Huffman Sports Wire News Break · ALL · Reporting · Published · Huffman Sports Wire News Desk
NBA: Curry clears his scare, Simmons loses his comeback, and opening night arrives on Tuesday
Golden State got the update it needed on Monday morning, as Stephen Curry was a full participant in practice and the Warriors expect him to play in the season opener at the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Curry injured his right ankle during a scrimmage on Sunday and left the floor after a misstep, and head coach Steve Kerr said after the Monday practice that Curry practiced fully and is fine. Golden State still opens short-handed, as forward Jimmy Butler III and guard Moses Moody remain out with knee injuries, center Kristaps Porzingis remains out with a health issue, and guard Brandin Podziemski missed the Monday practice with a back issue and is considered questionable for the opener. Curry is 38 years old, and he averaged 26.6 points per game last season while he was limited to 43 games.
Sacramento received the opposite kind of news, as guard Ben Simmons tore his right Achilles during practice on Sunday and the injury ends his comeback before the regular season starts. An MRI confirmed the torn tendon, Simmons will undergo surgery, and he is expected to miss the entire 2026-27 season even though the Kings gave no official timetable. Simmons had been out of the league for a year, he was expected to start on opening night, and he averaged 10.5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 17.4 minutes per game during the preseason. Oklahoma City also lost a young guard for the season, as Thunder rookie Otega Oweh suffered a torn Achilles and is out for the year.
The season opens on Tuesday with a tripleheader on NBC and Peacock, and the injury reports set the stage for all three games. Boston visits Detroit at 3 ET in the first game, and the Celtics listed only guard Devin Carter on their injury report as Carter deals with mononucleosis and faces at least a few weeks away with no official timetable. Philadelphia visits New York at 7 ET for ring night at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks raise a championship banner for the first time since 1973 and Philadelphia gives LeBron James and Jaylen Brown their regular season debuts with the 76ers. Philadelphia listed forward Dean Wade as questionable with a left ankle sprain, guard Anfernee Simons as questionable with left hamstring tightness and center Adem Bona as questionable with a left foot sprain, while forward Dominick Barlow, center Ariel Hukporti and center Tacko Fall are all out. Oklahoma City closes the night at San Antonio at 9:30 ET in a rematch of the Western Conference finals from last season, and a summer of moves, extensions and injury scares finally gives way to games that count in the standings.
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MLB: Tampa Bay gets its pennant chance tonight, and Cleveland tries to survive a bullpen game
The American League Championship Series returns to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Monday night, and Tampa Bay leads Cleveland 3-2 with a trip to the World Series on the line in Game 6. First pitch is scheduled for 8:08 ET on TBS and truTV with streaming on HBO Max, and a Tampa Bay win sends the Rays to the World Series for the first time since 2020 and the third time in franchise history. A Cleveland win forces a deciding Game 7 on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, and the winner of the series faces Milwaukee in a World Series that opens on Friday, October 23 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Tampa Bay earned this chance on Sunday in Cleveland, as the Rays won Game 5 by a 3-1 score behind starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen. Rasmussen worked 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts, and Cleveland starter Parker Messick finished 5 innings with 2 earned runs allowed and 3 strikeouts. First baseman Jonathan Aranda has also turned his series around at the plate, as Aranda snapped an 0-for-11 start and has collected 5 hits in 8 at-bats since Game 4.
Game 6 gives Tampa Bay the starting pitcher edge on paper, as right-hander Freddy Peralta starts for the Rays after he threw 6 scoreless innings in a Game 2 win and added a scoreless relief outing in Game 4. Cleveland counters with a bullpen game and reliever Shawn Armstrong as the opener, and Armstrong also opened Game 4 and has not allowed a run this postseason. Cleveland ruled out ace Gavin Williams on short rest for Game 6, and Williams would be in play for a potential Game 7 if the Guardians survive. Tampa Bay has the lead, the starter and the home crowd, and Cleveland has a full bullpen and one very clear assignment, which is to win tonight or watch the pennant get raised in somebody else's park.
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NFL: Washington and San Francisco reshuffle their rosters hours before Monday night closes Week 6
Week 6 closes on Monday night in Santa Clara, as Washington visits San Francisco at 8:15 ET on ESPN and ABC from Levi's Stadium. San Francisco enters at 5-0, and Washington enters at 1-3-1 with a chance to move to 2-3-1 and into second place in the NFC East after losses on Sunday by Philadelphia and Dallas. Both teams spent Monday moving players on and off the roster before kickoff, and the final lineups look different from the injury reports that closed the practice week.
