Auburn and Alabama had never played as top-10 teams. On Saturday, the Tigers and Crimson Tide squared off as the top teams in the country and didn't disappoint.

No. 1 Auburn went on the road and beat No. 2 Alabama 94-85 in the historic matchup of in-state rivals. A rematch of the top-rated teams might be coming shortly because they meet again in Auburn on March 8. And they could face off again in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

"All eyes in college basketball were on the state of Alabama and the SEC," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after his team improved to 23-2 and 11-1 in the conference. "What this conference has done in men's basketball is historic."

Pearl pointed to Auburn's hot start, scoring the first nine points, as a key to winning on the road in big games.

"You've got to play well early if you're going to win on the road," Pearl said. "We played well early, and as you would expect, Alabama came storming back, and I've never heard Coleman [Coliseum] this loud. That's how the No. 1 teams in the country should act, that's how they should compete, that's how they should play. And I was really pleased with that."

Alabama coach Nate Oats noted that run as well as Auburn scoring the final seven points of the first half and six of the first eight points of the second half as pivotal moments.

The Crimson Tide rallied to tie the score after trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half but failed to complete the comeback. They never led Saturday, the first time that had happened in 87 home games under Oats.

"I thought we played pretty hard and didn't turn the ball over a whole lot," Oats said, noting seven turnovers. "Too many guys were getting 3s off that weren't supposed to be getting 3s, and they go 12-for-30 from 3."

Auburn forward Johni Broome used the stage to restate his case in the player of the year race -- one that took a hit after he missed two games due to injuries and played just two minutes in a third. Broome controlled the game Saturday, finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal.

"I came in trying to be aggressive, and I was kind of feeling it a little bit, so went and made some plays," Broome said.

Broome briefly left the game late in the second half due to a lower-body injury after an awkward spin move. He returned and made Auburn's final two shots from the field.

He was a dominating force from the beginning. He grabbed his 10th rebound early in the second half, securing the double-double with just under 17 minutes left in the game.

Broome and five teammates scored in double figures. Denver Jones scored 16 points, Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly added 15 points apiece, Chaney Johnson had 14, and Tahaad Pettiford chipped in 13.

Auburn starter Dylan Cardwell fouled out after playing just 12 minutes, and Baker-Mazara, who came off the bench, fouled out with just over two minutes remaining. Johnson, who averages 23 minutes, picked up much of the slack, playing 33 minutes as Auburn shot 46.2% from the field.

Auburn has nine wins over AP-ranked teams this season. Saturday's win was the Tigers' first over an AP top-two team since 1988; they had lost 20 straight such games before taking down Alabama, according to ESPN Research.

Mark Sears scored 18 points and Grant Nelson added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Alabama, which entered the day shooting 34.4% from 3-point range but made just five of its 26 3-point attempts (19.2%) on Saturday.

Oats used the loss to refocus his players for the three weeks until their next game against the Tigers.

"We're not in full control of our destiny to win the league outright, but we are in control of our destiny to at least get a tie going forward," Oats said. "We'll see the maturity and leadership we have coming in on Monday."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dylan Larkin scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as the United States defeated Canada 3-1 in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night, wrapping up a spot in the championship game by winning a contest that started with three fights in nine seconds and was played at a blistering pace with physicality throughout.

The most anticipated game of round-robin play did not disappoint, from the fisticuffs off the opening faceoff to big hits from Charlie McAvoy on Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid and more than a few vital saves by Connor Hellebuyck among his 25. And the U.S. showed it could keep up with Canada's speed, skill and talent in the first international event with the NHL's best players in nearly a decade.

"That was one of the best experiences of my life -- just an unbelievable hockey game," Larkin said. "What a start, and credit to those guys for answering the bell. And the crowd, just a great night for our sport and a great night for this rivalry."

But it wasn't easy for the visitors. McDavid accelerated around the top defensive pair of McAvoy and Zach Werenski and roofed a backhander over Hellebuyck that few goaltenders around would be able to stop, giving Canada a 1-0 lead early in the first period.

But Canada's questions in net -- a major storyline heading into the tournament -- continued when Jake Guentzel beat Jordan Binnington 5-hole midway through the first period to tie it. And Crosby, Canada's perpetually reliable captain, made a rare mistake with a turnover that, combined with a bad line change, paved the way for Larkin to score on a 2-on-1 past the midway mark of regulation.

