DENVER -- Last year at this time, Kawhi Leonard was hobbled. It was painful to watch him try to play through the inflammation in his right knee before the LA Clippers finally shut him down ahead of Game 4 of their first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

It took months for Leonard to recover from his injuries. So long that the Clippers had to move on and figure out how to play without him for the first part of this season and reporters basically stopped asking coach Tyronn Lue for updates.

But behind the scenes, Leonard was working to get back to a physical form so that he might have a night like he did Monday in the Clippers' 105-102 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series at Ball Arena.

"I'm just happy that I'm able to move," Leonard said after scoring 39 points on an efficient 15-for-19 from the field. "That's what I'm taking pride in is just being healthy. I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years. So being able to be frontline out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes."

Leonard sat out 23 days because of inflammation in his right knee trying to get himself ready for the playoffs last season, only to have the injury not respond well and finally be ruled out for the series. At the time, it felt like the closing of a championship window that had formed when he joined forces with Paul George in 2019 and then added James Harden in a trade on Oct. 31, 2023. George left as a free agent last summer. Leonard and Harden re-signed on team-friendly contracts.

Leonard was able to play in only 37 games this season, trying to get his knee in good enough shape to help the Clippers in the playoffs. So far, it's responding.

"Tonight, s---, I don't feel like he missed a shot," Harden said of Leonard, who made his first six shots, missed a 3-pointer, then hit six more in a row and ended up scoring or assisting on 51 of the Clippers' 105 points (49%).

"His shotmaking ability is elite," Harden continued. "And that's the aggressiveness that we need from him. Doesn't matter what's going on, or who's guarding him, he just got to a spot and raised up. He's a big-time player."

Leonard was equally dominant on defense, holding the Nuggets to five points (2-of-12 field goals) when he was the primary defender. He also came up with a huge steal of a Nikola Jokic pass (his seventh turnover of the game) with 38 seconds left and the Clippers clinging to a three-point lead.

Leonard said that he tries to keep his focus on what's in front of him, whether it be the next play or the next game. He doesn't allow himself to think too far ahead or reflect too deeply on where he has been. But after Monday's game -- his finest playoff game since he led the Clippers to the Western Conference finals in 2021 -- Leonard noted that he thanked several staffers for everything they'd done to help him through his injuries the past few years.

"Anybody in the business that's playing and knows how hard it is to either to come back from injury or just even playing in the NBA, they understand what we all go through, what I go through," Leonard said. "... I'm not going to play like I was before. I could be playing better. I can be playing worse. It doesn't matter. I'm just focused on it now. It's a different team in every situation and game, so I'm just taking what's in front of me and playing hard and like I said, having fun and just living with the results."

Harden has been with the Clippers for only two seasons but said he has come to appreciate all the work Leonard puts in behind the scenes just to get back to play.

"It's every single day," Harden said of Leonard. "It's the preparation. It's like the treatment, it's strengthening, you know what I mean, of body, it's correctives and then it's going on court and putting it all together. Luck hasn't been on his side or whatever case you might call it. But he loves to hoop. And as you see, when he's on the court, he's a killer. So I'm glad he's in a good space right now."

"I'm just happy that I'm able to move. That's what I'm taking pride in is just being healthy. I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years. So being able to be frontline out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes."

Kawhi Leonard

Harden also used the opportunity to defend Leonard from critics who talk about the perception that he and the Clippers have "load managed" his injuries over the years.

"It's always negative. It's always what he's been through and what he's not able to do just because of something that he can't control," Harden said. "But we don't appreciate how great he is when he's actually out there and putting on performances like this tonight. I feel like that about everybody that's in the league that goes through something that is out of their hands where they can't control. It's like it's always the negative -- which is something that we got to live with, I guess, in the world. But as for me, being close to him every single day and seeing the work that he puts in, you appreciate him."

Leonard had a stellar last month of the regular season, building to a night like Monday. But the Clippers needed every ounce of what he gave them to beat the Nuggets.

