It appears the Miami Heat will have their best player back on the court when their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the New York Knicks resumes on Saturday.

Jimmy Butler plans to play in Game 3, according to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, after he sat out Tuesday’s loss with a right ankle sprain sustained in Miami’s Game 1 victory at Madison Square Garden.

“Jimmy is working,” Spoelstra said Friday. “We’ll see. … We know what his intentions are.”

Butler injured his ankle late in the series opener on Sunday, and though he never came out of the 108-101 victory, he was noticeably limping after getting hurt and played a smaller role in Miami’s offense.

The injury was severe enough, however, to keep him on the bench Tuesday as New York evened the series with a 111-105 win.

One advantage that is working in Butler’s favour is the lengthy layoff between Games 2 and 3.

By sitting out Tuesday, the 33-year-old Butler will have five days off between games to get treatment on the ankle.

A return in Game 3 would be a huge boost for the eighth-seeded Heat after they scored their fewest points of the postseason without the NBA’s playoff scoring leader in Game 2.

The six-time All-Star is averaging a league-leading 35.5 points per game in the playoffs on 58.5 per cent shooting, along with 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

The last time the Heat played at home on April 24, Butler had a career-high 56 points in a 119-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks as Miami seized a 3-1 lead over the East’s top seed.

Steve Smith’s LV= Insurance County Championship debut innings was overshadowed by Sussex captain Cheteshwar Pujara’s classy century at Worcestershire.

Attention was fixed on former Australia captain Smith, whose union with Sussex for three Division Two matches ahead of this summer’s Ashes has raised eyebrows, after the visitors lost two quick wickets on the second morning.

But, just as he was finding some rhythm, Smith fell for 30 to a debatable lbw call before Pujara demonstrated why he is as highly regarded as the Australian with a fine 136 in Sussex’s 373 all out.

Worcestershire reached stumps on 34 for one – trailing by 75 heading into day three.

Australian fast bowler Michael Neser took the spotlight away from the returning Jonny Bairstow with a brilliant hat-trick as Glamorgan dominated against Yorkshire.

Bairstow made an unbeaten 20 in his first competitive innings after more than eight months out injured but he could only watch on from the non-striker’s end as Neser ripped through his colleagues at Headingley.

The 33-year-old, left out of this summer’s Ashes touring party, showed the Australia Test selectors what they could be missing as he claimed career-best figures of seven for 32 off 11 overs to help skittle Yorkshire for 106.

Boasting a first-innings lead of 139, Glamorgan reached 57 for two in their second innings before proceedings were brought to an early finish.

Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed fell three runs short of a first century of the season before Lancashire took the upper hand on a rain-affected second day at Trent Bridge.

England bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad both finished the day wicketless as Lancashire overturned a first-innings deficit of 35 to lead by 63 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand.

Essex seamer Jamie Porter claimed four wickets to pose the first serious questions about Surrey’s credentials of retaining their title.

Porter took his season’s total to 18 in four Championship games to help dismiss Surrey for 240, with the lead extended to 89 by Nick Browne and Sir Alastair Cook in five overs before stumps.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore blasted a thrilling first half-century for Somerset to bat them into a promising position against Northamptonshire at Taunton.

The visitors began by extending their overnight first-innings score of 137 for four to 255 all out. In reply, Somerset slipped to 61 for three before Cameron Bancroft (39) helped Kohler-Cadmore on his way to an unbeaten 95 off just 71 balls, with his side 199 for four and trailing by 56.

Sam Hain passed 50 for the third time in five innings this season as Warwickshire continued to dominate Hampshire.

Hampshire had found hope with three wickets in a truncated morning session to fashion a collapse from 83 without loss to 95 for three but half-centuries for Alex Davies (51), Ed Barnard (91 not out) and Michael Burgess (60no) accompanied Hain’s 85 as Warwickshire ended day two on 364 for five – a lead of 135.

Leus du Plooy and Wayne Madsen batted Derbyshire into a dominant position against Leicestershire at Derby.

The pair shared a stand of 122 from 184 balls, with Du Plooy failing by six runs to become Derbyshire’s first century maker of the season. The hosts closed on 326 for seven, a lead of 204.

Steve Smith had a brief but eventful cameo as his maiden LV= Insurance County Championship innings was put in the shade by Sussex captain Cheteshwar Pujara’s classy century at Worcestershire.

Attention was fixed on Smith, whose union with Sussex for three Division Two matches ahead of this summer’s Ashes has raised eyebrows, after the visitors lost two quick wickets on the second morning.

But just as he was finding some rhythm, Smith fell for 30 to a debatable lbw call before Pujara demonstrated why he is as highly-regarded as the Australian with a fine 136 in Sussex’s 373 all out, with Worcestershire going to stumps on 34 for one – trailing by 75 heading into day three.

The pair, who will be on opposing sides when Smith’s Australia take on Pujara’s India in next month’s World Test Championship final, put on 61 in a partnership notable for both batters being ordered to fasten neck protectors to the back of their helmets by umpires Chris Watts and Peter Hartley.

Smith has previously described stem guards – mandatory for all domestic cricketers in England but not in Australia – as “claustrophobic” and akin to “being stuck in an MRI scan machine” after experimenting with one following a blow to the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer in 2019 which caused concussion.

Pujara then Smith were brought to the crease within the first 10 minutes of Sussex resuming on 63 for one in response to 264 all out as overnight batters Tom Alsop (13) and Ali Orr (34) quickly perished.

