Oct 1, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
NFL free agency kicks off in 4.5 weeks, and according to CBS Sports, the Minnesota Vikings’ best option on the open market is to re-sign quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Atlanta Falcons are expected to drop Cousins in the next few weeks, and if so, Minnesota should pounce, says Jared Dubin.
The Cousins angle remains polarizing, but the idea might fit Minnesota’s need for experienced depth while McCarthy’s timeline continues to evolve.
The Vikings would blend the past and future with the move, and it might just make sense if head coach and de facto general manager Kevin O’Connell still thinks Cousins has the juice in 2026.
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CBS Sports Puts Cousins Back in Play for MIN
Yep, Cousins is the recommendation.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins takes the snap during first-quarter action at U.S. Bank Stadium, shown on Dec 8, 2024, as Atlanta faced Minnesota. The image captures Cousins operating against his former team, highlighting pocket mechanics and early-game tempo in a high-profile matchup that drew added attention from both sidelines. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
CBS Sports on Vikings: Reunite with Kirk
Cousins left the Vikings after the 2023 campaign, spending six seasons in Minneapolis and totaling one playoff win along the way.
Dubin claims Minnesota now needs him back: “With the J.J. McCarthy experiment seemingly going off the rails, the Vikings need to bring in a veteran quarterback to compete with him and/or be the backup and fill-in starter in case things don’t go well again.”
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“Cousins is likely set to hit free agency given his contractual situation, and we know he is familiar with both the Vikings and Kevin O’Connell’s system, making this an easy, comfortable fit.”
Other teams, like the Kansas City Chiefs, were connected to men like Breece Hall. Dubin spitballed Trey Hendrickson for the Indianapolis Colts. For Minnesota, it’s Cousins.
Vikings Offseasons Can Never Shake Cousins
Minnesota’s offseason quarterback plan starts with uncertainty. McCarthy’s transition to the NFL has been uneven, defined more by [bad] availability than development. He’s missed roughly 70% of games due to injury, and in his first season as a starter, he finished last in leaguewide efficiency metrics among quarterbacks. Both factoids have pressed the Vikings’ decision-makers to explore a quarterback competition this offseason.
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And that’s where contingency comes into play. If the Vikings recommit to McCarthy in 2026, they’ll need insulation behind him. Cousins checks boxes that few others can. He knows O’Connell’s offense inside and out and has already adjusted to life as a QB2 in Atlanta. He might know his role.
Even when Cousins carried a massive contract in Atlanta, Minnesota kept surfacing as the most logical landing spot in league chatter. With Cousins now more attainable, the logic hasn’t disappeared one bit.
This Time, the Money Would Work
For once, the money wouldn’t be the obstacle for Cousins’s theories. He hasn’t operated in the bargain aisle since his rookie deal — nine years ago — and his reputation for maximizing earnings is Hall of Fame-worthy. At 37, and with Cousins already being paid by Atlanta for 2026, a team can sign him for cheap if he’s released. Think: Russell Wilson to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
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In 2026 free agency, the Vikings could realistically sign Cousins at a reduced rate and ask him to stabilize the room for a year or two while McCarthy develops. The decision comes down to philosophy. Minnesota has committed to a forward-facing timeline with McCarthy as QB1. The question is whether the O’Connell is willing to look “backward” at Cousins. Perhaps, perhaps not.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins watches the field during second-quarter play at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec 8, 2024, as Atlanta met Minnesota. The moment reflects in-game evaluation and communication, capturing Cousins between series while reading coverages and awaiting the next offensive sequence in a charged divisional atmosphere. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Cousins could also be an option for the New York Jets. The Jets Way‘s David Wyatt-Upton wrote this week:
I feel as though the name Kirk Cousins has been swirling around the Jets for a while. We were linked to him before he signed in Atlanta, we were linked with him last off-season and we were linked with him any time his contract was running down in Minnesota. Whether there was any fire to that smoke us unknown, but here we are again. We need a QB, Kirk Cousins is likely to be available, will he finally call NY home?
I will say right from the start that it’s hard to hitch your tent to a QB when you don’t know who the OC will be. You don’t know the style, the system, or the traits that are required to make it all work. But based on the names being mentioned as front-runners for the Jets, I feel relatively confident in stating Cousins would make a lot of sense for the Jets.