Jokic recorded another triple-double (26 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) but was clearly frustrated by the defensive coverages and physicality the Clippers threw at him. He finished with an uncharacteristic seven turnovers and even missed four free throws.

Jamal Murray added 23 points and Michael Porter Jr. had 15, but Denver had no answer for Leonard on Monday night and couldn't recover from its 20 turnovers, which led to 21 Clippers points.

The teams will have two days off before resuming their series Thursday night in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES -- Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner has finally made his Stanley Cup playoff debut after 15 seasons and a league-record 1,078 regular-season games.

Skinner was in Edmonton's lineup for Game 1 of its first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night, ending the longest wait for a postseason debut in NHL history.

Skinner, who turns 33 years old next month, has been an NHL regular since he was 18. He has racked up six 30-goal seasons and 699 total points while scoring 373 goals in a standout career.

But Skinner spent his first eight seasons of that career with Carolina, which missed nine consecutive postseasons during the 2010s, and the next six with the woebegone Buffalo Sabres, whose current 14-season playoff drought is the league's longest.

Skinner signed with Edmonton as a free agent last summer but struggled to nail down a consistent role in the Oilers' lineup in the first half of the season. His game improved markedly in the second half, and he scored 16 goals this season while entering the playoffs as Edmonton's third-line left wing.

Skinner's teammates have been thrilled to end his drought this month. Connor McDavid presented Skinner with their player of the game award after the Oilers clinched their sixth straight playoff berth two weeks ago.

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks left the court for halftime down by six on the scoreboard and way behind in the free throw statistics.

The Detroit Pistons wound up shooting 34 free throws Monday night in their 100-94 victory over the Knicks, who took 19 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first-round matchup.

The series is even, and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said afterward the free throws need to be as well.

"Obviously huge discrepancy in free throws," Thibodeau said. "Huge. I've got to take a look at that."

Thibodeau felt that Jalen Brunson, his point guard, wasn't getting the same type of calls that fellow All-Star Cade Cunningham received. The Knicks clearly want to be physical with Cunningham, as they were in their Game 1 victory, but struggled to do it without being whistled for fouls Monday.

"I don't understand how on one side you talk about direct line drives. The guy is getting fouled and it's not being called," Thibodeau said. "And look, I don't really give a crap how they call the game, as long as it's consistent on both sides. So, if Cunningham is driving and there is marginal contact and he is getting to the line, then Jalen deserves to be getting to the line. It's really that simple."

The free throws for those two players were actually about even. Cunningham finished 10-for-12, while Brunson was 9-for-11. And Ausar Thompson, the primary defender on Brunson, fouled out of the game.

But the Knicks struggled to shake their frustration with the officiating in the first half. The Pistons took 14 free throws in the first two quarters and Brunson attempted the only two given to the Knicks.

Thibodeau frequently complains about the pounding Brunson takes, and the Knicks keep a close eye on the officiating, even taking the rare step of including a breakdown of the game's three officials and some of their relevant stats in their pregame media notes.

Brunson thinks maybe they need to worry less during the games.

"Regardless if fouls are being called or not called, we've got to adjust, and I feel like we did that a little too late into the game," he said. "And so regardless of how it's reffed, we've got to adjust and we've got to adapt to that and go on from there."

NEW YORK -- Francisco Lindor is off to a smashing start, for a change. And on Monday night, he picked up right where he left off against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The star shortstop stayed red-hot by homering twice and finishing with four RBIs as the New York Mets held off their NL East rivals 5-4 in the opener of a three-game series.

New York (16-7) extended its division lead to three games over Philadelphia in the first meeting between the teams since last October, when the Mets eliminated the Phillies from the playoffs with a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of their Division Series at Citi Field.

Lindor delivered the knockout blow in that one with a sixth-inning grand slam. This time, he launched his second consecutive leadoff homer and then a three-run shot in the seventh that landed around the same spot in right-center as his pivotal drive in the NLDS.

"Pretty similar to what happened last year," Mets pitcher Tylor Megill said.

It was the 20th multihomer game for Lindor at shortstop. The only players with more are Alex Rodriguez (33) and Ernie Banks (24).

