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Magic focus on ball retention ahead of matchup with Wizards

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NBA: Detroit Pistons at Orlando MagicMar 1, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) drives past Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II (5) during the second half at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Orlando Magic will try to find a way to turn first-half promise into second-half performance when they host the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

Orlando turned a position of strength into a 106-92 loss to the visiting Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

The Magic led by seven at halftime, before being outscored 31-18 and 25-17 in the last two periods.

“Twenty-six points of pain,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley lamented, referring to the amount of points his side conceded from its 19 turnovers. “That’s what (the Pistons) did. We talked about it before the game, we showed the film — they reach, they grab, they swipe at the ball.

“We were too loose with it at a lot of these moments, but you’ve got to give Detroit a ton of credit — that’s the reason why they’re the No. 1 team in the East. They get after it physically, they get after it defensively.”

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Paolo Banchero’s 24 points and 11 rebounds were offset by a whopping nine turnovers, while Tristan da Silva scored 19 points.

The meltdown against Detroit came on the heels of a five-point home loss to Houston, highlighted by a 21-0 third-quarter Rockets run that wiped out a 19-point Orlando lead.

da Silva shared his frustration, as well as his determination to get it right this time.

“Obviously it stings,” he said following the Pistons game. “Everybody feels like we’ve been giving games away now — two in a row that we had in control for a good amount of time. It doesn’t necessarily discourage us for the remainder of the season. I don’t think that’s an issue or that’s a problem. I think the guys are very locked in and very focused on the next game.”

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Washington’s losing streak stretched to five after the Wizards succumbed 123-118 to the visiting Rockets on Monday.

The Wizards got off to a hot start, shooting 8 of 11 from 3-point range in the opening quarter, at the end of which they led 30-26, before being battered for the duration.

Houston outrebounded Washington 59-27 and outscored the Wizards in the paint 62-40.

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“You’ve got to give (the Rockets) credit,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said. “We were undersized, but that’s no excuse — they beat us to some second shots, for sure. They’re pretty physical, like I said. Our crashing wasn’t exactly where it would (ideally) be.”

The Wizards trailed by as many as 19 points before rallying late despite the absence of several key personnel, headlined by Anthony Davis (finger), Trae Young (quadriceps), Alex Sarr (hamstring) and D’Angelo Russell (not with the team yet).

Tristan Vukcevic (thigh) and Anthony Gill (illness) also did not suit against Houston, while Kyshawn George is listed as day-to-day after sustaining an elbow injury in the third quarter against the Rockets.

Those gaps have created opportunities for others, and Bilal Coulibaly is one who took advantage.

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The third-year guard from France scored 23 points and sank five 3-pointers, both season highs.

“He’s been doing this a little bit lately, but I’ve seen the amount of work that he’s putting in,” Keefe said of Coulibaly. “I always trust him when he’s open. I tell him to shoot it — let it fly — because he’s probably putting up more shots in our gym than anybody.

“He puts a massive amount of time into it and I have great faith in him. That work is starting to pay off.”

While Young, like Davis, has yet to play for his new team after an in-season trade, he showed on Monday that he is ready to fight for the Wizards. Even though he was in street clothes, he was ejected from the contest for stepping on the court to argue a call.

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Young won’t be active at Orlando, but he is expected to make his Wizards debut on Thursday against the visiting Utah Jazz.

–Field Level Media

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WrestleMania 42: Iyo Sky helps Rhea Ripley win WWE women’s title over Jade Cargill

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Rhea Ripley’s path back to the top of the women’s division was a long one, but on Sunday night, she survived the storm and recaptured the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 42.

Ripley won the Women’s Elimination Chamber match back in February to earn a shot at a title. She chose to set her sights on Jade Cargill’s championship. What transpired next was a war of words between the two goddess-like figures in the pro wrestling industry.

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Rhea Ripley standing in the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas

Rhea Ripley is introduced before the WWE Women’s Championship match against Jade Cargill during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Cargill vowed to bring the disrespect to Ripley, even turning B-Fab and Michin against Ripley in the process. The match at WrestleMania was supposed to be a one-on-one match, but Michin and B-Fab got involved in the action.

Cargill had the advantage for most of the match. And just as the referee was going to throw Michin and B-Fab out, Iyo Sky came to the rescue. She hit a springboard moonsault on B-Fab and Michin.

