Keith Murphy and David Warrington go back and forth with more hot topics.
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Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Los Angeles Lakersβ leading scorers, watched Luke Kennardβs inferno and LeBron Jamesβ mastermind from the sideline during the Game 1 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Saturday nightβs home win buys Doncic and Reaves more time to recover, but it isnβt a blueprint the Lakers can afford to follow again.Β
Before it started, Head Coach JJ Redick said the keys to this series were going to be rebounding and turnovers. The Lakers lost both battles in Game 1.
The Lakers recorded 18 fewer offensive rebounds, 15 fewer second-chance points, seven more turnovers, and 15 fewer points off turnovers than the Rockets. That all amounted to Houston attempting a whopping 27 more field goal attempts than Los Angeles.
They should have lost this game, but Kennard bailed them out. He exploded for a playoff career-high 27 points on 5-for-5 three-point shooting.Β
Imagine telling yourself at the beginning of the season Luke Kennard would be our leading scorer in game 1
(via @MindOfBron) pic.twitter.com/35InIY5civ
β Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) April 19, 2026
Kennard is an elite shooter, but the Lakers cannot put too much stock into this performance. They wonβt win another game if their game plan is to get dominated on the glass, lose the turnover battle and expect their nine-point-per-game scorer to lead the offense.
Game 1 looks different if Kevin Durant wasnβt a late scratch. Both teams were without their leading scorers, but with LeBron James leading the purple and gold, the Rockets had a bigger hole to fill.
Their lack of half-court offense cost them the game. The Lakers packed the paint and forced the Rockets to shoot 38% from the field. Yet, the game was still decided by single digits. Durant changes that.
He is the elite scorer the Rockets need. He is who they rely on to generate half-court offense for himself and others. The offensive numbers will not look the same when he returns from injury.
Even if things go from bad to average, thatβs all the Rockets need to complement the areas they already have the advantage in.Β
The Lakers have to adjust. They canβt fall for the trap that they set for themselves. They canβt rely on a Kennard heater to make up for their disadvantages. And they canβt ignore Durant is waiting to make his return.
If the Lakers donβt put up more of a fight in the possession games, they will lose this series before Doncic and Reaves step on the court.
The post Lakers Cannot Afford a Repeat of Their Game 1 Performance appeared first on The Lead.
With PC games growing increasingly complex nowadays β especially ones built on Epic Games's infamous Unreal Engine 5 β default/maxed-out graphics settings rarely (if at all) strike the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance that most PC gamers seek, and Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is no exception to this rule. As a demanding UE5 game, it should come as no surprise to many that the game's maxed-out/Epic graphics settings will be very GPU-heavy, and thus should require some tweaking to achieve better performance on most rigs, without hopefully completely sacrificing visual fidelity. This guide should hopefully help you strike [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/how-to/cthulhu-the-cosmic-abyss-pc-performance-analysis-tuning-guide/
Remember Fortnite's AI-powered Darth Vader that led SAG-AFTRA to file an unfair labor practice charge against Epic Games? Well, the studio has now revealed the latest evolution of the technology. Originally described as a "Persona device", the tech is now simply called "conversations", but the core remains the same: Fortnite developers can use conversations to create AI-powered characters with personalities and voices that can talk, react, respond to player actions, and even influence gameplay. Released with Fortnite's v40.20 update (launched on April 16), it is available in the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and allows island creators to build AI-powered [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/fortnite-uefn-ai-npc-conversations-gemini-elevenlabs/
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 04: Felice Herrig leaves her gloves in the center of the Octagon after announcing her retirement during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on June 04, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLCHIGHLIGHTS
Gilbert Burns called it a career on Saturday night in Winnipeg. Burns, a former UFC title challenger, took a rough TKO loss to Mike Malott in the main event of UFC Winnipeg. After the fight, Burns called it a career in an emotional post-fight speech surrounded by his family.
Burns has lost five fights in a row and the last two defeats have come by way of nasty finish.
When you take a look at the way Cub Swanson and Michael Chiesa's careers ended earlier this year and compare it to the way Burns' career has ended, it is easy to see that the former two had the much happier send-offs.
