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The Sixers are halfway done their preseason schedule and ready to head home.

The team wrapped up its Abu Dhabi action against the Knicks on Saturday with a second straight loss, falling to a 112-104 defeat.

Tyrese Maxey scored 16 first-half points and sat out the second.

The Sixers†third of four preseason games is scheduled for next Friday, Oct. 10 vs. the Magic. Here are observations on their loss Saturday:

Edgecombe jumps out

The Sixers rolled out the same starting lineup as in their preseason opener: Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona. They remained without Joel Embiid (left knee), Paul George (left knee), Jared McCain (right thumb) and Trendon Watford (right hamstring).Â

Edgecombe was the star of the first few minutes Saturday, scoring or assisting on all of the Sixers†first 10 points.

On the gameâ€s first possession, Edgecombe got fouled on a three-point attempt by Jalen Brunson and made all of his free throws. He recorded the Sixers†next two points in eye-popping style with a swift drive from the wing followed by a rim-shaking slam. The rookie showed zero concern about OG Anunobyâ€s presence in the paint.

Edgecombe assisted a Barlow corner three and an Oubre long two in the early going. He had a confident, attacking approach without being reckless in his decision-making.Â

The Baylor product also knocked down a catch-and-shoot triple later in the first quarter. He hasnâ€t been hesitant to put up jumpers, but that was a relatively weak area of his game in Abu Dhabi. Edgecombe air balled a couple of three-point tries Saturday.

Offense needs to sharpen ahead of openerÂ

For the Sixers’ regulars, shooting was not a bright spot in either of their first two contests.

For the most part, the Sixers†offensive issues can be chalked up to collective preseason rustiness as jump shooters (and the absences of Embiid, George, McCain and Watford). Installing new aspects of their offense is another notable factor, although the Sixers seemed to keep things simple in Abu Dhabi, leaning on basic drive-and-kick principles in the half court.Â

The Sixers†Maxey-led offense did begin to look crisper, faster and better overall around the midpoint of the second quarter. Theyâ€ll expect continued improvement over the weeks leading into the regular-season opener on Oct. 22 against the Celtics.

A chance for Chandler to show his game

The Sixers†second unit had a decent day.

Jabari Walker started the second half in Barlowâ€s place and Kennedy Chandler took over for Maxey at point guard.

Chandler faces clear challenges at under 6 feet tall, but heâ€s a speedy, aggressive player and had plenty of nice moments Saturday. He created a defensive highlight in the first quarter when he swiped a scrappy backcourt steal against Miles McBride. Chandler found a scoring groove in the second half, too.

Two-way contract player Hunter Sallis and veteran guards Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry did not play Saturday. Chandler, Walker, Andre Drummond, Justin Edwards, Johni Broome, Malcolm Hill and Saint Thomas appeared off of the Sixers’ bench.

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Lakers star Luka Doncic will not play in the teamâ€s two preseason games this weekend, the team announced after its shoot-around Friday.

Doncic will sit out against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert and against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in San Francisco.

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The Lakers said it was a collaborative decision made with L.A.â€s performance team because of his time playing for the Slovenian national team in the EuroBasket tournament this summer.

The Lakers said the plan is to be smart with Doncic in the long term as he ramps up for the regular season that opens Oct. 21 against the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

LeBron James, Marcus Smart (achilles tendinopathy), Maxi Kleber (quad) and rookie Aduo Thiero (knee) also wonâ€t play against the Suns.

Doncic played in his last game with Slovenia about a month ago, a game in which he scored 39 points but his squad was eliminated by Germany in the EuroBasket quarterfinals.

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After practice Thursday, Doncic talked about easing his way into training camp while getting ready for the regular season after playing at peak level for Slovenia.

“Yeah, obviously probably take it a little bit slower than the usual,†Doncic said. “ I had a busy summer. I think month, month-and-a-half I was with national team. So, it was kind of a lot. But that got me ready for the preseason and obviously regular season. So, for me, I think it really helps.â€

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Manchester United host Sunderland tomorrow, sitting 14th in the Premier League table after a continuation of their bad form under Ruben Amorim.

The Red Devils slid to 15th last season after Amorim’s appointment – the club’s lowest finish since their return to the top flight 50 years earlier.

Last weekend they lost 3-1 at Brentford, to leave them on only seven points from their first six games of this season, once again increasing the scrutiny on Amorim.

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September 30, 2025

(By Edgardo Vazquez)

As a Butterfly America coach, I am very proud to share what we experienced at the Asunción 2025 Junior Pan American Games, where our Puerto Rican delegation once again demonstrated the high level and future of Puerto Rican table tennis.