Washington activated cornerback Trey Amos, running back Jeremy McNichols and linebacker Jordan Magee from injured reserve on Monday and removed all three players from the injury report, and all three players are eligible to play against San Francisco. Washington placed running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt and outside linebacker Javontae Jean-Baptiste on injured reserve to open the roster spots, and Croskey-Merritt had reaggravated a groin injury in the loss to the New York Giants. Washington also released linebacker Austin Keys and elevated outside linebacker T.J. Maguranyanga from the practice squad. Receiver Stefon Diggs is trending toward playing after he missed the Giants game with a hamstring injury, according to reporting on Monday, and Diggs totaled 102 yards and 3 touchdowns across his first 2 games with Washington.
San Francisco made its own receiver decision on Monday, as the 49ers ruled out receiver Christian Kirk for the game and kept Kirk on injured reserve as he works back from a calf strain. San Francisco elevated receiver Malik Turner and linebacker Jalen Graham from the practice squad for the game. The official San Francisco injury report already listed defensive end Nick Bosa, receiver Deebo Samuel, safety Marques Sigle and linebacker Garret Wallow as out, and receiver Mike Evans was listed as questionable with rib and Achilles injuries after he missed practice during the week. Reporting on Monday indicated San Francisco is optimistic that Evans will play after a pregame check. Indianapolis also added a follow-up to the biggest front office move of the day, as assistant general manager Ed Dodds takes over as interim general manager after the Colts fired general manager Chris Ballard on Monday. Dodds has worked for Indianapolis since 2017 after a run with Seattle from 2007 through 2016, and head coach Shane Steichen will report directly to ownership while Dodds handles the personnel department.
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NCAAF: College football mourns Chuck Amato, and Texas settles its quarterback question for Ole Miss
Former NC State head coach Chuck Amato died on Monday morning at the age of 80, and Amato had battled throat cancer in recent years. Amato led his alma mater from 2000 through 2006 and finished with a 49-37 record and 5 bowl appearances in Raleigh, and his best season arrived in 2002 with an 11-3 finish that set the school record for wins and ended with a Gator Bowl victory over Notre Dame. Quarterback Philip Rivers played all 4 of his college seasons under Amato, and defensive end Mario Williams developed under Amato before Williams became the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Amato played linebacker at NC State from 1965 through 1967, he spent his longest assistant run at Florida State from 1982 through 1999 and again from 2007 through 2009, and he finished his coaching career at Akron from 2012 through 2017.
Texas used Monday to end the speculation around its offense, as head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed that Arch Manning remains the starting quarterback for the Saturday home game against seventh-ranked Ole Miss. Manning has thrown for 1,295 yards with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions across 6 games this season, and Texas has fallen to 4-2 after 2 straight losses. Manning had 3 combined turnovers in the fourth quarter of the losses to Oklahoma and Florida, and backup quarterback KJ Lacey Jr. will take some first-team repetitions in practice this week as part of the normal routine. The Ole Miss game kicks off on Saturday at 7:30 ET on ABC in Austin, and the other ranked matchup on Saturday sends fourteenth-ranked Houston to tenth-ranked Utah at 9:15 ET on ESPN in Salt Lake City. Texas gets its starter, its home crowd and one ranked opponent with no room left for another stumble, which makes Saturday feel a lot bigger than a midseason conference game.
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CBB: Florida tops the preseason AP poll as well, and the full picture comes into focus
Florida will start the season at first in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 as well, as the poll released on Monday afternoon gave the Gators 47 of the 59 first-place votes. Florida starts a season at the top of the AP poll for the first time since the 2006-07 season, and the Gators return 4 of 5 starters from a team that went 16-2 in Southeastern Conference play last season and earned a top seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season before a second round loss to Iowa. Florida also learned earlier this month that guard Denzel Aberdeen is eligible after a temporary injunction from the courts, and Aberdeen rejoined the program after 1 season at Kentucky.