Binnington, wrapped around that play, made some timely stops, and Canada -- without top defenseman Cale Makar because of illness -- had plenty of chances to tie it but could not get the puck past Hellebuyck again. Guentzel scored into an empty net with 1:19 left to seal the win.

"What an incredible hockey game," U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said.

The result puts an all-world roster led by McDavid, Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon in a must-win situation Monday against Finland at TD Garden in Boston.

"Getting a win here on a Saturday night, that puts us in the finals, that's a pretty neat feeling," American forward Brady Tkachuk told ESPN's Emily Kaplan in his postgame interview. "I feel like they're a lot of unhappy people here, especially in Montreal, a place that isn't my favorite."

The U.S. has nothing to play for against Sweden in Boston on Monday night. Staying healthy will be key as the finale awaits later in the week. The game might give Sullivan a chance to rest some players, including Hellebuyck. His backups for this tournament are Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Draymond Green had just spoken for a few minutes Saturday morning about the state of the game, about how he believes it's officiated differently than it once was, how stars don't get the benefit of being stars like they did in the past.

And then the four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors was asked a simple question: Does he think the NBA game is boring?

"Absolutely," he said.

Such is the challenge that the NBA is trying to fend off right now, the notion that this era of higher-scoring games, more 3-pointers than ever before and a lack of rock-'em, sock-'em physicality like there was a couple generations ago is hurting the product.

"I think as a league now, we look so deep into analytics, and you hear people saying out loud, we want a 3 or a layup. Don't be shooting too many midrange jumpers," Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard said Saturday. "You hear that, and I think it just kind of takes away the originality of the game, I would say. It's meant to be played at three levels. It's meant to be played a certain way.

"But it's a copycat league that we play in, and you can't have everybody playing one way, a successful way and you playing a different way. You've got to get in line with what's working to win, and right now that's what it is."

On the one hand, the NBA is about to enter a new series of broadcast and streaming deals that will generate at least $76 billion, about three times more than the last deal -- so interest still obviously exists, even though ratings are down from a few years ago in a stat that the league freely acknowledges. Player salaries are bigger than ever, the league keeps setting attendance record and merchandise keeps flying off shelves.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver points to all that, and more, as proof that the state of the game is, he believes, "excellent."

"We're paying a lot of attention to it," Silver said. "I'm never going to say there isn't room for improvement. We'll continue to look at it and study it. But I am happy with the state of the game right now."

But the NBA keeps hearing the question about the on-court product. And Green is among those that think issues exist. He cited an interview he recently saw where the late Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020, called the game "accidental basketball."

"It's all penetrate and pitch," Bryant said in that interview. "You may make the shot, you may not."

Said Green: "He couldn't have been more right."

Green talked about a recent Golden State game against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, and how it was "refreshing" to go against a thinker like James -- who is notorious for finding weaknesses and exploiting them.

"Every possession is some type of chess move," Green said. "You don't get that today in the NBA, often. ... You don't just get that on a regular basis. It's just who can run faster, who can hit more 3s, it's no substance. I think it's very boring."

And for a team like the Warriors -- with proven champions like Green and Stephen Curry, along with a champion coach in Steve Kerr -- the run-and-shoot-all-the-time game isn't exactly the preferred game plan.

"You want to be one of the teams that aren't playing an accidental game," Green said. "That's the challenge."

SAN FRANCISCO -- NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he believes the Dallas Mavericks had no "ulterior motives" behind their decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and that the franchise's fans should have faith in the team in the wake of the shocking deal.

"I have absolutely no knowledge or belief there were any ulterior motives," Silver said during his annual news conference before All-Star Saturday night festivities at Chase Center. "There's no doubt in my mind that the Dumont and Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they're committed to the long-term success of that franchise.

"In terms of the Dallas fans, all I can say to them is, again, time will tell whether it was a smart trade, but I think they should believe in their organization. Their organization truly made a trade that they believed was in the best interest of the organization, and in many cases, again, it doesn't mean they were right or wrong, but it's very difficult to put yourself in their shoes. They are living with the situation. They have a philosophical belief on what's necessary ultimately to win championships, and I'm not in a position to second-guess that."

Silver said he was surprised when Dallas sent Doncic to the Lakers for a package led by fellow All-NBA star Anthony Davis.

Other than the general managers of both teams -- Nico Harrison in Dallas and Rob Pelinka in Los Angeles -- virtually everyone else was stunned by the deal, which came together shortly after the Lakers had one of their best performances of the season in a blowout win over the New York Knicks two weeks ago.

