ALEX MAG

NEW DELHI (AP) — India will be chasing a thirdTwenty20 World Cuptitle when the 2026 edition, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, gets underway Saturday.

The defending champion India squadwill be in action on opening day, taking on the U.S. team at Mumbai. Sri Lanka will play its first game against Ireland in Colombo on Sunday.

The tournament will feature 20 teams divided into four groups of five. The group stage will run until Feb. 20. The playoffs will start with the Super Eights stage from Feb. 21-March 1, followed by semifinals on March 4 and 5 and the championship decider on March 8.

No host nation has ever won the men's T20 World Cup, nor has any team lifted the trophy three times (West Indies and England are also two-time champions) — India is aiming to change history on both counts. Here's what to know:

India's title defense

India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa and then had to wait another 17 years to lift the trophy again. That drought ended in 2024, when Rohit Sharma led his squad to victory over the Proteas in the final at Barbados.

India's longtime stars Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retired from the T20 format in international cricket following that victory. Now, under Suryakumar Yadav, the defending champions are chasing a repeat performance on home soil.

India has won every T20 series it has contested in the last two years, including victories against South Africa and Australia away from home, as well as theAsia Cuplast year in the United Arab Emirates.

India is placed in Group A with the United States, Namibia, Netherlands and archrival Pakistan. There's been adoubt over the high profile India-Pakistan contest– a fixture highlight in International Cricket Council tournaments – which is scheduled for Feb. 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Pakistan government has refused permission for its national team to play against India in response to the ICC's refusal to accommodateBangladesh's request for venue changes. The result wasScotland replacing Bangladesh in the tournament.

There's a lengthy history of political tension overshadowing high profile cricket between the neighboring countries.

If Pakistan forfeits the game, it gives India a relatively trouble-free pathway to the playoff stage.

Sri Lanka's home advantage

Since the 2024 T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka has played 32 T20s and lost about half of them. Even on home soil, it has only beaten West Indies and alsolost to England in the build-upto this tournament.

Yet there's history of Sri Lanka lifting for the big limited-overs tournaments and, for starters, it helps to be playing all games in familiar conditions either at Colombo or Pallekele.

The 2014 champions are placed in Group B with Ireland, Oman, Zimbabwe and 2021 champions Australia.

Getting out of this group is the first objective, but the real challenge will begin afterward. In the second round, Sri Lanka could face Pakistan, New Zealand and England — it has won only five of 16 games against these three teams since 2024.

Sri Lanka will count on spinners Wanindu Hasranga and Maheesh Theekshana to bolster its chances, with Matheesha Pathirana leading the pace attack. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis will have to carry much of the batting load.

Between 2009 and 2014, Sri Lanka reached three T20 World Cup finals, finally winning the title in the last of those with a victory over India in Dhaka. It was the final T20 game for star players Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena, and Sri Lanka is yet to scale similar lofty heights again.

The Favorites

Ranked No. 1 in the ICC T20 rankings, India is the obvious favorite for the title.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir may not have had much success recently in the test or one-day international formats, but his T20 plans have mostly all worked out well.

Abhishek Sharma has become a fan favorite in the absence of Sharma and Kohli. The big-hitting opener is already filling stadiums as fans line up to watch his skills. The No. 1-ranked T20 batter will be key to India's ambitions for the title.

"He's a star. He can be the leading run-scorer and potentially player of the tournament," analyst and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said on the ICC Review podcast.

"If he does, that makes India even harder to beat. If he doesn't, they are as vulnerable as anybody else."

Skipper Yadav also regained form in the recent series against New Zealand, while Ishan Kishan has provided fresh impetus to the batting at No. 3. In the bowling department, Harshit Rana is a shoe-in with his all-round skills, while mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy – also the No. 1-ranked T20 bowler – will be hard to handle on home pitches.

T20 veterans Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya – who both played crucial roles in India's grand final win at Barbados – will once again play important roles for India. Potentially, it could be Bumrah's last T20 World Cup.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Collin Gillespie scored a career-high 30 points, Mark Williams had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns bounced back from a slow start for a 130-125 win over the reeling Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.