Duke starts second in the AP poll after it received 10 first-place votes, and Illinois starts third after it received the other 2 first-place votes. Connecticut starts fourth and Arizona starts fifth, and the rest of the top 10 is Michigan State at sixth, Texas at seventh, Tennessee at eighth, Virginia at ninth and Houston at tenth. Defending champion Michigan starts 16th in the AP poll after the departure of head coach Dusty May and 4 of 5 starters to the NBA, and Kentucky starts 23rd as the Wildcats move within 2 weeks of becoming the first program to reach 1,000 weeks in the AP Top 25.
The conference count in the AP poll matches the depth story from the coaches poll, as 7 SEC teams made the AP poll ahead of 6 teams from the Big 12, 5 teams from the Big Ten and 4 teams from the ACC. The Big East placed 2 teams in the poll, and Gonzaga starts 15th as the only team from outside those 5 conferences after the Bulldogs moved to the rebuilt Pac-12 during the offseason. Purdue sits as the third team outside the poll in the receiving votes group, and that position snaps a streak of 79 straight weeks in the Top 25 for the Boilermakers. North Carolina also sits outside the AP poll after it received 20 points in the receiving votes group. Florida gets the crown in both major polls, Duke gets the chase role in both major polls, and everybody else gets about 2 weeks to prove the voters wrong before the games start to sort it out for real.
That's the Evening Edition. Five sports, zero filler. See you tomorrow.
Sources: - [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/sports/warriors-g-stephen-curry-ankle-sidesteps-injury-scare--flm-2026-10-19/) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/kings-ben-simmons-suffers-torn-achilles-at-practice-sunday-will-miss-entire-season) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/2026-27-nba-news-injury-updates-oct-19-ben-simmons-tears-achilles-stephen-curry-tweaks-ankle) - [Celtics Wire](https://celticswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/celtics/2026/10/19/celtics-have-just-one-injury-designation-ahead-of-season-opener-vs-pistons/92334673007/) - [Sixers Wire](https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/sixers/2026/10/19/full-injury-report-for-dean-wade-sixers-vs-knicks-in-season-opener/92330334007/) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/how-to-watch-lebron-james-philadelphia-76ers-debut-date-tv-stream-info-for-sixers-vs-knicks-opening-night) - [NorthJersey.com](https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/nba/2026/10/16/nba-2026-season-opening-night-tripleheader-time-tv-channel-streaming-odds-predictions/92279131007/) - [The Columbus Dispatch](https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/mlb/2026/10/19/where-to-watch-cleveland-guardians-vs-tampa-bay-rays-alcs-game-6/92330971007/) - [On Tap Sports Net](https://ontapsportsnet.com/mlb/how-to-watch-guardians-rays-alcs-game-6-october-19-2026/) - [New York Post](https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/sports/how-to-watch-guardians-vs-rays-2026-alcs-game-6-live-for-free/) - [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel](https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2026/10/19/mlb-playoff-schedule-rays-vs-guardians-bracket/92327721007/) - [Commanders Wire](https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/commanders/2026/10/19/commanders-roster-moves-monday-night-football-49ers/92335948007/) - [Heavy](https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/injury-decision-wide-receiver-christian-kirk/) - [Niners Wire](https://ninerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/niners/2026/10/15/49ers-commanders-latest-injury-news-updates-week-6--live/92267705007/) - [ClutchPoints](https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/washington-commanders/commanders-news-stefon-diggs-trending-right-direction-mnf-game-vs-49ers) - [Seahawks Wire](https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2026/10/19/seahawks-news-indianapolis-colts-gm-ed-dodds-has-ties-to-seattle/92333813007/) - [Field Level Media](https://fieldlevelmedia.com/ncaaf/reports-former-nc-state-coach-chuck-amato-dies-at-80/) - [USA TODAY](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/10/19/chuck-amato-death-obit-florida-state-nc-state/92331615007/) - [Field Level Media via Northland News Radio](https://northlandnewsradio.com/2026/10/19/texas-stays-course-at-qb-but-needs-better-version-of-arch-manning/) - [Dawg Sports](https://www.dawgsports.com/college-football/39312/2026-college-football-polls-week-8) - [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/sports/florida-selected-runaway-no-1-team-preseason-ap-top-25--flm-2026-10-19/) - [USA TODAY](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2026/10/19/college-rankings-mens-basketball-top-25-ap-coaches-poll-preseason/92332790007/) - [Duke Wire](https://dukewire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/duke/mens-basketball/2026/10/19/duke-basketball-2026-27-preseason-ap-poll/92331485007/)
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