Batum was hurt when he went up for a dunk and took a hard fall after teammate Will Barton challenged the shot, according to CSNNW.com. Batum must cycle through the NBA's concussion protocol before he can return to the team, and will not play in the team's Wednesday preseason game against the Phoenix Suns. This comes after the Blazers learned rookie C.J. McCollum would miss the season with a broken foot, by far the largest blow to the season....

Matthews was hurt as he began a drive early in the third quarter against the Mavericks. MORE: NBA: then and now | Westbrook’s triple-double streak ends at four | NBA excited to have Craig Sager back Matthews is third on the Blazers in scoring with a 16.1-point average. He had started all 60 of the team’s games including Thursday’s contest, a 94-75 Portland victory. Matthews’ shoes at NBA All-Star Weekend....

Many priceless masterpieces, including Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and Michelangelo’s “Holy Family,” were preserved by shatterproof glass shields that had been installed only recently. Even so, the damage added up to millions of dollars and closed down one of the country’s leading tourist attractions at the start of the summer season. It also killed five people, including the caretaker of a medieval tower next to the Uffizi, her husband and their two small children....

In our imperfect world, we can never have perfect justice. Belfi said he regretted that he could not sentence Ferguson to death, although even if he could, Ferguson killed six times and can die only once. The victims may have their own ideas; Robert Giugliano, a burly 39-year-old contractor who was shot in the chest by Ferguson but survived, shook his fist at the unperturbed defendant and vowed that in five minutes alone with him he could teach him the meaning of suffering....

Bloomberg’s apology came after Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren took aim at him over remarks he allegedly made to a pregnant employee in which he suggested the woman get an abortion at Tuesday’s Democratic debate in South Carolina. Warren described how she lost her first teaching job after becoming pregnant. “Pregnancy discrimination? You bet,” Warren said. “I didn’t have any union to protect me and I didn’t have a federal law on my side....

The assembled—which included such luminaries as Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, former Florida senator Bob Graham, former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, and consultant and presidential granddaughter Susan Eisenhower—met for several hours Sunday night, then unveiled a manifesto for change on Monday at a panel talk and press conference. The document described the United States as a nation suffering from political paralysis, plummeting approval ratings abroad, out-of-control budget and trade deficits, a military stretched thin, and crumbling infrastructure....

Taking their eighth-straight home victory with a 4-0 shutout win over the Panthers Thursday, Columbus tied the NHL record for the longest win streak this season with 10 consecutive victories. The accolades don’t stop there. The Blue Jackets’ 10-game run is the second longest in franchise history, behind the team’s 16-0-0 stretch during the 2016-17 season. Columbus is the third team in league history to record a streak of 10-plus games in consecutive seasons....

Ventura later deleted the tweets and apologized to Bautista, but before the peacemaking, Blue Jays television analyst Gregg Zaun went on-air Monday and blasted Ventura with a not-so-nice personal letter. MORE: AL comeback player field is crowded | ‘Modern day Crash Davis’ claims minor league home run record Zaun told “Tough-guy Tommy” Ventura to “stop running his mouth” and “show some respect and stop writing checks with your mouth that your skinny a— can’t cash....

Then again … Tuesday night, the Blue Jays could not figure out the Yankees’ Michael Pineda, who held them scoreless through five innings. Then came two deluges: first the rain, then the runs that Toronto scored against the Yankees’ bullpen to turn a six-run deficit into a 12-6 win. MORE: Best hitter last names of the past 100 years It is a testament to how potent Toronto’s lineup is that, after scoring at least seven runs for the fourth time in eight games, there were questions about how the offense has been struggling lately....

The Blues have opted to start the rookie in the goal over veteran Brian Elliott in Game 1 against the Wild on Thursday, the team announced Wednesday. PREVIEW: Blues-Wild | Blues are 7-1 to win Cup | MORE: Blues in depth | Get to know the Wild Several other teams are going with first-year goalies in their series opener. The Red Wings will start rookie Petr Mrazek against the Lightning while the Senators will ride the man who got them to the playoffs, first-year goalie Andrew Hammond....

