Huffman Sports Wire News Break · ALL · Reporting · Published · Huffman Sports Wire News Desk
NBA: Detroit steals opening day, and Paul George debuts in a loss he almost owned
Detroit opened the season with a 121-113 win over Boston on Tuesday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena, and the Pistons needed a comeback that rewrote the whole game to get it. Boston led by 22 points in the second half and still led late, and Detroit answered with a 23-0 run in the fourth quarter that flipped the opener in front of a stunned road bench. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 22 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds, and Jalen Duren also scored 22 points for the Pistons. Reserve Javonte Green added 19 points in the second half, and Detroit outscored Boston 39-25 in the fourth quarter to finish the rally.
Paul George gave Boston the other half of the story in his first game with the Celtics. George scored 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting and set the franchise record for points in a debut, and he also moved into eighth place on the career list for made 3-pointers during the game. The debut still ended with Boston at 0-1 and Detroit at 1-0, because a record night from a new star still loses to a 23-0 run every single time.
The tripleheader continues tonight with two scheduled games that had not tipped off at publication time. Philadelphia visits New York at 7 ET on NBC and Peacock, after the Knicks hold their championship ring ceremony at 6:30 ET, and Oklahoma City visits San Antonio at 9:30 ET on NBC and Peacock to close opening day. Opening day gave us a collapse, a comeback and a debut record before dinner, and the league still has two games left to top it.
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MLB: The World Series schedule is set, and every game starts at the same time
The World Series between Milwaukee and Tampa Bay opens on Friday, October 23 at 8 ET on FOX at American Family Field in Milwaukee, and the full schedule is now confirmed with every game scheduled for 8 ET on FOX. Milwaukee hosts Games 1-2 on October 23-24, and the series shifts to Tampa Bay for Games 3-5 on October 26-28 if Game 5 is necessary. Games 6-7 would return to Milwaukee on October 30-31 if the series goes that far.
Milwaukee earned home field after finishing 103-59 with the best record in baseball, and Tampa Bay finished 98-64 with the best record in the American League. Milwaukee reached the World Series by beating San Diego in the Division Series and sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, and the trip is the first World Series appearance for Milwaukee since 1982. Tampa Bay reached the World Series by beating the New York Yankees in the Division Series and beating Cleveland in 6 games in the American League Championship Series, and the trip is the third World Series appearance in franchise history after the 2008 trip and the 2020 trip.
Neither franchise has won the World Series, so the series guarantees a first-time champion. The wait until Friday is now the hardest part of the week, and October saved its cleanest storyline for last.
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NFL: McLaurin is out for the season, and the Rams change kickers again
Washington head coach Dan Quinn confirmed on Tuesday that wide receiver Terry McLaurin tore the patellar tendon in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season. McLaurin was injured in the first quarter of the Monday night loss at San Francisco, and he was carted off after catching 1 pass for 27 yards in the game. He will have surgery to repair the injury, and he finishes the season with 15 catches for 230 yards and 1 touchdown in 5 games. Washington enters its bye week at 1-4-1, and Stefon Diggs is in line for a larger role in an offense that just lost its most established receiver.
Los Angeles made a different kind of move on Tuesday, as reports said the Rams are signing veteran kicker Brandon McManus after a workout. McManus would be the third kicker to play for Los Angeles this season, after Harrison Mevis was released and Blake Grupe tore his ACL in his first game with the team on Sunday. McManus kicked for Green Bay in 2025 and made 24 of 30 field goal attempts that season, and he has played 186 career regular season games with a career field goal success rate of 82.0 percent. Los Angeles visits Las Vegas in Week 7 at 2-4, and the Rams are now hoping the third kicker is the one who finally stays healthy and accurate at the same time.
Philadelphia also reshuffled a thin position group on Tuesday before its Week 7 game against Dallas. The Eagles signed running back Elijah Mitchell to the practice squad, waived running back Jaydon Blue, waived running back Carson Steele with an injury designation, and released running back Ian Wheeler and center James Brockermeyer from the practice squad. The moves followed another game in which injuries thinned a backfield already missing key depth, and Philadelphia enters the week trying to end a losing streak with a rotation that keeps changing by the day. Week 7 opens on Thursday with New England at Chicago at 8:15 ET on Prime Video, and the injury news is already setting the lineup before the first kickoff arrives.
