Huffman Sports Wire News Break · ALL · Reporting · Published · Huffman Sports Wire News Desk
NBA: Golden State erases 20, Portland stays perfect, and seven more dress rehearsals tip tonight
Golden State finished Tuesday night in Las Vegas with the comeback of the preseason, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 101-89 after trailing by 20 points in the third quarter. The Lakers led 70-50 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, and Austin Reaves powered that cushion with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists for Los Angeles. Walker Kessler added 11 points and 9 rebounds in his Lakers preseason debut after missing the first three games with a finger injury. Golden State flipped the game with its bench, and Brandin Podziemski and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg scored 17 points each for the Warriors. Lendeborg twisted his left ankle in the third quarter and downplayed the injury after the game, and Golden State closes the preseason on Friday against Portland.
Portland stayed unbeaten with a 110-98 win at Sacramento on Tuesday night, and Deni Avdija set the tone with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists on 9-for-13 shooting. Damian Lillard added 14 points for the Trail Blazers, and Ja Morant added 14 points and 6 assists off the bench as Portland improved to 3-0 in the preseason. Sacramento played without Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk among others, and the Kings fell behind 66-39 at halftime before a late push cut into the margin. Portland looks like the preseason team nobody ordered and everybody now has to scout.
The final full slate before the last weekend of exhibitions tips tonight across seven games. Charlotte plays at Boston at 7:30 ET, and Brooklyn plays at Miami at 7:30 ET in the preseason finale for both teams. Phoenix plays at San Antonio at 8 ET, Detroit plays at Minnesota at 8 ET, New Orleans plays at Dallas at 8 ET, and Chicago plays at Milwaukee at 8 ET. Denver plays at the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 ET to close the night, and opening night on October 21 is now close enough to hear the sneakers squeak for real.
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MLB: Cleveland names its ace and moves the clock, while Los Angeles faces a must-win tonight
Cleveland settled the question that hung over the American League Championship Series all afternoon, and Gavin Williams will start Game 3 on Thursday at Progressive Field. Williams struck out 12 in 5.2 scoreless innings in Game 5 of the Division Series against Chicago, and he has allowed 2 runs with 24 strikeouts in 11.2 innings this postseason. Griffin Jax will start for Tampa Bay in his first career postseason start, and the series is tied 1-1 after Tampa Bay won Game 2 by a 3-1 score on Tuesday night. Major League Baseball also moved Game 3 from 6 ET to 1 ET on Thursday because heavy rain is forecast for Cleveland later in the day, and the league made the change to keep the series on schedule. October baseball now comes with a weather app and a lunch reservation.
The National League Championship Series resumes tonight with Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, with Milwaukee at Los Angeles at 8 ET on FS1. Milwaukee leads the series 2-0 after a 2-1 win in Game 1 and a 7-4 win in Game 2, and Brewers pitching held Los Angeles to 10 hits and 5 runs across the two games in Milwaukee. Blake Snell starts for Los Angeles after going 4-1 with a 1.90 earned run average in the regular season, and Robert Gasser starts for Milwaukee after going 5-5 with a 3.87 earned run average. Milwaukee has not reached the World Series since 1982, and Los Angeles has won 4 straight elimination games across the past 2 seasons, a streak that only matters if the Dodgers survive long enough to need it. Hollywood loves a comeback script, and tonight the Dodgers have to write the first page themselves.
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NFL: Wednesday practice reports sharpen Week 6, and Denver loses a safety for weeks
The first full injury reports of Week 6 landed on Wednesday, and Baltimore still has no clear answer at quarterback. Lamar Jackson did not practice on Wednesday because of his ankle injury, and he is considered day-to-day with a realistic chance to play on Sunday at Cleveland. Jackson missed the Week 5 win at Atlanta after he was injured in Week 4 against Tennessee, and Tyler Huntley would start again if Jackson cannot play. Cleveland has a backfield worry of its own, since running back Quinshon Judkins did not practice on Wednesday after suffering an ankle injury in Week 5 that could cost him the Week 6 game against Baltimore. The division race is hard enough at full strength, and neither sideline gets that luxury this week.
