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🚨 Headlines
🏒 NHL Playoffs: The top-seeded Avalanche beat the Kings, 2-1 (OT), to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. The Mammoth knotted things up against the Golden Knights, the Bruins rebounded against the Sabres and the Lightning drew even with the Canadiens.
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🏀 SGA wins Clutch POY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year after leading the league with 175 points in clutch situations (final five minutes of fourth quarter/overtime when the score is within five points).
⚽️ NWSL expansion: The NWSL is adding an 18th team in Columbus, Ohio, which will join the league for a record $205 million expansion fee. The new franchise will be owned by Haslam Sports Group (Browns, Crew) and begin play in 2028.
🏀 Donovan steps away: Billy Donovan is leaving the Bulls after spending the last six seasons as their head coach, opting to step away following a major shakeup to the team’s front office earlier this month.
🐎 Churchill buys Preakness: Churchill Downs Inc. has acquired the intellectual property rights to the Preakness Stakes for $85 million. The move sets the stage for Churchill, which owns and operates the Kentucky Derby, to link the first two legs of the Triple Crown and potentially move the date of the Preakness.
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See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.
🏀 NBA playoffs: Tuesday recap
(Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
San Antonio — The Spurs lost Victor Wembanyama — and control of the series — on Tuesday as the Trail Blazers took Game 2, 106-103, behind a 31-point outburst from Scoot Henderson. What once appeared to be a breeze of a first-round matchup now has all the makings of a grueling marathon.
Scary injury: Wemby exited early after he took a hard, awkward fall and smacked his face directly into the floor, appearing to briefly knock himself out. He was quickly placed into concussion protocol and could miss multiple games.
(Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Boston — The 76ers rebounded from a 32-point Game 1 loss to beat the Celtics, 111-97, behind a breakout game from rookie VJ Edgecombe, who passed Magic Johnson as the youngest player in playoff history (20 years, 265 days) to tally 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game.
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Top seeds struggling: Home teams are just 9-5 so far this postseason, with the second-seeded Celtics (1-1) and second-seeded Spurs (1-1) joining the top-seeded Pistons (0-1), third-seeded Knicks (1-1) and third-seeded Nuggets (1-1) in the loss column.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Los Angeles — LeBron James (28-8-7) and the shorthanded Lakers beat the Rockets, 101-94, to take a 2-0 series lead (without their top two scorers) and hand Kevin Durant his seventh straight postseason loss.
All hail the King: 41-year-old LeBron James became the oldest player in NBA playoff history to lead a team in scoring. He’s averaging a near triple-double this series. It’s completely insane what he’s doing. Reverse windmill in Year 23!
💯 Big Numbers
(Elsa/Getty Images)
⚾️ 12 straight losses
The Mets lost again on Tuesday, 5-3 to the Twins, dropping their 12th straight game for the franchise’s longest losing streak since 2002. At 7-16, they have the worst record in baseball — not quite what they were hoping for when they spent $381.7 million on their roster.
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Can they climb out of this hole? It’s still early, but only four teams in MLB history have made the playoffs after enduring a 10-game losing streak (2025 Guardians, 2017 Dodgers, 1982 Braves, 1951 Giants), and no team has ever made it after losing 12 straight. The good news? Juan Soto is expected to return today after missing the last 15 games with a calf injury.
🏈 57
Heinz is teaming up with Devin Hester (No. 57 pick by the Bears in 2006) to welcome the first “Mr. 57” at this year’s NFL Draft, honoring the number that has graced the Pittsburgh-based company’s condiment bottles for well over a century.
Mr. 57: Whoever is drafted with the 57th pick this week (currently owned by the Bears) will get a custom jacket, a lifetime supply of Heinz ketchup and the opportunity to work with the company.
(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
⛳️ 4 in a row
Nelly Korda is just the third LPGA golfer since 1980 to start a season with four consecutive top-two finishes. She won January’s Tournament of Champions and has finished second in each of her three events since then.
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Good omen? The other two women who accomplished that feat — Karrie Webb in 2000 and Annika Sorenstam in 2001 — went on to win the first major of the year. Korda’s next start is this week’s Chevron Championship… the first major of the year.
⚽️ 282 days
The Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose relegation fate was sealed on Monday, will have spent all 282 days of their Premier League campaign in the relegation zone once the season concludes. The last team to spend a full top-flight season in the drop zone? Also Wolverhampton, in 1964-65.
Relegation watch: Burnley (20 points) could be relegated as soon as today, while the third spot is currently held by Tottenham (31), who haven’t been sent down since 1977. With five games left, they’re chasing West Ham (33), Nottingham Forest (36) and Leeds (39).
⚽️ World Cup: 50 days out
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)
The 2026 World Cup could supercharge soccer in the U.S. — or slow its rise. It all hinges on how the tournament unfolds, and whether the current wave of skepticism and negative press gives way to a more positive, lasting narrative.
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Steven Goff, Yahoo Sports:
With the zeal of an old-fashioned Southern preacher, soccer evangelists have been shouting to the heavens about this summer’s World Cup launching the sport into new horizons in the United States.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber calls it “rocket fuel for our entire ecosystem.”
There is substance behind that belief. Starting June 11, the World Cup will descend on North America for more than five weeks, showcasing international soccer and its colorful cast of characters on and off the pitch at a time when the sports landscape is relatively quiet.
