Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett each scored a playoff-career high 33 points as the Toronto Raptors routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-104 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 2-1. Barnes added 11 assists and five rebounds in a standout all‑around effort while rookie reserve Collin Murray-Boyles poured in 22 points, the most by a Raptors rookie in a playoff game. Toronto forced 22 Cleveland turnovers, converting them into 23 points, and outscored the Cavs 43-23 in the fourth quarter to pull away. Cleveland’s top scorers were James Harden (18), Donovan Mitchell (15), Evan Mobley (15) and Max Strus (15). Toronto guard Immanuel Quickley remained sidelined with a strained right hamstring. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where the Raptors will try to level the series.

The 2026 NFL Draft opens April 23 in Pittsburgh with the Las Vegas Raiders widely expected to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza at No. 1. First-round coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network; rounds 2-3 follow Friday and rounds 4-7 on Saturday. The New York Jets hold the No. 2 pick and five selections in the top 103, leaving open the prospect of staying put or trading. Oddsmakers and sportsbooks have shifted attention to edge rusher David Bailey — who tied for the NCAA lead with 14.5 sacks last season — overtaking Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese as the favorite to go No. 2 after rapid betting-market moves. Other top prospects include Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr., Ohio State’s Sonny Styles and Spencer Fano. The league shortened first-round pick windows to eight minutes this year, tightening trade and negotiation timelines. Pittsburgh is hosting large fan festivities near Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park, with heightened security, road closures and expanded transit as hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected.

At TD Garden on Thursday night (April 23, 2026) the Buffalo Sabres came from behind to beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 and take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series. Tanner Jeannot opened scoring for Boston in the second period, but a Viktor Arvidsson penalty shot attempt was stopped by Alex Lyon at 9:50. Sixty-eight seconds later Bowen Byram tied the game on a one-timer. Alex Tuch broke the deadlock early in the third (4:03) with a screened wrist shot and rookie Noah Östlund sealed the win with an empty-net goal late. Lyon, making his first start of the postseason, stopped 24 shots and delivered the pivotal penalty-shot save; Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves for Boston. The game continued Buffalo’s extended power-play drought that carried over from the regular season, while Boston again struggled to find secondary scoring despite Swayman’s strong goaltending. Buffalo, the Atlantic Division winner that ended a 14-year playoff drought last season, will return to Boston for Game 4 on Sunday before the series shifts back to Buffalo.

CJ McCollum sank a 15-foot fadeaway with 12.5 seconds remaining as the Atlanta Hawks edged the New York Knicks 109-108 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Thursday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. McCollum finished with 23 points; Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and Jonathan Kuminga added 21 off the bench and came up with the final loose-ball recovery. New York rallied to take a 108-105 lead on a Jalen Brunson three-point play with 1:03 left, but Atlanta forced late miscues and sealed the win on a defensive stop. OG Anunoby scored 29 for the Knicks, Brunson had 26 and Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 21 points and 17 rebounds. Atlanta now leads the series 2-1; Game 4 is Saturday in Atlanta. Elsewhere on Thursday, the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-104 — Scottie Barnes and R.J. Barrett scored 33 apiece — cutting Cleveland’s series lead to 2-1.

On April 24, 2026 the Philadelphia Eagles traded up in the first round of the NFL Draft to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon with the 20th overall pick. Philadelphia dealt the No. 23 pick plus fourth-round selections (Nos. 114 and 137) to the Dallas Cowboys for No. 20 and a 2027 seventh-rounder. Lemon, the 2025 Biletnikoff Award winner, caught 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns last season and projects as a dynamic slot/short-area weapon (5-foot-11, ~192 lbs). The move came as A.J. Brown’s future in Philadelphia remains uncertain; teams including the New England Patriots are widely reported to be frontrunners for a post–June 1 trade when the Eagles can spread Brown’s roughly $40 million cap hit. The pick also thwarted in-state rival Pittsburgh — Lemon was reportedly on the phone with the Steelers, who selected Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor at No. 21 — and handed the Cowboys Malachi Lawrence at No. 23. The selection further reshapes an Eagles receiver room that already includes DeVonta Smith, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore and Dontayvion Wicks.

FIFA’s official Resale/Exchange Marketplace on Thursday showed four tickets for the FIFA World Cup 2026 final listed at $2,299,998.85 each for the July 19 match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The seats are in the lower deck (Block 124, Row 45, Seats 33–36). FIFA does not set asking prices on the marketplace but charges a 15% purchase fee to buyers and a 15% resale fee to sellers — meaning FIFA would collect roughly $690,000 if one of the $2.3m tickets sold at that price. Other resale listings ranged from about $138,000 and $207,000 to a few listings around $23,000; the lowest-priced final listings were $10,923.85 for four upper-deck seats. FIFA has also released new direct-sale ticket blocks for the final priced at about $10,990. Outlets reporting the listings say FIFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment; some coverage notes FIFA opted not to cap resale prices for this tournament, citing the loosely regulated secondary market in the United States and Canada.