The four-time All-Star has four home runs in the last four games, including a walk-off shot. He's batting .325 with five homers and 13 RBIs since he went 0 for 11 in the first series of the season against the Houston Astros.

"That was nasty," Lindor said. "They got me. They got me. It's in the past."

So, too, are the memories of last year's lengthy slump to begin the season. Lindor went 1 for 31 in New York's first eight games of 2024 and was hitting .195 through 44 games before moving into the leadoff spot May 18.

He batted .304 with 26 homers and 70 RBIs the rest of the way and finished second behind Shohei Ohtani in NL MVP balloting.

"I think he's just focusing on the process, not so much results," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "I think when you start thinking about, well, I've always been a slow starter and the more you think about it -- as opposed to (saying), you know what? I'm going to prepare, I'm going to do everything I need to before the game and then I'm going to go out and compete and concentrate on having quality at-bats, concentrate on playing quality defense, as opposed to trying too hard or just having that in the back of your mind."

Lindor sent Sonny Gray's fourth pitch into the second deck in right field Sunday and finished with three hits and three runs in a 7-4 victory over St. Louis.

He followed that up by driving Aaron Nola's fifth pitch off the facing of the second deck in right Monday. That gave Lindor 23 career leadoff homers, including three this season, and he joined Kaz Matsui (2004) and Curtis Granderson (2017) as the only Mets players to hit one in consecutive games.

"He's free in a way where it's like, you know what? I'm just going to be myself," Mendoza said. "And that's what he's doing right now. He's getting results."

And in doing so, he extended a slow start for Nola.

"Got to keep competing, keep trying, and keep pitching," said Nola, who fell to 0-5, walking two along the way. "I know I haven't done that so far this year, but keep competing and win the game. Can't control the results, but can control the walks."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

While the expectation is that Rick Tocchet will remain behind an NHL bench next season, there's a possibility it won't be with the Vancouver Canucks.

Canucks president hockey of operations Jim Rutherford told reporters Monday that the team won't exercise its option for Tocchet, adding that the organization has instead offered a new, more lucrative contract for him to remain in Vancouver.

"We don't feel it's right to have somebody here that may have his mind somewhere else," Rutherford said. "I'd say that about anybody. This is not just about Toc. We believe that -- and I believe that -- Toc and his coaching staff did as good a job coaching this team this year as they did the year before when he was coach of the year."

Rutherford said Tocchet was dealt "a totally different hand this year."

A midseason hire during the 2022-23 season, Tocchet's first full campaign with the Canucks was one of the strongest in franchise history, as they won 50 games, finished with 109 points and won the Pacific Division. He guided the Canucks to their first postseason appearance since the 2019-20 season and was a win away from reaching the Western Conference finals.

Despite losing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov in free agency, the Canucks still had several players return this season.

Vancouver opened with a 15-8-5 mark, but there were multiple on-ice and off-ice issues that hindered its season. Thatcher Demko, who won 35 of his 51 games in 2023-24, was injured and was limited to just 23 games this season.

As for the off-ice problems, there was the friction between star forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. The duo had a strained relationship for years, and those tensions reached the point where Canucks captain Quinn Hughes publicly acknowledged there was an issue even though Miller and Pettersson denied any contention.

It led to Miller, who scored 37 goals and 103 points, being dealt to the New York Rangers before the trade deadline. The Canucks struggled to find ways to replace his production as they finished six points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Despite missing the playoffs, Hughes was among those who said they wanted Tocchet to stay.

"This year, we've talked enough about the incident that happened and the fact it [affected] the chemistry in the room in the first half and it forced a trade," Rutherford said. "But with all that going on, how he handled the situation and how he handled the team was really good. So I give him and his staff kudos for the job they've done this year."

His work with the Canucks over the past two-plus seasons is why Tocchet is one of the more coveted coaching options at a time in which there are numerous teams seeking a new direction.

After finishing his playing career, Tocchet became an NHL head coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2008-09 season. He was out after the 2009-10 season, but he established himself as an assistant head coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and helped them win two Stanley Cups.

