NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season  Openers
Last Night

  Detroit  Pistons 113, Orlando Magic 109

  Chicago  Bulls 116, Miami Heat 108

Washington  Wizards 114, Indiana Pacers 107

Pistons 113, Magic 109 – Bogdanovic shines in Detroit  debut, helps Pistons beat Magic 

  Bojan  Bogdanovic scored 24 points in his debut with Detroit, helping the Pistons beat  the Orlando Magic 113-109 on Wednesday night. Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, the No.  1 overall pick last summer, had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in an  impressive NBA debut. Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick last year, had 18 points  and 10 assists. Cunningham’s last assist set up Isaiah Stewart for a 3-pointer  with 11.6 seconds left that gave the Pistons a four-point lead. Bogdanovic made  two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to restore Detroit’s four-point cushion,  sealing the victory.

Bulls 116, Heat 108 – DeRozan scores 37, Bulls top  Heat 116-108 in season opener 

  DeMar  DeRozan scored 28 of his 37 points in the second half, Ayo Dosunmu added 17 and  the short-handed Chicago Bulls topped the Miami Heat 116-108 in the  season-opener for both teams on Wednesday night. Nikola Vucevic scored 15  points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Bulls, and Goran Dragic added 12 off the  Chicago bench. Jimmy Butler scored 24 points and Tyler Herro added 23 for  Miami, which got 22 from Max Strus and 12 from Bam Adebayo.

Wizards 114, Pacers 107 – Beal, Wizards open season  with 114-107 win over Pacers 

  Bradley  Beal scored 23 points and Kyle Kuzma added 20 as the Washington Wizards led  from wire to wire, beating the rebuilding Indiana Pacers 114-107. Kristaps  Porzingis added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Wizards won consecutive season  openers for the first time since 2004-05. Indiana was led by Tyrese  Haliburton’s 26 points and 19 from rookie Bennedict Mathurin. The Pacers’  losing streak reached 11 games overall, including 10 to end last season.

MLB  – Major League Baseball Playoffs – League Championship Series (best of 7)
Yesterday

  Houston  Astros 4, New York Yankees 2                                            (HOU leads 1-0)

  San  Diego Padres 8, Philadelphia Phillies 5                                       (Series tied 1-1)

Astros 4, Yankees 2 – Verlander Ks 11 to lead Astros  over Yankees 4-2 in ALCS

  Justin  Verlander struck out 11 in six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick  and Jeremy Peña all homered to power the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the  New York Yankees in their AL Championship Series opener. The Astros are in their  sixth consecutive ALCS, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time  in that span, against a New York team in the LCS for the first time since being  eliminated by Houston in 2019. The game was tied 1-all in the sixth when  Gurriel connected off reliever Clarke Schmidt for a solo shot that put Houston  on top. Two batters later, McCormick sent a sinker from Schmidt into right  field to make it 3-1.

Padres 8, Phillies 5 – Drury, Padres rally to beat  Nola, Phillies 8-5, tie NLCS 1-1 

  Brandon  Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth  inning and the San Diego Padres stunned Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia  Phillies 8-5 to tie their all-wild card NL Championship Series at one game  apiece. The outburst started with Padres catcher Austin Nola hitting an RBI  single off his younger brother that brought the sellout, towel-twirling crowd  of 44,607 at Petco Park to life. Three innings earlier, the Phillies took a 4-0  lead with a rally that included bloop hits, a sun-aided double on a gorgeous,  92-degree afternoon and some shoddy Padres defense.

Tonight

  NY  Yankees (Severino 7-3) at Houston (Valdez 17-6), 7:37 p.m.            (HOU leads 1-0) 

NHL  – Red Wings’ Vrana enters NHL/NHLPA player assistance program

  Detroit  Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana has entered the player assistance program of the  NHL and NHL Players’ Association. The league and the union made the  announcement. They did not specify why he entered the program. Vrana will be  paid while he is receiving treatment. The program administrators will determine  when he’s cleared to compete for the Red Wings. The 26-year-old Vrana is from  the Czech Republic. He had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s win at New  Jersey. He did not play in a home game two days later against the Los Angeles  Kings due to personal reasons.

NFL – National Football League – Week 7
Tonight

  New  Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals, 8:15 p.m.

NCAAFB  – Notre Dame Stadium no longer place of solace under Freeman

  Notre  Dame coach Marcus Freeman understands the problem. The Fighting Irish have lost  their home-field advantage. Finding the solution has proven to be challenging.  Notre Dame is an inexplicable 1-2 in South Bend in Freeman’s first season,  despite entering each game as a double-digit favorite. And they easily could be  0-3. They’ll have a chance to turn things around Saturday when UNLV comes to  town. Notre Dame is a heavy favorite but will need to sweep its final three  home games to post a winning record at Notre Dame Stadium.

