sport

According to sources at WSL clubs, Bompastor’s comments are widely agreed with.

At the leading English clubs, players are developed by Professional Game Academies (PGA), funded and operated by the Football Association.

The FA first awarded 20 initial PGA licences to clubs in England’s two top tiers in 2023 as part of a major revamp.

From the 2028-29 season, WSL Football – the company that operates the Women’s Super League – will take over full responsibility.

As well as the PGAs, lower-tier clubs often create partnerships with schools and colleges to form a local talent pool. They can also set up their own youth teams and academies but would not be part of a professional league.

The FA has linked up with Women’s National League clubs – the third tier – to provide funds and resources for developing young talent, as well as building connections with WSL sides who want to loan players out to clubs at that level.

Some academies have also been involved in the Women’s National League Cup and Plate competitions, and they can enter local Senior County Cup tournaments.

The maximum number of matches teams can play in a PGA league – competitions set up for age groups up to Under-21 level – has increased from 19 to 27 in the past five seasons.

In summary, England’s youngsters are getting more game time and playing in a wider range of competitions – but it is not at the elite level.

There are gaps in the data but both the FA and WSL Football have confirmed the number of minutes played in the top tier by English academy graduates has dropped dramatically in recent seasons because of the increased competition for places.

Manchester City manager Andree Jeglertz told BBC Sport it is “the biggest step a young player will take” when they break into a WSL squad.

“I can only look at our own academy and it is a big step to go from there to being a senior player, especially for clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City – teams who want to be competing in Europe,” he added.

“What is the best solution to that? I don’t know. There definitely has to be some way to bridge that gap, whether that’s how they are training or [the] professional [environment].”

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Birmingham 12, Taft 1

CALS Early College 11, East College Prep 0

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 14, ACE 4

Agoura 4, Calabasas 1

Alemany 3, Sierra Vista 0

Anaheim 11, Bolsa Grande 3

Antelope Valley 11, PACS 4

Anza Hamilton 14, Sherman Indian 1

Aquinas 7, Arcadia 4

Ayala 13, Corona Centennial 6

Beverly Hills 24, Compton Centennial 2

Bishop Montgomery 10, Atascadero 5

Bloomington 2, Arroyo Valley 1

Buena 14, Nordhoff 0

Burbank 16, Glendale 10

California City 12, Frazier Mountain 6

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 4, Hueneme 2

Carter 12, Eisenhower 3

Chadwick 4, Rolling Hills Prep 3

Chaffey 5, Don Lugo 4

Chaminade 11, St. Bonaventure

Channel Islands 11. Placentia Valencia 4

Chino 3, Ontario 2

Citrus Valley 5, Yucaipa 1

Colony 12, Pomona 1

Compton 7, Dominguez 2

Cornerstone Christian 12, Bethel Christian 1

Crean Lutheran 11, Anaheim Canyon 3

Crossroads 10, Campbell Hall 5

Crossroads Christian 19, NSLA 4

Culver City 15, Hawthorne 1

Cypress 2, La Habra 1

Desert Christian 14, Faith Baptist 1

Elsinore 18, West Valley 1

El Toro 7, Edison 0

Fontana 6, San Gorgonio 4

Foothill Tech 12, Thacher 2

Gahr 11, Patrick Henry 0

Glenn 11, Downey Calvary Chapel 6

Godinez 5, Saddleback 3

Grace 9, Thousand Oaks 8

Granite Hills 12, Adelanto 2

Great Oak 3, Chaparral 0

Harvard-Westlake 17, Santa Maria St. Joseph 0

Hoover 8, Mark Keppel 5

Katella 4, Fullerton 2

La Canada 6, South Pasadena 0

Leuzinger 8, Lawndale 3

Liberty 23, St. Monica 0

Long Beach Cabrillo 2, Lakewood 0

Long Beach Jordan 16, Avalon 0

Los Osos 1, Huntington Beach 0

Los Osos 1, Norco 0

Lucerne Valley 9, CIMSA 5

Maranatha 12, Westlake 0

Mira Costa 11, New Roads 0

Montclair 9, Diamond Ranch 0

Montebello 4, Covina 3

Muir 8, Duarte 0

Nogales 9, Baldwin Park 4

Norco 3, St. John Bosco 2

North Torrance 10, West Torrance 3

Oakwood 15, Burbank Providence 3

Orange 15, Rancho Alamitos 1

Orange Lutheran 13, Fountain Valley 1

Paraclete 3, Northview 1

Paramount 9, Long Beach Poly 2

Quartz Hill 9, Lancaster 3

Redlands 12, Redlands East Valley 4

Rialto 5, Colton 0

Righetti 8, Cathedral 5

Riverside Notre Dame 15, Rim of the World 2

San Dimas 15, Alta Loma 1

San Jacinto Valley Academy 21, California Military 0

Santa Barbara 5, Saugus 4

Santa Monica 10, Inglewood 0

Santa Rosa Academy 8, Nuview Bridge 7

Savanna 8, Westminster La Quinta 0

Segerstrom 4, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 3

Silverado 8, Vista del Lago 7

Silver Valley 18, Victor Valley Christian 3

Summit 2, Kaiser 1

Tahquitz 4, Temescal Canyon 3

Temecula Prep 9, Desert Christian Academy 1

Temecula Valley 10, Murrieta Mesa 0

Tustin 9, La Palma Kennedy 1

University Prep 4, Hesperia Christian 0

Ventura 14, Santa Paula 0

Viewpoint 14, Milken 6

Village Christian 1, Pioneer Valley 0

Vista Murrieta 13, Murrieta Valley 3

Walnut 3, San Marcos 2

Western 7, Magnolia 3

West Ranch 2, Camarillo 1

Windward 2, Brentwood 1

INTERSECTIONAL

Beckman 2, Central Valley 1

Bishop Union 7, Rosamond 2

Holtville 7, Needles 3

Kern Valley 13, Desert 2

Laguna Hills 7, El Capitan 1

Victor Valley 7, Barstow 2

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Alliance Bloomfield 20, East College Prep 5

Orthopaedic 24, Santee 7

SOUTHERN SECTION

Adelanto 10, Granite Hills 7

Artesia 9, Yucca Valley 2

Cerritos Valley Christian 16, La Palma Kennedy 10

Corona 18, Rancho Mirage 3

Grand Terrace 3, Colton 2

Heritage Christian 11, Calabasas 1

Hesperia Christian 4, University Prep 1

Highland 11, Antelope Valley 0

Littlerock 20, Palmdale 5

Quartz Hill 9, Eastside 2

Santa Fe 11, Whittier 0

St. Genevieve 23, Marymount 3

Sultana 14, Tahquitz 3

Viewpoint 10, Windward 0

Villa Park 6, El Dorado 4

Vista Murrieta 13, Great Oak 3

INTERSECTIONAL

North Torrance 5, Carson 0

Oak Park 14, El Camino Real 0

Justus Annunen stopped 43 shots — one shy of his career high — for his third career shutout, and the Nashville Predators sent the Ducks to their sixth consecutive loss, 5-0 on Tuesday night.

