Huffman Sports Wire — Afternoon Edition

NBA: A familiar face returns in Toronto and the Thunder go hunting for a first win

The headline on a five-game preseason night is north of the border, where a championship-era star is set to wear the home uniform again. Kawhi Leonard is expected to take the floor in a Toronto Raptors uniform for the first time since the 2019 championship run when Toronto hosts the New York Knicks on Tuesday. Leonard missed Toronto’s first two preseason games while working back into game shape after a summer disrupted by the delayed trade from the Los Angeles Clippers. Tip in Toronto is set for 7:30 ET. Toronto enters at 1–1 in the preseason after a 114–106 win over the Clippers, with RJ Barrett scoring 20 points in that win.

New York arrives shorthanded by design, and Oklahoma City arrives rested by design. The Knicks are expected to rest Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart on Tuesday after playing Minnesota at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday at 8 ET in the fourth of five preseason games for Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City is 0–3 in the preseason and rested its returning rotational players during the road loss to Atlanta on Monday with an eye toward having them ready for Indiana. The rest of Tuesday’s slate includes Cleveland at Orlando at 7 ET, Golden State facing the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas at 10 ET, and Portland at Sacramento at 10 ET. Preseason standings will be forgotten by November, and a returning star in Toronto will be remembered all season if the comeback is real.

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MLB: Cleveland goes for the stranglehold and Milwaukee takes its show on the road

The American League takes the stage alone on Tuesday, and Cleveland has a chance to leave Florida in total control. The Cleveland Guardians visit the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday at 8 ET on TBS at Tropicana Field. Cleveland holds a 1–0 lead in the best-of-seven series after a 7–3 win in Game 1, and Cleveland has won four games in a row. Left-hander Parker Messick is scheduled to start for Cleveland in Game 2, while right-hander Freddy Peralta is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. Messick finished the regular season at 12–9 with a 2.56 earned run average, and Peralta finished at 10–11 with a 4.42 earned run average. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at 6 ET in Cleveland.

The National League gets a travel day before its series flips to California with the favorites on the ropes. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Los Angeles Dodgers 2–0 in the National League Championship Series after a 7–4 win in Game 2 on Monday. Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 14 at 8 ET at Dodger Stadium. This is the first time Milwaukee has ever held a 2–0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff series. Tampa Bay needs a win to avoid the same hole Los Angeles is already staring at, which makes Tuesday night feel a lot bigger than a Game 2 has any right to feel.

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NFL: Surgery news in Jacksonville, a delayed reunion in Green Bay, and a season ends in Detroit

Tuesday brought the kind of injury news that reshapes a month, starting with the blindside in Jacksonville. Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Anton Harrison is expected to undergo knee surgery when the team returns from a two-week stint in London. Harrison was injured on Sunday in Jacksonville’s comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Depending on the damage found during the procedure, Harrison could miss four to six weeks or the remainder of the 2026 season. Walker Little replaced Harrison against Philadelphia and is slated to start in Week 6 when Jacksonville plays the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium in London.

The most anticipated reunion of Week 6 is trending toward a postponement, and a return job in Detroit is now open for the rest of the year. The Green Bay Packers are not anticipating that Micah Parsons will be able to play on Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys visit Lambeau Field for the Week 6 matchup. Parsons is still recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered late last year and is not yet ready to fully practice with Green Bay. Green Bay enters the game at 3–2 and has already lost linebacker Edgerrin Cooper for the season to a torn Achilles tendon in Week 4. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is also out for the remainder of 2026 after suffering the same injury last Sunday. Detroit Lions returner Tom Kennedy will miss the rest of the season after suffering a significant knee injury that requires surgery to repair damage to his right knee. Kennedy was injured during Sunday’s game in Arizona, and Detroit enters its Week 6 bye at 3–2. Week 6 has not kicked off yet, and the injury report is already winning the week in the worst possible way.

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NCAAF: Tuesday night lights open Week 7 before a monster Saturday

Week 7 starts the way modern college football loves to start, on a Tuesday night in Conference USA. Delaware visits Middle Tennessee on Tuesday at 7 ET on CBS Sports Network. FIU visits Jacksonville State on Tuesday at 8 ET on ESPNU. Jacksonville State enters at 4–2 overall and 2–0 in Conference USA after winning its last three games. FIU enters at 3–2 overall and 1–0 in Conference USA after a 22–3 win over New Mexico State in its conference opener.

