The 76ers won’t make a final determination on Joel Embiid’s status for Game 1 of their series against the Nets until after practice Friday. Embiid has left knee soreness and has missed 14 games since the break.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Not once in his five Masters appearances had missing the cut crossed Jordan Spieth’s mind. Not until he finished his first hole Friday. A bogey dropped Spieth to 4 over par, matching the most over par he had ever been at Augusta National. Through all of Spieth’s struggles this year, there was always optimism that Augusta’s magic would be enough to snap him out of his slump. Missing the cut would have marked rock bottom in a season where he has yet to finish in the top 25 of a stroke-play event. The 2015 FedExCup champion is 170th in this season’s standings. He’s been chasing green jackets, not the cut line, in his brief Masters career. On Friday, he had to ask his caddie to clarify the Masters cut rule. “I’ve never been anywhere near it,â€� Spieth said. He didn’t have to worry for long. He quickly turned things around, starting with a birdie at No. 2. Then he birdied 9 and 10 and added two more at 13 and 14. He was bogey-free over his final 17 holes. He hit 13 greens and 10 fairways Friday, three more than the previous day. “My pars were more stress‑free and I was able to have a lot more looks at birdie,â€� he said. “Overall my putting performance still hasn’t been quite as good as it’s been in previous weeks, but I know how it can. The hole can look kind of big out here sometimes and hoping for that on the weekend.â€� Spieth is six shots off the lead, the largest deficit he’s ever faced halfway through the Masters. “I feel really good about today’s round,â€� Spieth said. “I’m six back, if I can somehow cut it to three by Sunday, then I feel like I have a legitimate chance.â€�
A look at the special uniforms Major League Baseball teams will wear for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, the All-Star Game and others.
A look at the special uniforms MLB teams will wear for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, All-Star Game and others.
Based on four key criteria NFL teams use to assess players, these prospects for this month’s draft will almost certainly be quality contributors.
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez became the team’s 12th player to be put on the injured list. He had six home runs and 11 RBIs this season before suffering a left calf strain.
MotoGP has formally retired the No. 69 of former champion Nicky Hayden, who died in 2017 after a bicycling accident in Italy.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jason Day may have hurt his back while kissing his daughter, but that didn’t mean his wife was going to give him sympathy about an ill-timed injury. “You need to suck it up,â€� Ellie Day told her husband Friday morning. A kick in the pants propelled him to the top of the leaderboard at Augusta National. One day after he considered withdrawing, Day shot 67 and shared the Masters lead when he walked off 18. He sits at 7-under 137, as do Francesco Molinari and Brooks Koepka. Back pain is nothing new for Day. He’s struggled with it since he was 13 years old. But this time it reared its head at the worst possible time, after an affectionate gesture toward his only daughter, 3-year-old Lucy. The pain reared its head after he bent down to give Lucy a kiss as he headed to the first tee. He received treatment on the second and fourth holes, but limped around Augusta National during his first-round 70. The pain was worst on practice swings, and while walking Augusta National’s hilly terrain. He was able to block it out after addressing the ball. The discomfort also had its benefits. “It’s almost a blessing in disguise,â€� he said. “It just brings down the expectation of going out there and trying too hard. … I’m hoping that I can take the same attitude — even though I feel pretty healthy now — into the next two days and play well.â€� The pain has become part of daily life. Day said he blows into balloons each morning to put his ribs back in place. “Sometimes I wake up and I feel like I’m 50. Sometimes I wake up and I feel like I’m 70. And sometimes I wake up and feel like I’m 18 again,â€� he said. “It just comes and goes, and that’s just how it is. “I’m just doing whatever I can to feel good. So, if blowing in balloons is what I need to do to feel good, then I will do it all day long.â€� Day received additional treatment both Thursday evening and Friday morning. With his back feeling better, he shot the second-lowest score of his career at Augusta National. He birdied all four of the par-5s and added birdies at Friday’s hardest hole, No. 5, and the par-3 16th. It was just three weeks ago that Day’s back problems forced him to withdraw six holes into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. He needed an epidural before competing in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship, where he went 0-3. On Thursday, he told his caddie that he would withdraw if the pain didn’t abate. He was able to continue, and now feels confident that he can continue his pursuit of the green jacket. He was runner-up here in 2011 and finished third two years later. “I feel a lot more optimistic now today than I did yesterday,â€� Day said, “I’m hoping that, bar some outrageous thing that could possibly happen, I’m hoping that, I feel this good going into Saturday and Sunday.â€�
On Friday, Zach Johnson provided what may be the greatest “pros, they’re just like us!” moment in recent memory, and it came at one of the sport’s most recognizable stages: the 13th hole at Augusta National. Only that’s exactly what Johnson did when he made a practice swing, hitting his ball with the toe of the driver, which caused it to ricochet off the tee marker and bounce a few yards forward.
OG Anunoby, the Raptors’ first-round draft pick in 2017 out of Indiana, has averaged 6.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in his two seasons with Toronto.