Erick Haula, Filip Forsberg and Brady Skjei scored second-period goals, and Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov scored in the third for the Predators. Joakim Kemmell and Ryan O’Reilly each had two assists.

The win pushed Nashville (84 points) one point ahead of the Kings for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Predators have four regular-season games left.

The Ducks, who have been outscored 29-14 during their losing streak, remain stuck at 87 points. They also have four games remaining.

The Ducks fell one point behind Edmonton and Vegas in the Pacific Division. The Ducks are only three points ahead of the currently eighth-seeded Predators and four points ahead of the ninth-seeded Kings.

Nashville broke a scoreless tie when Haula took a pass in the high slot from Kemell and snapped a shot over Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal’s blocker for his 13th goal.

Forsberg made it 2-0 on the power play. The Swedish winger snapped a shot from the high slot that beat Dostal glove-side for his team-leading 73rd point.

The Ducks had a chance to get back into the game when a pair of Nashville tripping penalties gave the Ducks a man advantage for four minutes starting with 4:16 left and a two-man advantage for a 22-second span.

But the Ducks managed just one shot on goal during the long power play, and Skjei slipped past the Ducks’ leaky defense on a breakaway and snapped a shot over Dostal’s right shoulder for a shorthanded goal and a 3-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the second.

Jeffrey Viel then took elbowing and roughing penalties with 15 seconds left that gave Nashville a man advantage for four minutes, and boos rained down from the Honda Center at the end of the second period for the second straight game.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. San José at Honda Center on Thursday.

Benn’s fight on Saturday is his first since leaving lifelong promoter Matchroom, having agreed a one-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing in February.

Zuffa Boxing is backed by UFC chief Dana White and Saudi Arabian capital.

White’s ultimate aim is to sideline the four traditional sanctioning bodies – the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA – and make Zuffa’s belt the premier world title alongside the Ring Magazine title, an organisation owned by Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh.

What Benn’s future looks like beyond his deal with Zuffa Boxing remains unclear, but his desire to win a world title – just as his father Nigel did in the 1990s – remains firm.

Benn has several avenues to explore if he beats Prograis, with Rolando Romero holding the WBA title, Lewis Crocker in possession of the IBF belt and Devin Haney reigning as WBO champion.

But Garcia, whose unpredictability Benn admires, remains the Briton’s number one target.

“You don’t know who’s turning up – you don’t know if Garcia’s turning up,” Benn said.

“You don’t if he’s going to make the fight or not, have some sort of episode. You just don’t know.

“People don’t want to be themselves in the sport of boxing, so I love it when I see a young man under fire for being who he is.

“At least you’re true to yourself and who you are. Whether I like you or not – I don’t him – but some people do, just be who you are.”

Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points, hitting six three-pointers, and the Clippers recovered after blowing a 23-point lead to beat rookie Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks 116-103 on Tuesday night.

It was Leonard’s 55th straight game with 20 or more points in the Clippers’ first win in three tries against the Mavs this season.

Leonard played in his 62nd game, and he’ll have to appear in the final three games of the regular season to reach 65 and be eligible for postseason awards such as league MVP and All-NBA honors.

Darius Garland added 22 points, Derrick Jones Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Brook Lopez had 11 rebounds for the Clippers.

After scoring 96 points in his previous two games, Flagg had 25 points and nine rebounds. The Mavs made 25 of 26 free throws, with Max Christie hitting 10 of 10. AJ Johnson had their lone miss late in the game. Marvin Bagley III had 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

The Mavs tied the game in the third and then took just their second lead, 80-77, on a basket by Ryan Nembhard. Leonard scored seven of the Clippers’ final 11 points to send them into the fourth leading 89-84.

The Clippers scored 17 consecutive points to start the game. They extended the lead to 23 points on Lopez’s three-pointer. They shot 68% from the floor and went into the second ahead 39-26.

The Mavs responded with a 21-8 run to tie it 47-47 on Bagley’s three-pointer. Flagg was limited to one basket in the second.

From there, the Clippers closed with an 18-8 spurt to lead 65-55 at halftime. Leonard scored their final seven points on a three-pointer, a basket off his offensive rebound and two free throws.

Up next for the Clippers: vs. West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday to complete a back-to-back.

When major champion Gary Woodland walks on to the first tee of Augusta National on Thursday he will be checking where the security is as much as where he needs to land his opening drive.

The 2019 US Open champion has organised extra security to help him deal with the anxiety and stress that playing golf can cause him since he had brain surgery in 2023.

He announced last month that he had been dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder since the operation to remove part of a brain tumour, although the mental health condition was only diagnosed about a year ago.

In late March he won the Houston Open – his first victory since becoming a major champion seven years ago – to qualify for this week’s Masters.

With the added pressure of playing in a major and in front of larger crowds – Woodland will play the opening two rounds alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre – he is naturally taking a cautious approach this week and, just as at PGA Tour events, has organised extra security.

“The whole deal for me is it’s visual,” he said. “If I can see somebody, then I can remind myself that I’m safe constantly.

“So I have a good idea now where security is on every hole. The big deal for me, my caddie knows too, so he can constantly remind me.”

The 41-year-old American, who is playing in his 13th Masters tournament, never knows what might cause an episode.

“I don’t have control when this thing hits me, and it’s tough,” Woodland added.

“It can be a fan. It can be a walking scorer. It can be a camera guy running by me, just any startlement from behind me can trigger this pretty quickly.

“Knowing where the security is, is a constant reminder that I’m safe.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his side “had a point to prove” following back-to-back defeats and praises his side’s reaction, as Kai Havertz’s stoppage-time winner secures a first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting.

