Making his Orioles debut after signing a three-year, $49.5 million contract, O’Neill hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Toronto Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios, extending Baltimore’s lead to 5-0. The Orioles went on to win, 12-2.

O’Neill’s streak dates back to 2020 when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. He went on to homer in the first game of the season in 2021, 2022 and 2023 with St. Louis, before joining – and homering for – the Boston Red Sox in 2024.

OPENING DAY 2025: Scores and highlights from baseball’s big day

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Ta’Niya Latson, the nation’s leading scorer during the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

According to a report from ESPN’s Andraya Carter, Latson is entering her name in the portal, three days after Florida State’s season ended in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament at the hands of Kim Mulkey and LSU.

Latson is represented by Klutch Sports Group, founded by CEO Rich Paul and representing athletes such as LeBron James. Despite entering her name in the portal, Latson’s return to the Seminoles has not been ruled out, as Carter reports that she is ‘keeping all her options open.’

Latson, a junior in 2024-25, led the nation with 25.4 points per game on 45.1% shooting. She also averaged 4.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Her numbers across the board represented career highs. She scored 30 points while dishing four assists and nabbing seven rebounds in FSU’s 101-71 loss to the Tigers in the second round.

She was named to the first-team All-ACC selection and a second-team All-America selection. Latson has been selected to the All-ACC team in each of her three seasons and set the single-season FSU scoring record this year with 731 points. As a freshman, Latson set the ACC single-season freshman scoring record with 659 points, leading all freshmen in the country with 21.3 points per game.

BOSTON — The second day of the 2025 world figure skating championships at TD Garden featured one of the event’s main attractions: Defending world champion Ilia Malinin.

Malinin, the only skater in history to land a quadruple axel in competition, was be one of three American men to perform their short programs Thursday afternoon on Day 2 of the world championships. The second and final session of pairs competition follows Thursday night.

Thursday’s events come after a fascinating first day of skating in Boston, specifically in the women’s singles, where the U.S. has two skaters in podium contention. Alysa Liu is sitting in first place and Isabeau Levito is in third. The second half of competition, the free skate, is Friday.

Here’s the latest from Day 2 of the world figure skating championships:

Ilia Malinin near perfect in short program to take lead

Before every program at worlds, a message from the skater(s) flashes on the jumbotron at TD Garden. Malinin’s message: ‘Let’s get this party started.’

And get it started he did. Malinin turned in a nearly flawless short program, nailing all of his jumping elements en route to a massive score of 110.41. He leads by a little more than three points after the short program, with Yuma Kagiyama of Japan the only skater in the same ballpark. His short program score was 94.77. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan is a distant third at 94.77.

Malinin referenced his message in a brief interview after the skate.

‘It looks like it was a party,’ he said.

World figure skating championships standings, results

Here are the standings in each discipline, as of Thursday evening.

Women’s singles (after short program)

Alysa Liu, USA: 74.58
Mone Chiba, Japan: 73.44
Isabeau Levito, USA: 73.33
Wakaba Higuchi, Japan: 72.10
Kaori Sakamoto, Japan: 71.03

Men’s singles (after short program)

Ilia Malinin, USA: 110.41
Yuma Kagiyama, Japan: 107.09
Mikhail Shaidorov, Kazakhstan: 94.77
Kevin Aymoz, France: 93.63
Shun Sato, Japan: 91.26

Pairs (after short program)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, Japan: 76.57
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, Italy: 74.61
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, Germany: 73.59
Anastasiia Metelkina, Luke Berulava, Georgia: 71.68
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, USA: 68.61

Ice dance

Begins Friday

What do the world championships mean for Olympic qualifying?

To put it briefly: It’s significant. 

Without going into all of the nuances of the International Skating Union’s quota allocation system, how it basically works is that skaters here will earn Olympic spots for their countries. And those countries will then decide who gets to fill those spots at the end of this year or early in 2026. A total of 83 quota spots are at stake across the four disciplines.

While an individual skater can’t technically punch their Olympic ticket this week, there are cases in which that is essentially the case. Donovan Carrillo, for instance, is the only top-tier male skater from Mexico. So if he were to secure a quota spot for Mexico, he would in essence be securing his own Olympic spot.

Andrew Torgashev in the mix after strong showing

The first American to take the ice in the men’s short program was also the first to temporarily move atop the leaderboard.

Andrew Torgashev, who finished second to Ilia Malinin at the most recent U.S. championships, barely hung on to his quadruple toe loop on his first jumping pass but then turned in a terrific, energetic performance to move briefly into the lead with a score of 87.27. His intricate, fast-paced step sequence prompted roars from the crowd.

‘My entire goal for this competition, and for any competition, is just to feel fulfilled after it − to make all of those runthroughs, all that soreness and sweat and tears all worth it,’ he said afterwards. ‘This short today was worth it.’

