in Round Rock on Sunday, and is expected to make one more rehab start this coming Saturday at a location to be determined. Brock Stewart rehabbed for three weeks with Ontario and Oklahoma City, and is back with the Dodgers in Houston, though he has not yet been activated off the injured list. Brusdar Graterol pitched in his first game in 549 days on Saturday, and is expected to be on a long rehab assignment as he returns from November 2024 shoulder surgery.

Other Dodgers on the mend

Tommy Edman is coming off right ankle surgery in November, and though he’s not (yet) on the 60-day injured list, he’s behind Hernández on the rehab calendar. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Monday in Houston that Edman felt some soreness in his ankle, so they’ve slowed down his rehab program, which has been on the cautious said since the offseason.

Mookie Betts could be on a rehab assignment soon, as he works his way back from an oblique strain.

“Mookie is working on his bat speed. He feels good. I would say he’s going to get out on a rehab soon. Whether it’s this week — he’s supposed to a simulated game, like a live BP on Thursday,” Roberts said Monday, as shown on SportsNet LA. “If he does his live BP on Thursday and comes out okay, then you can sort of figure out where he goes next.”

Betts was injured on March 4 in Washington D.C., and last week on the homestand said doctors initially told him he’d miss six weeks. This Saturday is the five-week mark for Betts, who said he was ahead of schedule but also cautioned that the nature of oblique injuries requires patience.

“It’s just time. There’s no magic formula to this. You can do as much rehab as you want. Obliques just take time, it’s always four to six weeks, no matter however you want to twist it,” Betts said on April 29 at Dodger Stadium. “We’re kind of approaching the four-week mark. Once I get to that point is when we’ll really turn the corner. We’re close, and after that it’s going to get a lot better.”

Not everyone was over the moon that Victor Wembanyama broke the NBA playoff record for most blocks in a game during Game 1 of the conference semifinals between the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves, Monday, May 4.

The 2026 Defensive Player of the Year finished with 12 blocks on the night, passing the previous mark by two. He also was one swat shy of Dwight Howard’s record for blocks in one half of a playoff game in what ended up being a triple-double performance with 11 points and 15 rebounds.

A day after the remarkable outing in San Antonio, members of the Timberwolves decried Wembanyama’s final stats after even they they earned a 104-102 road win. After coaches and players looked at the game tape, they came to the conclusion that several of Wembanyama’s blocks were not actually blocks, but uncalled goaltending.

“Obviously, he had a historic night, but when we looked at ‘em, at least four of ‘em were goaltending, maybe even a fifth,” Minnesota head coach Chris Finch told reporters Tuesday, May 5. “To me, it’s a little alarming that none of ‘em were called.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Timberwolves edge Spurs in Anthony Edwards’ return from injury

Timberwolves center and Wembanyama’s fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert agreed that not all of the blocks should have registered as such on the box score.

“He fouled me on the first one,” Gobert told reporters. “But I mean, if you look at them, probably three or four (goaltends).”

Finch continued by saying the game officials should have “heightened awareness” of Wembanyama, “a generational shot-blocker” and his style of play. He noted that if Wembanyama, who is known as “the Alien,” had the estimated four goaltends called instead of blocks, that would add up to eight points for the Timberwolves.

“You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s massive,” he said. “That’s also 33 percent of his blocks were goaltending, uncalled. If I were to give you a 33 percent raise, you’d like that, right? That’s a huge number.”

NBA PLAYOFF BRACKET: Scores, schedule, odds for conference semifinals

Finch assured that his squad, which includes four-time All-Star Anthony Edwards, isn’t fazed by the disparity. The conference semifinals continue with Game 2 Wednesday night in San Antonio.

“We’re gonna keep coming,” he said. “And we got to make some better decisions in how we attack the rim. All credit to the guys for not being discouraged.”

Gobert showed how the team was keeping a lighthearted attitude.

“I wish I had that type of treatment, too,” he laughed with reporters.