MATCH REPORT: Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal

Available to UK users only.

England head coach Thomas Tuchel made the journey to Madrid on his latest World Cup reconnaissance mission and was richly rewarded by a thrilling Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Tuchel’s eyes were trained on Real Madrid pair Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham, as well as captain Harry Kane in his role as Bayern’s prime goalscorer.

He will have left with suspicions confirmed about Alexander-Arnold, as well as concrete evidence from Bellingham and Kane that they are surely indispensable when England’s World Cup campaign kicks off against Croatia in Arlington on 17 June.

Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are always special occasions, with supporters swarming around the magnificent arena hours before kick-off and thousands of fans clad in white gathering on Plaze de los Sagrados Corazones to welcome Real Madrid’s team bus.

To add to the drama, a warm Madrid afternoon suddenly turned to blackened skies and a deluge to set a spectacular stage for this meeting of European heavyweights.

As a classic unfolded, the game held contrasting fortunes for those Tuchel had under his microscope.

Alexander-Arnold is perhaps the most intriguing case study of the trio Tuchel was scrutinising, lavishly gifted and playing at the club most regard as the world’s biggest, and yet seemingly with no part to play in England’s summer strategy.

The 27-year-old, who moved from Liverpool last summer, has had a rocky introduction to life at Real and also suffered the ignominy of being left out of Tuchel’s 35-man England squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

And then, if that was not painful enough, when Tuchel called on replacements, he ignored Alexander-Arnold in favour of Ben White, not a regular at Arsenal this season and someone who had gone into self-imposed exile after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

For Alexander-Arnold to change Tuchel’s mind at this late stage will not be easy, and his mixed display here may have confirmed misgivings about him rather than enhanced his prospects.

In a poor first half display, Alexander-Arnold not only wasted possession far too often, but also almost gifted Bayern a goal with pass straight to Michael Olise. He was then caught napping by former Liverpool team-mate Luis Diaz as the forward put Bayern in front.

Tuchel has voiced his concerns about Alexander-Arnold’s defending and this was it in full view. And yet he then showed why he has admirers who find his exclusion from Tuchel’s plans puzzling.

As Real finally woke up with Bayern leading 2-0, it was Alexander-Arnold who delivered a series of dangerous set-pieces before firing in an inviting low cross for Kylian Mbappe to pull a goal back.

This was Alexander-Arnold in microcosm, and was not the sort of performance to have Tuchel shuffling the names already formed in his mind for World Cup selection.

The inconsistent nature of his performance is confirmed by his pass completion rate of 69.2%, the lowest of anyone in the match.

Duped. Scammed. Gouged. Sidelined.

LA28 organizers probably didn’t count on such words accompanying their first big ticket rollout ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. After all, the committee and city leaders spent the last six months talking up the event.

The LA28 committee described the arrival of the Games as a boon for the city’s inhabitants, with unifying statements: “Creating the Games together!” Mayor Karen Bass promoted a “Games for All” vision. And we’ve been told over and over that tickets to events would start as low as $28, the 24% ticketing fee included!

The presale ticket lottery for those residing in ZIP Codes around LA28 venues also meant we would have a fair shake at getting into the Games, right? Finally, an affordable way into a major L.A. sporting event for those of us who are not Casey Wasserman, the multimillionaire chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But that’s not what SoCal locals found in their first real brush with ticket access over the past week.

The presale launched Thursday, and by 10 a.m. Friday, aspiring ticket buyers reported that all artistic gymnastics events were marked “unavailable,” as was the opening ceremony. The few available tickets to swimming and athletic events such as track and field started at $1,116.27 per seat. Friends described the prices as “Criminal,” “Greedy AF” and “horrific.” My sibling said she felt crestfallen and likened it to discovering there was no Santa Claus. Jeffrey Epstein-level deception is where my mind went (please refer back to Wasserman).

Sunday was my window to sign in for the privilege of seeing what wasn’t available, or what was so far out of my price range it might as well have been cordoned off behind a gold rope and glass. There were no tennis, artistic gymnastics or men’s basketball tickets available. And by Monday, there were only a handful of events accessible for less than $150 a ticket (handball, women’s cricket, Judo). The women’s basketball bronze-medal game started at $407.17 a ticket.

Wait, was that a FBL08 Football (Soccer) Women’s Preliminary ticket at only $104.30? Forget it. It’s in St.Louis, among the handful of football (soccer) games that will take place outside California. The canoe slalom and kayak cross are scheduled for venues in Oklahoma City. Tickets are probably still available for those events, which even with air travel figured in may be the closest you’ll get an affordable LA28 event.

By Tuesday’s draw, we were graciously given the option to purchase closing ceremony tickets at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, at $4,961.20 apiece.

Remember L.A., we’re all in this together.

With that in mind, LA28 has offered locals another way in that won’t cost a dime: Volunteer to work the events throughout L.A., be it at the SoFi Arena, the Rose Bowl, the Coliseum or in Santa Anita. We should probably clarify that the dime saved is theirs, not yours. You’ll be working for free.

Those of us who registered and were selected for the ticket draw had a 48-hour time slot once the LA28 ticket portal opened to purchase up to 12 tickets per session or event. As that was hardly enough time to sell my home, jewelry and pets for ticket funds, my family and I will be watching swimming, table tennis and the 4×400-meter relay competitions from somewhere outside of L.A. That way we’ll avoid the LA28 traffic, limited parking and inflated prices.

More tickets will become available, according to LA28. Tickets for the general public for the LA28 Olympic Games are on sale from April 9 to 19. This “Drop 1” is available to fans worldwide who registered for the ticket draw and were selected for a time slot. Maybe they saved the lion’s share of tickets for the rest of the world … because they need locals to volunteer?

When the organizers claimed they would be “celebrating the communities closest to the action with the LA & OKC Locals Presale … giving local residents the chance to experience the Games up close and secure seats starting at $28,” they didn’t say that the “experience” would likely be outside their venues, on your TV screen, with $28 worth of streaming fees and snacks.

Nothing like being locked out of a party that’s taking place in your own backyard. Way to go, LA28.

Raya has kept the most clean sheets of any goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues, with his 22 across all competitions four clear of Inter’s Yann Sommer.

The former Brentford goalkeeper has become a big presence at Arsenal and is part of the team’s leadership group.

