WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Isaiah Evans gets it going, you hear it. His mouth starts running as his point total starts rising, and they can both get going in a hurry. So when Evans made a tough shot through contact and flashed the “too small” sign to his defender, Oziyah Sellers, and then followed it up shortly thereafter with a vicious dunk and some trash talk to the camera on the baseline, it was a good sign for Duke.

But it was the three points — and three words — that he unfurled late that proved his mettle, and that of his Duke teammates. Down 69-67 with under four minutes to go, Evans sidestepped to his left and nailed a fadeaway 3-pointer, an audacious shot — and an even more audacious make. On his way back down the floor, he turned to Grant Hill, the former Blue Devils star on the call for CBS — and let loose a shout:

“I’m so cold!”

Cold-blooded, that is, even when the heat of the game was at its peak. Or maybe, it wasn’t all that hot for Evans.

“I mean, I seen the play before it happened,” Evans said postgame. “He was trying to cheat the screen, and I rejected it, and he tried to cut off. I stepped back, and everything was just in the flow.”

Duke would never trail again en route to a hard-fought — scratch that, ferociously fought — 80-75 win over St. John’s that sends the Blue Devils to the Elite 8. Evans finished with 25 points on an efficient 10 for 15 shooting, and he made four of Duke’s five 3-pointers. And while Evans played it cool postgame, his teammates had bigger reactions.

“That, to me, sounds like ‘Showtime,’ man,” said Cameron Boozer, the freshman National Player of the Year frontrunner. His brother wasn’t all that surprised either

“He said that?!” Cayden Boozer replied before collecting himself. “I mean, that doesn’t surprise me, but that’s ballsy.”

The numbers do Evans all the justice. He’s the first Duke player to score 25 or more on 15 or fewer shots in the Sweet 16 or later since Kyrie Irving in 2011. But the box score doesn’t tell half the story of Duke’s triumph. This one required a ripped jersey, a miraculously healing foot and, for lack of a better word, ballsy-ness.

‘He had no business playing’

The doctors said one thing. Caleb Foster heard another. His hearing, of course, is just fine. It’s his mind that told him otherwise.

The junior point guard fractured his foot March 7 against North Carolina, and three days later, Jon Scheyer told reporters Foster would be out for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery.

“He said two weeks,” Foster started.

“Nobody said ‘two weeks,’” Scheyer interjected with a chuckle. “You heard two weeks.”

Foster arrived at the arena and headed to the locker room on a scooter. He used the scooter to get to the post-game press conference. He kept up with his teammates, too. He’s gotten pretty good at whizzing around on the device, hoping to speed up his recovery.

“Still a little stunned with what happened, to be honest with you guys, because what this guy did, to be honest, he had no business playing tonight,” Scheyer said. “Ninety-nine percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what’s happened to him. It was incredible the way he willed us. There’s no analytics. There’s no stats that can measure how big this dude’s heart is for what he did.”

Foster received a standing ovation when he entered early in the first half and an even bigger one for a perfect alley-oop to Patrick Ngongba on his first possession. Still, he missed his only shot in the first half, and St. John’s outscored Duke by six in Foster’s seven first-half minutes.

If that had been it, it still would have been a miraculous return and a valiant attempt to help his team. Scheyer envisioned eight to 10 minutes for Foster, who hadn’t even practiced 5-on-5 since the injury.

But then Duke went down 10 early in the second half, throwing the ball all over the place. Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor tossed down consecutive dunks off consecutive Duke turnovers. The Red Storm’s full-court press had finally become an all-enveloping storm, and the Blue Devils were desperate for an escape.

So, Foster returned. His first basket in nearly three weeks was an open layup off an offensvie rebound. He drove past Ruben Prey for another layup. Then he got into the paint again and made a short jumper over Dylan Darling. Foster said he didn’t feel a certain “I’m back” moment during the game, but his teammates could tell.

“When he scored four times in a row, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Yes, sir,’” Cameron Boozer said. “That was definitely the moment.”

Foster even had an open 3 to tie the game moments later. He airballed it. This is not a movie.

Yet with the season on the brink, Foster rescued it. Duke had three turnovers in the first 3:03 of the second half. Foster checked in 15 seconds later, and the Blue Devils had just one turnover the rest of the way. 