Tocchet was hired by the Coyotes and got the salary-cap-strapped franchise into the playoffs in his third season. Both he and the Coyotes agreed to part ways after the 2020-21 season, and Tocchet was then hired by the Canucks in January 2023 to replace Bruce Boudreau.

What Tocchet accomplished with the Coyotes was only amplified by his time with the Canucks -- and led to him being named the Jack Adams Award winner for the NHL coach of the year last season.

Now, he's staring at the prospect of either staying with the Canucks or taking a new job elsewhere. The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers were already in need of a new coach, with all three ending the season with interim coaches. On Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers respectively moved on from their coaches to create five openings with the idea that the Canucks could join that collection of teams if Tocchet signs elsewhere.

"As for the contract, we've gone through a process, we've negotiated," Rutherford said. "I would suspect sometime this week, he'll have a decision. ... We're hoping that he takes that contract and stays."

After making NHL history during the regular season, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin made some personal history in their Game 1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his career to win their series opener, 3-2, at home in his 152nd career postseason game.

"A goal is a goal," Ovechkin said after the victory. "Good things happen when you go to the net."

Ovechkin is the all-time leader in regular season overtime goals with 27 in 1,491 games. They're part of his career total of 897 goals, having broken Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894 goals this season.

"The guy's the best player in the world. What else can you say?" said Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, who made 33 saves in the win. "He comes in clutch. All game. It's a privilege to be his teammate."

After an icing call, Capitals forward Dylan Strome won a faceoff, with Montreal forwards Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov failing to clear the puck. Winger Anthony Beauvillier collected the puck for a shot on goal and then tracked down his own rebound to Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault's right. Montreal's Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle went to defend Beauvillier, who slid a pass to an open Ovechkin on the doorstep for the goal at 2:26 of overtime.

The overtime tally completed a monster night for Ovechkin.

He opened the scoring on the power play at 18:34 of the first period and then assisted on Beauvillier's second-period goal to make it 2-0 before finishing off the pesky Canadiens in overtime. It was the 37th multi-point performance and 10th multi-goal game of Ovechkin's playoff career.

Ovechkin also had seven hits in the game to lead all skaters.

Ovechkin is the oldest skater in Stanley Cup Playoff history to factor in on all of his team's goals in a game. He also became the 4th oldest player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to score an overtime goal at 39 years and 216 days. Detroit's Igor Larionov was 41 years old when he scored a triple-overtime goal in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.

With his first goal, Ovechkin passed Patrick Marleau and Esa Tikkanen (72) and tied Dino Ciccarelli (73) for the 14th-most playoff goals in NHL history. Ovechkin's 74th career playoff goal put him in a tie with Joe Pavelski for the 13th-most career playoff goals all-time.

The captain's overtimr heroism rescued Game 1 for the Capitals. The top seed in the Eastern Conference watched the Canadiens rally in the third period on goals by Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki 5:13 apart to send the game to overtime.

"You can see why they made the playoffs. That team doesn't quit," Thompson said. "In the third, they didn't go away. We've gotta respect them. They took it to us in the third."

But rather than give Montreal some much-needed confidence and a series lead in their upset bid, Ovechkin shut the door in OT.

"He played a hell of game tonight," Beauvillier said.

LONDON -- Five teams, each with five games to play, and three Champions League spots up for grabs.

Nottingham Forest weren't supposed to be in that conversation, but they now lead the five-way race after their 2-1 win at Tottenham on Monday. With the result, Forest are turning the screws on Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa.

The race for Champions League is where the excitement is at in the Premier League. The title race is as good as over with Liverpool needing just one more win to become champions -- they can seal the deal against Spurs at Anfield on Sunday. The relegation battle, too, is nearly done with Southampton and Leicester already knocked down, and Ipswich having joined them yet only due to goal differential.

But the battle to qualify for next season's Champions League is now so intense that it is almost certain to run until the final day of the campaign on May 25.