Shooting for the Stars?
The argument against Cousins? It feels like a mid-tier solution. Cousins never banked consistent playoff-winning success in Minnesota during his physical prime. Would things get better in the final season or two of his career? If so, how would that happen?
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Subtracting Cousins from the offseason rumor mill, the Vikings could hunt big-name quarterbacks who may or may not be for sale — like Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray warms up on the field at State Farm Stadium, pictured on Oct 13, 2019, wearing a WVB bow tie patch honoring late owner William V. Bidwill. The image highlights pregame routine and remembrance, blending preparation with tribute as the Cardinals recognized organizational legacy before kickoff. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Or the organization could explore realistic trade options for Kyler Murray or Mac Jones. Neither will turn 38 this summer like Cousins. Both are in their 20s.
Cousins to Minnesota would make sense if the Vikings still believe in McCarthy as the long-term QB1. They could sign a reunion contract as a matter of McCarthy insurance.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Huddles are supposed to be the holiest of spaces, the one place where five basketball players can block out five opponents and tens of thousands of fans and regroup, in good times and bad, whether in need of a pump up or a calm down.
“You feel the momentum swing, you feel them start to huddle up a lot more, really just get tight,” Karaban said. “You can just tell. When you’re a player, you can tell when the momentum’s swinging and when the other team is trying to regroup themselves.”
Karaban knows the magic of March well. He has two national titles and is now headed to another Final Four.
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Duke coach Jon Scheyer knows the agony, the brutality, the suddenness of March even better.
Somehow, Duke — for all its talent, all its dominance, all its moments of pure basketball brilliance — has collapsed again. Scheyer bore the brunt of it last year, when the Blue Devils blew a seven-point lead with 1:15 left in the Final Four against Houston. Sunday’s was worse, on the wrong end of a 19-point UConn comeback that tied for sixth largest in NCAA Tournament history, with an all-time dagger to boot.
One collapse can be credited to the madness of March, perhaps. A second? It’s a downright failure from everyone, and a failure from Scheyer. He cannot, in the exact moment, control whether a Cooper Flagg game-winning attempt goes down in 2025 (it did not). He cannot, in the exact moment, pull the plug on whatever idea Cayden Boozer had to even try and pass the baksetball with Huskies swarming and the clock ticking (Boozer of course put the ball in the air). But a coach can keep his players composed, keep them aggressive in the right spots, and keep them playing their game. Scheyer is failing to do that.
“There’s not a person in this room, including me, that doesn’t replay everything that you could do and how you can help,” Scheyer said. “I mean, obviously. That’s part of being in this seat. That’s part of being in this spot. … End of the day, we’ve got to finish it off. We’ll reflect. We’ll learn, do all that. But yeah, of course.”
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It simply isn’t good enough.
Mullins’ 35-foot prayer from the logo broke Duke’s heart.
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The anatomy of a titanic Duke collapse
Incredibly, UConn actually made a mistake on the play that led to Mullins’ three. Down 72-70, the Huskies were supposed to foul Dame Sarr, who received the ball after inbounding to Cameron Boozer. But they couldn’t get there in time — you can even see on replay Jayden Ross desperately reaching for Sarr — and Sarr zipped a pass to Cayden Boozer. With under seven seconds left, all he had to do was hold onto the ball and get fouled.
“I should have been strong with the ball,” Cayden Boozer said, tears in his eyes, emotions at once swelling and muting his voice. “I cost our team our season. We knew that they were gonna trap. [Scheyer said] ‘Be strong with the ball.’”
But one play did not blow a 19-point lead. One play did not blow a 15-point halftime lead; No. 1 seeds had been 134-0 in NCAA Tournament when leading by that margin at the break, by the way.
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“There’s no heat on Cayden at all,” freshman Nik Khamenia said. “This game is not on him at all. He carried us for long, long, long portions of the game, making big play after big play. You can go through every single one of us at different points in the game we messed up. The game of basketball never relies on one possession, so, no, it’s not on him at all.”
This was a collapse from the moment the teams took the floor in the second half.