He made a vital save to deny Maxi Araujo early on in Tuesday’s match, tipping a thumping strike on to the crossbar before making three saves late on to keep the tie level before Havertz’s winner.

“It’s something that I’m there for. I’m trying to help the team as much as possible in any single action, not just defending but commanding and on the ball,” Raya told Amazon Prime.

The clean sheet was Raya and Arsenal‘s seventh in the Champions League this season – the most of any goalkeeper and any side in the competition.

“That’s something we’ve worked on a lot. It’s so important for us, those clean sheets make it easier to win games. It showed tonight, scoring in the last minute and keeping that clean sheet decides those type of games,” Raya said.

The goalkeeper’s acrobatic saves are not the only impressive aspect of his game.

Raya is given a lot of responsibility with the ball at his feet and his passing range and decision-making make Arsenal a better attacking side.

“That’s the evolution of the game,” Arteta said. “The keeper in the last few years has changed and evolved rapidly, and the amount of things that we ask him to do, it’s a lot.

“But many positions have very similar situations and demands right now, and the players have to adapt to that.

“Apart from the qualities of David, the courage, the will to do certain things, that’s when you can reach another level.”

But the Gunners boss would not be drawn on if he thought that Raya was the best goalkeeper in the world.

“He’s extraordinary, magnificent, incredible,” Arteta said. “I don’t know the right adjective. We are so happy to have him.”

Raya has 15 clean sheets in 31 Premier League matches this season, the most in the division.

He shared the Golden Glove trophy with Nottingham Forest‘s Matz Sels in 2024-25 – but Arsenal will hope that if Raya lifts that personal accolade again, it will mean they have secured silverware as a team too.

UCLA football practices simulate as many aspects of a game as possible, including TV timeouts. In a Bob Chesney practice, those simulated breaks become a chance for coaches to share information with the players.

“Instead of just taking a break … the coaches get together and then they break up and disseminate that information to the players, and then they come back together again and then we go out and play,” Chesney said.

Chesney wants his entire team to adapt, overcome and perform. These goals are often utilized in rest periods. They’re spread throughout practice to break the monotonous nature of it.

“I want the coaches to talk about the new plays they’re seeing from the offense and the new things they’re seeing from the defense,” he said. “I want them to practice coaching in-game, and they themselves want to practice coaching in-game.”

The coaching staff tries to slow things down for players. They don’t want players to rush through learning the playbook, and there’s no concrete deadline for installing plays into practice, offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy said.

“It’s fluid,” he told reporters last week.

In previous seasons at James Madison, Kennedy and Chesney noticed there were times when they would focus on learning plays too early in spring practice, leading to execution mistakes during games. This convinced them to put a hold on finalizing certain plays so players had more time to process details and make necessary adjustments.

“There’s a million football plays, but if you just install stuff and you don’t actually get a rep of it, what’s the point, right? You can’t assess it on film,” Kennedy said. “You can’t teach it to them the proper way because realistically, just like us, there’s only so much they can learn, right?”

Competition is at the heart of Chesney’s efforts to revitalize the Bruins. From the weight room to sitting in meetings, to the way the lockers are kept — everything is a competition, Chesney said.

“Every single thing is going to be graded and judged and held to a high standard, and accountability will follow it,” he said. “That has got to be it, we have to be able to compete. We play a game where you keep score and everybody’s in a one-on-one matchup and [compete] as hard as possible for 80, 90, however many plays it might be in a game.”

For UCLA, it’s important to set a level of competition that mimics game-time energy during practice.

“I want Saturdays to feel as much like a Tuesday and Wednesday as humanly possible,” Chesney said.

That includes the pressure of trying to filter out thousands of screaming fans. In punt return drills involving receiver Mikey Mathews, UCLA players rushed him, screamed at him and sprayed him with water in an attempt to prevent him from catching the ball.

Chesney doesn’t want to wait until the season starts to see if his players crack under pressure.

“I’d rather find out right now in practice three and just continue to elevate it week in and week out,” he said. “I think that’s probably the focal point of this entire program is that you pay attention to no virtue that has not been tested in fire, and I want to make sure that we test everything that we can out here in fire.”

Injury update: Linebacker Ryan McCulloch, who transferred from Cal, could see some practice time near the “very end” of the spring practice period, Chesney said. McCulloch missed most of the 2025 season because of injury.

Tottenham choose Manchester City goalkeeper as Guglielmo Vicario replacement, Liverpool monitor Italy defender, Manchester United set to miss out on England midfielder.

Tottenham are considering a move for Manchester City and England goalkeeper James Trafford, 23, as a replacement for Italy’s Guglielmo Vicario, with Inter Milan interested in the 29-year-old. (Sun), external

Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 25, is preparing to submit a transfer request to pave the way for a summer move to Real Madrid. (El Chiringuito, via Goal), external

England defender Harry Maguire, 33, snubbed a move to Inter Miami before signing a new contract with Manchester United, where he wants to finish his career. (Sun), external

Liverpool have joined Newcastle in monitoring 21-year-old Italy defender Marco Palestra, who is currently on loan at Cagliari from Atalanta. (Teamtalk), external

Manchester United will sell Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte, 24, this summer with Galatasaray, Newcastle and Tottenham all interested. (Fabrizio Romano), external

United look like missing out on England midfielder Elliot Anderson, though, with the 23-year-old preferring to move to Manchester City from Nottingham Forest this summer. (Mirror), external

Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado is open to leaving the club this summer after the 22-year-old Spain player lost his place in the first-choice XI. (SER Catalunya), external

Turkish side Fenerbahce want to sign Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma in the summer. The 29-year-old Mali international has only played eight times this season. (TurkishFootball), external

Tottenham and Chelsea are both looking at signing Sporting midfielder Maxi Araujo. The 26-year-old can play as a left winger or wing-back and is a regular for Uruguay. (CaughtOffside), external

Crystal Palace are close to signing 16-year-old left-back Harris Afzal – dubbed the next Andy Robertson – from Queen’s Park. (TeamTalk), external

Chelsea are looking to bring former Brighton defender Valentin Barco from their sister club Strasbourg this summer. The 21-year-old only made six Premier League appearances for Brighton but has been capped by Argentina. (FourFourTwo), external

Leeds forward Joe Gelhardt, 23, who has scored 13 goals in the Championship for Hull City this season, is wanted by Rangers. (FootballInsider), external

Former semi-finalist Marco Fu cruised to a 10-1 win in the opening round of World Championship qualifying to move a step closer to the Crucible.