“He’s our most experienced guy in these moments,” Scheyer said of the junior. “So I thought his voice in the huddle, the look he had was completely determined to win, and I thought that really helped us, especially when we got down in the second half.”

‘The green light … to be him’

And veteran-laden St. John’s wouldn’t go away easily. Duke was down two with under nine minutes left when Evans hit a pull-up jumper and turned to hype up the Duke contingent. Scheyer had to remind him he had defense to play, too.

But the offense just kept coming. Evans set a pick, popped out and nailed a 3. On the next possession, he ran the same action but instead pump-faked, drove and somehow got a layup to go while falling down. It’s a sequence that shows his oozing talent. It’s also a sequence he wasn’t previously capable of.

“He’s one of a kind, man,” Scheyer said. “I think one of the things he’s done is used the weapon of the shooting, and that’s opened up his ability to drive and ability to play-make at times.

“He’s got a weapon. For other guys, those may not be good shots. For him, he’s been doing it all year. You give him the green light to shoot those shots and to be him.”

Evans was Him, and Cameron Boozer was Cameron Boozer, bumping and bruising his way to 22 points and 10 rebounds, right in line with his season averages, despite facing a tremendous St. John’s frontcourt. He even turned into a key part of the press break at times and took advantage, getting to the rim time and time again.

“Yessir, downhill on these boys,” Boozer said. “If they wanna press us full court, we gotta punish them every now and then. You gotta pick your moments, but you can’t let them pressure you the whole game. You gotta be aggressive, make them take the pressure off a little bit.”

There have been more exciting one-and-dones at Duke than Boozer, ones who flew higher, dunked harder or had better handles or shooting. Shoo-in No. 1 picks.

There hasn’t been a tougher one. And there hasn’t been a team as tough as this Duke team in a long time.

Boozer looks like he emerged from a fight. He still has two large scars on his right arm from when he got clawed against NC State this season. On the final inbounds play — with Foster finding Boozer to seal the win — a pair of Johnnies ripped his jersey.

“When we first got here in the summer, we weren’t a physical team at all,” Boozer said. “But you learn to find that dog in you, that grit, body ups, chesting people, collisions on the glass. … We got some dogs out here that aren’t backing down from any fight.”

Nothing came easy for Duke. Prey hit four 3-pointers; he had hit three in his previous 21 games combined. Dillon Mitchell, who was 0-for-14 from deep on the season, made one as well. St. John’s made 13 3-pointers; they had been 13-0 this season when making at least eight.

But every time, there was an answer, whether reliable (Boozer), explosive (Evans) or heroic (Foster).

This wasn’t the first time Foster has saved Duke’s season, though. On Thursday, Scheyer revealed Foster came to him in mid-February and, even with a 22-2 record and coming off a 16-point win over Pitt, didn’t like the “mojo” of the group. So he called a team meeting. The Blue Devils haven’t lost since.

“It didn’t feel right,” Cayden Boozer said. “We were sloppy. He was just telling us he’s been here for three years, he understands how delicate the season is. He was just telling us we only have two or three more months together, and if we don’t fix this right now, we’re gonna lose our season.”

It felt that way again Friday night. But then Boozer was there. Evans was there. Foster was there. They had 38 of Duke’s 41 points in the second half. When they could have easily crumbled — and some of Scheyer’s previous teams have crumbled — the Blue Devils surged. They’re now 6-0 in games they trail by 10 at any point.

That’s toughness built on trying times, physical, mental and emotional. They have the X-rays, scooters, ripped jerseys and scars to prove it. Soon enough, if they can keep it up, they might just have the trophies and net clippings to match.

There’s an exciting centre-back who is ready to join Liverpool.

When Richard Hughes failed to secure Marc Guehi during the summer transfer window, there was an uneasy sense that the decision might come back to haunt the club.

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That concern has now become reality.

The serious injury to Giovanni Leoni has left Liverpool’s defensive depth in a fragile state. Passing up another opportunity to sign Guehi in January – only to see him join Manchester City – has made the earlier failure feel even more costly.

There has been some forward planning, with the arrival of Jeremy Jacquet, but he and Leoni cannot be the only ‘new’ centre-bacjs at Anfield next season.

The truth is, relying on Jacquet and the injured Leoni is simply not enough. With Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate both struggling with fitness concerns and facing uncertain futures, reinforcements are essential.

