CNN
 — 

The NBA playoff picture came into full focus Friday night with the final two games of the play-in tournament.

The Miami Heat, who were the last team into the Eastern Conference play-in bracket with the 10th-best record in the regular season, knocked off the Atlanta Hawks with a 123-114 overtime win to become the No. 8 seed in the East.

In the Western Conference, it was the Memphis Grizzlies pummeling the Dallas Mavericks 120-106 to take the eighth seed in the West.

In the first game of the night the Heat rolled into looking for a second straight do-or-die win after defeating the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday in their first play-in game.

The Heat caught the Hawks flat-footed, leading by as much as 17 points in the first half.

The Hawks shook off a poor shooting performance early in the game and rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter, sparked by some clutch shooting from guard Trae Young. It was a driving lay-up from Young that tied the game at 106 with just a second left on the clock to force overtime.

Heat reserve guard Davion Mitchell took over in the added period with a trio of 3-pointers to outscore the Hawks single-handedly in overtime. Mitchell scored nine of his 16 points in OT.

The Heat’s Tyler Herro led all scorers with a game-high 30 points, while Young had a team-high 29 points for Atlanta.

With the win, the Heat slide into the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and become the first 10th place team to ever advance out of the play-in tournament. Miami will now face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in a first round series beginning Sunday.

In Friday’s nightcap, the Grizzlies were not about about to let Dallas become the second 10th place team to advance, as Memphis dealt the Mavericks a decisive defeat.

The Grizzlies pounced all over the Mavs early, walloping Dallas from the opening tip to establish a 39-24 lead after the first quarter.

Memphis continued to pour it on in the second quarter, running their lead up to as many as 25 points. The Grizzlies would coast from there.

With star guard Ja Morant playing on an injured right ankle after rolling it in Grizzlies’ loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Memphis was lifted by an all-around team effort on Friday.

All of the Grizzlies’ starters scored in double figures, led by Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 24 points. Morant scored 22 for Memphis.

The Mavericks, on the other hand, were more or less a one-man band. Anthony Davis, who joined Dallas as part of the much-scrutinized trade with the Los Angeles Lakers involving Luka Dončić, scored a game-high 40 points.

The next highest scorer for Dallas was Klay Thompson with 18, and two of the Mavericks’ starters – PJ Washington and Dereck Lively II – didn’t score at all.

It was a lackluster ending to a disappointing season for the Mavericks, who entered the season with championship dreams fueled by the presence of their MVP-candidate Dončić. But the surprising mid-season decision to trade the Slovenian superstar coupled with a slew of key injuries, including to star guard Kyrie Irving, ultimately derailed any title aspirations Dallas might have had.

With their win, the Grizzlies earn the final spot in the Western Conference and a showdown with the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder, owners of the NBA’s best record during the regular season. That series will begin Sunday.

First round playoff action begins Saturday with the NBA Finals scheduled to tip off on June 5.

CNN
 — 

It has not been the easiest of times supporting the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) for former captain Clint Dempsey.

After crashing out of the group stage at last summer’s Copa América, the US was stunned by Panama at the CONCACAF Nations League and then lost to north-of-the-border rival Canada in the third-place match.

Mauricio Pochettino’s record since he took over the reins as head coach in September 2024 makes for difficult reading: five wins in eight matches with no draws and three defeats – those victories, though, coming against teams ranked well below the US in the FIFA rankings.

So, how concerned is the ex-Premier League forward on a scale of one to 10? “I’m probably like a six or seven right now” Dempsey tells CNN Sports.

“We’re the first host country to not get out of Copa América in the group stage and the way that we lost CONCACAF Nations League (is concerning, but) I still believe in this team, and they have a lot of quality, and I think they can turn things around, especially with the coach Pochettino being in charge and what he did at Southampton and Tottenham.”

While Dempsey has faith in the team’s ability to get back on track, he recognizes some players might feel unsettled after the Argentine manager’s recent interview where he revealed a desire to manage Spurs again one day.

“I’m not in the dressing room, but at the end of the day, like when I was growing up, my dream was always to represent my country, it didn’t matter who the manager was.

“It is unfortunate that there might be question marks around (Pochettino), but at the end of the day, it’s on the players to go out there and perform and represent their country and take pride in that,” Dempsey adds, speaking as an ambassador for American Airlines, an official partner of next year’s World Cup.

Joint USMNT top scorers Dempsey and Landon Donovan have not shied away from criticizing the current crop of players publicly. They’ve even gone so far as questioning squad members’ commitment to the US badge.

Dempsey recognizes his critiques come with an asterisk; the last time he played for the USMNT was a nightmare 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago that resulted in the US failing to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

“I’ve been a part of failures. I mean, 2018, we didn’t qualify for the World Cup. It was a huge failure. It was a huge step backwards in the wrong direction, and all you can do is what the players did.”

That failure triggered the influx of many of today’s squad with only Christian Pulisic and Tim Ream remaining from the team that was humbled at the hands of the Caribbean nation.

It was that wave of new talent and fresh faces that left some fans calling them “The Baby Eagles.”

The team now boasts a plethora of players who ply their trade at European clubs and who experienced the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup together.

“They fought hard. They qualified for the World Cup (in Qatar). They performed well in the last World Cup, got out of the group, and it looked like a team that was starting to build towards something. But since that World Cup, it looks like we’ve kind of taken another step back.

“There’s been players who are doing really well in Europe. You got Antonee Robinson at Fulham, who’s having a great season. You have Christian Pulisic, AC Milan, who’s having a great season. You have players like Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie.

“I want people to fight for each other. I want there to be competition for spots in the team and maybe things need to be shaken up a little bit in terms of who that starting 11 needs to be,” he tells CNN.

While household names abound, the USMNT’s historically deep squad no longer exists and a quick fix is difficult.

“I think when you look back at the history of US men’s national team, you normally had a goalie that was playing consistently week in and week out in Europe, whether it was Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller or Tim Howard. That’s not the case for us at the moment.

“(Also) when you think back, we had a number 9 that was solidified (at) that position and could score goals. We don’t really have that in our team at the moment.”

While the Texas native hasn’t been afraid to voice his concerns, he does, however, push back on the idea that Pulisic’s captaincy is one of the problems. The AC Milan winger has increasingly faced scrutiny that he may not be the right type of leader for the Stars and Stripes.

Former manager Gregg Berhalter preferred to rotate the captain’s armband among a leadership group – something that came under scrutiny as performances dipped before his dismissal. And despite Pulisic’s “Captain America” nickname, Tyler Adams was ultimately named captain for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Dempsey, however, sees the merits in multiple locker-room leaders: “I think the team is not just one person who is a leader. I think there’s multiple people on that team that are leaders.”

He compares the current debate to his experiences at the 2014 Brazil World Cup, saying, “Tim Howard was on that team, and even though I was a captain, I saw him as one of the captains. He was one of the leaders as well, so it takes more than one captain to kind of step up and get everybody on track.”

‘It’s not all doom and gloom’

Despite lethargic performances against the likes of Panama, Canada and traditional rival Mexico, Dempsey believes the biggest problem facing the USMNT in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup is its strength of schedule.

“I mean, Copa América, that’s a big competition… and no disrespect to the CONCACAF Nations League, but it’s kind of a new tournament that’s been made up in the last few years.

“I think the Nations League is kind of hurt. Around the world in terms of even, you know, the European Nations League, it’s just the same teams playing each other over and over again. So (for) me as a fan, I think there would be more excitement around seeing other teams.”

No need to start panicking yet, though, USMNT fans. Despite the laundry list of concerns – mentality and passion, Pochettino’s potentially wandering eye, a lack of an elite goalkeeper and center forward, and the strength of opponents – Dempsey is adamant “it’s not all doom and gloom.”

“There’s quality in the side; it’s just getting the best out of them. And when your back’s against the wall, just kind of fighting for each other.”

CNN
 — 

Max Verstappen has dismissed concerns that he might consider leaving Red Bull, after last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix proved to be a turbulent day for the team.

The four-time F1 world champion, who has admitted to being unsatisfied with this season’s car, finished sixth in Bahrain and failed to offer much threat to those ahead of him.

After the race, amid rumors of tensions inside the Red Bull paddock, the team’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Sky Sports that he was “worried a lot” that Verstappen might consider leaving, with the car currently unable to consistently compete with its rivals.

When asked about these concerns ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Dutch driver said his full focus was on improving the car.

“I don’t know, to be honest,” he told reporters when asked why he thought Marko made his comments. “I just keep working, keep trying to improve the car.

“Naturally, Bahrain wasn’t a great weekend for us. I think we were all pretty disappointed with that.

“We just keep on trying to improve the car, come up with new ideas to try on the car. The competition is tough. That’s how I go about my weeks, just trying to improve the situation.”

When pressed on the issue by a Sky Sports commentator at the press conference, Verstappen issued an icy reply. “Just focus on commentating, I’ll focus on driving, and then we don’t need to think about any other scenarios,” he said, with a smile.

Despite his Red Bull contract running until 2028, Verstappen has been linked with rumored moves to both Mercedes and Aston Martin over the last year, as he looks to win a fifth consecutive world title.

Red Bull, though, has seen a major drop in its performances compared to last season and the problems seem to go beyond the track.

Earlier this month, for example, Verstappen said that it “was not a mistake” that he liked an Instagram post criticizing Red Bull’s decision to swap Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda just two races into the new Formula One season – yet another sign that all is not well inside the camp.

“A lot of people are talking about it except me,” Verstappen said of the rumors.

“Like I said before, I just want to focus on my car, work with the people in the team – that’s the only thing I’m thinking about in Formula 1 at the moment. I’m very relaxed.”

While struggling again in Bahrain, Verstappen has ascended the podium twice this season – finishing second in Australia and then winning in Japan.

But the team will be hoping to see more improvement this weekend, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both ahead of Verstappen in the driver’s standings.