Fu, 48, twice reached the last four of the championship in 2006 and 2016 but was most recently ranked 85th in the world.

He last played at the Crucible in 2018.

Fu had no issues in beating female player Mink Nutcharut of Thailand, hitting three century breaks including an impressive 137.

“I played quite well and scored heavily, she is very capable,” Fu said.

“It would mean everything for me to get back to the Crucible but the standard now is so high.”

1997 champion Ken Doherty will not return after losing 10-5 to Patrick Whelan, while 12-time women’s champion Reanne Evans lost 10-7 to Vladislav Gradinari of Moldova.

There are four rounds of qualifying matches, producing 16 players who will take their place in the main draw.

The tournament takes place at the famous Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from 18 April – 4 May.

Already without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers ruled out LeBron James out for Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James was questionable as he manages a chronic left foot injury. The Lakers are fighting for playoff seeding with four games left before the postseason, but with two consecutive losses and major injuries mounting, they have slipped to fourth in the West, a half-game behind Denver. The lowest they can fall is into fifth place, ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Doncic is out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and Reaves is sidelined with a Grade 2 left oblique strain. The Lakers (50-28) are also without starting guard Marcus Smart, who will miss his eighth consecutive game with because of a right ankle contusion. Now with James out, the Lakers will be down four of their five regular starters.

The 41-year-old James had played in 13 consecutive games with the Lakers going 10-3 during that span. Adjusting to a reduced ball-handling role to let Doncic and Reaves control the offense, James was shooting 54.4% from the field, averaging 17.6 points per game on only 12.3 shot attempts in the first 12 games before Doncic and Reaves were injured.

With both guards out in the Lakers’ last game against Dallas, James shot 12 for 22 from the field, scoring 30 points with 15 assists. It was the most shot attempts for James in a game since Dec. 20, 2025, when Reaves was out because of a calf strain and Doncic suffered a a leg contusion that limited him to just the first half.

The Thunder (62-16) have won five consecutive games. The defending NBA champions are 3-0 against the Lakers this season, including a 43-point drubbing last week. The Lakers finish the regular season at Golden State on Thursday, at home against Phoenix on Friday and against Utah on Sunday. The playoffs begin April 18.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy, defending Masters champion, finally belongs.

That’s how he feels in the Augusta National clubhouse, at least, even though this week marks his 18th start in the historic golf tournament.

“I always felt like I knew the week of the tournament that the clubhouse is for participants and their families,” he said, “but I still felt like I had to earn the right to be there a little more often.”

A year ago, McIlroy beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to become the sixth man to complete a career grand slam, winning all four major championships.

In the last 12 months, McIlroy has discovered that was more of a memorable mile marker than a monumental, life-changing milestone.

“I think the story as it relates to me is what do I do from now onwards?” he said Tuesday. “What motivates me? What do I still want to achieve in the game? I think that’s the story.

“And there’s still a lot I want to do. You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move. And they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach.”

It’s a reminder, McIlroy said, to find enjoyment in the journey rather than finally achieving a specific goal.

“Honestly, I felt like the career grand slam was my destination,” he said. “I got there and realized it wasn’t the destination.”

The 36-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, had gone 11 years between major championships and joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only playerswith a career grand slam.

What’s more, McIlroy was the first Masters winner to have four double bogeys over four rounds — two on Thursday, two on Sunday.

“I think panic is the wrong word, but I didn’t overreact on Thursday …” he said. “I didn’t overreact when I was only one-under through nine on Friday. I think not overreacting and not pressing too hard, I stayed patient or as patient as I could be, and I feel like that patience was rewarded.

Scottie Scheffler puts the green jacket on Master winner Rory McIlroy last year.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

“I played a 14-hole stretch at 10-under par after that, and that was literally the stretch of golf that won me the tournament. So I think in years past I would have went for a pin I shouldn’t have went at, missed in the wrong spot, made another bogey, and then all of a sudden the round starts to get away from you, especially around here.

“Last year, I didn’t let that happen to me, and that was a big difference.”

As is tradition, he wore his green jacket as he spoke to reporters from the dais in the media auditorium. He has brought that sports coat around the world in the last year, but was too protective of it to have it dry cleaned or have a tailor change a stitch of it.

“I think for the past 17 years I could not wait for the tournament to start,” he said, adding with a laugh: “This year, I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started.”

Scotland supporters will be hoping that the prices for their games against Haiti and Morocco will come down.

But the final group game against Brazil is likely to be in high demand.

Like England, Scotland are expected to have a high number of travelling fans who will look to secure tickets late.

For now, the price of the 2,937 tickets listed is broadly in line with the England matches.

The cheapest resale ticket is for the first match against Haiti in Boston. A $400 (£304) ticket is listed for a total resale cost of $690 (£524).

Again, the category four tickets are hugely inflated. Only one is available, with an asking price of $2,875 ($2,185) from an original price of $70 (£53).

Morocco is slightly more expensive, with a category two ticket priced at $805 (£612) from a face value of $430 (£327).

The resale prices for the Brazil fixture in Miami are eye-watering.

The cheapest available is in category three and has an asking price of $1,150 (£874), when it cost just $310 (£236) at the ballot stage.

For category one, the lowest listed is at $2,253 (£1,713) from a face value of $700 (£532).

The price of one ticket goes as high as £143,750 (£109,250).

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Among the fortunate (relatively) few headed to the Masters? You might spend a bundle on merchandise, but you’re unlikely to go broke buying food.

For $75.75 you can purchase the entire menu. That’s 26 items, including eight different types of freshly made sandwiches — the famous pimento cheese one costs $1.50 — water, soft drinks, three varieties of beer, white wine and desserts such as Georgia pecan caramel popcorn and a peach ice cream sandwich.

The new item this year is the Masters candy bar ($2.25), described as a dark-milk chocolate bar with caramel, rice crisps and a hazelnut crunch. Think a bunch of Rolo pieces in the shape of a Butterfinger.

The sandwiches are in sealed, green plastic baggies that match the impeccable grass of the course, so TV viewers probably couldn’t spot a stray wrapper on the ground — not that Augusta National would ever knowingly allow one to touch the meticulous turf.

