BOSTON — Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid, who was named NBA Most Valuable Player Tuesday night, returned from a right knee LCL strain and started Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in a 121-87 loss to Boston. Celtics Wednesday night.

Embiid had 15 points, three rebounds and five blocks in 27 minutes.

On Wednesday evening, he went through his usual pre-match training with a knee brace and moved around without any problems. Embiid was ruled out 90 minutes before the Sixers won Game 1 on Monday night.

He was the last player to appear on the court during the shootout on Monday morning, but on Wednesday, when the team arrived at TD Garden, everything changed. Embiid was the first player to enter the arena bowl, quickly put on his shoes, and began filming footage for several minutes before the 15-minute media review period expired and filming began.

When asked how he was feeling after the firefight, Embiid said that there was a “possibility” to return, but he would rely on the advice of the team’s medical staff.

“I’m going to listen to these guys and see what they have to say, doctors, and obviously I want to play,” Embiid said. “Everyone who knows me, I just love being on the court and I love playing. There’s an opportunity, and if I get the green light, we’ll go ahead.

“But I feel pretty good, just like in the last game. I felt like we had a huge opportunity and we were going to win, and tonight, whether I play or not, I believe in these guys.

Embiid went through a full workout on Tuesday, which sources said went well, but the determining factor for Game 2 will be how his knee responds to that strain.

“It’s just health related,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday afternoon. “If he can play, he plays. If he can’t, he can’t. And if it’s 50/50, we’ll probably err the other way. [and not have him play]because we’ve been doing it all year.”

Philadelphia are looking to take a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series after James Harden’s impressive 45-point play stunned the Celtics in Game 1.

Embiid was injured on April 20 when he landed awkwardly after contesting a shot by Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson in Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first round.

SCOTTDALE, Arizona. What the industry has long assumed has become a reality this week as ESPN doesn’t appear to be considering getting the primary media rights to the Pac-12 as the conference continues to look for a new deal, multiple sources tell CBS Sports.

The situation came to a head at this week’s spring Fiesta Summits, when ESPN executives told Big 12 officials that their league was one of three conferences the network would air in the future. ESPN currently has Power Five agreements with the Big 12 (new deal starts in 2025), SEC (new deal in 2024), and ACC (current deal runs through 2036). He has other college football contracts, including the AAC, which expires in 2030.

The current Pac-12 rights agreement with Fox and ESPN expires July 1, 2024.

“[This is the] first time in public [ESPN] said, “We’re not doing anything with the Pac-12,” a Big 12 administrator with knowledge of the trade told CBS Sports on condition of anonymity.

While ESPN won’t compete for the top Pac-12 games, it may be interested in secondary rights to a smaller package for games, especially at night. Sources close to the talks stressed that they are taking a “never say never” approach when it comes to potential partners as negotiations continue.

If ESPN isn’t interested in Pac-12 Tier I games — the most coveted and probably the highest rated competition — then it looks like the league doesn’t have a clear brand contender. Other major line platforms, including Fox, do not appear to be interested in the primary rights to Pac-12, which will generate the bulk of the revenue in the new media deal.

During the spring conference meetings, it was confirmed that Pac-12 remains confident it will strike a deal with a major telecommunications rights operator for its Tier 1 content, sources tell CBS Sports. There have been rumors lately that NBCUniversal (particularly the USA Network) might be involved.

The USA Network has a long history of sports coverage, dating back to its debut as the MSG network in 1977. This included having a college football package from 1980-86. NBCUniversal is currently reviewing a media rights agreement for WWE Monday Night Raw, which could impact its interest in Pac-12. Fox is also in ongoing negotiations to renew WWE SmackDown, which airs Fridays in prime time.

“I think they’re in a quandary,” WWE CEO Nick Khan said of the Pac-12 in March. during a podcast interview.

ESPN has upcoming talks to consider having an NBA contract go on the market, and the UFC is set to enter a negotiation window soon. WWE and UFC recently merged into a single company.

Last year, ESPN for the first time in more than 40 years lost the rights to media from the Big Ten. The Big Ten will air their games on CBS, Fox and NBC. The Big 12 partially filled a hole in ESPN’s schedule by outpacing Pac-12 to secure a new deal in October 2022 with both ESPN and Fox.