Duke could have surged. Duke should have surged. The Blue Devils had dominated UConn’s guards, picked apart UConn’s defense and generally gotten whatever it want offensively. Scheyer can’t go out and make the plays for his players, but he can instill them the small advantages to succeed in tough moments — the mental fortitude, the X’s and O’s, the calm nature required of a champion. Either he didn’t instill it Sunday, or his players were unable to instill it in themselves.
“I think as a whole we could have gave a lot more in the second half,” Cameron Boozer said. “We came out a little flat and gave them a little bit of life. When you’re playing a team as good as UConn, that’s all they really need.”
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“We didn’t have our competitive edge,” Cayden Boozer said. “We were guarding them pretty well in the first half. We didn’t do the best job of it, but at the end of the day, I’m sticking with our guys no matter what. We had a chance to win no matter what in the second half.”
“In some moments we kind of let up a little bit, we let them off the hook,” Sarr said. “Just … I don’t know.”
Halftime adjustments are generally overrated as a concept. Every coach makes them — some more successfully than others — but it’s up to the players to fulfill them.
Duke’s didn’t, and the issues became apparent immediately. UConn star big man Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 points at halftime, and UConn, even down big, never stopped feeding him. He drew fouls in bunches and got the Huskies into the bonus before the second half was even six minutes old.
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After four turnovers in the first half, Duke had eight in the second half. The offense got stagnant: Over the final eight minutes, Duke had as many field goals as turnovers (four), and only one of the makes was assisted. Prior to that, 16 of their 21 makes had been assisted.
“It’s easy to look at that play,” Scheyer said. “I look at every play that happened, especially in that second half, this is not about one play. It’s about every play that put us in that position, and that’s what you don’t want to do, where one play something could happen.”
Sophomore big man Patrick Ngongba II after Duke’s season-ending loss to UConn in the Elite Eight.
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Duke’s nightmarish déjà vu
Could Scheyer have saved the offense? It’s impossible to say. Could he have saved the defense, maybe putting Cameron Boozer on Reed, rather than have Boozer guard one of the ball handlers? Again, it’s hard to say. The game plan he had drawn up in the first half had worked, after all. It’s easy to praise players when things go well and fault coaches when things go poorly.
“I don’t have the words,” Scheyer said after the loss. “I don’t have the words.”
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The problem? He needed to have the words during the game. If he had the words, he needed them to resonate more.
“I’m sure there’s a lot more that I could have done to help our guys at the end there,” Scheyer said after last year’s Final Four loss. “That’s the thing that kills me the most. The amount of game situations we’ve watched this year. We haven’t had the real-life experience all the time, but that’s something I really felt we prepared for. So I feel like I let our guys down in that regard.”
And this year?
“I’m incredibly sorry for these guys that they’ve got to go through this,” Scheyer said. “This is on us.”
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Just like Scheyer can’t make the plays or avoid the mistakes on the court, he also can’t control some circumstances. Patrick Ngongba II missed five games — including the first round of the NCAA Tournament — earlier this month. Point guard Caleb Foster broke his foot just over three weeks ago and made a miraculous recovery to not only play but shine in the Sweet 16. However, Foster was ineffective in the Elite Eight. He hadn’t even practiced five-on-five with the team since the injury, and playing a second game in two days was always going to be an uphill battle.
These are not excuses. These are facts. Is a healthy Foster on the floor in Cayden Boozer’s spot in the final seconds? Does he avoid that turnover? In some aspects, Scheyer was correct when he told CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, “All I know is these guys don’t deserve that ending.”
The issue is that implies anyone deserves anything in the NCAA Tournament. No one does. Not Duke, not UConn, not any player or any team. You have to take it. You have to earn it. You have to be the aggressor. You can’t lose your way for a moment. Scheyer’s teams have now done it twice. His teams’ youth has been celebrated for months and then exposed in the crucial moments each of the last two seasons.
“We’re playing this 10-to-12, 10-to-11-point game, and we knew once we got under 10, once we cut it to single digits, it was going to be over,” Reed said. “You can really see it in their faces. The body language is a huge indicator.”
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In an alternate universe, Boozer’s throw-ahead pass connects, and Duke gets an easy dunk and is onto the Final Four. In an alternate universe, Silas Demary Jr.’s high ankle sprain costs him an inch or two more on his jump, and he doesn’t tip the ball away.
“We’ve been telling the guys the whole year, there’s a very famous quote that says, ‘Victory is measured in inches, not miles,’” Dan Hurley explained.
