The second day of the Play-In Tournament is over. The big winners are the Golden State Warriors, who avoided elimination (but still need to beat the Phoenix Suns on Friday to make the playoffs), and the Philadelphia 76ers, who get to play a seven-game series against the Boston Celtics.

Wait, actually, that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun for the Sixers. But hey, they did what they were supposed to do against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, and they earned themselves the No. 7 seed in the East. Given that Joel Embiid appeared in only 38 regular-season games and Paul George appeared in only 37, that is an accomplishment.

The Warriors, though. My goodness. They trailed by 13 points with less than 10 minutes remaining, then went on a 39-19 run and escaped Intuit Dome with a 126-121 win against the Los Angeles Clippers. This was absolutely vintage stuff. 

2026 NBA playoff bracket: Matchups, schedule as Warriors stay alive, 76ers advance to face Celtics

Brad Botkin

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To recap: The winners were Golden State and Philadelphia. The losers were the Clippers and Magic. But let’s get a little more specific than that, shall we? Here are the Wednesday’s winners and losers:

Winners: Age, guile, the heart of a champion, etc. 

Had the Warriors merely given the Clippers a competitive game and lost by 5-15 points, no one in their right mind would have crushed them for it. Stephen Curry hasn’t reached the 30-minute mark in an NBA game since January, and he’s barely played with Kristaps Porziņģis. There is no shame in losing to a well-balanced team led by Kawhi Leonard — a top-five player in the regular season! — and Darius Garland.

Before the game, though, Golden State coach Steve Kerr described the play-in as “an opportunity we might not ever get again.” And boy, did the old dudes play like it.

Al Horford, who turns 40 in June, made all four 3s that he attempted during the Warriors’ furious fourth-quarter comeback. Curry, 38, scored 11 of his 35 points in the fourth, too, including a classic stepback 3 over Brook Lopez to give Golden State the lead with less than a minute left.

And then there was Draymond Green, 36, who hobbled to the bench after appearing to hurt his leg with less than two minutes left, then immediately got back on the floor and made two massive defensive plays. First, he denied Leonard on a sideline out-of-bounds play and deflected Bennedict Mathurin‘s pass directly to Brandin Podziemski, leading to an easy two points on the break. Then he straight-up picked Leonard’s pocket at the 3-point line.

Green was the biggest reason that Leonard didn’t score in the fourth until a meaningless dunk with 17 seconds left. He is one of the best defenders who has ever lived, and this was a masterclass.

Unless you’re a Clippers fan, this comeback was real why-you-watch-sports stuff. It’s also exactly why Curry worked so hard to come back late in the season, even with Jimmy Butler out, even with Golden State stuck in the 10th spot. What a magical performance by the “We Still Believe” Warriors. As heartbroken as Clippers coach Tyronn Lue must have been, he couldn’t help but crack a smile when he congratulated Kerr.

Loser: Kawhi Leonard’s magnificent season

There was the Aspiration scandal, and then there was the Clippers’ 6-21 start. Despite all of that, Leonard managed to put together one of the best seasons of his entire career, averaging a career-high (!) 27.9 points on a career-high 62.9% true shooting and appearing in 65 regular-season games. He was a terror on defense, too.

It is unfortunate, then, that it’s suddenly over. And it’s possible that his Clippers tenure could be over, too. For most of Wednesday’s game, the Clippers won Leonard’s minutes handily. (Even after Golden State’s run, Leonard finished plus-six!) The Warriors threw junk defenses at him and tried to get the ball out of his hands, and both Leonard and Los Angeles collectively handled it pretty well. Down the stretch, though, when Leonard usually gets wherever he wants, he was effectively taken out of the game.

Stephen Curry goes into superhero mode, and the Warriors are still alive after Play-In Tournament thriller

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Brad Botkin

Giving the Thunder a scare in the first round would have been a nice way to cap off Leonard’s season. I guess this is why you don’t want to start 6-21.

Winner: Kristaps Porziņģis’ hops

I recently wrote a story about Porziņģis that highlights his propensity for putback dunks.