‘DEMON’ FINN BALOR SETTLES SCORE WITH DOMINIK MYSTERIO AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Jade Cargill standing in the ring before WWE Women's Championship match at Allegiant Stadium

Jade Cargill is introduced before the WWE Women’s Championship match against Rhea Ripley during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ripley hit Cargill with a headbutt and a Riptide. But she couldn’t get the pin on Cargill.

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Cargill hit Ripley with a boot, but it was almost to no avail. Ripley countered Cargill’s finisher, put her in the Riptide and pinned her for the win.

It marks the first WrestleMania loss for Cargill since she joined WWE.

Rhea Ripley standing in the ring at Allegiant Stadium

Rhea Ripley is introduced before the WWE Women’s Championship match against Jade Cargill during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Ripley is now a two-time holder of the WWE Women’s Championship and a four-time women’s champion overall. Her last reign started on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 when she defeated Asuka in Tampa, Florida.

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Hardik Pandya Grilled By Ex KKR Star: “When Was Your Last Match-Winning Knock?”

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Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya hasn’t had much going his way in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. While MI are languishing at the bottom of the 10-team points table, Hardik hasn’t been able to create much impact on the field, be it with the bat or with the ball. The all-rounder has even had his captaincy skills questioned, including his inability to get the best out of Jasprit Bumrah, the finest fast bowler in the world. Ahead of MI’s clash against GT, former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Aakash Chopra has asked Hardik when his last match-winning knock was for MI.

Hardik, widely considered as India’s most prominent pace-bowling all-rounder, has struggled this season. He has only scored 81 runs in 4 matches this campaign for Mumbai. Chopra, in a video on his YouTube channel, has asked some tough questions to the MI skipper.

“You have corrected the batting order now. I won’t talk about Surya because he played many match-winning knocks last time, but Hardik, I don’t remember when the last match-winning knock you played was. We have seen many good cameos, but that match-winning 70 or 80 runs where you win the match alone, Hardik is capable of that,” Chopra said.

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The former India opener also feels Mumbai need some fresh ideas to bring their campaign back on track. Chopra backed the promotion of Sherfane Rutherford to help MI overcome the current middle-order crisis.

“If you get less than that repeatedly, you think this is the time when Hardik does what he can do, because you are capable of doing that. They need fresh ideas and freshness, a little fearless approach, and Sherfane Rutherford should bat slightly up the order. All of that is required because the truth is that the five-time champions, the Mumbai Indians, are at No. 10 at this point in time,” he added.

At present, MI are placed 10th in the points table with just one win in 5 matches.


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Liv Morgan addresses Dominik Mysterio after his loss at WrestleMania 42

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Liv Morgan has addressed Dominik Mysterio’s loss to Finn Balor at WrestleMania 42. While Morgan was victorious against Stephanie Vaquer in Night 1, his Daddy Dom failed to beat Demon Finn.

The reigning AAA Mega Champion appeared confident ahead of his Street Fight against his former Judgment Day stablemate. However, The Demon had a different aura and energy that got Dirty Dom scrambling at the start.

Dominik Mysterio had several chances of getting the win over Finn Balor, but The Demon was on another level on Sunday night. He hit a devastating Shotgun Dropkick to Dominik while a chair was around his neck before putting him away with a Coup de Grace through a table.

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In a post on Instagram, Liv Morgan seemingly doesn’t care about the outcome of Dirty Dom’s match.

“Always a winner in my eyes 🫶✨ @dominik_35,” Morgan wrote.

It will be interesting to see what’s next for Dominik and Liv for Monday’s post-WrestleMania episode of Raw. Liv is expected to celebrate her championship win, but Dominik and JD McDonagh were unsuccessful in their respective WrestleMania matches.

McDonagh failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship in the Six-Pack Ladder Match on Sunday.


Why did WWE make Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor match a Street Fight?

The initial match between Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor at WrestleMania 42 was just a singles match. A week later, WWE announced that Balor will be using The Demon in the match, marking the return of his alter ego after nearly three years.

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Fast forward to Sunday, and WWE made another change to the match, making it a Street Fight. According to Fightful Select, the company decided to add a stipulation due to the number of singles matches on the card.

“Fightful Select has learned that the street fight stipulation was added to Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio within the last week due to the number of singles matches on the Wrestlemania 42 card,” the report said.

There were six matches on Night 2 of WrestleMania 42, five of which were one-on-one matches. Three of the five were title matches, while the opener was Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi, so adding a stipulation to a heated rivalry like Dominik vs. Finn wasn’t too complicated to make.