ON TODAY'S SCORECARD
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The NBA regular season comes to an end on Sunday, and while the West is set (aside from seeding), the East still has five teams fighting for playoff spots heading into the final two games of the season (Friday and Sunday) with every team playing on each day.

Every team plays (15 simultaneous or staggered games, often tipped at 1 p.m. ET for East and 3:30 p.m. ET for West/cross-conference). This is the official end of the regular season.

The Friday full slate + Saturday off + Sunday all-teams finale maximizes drama and parity in theory, but in practice it exposes resting/load management and tanking more visibly than staggered endings. This has fueled league-wide trends like record blowouts and the highest-ever average margins.

Where it stands: The Raptors, Hawks, Magic, 76ers and Hornets — separated by just two games — have all clinched at least the play-in. But two of them will earn automatic playoff berths depending on this weekend's results.

• Raptors (45-35): at Knicks, vs. Nets

• Hawks (45-35): vs. Cavaliers, at Heat

• Magic (44-36): at Bulls, at Celtics

• 76ers (43-37): at Pacers, vs. Bucks

• Hornets (43-37): vs. Pistons, at Knicks

Jockeying for seeding: The Knicks could catch the Celtics for the No. 2 seed if they win out and Boston loses out, but New York also leads Cleveland by just one game for the No. 3 seed. In the West, the Nuggets, Lakers and Rockets are separated by one game for the Nos. 3-5 seeds.

SUNDAY, April 12th...

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A former high school journalist from Chicago sent this our way...

“When someone once asked me, “Why do we love sports?” I gave an answer that sounded smart enough in the moment.

But it kept nagging at me. Because deep down, I realized I’d never actually figured out what sports really give us.

I lived with six close friends, most of them huge NFL fans. I’d never grown-up playing football, so I’d never really watched it. But when you live with people who always have it on, you start to become interested in it too.

The question popped up again recently while I watched the Chicago Bears make a miraculous playoff run. I’m not some die-hard lifelong fan, but seeing an entire city suddenly believe again?

That hit different. Suddenly, the answer felt obvious.

Sure, there are a million reasons people love sports — the rivalries, the snacks, the screaming at the TV like it matters.

But the deeper truth is sports became the way I stayed connected to people I no longer saw every day.

Sports are the human experience in fast-forward — raw, dramatic, and one of the last real stories we get to watch unfold live, in real time.”

The most famous and holiest Chicago White Sox fan in the world will be honored by his favorite baseball team with a unique giveaway this summer.

During their Aug. 11 game against the Cincinnati Reds, as part of a special ticket package, fans will be able to get a limited-edition White Sox Pope hat in honor of Robert Prevost, better known as Pope Leo XIV.

These unique "Pope hats" (miter-shaped papal hats with White Sox branding - see above) are sure to be in hiogh demand a likely a collector’s item.

The Chicago White Sox are giving away special "Pope hats" (miter-shaped papal hats with White Sox branding) at their game on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, vs. the Cincinnati Reds at Rate Field.

The Pope is a big White Sox fan, and is originally from the Chicago area. Due to high demand, it’s now a ballpark-wide giveaway for all fans in attendance (originally a special-ticket "Pews at the Ballpark" promotion).

The hat is black and green/gold, shaped like a bishop’s miter, featuring the White Sox sock logo in a diamond on the front, ornate patterns, and hanging lappets (tails) with tassels. Fans who bought the original special tickets will get the hat plus an extra item.

Not only will fans who buy specific tickets get the Pope hat, but they'll also be part of the "Pews at the Ballpark" and sit in a designated section with their fellow Popes.

Pope Leo hasn’t been shy about showing off his fandom since becoming the leader of the Catholic Church a year ago. He wore a White Sox hat for his weekly general audience at the Vatican and later trolled a Chicago Cubs fan following the team’s elimination in the 2025 NLDS.

Stats you need to know after the opening two rounds of this year’s Masters:

• 79 of 89 Masters winners were within five shots of the lead after Round 1, which was good news for the 32 golfers at even par or better.

• Better yet, 18 of the last 19 champions were in the top 11 after Thursday. Rory McIlroy is one of them.

• No golfer has ever been 6 under par after the first two rounds of the tournament. McIlroy is the first.

• Only 6 golfers have ever been 5-under after the first two rounds. Five of them won. McIlroy is one of them.

• McIroy ranks No. 90 of the 91 golfers in the Masters in fairways accuracy. He did not hit a single fairway in round two.

• The record for most birdies after the first two rounds of the Masters is 16, by Scott Speith. McIlroy has 15.

• McIlroy closed Friday’s round with birdies in 6 of his last 7 holes.

• During the first two rounds on the eight Par 5s, McIlroy has birdies on 7 of them.

• It’s been 25 years since there have been consecutive winners of the Masters.

• No golfer has ever made the cut after having a triple bogey. Meet Bryson DeChambeau, who triple bogeyed No. 18 yesterday and missed the cut by one stroke.

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