By recently, I mean MORE THAN A DECADE AGO. He was a rookie. I quoted Kyle O’Quinn, Cleanthony Early and Jose Calderon. Generally speaking, Porziņģis isn’t much of a high-flier anymore. On Wednesday, though, something got into him.

Here is putback dunk No. 1:

And here is putback dunk No. 2:

Porziņģis did other good stuff against the Clippers — he made three 3s, blocked two shots and served as an offensive hub — but the putbacks are what Warriors fans are going to remember. Wild.

Winners: Tyrese Maxey and Paul George

The Sixers two stars left standing were not the only authors of their 109-97 victory, but they’re the ones who did the heavy lifting offensively. Tyrese Maxey scored a team-high 31 points (on 11-for-25 shooting), and I wouldn’t say he made it look easy. The man who led the league in regular-season minutes logged 42:24. After a Desmond Bane 3 cut Philly’s lead to just two points early in the fourth quarter, Maxey responded with a reverse layup, a stepback 3 and a pair of floaters in a less-than-three-minute stretch. 

Paul George’s numbers — 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, two steals — do not capture how important he was for the Sixers. He kept them steady when Maxey (briefly) sat, he repeatedly took advantage of Orlando’s willingness to switch Bane onto him and he generally made good decisions against a Magic team that was as physical as you’d expect this time of year.

Maxey and George were winners on defense, too. Maxey blocked Jalen Suggs in transition in crunch time, and George was all over the place (in a good way). It is remarkable how little George has dropped off on that end at 35, and he had a lot to do with Paolo Banchero‘s rough night. 

Speaking of Banchero…

Loser: Paolo Banchero

Look, I’m not trying to pile on. We’ve seen Banchero have excellent postseason performances before. This, however, was definitely not one of them.

In 36 minutes, Banchero shot 7 for 22 and scored 18 points. He missed all five of the 3s he attempted and all but one of the far too many 2-point jumpers that he attempted. He had four assists and six turnovers. He was a team-worst minus-17, and it felt like it. The decision-making is a problem, the inefficiency is a problem and the two are very much connected.

Here he is passing up a clean catch-and-shoot 3 and airballing a desperation shot over George late in the shot clock:

Here is, uh, one of his turnovers:

Let’s move on.

Winner: Andre Drummond, corner 3 specialist

Guess who made the dagger 3 with less than a minute left!

That was his second corner 3 of the game, and, at this point, you really can’t be surprised. Drummond made 37% of his corner 3s this season (30 for 82), per Cleaning The Glass. Given that he was totally paint-bound until Year 14, though, this really is a crazy development.

Winner?: Desmond Bane

I think I have to call Bane a winner because he was the best player on the floor in Philly. He scored a game-high 34 points (on 10-for-16 shooting!) in 40 minutes. Bane is by far Orlando’s biggest threat from the outside, but he did most of his damage inside the arc. VJ Edgecombe has a long list of positive defensive attributes, but Bane’s strength gave the rookie a ton of trouble. 

As a team, the Sixers couldn’t do much with Bane all night, and they really couldn’t keep him off the line.

In that Bane did everything he could and it wasn’t enough, this was a microcosm of his 2025-26 season. It is disappointing that the Magic have not turned out to be the elite team that many of us thought they’d be after acquiring him, but it is not his fault whatsoever. Bane didn’t have a fast start individually, but he didn’t miss a single game and, after the first 10 or so, was by far the most consistently productive player on the roster. If he’s a “winner,” why do I feel so bad for him?

Winner: Sam Presti

The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t even have to play tonight to pick up a W. By failing to make the playoffs, the Clippers just gave the Thunder a lottery pick.

This is the result of the 2019 trade that sent George from OKC to Los Angeles. A 2026 pick swap is one of many, many assets that the Thunder picked up in that deal.

OKC will have either a 2% chance (if the Warriors advance to the playoffs) or a 1.5% chance (if Phoenix advances) to win the lottery. I’m sure it’ll happen.