Chicago and Atlanta both moved toward healthier quarterback rooms on Wednesday. Caleb Williams was estimated as a full participant in practice on Wednesday, and he is expected to practice fully again as he closes in on a return from the hamstring injury that cost him 3 games. Michael Penix Jr. practiced on Wednesday for Atlanta after suffering a rib injury late in the Sunday night loss to Baltimore, and his return to practice points toward him avoiding missed time. Chicago plays at Atlanta on Sunday, and the matchup now shapes up as a duel between two starters who spent the early week proving they could take the field at all.
Denver took the hardest hit of the day before Thursday night even arrives. Reports on Wednesday said safety Talanoa Hufanga will miss 2 to 3 weeks with the ankle injury he suffered during the 23-17 win at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Hufanga has 23 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble in 5 starts this season, and he has not practiced this week ahead of the Thursday game against Seattle. Seattle visits Denver on Thursday at 8:15 ET with both teams at 3-2, and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was listed as limited in practice for Seattle with an ankle injury after recording 37 receptions for 583 yards and 7 touchdowns through 5 games. Denver will defend the league receiving leader with a secondary held together by the depth chart, and Thursday night just became a stress test for everybody in a Broncos uniform.
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NCAAF: GameDay picks Provo, Wednesday night fills the gap, and Saturday keeps stacking
The Saturday spotlight found its home on Wednesday, and the traveling pregame show will set up in Provo this weekend for second-ranked Notre Dame at eighth-ranked BYU. That game is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 ET on ABC, and it closes a day that starts with fourth-ranked Ohio State at fifth-ranked Indiana at 12 ET on FOX. Sixth-ranked Alabama plays at Tennessee at 3:30 ET on ABC in the Third Saturday in October, and Auburn plays at top-ranked Georgia at 3:30 ET on ESPN in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. A day built like that is not a schedule, it is an endurance event with marching bands.
Wednesday night football carries the midweek load in Conference USA before the weekend takes over. Kennesaw State plays at Missouri State tonight at 7:30 ET on CBS Sports Network, and both teams enter at 1-4 while searching for a first conference win. Western Kentucky plays at Sam Houston tonight at 8 ET, with Western Kentucky at 2-4 after a 34-13 win against Missouri State and Sam Houston at 1-4 on a 3-game losing streak. The ranked teams get the headlines on Saturday, and the Wednesday teams get the national window all to themselves for one more night. Small stadiums, big stage, no hiding place.
The UCLA question still hangs over the Big Ten race with no official timeline from the school. Reports this week said quarterback Nico Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of the season with the knee injury he suffered during the 17-15 win at Oregon, and head coach Bob Chesney has said the program is still waiting on the medical staff for a final call. Iamaleava passed for 982 yards and 4 touchdowns this season, and senior backup Ty Dieffenbach threw for 43 yards and 1 touchdown after replacing him against Oregon. Twelfth-ranked UCLA is 5-0 and hosts Wisconsin on Saturday at 7:30 ET on NBC, and a dream season now depends on a backup keeping the dream on schedule.
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CBB: Tennessee keeps its top-four streak, Oklahoma draws a skeptical eye, and Louisville loads up
Tennessee landed fourth in the Southeastern Conference preseason media poll, and the placement extends a run of respect that now spans most of a decade. The poll marked the seventh straight year Tennessee earned a top-four spot in the preseason voting, and Florida was picked first ahead of Texas and Arkansas. Tennessee guard Juke Harris earned Preseason First Team All-SEC honors after transferring from Wake Forest, where he averaged 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference Most Improved Player award. Florida forward Thomas Haugh and center Rueben Chinyelu also made the First Team, and the chase for the Gators now runs through Knoxville as much as anywhere else in the league.