The performances of the Premier League teams in European competition this season have ensured that England will top the UEFA co-efficient table and secure an additional Champions League spot in the 2025-26, so rather four qualification berths, five slots are now available. With Liverpool and Arsenal assuredly securing the first two spots, that leaves three more.

Yet right now, just three points separate Forest in third position and Villa in seventh. Five clubs are so tightly congested that any could finish third or seventh. A dropped point here or a late goal conceded there could prove to be the difference between facing Real Madrid in the Champions League next season or spending Thursday nights against Europe's lesser lights in the Europa League.

Forest's win at Spurs on Monday -- after back-to-back defeats against Villa and Everton had seemingly triggered a slide out of the Champions League race -- enabled Nuno Espirito Santo's side to move onto 60 points, a point clear of fourth-place Newcastle.

But all could change on Tuesday when Manchester City (fifth, 58 points) face Villa (seventh, 57 points) at the Etihad. No matter what happens between Pep Guardiola's team and Unai Emery's side, Forest won't drop out of the top five on Tuesday. But between now and the final games on May 25, each of the five teams chasing the three remaining spots will be playing a football version of snakes-and-ladders.

Having finished in 17th position last season -- one place above the relegation trapdoor -- nobody could have foreseen Forest's remarkable season this time around, but Nuno's team have been able to keep pace with the more fancied sides due to their organisation, team ethic and the goals of Chris Wood, who took his Premier League tally to 19 for the season against Spurs.

But after their recent wobble, can Forest now hold their nerve and get over the line to return to the Champions League for the first time 1980-81? Their remaining run-in schedule is relatively kind, with Brentford at home and Crystal Palace away next up before a home game against relegated Leicester and trip to struggling West Ham.

If Forest are still in the shake-up after that sequence of games, they will face Chelsea at the City Ground on the final day in what could be a Champions League decider.

Newcastle's fixture list, meanwhile, looks more difficult, especially with no indication yet as to when, or if, manager Eddie Howe will be able to return to work after being hospitalised with pneumonia. Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town should be a straightforward win, but then come tougher assignments against Brighton away, Chelsea at home, Arsenal away and Everton at St James' Park on the final day.

Man City's biggest hurdle could be Tuesday's encounter with Villa because after that game, Guardiola's side face Wolves at home, Southampton away, Bournemouth at home and Fulham away. Despite their struggles this season, City really should seal a top five finish from that fixture list.

Chelsea are the team that looks to have the biggest battle ahead. Already outside the top five after just two wins from their last five league games, Enzo Maresca's side face Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday before successive games against Liverpool at home and Newcastle away.

A home game against Manchester United on May 16 may offer Chelsea some much-needed respite before they end their season at Forest. Chelsea are likely to need to win at least four of their last five games to clinch a top five spot and that looks a tall order in their current form.

Villa? Last Saturday's 4-1 win against Newcastle threw Emery's side a Champions League lifeline, but they will need to avoid defeat at City on Tuesday to avoid becoming outsiders for a top five finish.

If they can achieve a positive result at the Etihad, games against Fulham at home and Bournemouth away will be opportunities to build momentum before ending their season with back-to-back games against Spurs at home and Man United away.

And let's not forget Spurs and Man United, even though their supporters would love to erase this season from their memory banks. If they meet in the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21 -- Spurs face Bodo/Glimt and United meet Athletic Club in the semifinals next month -- the winner will clinch a place in the Champions League and take the Premier League's representation to six teams next season.

Right now, that would be a meeting between teams sitting 14th (Man United) and 16 (Spurs) in the Premier League. It's perhaps the lowest-quality Champions League playoff in history.

But at the top end of the table, five teams are pushing hard for three places in the competition and the race will ensure fireworks over the final month of the season.

A day after Nico Iamaleava finalized his move from Tennessee to UCLA, Joey Aguilar is doing the same from UCLA to Tennessee in what's essentially a quarterback trade, sources told ESPN on Monday.

