Sports

8:09 PM ET Benfica‘s Primeira Liga match at Belenenses on Saturday was abandoned amid extraordinary scenes after their COVID-hit opponents were forced to name a team of nine players, including two goalkeepers. Benfica took advantage of their numerical superiority to rack up seven goals by half-time before Belenenses returned with only seven players for the

3:31 PM GMT The men’s Barbarians match against Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday was cancelled 90 minutes before kickoff after four players and two members of the staff in the Barbarians camp tested positive for COVID-19, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said. The Samoan players came out onto the pitch and sang their national anthem

7:32 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Teofimo Lopez bounced off the ropes, thrusting his entire body into each side of the ring, before stopping in the center and doing a backflip. Then he lay down on the mat and added a few snow angels for good measure. Lopez had plenty to be exuberant about on that

1:53 AM ET INDIANAPOLIS — LeBron James was napping in the city that never sleeps on Monday when the NBA announced that the Los Angeles Lakers star would be suspended for the first time in his 19-year career and have to miss Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks. “Rob [Pelinka] called me. I missed

10:28 AM ET Ryan Hockensmith GLENN MISTICH TOOK slow, tiny steps toward the entrance to the Superdome. His hands shook inside the gloves he wore to carry a monstrous 17-pound dish covered in foil. His wife, Leah, and three young kids bounced alongside him. A friend, New Orleans radio personality Bob DelGiorno, was also walking

7:59 AM ET Valentina Shevchenko was inside of a boxing gym in Newark, New Jersey, preparing to go on a run. It was the fall of 2019, and the next day Shevchenko would start filming an MMA movie alongside A-list star Halle Berry. To prepare for the shoot, Shevchenko was cutting weight, and the run

7:39 AM ET It would be tough to top the kind of drama that Bryson DeChambeau found himself part of in 2021. He won just once on the PGA Tour, but the man who transformed his body in less than two years to become the tour’s longest driver certainly was a major topic of discussion

6:28 PM ET For the first time in the eight-year history of the College Football Playoff, a team from a Group of 5 conference has cracked the top four in the selection committee’s rankings, which would assure it a spot in one of the two semifinals games on New Year’s Eve. Cincinnati, one of just

7:00 AM ET The Edmonton Oilers have your attention. Superstar captain Connor McDavid has created a season’s worth of highlights in a span of a few weeks, starting the campaign with a 17-game points streak. Leon Draisaitl leads the league in points (35 in 17 games, for a 2.06 per-game average). Here’s the list of

7:00 AM ET We’re back with the fourth edition of free-agent superlatives — and this year’s free-agent class is certainly the most super we’ve seen in several years. What’s not so super is an offseason that may hit a wall thanks to the impending work stoppage at midnight on Dec. 1, when the owners will

8:30 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent In an alternate universe, Mauricio Pochettino’s Manchester United have just cruised past Watford to keep pace with the Premier League leaders and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is preparing his Molde team for a trip to Brann. Instead, the reality is that Solskjaer, who was meant to hand over the reins to

8:52 PM GMT Kathleen McNamee TWICKENHAM, London — There is an argument to be made that England’s dramatic 27-26 win over South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday was Eddie Jones’ greatest masterclass. Much has been made of this England side since the summer, but no longer will fans be able to jibe this team as

7:56 AM ET UFC president Dana White is fond of saying there are no tune-up fights in the UFC — and for the most part, he’s right. There really aren’t many. But Miesha Tate did get one this year. Tate (19-7) returned from a nearly five-year layoff in July and picked up a dominant TKO

11:02 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will return practice and qualifying to its weekend schedule for all three national series in 2022 after the on-track activity had been mostly scrapped the past two seasons amid the coronavirus pandemic. NASCAR traditionally hosted three-day weekends for its races but dropped all qualifying and practice

7:48 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN LAS VEGAS — I met Shawn Porter in early 2016 as he was preparing to fight Keith Thurman, who was then the best welterweight in the world. Three things were immediately apparent, first among them being Porter’s distinct physicality. He had fought most of his amateur career at 165.3 pounds.

