UR MAG

Houston Rockets All-Star Kevin Durant is expected to miss Sunday’s Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle,ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

If confirmed, Durant will miss his third game of the series. He missed Game 1 with a knee injury, then missed Game 3 with his sprained ankle.

Per the report, the bone bruise is an injury that would typically sideline a player 2-3 weeks during the regular season, putting Durant’s availability in question moving forward if the Rockets manage to extend the series Sunday night. The Lakers have a 3-0 series lead and can close it out with a win in Game 4.

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The Rockets have struggled with and without Durant on the floor during this series and are now faced with becoming the first NBA team to ever rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a series or face elimination in the first round. Playing without Durant in Game 4, obviously, makes their task that much tougher.

Durant scored 20 points in the first half of Game 2. But the Lakers limited him to three points after halftime en route to a 101-94 win. The Rockets then blew a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds of Game 3 before going on to lose in overtime Friday night.

The Lakers have built their 3-0 lead despite playing without their top two scorers, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. LeBron James has led the Lakers’ effort while Los Angeles’ role players have stepped up in Reaves’ and Dončić’s absence.

Maxx Crosby has advice for Fernando Mendoza

NEED TO KNOW

• The Las Vegas Raiders defensive end offered some insight about transitioning to the NFL, while on his podcast

• Mendoza was selected first by the Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft

Maxx Crosbyis offeringFernando Mendozaa little advice on the eve of the quarterback’s rookie season.

“It's a whole another game, coming to the NFL, it's the highest level — there's no other level higher,” the Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, 28, said on the Tuesday, April 28 edition of his podcastThe Rush. “And you have to realize that you're there for a reason. You can't let that be intimidating. It's easy to say, but harder to do.”

He continued, “And you just got to be 100% bought in on the process because your time, it's not on your timing. ... You don't know when it's going to be, your name's going to be called. And that's one of the toughest things in this league, you know what I mean? I've seen it break a lot of people.”For Crosby, his name was called after a tradenearly sent him to the Baltimore Ravenslast month.

Three days later, the Ravens canceled the deal after Crosby failed his physical, sending the Texas native back to Vegas — and setting the table for him to have Mendoza, 22, as a teammate.

All of which has him seemingly understanding where the Heisman Trophy winner is coming from.

“With Fernando, he didn't have the easiest road. He started at Cal, and then he transferred," Crosby said. "He wasn't considered the No. 1 pick going into this past season, but he handled the adversity incredibly. He goes and wins every single game, wins a natty, wins a Heisman and now look at what it's done for his life, you know what I mean? So anytime you get an opportunity to go out there and just compete and just put your best foot forward, that's what it all comes down to and that's where you earn respect from the guys.”As far as the former Indiana Hoosiers signal-caller is concerned, consider that a message already received.

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"Whatever everyone is ranking me, I don’t know those specifics, but I’m at the bottom of the totem pole right now, and I’ve got to first earn the respect to my teammates, earn that equity, and I’ve also just got to immerse,”Mendoza told reportersafter he was drafted No. 1 on Thursday, April 23. “And I’m just ready to do whatever the team needs and calls me to do to help them win.”

As the Raiders aim to pick up the pieces after last season's 3-14 campaign, Mendoza is poised to make an impact, but how much so is currently unknown.

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With veteran quarterbackKirk Cousinson the roster, the franchise could choose, at least initially, to let the Miami native watch and get acclimated to league.

“I think for him, just come in and just be himself. That's what I told him. Just just be yourself. Come in and do what you do,” Crosby said, sharing that Mendoza should “carry” himself like he’s the starter.He added, “Don't wait until you're out there on the field to go and lead. Like even if you're the second-string guy, if you're the third-string guy, whatever it is, still be 100% yourself and let your personality show and just be authentic. I think that's the most important thing.”

Read the original article onPeople

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss court on Tuesday dismissed a trial against the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including money laundering and bribery, noting that she is in prison at home and has not been allowed to take part in the proceedings.

The Swiss case againstGulnara Karimova, the daughter of former President Islam Karimov, was abandoned one day after the trial opened in the southern city of Bellinzona. It had been set to run through May 22.

The presiding judge said Uzbek authorities had indicated that Karimova, 53, would not be released until after her full sentence is completed in December 2028 on convictions in Uzbekistan including embezzlement. The judge said the charges in Switzerland will have elapsed under the statute of limitations.

Karimova was first convicted in Uzbekistan in 2015. She was initially ordered to serve her sentence at her daughter’s home, but a 2019 court ruling placed her behind bars for violating the terms of her confinement.