Chennai Super Kings pacer Khaleel Ahmed has been ruled out of the IPL due to a quadriceps injury. Ahmed, who was part of all the five games CSK have played thus far, reported pain in his right hip during the previous game against KKR on April 14. He was one of the consistent performers for CSK in the initial stage of the tournament. “It is a grade 2 tear and the rehab will take at least 10-12 weeks,” said an IPL source. The left arm pacer has played 11 ODIs and 18 T20s for India with the last appearance coming in July 2024.

Earlier, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad on Tuesday said it is “coming together slowly” for Chennai Super Kings after the five-time IPL winners recorded a second consecutive win, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs here.

Undergoing a transition, CSK came into this contest after a comprehensive 23-run win over Delhi Capitals and produced another convincing show to beat KKR and move one spot up to eighth in the points table.

“Slowly, slowly, it is starting to come together, I feel,” Gaikwad told broadcaster after the match.

“Everyone kind of knows what their role is, which overs and what lengths to bowl at. I think they are adjusting and adapting really well according to what (the) team needs.

“As I said, slowly, slowly, we are getting better and better and that is a good sign for us,” he said.

Gaikwad said CSK were aiming for a total in range of 220 but what they eventually put on the board — 192/5 — was also good enough.

“We defended a good score. I felt it was a par score, given that the wicket drastically changed after the first seven or eight overs,” he said.

“It started spinning a bit, it started stopping a bit. We were first looking at 220, 210, but then, we thought anything around 190, 180 would be a good score and after that, we just had to get a good power play in bowling,” Gaikwad added.

CSK’s win was set up by Noor Ahmad (4-0-21-3), who broke the back of KKR’s chase with a flurry of wickets. The Afghan spinner said it was important to keep his fingers dry in the hot and humid conditions.

“The dew was there, and it was humid, so (I was trying to) keep my fingers dry and that helped me a lot to hit the right areas,” he said.

“I think the ball was not coming really well to the bat and to get advantage of that, it was good. I will keep putting effort to contribute for my team in the coming matches,” he said.

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An unfavourable gate draw risks deferring Desert Lightning’s campaign opener at Mornington.

Desert Lightning pulled the widest post position in the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) featuring 17 entries for Saturday, with 60kg and Luke Nolen riding.

The race accepts up to 15 plus two emergencies on Saturday.

Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman’s charge is back first-up Saturday, idle since the Crystal Mile (1600m) during spring at Moonee Valley last October.

Coleman mentioned they’ll assess running wide on Saturday versus scratching for later.

“He’s really just there first-up for a fitness run, so we’ll have a good look at the race and see whether we save him for another day,” Coleman said.

“It’s not the end of the world.”

Coleman suggested Desert Lightning’s prep trajectory points toward Queensland’s Winter Carnival.

He ran fourth in Eagle Farm’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) last June, remaining a key aim for his team this year.

Coleman noted the veteran Desert Lightning is tuning up effectively for winter.

“He’s trialled really nicely this time,” Coleman said.

“He’s nice and fresh, he seems in a good headspace for an older horse. He’s really enjoying his work.

“Whether he runs first-up on Saturday, or whether we wait another day, we’ll make that decision, but I think he can run well if we decide to go there.”

She’s Got Pizzazz from the same barn squeezed into the field at barrier 8, ridden by Linda Meech.

Any easing of the Mornington going would help She’s Got Pizzazz, who resumes with two 1100m runs after rest.

Wednesday’s rating had Mornington at Soft 5 upon acceptances.

“She’s ideally looking for 1400 metres now, but she needs another one at the 1200 (metres) to bring her on fitness wise,” Coleman said.

“She needs soft ground as well to see her at her best, so we’ll be on weather watch a little bit there as well.”

Find competitive racing betting markets for the Hareeba Stakes at leading sites.

An under pressure Kolkata Knight Riders would be hoping to arrest their steep slide against a resurgent Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League on Friday. Under captain Ajinkya Rahane and coach Abhishek Nayar, KKR have struggled for clarity, slumping to four defeats in five matches and still searching for their first win of the season. It’s their misfortune that their bowling had weakened significantly before the tournament following the injury setbacks to Harshit Rana and Akash Deep and the release of Mustafizur Rahman on BCCI instructions.

