Huffman Sports Wire News Break · ALL · Reporting · Published · Huffman Sports Wire News Desk
NBA: Eleven games, two debuts and one long-awaited return
The first full slate of the 2026-27 season arrives tonight with 11 games scheduled between 7 ET and 10:30 ET. The national doubleheader on ESPN opens with Minnesota at Miami at 7:30 ET and closes with Golden State at the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 ET. Each home team on the slate is playing its home opener, and the league is about to learn which summer rebuilds were real and which ones were just expensive press conferences.
Miami gets the first look at Giannis Antetokounmpo in a Heat uniform against a Minnesota team giving LaMelo Ball his first game with the Timberwolves alongside Anthony Edwards. Indiana has its own headline at New Orleans at 8 ET, where Tyrese Haliburton is set for his first regular season game since tearing his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Haliburton missed the entire 2025-26 season, and Indiana went 19-63 without him while finishing 14th in the Eastern Conference.
The injury report is already shaping the night. Washington ruled out first overall pick AJ Dybantsa for its home opener against Milwaukee at 7 ET after he sprained an ankle in the final preseason game, and Wizards coach Brian Keefe said on Tuesday that Dybantsa is day to day with the next chance to debut coming Friday against Toronto. Golden State travels to Los Angeles without Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Kristaps Porzingis and Brandin Podziemski, while Stephen Curry is probable with right ankle soreness and Lakers center Walker Kessler is available after a finger injury. Charlotte also visits Brooklyn at 7:30 ET without Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams, and Portland hosts Phoenix at 10 ET with Deni Avdija questionable with ankle soreness and Shaedon Sharpe out. Opening week is supposed to be about hope, and half the league is already reading an injury report like a weather warning.
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MLB: The Miz gets Game 1, and the other ace used to call Milwaukee home
The World Series opens Friday, October 23 at 8 ET in Milwaukee, and the Brewers have settled their first decision. Jacob Misiorowski will start Game 1 for Milwaukee, a choice first reported on Tuesday and lined up with the way manager Pat Murphy has used him all October after Misiorowski also started Game 1 of the National League Division Series and Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Misiorowski has a 3.24 earned run average in 2 postseason starts this fall, with 11 strikeouts and 4 walks.
Tampa Bay had not announced a Game 1 starter as of Wednesday afternoon, and the expected choice carries the best storyline in the series. Drew Rasmussen started Game 1 of the American League Division Series and Game 1 of the American League Championship Series for the Rays, and he has a 1.29 earned run average with a 23-3 strikeout to walk ratio in 21 postseason innings. Rasmussen was drafted by Milwaukee and traded to Tampa Bay five years ago, so a Game 1 assignment would put the former Brewer on the mound in the ballpark where his career started. Freddy Peralta adds another layer for Tampa Bay after Milwaukee traded him to the New York Mets in the offseason and the Mets sent him to the Rays at the trade deadline, and Peralta faced his old team in July while still with New York and allowed 7 earned runs in that start.
The last big roster call in Milwaukee is still open. Brandon Woodruff threw 23 pitches in live batting practice on Tuesday and his fastball sat at 90-92 miles per hour in his first session against hitters since a right shoulder injury, with his last game appearance on July 4. Milwaukee had made no roster decision as of late Tuesday, the club has asked Major League Baseball for clarification on whether Woodruff could be replaced if his shoulder flared up during the series, and any role for him would be in relief rather than the rotation. Two days out from a first-time champion series, Milwaukee has its Game 1 ace set and one very famous maybe still sitting in the bullpen conversation.
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NFL: Los Angeles goes shopping with an almost empty wallet
Los Angeles is back in the trade conversation one day after placing Davante Adams on injured reserve. Reports on Wednesday said the Rams will at least explore the possibility of trading for a wide receiver after Adams ruptured a hamstring, an injury expected to sideline him for 6-10 weeks. The hard part is the price, because Los Angeles is without its first-round pick in the 2027 draft from the Myles Garrett trade, without its third-round pick in that same draft from the Trent McDuffie trade, and without its second-round pick in 2028 and its third-round pick in 2029 from the Garrett deal as well. A player for player swap was floated in the same reporting as one possible route, and the Rams sit at 2-4 with very little margin left for a slow fix.