Burns had a solid run, but he probably should have called it a career two fights ago. Malott dropped him with a right hand in Round 3 and finished him with ground-and-pound at 2:08, prompting Burns to tell the crowd "I think that's it⦠I've had a great career" before leaving his gloves on the canvas in the traditional retirement gesture.
He entered UFC Winnipeg on a four-fight losing streak against top-10 opposition, having dropped bouts to Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady, and Michael Morales.
In his prime, Burns had a combination of dangerous striking and elite jiu-jitsu. As he aged, his skills seemed to dull and the losses started to rack up. Burns turns 40 in July and his decision to walk away was a wise one.
At his peak, he ran through names like Tyron Woodley, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, and Demian Maia on his way to a welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman β a career arc that cemented him as one of the most legitimate contenders the division has produced.
He was rarely in a boring fight, and that walk-forward, trade-big-shots style made him a fan favorite at both lightweight and welterweight throughout his 30-fight UFC career.
Burns has done podcast work with Renato Moicano on the Show Me the Money podcast. I'd expect that to continue. On the other side of the main event, Malott's back-to-back wins over Kevin Holland and Burns put him firmly in the ranked welterweight conversation β anything short of a top-10 opponent next would be a disservice to what he's built.
The welterweight division loses one of its most familiar faces, but Saturday night in Winnipeg made clear it has a worthy successor ready to fill that space.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 18: (L-R) Mike Malott punches Gilbert Burns of Brazil in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Canada Life Centre on April 18, 2026 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLCHIGHLIGHTS
Mike Malott was the star of the show on Saturday night in Winnipeg, and he fought like it, battering UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns into retirement. Malott scored one of the evening's performance bonuses en route to the third-round TKO win.
Burns called it a career after the fight.
In the co-main event, Charles Jourdain defeated Kyler Phillips in a back-and-forth battle that won each man a $100,000 bonus for Fight of the Night. Here's a look at all of the bonus winners and the results from the entire card in Winnipeg.
Malott def. Burns via TKO (punches) at 2:08 of Round 3 β welterweight.
Malott has mostly beaten up guys he's supposed to beat β with the exception of his loss to Neil Magny in January 2024. After scoring wins over Kevin Holland and now Burns, anything besides a ranked opponent seems silly for Malott.
As for Burns, it's probably past the time for him to have hung up the gloves. He's lost five fights in a row and the last two defeats have been brutal knockout losses.
Burns had big moments early with his trademark calf kicks and overhands, but Malott took over in Round 3 with a right hand that hurt Burns, swarmed him against the fence, and forced the stoppage.
The finish earned Malott a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus β one of two on the night.
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 18: (L-R) Charles Jourdain of Canada kicks Kyler Phillips in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Canada Life Centre on April 18, 2026 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLCJourdain def. Phillips via unanimous decision (29β28, 29β28, 29β28) β bantamweight.
This was an all-action fight well worthy of the Fight of the Night honors. Jourdain's body work and late pressure edged out Phillips' speed and combination punching across three rounds of non-stop action.
Both men earned $100,000 for the performance. Jourdain moves to 3β0 at bantamweight with post-fight bonuses in all three appearances, solidifying himself as one of the division's most entertaining action fighters.
Barbosa's KO had some gasping. It was one of the most memorable KOs of the first four months of 2026. MΓ‘rcio Barbosa flattened Dennis Buzukja with a perfect left hook just over a minute into Round 1 of his UFC debut at featherweight, instantly earning a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
It might have been a tough night to pick the fighters who were worthy of bonuses given how many finishes the card produced. Jai Herbert stopped Mandel Nallo by first-round TKO, Robert Valentin submitted Julien LeBlanc with a rear-naked choke in Round 1, Gokhan Saricam stopped Tanner Boser by second-round KO at heavyweight, and John Yannis stopped Jamie Siraj by TKO at 2:43 of Round 1 β all four earning $25,000 finish bonuses.
Much like UFC 327 in Miami, Winnipeg delivered a card where finishes were the story from top to bottom.