Torgashev, 23, previously represented Team USA at the 2023 world championships, where he finished 21st. He said he felt much more confident and comfortable when he took the ice Thursday.

Jason Brown puts boot issue behind him

Two-time Olympian Jason Brown raised a few eyebrows when he withdrew from nationals in January citing ‘a series of challenges adjusting to an equipment change.’ He has since revealed that the problem stemmed from his skates − the old ones that started giving him pain, and his search in vain to find new ones that would work.

‘Unfortunately, or fortunately, we figured out the boot issue. But it took all season to do so,’ Brown said. ‘So I really struggled throughout the season with that.’

With the boot issue behind him, Brown is back in Boston, where his 2014 Riverdance-themed program helped put him on the skating map. And despite a few minor hiccups in his short program Thursday, he turned in a solid score of 84.72. He was second behind Torgashev at the end of their group.

‘I’m proud of the fight that I’ve had this season,’ he said. ‘Every single time I felt like I got knocked down, me and my coaches and (my) sports psych and my family rallied and we were like ‘no, we’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to figure this out.”

How to watch world figure skating championships

Here is the complete schedule for the 2025 world figure skating championships, with channel and television coverage start times in parentheses. The entirety of all sessions will be available on Peacock.

Thursday, 11:05 a.m. to 4:44 p.m. ET: Men’s short program (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Thursday, 6:15 p.m. to 9:55 p.m. ET: Pairs free skate (USA Network, 8 p.m.)

Friday, 11:15 a.m. to 4:54 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Friday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Women’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. ET: Free dance (USA Network, 3 p.m.)

Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9:52 p.m. ET: Men’s free skate (NBC, 8 p.m.)

When do U.S. figure skaters compete today?

Here’s a rundown of when the remaining American skaters will be on the ice today.

8:14 p.m. ET: Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, pairs free skate
9:08 p.m. ET: Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, pairs free skate

Who are the favorites in men’s singles?

Ilia Malinin appears to be in a class of his own. At last year’s world championships, he won by a commanding 24 points. And this year, he became the first skater to land six quadruple jumps in the same program − and the first to attempt seven. 

Given the scoring dynamics of figure skating, Malinin’s maximum score − what he’s capable of doing − will give him a built-in cushion. And it’d be surprising, bordering on stunning, to see him not repeat as world champ.

The man who has been closest to Malinin is Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who finished second both at last year’s worlds and the more recent Grand Prix final. France’s Adam Siao Him Fa and Japan’s Shun Sato are among the other top contenders for podium spots.

Who’s on the call for world figure skating championships?

The portions of the world figure skating championships that are televised on NBC or USA Network will have many of the usual broadcasting voices.

Terry Gannon will once again handle play-by-play duties, with Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir offering color commentary. The telecasts will also feature Gabriella Papadakis, a 2022 Olympic gold medalist, as an ice dance analyst, with Andrea Joyce and Adam Rippon as reporters.

Now that the NBA All-Star Game, with its revised mini-tournament format, is more than a month in the past, commissioner Adam Silver has had a chance to reflect on the experience.

The overall takeaway: the product was “a miss.”

Speaking Thursday at the conclusion of the NBA’s Board of Governor’s meetings, Silver fielded several questions about the state of the league, television ratings, expansion and recent sales of franchises. And the All-Star Game, which has drawn criticism recently for a lack of competitive and compelling play, remains an issue.

“I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress — sitting there, I thought this was a little better — but it was a miss,” Silver told reporters Thursday. “We’re not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of and that our players can be proud of.”

Silver continued by acknowledging the switch in broadcast partner for next year’s All-Star Game, with NBC taking the reins from TNT, which had aired the event for 23 consecutive years. The 2026 All-Star Game, though, will be unique in that NBC will be airing the event while also juggling its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.

Despite the busy schedule, Silver said NBC is “very enthusiastic about the All-Star Game as a marquee property.”

Next year’s All-Star Game will be hosted by the Los Angeles Clippers at the newly opened Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Silver said that the NBA, based on feedback to this most recent version of the event, is starting fresh in considering ways to improve the All-Star Game experience.

Silver did say that, with the environment of the Olympics and the NHL’s success with its 4 Nations Face-Off tournament held in February, the NBA could consider introducing some form of international competition to the All-Star weekend.

“People floated USA (versus) World, I’m not sure that makes sense with the level of development, if that’s fair to lump all the other countries together these days,” Silver said. “Maybe we can single out if there are some international teams that can compete.”

The NBA introduced a new format with a mini-tournament with four teams competing in three games. The NBA divided the 24 selected All-Stars into three teams of eight players. TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith each drafted their teams. The fourth team was the winning squad from the Rising Stars event Friday night.