But the inches have gone against Scheyer’s No. 1-seeded teams twice now, showing he has miles to go to get over the hump.
That doesn’t mean he can’t cover those miles. Roy Williams won 40 NCAA Tournament games before winning his first title. He ended up with three championships. Scheyer’s predecessor at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski won 26 NCAA Tournament games before winning his first title. He ended up with five.
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But in order to cover those miles, Scheyer must get his teams to close consistently. He has to find a message that hits home, a strategy that works. He has to find a way to empower his players, and more importantly have players who empower each other in the biggest moments.
Duke’s NCAA Tournament finishes under Scheyer
Year
Round
Opponent (Seed)
Largest Deficit
2026
Elite Eight
UConn (2)
19
2025
Final Four
Houston (1)
14
2024
Elite Eight
NC State (11)
9
2023
Round of 32
Tennessee (4)
6
Scheyer, who is otherwise off to one of the best coaching starts in college basketball history, must eventually get lucky.
The 38-year-old said he had never seen a locker room like Sunday’s before, but that’s not true. There must have been a similar scene after the Houston loss. He was likely caught up in the moment, which is OK in the moment. But in the weeks and months and, yes, maybe even years to come, he’ll have to find away to avoid having more of those mistake-riddled, regret-filled locker rooms.
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The locker room was a mess. Blood, sweat and tears. Lots and lots of tears, some body-shaking, some subdued. Answers barely above whispers. Handshakes and hugs. More tears. Ngongba covered his face with a towel and eventually excused himself. Cameron Boozer, sporting a black eye, and Cayden Boozer took questions with poise beyond their years. The bumps and bruises the team had prided itself on just days earlier after a hard-fought win over St. John’s now represented a team stunningly beaten down.
After the St. John’s win, as media members left the locker room, one Duke player joyously shouted out “No team can f**k with us!”
Nick Suzuki closed the gap on Sebastian Aho, dropped to one knee and put the finishing touches on one of his most desperate performances of the season with his strongest defensive play of the night.
Suzuki’s only block of Sunday’s game came with his Montreal Canadiens barely clinging to a 3-1 lead, with just under three minutes to play against a Carolina Hurricanes team that had put them in a spin cycle all night.
It came with the Hurricanes’ net empty, in a five-on-six situation, with the Canadiens burning every ounce of gas remaining in their reserve tank, and it was no coincidence it came from him. Because no Canadien has come up with bigger plays at either end of the ice this season than their captain, who’s in the process of simultaneously becoming the team’s first Selke Trophy winner since Guy Carbonneau in 1989 and its first 100-point player since Mats Naslund in 1986.
Naslund, who had 110 points for the Canadiens the year they won their second-to-last Stanley Cup, wasn’t exactly a defensive maven nor shot-blocker. He didn’t have to be, though, because Carbonneau left a lot of goals and points on the table on his way to finally being crowned the best defensive forward in the NHL three years later, when the Canadiens returned to the Stanley Cup Final.
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In the decades that have passed since, no player for the Canadiens has blended Naslund and Carbonneau’s skills as well as Suzuki, who registered points 89, 90 and 91 on Sunday before making his 58th block of the season to keep himself at plus-2 on the night and plus-32 through 73 games.
“Those are the little plays you need to win,” assistant captain Mike Matheson told reporters at PNC Arena after the Canadiens closed out their fifth consecutive regulation win. “At this time of the season, going into the playoffs, that’s what you have to do.”
You must make small plays and big plays all the same, and Suzuki does that every single game.
He sets the standard, and the Canadiens follow, even if on this night they blocked 31 shots before Suzuki got his leg on Aho’s last attempt.
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When they needed a rescue breath earlier, down 1-0, Suzuki provided it by skating the length of the ice to score his 25th goal of the season.
Lane Hutson stretched a three-zone pass up to Cole Caufield, and Caufield drew coverage in to lay the puck up for Suzuki to dunk it right as he arrived in front of Frederik Andersen.
Suzuki returned the favour when he set up Caufield’s 46th goal of the season a little over 11 minutes later.
And then, in the dying seconds of that middle frame, Suzuki drew a faceoff back to the point, drove to the net, took a shot, and then buried his own rebound to put the game out of reach.