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Grayson Allen also scored 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Jordan Goodwin had 16 points and 10 rebounds on a night when the Suns played without leading scorer Devin Booker (25.4 points per game), who was out with a right ankle sprain. Jalen Green was also out of the Suns' lineup.

Gillespie tied a career high with eight made 3-pointers and also had 10 assists.

Jerami Grant had 23 points to lead Portland, which lost its sixth straight game. Donovan Clingan had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Shaedon Sharpe added 19 points for Portland.

The Trail Blazers also played without their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Deni Avdija (25.5 points per game), who has a lower back strain and was just named to his first All-Star game.

Vit Krejci had five points in his Portland debut after being acquired in a trade with Atlanta.

Portland jumped to a 41-30 lead after one quarter but Phoenix pulled within 72-67 at halftime. The Suns took control by outscoring the Blazers 34-22 in the third quarter.

Williams' layup with 3:55 left in the third quarter put the Suns ahead for good at 88-87.

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The Trail Blazers turned the ball over 17 times, six more times than the Suns.

Suns: Return home to play Golden State on Thursday night.

Trail Blazers: Host Memphis on Friday night.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided byData Skriveand data fromSportradar.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Twenty20 World Cup gets underway in India and Sri Lanka on Saturday. The smash-and-bash nature of this cricket format makes it very likely to unearth a few stars of the future.

Here are five names to watch out for:

Abhishek Sharma, India

The opening batter is already setting T20 alight with his powerful hitting from ball one. Sharma has the highest strike-rate in T20s – 194.74 – and is currently the No. 1-ranked T20 batter in the world.

Despite only playing cricket's shortest, sharpest format at international level,Sharma has quickly climbed the ladder for India. In 38 matches, he averages 37.05 and has already hit two hundreds and eight half-centuries – that's a 50-plus score once every four times he goes to the crease. It sends a very clear warning to the opposition bowlers.

Sharma was player of the tournament in the 2025 Asia Cup – where he finished with a strike-rate of 200 and three successive half-centuries. It was his first taste of a multi-team tournament, beyond the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He first hit headlines matching Australia's Travis Head stroke-for-stroke in the 2024 season, and has already climbed up the charts – fans line up to watch him bat. Undoubtedly, he holds the key to India's ambition of defending its 2024 title.

Jacob Bethell, England

The 22-year-old allrounder got a taste of the fan experience during his time with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League last year. He played only two matches, but scored 55 off 33 balls on debut against Southern rivals Chennai Super Kings. Bengaluru won the game by two runs and Bethell has a big fan following in India now.

He proved his worth in the test arena with 154 against Australia in the Ashes series finale in Sydney – an innings that tied him to England's short-term future across formats.

Bethellis suited to Indian conditions, owing to his attacking stroke play against spin and his ability to bowl decent left-arm spin. In England's last match before the World Cup, he picked up 4-11 in 3.3 overs against Sri Lanka.

Dewald Brevis, South Africa

A quintessential franchise product,Breviswas signed by Mumbai Indians immediately after the 2022 Under-19 World Cup after he led the scoring for the Proteas. However, it wasn't an IPL only deal.

Brevis was embedded within the MI ecosystem and went on to feature for the franchise across the world, gaining valuable experience. Later, he also became part of the MI Cape Town (SA20) and MI New York (MLC) franchises. In October 2022, at age 19, Brevis scored the highest T20 score in South Africa – 162 off 57 balls – and was nicknamed 'Baby AB' after ex-Proteas star AB de Villiers.

All of it proved too much for Brevis, though, and his development was stunted. So much so, MI dropped him from the IPL squad ahead of the 2025 auction. He returned to South Africa's domestic cricket scene, focused on the basics of scoring runs and fought his way back to prominence.

Chennai Super Kings took a gamble on him during the 2025 IPL as an injury replacement. He hit 57 off 23 balls, including five sixes, against Gujarat Titans and was player of the match. It cemented his spot in the Chennai squad for the near future, and cricket fans await his return to action at this T20 World Cup.

Noor Ahmad, Afghanistan

Following in the footsteps of compatriot Rashid Khan, the left-arm wrist spinner is already in high demand across T20 leagues. Along with representing Afghanistanat the international level, he has also featured in T20 leagues in India, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, the U.S., Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia, England and the West Indies – all before his turning 22.

