3:19 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Tony Bellew insists Billy Joe Saunders — banned from making a world title defence this Saturday — is not a drugs cheat, telling ESPN
4:12 AM ET Marc J. Spears Paul George revealed to ESPN’s The Undefeated that he “would have been in a Lakers uniform” if he had never been traded from the Indiana Pacers. But after the Pacers dealt the five-time All-Star to the Oklahoma City Thunder instead last year, he fell in love with his new
3:37 AM ET Associated Press SINGAPORE — The Women’s Tennis Association said Thursday that No. 1-ranked Simona Halep has withdrawn from the WTA Finals because of a lower back injury. Halep’s withdrawal means Kiki Bertens has qualified for the final spot, joining Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and
3:00 AM ET Lunch Pakistan 282 all out and 232 for 4 (Fakhar 66, Azhar 64, Lyon 2-97) lead Australia145 all out by 369 runs Nathan Lyon and Shaun Marsh celebrate Haris Sohail’s dismissal Getty Images Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam steered the game out of competitive waters and back firmly in Pakistan’s hands with an
3:20 AM ET Chris Herring SAN ANTONIO — It wasn’t exactly leading the benchwarmers to victory over the starters in a scrimmage, but Jimmy Butler — even in a somewhat rusty form — again illustrated his value to the Timberwolves in their season-opening 112-108 loss here against the Spurs Wednesday. Down eight points and looking
3:30 AM ET PHOENIX — On a night that was supposed to be about two touted rookie debuts, it was a return that stole the show Wednesday in Phoenix. Returning from a broken hand suffered late in the summer, Devin Booker shook off some early rust to showcase his star potential and the reason the
1:00 AM ET HOUSTON — The Toyota Center crowd welcomed Carmelo Anthony with a loud ovation when he checked into the season opener with 7:12 remaining, the first time the 10-time All-Star came off the bench during his NBA career. Houston’s home crowd didn’t have too many other opportunities to cheer on Wednesday night, as
11:58 PM ET LOS ANGELES – Everyone around Chris Taylor was seemingly being ushered to one media obligation or another after the Dodgers defeated the Brewers, 5-2, to take a 3-2 lead in the National League Championship Series and put themselves one win away from the World Series. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, third baseman Justin
12:29 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Erik Kratz swung through a Clayton Kershaw curveball as if he had never seen a baseball move before. It was a 1-1 count in the top of the fourth inning Wednesday. The Milwaukee Brewers were leading by a run in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, and
11:14 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Ducks have signed holdout power forward Nick Ritchie to a three-year contract. The Ducks announced the deal Wednesday night before the opening faceoff of their home game against the New York Islanders. Ritchie missed the entire preseason and six regular-season games while holding out for