Silver said he likes Doncic, whom he first met while Doncic was playing for Real Madrid, and is empathetic to Mavericks fans about the deal. But he also believes Harrison and team owner Patrick Dumont deserve the benefit of the doubt.

"In terms of anger with the fan base, I'm empathetic," Silver said. "I understand it. Dallas was in the Finals last year. I've already said this before: I like Luka very much. ... It seems genuinely, truly authentic that he was stunned and disappointed. You could see it in his body language.

"Having said all that, I also am sympathetic to the Mavericks organization. I've known Nico Harrison for a long time from his prior tenure at Nike, and I've gotten to be close to Patrick Dumont, our new governor in Dallas. I can say one thing for sure: Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, they did what they thought was in the best interest of their organization."

Silver touched on several other topics, including:

After Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez won their arbitration ruling against Glen Taylor in their quest to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this week, Silver said he doesn't "see any reason why" the two won't be approved by the NBA board of governors.

Silver also said he and the league are waiting to see whether Taylor appeals the arbitration decision.

"I think, though, that A-Rod, certainly Marc Lore, are well-known to the league at this point," Silver said. "They've already been vetted and approved as minority owners. I think they understood that the league had no role in this arbitration. That was something they had agreed to as part of their purchase agreement.

"I think now that the arbitration has been resolved, they will -- as I said, Glen Taylor has a decision to make. If he chooses to appeal it, obviously we will wait until there's finality as to that process, and if he doesn't, we will move forward right away and continue the remaining part of our vetting process and then it will go to the governors for a vote."

Asked if Lore and Rodriguez would get the team if Taylor doesn't appeal, Silver said: "The only reason I'm not going to answer that is that I don't want to turn the board of governors role into a rubber stamp. That is a decision they need to make. We should conclude the vetting process. I know Marc and Alex understand that. That's a process that every governor in this league has gone through.

"I will say standing here today, I don't see any reason why it won't be approved, but again, we need to follow the process."

For the sale to go through, at least 23 of the 30 owners have to approve -- a decision that could happen as soon as the end of March.

After Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu created the lasting moment from All-Star Weekend a year ago with their 3-point shooting battle, many expected the event would return this year in the Bay Area, particularly with Curry playing for the Warriors and Ionescu being from Northern California.

That did not happen, however.

Silver said everyone involved felt it would be "forced" to repeat it and that the "magic" from last year's event was gone.

"It just seemed like coming back here, as exciting as it might have been, that this just wasn't the right time to do it," Silver said. "There's no more to it than that. They're both friends. They're wonderful people. I'm sure there's a part of them that recognizes they may be disappointing people, but I think they all felt, and I agreed with them, that it just didn't feel right in the moment.

"We looked at different permutations and ways to do it, and as I said -- I'll be the first one to say, at the end, it just felt forced. It lost that special feeling that it had last year."

The Lakers were involved in another recent consequential transaction, initially trading for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams, but Los Angeles rescinded the deal after Williams didn't pass the team's physical.

Silver said the Hornets have not filed a formal protest. He added that although rescinded trades don't happen often, he doesn't anticipate a change in the rules regarding deals.

"We understand that in the back-and-forth of teams and trades that to the extent we can reduce uncertainty, that's a positive thing, and obviously, I mentioned before that for players who are involved in trades, how disruptive it can be," Silver said. "I am sure it's equally disruptive to think you have been traded then not to have been traded, disruptive for the player, disruptive for their teammates.

"We'll look at it. I'd say it's one of those areas when it comes to the health and well-being of our players, medical science, there have been incredible developments, and this is a rule sort of as interpreted now, hasn't changed for many decades at the league office."

Silver addressed the state of the game as he has done several times over the past few months.

This time, Silver said he was happy with the current product, adding that though the league is looking at things, there's no need to make a change.

"I think the state of the game is excellent," he said. "I think it's the media's role, the fans' role, it's perfectly appropriate to be critical of the game, and I find it very helpful. I'm not one of those people who said I don't read criticism. I try to read it all, frankly, and we try to absorb it at the league office.

"Many great ideas have come from outside this league. Even some of the things that we've done recently over the last several years. Things like a play-in tournament, things like the in-season tournament, which became known as the NBA Cup. I can't claim those were original ideas. Those were things, whether we saw other leagues doing that, media talking about them. So we've made plenty of tweaks over the years.