Aguilar transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA during the winter portal and was the front-runner to be the Bruins' starting quarterback this fall. But UCLA announced the signing of Iamaleava on Sunday, and Aguilar entered the spring portal Monday.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on April 12 when announcing the program was moving forward without Iamaleava that the Vols would add another quarterback in the spring portal. When Aguilar became available, Tennessee immediately showed interest. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior has one year of eligibility remaining after passing for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns the past two seasons at Appalachian State. Aguilar, originally from Antioch, California, started his career at Diablo Valley Community College.

The deal that Aguilar is finalizing to go to Tennessee is similar financially to the deal that he previously had at UCLA, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel. He had $1.2 million left at UCLA on his deal, and his new deal at Tennessee is close to that. Factoring in taxes, it will be similar pay for Aguilar. He'd also already made more than $200,000 in his first few months at UCLA.

Iamaleava, Tennessee's starter last season as a redshirt freshman, entered the portal last Wednesday, the day it opened. He skipped practice the previous Friday and didn't alert coaches or teammates. After several people around the program tried to contact him that day, Iamaleava called offensive coordinator Joey Halzle that night to inform him that he was entering the portal and didn't attend the Vols' spring game the next day. That morning, Heupel -- who said he never heard from Iamaleava -- told the team that Iamaleava would no longer be part of the program.

Heupel thanked Iamaleava for his contributions to the program but added, "There's no one that's bigger than the Power T, and that includes me."

Iamaleava's representatives were pushing to have his NIL deal increased, sources told ESPN, and On3 reported the Thursday before Iamaleava missed practice Friday that the two sides were in negotiations. Iamaleava was set to earn in the $2.4 million range this year from Tennessee. He signed his initial contract with the Spyre Sports Group, a Tennessee-based collective, while still in high school. His full deal was reportedly $8 million but would have been closer to $10 million had he stayed the entire time at Tennessee. Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava's representatives wanted a deal in the $4 million range for him to stay at Tennessee for a third season.

Iamaleava redshirted his first season on campus and took over the starting duties last year in helping to lead Tennessee to the College Football Playoff. He finished with 2,616 passing yards and 19 touchdowns but passed for more than 200 yards only twice in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff game.

Aguilar was the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and started 24 games during his two years at Appalachian State. He set a school record with 4,002 yards of total offense his first season for the Mountaineers and another school record for the regular season with 33 touchdown passes. His numbers dipped some in 2024 with 3,003 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. He had a career high of 424 yards on 32 completions in a win over East Carolina. Aguilar was intercepted 14 times last season and threw 24 interceptions during his two-year career at Appalachian State.

As news broke last week that UCLA was a likely destination for Iamaleava, Aguilar's representatives began reaching out to different schools to gauge interest.

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster said two weeks ago that he had "full belief" in what offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri could do with Aguilar because of Sunseri's "record with one-year quarterbacks."

Foster said each day in the spring that Aguilar was settling down and "getting more comfortable running the offense." Aguilar had been on campus for part of only three months. He'll have about that same amount of time to get ready for the start of preseason practice at Tennessee. He will join redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre as the three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Neither has played a meaningful college snap.

Madden Iamaleava, the younger brother of Nico Iamaleava, is expected to join his brother at UCLA, a source told ESPN's Chris Low on Monday.

The younger Iamaleava, an Arkansas freshman quarterback, will make the move after deciding to enter the NCAA transfer portal, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN earlier in the evening.

Madden Iamaleava was ESPN's No. 145 overall recruit in the 2025 class and previously spent nearly eight months committed to UCLA before he flipped his pledge to the Razorbacks during the early signing period in December. To date, Iamaleava is the highest-ranked member of the 2025 ESPN 300 to enter the transfer portal during the spring window.

Iamaleava's exit from Arkansas comes one day after his older brother committed to UCLA out of the transfer portal. Nico Iamaleava landed with the Bruins on Sunday just over one week after Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced that the Volunteers were moving forward without the former four-star prospect, who left the program after missing multiple team events earlier this month.