NCAAFB  – Mississippi State freshman lineman Sam Westmoreland dies

  Mississippi  State says freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland has died at the age of  18. Westmoreland was an industrial technology major from Tupelo who would have  turned 19 on Friday. The news release announcing Westmoreland’s death did not  provide details but said the school was working with the athletic department,  the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office and the coroner’s office to determine  facts and would not comment further. MSU coach Mike Leach said the athletics  family was heartbroken by Westmoreland’s death, which he called sudden.  Westmoreland was listed on the roster for the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference  game Saturday at No. 6 Alabama but had not played this season, according to  game notes.

NCAAMBKB  – Wolverines add another Howard

  The  22nd-ranked Michigan basketball team features three Howards this season. Juwan  Howard is entering his fourth season as coach, and his first with two sons on  the roster. Highly touted freshman Jett Howard is expected to be in the  starting lineup on the wing. Junior Jace Howard will have an opportunity to  play a larger role this season as his brother’s backup. Center Hunter Dickinson  put his NBA goals on hold to return for his junior season after leading the  team in scoring and rebounding the previous two years.

WNBA  – Brittney Griner spends 32nd birthday in Russian prison

  Brittney  Griner spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison, awaiting an  appeal to her nine-year sentence for drug possession that’s set for next week.  The WNBA star has been especially down lately, according to her lawyers. They  were with her for part of her birthday on Tuesday. Attorney Maria Blagovolina  says they passed along well wishes from family and friends. The WNBA star’s  appeal hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25. While it’s unlikely the appeal will  overturn her conviction, her lawyers hope it could lessen the sentence.

NASCAR  – Bell says Wallace apologized on flight home from Las Vegas

  Bubba  Wallace and Christopher Bell shared a flight home from Las Vegas, and Wallace  apologized during the trip to his fellow Toyota teammate for the incident that  crippled Bell’s championship chances. Bell said Wallace also apologized to the  entire Toyota group in the Monday competition meeting. Wallace has been  suspended one race by NASCAR for a dangerous act of retaliation that  inadvertently collected Bell. He will miss Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami  Speedway for deliberately retaliating against reigning NASCAR champion Kyle  Larson at Las Vegas. Wallace hooked Larson in the rear corner of his car to  spin him directly into traffic, where Larson drilled Bell and ended Bell’s  race.

Olympics  – US figure skaters still await medals from Beijing Games

  Eight  months after finishing behind the Russians at the Winter Olympics, the U.S.  team has yet to receive its medals. They do not even know whether they will be  silver or gold. That’s because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency only recently  finished its investigation into Kamila Valieva. Her positive doping test  surfaced during the opening week of the Olympics. It led to its biggest scandal  in years. RUSADA did not reveal the results of its investigation, but it did  say that the next step in the process would be to hold disciplinary hearings in  September or October.

AHL  – American Hockey League
Last Night

  Grand  Rapids Griffins 3, Milwaukee Admirals 2

MCCAA  – Junior College Athletics
Yesterday
Women’s Soccer

  Jackson  College 1, Lake Michigan College 0 

Men’s Soccer

  Jackson  College 5, Lake Michigan College 3

Tonight
Women’s Volleyball

  Kellogg  Community College at Lake Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.

  Glen  Oaks Community College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.

MHSAA  – High School Sports
Yesterday
Boys  Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division  2 (St. Joseph)

  Edwardsburg  3, Sturgis 1

  St.  Joseph 1, Vicksburg 0
-Championship  game Saturday, 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph

Boys  Soccer – Districts (Championship)
Division  2 (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg)

  Gull  Lake 1, Parma-Western 0

Volleyball

  Lakeshore  3, Battle Creek Central 1

  St.  Joseph 3, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0

  Michigan  Lutheran 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0

  Niles  3, Brandywine 2

Tonight
Boys  Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division  3 (Paw Paw)

  Three  Rivers vs. Paw Paw, 5:00 p.m.

  Buchanan  vs. Watervliet, 7:00 p.m.
-Championship  game Saturday, 10:00 a.m. at Paw Paw

Boys  Soccer – Districts (Championship)
Division  1 (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix)

  Battle  Creek Lakeview vs. Portage Central, 7:00 p.m.

Division  3 (South Haven)

  Fennville  vs. Holland Christian, 6:00 p.m.

Division  4 (Our Lady of the Lake)

  Bridgman  vs. Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.

Division  4 (Hartford)

  Holland  Black River vs. Hartford, 5:00 p.m.

Volleyball

  Benton  Harbor at Parchment, 6:30 p.m.

  South  Haven at Berrien Springs, 1:00 p.m.

  Sturgis at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m.

  Paw  Paw at Plainwell, 6:00 p.m.

  Dowagiac  at Cassopolis, 7:00 p.m.

NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season Openers 
 Last Night 
 Detroit Pistons 113, Orlando Magic 109 
 Chicago Bulls 116, Miami Heat 108 
Washington Wizards 114, Indiana Pacers 107
Pistons 113, Magic 109 – Bogdanovic shines in Detroit debut, helps Pistons beat Magic 
 Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points in his debut with Detroit, helping the Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 113-109 on Wednesday night. Orlando&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 overall pick last summer, had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in an impressive NBA debut. Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick last year, had 18 points and 10 assists. Cunningham&rsquo;s last assist set up Isaiah Stewart for a 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left that gave the Pistons a four-point lead. Bogdanovic made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to restore Detroit&rsquo;s four-point cushion, sealing the victory.
Bulls 116, Heat 108 – DeRozan scores 37, Bulls top Heat 116-108 in season opener 
 DeMar DeRozan scored 28 of his 37 points in the second half, Ayo Dosunmu added 17 and the short-handed Chicago Bulls topped the Miami Heat 116-108 in the season-opener for both teams on Wednesday night. Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Bulls, and Goran Dragic added 12 off the Chicago bench. Jimmy Butler scored 24 points and Tyler Herro added 23 for Miami, which got 22 from Max Strus and 12 from Bam Adebayo.
Wizards 114, Pacers 107 – Beal, Wizards open season with 114-107 win over Pacers 
 Bradley Beal scored 23 points and Kyle Kuzma added 20 as the Washington Wizards led from wire to wire, beating the rebuilding Indiana Pacers 114-107. Kristaps Porzingis added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Wizards won consecutive season openers for the first time since 2004-05. Indiana was led by Tyrese Haliburton&#8217;s 26 points and 19 from rookie Bennedict Mathurin. The Pacers&#8217; losing streak reached 11 games overall, including 10 to end last season.
MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs – League Championship Series (best of 7) 
 Yesterday 
 Houston Astros 4, New York Yankees 2                                            (HOU leads 1-0) 
 San Diego Padres 8, Philadelphia Phillies 5                                       (Series tied 1-1)
Astros 4, Yankees 2 – Verlander Ks 11 to lead Astros over Yankees 4-2 in ALCS 
 Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña all homered to power the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in their AL Championship Series opener. The Astros are in their sixth consecutive ALCS, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time in that span, against a New York team in the LCS for the first time since being eliminated by Houston in 2019. The game was tied 1-all in the sixth when Gurriel connected off reliever Clarke Schmidt for a solo shot that put Houston on top. Two batters later, McCormick sent a sinker from Schmidt into right field to make it 3-1.
Padres 8, Phillies 5 – Drury, Padres rally to beat Nola, Phillies 8-5, tie NLCS 1-1 
 Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth inning and the San Diego Padres stunned Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 to tie their all-wild card NL Championship Series at one game apiece. The outburst started with Padres catcher Austin Nola hitting an RBI single off his younger brother that brought the sellout, towel-twirling crowd of 44,607 at Petco Park to life. Three innings earlier, the Phillies took a 4-0 lead with a rally that included bloop hits, a sun-aided double on a gorgeous, 92-degree afternoon and some shoddy Padres defense.
Tonight 
 NY Yankees (Severino 7-3) at Houston (Valdez 17-6), 7:37 p.m.            (HOU leads 1-0) 
NHL – Red Wings&#8217; Vrana enters NHL/NHLPA player assistance program 
 Detroit Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana has entered the player assistance program of the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. The league and the union made the announcement. They did not specify why he entered the program. Vrana will be paid while he is receiving treatment. The program administrators will determine when he&rsquo;s cleared to compete for the Red Wings. The 26-year-old Vrana is from the Czech Republic. He had a goal and an assist in Saturday&rsquo;s win at New Jersey. He did not play in a home game two days later against the Los Angeles Kings due to personal reasons.
NFL – National Football League – Week 7 
 Tonight 
 New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals, 8:15 p.m.
NCAAFB – Notre Dame Stadium no longer place of solace under Freeman 
 Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman understands the problem. The Fighting Irish have lost their home-field advantage. Finding the solution has proven to be challenging. Notre Dame is an inexplicable 1-2 in South Bend in Freeman&#8217;s first season, despite entering each game as a double-digit favorite. And they easily could be 0-3. They&#8217;ll have a chance to turn things around Saturday when UNLV comes to town. Notre Dame is a heavy favorite but will need to sweep its final three home games to post a winning record at Notre Dame Stadium.
NCAAFB – Mississippi State freshman lineman Sam Westmoreland dies 