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Liverpool also cannot afford to depend too heavily on inexperienced options like Mor Talla Ndiaye or Ifeanyi Ndukwe. If they are to restore stability at the back, further additions are not just necessary – they are urgent.

Let us introduce you to Liverpool’s perfect solution to this problem – Dylan Lawlor.

He’s kind of a cross over between Joel Matip and Adam Wharton but in centre-back form. Liverpool’s scouts have been credited with interest in the young Cardiff City centre-back, and he could be the perfect extra depth the Reds need – especially considering he likely won’t cost too much money.

Lawlor caught the eye for Cardiff against Doncaster last month with a brilliant solo-goal that made him look like he was prime Matip on turbo power.

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The 20-year-old Welsh centre-back started just outside his own penalty area when he received the ball and decided to go on a rampage.

Lawlor turned into prime Diego Maradona as he waltzed through the League One side’s defence and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.

It was yet another sensational moment in Lawlor’s rapidly ascending career. He’s established himself as one of the best young centre-backs in the EFL and has also become a regular at international level for Wales.

Now he confirmed he was ready to join a club like Liverpool in his most recent outing for Wales. In just his fourth international cap, Lawlor came into the Wales team against Bosnia in a crucial World Cup qualifier and he absolutely shone.

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Lawlor won six out of his nine duels, including three out of four ground duels and three out of five aerial duels. He also made four clearances and four recoveries and really stood up to the physical test that Bosnia’s strong and experienced forwards imposed on him.

That was a sign of Lawlor being ready to step into a more physical environment like the Premier League.

On top of all of this, he also completed 96 passes and made 10 passes into the final third.

Lawlor’s ability on the ball is what makes him stand-out. He is a very technical and forward thinking player who loves to break lines and also carry the ball – similarly to Wharton.

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He is incredible comfortable under pressure and while he doesn’t have the long gait that Matip had, he has the same ability as the Cameroonian to waltz through opposition lines.

Defenders often fall into one category. On the ball they are either carriers or passers. Matip was both and so is Lawlor.

That ability to break lines through carrying, rather than just passing alone, makes Lawlor’s style feel very reminiscent of Matip at his best.

Now he’s producing top defensive performances against strong and top class attackers like Edin Dzeko. With his performance on Thursday, Lawlor confirmed he is ready to join a club like Liverpool.

Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson says he has “big respect” for how veteran defender Seamus Coleman has “given everything” to his country’s cause.

Coleman, 37, played 96 minutes of Thursday’s heartbreaking World Cup play-off semi-final shootout loss to the Czech Republic in Prague.

While the Everton stalwart would not be drawn on his international future in the immediate aftermath, his career is almost certain to end without having represented the Republic of Ireland at a World Cup.

“I’m especially sad for him, but just for everyone because it was so close,” said Hallgrimsson.

“To play in the World Cup and to have this game [play-off final] at the Aviva [Stadium] would have been special.

“Obviously he has given everything to this team in his life, so big respect to him like all the others.”

Hallgrimsson left Coleman out of his squad for the first two World Cup qualifiers, but last week admitted the defender “proved me wrong” after he defied a lack of club action to play a big part in the remaining four fixtures, including November’s wins over Portugal and Hungary.

When quizzed on his future, Coleman said: “I’ll be honest, it’s not something I’m thinking about, talking about myself after the nation, the supporters, the players went out in the manner that we went out.

“It would be selfish and it’s not something that I’ve really dissected myself at the minute.”

Philadelphia Flyers (35-24-12, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Detroit Red Wings (39-25-8, in the Atlantic Division)

Detroit; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Wings -140, Flyers +117; over/under is 6

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BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Flyers will try to keep a seven-game road win streak going when they play the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit has a 20-13-3 record at home and a 39-25-8 record overall. The Red Wings have gone 19-10-2 when scoring a power-play goal.

Philadelphia has gone 19-12-4 on the road and 35-24-12 overall. The Flyers have allowed 211 goals while scoring 200 for a -11 scoring differential.

The teams meet Saturday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lucas Raymond has scored 23 goals with 47 assists for the Red Wings. Alex DeBrincat has four goals and 11 assists over the last 10 games.

