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Rockets want walk to match the talk against Wizards

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NBA: Houston Rockets at Miami HeatFeb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) reacts against the Miami Heat during the fourth quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Feisty Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets are in Washington on Monday night to take on the sagging Wizards.

Houston, third in the Western Conference, is coming off a 115-105 loss at Miami Saturday. In that contest, Durant and Heat star Tyler Herro had a heated conversation in the first quarter near the Heat bench resulting in both players getting technical fouls.

Durant, in his 18th season, remains one of the best talkers — and scorers — in the NBA. He leads the Rockets with 26.2 points a game and is shooting 39.9 percent from three-point range.

“I think we both needed a jolt of energy to start the game. I got respect for Tyler. He has respect for me. I appreciate his competitiveness and vice versa. I am mad we got techs though,” Durant said, smiling. “It was just talk. I just think it’s a natural part of the game.”

Houston will likely be without Jabari Smith Jr. against Washington with an ankle injury. Smith Jr. missed the loss to Miami, leaving a big hole in the middle of the Rockets defense that Miami exploited.

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“They were the tougher team,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “They put their heads down, shoulders in our chests, and got to the basket way too easy. “(They had) 66 points in the paint, and with individual defense, we didn’t stand up tough enough.”

Washington has lost seven of its last nine games and is deep in the Eastern Conference standings. Washington brought in Trae Young and Anthony Davis at the trade deadline, but Davis will definitely not play this season while Young has yet to play due to dealing with a knee injury.

The Wizards have also been without No. 2 overall 2024 pick Alex Sarr for the last two weeks with a hamstring injury. Sarr has averaged 17.2 points for Washington this season, showing noticeable improvement in his second season.

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Rookie guard Jamir Watkins has been eating up minutes for Washington and has scored in double figures in his last seven games, including 10 on 4-of-5 shooting in Saturday’s loss to Toronto.

“This is what this is all about, learning about these guys,” said Wizards coach Brian Keefe when asked about Watkins. “We’re seeing what he can do under pressure. I was really impressed with what he did tonight.”

Keefe also praised the recent performance by second-year big man Tristan Vukcevic, who has started five of the last six games.

“I think he’s made a big jump this year,” Keefe said. “He’s in the top percentile in terms of disrupting the game with steals and blocks. He gets his hand on a lot of balls. When you’re a big man, you are doing so much helping (on defense) then coming back to rebound. That shows part of his growth.”

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Washington’s main issue has been on the defensive side of the ball where they are allowing 123 points a game, second most in the NBA. Houston is at the opposite end, ranking second in the NBA giving up just 109 points.

Houston has won six games in a row in the series, including a 135-112 win on Nov. 12. A win by Houston Monday would tie the all-time series at 82 wins apiece.

–Field Level Media

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What Michael Carrick said to Manchester United players at half-time vs Crystal Palace

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Man Utd came from behind to beat Crystal Palace at Old Trafford and Michael Carrick jogged down the touchline at half-time to get his message across.

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Michael Carrick told the Manchester United players he had been waiting to see them facing some adversity after they launched a stirring comeback to beat Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. The United head coach ran down the touchline at half-time, with Palace winning 1-0 thanks to Maxence Lacroix’s early goal, to deliver a few tactical adjustments to his players at the break.

But he also challenged them to show what they were made of. It was the first time United had been behind at half-time under Carrick and he admitted he had been waiting to see how his players would respond.

He was delighted with what he saw, with Bruno Fernandes at the heart of a comeback which saw the captain score from the spot and then set up the in-form Benjamin Sesko for the winner.

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Asked if there was a particular change he wanted to make that saw him run for the dressing room at half-time, Carrick said: “There’s always something. It was just a couple of little tweaks in shape, maybe a couple of ideas, some things we tried from the start that we wanted to kind of tweak a little bit, but honestly, it wasn’t major really and I’m not taking much credit for that.

“It was more that you’ve got to find a way in games sometimes and there’s a few ideas that we wanted to make more runs, we wanted it to be a little bit more aggressive in attacking their back line to a point, which is something you always try to do, but I thought we did it in the second half and ended up getting the penalty from that.

“So it was more how do we react. It’s been going in our favour. I said to them, here’s something I’ve been waiting for, this moment, to see, go on then, what we’re going to do about it and be positive. And the boys responded ever so well, so it was a big thing for us.”

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The spirit in the squad was clear with their second-half display, which was aided by Lacroix’s red card for bringing down Matheus Cunha inside the penalty area.

Carrick felt that was the most pleasing aspect of what was a sixth win in seven games in charge for him, with United now recovering seven points from losing positions under the 44-year-old.

“It’s the biggest thing for us to take from the game, really,” he said. “It’s the first time that we’ve been in that situation, going in at half-time. I thought we were a little bit off to start with. I think they started particularly well, so credit to them. Probably after 20 minutes or so, I thought the game started turning in our favour and we finished the half stronger and it looked a little like what we were trying to do.

“At half-time, it was about being in that position and how we react and showing that personality and the belief. Football is tough at times and this league is tough, so you’re never always going to have it your own way, but to then come back like we did second half and turn the game in our favour is the biggest thing for me to take from today for sure.”

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That is a match-winning over

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Former South African captain Faf du Plessis opined that Arshdeep Singh’s six-run over in the T20 World Cup 2026 match against the West Indies had a huge impact on the end result. Describing it as a match-winning over, Du Plessis added that small contributions like that often make a huge impact in the overall picture.

India beat the West Indies by five wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, March 1 in a must-win clash of the T20 World Cup 2026. Bowling first, India held the Windies to 195-4 and then chased down the target in 19.2 overs. With the win, the Men in Blue also qualified for the semifinals.

While Sanju Samson (97* off 50) was the star of the show for India, Du Plessis picked the 19th over bowled by Arshdeep as the game-changing moment. Having gone for 24 runs in his previous over, the left-handed pacer made a brilliant comeback and conceded only six runs in the penultimate over, which went a long way in ensuring that the West Indies did not cross the 200-run mark.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Du Plessis made a special mention of Arshdeep’s effort under pressure and commented:

“That one over in the context of the game is credit to him. The way that he executed – to go for six on a small ground, that is a match-winning over. If you are sitting in the dressing room and do the accolades, the coach or captain goes – our player of the day is you because of that over. People don’t realize how important a small contribution is in the big picture.”

Former India captain Anil Kumble also agreed that the Arshdeep’s six-run over was extremely crucial in the context of the match. He commented:

“Having gone for 24 runs, and then sticking to his plan of wide yorkers… Maybe West Indies could have been smarter. Instead of looking to pump him down the ground for a six., they could have used the pace and the ground as well, which they didn’t. So, it worked in his favor.”

Arshdeep ended the T20 World Cup clash with figures of 0-43 from four overs. Jasprit Bumrah stood out with 2-36, while Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakaravarthy registered identical figures of 1-40 from four overs.

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“You cannot afford that against England” – Anil Kumble on India’s worry ahead of T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal

While India progressed to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026 with a win against the Windies, their fielding was poor once again. The Men in Blue dropped three catches on Sunday. Kumble opined that India cannot afford another bad day in the field against England in the knockout clash. He stated:

“The fielding, we saw the nerves were there. Dropped catches, misfields – you don’t expect that. Come semifinal, you cannot afford that against England. India would be happy, but there were nerves certainly because this was a must-win game.”

Team India will face England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 5.