Victor Wemanyama Game 1 highlights

Watch extended highlights of Wembayama’s historic triple-double on May, 4, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, Rudy Gobert question Wembanyama blocks

DALLAS (AP) — Masai Ujiri hadn’t even taken a question from reporters as team president and alternate governor of the Dallas Mavericks when he tacitly acknowledged the chaotic 15 months that have enveloped the franchise.

“Listen, I hope to bring calm,” Ujiri said Tuesday in opening remarks at his introductory news conference just a few moments after trying to soothe his distressed youngest son Amani, the 5-year-old who came to the stage wanting his dad to hold him.

Ujiri didn’t even have to mention the ill-fated trade of Luka Doncic that ultimately led to the firing of his predecessor, former general manager Nico Harrison.

Or the crazy good luck Dallas got in landing Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick despite just a 1.8% chance to win the draft lottery.

Or Flagg’s difficult debut that ended with 56 losses, but with the former Duke star winning Rookie of the Year.

“In Africa, we say when kings go, kings come. And a king went and we have a little prince here. Now we’re going to turn him into a king,” the Nigerian-raised Ujiri said. “I think we have to start thinking that way. Understand what we’ve gone through. But I hope we can figure out how we reset as an organization with the fans. There’s no other way to do this than winning.”

The Mavericks were just nine months removed from losing to Boston in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals when Harrison traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for older and oft-injured center Anthony Davis.

Nine months after that — when the 2025-26 season started slowly — the Mavericks fired Harrison. Then his interim replacements, co-general managers Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley, sent Davis to Washington before the trade deadline this year. Because of injuries, Davis played just 29 games over parts of two seasons.

The hiring of Ujiri, who spent 13 seasons in charge of basketball operations with Toronto and won a title before getting fired last year, has the feeling of the final step in moving on from the Doncic deal. Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont — a target for plenty of criticism himself — views it a bit differently.

“In my mind, it’s thinking about the future,” said Dumont, who sat to Ujiri’s right on a stage on the Mavericks’ practice court at American Airlines Center, with reporters, family members and other team executives seated in front of them while a couple dozen more members of the organization stood behind those chairs.

“I agree with all the remarks that Masai had about it,” Dumont said. “I really appreciate his perspective. It’s one that I agree with, and I’m looking for Masai now to help lead us to a championship and also lead us to create a great team with great character, with the right focus.”

Kidd’s future

Ujiri was noncommittal when asked about the return of coach Jason Kidd, who signed an extension during the deep playoff run two years ago.

When asked if Ujiri was saying Kidd’s status was up in the air, the 55-year-old reminded reporters that George Karl remained coach in Denver for three seasons after Ujiri took charge of basketball operations there and that Dwane Casey kept the job for Ujuri’s first five seasons with the Raptors.

“There’s no way to read this,” Ujiri said. “I’m going to hear coach Jason Kidd out, his thoughts on everything and follow a lot on what he’s saying. Because some of this stuff here, I don’t know. If you go back to the history, it’s the same thing. I have to follow a process here, and I’m excited to meet with them.”

Blockbusters of the past

Ujiri has been a part of blockbusters for superstars coming and going, first with Denver when he sent Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks and went on to win Executive of the Year two years later.

With the Raptors, he traded for disgruntled San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard, who led Toronto to the 2018-19 NBA title in his only season with Toronto. Ujiri was let go last June after the Raptors went five consecutive seasons without a first-round playoff victory.

Led by Doncic and fellow star guard Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks made the finals two years ago for the first time since winning their only title in 2011. But now they’ve missed the playoffs two years in a row. The last time Dallas missed a third consecutive postseason was Doncic’s rookie year in 2018-19.

“What I’ve found out is if you win one, you want to win again,” Ujiri said. “And I know you guys have tasted that. Everybody here, the passion of what happens here and how we feel in healing, it’s because you want to win again. I want to win again.”

A dream pairing for Dallas?

The Mavericks ended up sitting Irving the entire season after he tore an ACL in March 2025. Now that Davis is gone, the lone remaining question is what it looks like with Irving and Flagg — both one-and-done Duke standouts who became No. 1 picks — are on the court together.