"We're paying a lot of attention to it. I'm never going to say there isn't room for improvement. We'll continue to look at it and study it, but I am happy with the state of the game right now."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Team Cavs (Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley) bested Team Warriors (Draymond Green and Moses Moody) in the final of the Kia Skills Challenge on Saturday night with a time of 1:00.03, but the event didn't end without mild controversy.

Team Spurs (Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama) thought it found a loophole in the rules in the obstacle course that features players speeding through stations with various passing and shooting drills. Instead, the duo found itself disqualified from the competition after the first round for failing to complete their sequence with three valid shot attempts.

Eschewing all shots but one (a Wembanyama dunk) in favor of concentrating on executing the passes, Paul and Wembanyama finished the opening round with a time of 47.9 seconds before officials disqualified the Spurs duo.

"I mean, if the challenge lets us do that, there's a loophole," said Wembanyama, who said Team Spurs' non-shooting tactic was his idea. "It means we're not a problem."

The opening-round drill consisted of a variety of passes before the players reached a rack of balls to shoot. Instead of attempting to sink those balls, Team Spurs tossed them in the general direction of the basket without trying to connect. Their effort to speed up the finish to their opening round went for naught.

With the disqualification, Paul now has gone six times in the Skills Challenge without a win. His six appearances are two more than any other player and twice as many as any player besides retired Spurs legend Tony Parker, according to ESPN Research.

"We tried something that we thought could win to see if we had the best time," said Paul, who pleaded Team Spurs' case to officials in the aftermath of the disqualification.

Green mentioned that Wembanyama had asked multiple league officials before the competition about the legality of Team Spurs' strategy of not taking shots.

"It definitely sucked to see them throwing the ball like that," Green said. "What I will say is Wemby walked around the court asking everybody because they say make one or three attempts. So Wemby said, 'Oh, I can just get all three of them up there?' So he asked. He may not have asked the right people. But I will say in Wemby's defense he asked a lot of people. I heard him ask five or six people."

According to Skills Challenge rules, players need to take a maximum three valid attempts or make a shot before moving on.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mac McClung dialed up a retro move Saturday night in setting the tone to make NBA history as the only player to win three consecutive slam dunk contest titles.

The G League star's team parked a silver Kia sedan under the basket, reminiscent of the prop used in the 2011 dunk contest by Blake Griffin, and the 26-year old soared over it, flashing championship form on a night Milwaukee's Damian Lillard failed in his bid to win a third straight 3-point contest title.

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro bested the field in that event to become the fifth player in franchise history to win a 3-point contest championship.

"I was extremely honored to be a part of this weekend," McClung said. "I genuinely love this contest, and [I'm] just very appreciative."

McClung's opening-round dunk generated a score of 50, and he posted four jams worth 50 points to become one of four players with at least four such dunks in a single dunk contest. The other three are Zach LaVine (2016), Aaron Gordon (2020) and Derrick Jones Jr. (2020), according to ESPN Research.

McClung cleared the Kia on his first dunk as an assistant with his head poked out of the sunroof of the car held the basketball.

Despite the eye-popping tone-setter, McClung found himself in a hotly contested final showdown with San Antonio Spurs rookie guard Stephon Castle, who logged a score of 99.6 in the last round and narrowly finished second. Castle is just the fourth Spurs player to compete in the event and the first since 1988 (Greg Anderson).

"I felt like my third dunk should have been a 50," Castle said. "We could've [gone] to a dunk-off. I don't know if that's what the crowd would've wanted. But overall, I was happy with it."

McClung failed to stick the landing on his first dunk attempt. His left heel nipped the front of the car. But that mattered little to the crowd at Chase Center after such a stirring dunk, executed on the strength of weeks of practice using a friend's car.

He admitted when he first started practicing the dunk, "I was like, I can't do this dunk. I'm landing on the car. I can't do it. The guy I worked with for dunks, he helped me. He was just like, 'Just jump over the car.' I'm like, 'It's not that easy, man.' They taught me a technique how to do it, and we got it like three, four times in a row and I felt confident doing it."

It certainly showed on that jam and in the later rounds.

McClung later announced that he would donate the car he jumped over to a foundation in need in his hometown of Gate City, Virginia.

In the 3-point contest, Lillard fell short of his three-peat bid in the opening round. An Oakland native, Lillard finished with 16 points, which wasn't enough to advance. Golden State's Buddy Hield dropped a record-tying 31 points in the first round to move on to the second round with Herro and Cleveland guard Darius Garland.