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Travis Konecny has 25 goals and 35 assists for the Flyers. Owen Tippett has scored five goals with three assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 4-5-1, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.4 assists, 3.6 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game.

Flyers: 7-2-1, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.9 assists, 4.7 penalties and 11.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game.

INJURIES: Red Wings: Michael Rasmussen: out (undisclosed), Cam Talbot: day to day (undisclosed).

Flyers: Rodrigo Abols: out (ankle), Nikita Grebenkin: out (upper body), Tyson Foerster: out (arm).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Stephen Curry missed the Golden State Warriors‘ win over the tanking Washington Wizards on Friday night, and, according to ESPN, he will miss at least one more game against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. At the very least, that will extend his absence to 25 games since being diagnosed with “runner’s knee” after leaving the Warriors’ game vs. Detroit on Jan. 30. 

Curry has reportedly “graduated to more intensified court work” of late but has yet to get clearance for a five-on-five scrimmage. 

Clearance. That’s an important word here. Indeed, all the Warriors have to do to allow this life-support season to pass in peace officially is not clear Curry to return. That may just be what they’re doing with these updates coming every so often, pushing the rock down the road until there isn’t enough season left for it to be feasible to bring Curry back. Steve Kerr has already laid the groundwork for this increasingly likely scenario.

“We’re not bringing him back [only] for the play-in game,” Kerr said, via ESPN. “He’d need to play some games. We need to give him a runway if this is going to work. And we are running out of games. That’s fair to say.”

This is actually perfect for the Warriors, whose entire focus at this point should be on not making the playoffs. The season is already lost. To lose out on a lottery pick (potentially a high one with the flattened odds making anything possible) on top of it would be nothing short of foolish. 

Why the Warriors need to keep Stephen Curry on the shelf and officially embrace the tank

Brad Botkin

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This isn’t a case where the Warriors will be fined for tanking. This is a legitimate injury. Nobody can question the severity of the “pain and swelling” that has persisted. ESPN’s Anthony Slater already reported that the Warriors are fearful of risking long-term damage to an already “unpredictable” knee. That’s open to interpretation. At this point, the Warriors could say the 38-year-old Curry caught the flu and get through the next few weeks. There are only eight games left for crying out loud. 

Honestly, what’s the upside of bringing him back at this point? Curry gets hot and somehow carries an utterly hopeless Warriors team through the Play-In Tournament and into the first round of the playoffs, where they will promptly be whacked? That’s worth the forfeiture of a lottery pick? No chance. The Warriors would be out of their organizational mind to even consider allowing that to happen. 

Without Curry, they’re not going to jump the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 seed. So they’re going to have to win two Play-In games, which, without Curry, is not likely. If you have to, you tank a Play-In game. Whatever it takes. With commissioner Adam Silver set to crack down on tanking next year, and probably in a pretty aggressive way, the Warriors might not have another chance to do this for a while outside of being honestly bad — which they are at this present moment. Trying to get good again with two weeks left in the season can only screw this up. 

Again, it’s likely the Warriors are aware of this and are milking Curry’s injury accordingly. That’s not to say he isn’t hurt or that these “setbacks” aren’t real. But if the Warriors were a good team and fighting for one of the top six playoff seeds, would he still be out? The Warriors have erred on the side of caution all this time because Curry’s health is not to be trifled with in any capacity whatsoever, but also because they know if there was a time to rush him back, this isn’t it. 

If the Warriors are serious about taking one more run at contention with Curry, which they should be, then that lottery pick this summer is a big deal. They can trade up to five first-round picks this summer, and the higher their 2026 pick lands, the more its market value increases accordingly. 

For clarification, to comply with the Stepien rule (which says you can’t go two straight years without making a first-round pick), the Warriors would have to make their 2026 pick first, with the understanding that they are doing so for the drafted player to be traded. From there, they could send their 2027, 2029, 3031 and 2033 picks, along with whatever young player(s) that a trade partner might desire. That’s a lot of ammo. 

So yes, the Warriors can still put a contender around Curry one last time. Next season was always tabbed as the end of this thing. That’s why the contracts of Curry, Kerr, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler all conclude in 2027. It’s lined up that way. It’s all about next season, which effectively starts with the way they choose to end this season.