In a world where you’re paying $8 for a Dodger Dog, $16 for a cheeseburger and waffle fries at a Lakers game and $19 for a craft beer at SoFi Stadium, spending less than $10 on a lunch at the Masters is a steal.

As for the merchandise emporium, well … that’s where the credit card starts heating up.

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the game as Madrid host Bayern for their first-leg clash.

Was that really Aday Mara?

It was the most maddening part of March.

It was a Cinderella story that smelled like rotting pumpkin.

It was a big dance over the sensibilities of everything that is UCLA.

Seriously, was that really Aday Mara?

Aday Mara holds a Spanish flag and a piece of the net he cut while celebrating Michigan’s national title win Monday in Indianapolis.

(AJ Mast / Associated Press)

The biggest player on the giant national champion Michigan basketball team Monday night looked familiar, yet strange.

Familiar, because he once played for the Bruins.

Strange, because he wasn’t buried on the bench.

Meet Mick Cronin’s nightmare, a 7-foot-3 indictment of his embattled program, a monumental mistake that has spent three weeks eating at the heart of even the most dedicated Bruin loyalists.

In Michigan’s overpowering run in this tournament, Mara was everywhere.

Playing the previous two seasons at UCLA, Mara was nowhere.

In six tournament games, Mara had at least two blocks in five, scored in double figures in four and racked up 26 points with nine rebounds in the semifinal win against Arizona.

In his last 11 appearances as a Bruin last season, Mara never played more than half the game.

“One Shining Moment” is another man’s darkness, and so it was that after Michigan’s 69-63 title victory over UConn Monday night, Mara unwittingly milked his co-starring role in the tournament’s annual music video compilation.

In a brief closeup from an earlier tournament game, Mara was shown wagging his tongue in celebration … or was that in revenge?

It sure felt like the latter, as Mara’s nationally televised presence this spring repeatedly summoned one question about the current UCLA basketball culture.

How could the Bruins allow the cornerstone of the program’s future to just walk out the door?

Yes, Cronin isn’t the first coach to lose a star to the transfer portal, as Michigan became the first champion for which all five starters were transfers.

But Mara was more than a transfer, he was transformative, and everyone who had watched him roaming the Pauley floor during his sporadic appearances knew it. If Mara had stayed with the Bruins this season, they could have been at least a Sweet 16 team, maybe advancing to the Elite Eight, and who knows how much further, his presence alone changing so many things about the team in so many different ways.

Michigan’s Aday Mara dunks while Arizona players watch during the Wolverines Final Four semifinal win Saturday in Indianapolis.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

His rim protection is powerful. His shot-blocking is masterful. His footwork is precise, his shooting touch soft and his overall game has been improving with his maturity.

Bruin fans loved him. Pauley rocked with him. Scouts fawned over him.

But Cronin never seemed sold on him, starting him once in two years, playing him about 13 minutes a game last season.

After which, Mara begrudgingly bolted.

“It was a hard decision to leave UCLA,” Mara told former Times staff writer Ben Bolch last spring, “because you saw every game — I was enjoying it, I was super happy because I saw all the crowd cheering for me, helping me a lot. Los Angeles is like a really, really good place, Westwood, so I’m going to miss that and I wanted to say that because it was a hard decision because it’s just after two years it feels like I spent a lot more time than two years, you know?”

When explaining the benchings, Cronin frequently talked about Mara’s matchup problems, conditioning problems, and illness problems. And to be fair, Cronin has often used his tough love with great success, turning marginal players into good ones.

But Mara was a potential superstar, and he wasn’t buying any of it.

“I had expectations when I came here that I didn’t achieve,” said Mara to Bolch. “Also, I think I felt like I was playing good, practicing good, practicing hard, you know, putting in extra work and until Wisconsin I never had the opportunity to show that I was able to play, you know? And once [Cronin] gave me the opportunity, I saw — not a lot, but I saw what I could do, so those are the two reasons.”

Ah, yes, Wisconsin. That game, in January of 2025, could have solidified the Cronin era. Instead, it eventually only served as another eventual milestone of regret.

In the Bruins upset of the Badgers, Mara had 22 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes in the best game of his UCLA career.

That finally earned him a place in the rotation after weeks of being lost on the bench, and he played more than 24 minutes in three of the next four games including finding himself in the starting lineup for the first time.

But it was also the last time. Beginning in early February, he didn’t play more than 20 minutes a game the rest of the season, which, after he experienced such success in the Badger beatdown, he found increasingly frustrating.

After the season, there were reports that Mara asked for an inordinate salary increase while demanding that he set his own practice schedule. He denied all those charges to Bolch, saying, “I feel like that’s crazy.”

You want to know what’s really crazy? That UCLA would not work with him no matter what the demands.

One can only guess about the millions of dollars paid to top UCLA athletes, but the Bruin power brokers should have busted the NIL bank for this kid. Certainly, one can also speculate that the Spaniard was considered soft and wasn’t always in great shape, but he was still a teenager and in need of the sort of persistent patience not often shown in Cronin’s world.

Whatever, there was surely a way to put Mara on a path to his seemingly destined greatness. But the hard-nosed Cronin apparently couldn’t reach him while Michigan’s gentler Dusty May could and … hmmmm.

On Monday night, one of those coaches was celebrating while the other one was watching.

Who knows, maybe Cronin and his demanding, sometimes demeaning program will pick up another shiny seven-foot star from this spring’s newly opened portal.

Or maybe not.

Mauricio Pochettino said last month that he plans to take the U.S. national team to the semifinals of this summer’s World Cup. If that’s the case, he’d better buy tickets because there’s no way the Americans are getting to that game on the field.

In its two March friendlies, the U.S. was blitzed by Belgium 5-2 and Portugal 2-0. By way of comparison, Mexico played the same two teams, in reverse order, to draws.

But wait, it gets worse. Because from the smoldering ruins of that mess, Pochettino has less than two months to choose a roster for the World Cup, a tournament U.S. Soccer has been pointing to for eight years.

Yet the March friendlies raised more questions than they answered — and it’s too late to start over.

“Right now, it’s just not enough,” DaMarcus Beasley, a four-time World Cup player, told TNT Sports. “We want to see these players compet[ing] and creating chances and being hard to play against every single match. Right now, it’s not happening.”