10:36 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Earlier this month, tennis player Peng Shuai accused Zhang Gaoli, a former high-ranking Chinese government official, of sexual assault. Peng wrote, in a lengthy social media post, that Zhang had forced her to have sex despite repeated refusals. The post was removed within 20 minutes from her verified account on

8:48 AM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Ramona Shelburne Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News NBA general managers are working to finalize the formation of a professional association that would collectively support executives

4:18 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas judge ordered former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III to appear before her on Monday after learning he missed a required alcohol test while on house arrest following a fatal crash he’s accused of causing by driving drunk at speeds up to 156 mph. Ruggs’

3:02 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Serena Williams is still haunted by her experience at Indian Wells in 2001 and the mental anguish that she says she endured when returning to the event in 2015 after a lengthy boycott. “Even when I went back 14 years later, it was very traumatizing,” Williams said in an interview

5:58 PM ET Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley downplayed speculation Tuesday about whether he had interest in LSU’s coaching position, saying his feelings about the Oklahoma job haven’t changed. Riley is 54-9 at Oklahoma, which promoted him to replace longtime coach Bob Stoops after the 2016 season. His name has been connected to NFL coaching vacancies,

8:22 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will represent the United States in the upcoming international Race of Champions, an event he won with Jeff Gordon in 2002. Johnson will compete in the event scheduled Feb. 4-6 in Pite Havsbad, Sweden for the “Champion of Champions” title in the

7:00 AM ET His friends call him Bruno. For 1,110 regular-season games over 16 NHL seasons, many called Andrew Brunette their teammate. After he retired in 2012, the Minnesota Wild called him by many titles — coach, assistant general manager, special assistant to the general manager and director of player personnel. In July 2019, Joel

10:24 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Right-hander Noah Syndergaard and the Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a one-year, $21 million deal, pending a physical, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. Syndergaard, 29, spent the first seven seasons of

7:40 AM ET In addition to being a fine golfer who is expected to contend for more major titles as well as challenge for the No. 1 ranking, Justin Thomas has provided an excellent public service by giving some optimistic yet cautious updates on the status of Tiger Woods, his friend and neighbor. The latest

9:48 AM ET CINCINNATI — Christian Pulisic was there. He was there for a week of hard training. He was there in the dressing room as the players gathered round. He was there as the game began to tip in the second half. He was there in front of goal. He was there in the

9:41 PM GMT There was barely any danger of the Wallabies’ hoodoo ending at Twickenham on Saturday. If Australia losing to Eddie Jones’ England felt familiar before, the visitors will leave London thinking it is almost grimly inevitable. As victories go, this was straightforward for England in a slippery match where errors from both sides

7:20 PM ET Jeff Wagenheim The conventional thinking is that a fighter who has been defeated twice by the champion in his or her weight class is stuck in limbo, never to get a third glimpse of the belt unless it’s being worn by a different champion. That way of thinking does open up opportunities

7:56 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The most-avoided-fighter-in-boxing label is not just a badge of honor, it’s also an unfathomable test of patience for the person who bears it. That status is earned, if you truly can earn something you don’t want, by virtue of a few different attributes. The fighter has to be immensely talented

5:33 PM ET Associated Press GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Maria Sakkari used her strong first serve to extend her dominance over former French Open champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-4 win Thursday in their opening match at the WTA Finals. Sakkari, a 26-year-old player who is having a breakout year, also ousted Swiatek in straight

2:00 PM ET Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. — All samples collected from horses competing in the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar have tested clear. The Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at UC Davis announced the results Thursday. All horses competing in the world championships last weekend were tested for total carbon dioxide levels

12:18 PM ET CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quarterback Cam Newton has agreed to a deal with the Carolina Panthers that will bring him back to the team that he helped reach the Super Bowl in 2015, it was announced Thursday. The deal, which is pending a physical, is worth up to $10 million for the remainder

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA season is — almost — a month old. What standouts are here to stay? The Eastern Conference standings is full of early-season surprises, including impressive starts from the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers. Meanwhile, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks are dealing with injuries as they work

9:48 AM ET Associated Press The nascent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Thursday released a draft of proposed anti-doping and medication control rules designed to bring uniformity to a sport that has operated for years under patchwork regulations in 38 racing states. Since July, HISA has been working with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to