But the bigger concern was the dip in form of their spin mainstays Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. The Indian spinner is still in the struggle phase and is yet to take a wicket this season.

KKR’s problems have also been compounded by questionable decisions on and off the field decisions.

Leaving out players like Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra have raised eyebrows, while their choices after winning the toss have been baffling.

In the rain-hit washout against Punjab Kings, Rahane surprised everyone by choosing to bat, while against Chennai Super Kings he opted to bowl first on a surface that clearly favoured the bowlers.

Their first match defeat to Mumbai Indians after failing to defend 220 set the tone, and the heavy 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad at home only deepened the slide.

Since then, KKR have looked a side short on direction.

Much of the spotlight was on Cameron Green, bought for a record Rs 25.20 crore to fill the void left by Andre Russell.

The Australian all-rounder has struggled to justify that price tag, managing just 56 runs in five innings and making limited impact with the ball after being cleared to bowl.

The batting order, too, has looked confusing.

Sunil Narine was pushed up to open in their chase of 193, while Rahane, who has his best strike-rate in the power play, dropped to No 3, and neither move worked as KKR managed only 160/7 against CSK.

And then there is the unused domestic firepower of Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi and Sarthak Ranjan, who all are still warming the bench.

KKR now need something magical to turn it around and they must first address their tactical lapses.

They may also turn to the 2015 comeback story of Mumbai Indians who won the title after they losing five of their first six matches.

Gujarat Titans too are yet to win at home, having lost their only game here to Rajasthan Royals but since then they have bounced back with two morale-boosing away wins.

Their bowling has looked settled, with Prasidh Krishna delivering in the middle and death overs, and Rashid Khan rediscovering rhythm.

With Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler finding form, Gujarat Titans head into the contest with far greater balance and confidence.

Squads: Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Gurnoor Brar, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Luke Wood, Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Tejasvi Dahiya, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep, Blessing Muzarabani, Navdeep Saini, Prashant Solanki, Finn Allen, Daksh Kamra, Kartik Tyagi, Sarthak Ranjan, Saurabh Dubey Match starts: 7.30pm.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai has struggled to adjust in the Major League Baseball following a three-year, $54 million deal in the offseason. The 27-year-old Japanese right-hander was placed on IL after just three starts with right arm fatigue.

While the imaging results turned out positive, Imai is yet to adjust to the new schedule both on and off the field. The club is now focusing on building his arm strength and adjusting to a larger MLB ball.

“He’s not able to adjust to the American lifestyle,” Tatsuya Imai’s interpreter, Shio Enomoto, said. “Baseball and outside of baseball. That’s probably the reason (for his arm fatigue).”

While there’s no timeline for Imai’s return, Astros manager Joe Espada is remaining “pretty positive” on his comeback. In his first 8 ⅔ innings, Imai has a 7.27 ERA.

“I think the strength of the arm is still not quite there yet, but it’s coming around. All the tests have come back (with) no issues. Just trying to get that strength back,” manager Joe Espada said. “Once the arm strength starts coming back, then we can start talking about him playing catch.”

Following Friday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, Tatsuya Imai addressed the mound at T-Mobile Park as “really hard” to pitch. He’s also troubled with the 64-degree weather, which is “not usual in Japan.”

Astros general manager discusses Tatsuya Imai’s adjustment to MLB

Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown talked about Tatsuya Imai’s adjustment issue in MLB on Astros radio 790 AM. He said the team is helping the player fit in and adjust to a new environment.

“You have to remember the human element as well,” Dana Brown said. “There’s an adjustment period. He’s used to eating at certain times … if he feels like there’s a mound difference, there’s a difference to the baseball, these are all growing pains where guys learn to make adjustments.”

Apart from the weather, MLB ball, and the mound issues, Imai also brought up the meal timings as an ongoing adjustment process. The Houston Astros recently completed their 10-game road trip, and the Japanese pitcher found it hard to cope with.

Imai said that he usually has meals in a hotel after a game, but here the players have their dinner at the stadium. The timing for it is also something the Japanese pitcher is not used to. However, he’s open to adjustment and believes it’ll all be fine once he tries to make some changes.