Buffalo picked up a second spitting suspension from the same game on Wednesday. The league suspended defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. for 1 game without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct, saying the incident came with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter after a Las Vegas extra point in the Bills win over the Raiders by a 33-30 score on Sunday. Franklin is the second Buffalo defensive back banned for 1 game from that game after C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Reports on Wednesday said Franklin denies the allegation and plans to appeal. Buffalo is on a bye this week, so an upheld suspension would cost him the November 1 game against Baltimore. New Orleans also got a timeline on Wednesday for first-round wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who will not practice this week ahead of the Sunday game against Pittsburgh in Paris and has been out since a hamstring injury in mid-August. The Saints have a bye in Week 8, and their Week 9 home game against Cleveland is the earliest possible date for Tyson to join the lineup.
Thursday night is close enough to feel the short week. Chicago hosts New England on Thursday at 8:15 ET to open Week 7, and the Tuesday reports for both teams were estimated from walkthroughs. Chicago linebackers T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn and running back Kyle Monangai did not participate for a second straight day, while right guard Jonah Jackson was limited with hip and quad injuries after missing Monday. New England cornerback Carlton Davis III returned as a limited participant with a neck injury after missing six practices and 2 games, while wide receiver A.J. Brown was limited with an ankle injury and guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and Ben Brown again did not participate. Short weeks turn depth charts into math problems, and both sidelines are doing arithmetic in public.
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NCAAF: A Tuesday sweep, a surgery at UCLA and a bye week with real stakes
Week 8 opened with three finals on Tuesday night. Marshall beat South Alabama 20-13 in Huntington on a go-ahead touchdown run by Judah Price with 1:49 left in the game, lifting Marshall to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play and dropping South Alabama to 4-3. Delaware beat Missouri State 61-38, and Middle Tennessee edged Florida International 26-23 to complete the Tuesday slate.
The midweek run continues tonight with New Mexico State at Sam Houston at 8 ET on ESPN2. New Mexico State is 2-4 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA after a 22-3 loss at Florida International on October 7, and Sam Houston is 1-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Aggies bring a pass rush that has produced 15 sacks through 6 games, second among Conference USA defenses, against a Sam Houston team that has allowed 17 sacks this season.
Two ranked programs spent the week rebuilding around backup quarterbacks. Ninth-ranked UCLA will move forward without Nico Iamaleava after head coach Bob Chesney announced on Monday that the quarterback needs surgery for a severe knee injury suffered on October 10 against Oregon. Reporting this week said Iamaleava will miss the rest of the season. UCLA is 6-0 overall and 4-0 in Big Ten play. Backup Ty Dieffenbach completed 22 of 33 passes for 264 yards in his first career FBS start in a 17-7 win over Wisconsin, and the Bruins host Michigan State on Saturday at 3:30 ET. Ohio State is using its bye week the same way. Ryan Day said on Tuesday that the Buckeyes are building a plan that does not include Julian Sayin for the regular season or the postseason. Sayin threw for 2,007 yards with 19 touchdowns and 4 interceptions this season while completing 68.2 percent of his passes before the injury against Indiana. Georgia is also on a bye at 6-1 overall and 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Kirby Smart said this week that All-American defensive back KJ Bolden is hopeful to return for the October 31 game against Florida after missing the loss to Auburn. Bolden has 22 tackles, 1 interception and 3 pass deflections this season. Bye weeks are supposed to be quiet, and three playoff races just got louder on one.
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CBB: Exhibitions stopped pretending to be gentle
Second-ranked Duke turned a ranked exhibition into a rout on Tuesday, beating Tennessee 103-64 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Freshman Deron Rippey Jr. led Duke with 21 points off the bench on 9-for-12 shooting with 3 assists and 3 steals, and transfer John Blackwell added 18 points while shooting 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Dai Dai Ames led Tennessee with 19 points, and Duke closes its exhibition schedule at Kansas on Sunday, October 25. Duke coach Jon Scheyer said on Tuesday that senior guard Caleb Foster has a chance to play on Sunday after a small ankle injury kept Foster out of both exhibitions so far.