(Presley Ann/Getty Images for The Coca-Cola Company)
Indeed, the stage belongs to the beautiful game. There is at least one match — and as many as six — scheduled each of the first 27 days, with just five off-days following the Round of 16.
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From grocery store displays and watch parties to flag-lined streets and team jerseys, soccer will be omnipresent this summer.
There should, however, be genuine concern that growing negativity around the World Cup could not only temper the sport’s growth here but cause damage to its broader image.
This summer’s mission is to further raise soccer’s profile and accelerate its growth to where it’s part of the daily sports conversation, inspires a generation and sheds its niche image.
But what if the general public, largely unfamiliar with the game, can’t differentiate between the sport and who is running it and allows all the many negative elements of hosting the World Cup to shroud the beauty and pageantry?
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😩 Pittsburgh’s playoff slump
A Penguins fan holds up a rally towel before Game 1. (Justin Berl/Getty Images)
The Penguins have fallen into an 0-2 hole against the Flyers in the Battle of Pennsylvania, putting the city of Pittsburgh in grave danger* of extending its long streak of postseason futility.
Seven years and counting: No Pittsburgh team has won a playoff round in one of North America’s “Big Four” sports leagues since 2018, marking the city’s longest such drought since before the Penguins were formed in 1967.
The Penguins are responsible for the most recent victory, winning a first-round series in 2018 against none other than the Flyers. Since then, they’ve lost five straight series, and must now win four of their next five games to avoid making it six in a row.
The Steelers, famously, always finish at .500 or better. But that hasn’t helped them in the postseason, where they’ve lost seven consecutive games since beating Alex Smith and the Chiefs in the 2016 divisional round.
The Pirates haven’t even reached the playoffs since 2015, the longest drought in the NL. Before that, their last series win came in 2013’s single-game wild card round. And before that their last win came in the 1979 World Series. So, yeah, it’s been a while.
How bad is it? Pittsburgh is one of 20 metropolitan areas with at least three “Big Four” teams, and its seven-year playoff victory drought is by far the longest. 15 of those 20 metro areas saw their teams win at least one playoff round in the last year, and the other four saw their teams win at least once in the last five years.
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Won in the last year (15): New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Houston, Toronto, Seattle and Cleveland.
Won in the last five years (4): Philadelphia (most recently in 2024), Phoenix (2023), Tampa (2023), Atlanta (2021).
Looking ahead: The Penguins could of course still storm back to beat the Flyers and end the drought next week. If not, the baton will be passed to the Pirates, who are off to a strong start (13-10) and are thus far making good on their preseason hype as a dark horse contender.
*History favors Philly: The Flyers are 18-0 all-time when leading 2-0 in a best-of-7 postseason series, the most series wins without a loss in Stanley Cup playoff history.
📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, April 22
Cade Cunningham will try to get Detroit back on track after losing Game 1. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
🏀 NBA Playoffs
Both No. 1 seeds take the floor at home tonight. The Pistons will try to regroup after losing Game 1 to the Magic (7pm ET, ESPN) and the Thunder will look to go up 2-0 against the Suns (9:30pm, ESPN).
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Dueling droughts: Detroit has lost 11 straight home playoff games dating back to the 2008 East Finals, while Orlando has lost seven straight playoff series dating back to the 2010 East Finals.
🏒 NHL Playoffs
The Penguins hit the road against the Flyers after dropping the first two games at home (7pm, TNT), the Wild host the Stars with the series tied at one game apiece (9:30pm, TNT), and the Oilers host the Ducks after taking Game 1 in Edmonton (10pm, TBS).
Hot start: Flyers rookie Porter Martone — the No. 6 pick in last year’s draft who was playing for Michigan State less than a month ago — has scored both game-winning goals so far, becoming the 12th teenager in NHL history to find the back of the net in each of his first two postseason games.
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More to watch:
⚾️ MLB: Yankees at Red Sox (6:45pm, Prime) … Max Fried (2-1, 2.97 ERA) vs. Ranger Suárez (1-1, 3.22 ERA).
⚽️ Premier League: Burnley vs. Manchester City (3pm, USA) … If City win, they’ll leapfrog Arsenal atop the table with five matches left.
⚽️ MLS: Real Salt Lake vs. Inter Miami (9:30pm, Apple) … Salt Lake is 4-0-0 at home; Miami is 4-1-1 on the road.
🎾 Tennis: Madrid Open (7:30am, Tennis) … First-round action for the men and women in this Masters 1000 event.
🏒 PWHL: Ottawa Charge at Boston Fleet (7pm, YouTube) … Ottawa is fighting for the final playoff spot, while Boston is trying to catch Montréal for the No. 1 seed.
Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!
🏈 NFL trivia
(Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Question: Can you name the three current NFL franchises that have never had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft?
Hint: AFC West, AFC North, NFC West.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 Draft Day eve
(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)
One more sleep until the 2026 NFL Draft kicks off in Pittsburgh. The Raiders have the first pick, followed by the Jets, Cardinals, Titans and Giants (full draft order).
Quick links:
The latest intel: Carson Beck as QB3? A look at how top positional stacks are shaping up before showtime
Trivia answer: Broncos, Ravens, Seahawks
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