"I feel like a lot of great shooters, some of the greats to play this game, have won this competition," Herro said. "Just happy to put my name in the history books for All-Star Weekend."

Herro defeated Hield in the final round of the contest 24-23.

Competing in his home arena, Hield started the final round slowly and needed to hit his last five attempts to win the competition. Hield connected on his first three shots on the final rack of balls but missed the fourth before sinking the fifth.

"I didn't know what his score was at, so I couldn't figure out what's my score [needed to win]," Hield said. "Bad start. It's all good, though. It felt great [to compete in front of Warriors fans]. I'm just disappointed I lost."

The Boston Red Sox announced their three-year contract with Alex Bregman on Saturday.

Where Bregman will play for them, however, remains up in the air, according to manager Alex Cora.

Rafael Devers has been Boston's mainstay at third base, the same position Bregman primarily played for the Houston Astros since 2020. Bregman could move to second to keep Devers at third, but Cora told reporters Saturday that it's too early to make any infield decisions.

"We'll talk about that later on," Cora said. "Right now, there's a lot of stuff going on as far as where we're going to be roster-wise. We'll make the decision when we have to make it." '

Bregman has logged only 32 innings at second in his major league career, but Cora reiterated Saturday that he's confident the two-time All-Star could play there regularly.

"He's a Gold Glove third baseman," said Cora, who was Bregman's bench coach with the Astros in 2017. "He hasn't played second base in the big leagues. I do believe he can be a Gold Glove second baseman, too. There's other stuff that comes into play as far as roster construction and what's better for the team and what can be the best lineup. Competition comes into play."

Also potentially in the mix is Kristian Campbell, ESPN's No. 26 prospect who could break camp with the big league team as either a second baseman or center fielder after a rapid rise through the minors since he was drafted in 2023.

If Bregman plays third, Devers could shift to designated hitter.

"He's happy he's here," Cora said of Devers' reaction to the Bregman deal. "He understands that offensively, we took it to the next level. Having those three guys [with Jarren Duran] on top of the lineup is going to be good."

Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star closer and World Series champion with the Chicago White Sox, is being treated for stomach cancer.

Jenks shared his condition from a Portugal hospital bed in an interview with MLB.com on Saturday, and the White Sox later sent their best wishes via social media.

"We stand with you, Bobby Jenks," the team wrote in an Instagram post.

The 43-year-old Jenks said he was planning to recover well enough to return for a second season as manager of the minor league Windy City Thunderbolts in Crestwood, Illinois.

"Now it's time to do what I got to do to get myself better and get myself more time, however you want to look at it," Jenks told MLB.com. "I'll tell you one thing: I'm not going to die here in Portugal."

Jenks helped the White Sox win the 2005 World Series, saving four games in six appearances during the postseason run. He was an All-Star in each of the next two seasons while saving 81 games overall in 2006 and 2007. Over the next three seasons, he averaged more than 28 saves.

He retired 41 consecutive batters in 2007, matching a record for a reliever.

Jenks saved 173 games for the White Sox over six seasons before finishing his career with 19 appearances in 2011 with the Boston Red Sox.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said he is "perfectly on track" for the team's season opener despite offseason ankle surgery. Freeman ran at 80 percent of his body weight on a microgravity treadmill during the Dodgers' first full-squad workout Saturday and also took some swings in a live batting practice session, even though he wasn't supposed to.

"I couldn't help myself," Freeman said with a smile.

Freeman spent most of October playing through significant pain in his right ankle. But most of it subsided by the World Series, which made him believe rest and physical therapy would heal it without medical intervention. But the swelling persisted through Thanksgiving, prompting an MRI that determined surgery was required.

Previously torn ligaments healed enough that they didn't need to be repaired, but Dr. Kenneth Jung had to shave bone spurs and remove a part of Freeman's cartilage that had floated to the area of his Achilles tendon. Eight weeks after the procedure, near the end of January, Freeman began to hit. The Dodgers' 35-year-old first baseman has been hitting every day since arriving at Camelback Ranch on Monday. He hopes to run at full strength by the middle of next week and play in Cactus League games, at least as a designated hitter, by the end of February.

Freeman typically likes to have around 50 plate appearances before feeling ready for a season. His later start -- and the Dodgers beginning their season in Japan on March 18, more than a week earlier than 28 other teams -- could make it difficult to reach that number, but Freeman can get additional at-bats in the backfields of the team's complex.