“I dream like you dream, man. All of us dream. I want to see that,” Ujiri said. “I think it’s going to be pretty cool, and I know it’s going to help Cooper because Kyrie likes to play off the ball, too. This is going to interesting for us.”

Starting with next week’s draft lottery. The Mavericks have a 6.7% shot at the top pick.

___

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

Once again, rumor time has struck the Valley, as online discussion has continued to escalate. With teams continuing to get eliminated from the first round, new shakeups are being hypothesized every single hour over on Twitter. That leaves us today with our latest discussion that has hit the Suns’ world, as fans have clung to a new name that may be hitting the market.

Even with the Trail Blazers exceeding expectations, similarly to Phoenix, and beating them in the Play-In tournament, some shakeup seems likely for this Northwest franchise. With the emergence of Scoot Henderson in the first round of the playoffs and Damian Lillard gearing up to return, the question of Jrue Holiday remaining in Portland continues to grow.

The guard was traded there just last year from the Boston Celtics, who were looking to shed salary to drop below the second apron. I wonder if that sounds familiar, Suns fans? Anyways, the guard this offseason could also see another change of scenery, from the recent reporting of Jake Fischer.

For a team in Phoenix with already a surplus of guards, you would think this means they turn away from this, but with his complementary fit alongside Booker, the question is: should they? That is why today we are back with another breakdown of how this could be done for the Suns and whether they should consider it.

How could it get done?

Looking at Jrue Holiday’s contract is pretty taxing. The veteran guard is owed $72 million over the next two seasons with a player option in his final year. With making just under $35 million this year, the only two ways it could realistically get done. You either trade Jalen Green in a one-for-one trade or the combination of Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen.

Which would make the most sense?

As we noted above, the Blazers’ main motivation for moving Holiday off was to give their guard room more freedom, so taking Green back makes zero sense on their end. Unless it was a three-team deal (which, if you want to get creative, let me know down below), it’s virtually impossible.

This leaves us with the package of O’Neale and Allen, who would bring some quality depth and three-point shooting to a team that could benefit from it. Portland was 28th for three-point range last season, hitting 34.3%. And they were dead last in the NBA in bench three-point shooting, where they were 32.0%. Adding O’Neale and Allen would help in this area.

Even if this makes sense for the Blazers and Holiday is a good stylistic fit for the Suns, there are concerns.

Why does it not get done?

For multiple reasons, this package doesn’t get it across the finish line. Mainly on the Suns’ end, as they now take on Holiday, and they face the surplus guard problem. With Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin wanting to resign, this forces them into a Jalen Green trade.

One that the league now knows they are forced to make: with low-ball offers from other GM’s, potentially leaving Phoenix with holes in other areas if they do not accept those deals. Not only that, but you add the age and injury history of Holiday in recent years, and that becomes an issue. With him being 36 going into next year, that does not push forward the youth movement the Suns want to embrace either.

Unfortunately, there is something in the water in Phoenix, as everyone who has come here via trade has suffered an injury. Even if they are completely healthy in their previous endeavors, they always run into some issues here. The guard, who is also going to be in his 18th year, would be a great fit both on the court and playstyle-wise, but has too many concerns with his large dollar amount.

With the league only getting younger and deeper, Holiday would not solve one of those issues for this team and leave an even bigger hole in another spot. Even if his ability to be a perfect locker room fit and culture guy would be a nice addition, it is not worth the cost for the Suns. I do see the benefit of him being the point guard, and of him embracing the team’s defensive hard work and hustle as well. He would definitely make things easier on Booker, but at what cost?

Especially in their position, Holiday is an addition to put you over the top for a championship, as he did for the Bucks and Celtics. The Suns are just not in that spot right now, which is why, even if he is one of my favorite fits alongside Booker, I say it is a no-go.

If Holiday proves he is still a solid player once he is off that contract, I would absolutely LOVE to have him as a secondary guard on a cheaper deal, but the price is not worth the risk in this instance.

Let me know your thoughts down below. Would you entertain a trade for Jrue Holiday for this Suns team?