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They were two of a team-leading five shots on net the 26-year-old registered over his 20:17 spread over 22 shifts of this second game in 22 hours, which was played in a different time zone than the one the Canadiens were in the night prior.
Suzuki was desperate, and so were the tired Canadiens. Especially as the Hurricanes pressed and pulverized them early.
“Not an easy team to play against here on a back-to-back,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “We had a tough time getting going, and not because we weren’t engaged. We just had trouble executing after their forecheck. We weren’t able to get forechecking ourselves. When you don’t have the puck, it’s hard to gain momentum…
“When you play Carolina, you expect a team that’ll surely have more shots than you, and you’re going to have to for sure weather a storm, and then you have to capitalize on chances when they’re over-aggressive.”
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That’s what the Canadiens did.
When they bent, Jakub Dobes kept them from breaking.
The goaltender, who made a career-high 41 saves in a win over the Hurricanes at the Bell Centre to start the week, made another 34 against them Sunday. He stopped 33 consecutive shots after allowing the game’s first two goals Tuesday, and he stopped 26 straight after Andrei Svechnikov ripped one past him on the power play to start the scoring in the final game of the week.
In between, Dobes saved 25 shots in a 2-1 win over the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets.
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“He’s really finding himself as a goalie in this league,” said Suzuki, “and he’s been there for us every single time he’s been in the net.”
In front of Dobes, no player has been more consistent at both ends than Suzuki.
Playing every shift against either the best defensive players in the league or the most offensively potent ones, he’s dominated his matchups, never going more than two consecutive games without a point and rarely allowing anyone to get the over on him.
As a result, Suzuki is already two points up on the 89 he posted in 82 games last season. He ranks seventh in league scoring and is on pace to score 11 more points over the final nine games. And we know that Aho shot won’t be the last one he blocks this season.
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It was Suzuki’s final play in a game that highlighted how he’s become one of the most complete players in the world.
Nov 16, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa (57) warms up prior to the game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
The Cleveland Browns are not signing free agent defensive end A.J. Epenesa after concerns following his physical, ESPN reported on Sunday night.
The Browns were reported on March 18, per ESPN, to have agreed to sign the six-year veteran to a one-year contract worth up to $5 million. Epenesa, 27, who had spent his entire career with the Buffalo Bills, was at the Browns’ facility last Monday, per the NFL transactions wire.
Epenesa played in 16 regular-season games (two starts) for the Bills in 2025 and totaled 32 tackles, 2.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. He added two tackles in two playoff games.
Buffalo selected Epenesa in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Iowa.
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Epenesa played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract, reportedly valued at $5,866,299 with a $1,834,399 signing bonus. He became an unrestricted free agent but returned to Buffalo on a two-year, $12 million contract.
For his career, Epenesa had 135 tackles, 24 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, 53 QB hits, four interceptions, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 21 passes defended in 91 regular-season games (19 starts). He also has 17 tackles in 14 playoff games (three starts).
Cameron Green’s non-availability as a bowler had trigged a sharp response from KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane (IPL/BCCI)
Cricket Australia have been forced to put out a clarification on why Australian allrounder Cameron Green is not allowed to bowl for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2026, after skipper Ajinkya Rahane took a swipe at the Australian board when asked about Green’s abstinence from bowling duties during KKR’s opening fixture against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Sunday.KKR failed to defend a total of 220, with Rahane blaming it on the inexperienced bowling unit and the true nature of the Wankhede track – the same strip which saw nearly 500 runs being scored in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal between India and England earlier this month.KKR have been grappling with injuries, and Rahane conceded that the non-availability of Green as a bowler dented the team’s balance.“I think when hopefully Green starts to bowl soon, the combination will be slightly different,” said Rahane during the post-match interaction. “At the moment, we have to see the balance and who can bowl well for us. Batting-wise, as I said, we batted really well, but finding that balance with the ball is really important. So, hopefully, Green starts to bowl soon, then we can find out whether the combination will be okay.“And when asked why the 26-year-old was not bowling, he shot back, saying, “That question you need to ask Cricket Australia,” leaving the on-air commentators Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen speechless for a bit.However, Cricket Australia responded to Rahane’s remarks, stating that Green is suffering from a lower back injury and KKR were made fully aware of the situation beforehand.“Cameron has a lower back injury which is being managed but requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period,” a CA spokesperson said, as quoted by FOX Sports.“Cameron is currently rebuilding his bowling loads in India with a view to return in around 10–12 days’ time. KKR has been communicated with and is fully aware of this information,” the report further stated, attributing it to the spokesperson.Green, the most expensive buy of the IPL 2026 auction at INR 25.20 Cr, came out to bat at one-down, scoring 18 off 10 balls, but was not pressed into action with the ball as Mumbai Indians batters made merry against an inexperienced KKR bowling unit. Every KKR bowler was taken to the cleaners by Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton of Mumbai Indians, who combined for an opening stand of 148 in just 11.1 overs.Vaibhav Arora was taken for 52 runs in his four overs, while Blessing Muzarabani leaked 34 runs in his three overs. Kartik Tyagi, the impact sub, returned figures of 4-0-43-1. But the biggest letdown for KKR were their spin twins — Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy — who proved ineffective on the Wankhede track, giving away 78 runs between them in seven overs.