Freeman also played through issues on his right side after breaking the costal cartilage in his sixth rib on the eve of the playoffs, an injury that typically sidelines players for months. But that ailment also began to feel better by the World Series and did not require additional maintenance over the winter, he said. The jammed middle finger that gave him problems during the stretch run of the regular season has also fully healed.

Freeman's improved health was obvious at the start of the final round of last year's postseason. He delivered a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series, then homered in each of the next three contests, helping the Dodgers clinch their first full-season championship since 1988 and providing a storybook ending to a tumultuous season that included one of his young sons overcoming Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Freeman has been constantly hearing about his iconic home run, most notably through fans tattooing the image onto their bodies. Near Christmas, he and his oldest son, Charlie, went down what he called a "rabbit hole" on YouTube to relive the moment. In the process, Charlie learned about Kirk Gibson, who pulled off a similar feat 36 years earlier.

But Freeman is ready to move on now.

More specifically, he's focused on his yearly goal of playing every game, regardless of all that ailed him last season.

"The goal is 162," he said. "Hopefully, it's 161 because I always take the game off after we win the division."

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dozens of photographers, camera operators and reporters fixed their eyes on the bullpen mounds that reside directly behind the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training complex on Saturday morning, where Shohei Ohtani took another step -- a rather significant one -- toward his return to a two-way role.

On 14 occasions, Ohtani settled atop a pitching rubber, went through the mechanics of his windup and fired fastballs in the direction of Dodgers catcher Will Smith, constituting his first official bullpen session of the year.

Ohtani isn't expected to join the Dodgers' rotation until some time in May and won't pitch in any Cactus League games before the team flies to Tokyo to begin its season in the middle of March. At this point, the steps are relatively minor. He still needs to increase the intensity of his throws -- his fastballs ranged from 92 to 94 mph on Saturday, a handful of ticks below what it will be in games -- and incorporate breaking pitches off a mound.

But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it's "very feasible" for Ohtani to face hitters at some point in March. What follows will require creativity, mostly due to a lack of precedent. Ohtani will spend April navigating through the final stages of his rehab while acting as an important member of the Dodgers' lineup, a set of circumstances not even Ohtani, the first two-way star since Babe Ruth, has ever experienced.

"It's going to be unique and we're going to have to do it on the fly," Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. "We saw what he did last year trying to rehab and hit. That seemed to turn out pretty well, at least on the offensive side of the ball. It's probably going to be some version of that. Great thing is, Shohei's really dedicated to his craft, really dedicated and really meticulous about what he does. He communicates very well on what he needs those days to get ready. So we're just going to have to be nimble and we're going to have to adjust."

In lieu of Ohtani venturing out on a rehab assignment, like a normal recovering pitcher would, the Dodgers expect to stage simulated games before regular-season contests every five or six days in late March and throughout April, calling on little-used bench players or nearby minor leaguers to take at-bats against Ohtani in an effort to duplicate live action. The Dodgers hope to control as much as possible until they can't.

"Once he steps between the line of a real game, we can't control the situation," Prior said. "That'll be ultimately the principle that guides this whole thing is making sure that he's 100 percent ready to go out there and let the game dictate what happens, and he's in a position to handle that physically, mentally and emotionally."

Ohtani, the unanimous National League MVP after the first 50/50 season in baseball history last year, is expected to be ready as a hitter by the season opener. But games as a pitcher are still a ways away. Prior compared Saturday's session to dipping a toe in the water, calling it a continuation of last year's rehab, which saw Ohtani face hitters before the Dodgers began their march through the postseason.

Ohtani fired off both four-seamers and two-seamers and went from the windup rather than the stretch position, partly to put less stress on his arm. Often he looked back to glean pitch characteristics from the Rapsodo device, but the Wi-Fi was spotty.

Ohtani, who put together one of the most impressive three-year stretches in baseball history as a two-way player from 2021 to 2023, underwent a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament in September 2023, then had surgery to repair a torn labrum on his left, non-throwing shoulder in November 2024. Earlier this week, Ohtani admitted that the left-shoulder repair has triggered some discomfort and limited his range of notice. Prior hasn't necessarily noticed.

"I'll be honest, it's crazy to think that this guy had surgery on his left shoulder in November," Prior said. "He doesn't look like he's missed a beat. There's not a lot of things that kind of surprise me, but he looks really good. And that is surprising for a guy who's had a surgery. I know it's not his throwing shoulder, but it doesn't look like his left shoulder has been impacted, at least visually to the naked eye. I'm sure he feels stuff here and there, but overall, he looks really good."