CHICAGO — Alabama‘s season is over in large part because it wasn’t big enough. Simple as that. No. 1 seed Michigan knocked off the Crimson Tide 90-77 using a typical dominant second-half flurry to deliver the knockout blow. Michigan bested the Tide with brawn, and the numbers back it up.

Michigan outrebounded Alabama 25-12 and had a 20-10 advantage in points in the paint in the final 20 minutes. Alabama’s four-man platoon of London Jemison and Taylor Bol Bowen did not notch a single board in the second half.

Making the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year is an unquestionable success story for Nate Oats and this Alabama program, but Friday’s second-half whimper illustrates the gap between the elites, like Michigan, and that second tier, where Alabama resided this season.

“We know we got to change a little bit,” Oats said. “We knew we were undersized. We were a little light in some of the spots, particularly our four spot.”

The muscle in Michigan’s huddle was far easier to spot than Alabama’s. Michigan had bricks in its britches; Alabama did not. Oats had to ask Bol Bowen (a stretch 4 who weighs 202 pounds) or London Jemison (an ever-improving freshman who weighs 205 pounds) to try and keep Morez Johnson, Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg off the glass.

Oats pointed to injuries to freshman big man Collins Onyejiaka and sophomore Tarleton State transfer Keitenn Bristow as part of the calculus. He honed in on being forced to play freshman wing Amari Allen at the 4, when “he’s really a point guard.”

That’s fair.

But that’s not the entire story, and Oats chose to veer down a different path and re-open an old can of worms, featuring Baylor‘s James Nnaji, Charles Bediako and a whole lot of lawyers.

“When we saw the opportunity to bring some size on after all the adversity we went through after Nnaji was declared eligible and most people, including ourselves, thought, you know, if they’re going to declare Nnaji eligible, Bediako would be eligible, and had one judge thought so, too,” Oats said. “He definitely would have helped the situation with the rebounding.”

While Oats is right, the justification rings a bit hollow. The fact that Bediako was able to return from the G-League and even play five games was a borderline miracle to some and an inside job to others for getting the right Alabama judge to grant a temporary restraining order. Bediako served as a “get out of jail free card” for Alabama to atone for some miscalculations in the transfer portal, and when he was ruled ineligible in early February, the flaws on this roster were as obvious as they were in non-conference play when gargantuan clubs like Arizona and Purdue battered Alabama on the boards.

With Bediako, Friday is a different ballgame, but the always-honest Oats may have been better served keeping this one in the chambers as he stewed over the end.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Oats said. “We had something else in store for us.”

Former ONE featherweight kickboxing world title challenger Marat Grigorian of Armenia was shocked to see a familiar face walk into his gym in Thailand.

ONE Championship bantamweight kickboxing contender Yuki Yoza visited the iconic Armenian for a sparring session, and Grigorian was left impressed.

He said in a recent clip on ONE Championship’s official Instagram:

“He never wraps his hands. I’m just surprised. How come he didn’t break his hands? Last week, Yuki Yoza came to spar in our gym. I was here in Thailand, in Phuket. And my coach called me. ‘You have some fan, he wants to spar with you.’ He showed it to me, it was Yuki Yoza.”

Grigorian added:

“If he comes [again], of course, we will spar together. He’s doing really good. He’s a very clever fighter. A very strong-minded fighter. He’s a dangerous fighter. For his division, I think he will make it really difficult for Nabil and Haggerty.”

Grigorian will face Japanese star Kaito Ono in a three-round featherweight kickboxing match at ONE SAMURAI 1, which will take place live on Wednesday, April 29 at the Ariake Arena. That same card, Yoza will challenge ‘The General’ Jonathan Haggerty for bantamweight kickboxing gold.

Fans in the United States and Canada can visit ONE Championship’s official website for more information on how to watch ONE SAMURAI 1 from their location.

Marat Grigorian says after Kaito Ono, Superbon has nowhere else to hide: “It’s already time for a title shot again”

Marat Grigorian is expecting to book another crack at ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon after he gets through with business against Kaito Ono at ONE SAMURAI 1 on April 29.

He said:

“Yes, it’s already time for a title shot again, I think. I always beat the top guys. After Superbon, there’s no one left. It’s more interesting if I’m going to beat Superbon, and after that, I can fight all the other guys.”

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Marat Grigorian’s next fight.