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Watch: Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sets new playoff high
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is establishing himself as a playoff performer.
With 4:24 left in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander crab-dribbled into the paint before spinning and hitting a tough fadeaway jumper. The basket gave him 33 points on the night, a postseason high. The 25-year-old also logged five assists, three rebounds and two steals in a 124-92 victory.
SGA with the tough fadeaway for 33... a new postseason career high
— NBA (@NBA) April 25, 2024
NOP-OKC on TNT pic.twitter.com/lFUyzfMBXn
Gilgeous-Alexander has been cooking through the first two games of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. He has averaged 30.5 points on 55 percent shooting from the field. In a 94-92 win in Game 1, he made a game-sealing floater with 32.1 seconds remaining.
Gilgeous-Alexander — who made his second All-Star game this season — is having a career year. In 75 regular-season games, he averaged 30.1 points and a career-high 6.2 assists. He was recently named one of three MVP finalists alongside Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
The Thunder are up 2-0 heading into Game 3 in New Orleans on Saturday. Anticipate Gilgeous-Alexander turning in another stellar showing.
More must-reads:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Leads Thunder Over Pelicans In Game 1
- Every NBA Rookie of the Year award winner
- The 'Leading scorers from the 2022-23 NBA playoffs' quiz
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Desperate Warriors need these two players to debut soon
The Golden State Warriors are 10-10, just lost Steph Curry and desperately need veteran reinforcements. Two in particular can't come soon enough. Curry injured his quad muscle Wednesday night in a loss to the Houston Rockets. He's been the Warriors leading scorer this season (27.9 PPG), and the team is 9-7 when he plays and 1-3 without him. That's why the team could really use offseason signings De'Anthony Melton and Seth Curry to join the team. De'Anthony Melton returned to the court for a scrimmage De'Anthony Melton signed with the Warriors for the second straight summer after his 2024-25 season was derailed by a torn ACL. Melton is still less than a year past his surgery, which happened Dec. 4, 2024, and will be re-evaluated next week. However, he was healthy enough to scrimmage at the Chase Center with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors Wednesday. Melton joined Jonathan Kuminga, also making his way back from a knee injury, in a full-court, five-on-five practice. That's a good sign Melton could be ready to return to a team that's struggled to stop opposing guards. The most recent one to torment them was Houston's Reed Sheppard, who scored a career-high 31 points Wednesday as Moses Moody, Will Richard and Brandin Podziemski all failed to contain him. After the game, Jimmy Butler complained that the Warriors "let anybody do whatever they want" on offense. Even if he's playing limited minutes in his comeback, Melton should help provide defense for a Warriors team that's simply blowing assignments. Podziemski in particular has a tendency to over-help and end up guarding no one. Melton can also help provide three-point shooting for a team highly dependent on Steph Curry on the perimeter. Seth Curry's return is a matter of money While the health of Melton's knee will determine when he comes back, it's money and cap concerns that are holding out Curry's brother, Seth. The Warriors agreed with Seth before the season, then released him as planned before the season, because they couldn't afford his full minimum salary after being hard-capped at the first luxury-tax apron. But they've been able to sign the younger Curry since mid-November. They're waiting in order to have more flexibility for later moves, like a trade involving the unhappy Kuminga, while Seth, a 43.3 percent career three-point shooter, cools his heels. It has to be tempting to add Seth with Buddy Hield shooting 31 percent from deep this season while providing very little defense. And like Melton, it's tempting simply to have a veteran who knows where to be on the floor. They'll likely wait, especially with Kuminga nearing his return and Melton possibly right behind. But sitting at 10-10, the Warriors don't have a lot of time to waste hoping their current roster turns things around.
Hal Steinbrenner’s comments on Yankees’ profits point to a larger issue
Over Thanksgiving week, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner provided fans with plenty of news to digest. Among notable items that are circulating, four things stand out: his resolve to lower the payroll below $300 million, the insinuation that the Yankees are not a profitable ballclub, the assumption that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ astronomical payroll played no part in their dominance and his purported support for a salary cap. When seen together, these four items seem to suggest a severe reluctance to spend. Steinbrenner made it clear he wants to come in under the luxury tax threshold. Interestingly, he called the correlation between spending and championships weak, alluding to his Yankees as well as the New York Mets as examples of teams with high payrolls and limited success. However, this opens up a discussion about how said money was spent. The Mets notably dumped a record sum on signing Juan Soto, but did little elsewhere. But what about the Yankees? When asked if it was fair to say the Yankees turned a profit after engrossing over $700 million in revenue, Steinbrenner had this to say, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch: “That’s not a fair statement or an accurate statement. Everybody wants to talk about revenues. They need to talk about our expenses, including the $100 million expense to the City of New York that we have to pay every February 1, including the COVID year. So, it all starts to add up in a hurry. “Nobody spends more money, I don’t believe, on player development, scouting, performance science. These all start to add up.” Altogether, the Yankees spent slightly under $305 million on players’ salaries in 2025. For a breakeven season, the Yankees would have needed to spend over $395 million elsewhere. Where did it all go? Steinbrenner mentioned the $100 million expense to New York City. As for the bulk of their expenses, the Yankees owner pointed towards player development, scouting and performance science. This raises a more serious question about mismanagement. The Yankees are overspending on failing analytics If most of the money was spent on development, scouting and performance science, one could easily argue that the cost has outweighed the benefits. Despite having spent so much, these efforts have produced very little. Over the years, the Yankees have seen more failures than success stories when developing major league talent. Promising players and top prospects like Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier, Deivi Garcia, Miguel Andujar, Domingo German, Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, Oswald Peraza and Estevan Florial, among many others, never panned out. The team also gave up on Carlos Narvaez and Agustin Ramirez in favor of Austin Wells, who underperformed the pair of rookie backstops this past season. Another catching prospect, Yankees 2018 first-round draft pick Anthony Seigler, who struggled during his time in the Yankees’ farm system as recently as last year, excelled with the Milwaukee Brewers in Triple-A this year. Anthony Volpe, Will Warren, Luis Gil and Jasson Dominguez are four current works in progress. It might also be fair to say the torpedo bat craze the Yankees started has officially ended. Of their recent triumphs, the Yankees boast Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler. Going further back, one might add Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge to the list; however, Judge’s swing was actually developed by famed hitting coach Richard Schenck, not the Yankees. Spending on these efforts is by no means a waste; nonetheless, it’s clear the Yankees are grossly overspending for something that isn't even working. Whether it means an organizational shakeup or reallocation of funds to target proven major league talent, Steinbrenner’s approach needs to change.