With nearly 200 T20s behind him, Ahmad will be a handful in spin-friendly conditions both in India and Sri Lanka. His exposure to batters across the world can also be a handicap, but the left-arm angle and his mystery wrist spin is often difficult to read.

For this reason, Chennai Super Kings had paid around US$1.2 million to secure his services. Small evidence to his growing stature is the fact that Ahmad has out-bowled even Rashid Khan in the IPL for the past two seasons – he picked 32 wickets to Khan's 17. Together, the duo is certain to cause trouble for Afghanistan's opponents at this T20 World Cup.

Finn Allen, New Zealand

At the start of his career, Allen struggled with consistency. It is tough for an explosive batter in the T20 arena. With time, though, he has got on top of this aspect. It resulted in the third-highest tally ofsixes in a T20 international innings– 16 against Pakistan in 2024 — as Allen scored 137 off 62 balls.

That knock re-calibrated Allen's career – he has since gone on to feature in various T20 leagues across the world. Most recently, he amassed 466 runs for Perth Scorchers in Australia's Big Bash League at strike-rate 184 and powered them to a record sixth title.

Days later, he landed in India and played in the fifth T20 for New Zealand, smashing 80 off 36 balls with six sixes. New Zealand lost that game but Allen set his path straight for the upcoming world tournament. For the Black Caps to win a first T20 title, Allen's hitting prowess will be key.

AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

NEW YORK (AP) — Austin Reaves was bored. He would lift weights during the day, but all he could do during games was watch his Los Angeles Lakers from the bench.

"I think all I did for a month and a half was yell at the refs. So that's no fun," Reaves said. "It's better to yell at them on the court."

He finally got back on the floor Tuesday night for the first time since Christmas, helping theLakers beat the Brooklyn Nets 125-109.

Reaves had missed the previous 19 games with a left calf strain. He came off the bench and scored 15 points in 21 minutes. The Lakers had the game well under control by the time he entered late in the first quarter, perhaps getting extra energy knowing that one of their best players was rejoining a team that has faced frequent absences.

"It was just a boost for all of us, especially at the end of a road trip, to get a guy like that back," LeBron James said. "Obviously his rhythm is a little off but he still made an impact and just happy to have him back."

Reaves was off to a terrific start to the season before he was sidelined. He missed three games with the injury in December, then was in just his second game back when he was hurt again against Houston on Dec. 25.

He came into Tuesday averaging 26.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds, and coach JJ Redick said before the game the Lakers have missed the guard in every facet of the game.

"He's an All-Star-level player and of course you're going to miss him in a number of ways," Redick said.

Reaves was listed as questionable to play Sunday against the Knicks and wanted to so he could play at Madison Square Garden, but just didn't feel ready. He said he woke up feeling better Tuesday and decided he would join the Lakers in the final game of their eight-game trip.

Redick said the Lakers have had their full complement of players only twice this season, and James said after the loss to the Knicks that Reaves' absence made it difficult to evaluate the team's potential.

"Unfortunately our All-Star 2-guard has been out for a minute and that's a big piece of our team," James said. "So it's kind of hard to see what we can really, truly be."

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If Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was looking for a vote of confidence from the revamped Atlanta front office, he didn't get it during new GM Ian Cunningham's introductory press conference on Tuesday.

When asked if Penix, who is recovering from a torn ACL that prematurely ended his second NFL season in November, will be the team's starter in 2026, new Falcons president of football operations Matt Ryan -- also a former Atlanta quarterback from 2008-2021 -- did not give a definitive answer.

"Neither of us are the head coach of the football team, so we can't answer your question on that," Ryan said. " ... I think as we start to get into this process and dive deeper into the roster -- how it currently stands, where it's going in the future -- I think those are conversations that'll be a part of it.

"Quarterback's obviously very important, and we're excited about Mike and what he's doing with his rehab. I've been up at the facility the last three weeks, and Michael's been in there attacking that and he's in a good space right now, so we're excited about where he is at. But certainly, a lot of discussions for us about the entire roster."

Penix, who Atlanta selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft months after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal in free agency, took over the starting job late in his rookie season and entered 2025 as the starter.