Connecticut went on the road and won the other heavyweight exhibition on Tuesday, beating Michigan State 78-70 at the Breslin Center. Nik Khamenia led Connecticut with 19 points and 6 rebounds, Silas Demary Jr. added 16 points, and freshman Colben Landrew scored 13 points with 5 rebounds for a Connecticut team that made 10 of its 25 shots from beyond the arc. Jeremy Fears Jr. led Michigan State with 23 points and 8 assists while playing through an ankle injury suffered early in the second half, Jasiah Jervis added 11 points off the bench, and Connecticut won without sophomore Braylon Mullins, who went through warmups and did not play for the second straight exhibition. Tennessee opens its regular season on November 3 against Wofford at 6 ET, and the rest of the country opens across the first week of November. These games do not count in the standings, and nobody in Durham or East Lansing played like that mattered.
That is the Afternoon Edition. Five sports, zero filler. See you tonight.
Sources: - [WhyNBA](https://whynba.com/nba-wednesday-october-21-2026-preview-injuries-tip-times-cairo/) - [Sports Illustrated](https://www.si.com/betting/timberwolves-vs-heat-prediction-odds-and-best-prop-bets-for-nba-season-opener-2026) - [IndyStar](https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2026/10/20/indiana-pacers-start-2026-27-nba-power-rankings-all-over-the-place/92327443007/) - [TSN](https://www.tsn.ca/nba/article/top-draft-pick-dybantsa-to-miss-season-opener-for-wizards-with-sprained-ankle/) - [Warriors Wire](https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/warriors/2026/10/21/warriors-at-lakers-how-to-watch-stream-lineups-injury-report/92359280007/) - [Nets Wire](https://netswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/nets/2026/10/21/nets-vs-hornets-game-preview-how-to-watch-injuries-lineups/92356473007/) - [ClutchPoints](https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/is-deni-avdija-playing-tonight-blazers-vs-suns-injury-report-to-open-season) - [MLB Trade Rumors](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/10/the-opener-peralta-brewers-bauers-rays-g1-starter.html) - [Sports Illustrated](https://www.si.com/mlb/brewers/onsi/brewers-name-game-1-starter-for-1st-world-series-game-since-1982-pat3) - [MLB Trade Rumors](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/10/latest-on-brandon-woodruff-2.html) - [Rams Wire](https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/10/21/rams-trade-wide-receiver-davante-adams-injury/92360637007/) - [Pro Football Rumors](https://www.profootballrumors.com/2026/10/bills-sam-franklin-to-appeal-one-game-suspension-for-unsportsmanlike-conduct) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/saints-wr-jordyn-tyson-will-not-practice-this-week) - [Bears Wire](https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2026/10/20/bears-patriots-injury-report-tuesday-jonah-jackson/92342909007/) - [Decider](https://decider.com/2026/10/20/thursday-night-football-whos-playing-tnf-this-week-tnf-schedule-watch-free/) - [Marshall University Athletics](http://herdzone.com/news/2026/10/21/marshall-football-grinds-past-south-alabama-20-13) - [College Football News](https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/college-football-week-8-schedule-predictions-scoreboard) - [NCAA](https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-football-tv-schedule-game-times-preview) - [Las Cruces Sun News](https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/sports/college/2026/10/20/nm-state-football-visits-sam-houston-in-nationally-televised-game/92327622007/) - [UCLA Wire](https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/football/2026/10/20/bob-chesney-announces-that-qb-nico-iamaleava-is-undergoing-surgery-ucla-bruins-football/92355769007/) - [New York Post](https://nypost.com/2026/10/21/sports/julian-sayin-injury-update-is-brutal-news-for-ohio-state/) - [UGA Wire](https://ugawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs/football/2026/10/21/georgia-all-sec-kj-bolden-injury-update/92361187007/) - [Duke Wire](https://dukewire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/duke/mens-basketball/2026/10/21/duke-basketball-cruises-to-39-point-victory-over-tennessee/92355722007/) - [Duke Wire](https://dukewire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/duke/mens-basketball/2026/10/21/caleb-foster-duke-basketball-injury-status/92362733007/) - [Detroit Free Press](https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2026/10/20/michigan-state-basketball-score-uconn-game/92352801007/) - [Vols Wire](https://volswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/volunteers/mens-basketball/2026/10/21/tennessee-vols-basketball-at-duke-stat-leaders/92359283007/)
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