Saturday is the main course, with three showcase games stacked across the day on one network family. Second-ranked Notre Dame visits eighth-ranked BYU on Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 ET on ABC in the headliner of Week 7. Sixth-ranked Alabama visits fourteenth-ranked Tennessee on Saturday at 3:30 ET on ABC in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. Seventh-ranked Texas hosts Florida on Saturday at 12 ET on ABC to open the tripleheader. Fourth-ranked Ohio State visits fifth-ranked Indiana on Saturday at 12 ET on FOX. Tuesday night decides the Conference USA race in small print, and Saturday decides the national race in headlines nobody will miss.

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CBB: Florida tops the SEC vote and the Ivy and American races take shape

Poll season kept rolling on Tuesday with the deepest league in the country naming its favorite. Florida was picked to win the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship in the conference preseason media poll. Texas was predicted second, Arkansas third, and Tennessee fourth in that poll. Tennessee junior guard Juke Harris was named preseason first-team All-SEC by the panel after transferring from Wake Forest. Harris averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Most Improved Player.

Two more leagues have clear early favorites, and both races look tighter than the top line suggests. Penn led the Ivy League preseason media poll with 157 points and 11 first-place votes. Harvard was second with 146 points and seven first-place votes, followed by Yale with 133 points and two first-place votes. Yale opens the season at home on Monday, November 2 against Howard. Wichita State is the favorite in the American Conference preseason coaches’ poll with 140 points. Memphis is second with 131 points. North Texas guard JeShawn Stevenson is the preseason American Conference Player of the Year pick. Every coach in America is undefeated in October, and the polls are just the first argument of the season.

That is the Afternoon Edition for Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Five sports, zero filler. See you tonight.

SOURCES

1. Raptors Republic — NBA https://raptorsrepublic.com/2026/10/13/gameday-knicks-raptors-october-13th/

2. The Oklahoman — NBA https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/nba/thunder/2026/10/13/thunder-vs-pacers-channel-tonight-time-tv-streaming-nba-preseason-schedule/92228335007/

3. NBA Updates 4 All on Facebook — NBA https://www.facebook.com/NBA.updates4all/posts/tuesday-october-13-schedule-5-preseason-gamescleveland-at-orlando-7-pm-et-on-pea/1589662016524688/

4. USA Today — MLB https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/playoffs/2026/10/13/guardians-rays-watch-score-highlights-channel-alcs-mlb-playoffs--live/92228005007/

5. USA Today — MLB https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/playoffs/2026/10/12/dodgers-brewers-watch-score-time-nlcs-channel-highlights--live/92212868007/

6. Reuters — NFL https://www.reuters.com/sports/reports-jaguars-lt-anton-harrison-knee-undergo-surgery--flm-2026-10-13/

7. Cowboys Wire — NFL https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2026/10/13/cowboys-report-micah-parsons-week-6-not-practicing-packers-defense-injuries/92230233007/

8. Athlon Sports — NFL https://athlonsports.com/nfl/trending/lions-tom-kennedy-season-ending-knee-injury

9. NCAA — NCAAF https://WWW.NCAA.COM/news/football/article/college-football-tv-schedule-game-times-preview

10. College Sports Wire — NCAAF https://collegesportswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/college-football/2026/10/13/jax-state-fiu-week-7-betting-odds-prediction/92223128007/

11. ESPN Press Room — NCAAF https://espnpressroom.com/press-release/seven-top-10-teams-set-for-espn-networks-in-week-7-led-by-no-2-notre-dame-at-no-8-byu-on-abc-saturday-night-football/

12. College Football News — NCAAF https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/college-football-week-7-schedule-predictions-scoreboard-2026

13. Vols Wire — CBB https://volswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/volunteers/mens-basketball/2026/10/13/tennessee-vols-basketball-selected-fourth-sec-preseason-media-poll/92224343007/

14. Yale Athletics — CBB https://yalebulldogs.com/news/2026/10/12/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-picked-third-in-ivy-league-preseason-poll.aspx

15. The Commercial Appeal — CBB https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/college/memphis-tigers/2026/10/09/memphis-basketball-penny-hardaway-american-conference-preseason-poll/92098503007/

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