“I think at the height of this, we sell competition,” Silver said. “I think our players recognize they’re not putting their best foot forward when there’s a sense that they’re not all-in playing an All-Star Game. And I take responsibility, too, because we’re both a sport and an entertainment brand and we recalibrated for this year’s All-Star Game in San Francisco around more of an entertainment product and don’t think it worked.”

Silver added that the recalibration was “well-intentioned” but that “the breaks were too long” and that the NBA is “a bit back to the drawing board.”

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SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Mikaela Shiffrin’s tumultuous season ended in triumph.

Shiffrin won the slalom at the World Cup finals Thursday, putting down two blistering runs on a course that got increasingly bumpy and rutted as the day wore on. Her time of 1:45.92 was more than a second better than Lena Duerr of Germany, and gave Shiffrin wins in her first and last slalom races this season — with a whole lot happening in between.

When Shiffrin crossed the finish line and saw the scoreboard, she shook her poles and a smile spread across her face.

‘It’s super meaningful to have this strong performance today,’ she said. ‘Sometimes you can win a race even if you didn’t ski your best. And today I felt like I really skied my best. It’s the best skiing I could possibly do, especially for these conditions, which are normally quite a challenge.

‘Ending the season with this level in slalom gives me a lot of energy,’ Shiffrin added. ‘It gives me energy to do the work. It feels like there’s a lot of work to do, but this gives me the inspiration to do that.’

The win was the 101st of Shiffrin’s World Cup career, extending her own record. It also got her over 500 total points for the season, an important benchmark for start positions next year, when race results will be a factor in Shiffrin’s Olympic plans.

Perhaps most improbably, it boosted Shiffrin to fourth in the season slalom standings. This despite missing four slalom races in the two months she was out recuperating from a crash during the giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, that left her with a deep gash in her oblique muscles.

In the six slalom starts Shiffrin did make on the World Cup circuit, she had four wins and finished on the podium in a fifth.

‘It’s a dream,’ Karin Harjo, Shiffrin’s personal coach, said. ‘There was a point in the middle of December where we were questioning if she was even coming back. It just speaks volumes to who she is, as person, as a skier, and all the hard work she puts in.’

Shiffrin’s crash occurred Nov. 30 and required a surgery in mid-December to prevent an infection. She didn’t even get back on snow until early January. She returned to the World Cup circuit at the end of January and, two weeks later, paired with Breezy Johnson to win the team combined at the world championships.

Two weeks after that, Shiffrin got her 100th World Cup win.

But the comeback was far from smooth. Shiffrin experienced PTSD with GS, and was having to navigate that while she recovered and resumed her training.

‘We could be here for days. Yeah, this one has been quite a roller coaster,’ Shiffrin said when asked to sum up the season. ‘There’s been some really thrilling moments, and some moments where I questioned if I should even be in the sport.’

She did not qualify to race the GS here, but she used that additional time to train and said earlier this week that she was in a good place. That was apparent in the first run.

Slalom is tricky because it requires speed, precision and total focus as you weave from one gate to the next, and Shiffrin is the best to ever do it. While other skiers appear to be attacking the course, Shiffrin flows, her lower body constantly swiveling and cutting.

She finished the first run with a commanding lead, 0.59 seconds. As she sat in the ‘hot seat’ reserved for the race leader, she watched as the P.A. announcer found a group of young girls dressed as Dalmatians ‘for Mikaela’s 101st win!’

‘I was like, `That’s so clever.’ But hopefully I don’t mess it up,’ Shiffrin said.

Far from it.

The weather in Sun Valley has been unseasonably warm the last few days, making for unpredictable conditions. The snow was soft in some spots, icy in others, and the Greyhawk course deteriorated with every race. By the time Shiffrin was in the start gate as the last racer of the day, there were ruts and grooves and bumps galore.

‘That inconsistency, it becomes a challenge to find rhythm,’ Harjo said. ‘It’s something we’ve been working really hard on in training specifically, actually seeking out ruts and grooves and challenging conditions so that she can ski with the confidence and with the ability that she has and take on the speed that she knows she can generate.’

Shiffrin started out of the gate strong and continued to pick up speed, leaning into every turn.

‘It was rough, but somehow with clean turns, the timing was OK. It was like one turn was just sort of forcing me into the next turn in the right way,’ Shiffrin said. ‘When I feel like that, it’s just so connected.’

Shiffrin also got a boost from the crowds, whose cheers grew louder the closer she got to the finish line. When she crossed, and the scoreboard confirmed she’d won, the fans roared.

‘I just feel in awe of the day,’ she said. ‘It’s like 100 was this reset moment and 101 is a restart. That’s the way I’m trying to see it.

‘There’s plenty of future left in my career, hopefully,’ added Shiffrin, who turned 30 two weeks ago. ‘It’s not the end, it’s not the beginning, it’s somewhere in the beautiful middle.’