Madden Iamaleava was ESPN's No. 12 pocket passer in the 2025 recruiting cycle. The 6-foot-3 quarterback from Long Beach, California, initially committed to UCLA in May 2024. He remained a member of coach DeShaun Foster's inaugural signing class up to the start of the early signing period on Dec. 4 before he flipped and signed with Arkansas alongside fellow Bruins pledge and Long Beach Polytechnic High School teammate Jace Brown.

At the time, Madden Iamaleava's commitment to the Razorbacks marked a major recruiting win for Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, and the freshman passer remained with the program through the end of spring camp earlier this morning. He will enter the portal as one of the most intriguing quarterbacks transfer prospects with four years of eligibility remaining.

Madden Iamaleava did not play during his senior season after he was declared ineligible following his transfer from California's Warren High School to Long Beach Polytechnic. He led Warren to an 11-3 record in his first season as a starting quarterback as a junior in 2023.

CBS Sports/247 Sports was the first to report the news of Madden Iamaleava deciding to enter the portal.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said Monday was the "best practice we've had in months," as L.A. prepared for Game 2 of its first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The first-year coach admitted, however, that had the Lakers approached their off days leading up to the playoffs with the same vigor, then maybe they wouldn't have appeared as flat as they did in Saturday's 117-95 Game 1 loss.

"We probably could have done a few more scrimmages," Redick said Monday.

Redick said L.A. used Sunday's film session to review the defense that allowed the Wolves to shoot 21-for-42 on 3-pointers in the series opener. On Monday, he said the Lakers "played live for a very extended period of time" to address L.A.'s offense.

"Hopefully we can just right our wrongs," Lakers guard Austin Reaves said Monday. "We played bad; they shot the ball really well. They're obviously a really good team that's physical. We got to match that. Tomorrow it'll be different story."

Reaves was limited to 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting and registered a plus-minus of minus-25 in 37 minutes.

"S---ty," Reaves said of his performance after reviewing film. "I wasn't myself. To what the reason was, don't know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it."

Redick pointed to his team's overall lack of organization as a major contributing factor in L.A. falling down by as many as 27 points to the Wolves.

"I think a lot of times you would hear that word and then you would think, 'Oh, it's the point guard calling a play,'" Redick said. "No, it's just all of the normal stuff that we try to do, and when we do it, we're really good. Being organized is screening. Being organized is getting to the proper spacing. Being organized is getting the corners filled after makes and misses. That's being organized."

Defensively, the Lakers were particularly burned by Minnesota making 3s from the corners. The Wolves' nine corner 3-pointers were tied for their second most in a game this season (including the regular season), according to GeniusIQ. All nine of those makes came on kickout passes, which accounted for the second-most made corner 3s from kickout passes in a playoff game by any team since player tracking began in 2013-14. And those corner 3s were often wide open, as the Wolves had an average separation of 8.6 feet between their shooter and the closest L.A. defender in Game 1, per GeniusIQ.

Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith said some of it came down to lack of defensive recognition.

"Try to get guys like Naz Reid off the line," Finney-Smith said Monday after Reid scored 23 points and went 6-for-9 from deep in the opener. "He ain't gonna shoot too many pull-up 2s. He probably going to the rim or shoot a 3, so we got to get him off the line."

Finney-Smith also admitted that he allowed his personal offense -- or lack thereof -- to dictate his defense after scoring just 3 points on 1-for-5 shooting in Game 1.

"I got to be a little bit more active," he said. "Last game, I allowed not touching the ball to kind of mess with my energy, and I got to be better."

In the days since the disappointing start, L.A. has had to rationalize what happened after the Lakers were able to win so many pressure-packed games down the stretch to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Redick called the gap in physicality between the Lakers and Wolves an "aberration."

Reaves said L.A. simply showed "uncharacteristic issues." And analytics backed him, with the Lakers shooting just 1-for-8 off Luka Doncic passes, according to ESPN Research. Doncic's lone assist was well below his career postseason average of 7.8.

Ultimately, the Lakers will get a chance to win a game on their home court Tuesday to even the series.

"It's a wake-up call in the sense of we have to be preparing every single possession," Reaves said. Added Redick: "We just have to do a lot of things better, and it starts with playing harder and being organized."