Pac-12 has been looking for a highly publicized new contract since last summer after news broke that USC and UCLA were headed for the Big Ten.

According to sources that have speculated what form the Pac-12 deal could take, league-level I content is likely to be classified at least two games per week for the rights holder during a typical 14-week season. These 28 games can be valued at around $200 million, averaging $7 million per game.

It was speculated that an approximately $300 million rights deal might be needed to keep some Pac-12 schools from moving into the Big 12. estimated 47-50 remaining games in Pac-12 inventory (based on league left with 10 teams).

Oregon and Washington remain the biggest Pac-12 brands, with USC and UCLA leaving the conference. What is unknown is what these top-tier Pac-12 games will look like. CBS Sports ranked the highest-rated Pac-12 games on television in 2021 and 2022, not including USC and UCLA. Oregon and/or Washington appeared in four of the top five ranked games.

Under the new agreement, the average basic income of the Big 12 schools will be $31.7 million per year. Through a $300 million rights deal, Pac-12 teams will receive $30 million a year.

Sources did not provide an exact number that would prevent Pac-12 schools from considering moving to the Big 12. Arizona President Robert Robbins also declined to give a figure. However, educated guesses suggest that the Pac-12 will land within 10% of the Big 12 figure – roughly $28.5 million – could be enough to keep the league together.

It’s well known that Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark favors some combination of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah as his league continues to expand. Sources have indicated for several months that there were at least informal contacts between these parties.

George Russell not only scored points by starting 11th at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but also managed to score an extra point by scoring the fastest lap of the race in the final laps.

However, in his own words, the driver of the Mercedes was “disappointed” with himself after the fight in Baku.

On restarting after an early safety car, Russell “messed up” his start by putting himself in a difficult position. Instead of fighting on the field, Russell was forced to settle for a points finish. With that guaranteed in the final laps, he came to the pits to switch to soft tires late in an attempt to secure the fastest lap of the race and an extra point.

He pulled it off, but that was little consolation given what could have been.

“Today I am a little disappointed with myself. I really started well and took a worthy place. I made a good move on Stroll to get past him in the pit lane but then I messed up the restart,” Russell said in a statement released to media outlets including Sat nation. “I was defending against Lance and I almost ran into Fernando’s back. [Alonso]. Then I ran and got my tires dirty. After all, that’s why both Lance and Lewis passed by. From there he was on the stern line.

Instead of battling for fifth place, Russell quickly returned to eighth and looked forward to a break. He didn’t hold back his self-criticism the next time he radioed the pit lane.

“Well, that was a fucking restart, sorry guys,” the driver said.

Unfortunately for Russell, he couldn’t make his way back up the grid, so when it became clear he was stuck on the points, Mercedes made the decision to take him with them and swap him for a soft to work his way up to the bonus point. Russell managed the fastest lap, but after the race he viewed this small win as an offshoot of his previous mistake.

“I will take an extra point for the fastest lap, but the only reason we had that opportunity was because we were in a bad position. It was a close pace between us, Ferrari and Aston Martin, and small differences can make a big difference in terms of results,” Russell said. “Whether we finish in 4th or 8th place, it’s far from first place, so we have a lot of work to do.”

It’s been quite a dramatic week for the Mercedes driver, who got into a track brawl with Max Verstappen in Saturday’s sprint race. Contact between the two cars caused damage to Verstappen’s RB19 and led to a tense conversation between the two drivers after the race.

Russell claimed that he was clean after the sprint race and that he would not just back down from a challenge:

Despite Russell’s dissatisfaction with himself, Mercedes Trackside Technical Director Andrew Shovlin was more optimistic in his post-race assessment, pointing to his racing pace. “George had a really good first lap and got through some key cars early on. He was able to stop under the safety car, but then he had trouble restarting and lost a couple of seats. As with Lewis, he just couldn’t pass despite having a bit more pace, so our only consolation was a point for the fastest lap at the end.”

Mercedes will look to improve their results at the Miami Grand Prix next weekend.