Following a major patch release earlier, the developers have added several hotfix updates to Crimson Desert on March 30, 2026. Pearl Abyss has a dedicated space where players can report in-game issues, and it’s commendable that those bugs are being fixed quickly. The latest adjustments fix numerous UI features and in-game interactions.
Here are all of the included hotfixes mentioned in Crimson Desert Patch Notes Version 1.01.01.
All Crimson Desert hotfixes released with patch version 1.01.01
A hotfix with several fixes is going out across all platforms. For the best experience, we recommend receiving this latest patch. Please check the below notice for details and to see if it’s available for download on your platform.
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With Crimson Desert patch 1.01.00 improving plenty of in-game mechanics, and also adding more content to the title, the hotfix patch version 1.01.01 fixes a total of eight bugs. These updates are available for all platforms, including PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox. And as for PC (Steam), the update size is only 208 MB.
With that said, here are the fixes included in patch version 1.01.01:
“Fixed an issue where the “Use” button for the Talisman of the 5 new mounts appeared on Damiane and Oongka.
Fixed an issue where Blackstar remained flying in place after death instead of disappearing.
Fixed an issue where the A.T.A.G was not destroyed even when its Health reached 0.
Fixed an issue where the UI for selecting a tempering target became unavailable in certain conditions.
Fixed an issue where holding down the button to follow NPCs during missions on horseback caused the horse to move abnormally.
Fixed an issue where Sprint could not be used while riding the White Bear.
Fixed an issue where the controls became unavailable while using “Examine” with the Constellation Helm.
Fixed an issue where Refinement of equipment was not possible for Damiane and Oongka.”
The White Bear is one of the legendary mounts that came with patch 1.01.00, and the developers have already included a bug fix around its riding interaction. With all the recent updates, it’s fair to say that if the community raises an issue (that potentially needs fixing), Pearl Abyss might fix it in time.
Consider the Orlando Magic. They have patient, deep-pocketed ownership, smart and experienced management with an eye on the big picture and loads of high-end talent.
They sold off an underwhelming core at the right time and turned the draft capital into one of the best young forwards in the game in Franz Wagner, taken eighth overall in 2021 with one of the picks they got from the Chicago Bulls. They tanked briefly but effectively and ended up with Jalen Suggs, taken No. 5 in 2021, and Paolo Banchero, taken first overall in 2022. Banchero became an all-star in his second season at age 21, and Suggs was all-defence in his third season at 22.
Having made the playoffs two years in a row, the Magic then went for it and cashed in some draft capital (as in four unprotected first-round picks and a pick swap) for Desmond Bane, a tough, two-way wing to bolster their biggest weaknesses: shot creation and three-point shooting.
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He’s played well this season.
There are more good moves — drafting up-and-coming Anthony Black in the lottery in 2023 and Tristan Da Silva in 2024. Both look like long-term rotation players.
But sometimes things just don’t come together. For the Magic, it’s been most of this snake-bitten season, but it may have culminated Sunday evening at Scotiabank Arena.
In a game with significant Eastern Conference playoff implications, the Magic looked like a team fiddling through the pre-season.