Oklahoma drew the other end of the poll and a clear challenge with it. The Sooners were picked 12th in the 16-team league, behind Georgia and ahead of Ole Miss, and no Oklahoma player made a preseason All-SEC team. Oklahoma returns 2 starters, guard Xzayvier Brown and forward Derrion Reid, and Brown averaged 15.4 points and 3.3 assists per game last season while Reid scored in double figures 27 times. Oklahoma won 21 games last season and finished as the runner-up in the College Basketball Crown Tournament, and a 12th-place prediction gives the Sooners a whole winter of bulletin board material that writes itself.
Louisville gave the Atlantic Coast Conference race a second heavyweight behind top-picked Duke. The Cardinals were picked third in the ACC poll with 758 points and 1 first-place vote, behind Duke with 861 points and Virginia with 778 points. Louisville big man Flory Bidunga made the Preseason All-ACC First Team after averaging more than 13 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game last season, and guard Jackson Shelstad made the Second Team after transferring from Oregon. Louisville opens the regular season on November 2 against Chattanooga, and conference play for the Cardinals starts on December 30 at Virginia Tech. Paper season keeps handing out favorites, and the teams picked third never read the paper the way the teams picked first hope they will.
That is the Evening Edition. Five sports, zero filler. See you tomorrow.
Sources: - [Warriors Wire](https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/warriors/2026/10/14/warriors-storm-back-for-second-half-comeback-in-preseason-win-vs-lakers-101-89/92248175007/) - [Warriors Wire](https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/warriors/2026/10/14/yaxel-lendeborg-downplays-twisted-ankle-after-win-over-lakers/92248899007/) - [Sports Illustrated](https://www.si.com/nba/trailblazers/onsi/blazers-steamroll-past-kings) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/basketball/player-news/2026-10-14/deni-avdija-pours-in-26-9-4-line-vs-sacramento) - [Essentially Sports](https://www.essentiallysports.com/nhl-nba-mlb-college-football-ice-hockey-basketball-tennis-baseball-news-october-fourteenth-complete-sports-schedule-where-when-and-how-to-watch-your-favorite-sports-event/) - [Akron Beacon Journal](https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/mlb/cleveland-guardians/2026/10/14/cleveland-guardians-gavin-williams-mlb-playoffs-tampa-bay-rays/92254378007/) - [Sportsnet](https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/guardians-gavin-williams-to-start-game-3-vs-rays/) - [DraftKings Network](https://dknetwork.draftkings.com/2026/10/14/rays-vs-guardians-alcs-game-3-start-time-moved-due-to-rain/) - [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/playoffs/2026/10/14/dodgers-brewers-watch-score-highlights-channel-nlcs-game-3--live/92247013007/) - [Sports Illustrated](https://www.si.com/onsi/fantasy/injuries/week-6-fantasy-football-injury-report-treveyon-henderson-practices-but-jeremiyah-love-doesn-t) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/football/player-news/2026-10-14/schefter-lamar-has-realistic-chance-to-play-week-6) - [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/sports/report-broncos-s-talanoa-hufanga-ankle-out-multiple-weeks--flm-2026-10-14/) - [Seahawks](https://www.seahawks.com/news/week-6-injury-report-seahawks-at-broncos?utm_source=bleacherreport&utm_medium=referral) - [Awful Announcing](https://awfulannouncing.com/college-football/2026-week-7-announcing-schedule.html) - [College Football News](https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/college-football-week-7-schedule-predictions-scoreboard-2026) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/ucla-coach-bob-chesney-serious-concern-qb-nico-iamaleava-could-miss-season) - [Vols Wire](https://volswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/volunteers/mens-basketball/2026/10/13/tennessee-vols-basketball-selected-fourth-sec-preseason-media-poll/92224343007/) - [Sooners Wire](https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/sooners/mens-basketball/2026/10/13/oklahoma-mens-basketball-selected-to-finish-12th-in-sec/92226615007/) - [Courier Journal](https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2026/10/13/louisville-basketball-acc-preseason-poll-rankings-awards-2026-27-pat-kelsey-flory-bidunga/91830581007/)
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