Jerry Jones claims Jets turned down absurd trade offer involving Micah Parsons, Quinnen Williams
Cardinals' Richard Fitts Reveals Reaction To Getting Traded By Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox made their first major trade of the offseason earlier this week, and Richard Fitts was on the business end of the deal. Fitts started this season in the Red Sox rotation, but injuries and struggles both took a toll. He wound up with a 5.00 ERA in 45 innings, and briefly flirted with a move to the bullpen late in the year before elbow neuritis ended his year early. Now that he's been dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the package for three-time All-Star Sonny Gray, Fitts is looking forward to competing for a spot in a less experienced rotation. If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google. Fitts talks trade, Cardinals opportunity Fitts recently shared his mindset on the trade, admitting that he likely had a better chance to stick in the St. Louis rotation than he would have if he'd remained in Boston. “With this opportunity (with the Cardinals), if I am able to stay healthy, I think it’s just going to be a great fit and a way for me to stay in a rotation,” Fitts said, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “I feel like I really grew as a pitcher with the Red Sox. "When I came over from the (New York) Yankees to the Red Sox, it was like, ‘Oh, this would be cool if I get to be a big leaguer over here.’ And now, moving to this opportunity, it’s like, ‘I am a big leaguer. How can I fit into (the Cardinals) rotation?’” Though he would have been buried on the depth chart a bit, the Red Sox definitely weren't happy to see Fitts go. He showed No. 4 starter promise during his September call-up a year ago, including a scoreless start against the Yankees, and he was a spring training darling this year, adding significant velocity and showcasing three breaking balls. While Gray gives the Red Sox a significantly higher floor than they had to start the week, the Red Sox know they incurred some long-term risks by moving on from Fitts and Brandon Clarke. But the beauty of building pitching depth over the past couple of years is that it allows them to take some risks.
NFL insider makes the obvious Max Brosmer to Brock Purdy comparison, and takes a damning shot at J.J. McCarthy
The Minnesota Vikings are set to start rookie undrafted free agent Max Brosmer against the Seattle Seahawks, as starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy is out with a concussion. It's a tough one for the Vikings, who have dealt with quarterback injuries all season long, starting with McCarthy's high ankle sprain in Week 2, and Carson Wentz's brutal left shoulder injury suffered in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns. It's been that kind of season for the 4-7 Vikings, but arguably the most brutal aspect has been not knowing if McCarthy is the future at quarterback. With Sunday's game, the Vikings are going to get their first look at Brosmer, who has been compared by many to the elevation of Brock Purdy, including me back in August. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler takes damning shot at J.J. McCarthy The chance for Brosmer to emerge is a huge one, as the Vikings are starving for any kind of good quarterback play. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler broke down how both the Vikings and other teams feel about him "Max Brosmer, huge showcase for this guy. The Vikings know that they have something in Max Brosmer," said Fowler on Saturday morning's Sports Center. "They felt like he had a really good preseason. I talked to multiple teams who said he was cool and calm and collected in the preseason action. He's an undrafted free agent, so the expectations aren't overly high, but I'm told, just from a mental preparation standpoint, he's been really good, and they feel like, hey, maybe something can happen here." Fowler didn't stop there, comparing him to Purdy, who share very similar career arcs, with the sole difference being that Purdy was the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, whereas Brosmer was one of the UDFAs with the most guaranteed money. "It was around three years to the day, Randy, that Brock Purdy made his debut week 12 of the 2022 season. He started for the 49ers. Rest is history. Now, he's one of the, you know, top 10 to 12 best quarterbacks in the league. That's a lot of expectation to put on this guy. However, you know, there is some symmetry here. Yeah, you have Kevin O'Connell's offense. They've got weapons." Fowler didn't end there, as the final line came in like a dagger in terms of McCarthy's performances this season. "They feel like, at the very least, he's going to be probably more mentally prepared than they've had this season with the struggles [at quarterback]." Calling Brosmer more mentally prepared than both McCarthy and Wentz is incredibly damning, and it could be why they decide to ride it out with Brosmer the rest of the season if things continue to go well. This isn't the first time that we've had negative words seemingly come out of the Vikings' building about this team, including McCarthy, this season, but this might be the worst of them all. Will Brosmer end up being the next guy for the Vikings? Only time will tell, but it certainly looks possible. window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-383').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-383').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*'); This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Nov 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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