In fact, Los Angeles’ “other team” was so bad at one point, one ex-player said he seriously contemplated suicide. MORE: Isiah, Knicks deny wrong-doing | Curry finds silence after MVP win | Best post player ever Former Clippers forward Bo Kimble told Deadspin that he thought about committing suicide “at least 10-15 times” during his tenure with the team. Kimble was selected eighth overall by the Clippers in the 1990 NBA Draft after a spectacular career at Loyola-Marymount, where he was among the top scorers in college basketball....

I believe Yogi Berra was sitting around discussing the New York City restaurant scene with a group of sportswriters one evening and rather lucidly announced, “I used to thoroughly revel in the culinary arts as practiced by that particular dining establishment, but I believe its popularity is waning because the food quality suffered as the kitchen rushed to meet the extraordinary number of orders at peak periods.” DeCourcy: Several UK stars should’ve stayed | Layman returns to a title contender at Maryland...

The former AC Milan and Tottenham attacking midfielder had three years to run on his deal with Las Palmas, having signed a contract extension in May. Las Palmas 3/1 to beat Valencia But Las Palmas attributed the 30-year-old’s departure to “personal reasons of an irreversible character”. Boateng joined the Canary Islanders last season and scored 10 goals in 28 La Liga appearances. Wenger concedes Alexis could leave for free...

The duo reunited in August when Boateng completed a three-year move from Spain, 11 years after defending the colours of Hertha Berlin as teammates. Interestingly, Boateng and Kovac were both born in West Berlin, Germany, made their professional debuts with home club Hertha Berlin, but ended up playing for Ghana and Croatia respectively at senior international level. “That’s right, we’ve known each other for a very long time," Boateng told his club’s official website....

Auba makes instant impact on his return The center back picked up a knee and adductor problem in Bayern’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw against Hoffenheim on Saturday and had to make way for David Alaba in the closing stages of the match. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claimed the injury is not serious, but the reigning Bundesliga champion is reluctant to take any risks with Boateng. “The injury is nothing too bad,” Rummenigge told the club’s official website....

The veteran sportscaster, 69, is said to have rejected the offer last year due to COVID-19 reasons, but also stated that he wasn’t interested in becoming a long-term replacement for Jeopardy! icon Alex Trebek, who passed away in November. Fellow sports journalist Jay Mariotti took to his blog last week to share details of a text exchange he had with Costas about the long-running syndicated show. “Would have been fun as a one-time experience, but I never saw myself as the right person for the job,” Mariotti quoted Costas as saying....

Beloved comedian Saget, 65, was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, several hours after having performed at a stand-up comedy show in Jacksonville, Florida. He was pronounced dead at the scene. As tributes continue to flood in for the star, Entertainment Tonight has shared its final interview with Saget, who left behind his wife of three years and his daughters—Aubrey, 34, Lara, 32, and Jennifer, 29—from his marriage to Sherri Kramer....

Sometimes we know they’ve been courted; other times we only can assume. MORE: SN’s coach rankings, 1 to 128 | 10 best Big 12 games | NUMBERS: Top 15 programs since 2000 On Wednesday, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops told ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy that he’s had multiple offers over the years. He didn’t go as far as saying which teams offered him (we’re aware of at least one), but it’s not every day that a head coach, especially one the stature of Stoops, to publicly admit it....

Why? Because when Bonilla was bought out he was originally owed $5.9 million. The team didn’t pay that amount at the time and instead decided to defer payments at an 8 percent annual interest rate. MORE: The worst everyday players in baseball Bonilla’s $1.2 million salary so many years removed from the sport is incredible. He’s making nearly double the salary of All-Star Mets pitcher Matt Harvey ($614,125 salary). And as Adam Schefter pointed out, he’ll be making more this year than Russell Wilson has in each year he’s played in the NFL....