Pochettino ran the March training camp like an audition rather than settling on a starting 11 and trying to win games. He experimented with Tim Weah at outside back, where he has played for his club teams, and tried unsuccessfully to shake Christian Pulisic out of a career-long scoreless streak by playing him as a striker.

But he seems unable to solve some of the core issues plaguing the team. The U.S., which hasn’t posted a clean sheet since September, has become an error-prone mess on defense, with Pochettino’s wide, attack-minded approach revealing a structural fragility that has left the Americans’ thin back line exposed.

Consider the two goals in the Portugal loss. The first came after a turnover at midfield that led to a lightning-quick counterattack and the second on a poorly defended corner in which the Americans kept seven players in the six-yard box, leaving João Félix all alone at the top of the penalty area.

Behind the defense, no one has stepped up to seize the starting job in goal. Matt Turner, so spectacular four years ago in Qatar, gave up as many goals as he made saves against Belgium. And while Matt Freese was markedly better against Portugal, that was just his 14th international start.

Those are just the lowlights of the myriad issues facing Pochettino’s team.

Pulisic, the talisman who was supposed to carry the U.S., has gone cold. He hasn’t scored for the U.S. since November 2024 and hasn’t scored for his club team, AC Milan, this year. So Pochettino used him as a No. 9 against Portugal, a role Pulisic has made clear he does not like.

Christian Pulisic, left, controls the ball during an international friendly against Portugal on March 31.

(Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

It didn’t work, with Pulisic extending his goal-less streak to 15 games for club and country.

Tyler Adams, the captain in Qatar, has been saddled by injury and hasn’t played for the national team since September; right back Sergiño Dest, who started all four games in Qatar, is also hurt; center back Tim Ream, at 38, suddenly looks his age; and Gio Reyna, who has been unable to win a starting job on three teams in two countries since Qatar, nonetheless keeps getting called to the national team with little affect.

In the middle of it all is Pochettino, the highest-paid coach in U.S. Soccer history, who, despite a stellar resume as a club coach, has failed to find a consistent winning formula on the international level. In its 18 months under Pochettino, the national team has gone 11-2-1 against teams outside the FIFA top 25 and just 2-7-1 against teams ranked 25th or higher, according to ESPN. It has also lost eight consecutive games to European rivals.

Guess which kinds of teams the U.S. will have to beat to get to the semifinals of the World Cup?

It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course. After failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. team was ripped down to its foundation and built anew. Interim manager Dave Sarachan was tasked with reconstructing a roster that had grown old and stagnant, and in his 12 months in charge he gave a record 23 players — including nine who made the team for the last World Cup — their international debuts. With an average age of 25, the squad in Qatar was the second-youngest World Cup team in U.S. history.

But Qatar was just a trial run. The real goal was to have a mature, experienced team ready for this summer when the World Cup would be played at home. A deep run could fuel the kind of transformation the 1994 tournament in the U.S. achieved.

Instead, the U.S. team has regressed.

“It feels like four years have gone down the drain,” said ESPN’s Herculez Gomez, another former World Cup player.

Fortunately, the U.S. was drawn into a soft group for the World Cup. And because the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams means just 16 countries will be eliminated in the first round, even a poorly built American team should advance.

But the semifinals? Not this team and not in this tournament. To do that the U.S. would have to be better than at least four teams on a list that includes England, France, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Morocco, Brazil and the Netherlands. We already know it’s not better than Belgium or Portugal.

It might not even win its group now that Turkey, a top 25 team which beat the U.S. 2-1 last June, has qualified. And a stumble early in the tournament would make the kind of deep run Pochettino promised that much more difficult.

“We are so close to the World Cup,” Pochettino said after the Portugal loss. “But I think we are intelligent enough to know what we need to do.”

Buy tickets was not supposed to be the answer.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

A look at the top 20 high school softball teams in the Southland as ranked by CalHiSports.com for The Times.

Rk.; Last ranking; School; Record

1. (1) Murrieta Mesa, 15-0

2. (3) Norco, 14-2

3. (2) Fullerton, 16-2

4. (8) Etiwanda, 15-1

5. (5) La Mirada, 18-2

6. (NR) Ganesha,11-2

7. (7) Orange Lutheran,10-5

8. (4) JSerra, 14-2

9. (6) Oaks Christian, 13-1

10. (9) M.L. King, 14-4

11. (12) Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 12-3

12. (NR) Downey, 16-4

13.(10) Chino Hills, 13-6

14. (NR) Cypress, 13-5

15. (NR) California, 14-3

16. (11) Chaminade, 10-2-1

17. (18) Garden Grove Pacifica, 12-6

18. (14) La Habra, 14-5

19. (20) Anaheim Canyon, 12-8

20. (19) Westlake, 12-3-1

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where life comes at you fast.

Only a week ago, the Lakers were winning games and flying high. Quite literally. Remember when Luka Doncic dunked?

Happier times.

Now Doncic and Austin Reaves are both sidelined at least for the rest of the regular season and likely through the first round of the playoffs. The injury updates that came on consecutive days following Thursday’s 43-point loss to Oklahoma City felt like a devastating series of gut punches. Coach JJ Redick often talks about “not letting go of the rope.” The Lakers will have to white-knuckle their way through the next few weeks without their two stars.

Why is Luka Doncic in Europe?

Lakers star Luka Doncic reacts after sustaining a hamstring injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2.

(Cooper Neill / Getty Images)

He knows magic. Now Luka Doncic needs medicine to help pull off his next stunning trick.

With the playoffs approaching, Doncic traveled to Europe to seek treatment for his strained left hamstring, his agent, Bill Duffy, confirmed to The Times’ Broderick Turner. The hope is that with specialized treatments, Doncic can speed up what is typically a four- to six-week recovery process and get back in time for at least part of the Lakers postseason, which begins April 18.

Ultrasound-guided platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and stem cell injections are the most common treatments for injuries of this nature, said Kenton Fibel, a primary care sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics.

The biologic injections can speed up healing of injured tissue. PRP injections use the natural growth and anti-inflammatory factors in platelets to promote healing while stem cells harvested from a patient’s bone marrow or adipose tissue similarly help with the regeneration and turnover of the healing tissue into normal muscle tendon tissue, Fibel said.

Top U.S. athletes have gone to Europe to seek the treatments for decades. Kobe Bryant, former Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey are among those who’ve crossed the pond for solutions to chronic injuries. But similar treatments are also available in the United States.