It was a tournament filled with excitement, dedication, and results that reflect the efforts of our athletes:

Gold
• Edmarie León – Women’s Singles

Silver
• Krystal Meléndez / Enrique Ríos – Mixed Doubles
• Edmarie León / Krystal Meléndez – Women’s Doubles
• Steven Moreno / Enrique Ríos – Men’s Team

Bronze
• Edmarie León / Steven Moreno – Mixed Doubles
• Steven Moreno – Men’s Singles
• Edmarie León / Krystal Meléndez – Women’s Team

TOTAL: 7 MEDALS
(1 Gold – 3 Silver – 3 Bronze)

These results are a clear sign that Puerto Rico continues to grow and consolidate itself as one of the youth powers on the continent. Every medal is backed by hard work, discipline, sacrifice, and dreams that are gradually coming true.

I want to give a special thanks to Butterfly for all the support they provide to us as a Federation, to our athletes, and to me as a coach. These achievements confirm that when support, commitment, and talent come together, great things can be achieved.

Thank you to our athletes for representing us with such passion and to all of Puerto Rico for the support. This is just the beginning of what we can achieve together.

We continue to dream big and work wholeheartedly for our island.

 

  Stay “In The Loop†with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.

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The Baltimore Orioles missed the playoffs in 2025, a feat that can be attributed to an injury list a mile long and the same starting pitching woes that have plagued them for years.

Dean Kremer was the ironman of the Orioles’ rotation, pitching 171.2 innings and accumulating a 4.19 ERA. Tomoyuki Sugano was so-so in his first season with a 4.64 ERA, Zach Eflin was injured more than not, and Cade Povich did Cade Povich things by allowing 65 earned runs.

Trevor Rodgers proved to be an ace in his 18 appearances, throwing 109.2 innings for an ERA of 1.81, but also faced injuries.

The team may have its star in Rodgers but it still badly needs another starter to go along with Kremer and Sugano, even more so considering Eflin is a free agent this offseason.

Nightengale reported that the Orioles “will be the most aggressive team looking for pitching this winter.”

The team has a young nucleus in the form of Sam Basallo, Gunner Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holiday, Coby Mayo, Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, and Dylan Beavers. Adding a piece or two to the rotation, or improving the bullpen, would go a long way in re-establishing the O’s as a legitimate title contender.

Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, and Zac Gallen headline the free agent market this offseason and while any of them would be welcome additions in Baltimore and the type of player that would inspire excitement within the fan base, Mike Elias and the Orioles’ front office tend to like to look toward the second or third tiers to find their answers.

Chris Bassitt of Toronto, Tyler Mahle or Merrill Kelly of Texas, or Nestor Cortes of Milwaukee would fit their tendencies, as we saw last offseason with the signing of Charlie Morton.

Prediction: Orioles land a new starter and two bullpen pieces

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The Mariners’ American League West title is potentially causing scheduling issues for the Seahawks that could result in a changed kickoff time for at least one — and possibly two — home games, Seattle officials told ESPN.

Both of the Seahawks’ next two home games — next Oct. 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Monday night, Oct. 20 against the Houston Texans — are on nights when the Mariners could be hosting playoff games.

The infrastructure of the area surrounding the Mariners’ T-Mobile Park and the Seahawks’ Lumen Field — which are practically next door to each other, a mere one-tenth of a mile apart — is not designed to support two games played at the same time and would create logistical issues that include a chaotic traffic situation along with overcrowding.

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Therefore, if the two games in Seattle wind up being scheduled for the same time – a decision that Major League Baseball must first make — changes to the Seahawks’ schedule might have to be made.

MLB officials are not expected to decide until Friday when the Mariners will start their Sunday AL Division Series in Seattle. But on that same day, the Seahawks are scheduled to host the Buccaneers at 1:05 p.m. local time.

If the Mariners also are scheduled to play at the same time, the Seahawks could push back their kickoff anywhere from 90 to 150 minutes, according to Seattle officials.

There is a similar but less likely scenario that could play out for the Monday night game on Oct. 20, when Game 7 of the AL Championship Series is scheduled to be played. The Seahawks host the Texans at 7:00 p.m. local time in the second game of a Monday Night Football doubleheader on ESPN.

A lot has to happen to even get to this point, but if the Mariners somehow wind up hosting Game 7 of the ACLS, the game likely would have to start somewhere around 4:30 p.m. local time, with the Seahawks kicking off some 150 minutes later, according to city officials.

These are not common scenarios, but ones that both teams and city officials have discussed and planned for.

Back in October 2022, the Seahawks and Mariners were in danger of playing at the same time due to a potential Game 4 in the Mariners’ playoff series against the Houston Astros. On the same day, the Seahawks were scheduled to play a 1:05 local time game against the Arizona Cardinals that they were preparing to push back 85 minutes, to a 2:30 start.