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The Raptors’ 139-87 win doesn’t quite capture the Magic’s capitulation. Over a nearly eight-minute stretch in the first half, the Raptors scored 31 unanswered points, an NBA record for the play-by-play era (since the 1996-97 season, roughly 30 years).
“I actually didn’t know that that was even happening,” said Scottie Barnes, who set a new career-high with 15 assists to go along with 23 points and three steals in 28 minutes. His three steals gave him a career-best 102 on the season, and along with his 109 blocks, make him the only player in the NBA to top 100 of each so far this year. “I think we were all super locked in. Just trying to keep causing turnovers and keep trying as hard as we can on defence that it just helped the lead grow for us.”
Orlando gave up 19 turnovers in the first half, which the Raptors turned into 30 points. It was the second-most turnovers in a half for which there are available statistics. Toronto led 70-43 at halftime.
The Raptors were their typically handsy, pesky selves as they made a season-high 18 steals, but on multiple occasions, the Magic simply made careless passes out of bounds or over their teammates’ heads or through a forest of arms and legs.
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The result was ugly. The 52-point winning margin was the second-largest in Raptors history.
The whole thing was a little weird. For the second time in a month Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic credited a higher power, for his team’s performance, which was one way to explain how his team played their most dominant basketball of the season with Brandon Ingram (heel inflammation), Immanuel Quickley (missed his fourth straight game with plantar fasciitis) and Colin Murray-Boyles (back spasms) all out of the lineup. Jamison Battle (illness) was out, too.
But who can the Magic blame? Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley tried to shoulder the blame, but he’s not passing the ball to the other team.
To their credit, against some adversity, the Raptors rallied.
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“Obviously we dealt with several injuries today and I felt in the locker room before the start of the game there was a lot of determination there. The guys really wanted to go out there and compete,” Rajakovic said.
What was the Magic’s excuse? It’s hard to fathom.
The game represented arguably Orlando’s last best chance to pull itself into contention for a top-six finish and a guaranteed playoff spot in the East. It would have given the Magic a 2-1 edge in the season series with the Raptors and pulled them within one game of Toronto.
Now it’s the Raptors that have the tiebreak, and they are three full games ahead of eighth-place Orlando (39-35) with eight to play. Toronto still has a fight on its hands to stay in the top six. They are 42-32 and a half game up on Atlanta in sixth and one game up on Philadelphia in seventh. But if they slip back into the play-in tournament, it likely won’t be due to the Magic.
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The Raptors aren’t a perfectly constructed team. What would Barnes be able to do if he actually could be something close to a full-time point guard, surrounded by shooters who can stretch the floor in every direction? We’ve never been able to see it in Toronto. Even after converting 13-of-29 threes against Orlando, the Raptors are 25th in made threes this season and 23rd in three-point percentage.
But put the ball in his hands and good things happen. Barnes has 49 assists in the last four games, third in the NBA over that span.
The Raptors do have a collective energy that, for the most part this season, has made them better than the sum of their parts.
It’s allowed a previously unproven Sandro Mamukelashvili to take his first shot at regular playing time and thrive as the first big off the bench. He was +47 on Sunday and finished with 19 points on 13 shots.
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It’s there when RJ Barrett battles through a shoulder injury to put up 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting. It’s there when Alijah Martin and A.J. Lawson, the Raptors’ little-used two-way contract players, step into a crucial game and contribute 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting combined.
Injuries are a huge part of the Magic’s story: their core of Wagner, Banchero, Suggs and Bane have played just 130 minutes together this season. They are +10.1 per 100 possessions when they do.
But if the flesh is weak, the spirit doesn’t seem much better.
They were only missing Wagner on Sunday and they completely no-showed. It was their seventh loss in eight games, their only win coming over the lowly Sacramento Kings.
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The Raptors haven’t done everything right over the past three years. A talent sell-off and four years out of the playoffs have hardly yielded a bucket full of top lottery picks. Who the future star is that will ride alongside Barnes is still very much to be determined.
But they have played together and they have committed to playing a high-energy style of defence. They pass the ball.
They have a very good chance at making the playoffs; teams a lot further along the talent acquisition curve — the Magic just being one of them — are in danger of missing them.
Credit where credit is due.