In the U.S., only PRP and stem cell injections coming from a patient’s own body are allowed and the cells are not allowed to be manipulated, Fibel said. With looser regulations in Europe, doctors can attempt to increase the concentration of anti-inflammatory factors in a single PRP sample or culture stem cells over days to increase the number of them with hopes of speeding up healing even more.

Whether there is a significant increase in efficacy between the cutting-edge European treatments compared to the U.S. methods is unclear, Fibel said, but an athlete’s decision to pursue treatment often comes down to individual comfort level or prior experiences.

Lakers star Luka Doncic shoots over Brooklyn Nets guard Drake Powell during a Lakers win on March 27.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The ubiquity of degenerative conditions or recurring soft tissue injuries in sports have turned European countries, including Germany and Switzerland, into hot spots for top athletes searching for help.

“These are injuries that are not always that easy to completely prevent, and it’s also not the easiest to always prevent reaggravation,” Fibel said. “And so I think [the new treatments] also comes from a frustration of doing a lot of the treatments and modalities that were used in prior injuries and still having an issue afterwards [so] that they’re searching for something new and different.”

Doncic knows the routine when it comes to hamstring injuries. As a player who thrives on his shifty change of pace, Doncic’s quick start and stop motions put extra load on his hamstrings and put him at risk of reinjury. Another left hamstring strain sidelined him for four games earlier this season.

Now with a Grade 2 injury, Doncic’s timeline for recovery would typically be four to six weeks. A Grade 2 injury shows “true disruption” that involves about 50% of the tissue, Fibel said. The most severe Grade 3 is used to describe a more significant, if not complete, tear of the muscle or tendon. The Lakers have suffered several Grade 2 injuries this season, including Austin Reaves’ latest left oblique strain.

The timing of the injuries couldn’t be worse for the Lakers. Not only do the playoffs begin in less than two weeks, but the Lakers were playing their best basketball of the season before the injuries to Doncic and Reaves. They appeared to be legitimate contenders in the playoffs. Now they must wait to see if Doncic’s super serum turns him into a superhero capable of saving their postseason.

“[Doncic is] going to go through all the necessary things to be back at some point,” Redick said, “and it’s our job again to extend the season so both those guys can get back.”

Scoreboard watching

Lakers star LeBron James reacts during a game against the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 28.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s true what they say: No lead is safe in the NBA.

Just when it looked like the Lakers were likely to finish third in the West, the Nuggets found a rhythm, the Lakers got bitten by the injury bug and the Rockets refused to relent.

Reeling from the loss of their two leading scorers, the Lakers have fallen to fourth in the West with Denver surging on a nine-game winning streak. After an overtime win against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, the Nuggets (51-28) have a half-game advantage over the Lakers for the No. 3 seed.

The good news: The Lakers can’t drop below the fifth seed, thanks to Minnesota’s recent slide. They also have an additional cushion from their exceptional March, which gave them head-to-head tiebreakers against Denver and Houston.

I won’t repeat the obvious injury-related bad news.

To drop to fifth, the Lakers have to be 2-2 (or worse) in their last four games, while the Nuggets, who have the head-to-head tiebreaker against Houston, go at least 2-1 and the Rockets (49-29) run the table. The Nuggets have the tougher schedule between the three teams, though, playing both Oklahoma City and San Antonio in the final three games.

Here’s a look at the remaining games for the teams fighting for third, fourth and fifth in the West:

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

On tap

Tuesday vs. Thunder (62-16) 7:30 p.m. PDT

The Lakers won’t be able to undo last week’s 43-point loss in Oklahoma City, but a competitive showing in the rematch could at least offer a much-needed confidence boost entering the postseason.

Thursday at Warriors (36-42), 7 p.m.

The Warriors are in position to eke into the play-in tournament as the 10th seed. Believe it or not, this could be the last meeting between LeBron James and Stephen Curry in their illustrious careers as the 41-year-old James enters unrestricted free agency this summer.

Friday vs. Suns (43-35), 7:30 p.m.

Phoenix is currently seventh in the West with a chance to chase down sixth-place Minnesota for a playoff berth. Dillon Brooks recently returned from a fractured left hand that kept him out for about six weeks. The Suns went 9-9 during his absence.

Sunday vs. Jazz (21-58), 5:30 p.m.

The Jazz and the Kings are in a heated race to the bottom of the conference. Losers of nine straight, the Jazz are primarily hoping to keep their top-eight protected draft pick, which was at risk of conveying to Oklahoma City.

Status report

Luka Doncic: left hamstring strain

The Lakers have ruled Doncic out for at least the remainder of the regular season. Doncic previously missed four games with another left hamstring strain, but that same timeline won’t apply because the absence rolled into All-Star weekend, when he made a token appearance in the All-Star Game.

Austin Reaves: left oblique strain

Reaves played through the injury he suffered in the first quarter against the Thunder last week, but was ruled out for the rest of the regular season and he likely will miss the first round of the playoffs. He was injured while reaching for a loose ball.

Marcus Smart: right ankle contusion

Smart will miss his eighth consecutive game Tuesday against the Thunder as his ankle injury has lingered for more than two weeks since he got tangled up with Orlando’s Goga Bitadze. While Smart has worked out with staff members on the court before games, he is still day-to-day for his return.

Favorite thing I ate this week

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

When in doubt, consult the L.A. Times. For all the news you need to know, yes, but also about your local food needs. This dinner was brought to you by the L.A. Times’ best 101 restaurants list, which recommended Lalibela on Fairfax for an Ethiopian feast. We started with the lentil sambusa (not pictured), which came with a perfectly spiced herb sauce, and shared the veggie utopia, which hits every note with the restaurant’s most popular vegetarian dishes.

In case you missed it

Injury-riddled Lakers lose to Dallas; Luka Doncic to have medical treatment in Europe

Lakers’ Austin Reaves out for rest of regular season with oblique strain

Luka Doncic’s hamstring strain will keep him out for remainder of the regular season

Lakers star Luka Doncic suffers hamstring injury in reality-check loss to Thunder

After a sizzling March, Lakers face a big playoff test against equally hot Oklahoma City

Luka Doncic matches Michael Jordan for the most magical March in NBA history

LeBron James achieves his 125th career triple-double in Lakers’ win over Wizards

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!