But the Mariners’ series didn’t last long enough, and a conflict therefore was avoided. Now, there are two potential conflicts looming in a year in which the Mariners won their first division title since 2001, when the Seahawks still played in the AFC.

T-Mobile Park, in the city’s SoDo neighborhood, is right up the street from Lumen Field, an all-purpose stadium that’s also home to the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer and the Seattle Reign FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.

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File photo of Sports Minister Mandaviya. The Sports Ministry of India has released strict selection criteria for the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, focusing on medal prospects and continental rankings. The new five-page document, unveiled on Wednesday, states that only athletes ranked in the top six for individual sports and top eight for team sports at the Asian level will be eligible for participation, with a clear emphasis on medal-winning potential.The selection criteria will also apply to other major events including the Commonwealth Games, Para Asian Games, Asian Indoor Games, Asian Beach Games, Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games, and Commonwealth Youth Games.The ministry has made it clear that additional coaches and support staff will not be permitted, even at no cost to the government.”The aim is to ensure that the athletes who have real chance of winning medal are only considered for participation in multidisciplinary sports events,” the ministry stated in the document.The ministry further emphasised its stance on participation standards: “If it comes to notice of the Ministry and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that the aim is just for participation and not aiming for excellence (medal winning), names of such sportspersons and teams will not be approved after giving proper justification.”Athletes must have matched or bettered the sixth-place performance from the previous Asian Games within the past 12 months at recognised international competitions to be eligible for nomination.For events not contested at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, athletes must achieve a top-six finish at the Senior Asian Championships within the preceding 12 months.The policy specifically excludes the Olympics and other international competitions where qualification standards are set by international federations.The ministry has established specific ranking criteria for Asian Championships. For events with less than six teams, Indian athletes must finish in the top two, while in competitions with six to 12 teams, they must place within the top four.”Only those sportspersons, coaches and support staff will be part of the contingent, whose names have been cleared at cost to the government and no additional sportspersons, coach and support staff will be included even at no cost to government,” the ministry clarified.The guidelines address championships held at different intervals. Championships conducted beyond 24 months from the Asian Games date will not be considered for eligibility.The ministry warned against attempts to circumvent rules through irregular championships or those with low competition standards.For team sports, Asian rankings will be determined based on the latest global rankings, potentially affecting teams like Indian football, currently ranked 24th in Asia.The ministry has included a relaxation clause allowing recommendations for participants who don’t meet the criteria, based on expert opinion from specific sports or SAI.The new framework aims to establish a transparent and equitable selection process, following India’s record-breaking performance at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, where they secured 106 medals, including 28 gold.The Asian Games are scheduled to take place in Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, 2026, where these new selection criteria will be implemented for the first time.

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The ACC will join the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 and play nine conference football games in future seasons.

The league announced Monday that its athletic directors voted in favor of future regular-season schedules that include nine conference games and at least 10 games against Power 4 foes.

“This positions the ACC as one of only two leagues committed to having every team annually play a minimum of 10 games against Power 4 teams,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement.

“There will be additional discussions and more details to be determined, but today’s decision showcases the commitment and leadership of our ADs in balancing what is best for strengthening the conference and their respective programs.”

This comes after the SEC announced last month it will implement a nine-game conference schedule starting with the 2026 campaign. It also requires its schools to play at least one additional game against a Power 4 opponent or Notre Dame.

Part of the SEC’s scheduling change will also feature three locked-in opponents for each school that can rotate every four years.

On 3’s Chris Low reported on what those locked-in games will look like in the immediate future:

It remains to be seen whether the ACC will take a similar approach, and Phillips’ statement highlighted the number of decisions that still need to be made. But moving to nine conference games was key to creating more uniformity across the various conferences with the future format of the College Football Playoff still up in the air.

The Big Ten and the Big 12 already play nine conference games and would surely want the other power conferences to do the same if there are going to be a number of at-large bids up for grabs in future CFP formats.

After all, an additional league game means half of the teams in the entire conference will have another loss. Those losses will hurt their resumes and decrease the overall strength of schedule for other teams in the league looking for at-large bids.

That could be particularly important if a 5-11 model is eventually put in place that gives five automatic bids to conference champions and 11 at-large bids.

As for the ACC, it had just two teams in the inaugural 12-team CFP last season. It likely would have only had one if SMU had defeated Clemson in the conference title game, but both teams made the field just to lose in the first round.

While the Tigers are just 1-3 this season and don’t seem like a realistic contender, the conference appears to have more CFP threats as a whole with Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech all off to strong starts.

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EDMONTON — Morgan Frost’s second goal of the game, scored at 1:07 of overtime, lifted the visiting Calgary Flames’ split squad to a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday at Rogers Place.