 Mississippi State says freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland has died at the age of 18. Westmoreland was an industrial technology major from Tupelo who would have turned 19 on Friday. The news release announcing Westmoreland&rsquo;s death did not provide details but said the school was working with the athletic department, the Oktibbeha County Sheriff&rsquo;s Office and the coroner&rsquo;s office to determine facts and would not comment further. MSU coach Mike Leach said the athletics family was heartbroken by Westmoreland&rsquo;s death, which he called sudden. Westmoreland was listed on the roster for the Bulldogs&rsquo; Southeastern Conference game Saturday at No. 6 Alabama but had not played this season, according to game notes.
NCAAMBKB – Wolverines add another Howard 
 The 22nd-ranked Michigan basketball team features three Howards this season. Juwan Howard is entering his fourth season as coach, and his first with two sons on the roster. Highly touted freshman Jett Howard is expected to be in the starting lineup on the wing. Junior Jace Howard will have an opportunity to play a larger role this season as his brother&#8217;s backup. Center Hunter Dickinson put his NBA goals on hold to return for his junior season after leading the team in scoring and rebounding the previous two years.
WNBA – Brittney Griner spends 32nd birthday in Russian prison 
 Brittney Griner spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison, awaiting an appeal to her nine-year sentence for drug possession that&rsquo;s set for next week. The WNBA star has been especially down lately, according to her lawyers. They were with her for part of her birthday on Tuesday. Attorney Maria Blagovolina says they passed along well wishes from family and friends. The WNBA star&#8217;s appeal hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25. While it&rsquo;s unlikely the appeal will overturn her conviction, her lawyers hope it could lessen the sentence.
NASCAR – Bell says Wallace apologized on flight home from Las Vegas 
 Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell shared a flight home from Las Vegas, and Wallace apologized during the trip to his fellow Toyota teammate for the incident that crippled Bell&rsquo;s championship chances. Bell said Wallace also apologized to the entire Toyota group in the Monday competition meeting. Wallace has been suspended one race by NASCAR for a dangerous act of retaliation that inadvertently collected Bell. He will miss Sunday&rsquo;s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for deliberately retaliating against reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson at Las Vegas. Wallace hooked Larson in the rear corner of his car to spin him directly into traffic, where Larson drilled Bell and ended Bell&rsquo;s race.
Olympics – US figure skaters still await medals from Beijing Games 
 Eight months after finishing behind the Russians at the Winter Olympics, the U.S. team has yet to receive its medals. They do not even know whether they will be silver or gold. That&rsquo;s because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency only recently finished its investigation into Kamila Valieva. Her positive doping test surfaced during the opening week of the Olympics. It led to its biggest scandal in years. RUSADA did not reveal the results of its investigation, but it did say that the next step in the process would be to hold disciplinary hearings in September or October.
AHL – American Hockey League 
 Last Night 
 Grand Rapids Griffins 3, Milwaukee Admirals 2
MCCAA – Junior College Athletics 
 Yesterday 
 Women&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Jackson College 1, Lake Michigan College 0 
Men&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Jackson College 5, Lake Michigan College 3
Tonight 
 Women&rsquo;s Volleyball 
 Kellogg Community College at Lake Michigan College, 6:30 p.m. 
 Glen Oaks Community College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports 
 Yesterday 
 Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals) 
 Division 2 (St. Joseph) 
 Edwardsburg 3, Sturgis 1 
 St. Joseph 1, Vicksburg 0 
 -Championship game Saturday, 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph
Boys Soccer – Districts (Championship) 
 Division 2 (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg) 
 Gull Lake 1, Parma-Western 0
Volleyball 
 Lakeshore 3, Battle Creek Central 1 
 St. Joseph 3, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0 
 Michigan Lutheran 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0 
 Niles 3, Brandywine 2
Tonight 
 Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals) 
 Division 3 (Paw Paw) 
 Three Rivers vs. Paw Paw, 5:00 p.m. 
 Buchanan vs. Watervliet, 7:00 p.m. 
 -Championship game Saturday, 10:00 a.m. at Paw Paw
Boys Soccer – Districts (Championship) 
 Division 1 (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix) 
 Battle Creek Lakeview vs. Portage Central, 7:00 p.m.
Division 3 (South Haven) 
 Fennville vs. Holland Christian, 6:00 p.m.
Division 4 (Our Lady of the Lake) 
 Bridgman vs. Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.
Division 4 (Hartford) 
 Holland Black River vs. Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Volleyball 
 Benton Harbor at Parchment, 6:30 p.m. 
 South Haven at Berrien Springs, 1:00 p.m. 
 Sturgis at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m. 
 Paw Paw at Plainwell, 6:00 p.m. 
 Dowagiac at Cassopolis, 7:00 p.m.

Southwest Michigan's Sports Leader

WSJM Sports

NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season Openers Last Night Detroit Pistons 113, Orlando Magic 109 Chicago Bulls 116, Miami Heat 108 Washington Wizards 114, Indiana Pacers 107 Pistons 113, Magic 109 – Bogdanovic shines in