Hello everyone and happy Fridayyyyyy! It's Shanna McCarriston here, clearly excited for the weekend and ready to talk sports with you.
Let's talk about the latest sports news ASAP-- because we happen to have some breaking news to cover right off the top: The Celtics have traded Kemba Walker, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to Oklahoma City. In return, Boston is receiving Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick.
We have much more to cover below, including Bucks-Nets getting interesting, Naomi Osaka deciding to pull out of Wimbledon and a U.S. Open leaderboard update heading into the weekend.
Let's get started.
Nets vs. Bucks is going the limit. Last night, the Bucks had their backs against the wall in a must-win game, down in the series 3-2. The Bucks weren't able to hold onto a lead in Game 5, but they learned from their mistakes and in Game 6 defeated the Nets 104-89, forcing a Game 7.
Things are now getting very interesting, thanks to Khris Middleton. He carried the Bucks, finishing with 38 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals while shooting 11-for-16 from the field. He became the first player to put up 30/10/5/5 with five 3s in a playoff game in NBA history.
Here are takeaways from the game, courtesy of our NBA scribe Sam Quinn:
We've talked before about the Nets being favorites this year, with a superteam that seemingly looked like they could beat anyone. But circumstances, such as injuries, on top of facing a team that matches up well against them has made this series a bit less of a lock.
Game 7 goes down on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Tennis is once again going to be without one of its biggest stars at one of its biggest events. According to a statement released through a spokesperson on Thursday, Naomi Osaka will not be participating at Wimbledon. Instead, Osaka, 23, will use the time to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.
The statement reads: "Naomi won't be playing Wimbledon this year. She is taking some personal time with friends and family. She will be ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans."
This will be Osaka's Olympic debut and she will be representing Japan. She's said in the past that there should be talks of canceling the game, due to COVID-19 concerns, "if it's putting people at risk, and if it's making people very uncomfortable." But at this point, it looks like she will be attending.
Osaka also recently pulled out of the French Open, citing mental health and her personal wellbeing as the reasons.
Making matters a little worse for the sport is that Rafael Nadal will also not be competing at Wimbledon. He made the announcement earlier this week, saying he is listening to his body and does not want to push himself too far in order to make sure he is able to extend his career.
The 121st U.S. Open is underway at Torrey Pines. There was a 90-minute fog delay on Thursday morning, which means the first round will be completed this morning.
Russell Henley's performance on Thursday was much improved from his last visit to Torrey Pines, despite some strong wind. He is currently tied for first on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, PGA champion Phil Mickelson shot a. 75, which is not exactly the ideal start for him. The 53-year-old had two soft bogeys towards the end of his round.
Here's a look at the current leaderboard, and you can follow our live blog for updates all weekend right here.
T1. Russell Henley, -4
T1. Louis Ooosthuizen, -4
T3. Rafa Cabrera Bello, -3
T3. Francesco Molinari, -3
T5. Xander Schauffele, -2
T5. Hideki Matsuyama, -2
T5. Brooks Koepka, -2
T5. Hayden Buckley, -2
T5. Jon Rahm, -2
T5. Sebastian Munoz, -2
MLB has been cracking down on foreign substances, with new rules that state pitchers who are caught using these substances they will be ejected from the game and suspended for 10 days with pay. While foreign substances have been discussed a lot as of late, this is far from a new topic.
The working definition our CBS Sports baseball scribes are using is "anything applied to the baseball that doesn't belong there and that alters the behavior of the ball," including human saliva.
With the topic dominating the game of late, our Dayn Perry went through a brief history of foreign substances in MLB:
With the rule changes of late, pitchers have been outspoken about their issue with the new policies. Rays ace Tyler Glasnow even blamed his injury on the rule change.
But as we can see above, foreign substances have been around for quite some time and, despite the recent rules, this is not a topic that is going away any time soon.
Friday
???? 76ers vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m. | ATL +140 | TV: ESPN
???? Golden Knights vs. Canadiens, 8 p.m. | MON +140 | TV: USA
Saturday
???? Islanders vs. Lightning, 8 p.m. | TV: USA
???? Bucks vs. Nets, 8:30 p.m. | TV: TNT
Sunday
???? U.S. Open, 12 p.m. | TV: NBC
???? Golden Knights vs. Canadiens, 8 p.m. | TV: NBCS
Serena Williams' daughter Olympia is already putting in hours on the tennis court. Williams posted a series of adorable videos and photos on her Instagram of her young daughter training with her and she is already looking like a tennis star.
