The Memphis Grizzlies succeeded in resolving the confrontation that brought together two teams that had not tasted loss since the start of the NBA season, by defeating the host Portland Trail Blazers 124-103 on Thursday.
The newcomer to the Grizzlies, Cameron Boozer, led his team to a huge victory after he presented an exceptional performance in which he scored 18 points with 12 rebounds and 12 assists, thus achieving three double figures (a triple double).
With this personal achievement, Boozer, the third pick in the Draft this year, has become the second youngest player in the history of the league to achieve a “Triple-Double” at the age of 19 years and 103 days, behind Josh Guidi, who preceded him in 2022 when he was 19 years and 84 days old.
Boozer commented on his achievement, saying: “It is amazing. I will continue to work in the same way. “The season is still early, and we still have 77 games left.”
With this victory, the Grizzlies raised their tally to five wins without any loss, and drew attention away from Ja Morant’s return to face his former team, which witnessed the start of his career in the league.
Morant, the Trail Blazers playmaker, had a difficult evening against a team he chose in the draft in 2019 and defended its colors for seven seasons, before leaving after years that witnessed him suffering from repeated injuries.
Morant only scored 14 points, before he was forced to leave the field during the last quarter after suffering an injury to the hamstring muscles, to follow from the bench his team's first loss this season.
With the exception of Memphis, the Houston Rockets are still the only team to maintain an undefeated record, having also achieved five consecutive victories.
The New Orleans Pelicans needed five games to achieve their first victory this season, after Jeremiah Fears led them to a 132-120 victory over the Sacramento Kings by scoring 22 points with 13 assists and 8 rebounds.
The 20-year-old playmaker said after the match: “Our start was not good at all, but what is certain is that we are starting to move in the right direction and are working to change our path.”
The Pelicans had started the season with four consecutive defeats, before finally succeeding in untying the knot of victories.
On the other hand, Sacramento suffered its fifth defeat, despite the remarkable performance of rookie player Darius Acuff Jr., who scored 34 points with 14 assists, continuing his brilliance after scoring 33 points last week against Portland.
In another match, the Atlanta Hawks achieved a difficult victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-111, benefiting from an offensive uprising during the third quarter during which they scored 43 points.
Onyeka Okongwu shined by scoring 29 points with 12 rebounds, while Canadian Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 25 points, and Aaron Wiggins contributed 20 points from the bench, giving Atlanta its first victory at home in the 2026-2027 season.
The final minutes witnessed great excitement after Donovan Mitchell, who scored 22 points, missed two attempts from beyond the arc, the success of one of which would have given Cleveland the opportunity to impose an extension and extract additional time.
The 2027 edition of the Dakar Rally will be held exceptionally in Portugal and Morocco next January, according to what organizers announced on Friday.
Amaury Sport, the company organizing the event, explained in a statement that it was decided to move the 2027 competitions exceptionally to Europe and Africa, with the rally returning to Saudi Arabia in 2028 to celebrate its fiftieth edition.
The organizers added that the 49th edition of the rally will be the opening leg of the 2027 season of the World Desert Rally Championships, affiliated with the International Federation of Automobiles (FIA) and the International Federation of Motorcycles (FEM).
The statement continued: “The competitions will include a preliminary exhibition stage followed by 12 stages, during the period from January 9 to 23, on a track starting from the cities of Loulé and Faro in Portugal all the way to Marrakesh in Morocco.”
For the first time since 2007, the Dakar Desert Rally returns to the African continent after the first edition of the race, known as “Paris-Dakar,” was launched in 1978 at the initiative of Frenchman Thierry Sabine, a media official passionate about adventures and motorcycles. He died in 1986 in a helicopter crash, along with a number of people, including singer Daniel Palavoine.
According to the organizer, the Algarve region in Portugal will host the preliminary stage and the first special stage, while Morocco will be the stage for 11 stages, in addition to a rest day in the city of Agadir as part of a path that aims to explore the country from its north to its extreme south.
The statement explained that the race will pass through six different camps along a route totaling 7,824 kilometers, including 4,341 kilometers of special stages designated for competition.
In the statement, race director David Castera described the 2027 edition as a competition “without any concessions,” referring to the great challenges awaiting the participants.
The Dakar Rally was canceled in 2008 due to fears of terrorist attacks and jihadist threats, before it left the African continent and moved to South America between 2009 and 2019, and then Saudi Arabia hosted it in seven successive editions, from 2020 until last January.
Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina, who since Thursday has guaranteed to end the year at the top of the world rankings for professional women's tennis players, announced her withdrawal from the quarter-finals of the Tokyo tournament, on Friday, due to a neck injury.
Rybakina had booked her place in the quarter-finals on Thursday, after she easily defeated her compatriot Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3 at the beginning of her tournament campaign.
This result ensured that Rybakina finished the season in first place in the world, knowing that she was no longer required to participate in any other tournament this season except for the final “WTA” tournament, which brings together the best eight female players during the year, and is scheduled to start on November 8 in Indian Wells.
Despite her presence on the field on Friday, Rybakina did not participate in the quarter-final match against Canadian Laila Fernandez, but rather addressed the fans by saying: “I just wanted to thank you for your presence today, but unfortunately I will not be able to play.” “I suffered a minor injury a few days ago, and it is difficult for me to perform 100 percent, especially since I have a very important tournament ahead of me.”
The player explained in a statement that she suffers from “inflammation and pain in the neck.”
With Rybakina's withdrawal, Fernandez, ranked 23rd in the world, qualified to face Russian Kamila Rakhimova, ranked 66th in the world, in the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday.