Second-period goals by Joel Farabee and Frost gave the Flames a 2-1 lead after Darnell Nurse’s goal in the first period gave the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Matvey Petrov tied it 2-2 with a goal at 18:41 of the second period.

The Oilers outshot the Flames 30-14, but Calgary goalie Ivan Prosvetov stopped 28 shots. Matt Tomkins stopped 11 shots for the Oilers.

The Flames were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Oilers went 0-for-2.

CALGARY — Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Clattenburg and Riley Stillman all scored at Scotiabank Saddledome as the Oilers’ split squad blanked the host Flames 3-0.

Oilers netminders Samuel Johnson (12 saves) and Nathaniel Day (eight saves) combined for the shutout.

Flames netminder Devin Cooley stopped 26 of 29 shots directed his way.

Kapanen gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 2:38 of the first period, and Clattenburg made it 2-0 at 8:18 of the third. Stillman scored at 11:47 of the third to give the Oilers the 3-0 lead.

The Flames went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Oilers were 0-for-2.

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KANSAS CITY — A postseason spot is sitting right in front of the Blue Jays, begging them to reach out and complete the long-obvious formality.

Theyâ€re suddenly taking their time, though, dragging this through yet another night and into yet another day. Saturdayâ€s 2-1 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was their fourth in a row. Thereâ€s nothing complex about this skid, either. In four games, theyâ€ve scored just three runs.

Once Detroit lost to Atlanta earlier in the day, all Toronto needed to satisfy the mathematics of a postseason spot was a win. Each day, that math grows simpler, but the Blue Jays are making this far more complicated than it needs to be. This isnâ€t even the meaningful clinch at this point, either.

Thatâ€s the American League East, and while the Blue Jays hold a tiebreaker over the Yankees, that lead has still shrunk to two games. Given that the Yanks close their season against the White Sox and Orioles, thereâ€s a sudden sense of urgency again to get this back on track and not only wrap up the division, but do it ahead of next weekend to allow Toronto a chance to exhale. Given how well things were going to start this week in Tampa, these arenâ€t conversations any of us expected to be having.

The answer? Thatâ€s up to the Blue Jays†offense. Shane Bieber was excellent on the mound Saturday, a pair of back-to-back home runs to Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino his only damage over 6 1/3 strong innings. The bullpen has turned a corner, too, but none of this works without the offense, which has proven capable of star performances and “all hands on deck†wins. These past four days, there has been neither.

“We havenâ€t been clicking,†manager John Schneider said. “I think thereâ€s a natural part of guys that puts a little pressure on themselves based on the standings and what other teams are doing. Youâ€ve got to just go play. Youâ€ve got to do whatâ€s gotten us here. If you got two hits yesterday, that doesnâ€t matter, go do it again today. If you got none, turn the page.â€

Daulton Varsho’s solo shot in the seventh was the Blue Jays†only sign of life on Saturday. This offense needs a jolt, not only for the sake of these clinches, but to enter the postseason with a sense of momentum.

“Weâ€ve got to have better at-bats. We will,†Schneider said. “Weâ€ve been a really good offense for the entire year. It gets magnified a little bit with where we are right now, but Iâ€m confident these guys will turn it around.â€

Itâ€s clear in stretches like this just how much the offense misses Bo Bichette, who is still in the early stages of rehabbing from his left knee sprain in hopes of returning for a potential AL Division Series. Perhaps Anthony Santander will be the unlikely boost, and could return as early as Tuesday after spending nearly four months on the IL. But some of these answers need to come from within.

This means Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hasnâ€t recorded an extra-base hit since Sept. 7 (12 games). This means George Springer, whoâ€s been one of the best stories of the season in the Majors and deserves to land in the Top 10 of the AL MVP voting. It means this offense doing all of the things that have propelled the Blue Jays to the top of the AL.

“Everythingâ€s contagious. Youâ€re seeing guys get on, get over and in. The last three or four games, that hasnâ€t happened,†Springer said, “but thatâ€s no cause for panic. Thatâ€s no cause to go and try to do something you donâ€t know how to do. Our team understands who we are. We understand who we are offensively. Obviously, this is not the best stretch at the best time, but it doesnâ€t matter. Everything is still right in front of us.â€

It means, as Schneider has said since the moment Bichette landed on the IL, “everyone†doing their part.

It all sounds so easy — just do what youâ€ve done all along — but it gets more and more difficult as the season grows shorter. By the time this grueling road trip ends Sunday, itâ€s still possible, or perhaps even likely, that the Blue Jays are popping champagne. This is all about something bigger, though, and while itâ€s still sitting in front of them, they need to reach out and grab it with both hands.

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