And after where she’s been this season, it’s a great place to be.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Time is running out on the NBA season.

And, as injuries mount to some of the game’s brightest, contenders must find ways to adapt.

No team is equipped to do this better than the reigning champion Boston Celtics, who blasted the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, despite Jayson Tatum sitting with a rolled left ankle. Tatum worked out before the game, however, perhaps indicating that the injury may not be as bad as it looked.

The Golden State Warriors may get Stephen Curry (pelvic contusion) back as soon as Friday, but the Milwaukee Bucks will have to adjust their play, with All-Star guard Damian Lillard (deep vein thrombosis) out indefinitely.

Here are the winners and losers from Week 23 of the 2024-25 NBA season:

WINNERS

No Jayson Tatum, no problem

It’s a testament to how well-built and how balanced the Celtics are that, in their first game without Jayson Tatum (sprained left ankle), they completely obliterated the Suns. Wednesday night against Phoenix, the Celtics dropped 73 points by halftime, lacing 14 attempts from beyond the arc. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, starters were resting. Simply put: against most teams in the NBA, Boston easily has enough talent to overcome the absence of even its best player, an MVP candidate.

Making matters even sweeter for the Celtics: seven of their remaining nine games are against teams below .500.

Vintage James Harden lifts Clippers into No. 6 seed — for now

A spry James Harden isn’t playing his age (35), averaging 28.1 points over his past 11 games — nine of which have been Los Angeles victories. At times last season, when Paul George was on the team, Harden took a backseat. That’s no longer the case; Harden isn’t hesitating with his shot and is conducting the offense, averaging 9.3 assists over his past 12 games.

Kawhi Leonard has been steady, but mid-season trade acquisition Bogdan Bogdanović has also meshed with Harden. L.A. moved out of the play-in window — for now. But it all may come down to the season finale April 13 against the Warriors, the team the Clippers (41-31) leapt in the standings.

Josh Giddey, Coby White and the Bulls are suddenly surging

A team that has wallowed in irrelevance for some time, Chicago is playing some of its best basketball in recent memory. The Bulls (32-40) are still very much stuck in the play-in window and likely won’t be able to climb into the No. 6 seed. Yet, the Bulls, winners of eight of their past 10, are playing quicker, protecting the ball, getting to the line and scoring more.

Josh Giddey, who is nearly averaging a triple-double — 22.6 points, 9.1 assists and 10.1 rebounds — over his past 12, has taken complete ownership of the offense. Coby White is averaging 30.6 points over his past 10. And the Bulls have toppled opponents weak and strong, with their two most recent victories coming against the Nuggets and Lakers.

LOSERS

With loss of Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bucks must shine on defense

Because of its roster construction, Milwaukee already depended on All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, who had accounted for 39.7% of the team’s scoring, entering Wednesday night. But now that the Bucks (40-32) will be without Lillard (deep vein thrombosis) indefinitely, immense responsibility falls on Antetokounmpo.

Despite Antetokounmpo’s offensive brilliance, scoring will be tougher without Lillard. Kyle Kuzma will need to step up on offense, as will Bobby Portis Jr., upon returning April 8 from his 25-game suspension. The path forward, however, must be physicality and intensity on defense, where the Bucks are tied for fifth in the NBA in defensive rating (111.2) since the All-Star break.

Stephen Curry’s absence reveals major flaw in Warriors

Since trading for Jimmy Butler, the Warriors are 16-5. Yet, Tuesday’s blowout loss against the Heat — Golden State’s second consecutive game without Stephen Curry (pelvic contusion) — showed just how essential he is. Curry’s the greatest shooter in NBA history. He commands attention any time he’s on the floor. He’s also the premier off-ball player in the league, moving and shifting position constantly to compromise defenses.

With Curry sidelined, Golden State stagnates. Butler, clearly the second-best offensive option, often defers too much. Jonathan Kuminga’s shooting has regressed. The Warriors (41-31) expect Curry back Friday against the Pelicans. After falling into the seventh seed with a Clippers victory Wednesday night, it’s not a moment too soon.

Are Kings in danger of falling out of play-in game?

Sacramento is in the middle of its second separate four-game losing streak in two weeks. The average margin of defeat in the eight most recent Kings losses has been 15.5 points, and the most glaring issue is defense, specifically: perimeter defense.

The Kings (35-37) rank dead last this season in defensive 3-point percentage (38.7%). Yet, over Sacramento’s past 10 games, it is allowing opposing teams to flush 3s at a ridiculous 46.6% clip. The next closest team, the 76ers, are 5.7 percentage points better. The Kings are currently the No. 9 seed in the West. But the 10th-seeded Suns have been better recently and the 11th-place Mavericks are just a half-game back of Sacramento.