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She is now serving a 13-year sentence for organizing a criminal group, extortion and embezzlement. Uzbek news outlet Podrobno reported Monday that Karimova has been held in a women’s penal colony in outskirts of the capital, Tashkent, since early last year.

The Swiss case centered onalleged bribery and money launderinginvolving assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a crime ring known as “The Office," which involved several dozen people and multiple companies.

The trial will continue against Swiss private bank Lombard Odier and a former employee over allegations from Swiss prosecutors that they had a “decisive role" in hiding the proceeds of the crime ring's activities.

Lombard Odier has said the charges against it — which it contests and will defend against — center on “organizational shortcomings in prevention measures,” not allegations of involvement in money laundering.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero is day-to-day with a bruised jaw after getting struck with a foul tip during the first inning of Tuesday night's game against Cleveland.

Caminero was injured when he fouled a cutter from Cleveland's Tanner Bibee off the plate. The ball bounced off the plate and hit him in the area of the right jaw. Caminero fell to the ground and was face down for a couple minutes as Tampa Bay's trainer came out.

Caminero was examined for a couple minutes before deciding to remain in for the at-bat. He grounded out to Bibee before being replaced by Ben Williamson.

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The 22-year old Caminero — who spent three years in Cleveland's organization — leads the Rays with eight home runs and had hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games before Tuesday night.

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

In her ideal world, Olivia Pichardo would just play ball and not take attention away from her teammates.

Brown Woman Pitcher

“Sometimes it feels a little ridiculous,” she told The Associated Press, “but it’s something I understand is going to happen. That's not what my primary focus is ever on.”

Pichardo has grown accustomed to being the only girl on her baseball team during her years in Little League, high school and travel ball. Four years ago she tried out for the Brown University team, made it and early in her freshman season became thefirst woman to appear in a Division I gamewhen she pinch-hit against Bryant.

On her senior day last Saturday, she became the first woman to pitch in a Division I game when she got the final out in a key win over Cornell.

“I feel like sometimes it might distract a bit too much from the success of our team,” Pichardo said. “We just made the playoffs for the first time since 2007, so that’s a huge accomplishment, and I wouldn’t want to take away from that."

Pichardo was listed as an outfielder and pitcher her first three years and focused only on pitching this season. The fact she stuck it out four years might seem surprising. Brown has played 151 games since Pichardo arrived, and she has appeared in only six. She pinch-hit once as a freshman, once as a sophomore and three times as a junior, when she also played right field for an inning and caught two flies.

Until Saturday, she hadn't appeared in a game this season, let alone warmed up in the bullpen. With Brown leading Cornell 16-3 in the ninth inning, coach Frank Holbrook's plan was to have little-used reliever Ty Harris get the first two outs and have Pichardo finish.

The 5-foot-7, 165-pound Pichardo has a four-pitch repertoire that includes a low-80s four-seam fastball to go with a sinker, changeup and curve. She entered with the bases loaded and threw two fastballs to Tyler Beaulieu, who grounded out to short to end Brown's 16-4 win.

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Pichardo said she has never had any problem melding with her teammates. She prefers just being one of the guys and not taking spotlight away from the team. She does, however, understand the magnitude of what she’s accomplished, not just in college but also in summer ball. In 2023, she became the first woman to hit a home run in a summer league,connecting for Sag Harborin the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.

“It’s important for inspiring the younger generation of female baseball players, give them some kind of hope, I guess, that if they want to play at the collegiate level, no matter what division, that door is open for them and it is possible,” she said.

Pichardo, who graduates this spring with a degree in business economics, has been able to capitalize on name, image and likeness opportunities as the most visible woman in college baseball. She's in her third year as an endorser for the baseball equipment and apparel company Warstic Sports and she has a deal with Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards.

Once Brown's season ends, she'll turn her attention to trying out for the U.S. women's team that will play in the group stage of the 2027 World Cup. She has been a regular on Team USA since 2022 and pitched against Japan in the 2024 World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Pichardo said she's been grateful for every baseball opportunity since her father signed her up for a league in her hometown of Queens, New York, when she was 6.

“He didn't have any sons, so I like to say I was his designated son,” she said. “I've always been able to play at every level that I've progressed to, so there was never any reason for me to stop playing baseball just because I didn't see other women in the same space as me. It was my first sport, my first love and I knew I wanted to try and play at the highest level possible.”

AP college sports:https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports