Connect with us

Sports

New York Liberty sweep Atlanta Dream, advance to WNBA semifinals

Published

on

New York Liberty sweep Atlanta Dream, advance to WNBA semifinals

NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu’s final pass of the New York Liberty’s 91-82 Game 2 victory over the Atlanta Dream was to no one in particular. In fact, it was less of a chest pass, and more of a celebratory spike — an emphatic bounce of the basketball around midcourt after a 36-point, nine-assist masterclass that lifted the top-seeded Liberty into the WNBA semifinals. 

Ionescu opened Tuesday’s scoring with a 3-pointer on New York’s first possession and sealed the victory with the series’ final pair of free throws. She did plenty in between after saying the Liberty had no intentions of traveling south for a deciding Game 3.

“We don’t want to go to Atlanta,” Ionescu said Tuesday morning. “That’s not something we want to do.”

It took New York outscoring Atlanta 26-18 in the fourth quarter to prevail and sweep the Dream 2-0. Ionescu expected Tuesday’s contest to be tougher than Sunday’s Game 1, in which the Liberty never trailed and cruised to a 14-point win. Her prediction proved correct, as the Dream played with a renewed sense of urgency.

“We got to throw some punches from the very very beginning and let them know that it’s gonna be a dog fight,” Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said Tuesday morning. 

Advertisement

Dream All-Star guard Allisha Gray made her first five shots and with 2:18 remaining in the opening quarter had outscored New York herself, 14–13. Still, Atlanta’s nine-point first-quarter lead and five-point halftime cushion proved insufficient. Gray’s 26 points and Rhyne Howard’s 19 were ultimately for naught. 

Ionescu made sure that New York wouldn’t have to board a flight. While she scored 13 points and dished out seven assists in the first half, she ignited the Liberty’s second-half rally, recording 11 points in the third. At one point, she scored nine consecutive points, flipping a three-point New York deficit into a two-point Liberty lead. She celebrated by waving to the crowd, pointing at teammates on assisted baskets and even high-fiving acclaimed director Spike Lee, who was sitting courtside across from the Liberty’s bench, before one layup.

Even with Breanna Stewart going scoreless from the 6:17 mark of the second quarter to the 4:27 mark of the fourth quarter, New York’s offense remained dangerous. Ionescu buried 3-pointer after 3-pointer. She hit five in all. Jones made eight of her 12 shots and finished with a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double, her first time reaching double digits in both categories since Aug. 22.

On Tuesday morning, Brondello reminded those in her locker room how they eked out a win over the No. 7 Washington Mystics in Game 2 of last year’s first round.

Advertisement

“I think the ones that were here last year it’s a memory,” Brondello said. “All the lessons that we learned last year carry over to this year.” 

She referred explicitly to their takeaways from that overtime victory over Washington. But Brondello might as well have been referring to what New York learned from its Finals loss to the Las Vegas Aces. Surely, those lessons will come up again soon enough. 

New York will face the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA semifinals, which begin Sunday.

Required reading

(Photo: Catalina Fragoso / Getty Images)

Advertisement

Sports

‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

Published

on

‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.

As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Advertisement

The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.

The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.

Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.

JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.

The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.

Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.

As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.

Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.

Advertisement

Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

Published

on

Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

Advertisement

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

Advertisement

“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

Advertisement

He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

Advertisement

The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

Advertisement

“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

Published

on

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.

While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

Advertisement

Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.

The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”

Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.

WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

Advertisement

Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”

Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.

“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending