CNN
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Angel City defender Savy King, who was hospitalized after collapsing during Friday night’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match against the Utah Royals, is “responsive,” her club said in a statement.

The 20-year-old fell to the ground in the 74th minute and was attended to by medical personnel, who appeared to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), per Reuters.

Around 10 minutes after collapsing, King was stretchered off the field with an oxygen mask on her face.

Angel City said she was transported by emergency medical services to the hospital and is undergoing further evaluation.

After the game – which Angel City won 2-0 with goals from Christen Press and Alyssa Thompson – both sets of players joined each other in a circle to offer a prayer for King.

Despite some players looking visibly distressed, the match had resumed after King was taken off the field, a decision which was criticized by Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets.

“I’m not sure if we should have continued the game,” the Belgian said after the game.

“Not only them but also our players were just scared, and I think that’s not the right position, not the right situation to be in. But in the end, we played on, so that’s a decision that other people are making which is fine. But I think it was a really tough moment.”

King – who was selected by Bay FC with the second overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft – has started all eight games for Angel City this season, having joined the club in February.

Prior to entering the NWSL, she played for the University of North Carolina and made multiple appearances for the US youth national teams at the under-17 and under-20 levels.

CNN
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Welcome to Trendlines, your weekly installment of what’s trending up and what’s trending down in sports.

This week we’re talking about the NBA playoffs, which are hot, hot, hot in the city that I am currently in (New York).

The New York Knickerbockers (or Knicks) are up 2-0 on their rival Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Can the Knicks go all the way? I don’t know, but what I do know is tickets to Game 3 of their series against the Celtics are some of the hottest items in town.

That’s where we start with trending up.

The cheapest ticket right now on Vivid Seats is about $600. Last week, it was under $400. That’s an increase of somewhere between 70% and 80%, depending on what time you check the website.

I don’t know who has that much money to spend on a seat, though it speaks to the fact that ticket prices are out of control.

The last time the Knicks were this good (the mid 1990s) you could get a face value playoff seat in the semifinals for $25. Even if you take inflation into account and that tickets were 10 times as high on the secondary market, such a seat would still be less than what a playoff ticket is going for now.

Who can afford this stuff?

I will admit that I’m not the most ardent NBA fan, hence my references to mid-90s basketball. I didn’t quite realize how often the Celtics would be attempting and missing three-pointers this series.

Indeed, the whole league is attempting more and more three-pointers. The average team is now attempting a little less than 38 three-pointers per game. When I was a kid, it was slightly less than 10.

I don’t know if I like the new style of play. I guess it works for some teams and doesn’t work for others.

It hasn’t been working for the Celtics who have been a combined 25-for-100 (yes they’re averaging 50 attempts a game) in this series.

Did somebody say brick?

The Celtics may be missing, but John Tesh’s basketball anthem does not. The famous theme song for NBC is coming back next season as NBC has regained NBA television rights.

Apparently, a lot of people are, like myself, looking forward to that theme song. Google searches for “Roundball Rock” are averaging more this month than any month on record.

I guess I can say I’m not too surprised? Tesh’s live performance of the song has nearly three million views on YouTube.

But more than anything else, the theme song is full of nostalgia. The NBA has never had more viewers than it did in the 1990s, when “Roundball Rock” was the league’s anthem for viewers.

The NBA will probably never be that popular again, though maybe the theme can bring them some good mojo.

CNN
 — 

Nikola Jokić lived up to his nickname on Friday, arriving at Ball Arena wearing a Joker-inspired purple and green suit before helping the Denver Nuggets to a dramatic, overtime 113-104 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their playoff series.

That win ensured the Nuggets take a 2-1 lead in the series. Despite fans predicting that “the Joker” would deliver one of his extraordinary performances after arriving in such a manner, Oklahoma effectively stifled Jokić, who missed 17 of his 25 shots, including all 10 of his three-pointers, and had eight turnovers.

Still, he finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and six assists – a respectable return for almost any other player who doesn’t have his own lofty standards.

“I mean, 20, 16 and six, just an awful NBA night,” joked Nuggets coach David Adelman.

The Nuggets’ offense was happy to share the points around, downing the Thunder behind Jamal Murray’s 27, Aaron Gordon’s 22 and Michael Porter Jr.’s 21.

Both teams were tied at 102 at the end of regulation time with Jokić missing a buzzer-beater for the Nuggets after fellow MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had also missed a chance to win for the Thunder a few seconds earlier.

Like Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander was kept quiet, adding 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting, as well as 10 rebounds and four assists. Jalen Williams led the way for the Thunder with a playoff career-high 32 points.

The Thunder has a chance to level the series on Sunday when the two teams next take to the court.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers dug deep to hold off an Indiana Pacers comeback, secure a 126-104 win on Friday and drag themselves back into the playoff series.

With key players Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter returning from the injuries which forced them out of Game 2, the Cavs more closely resembled the team that earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They are now 2-1 down and will attempt to level the series in Game 4 on Sunday.

Donovan Mitchell led the scoring with 43 points, the second consecutive game he has posted more than 40 points.

Having so many players back from injury was a “huge boost,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters afterward. “We weren’t sure until 35 on the clock that they were going to play. We’re a different team right?”

Cleveland enjoyed a comfortable lead for much of the game, which even ballooned to 24 points early in the third quarter. The Pacers launched a mini comeback and cut that to 11 points in the fourth but, with the specter of a 3-0 deficit looming, the Cavs rallied to ultimately take a comfortable win.