The Boston Celtics are not going to have one of their players win this year's Most Valuable Player award barring a miracle. And it does not look especially likely that they will win Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of the Year, or Defensive Player of the Year this season. But if there was an award for the best success story of the season as a ball club, "Small Ball" podcast host Kenny Beacham thinks that the Celtics would be a lock to win the award.And he has a point, given how far apart most analysts and even many fans were about Boston preseason compared to where they are now. From the loss of Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, and Kristaps Porzingis, and the absence of Jayson Tatum before he returned from his Achilles tendon injury (and how well he's played since), the heights this version of the Celtics are hitting are almost unbelievable.Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what he had to say about Boston's season to date.Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKpiTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics are the best success story of the 2025-26 NBA season

Bulls CEO and president Michael Reinsdorf, who is looking for a new head of basketball operations after firing Arturas Karnisovas earlier this week, said Tuesday that retaining Billy Donovan as head coach would be a major requirement.

Hyeseong Kim scored twice and Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto was strong over six-plus innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Toronto 4-1 on Tuesday to hand the Blue Jays their sixth straight loss.

Apa Twidles double on debut is a moment that will be spoken about for years to come, but the emotional backstory behind it all makes it even more special with the Eels rookie revealing the mad dash his mum made across the ditch, as well as the heartbreaking loss of an idol who inspired him to greatness on Monday afternoon.

Essendon have got off to yet another shocking start to the season - and it appears some of their fans have taken matters into their own hands.

A second straight Champions League semifinal is in sight for Arsenal.Kai Havertz scored in stoppage time on Tuesday to seal a 1-0 win over Sporting Lisbon at Estadio Jose Alvalade to put Mikel Arteta's team in control of the quarterfinal tie.The substitute fired past goalkeeper Rui Silva from close range to give Arsenal the advantage ahead of next weeks second leg at the Emirates.In Tuesdays other quarterfinal, Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu.Havertz settled a tight game in Portugal by combining with fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli in the first minute of added time. With one touch the German controlled Martinelli's defense-splitting pass in the box and then converted with a side-footed finish.To score a late goal is always nice, Havertz told Amazon Prime. We will take that result. There is still a lot of work to do next week.Victory saw Arsenal bounce back from successive defeats which cut its quadruple trophy hunt in half in recent weeks. Losses in the League Cup final and FA Cup quarterfinals had shaken the Premier League leader going into Tuesdays match.And it had to withstand an early charge from Sporting in front of a raucous crowd, with player-of-the-match David Raya producing an outstanding save to tip Maximiliano Araujos sixth-minute shot onto the bar.It could have changed the tie, Arteta said.Arsenal also hit the bar in the first half direct from Noni Maduekes corner, but both teams struggled to create openings.Martin Zubimendi thought hed found the breakthrough in the second half with a curling effort from range only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.Late on, Raya produced a string of saves. First he pushed away a goal-bound header from Geny Catamo and then pulled off a double stop to deny Catamo again and Luis Suarez.For me, the last two seasons, hes the best keeper in the world. He has saved us so many times, Havertz said.But it was Havertz who delivered the goal that pushed Arsenal a step closer to another semifinal, having lost to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain at that stage last year.The forward scored the winner for Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2021 and this was another decisive moment for him in this competition.He loves the big occasion and the big games, Arteta said. And thats what we need the big players to turn up when we need them.Defeat was Sporting's first at home since August. The Portuguese team has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League."A small lapse in concentration cost us dearly, and its frustrating because it happened in the 90th minute, but we have to lift our heads and move on, coach Rui Borges told Sport TV.The scenes of celebration for Arsenal's players were in stark contrast to the dejection that followed the League Cup final loss to Manchester City and the shock of being beaten by second-division Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.We had to reveal ourselves today and I talked about identity and other things that we are as a team and that I definitely saw, Arteta said. Its halftime. We are a step closer, now we need to finish the tie at home in front of our people, and if we do that, were going to start to dream.___James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Ben Roberts-Smith faces five charges of the war crime of murder, which has a penalty of life in prison.

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Christophe Lollichon, ancien entraneur des gardiens Chelsea, tait l'invit de Rothen s'enflamme ce mardi sur RMC, pour parler du gardien du club de la capitale Matve Safonov, alors que les Parisiens affrontent Liverpool ce mercredi en quart de finale de la Ligue des champions.

A year on from completing the career grand slam, Rory McIlroy reflects on his 2025 Masters victory as he returns as reigning champion.