Bonus Winners
Main Card(Paramount+ / ESPN+)
Preliminary Card
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 17: The Undisputed WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes addresses the WWE Universe during SmackDown at T-Mobile Arena on April 17, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Melina Pizano/WWE via Getty Images)
WWEHIGHLIGHTS
The Showcase of Immortals is set and there are several intriguing questions to answer over the next two nights of WWE action. WrestleMania 42 Night 1 is on Saturday from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Hereβs everything you need to know about Saturday's event.
The pre-show begins at 5 p.m. ET, and that could be packed with stars. This is WrestleMania, so the pre-show is probably worth a look. The main show starts at 6 p.m. ET. U.S. viewers can catch it on ESPN and the ESPN app, with the first hour also simulcast on ESPN2. International viewers can watch live on Netflix at the 6 p.m. ET equivalent in their local time zone.
Night 1 β Saturday, April 19, 2026 | Allegiant Stadium, Las VegasHow to Watch: ESPN / ESPN app (US) | Netflix (International)
Saturday night is ladies night. All but one of the women's matches on the WrestleMania 42 ledger happen on Night 1. That'll be a focus, but everything builds up to Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton.
The latest rumors and updates heading into the show suggest plenty of outside involvement is possible in that main event, and the womenβs tag title match in particular carries significant intrigue given the injury and roster news swirling around it. Gunther vs. Rollins is the widely predicted workrate match of the night β don't sleep on that one.
Iβll have takes on various parts of the show on Saturday and Sunday night.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
The BAFTA Game Awards 2026 are currently ongoing at the time of this writing, and while the only game awards show that regularly includes announcements for upcoming games in between the actual rewards is Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards, the BAFTAs were going to try doing a bit of that this year. They were going to try, at least, with a trailer for The Quiet Things, a first-person narrative game telling an autobiographical story about trauma and child abuse, debuting at this year's awards. Until someone decided the trailer's content wasn't right for the show. That's what Alyx Jones, founder [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/game-dev-speaks-out-baftas-pulls-trailer-about-child-abuse-hours-before-bafta-game-awards/
Slightly over one month before the Forza Horizon 6 launch date of May 19, Playground Games and Microsoft are likely already happy with the pre-sales of the next open world racing game. According to Alinea Analytics estimates, Forza Horizon 6 has already sold more than 500K (511K to be exact) on Steam alone, generating over $28 million in gross revenue. That's already enough to make it the franchise's best-selling game pre-launch, and there's every indication this trend will continue in the lead-up to May 19 and beyond. The game is in the wishlists of more than 3.3 million users, for [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/forza-horizon-6-sell-2-million-steam-24-hours/
All the way back in 2021, a former Ubisoft producer, Jade Raymond, and PlayStation Studios came together to form Haven Studios, a new team that was set to make a new multiplayer-focused game for PlayStation, which was revealed to be a new heist shooter, Fairgames, two years later in 2023. As we've continued to wait for any sign of Fairgames' release, Raymond left the studio, it was rumored to be cancelled at one point, and now, a new report claims it has pivoted to be a new kind of game in what is seemingly the hottest genre around: extraction shooters. [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/haven-studios-fairgames-reportedly-pivoting-to-extraction-shooter/
The next entry in 4A Games' Metro franchise, Metro 2039, was fully unveiled todayΒ by the development team during a dedicated streaming event. It will be releasedΒ this WinterΒ on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox app). First and foremost, it won't be an open world game, unlike Metro Exodus, which featured semi-open world environments. 4A Games is returning to a handcrafted experience that focuses mainly on Moscow's tunnels. Another significant change is that Artyom, the protagonist of the first three games, has been replaced by the so-called Stranger. This is perhaps not so surprising to those [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/metro-2039-announced-new-protagonist-moscow-tunnels-winter/
We all know mass layoffs are a major issue the video games industry has been facing for the last several years. It doesn't matter if you helped develop the best-selling game of the year, or if your game died within a year, game developers cannot trust that their jobs will be safe, and a new survey from Skillsearch has just put some numbers to how it is impacting the way developers navigate the industry. Spotted by GamesIndustry.Biz, Skillsearch's Salary and Satisfaction survey collected data from over 1,000 video games industry professionals across Europe, North America, the UK, APAC, and MENA, [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/survey-shows-video-game-developers-are-considering-leaving-due-to-layoffs-instability/
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