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Georgia on their minds: Mamukelashvili and Orlando Magic centre Goga Bitadze had a lengthy catch-up at centre court before the game started. The two big men are the only Georgian players in the NBA and represented the national team this past summer at EuroBasket. They have known each other forever. “Me and Goga played each other when I was like, six or seven years old, and he was tall and he was the only person able to block my shot and I really hated it. I was thinking, ‘Who is this tall guy?’ I was the tallest and he was the tallest. He was always a physically gifted and strong guy. I feel like he was the first player or second player against who I really had to adjust. [But] I’m so happy for him and hopefully he gets better. But I’m super happy to play him and I think he’s representing the country amazingly.”
To dunk or not do dunk: When you’re six-foot-one, dunking can be stressful. The outcome is not guaranteed. But every once in a while, Jamal Shead (12 points, 10 assists, three steals) will decide it’s time. “Whenever I’m actually open, I’ll try,” said Shead. “I need the time to get my legs under me. I don’t like dunking. It’s scary. It’s a long way for me.” But the stars aligned early in the fourth quarter with the Raptors leading by 51 points. Shead shot the gap, was off on a breakaway and loaded up. It was his third dunk of the season (on three attempts) and the sixth of his career (on nine attempts).
Yes, they follow the standings: “I think everyone goes home and checks it,” said Mamukelashvili. “We’re right there. We fought through the whole year to kind of get ourselves in a good position. We slipped up, we came back. Now we know that everything is so stacked, the margin of error is so small, I feel you got to be aware of it. I watch other games, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta — all the teams that are right there with us, what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and make sure we stay on top.”
Aryna Sabalenka holds the Butch Buchholz championship trophy after defeating Coco Gauff of the United States on Day 12 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on March 28, 2026. (Photo by Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff in three sets to win the Miami Open final, holding her nerve in a match that could have easily slipped either way.
After the win, Sabalenka said:
“I was trying to remind myself I’m strong enough to handle that,” she said, talking about the pressure in the third set.
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She also opened up about the work she’s been doing behind the scenes with her team.
“We were chatting a lot, trying to dig deep and find the reason why I’m letting these finals get too much in my head… mentally we found a way to improve.”
Even after losing chances in the second set, she said her focus was simple: stay positive and reset.
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“I lost a couple of opportunities in that second set, but I was just trying to stay mentally positive.”
In the end, that shift in mindset made the difference, as she stayed composed and closed out the match, something she admitted had been a challenge for her in past finals.
Shaheen Afridi Ball Tampering Controversy: A stalwart of Pakistan cricket and skipper of the PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars, Shaheen Afridi found himself under the spotlight for a major controversy in the final phase of the match against Karachi Kings on Sunday. The incident unfolded just before Lahore pacer Haris Rauf was set to bowl the final over. In a video that surfaced on social media, the trio of Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman appeared to be doing something with the ball while engaged in discussion.
The umpires concluded that the ball had been tampered with and imposed a five-run penalty on the Lahore franchise. Karachi Kings capitalised on the situation and wrapped up the chase within the first three balls of the 20th over.
During the post-match presentation, Pakistan legend Ramiz Raja pressed Shaheen, the Lahore skipper, about what had transpired before the final over. The pacer fumbled multiple times while attempting to answer and claimed he was unaware of what had happened.
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“I don’t know about this, and we’ll see if it’s there in the camera and discuss what it is. Actually, five runs were taken and we can’t do anything,” Shaheen said at the presentation.
Ramiz Raja to Shaheen Afridi:
“The ball was taken from you at the end because of the ball tempering so what are your thoughts on that?”
Shaheen Afridi:
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“I don’t know about this. We will see that in cameras. We will discuss who did that.” pic.twitter.com/j2f8ofri3y
Ramiz, however, refused to let the matter slide and continued to probe Shaheen on the ball-tampering allegations.
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“You have to ask the umpires why they changed the ball. When we asked them why they changed the ball, they told us to go away. When they were making the decision, the umpires requested us, even the captain, to return to our fielding positions,” Ramiz explained.
In a statement after the match, Lahore star Sikandar Raza said: “I can only speak for myself. There was never any attempt on my part to change the condition of the ball, or even to try. All I remember is that when I was trying to dry the ball and make it shine, the umpires asked us not to dry it under the shirt. Who they are accusing, unless we see the proof, I think it’s a big decision. I have not been called for an enquiry.”
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