This past season, he completed 60.1% of his passes for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions in nine starts. The Falcons went 3-6 in games he started compared to a 5-3 record in Cousins' starts after he replaced Penix following his injury.

Cousins is likely to be released this offseason due to his significant salary, especially after the team restructured his contract in January.

With Penix's return timeline for the start of the 2026 season uncertain, that could force Atlanta to look for a quarterback either in free agency or April's draft if it elects to move on from Cousins after two seasons.

--Field Level Media

AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — Luke Skaljac scored a career-high 19 points and No. 23 Miami (Ohio) held on for a 73-71 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday night, extending the longest winning streak in Mid-American Conference history to 23 games.

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Brant Byers added 11 points for the RedHawks (23-0, 11-0), and Peter Suder had 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Miami and Arizona (22-0) remain the only unbeaten teams in Division I.

Angelo Brizzi scored 22 points and Daniel Freitag had 18 to lead Buffalo (14-9, 4-7). The Bulls have lost seven of eight games following a 13-2 start that was the second-best in the program's Division I history.

Noah Batchelor's 3-pointer got Buffalo within 73-71 with 11 seconds remaining. Skaljac missed two free throws in the final 16 seconds, including the front end of one-and-one after Batchelor's basket, but Ryan Sabol's fallaway 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim.

Miami's 73 points were a season low. The RedHawks entered the game leading the country in averaging 93.7 points.

The Bulls tied the score three times with less than seven minutes remaining before Miami took command with a 6-0 run, holding Buffalo scoreless over a 3:49 span.

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Miami led 38-35 at halftime after a back-and-forth period with nine lead changes and four ties.

This was the second close game between these teams this season. The RedHawks beat the Bulls 105-102 in overtime on Jan. 17

Miami's ranking is its highest since being No. 22 in November 1998. They are the first MAC team ranked since Buffalo finished the 2018-19 season at No. 15.

Miami (Ohio): At Marshall on Saturday in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

Buffalo: At South Alabama on Saturday.

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NBA franchises, in the thick of trade season, are scrambling to make roster adjustments just before the Feb. 5, 3 p.m. ET (noon PT) deadline.

As teams search for ideal suitors and partners to green-light prospective trades, the Boston Celtics have beefed up their frontcourt after making a move to receive center Nikola Vucevic and a second-round draft pick from theChicago Bullsin exchange for guard Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick,according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Vucevic, who stands at 6-foot-9, 260-pounds, adds another big body to the Celtics' frontline. He joins a front court that includes Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, Sam Hauser, Xavier Tillman and Jordan Walsh.

Not only do they add another big, but they get someone who they can fill into their roster and will find his way. Vucevic can score in multiple ways.

Vucevic isn't a big who demands the ball, just knows what to do when gets it. He can score like a traditional big in the post, with his back to the basket. He has the capability to face up and shoot, or step back for three. If he's not getting the ball, he'll go and get an offensive rebound and putback.

Vucevic, 35, averaged 16.9 points, nine rebounds and 3.8 assists in 48 games played with the Bulls. He shot 50.5% from the field and showed an ability to stretch the floor, shooting 37.6% from the three-point arc.

Vucevic joins his fourth team in his 15 NBA seasons. He was drafted out of USC by thePhiladelphia 76erswith the 16th overall pick of the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. Vucevic played nine seasons with theOrlando Magicand the previous five seasons in Chicago before being traded to Boston on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

The Celtics (31-18) currently have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and sit 5.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons atop of the list.

Nikola Vucevic contract details

Vucevic signed a three-year, $60 million veteran extension contract with the Bulls in 2023. He's in the final year of that deal and is owed $21.4 million. Vucevic becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.

Nikola Vucevic career stats

The Celtics add a guy who has averaged a double-double for the entirety of his career. Vucevic's career numbers include 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists. From the field, he shoots at a 49.8% rate, including 35.1% from deep. He's a career 77.3% free throw shooter.

Nikola Vucevic highlights

Bulls load up the guard position

As for Chicago, they add another guard to their locker room. Simons joins a stacked team at his position including Josh Giddey, Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White andrecently acquired via trade Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley.