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NCAAF: Week 8 opens tonight with three midweek games
Week 8 opens tonight with three scheduled games, and none of them had kicked off at publication time. Middle Tennessee visits FIU at 7 ET on CBS Sports Network, and Missouri State visits Delaware at 7 ET on ESPNU. South Alabama visits Marshall at 7:30 ET on ESPN2 to close the Tuesday slate.
Middle Tennessee and FIU both enter at 3-3, and Missouri State and Delaware both enter at 2-4. South Alabama enters at 4-2, and Marshall enters at 3-3 in the late game. Wednesday brings one more midweek game, as New Mexico State visits Sam Houston at 8 ET on ESPN2, and Saturday brings the headline game of the week with Ole Miss visiting Texas at 7:30 ET on ABC. Tuesday night football is the appetizer nobody ordered and everybody watches, and this week the appetizer lasts four straight nights.
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CBB: Two top-ten exhibitions headline a busy Tuesday night
Two exhibition games between ranked teams headline Tuesday night, and both were scheduled to tip at 7 ET. Second-ranked Duke hosts eighth-ranked Tennessee at Cameron Indoor Stadium on ACC Network, and sixth-ranked Michigan State hosts fourth-ranked Connecticut at the Breslin Center with streaming on B1G+. Tennessee lost its first exhibition 86-70 to Xavier on October 15, and the Volunteers added guard Juke Harris after he averaged 21.4 points per game last season at Wake Forest. Connecticut won its first exhibition 72-52 over Syracuse on October 13, and Michigan State won its first exhibition 89-59 over Incarnate Word.
The rest of the Tuesday exhibition slate stays broad beyond the ranked matchups. Western Carolina visits Appalachian State at 6:30 ET, Lindenwood visits Southern Illinois at 7 ET, and Bowling Green visits Western Kentucky at 7:30 ET. Wednesday brings another exhibition with a return built into it, as Louisville visits Kansas on October 21 and forward Flory Bidunga returns to face the program he left. Exhibition scores do not count in the standings, and the rotation answers still matter for every staff trying to sort a roster before November.
That's the Evening Edition. Five sports, zero filler. See you tomorrow.
Sources: - [theScore](https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/3630152/pistons-storm-back-for-stunning-season-opening-win-over-celtics) - [USA TODAY](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2026/10/20/celtics-pistons-live-score-updates-nba-opening-day--live/92347330007/) - [Celtics Wire](https://celticswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/celtics/2026/10/20/celtics-collapse-in-fourth-quarter-to-spoil-paul-georges-debut/92352331007/) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/how-to-watch-oklahoma-city-thunder-vs-san-antonio-spurs-tv-live-stream-info-for-2026-nba-season-tip-off) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/how-to-watch-rays-vs-brewers-game-1-of-2026-mlb-world-series-tv-channel-streaming-info-schedule-preview) - [North Jersey](https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/mlb/2026/10/19/brewers-rays-world-series-game-1-start-time-tv-channel/92336849007/) - [New York Post](https://nypost.com/2026/10/20/sports/terry-mclaurin-injury-commaners-receiver-out-for-season/) - [Pro Football Rumors](https://www.profootballrumors.com/2026/10/commanders-wr-terry-mclaurin-suffers-torn-patellar-tendon) - [theScore](https://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/3630128) - [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/rams-add-k-brandon-mcmanus) - [Eagles Wire](https://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/eagles/2026/10/20/eagles-elijah-mitchell-jaydon-blue-carson-steele-roster-moves/92351655007/) - [Decider](https://decider.com/2026/10/20/thursday-night-football-whos-playing-tnf-this-week-tnf-schedule-watch-free/) - [NCAA](https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-football-tv-schedule-game-times-preview) - [Busting Brackets](https://bustingbrackets.com/college-basketball-games-today-tennessee-duke-and-uconn-michigan-state-headline-tuesday-s-exhibition-schedule-basketball)
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