Simons, 26, is an eighth-year guard who was selected right out of high school, IMG Academy, with the 24th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2018 NBA draft.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Simons has developed his game into becoming a formidable scorer who can light up a box score in spurts. His three-point shooting has stood out, as he connects on 39.5% of threes per game this season.

After years in Portland and playing behind the tutelage of Damian Lillard, Simons has grown to master his shot off the dribble, whether a side-step, step-back or snatch-back into his jumper.

Simons has proven that he's talented enough to be a starter in the NBA. As a starter for three seasons in Portland from 2022 to 2025, Simons averaged 20.7 points, 4.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 178 games during that span.

He's averaged 14.2 points on 44% field goal shooting and 39.5% on three-point field goals so far this season with the Celtics.

Simons goes from being a part of the third-best team in the East to a 24-26 Bulls team that is looking to make waves for a playoff push. They currently have the ninth-best record in the Eastern Conference, which would give them a play-in tournament berth.

Anfernee Simons contract details

Simons is in the final year of a four-year, $100 million contract he signed with Portland in 2022. He'll earn $27.6 million this season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in July.

Anfernee Simons career stats

Simons averages 14.9 points and 3.2 assists for his career. His shooting splits are 43.2% on field goals, 38.2% on three-point shots and 88.1% from the charity stripe.

Anfernee Simons highlights

Experts provide feedback, thoughts on trade

NBA experts and analysts broke down the Vucevic-Simons trade on ESPN following the news.

Former NBA guard and ESPN analyst Iman Shumpert:

"I love it. I'm a Josh Giddey guy. I like the way he plays. He has an array of moves and finishes that he likes to do and he's a slasher-type player. I like that (the Bulls) have a ball dominant guy now that doesn't mind holding on to the ball and waiting until the very end to get us something. And he's young Dame. I see his game and I see how much time they spent in the gym together. I think it's remarkable that he scores the ball in a similar way that Damian Lillard does. And that's all I feel I'm getting, when I get him. You see this one-dribble, pound-dribble to the step back, he's able to get in there and do the floaters, and he's got height on him. He doesn't have to use a lot of dribbles. But he doesn't mind. I think he's a willing passer. It's hard to find a willing passer in the NBA, and if you can get him the right pick and roll, he's a dangerous guy to bring to a team like that."

Los Angeles Sparks' forward and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike:

"You said the word 'remarkable.' That's what I'm using to describe Boston this year. A lot of people thought this was going to be a gap year. It's turning out to be a very, very solid, a good year for Boston Celtics. They're third in the East. And now they get a big that is very important for them, especially if they're gonna go up and try to make some noise in the postseason. And with [Vucevic], he fits that [Joe] Mazzulla system. Y'all, that guy can shoot. He's shooting, I think, 37% from three. He's big and strong. He's not afraid. He doesn't really run away from physicality. Look at this right here. Knock down. Joe [Mazzulla] was like hmm, this could work for me. I can do something with this. This is a good step in the right direction for a team that we thought, 'oh, they were selling off pieces' A couple [years] after the championship, it was difficult after Jayson Tatum's injury. Now you built back in a way that I'm actually quite surprised at how quick the turnaround is."

NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks:

"Well, to get something, you got to give up something. I mean, Anfernee Simon's had been pretty good with with Boston, sixth man numbers here. There was a somewhat of a, I think, more of a void for the playoffs, because Neemias Queta has been pretty good, holding down the fort for Boston right now. But you get an established player and Nikola Vucevic. Double expiring contracts, so there's financial savings here. But I think this move is made for more for April and May, less for the rest of the regular-season."

ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst

"So this Tatum is a outlier, a major thing we don't know about. Vucevic is the type of player that Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, they won a championship with it. Simons' was playing great. He just had a wild, incredible January. For Chicago, I assume they're making this trade because they intend to pay Anfernee Simons. Just as they made the trade for Jaden Ivey, they intend to pay him. This is again, 'pre-agency', and now he's going to open up 'pre-agency' for Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, who was probably, I would say, almost certainly, both of them strongly going to be elsewhere by Thursday, if not by the end of today."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Nikola Vucevic trade details: Celtics pull off deal with Bulls