Smith faced a dozen deliveries without scoring, either side of a five-minute delay while adjustments were made to his and Pujara’s helmets, but he duly took advantage from his 13th ball – short and wide from Ben Gibbon – to get off the mark by cutting for four.

He looked to be warming to his work by clipping then pulling Josh Tongue for leg-side fours but while he was given the hurry up by the Worcestershire fast bowler, Smith was perhaps unfortunate the umpire’s finger went up after being struck well above the knee roll while already on his toes.

It was a key wicket for Tongue but he and the rest of the Worcestershire attack found the prolific Pujara trickier to dislodge. India’s Test number three played late but drove with aplomb and was ruthless to short and wide deliveries while he even uppercut Tongue for six.

Either side of Pujara reaching fifty, James Coles departed for 14 after an attempted whip off Gibbon brushed his inside edge while Oli Carter missed a drive at Matthew Waite and was bowled.

But Pujara found a willing ally in Fynn Hudson-Prentice, with the pair shining in the mid-afternoon sun after a short rain delay and taking Worcestershire’s bowlers to task in a 117-run stand in 16.4 overs.

Pujara cut Brett D’Oliveira for his 14th four and although he went to tea on 97, he got to a 138-ball ton shortly after the resumption, his third hundred already this season and an astonishing eighth in 12 matches for Sussex.

Waite trapped Hudson-Prentice lbw for 54 but, with Sussex having established a first-innings lead by this point, Ollie Robinson had licence to tee off against a flagging attack, the England seamer following up his seven for 59 the day before by lifting Joe Leach for two sixes.

Going for a third, Robinson miscued to long-on to depart for 33 off only 21 balls while Tongue had another important scalp as Pujara flirted outside off and nicked through to Gareth Roderick.

Sussex’s innings quickly concluded, leaving Worcestershire to negotiate a few tricky overs.

Robinson picked up where he left off on Thursday and drew the edge of Jake Libby, with Pujara holding on at fifth slip but Ed Pollock and Azhar Ali helped Worcestershire avoid any more damage.

France’s Matthieu Pavon maintained his two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the DS Automobiles Italian Open.

Pavon followed an opening 63, his lowest-ever round on the DP World Tour, with a 70 on Friday to reach nine under par, with compatriot Julien Guerrier and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui on seven under.

Poland’s Adrian Meronk is a shot further back after a second consecutive 68.

Starting on the back nine at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Pavon threatened to leave the field trailing in his wake when he carded a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th, but dropped three shots over the next 13 holes before closing with a 57-foot birdie on the ninth.

“Quite an up and down day,” Pavon said. “I started quite fast with a lot of good shots, made some birdies earlier on and that was great, but then I made some mistakes.

“Nothing really big but when you miss something here it feels like it is really tough to get the up and down done, so I dropped a few shots.

“I was a bit tired in the end also after a poor night yesterday, so to finish my round under par I am really happy.”

Defending champion Robert MacIntyre had earlier been forced out of the tournament due to a back injury less than an hour before he was due to tee off alongside home favourite Guido Migliozzi and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard.

The Scot wrote on social media: “Gutted to withdraw this morning from the @ItalianOpen with a back strain. Hopefully nothing too serious. Now for a week of rest before the PGA Championship.”

MacIntyre, who defeated US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick in a play-off to win his second DP World Tour title last September, had carded an opening two-over-par 73 on Thursday.

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald missed the cut after consecutive rounds of 74 left him six over par.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Donald said.

“Great to be back here again, obviously had a nice dinner with the vice-captains one night and did a lot of work behind the scenes, it was a busy week and a productive week, (but) my game was a little bit off this week.”

EFL clubs have unanimously voted to accept a record £935million deal with Sky Sports that will see more than 1,000 matches broadcast a season, but which keeps the Saturday blackout in place.

The five-year domestic deal, made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing rights, will begin in 2024-25 and run to the end of the 2028-29 season.

It represents a 50 per cent increase on the league’s current deal with Sky which expires at the end of next season.

Altogether 1,059 league, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy matches will be shown live either on a Sky main channel or via a Sky streaming platform, replacing the iFollow service for domestic viewers.

Streaming platform DAZN had been keen to acquire the rights to screen all EFL matches and bring an end to the Saturday blackout period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

The blackout stays in place in the Sky deal, but more matches are available to stream, with six games across the Championship, League One and League Two now set to kick off at 12.30pm each Saturday.

The deal means 26 out of 36 matches will still kick off at Saturday 3pm – seven Championship matches plus 19 across Leagues One and Two.

The EFL acknowledges the changes in kick-off times can make planning difficult for matchday fans, and has committed to placing all live matches up to the FA Cup third round before the start of each season.

It is understood that based on the EFL’s distribution formula, Championship clubs will earn 46 per cent more in guaranteed broadcast income and clubs in Leagues One and Two will be 25 per cent better off.

EFL had announced Sky as its preferred bidder in early April, following the issue of invitations to tender earlier in the year.

The deal means 10 league matches will be shown live each weekend, including six in the 12.30pm Saturday slot.

Every match in the EFL Cup will be shown live, plus every game in the EFL Trophy.

The PA news agency understands Sky has bought the EFL Cup rights ‘as is’ , despite the possibility of the competition having a significantly different look from 2024-25, with domestic calendar issues under discussion as part of the ‘New Deal For Football’ talks.

The EFL declined to comment on whether the deal included a rebate clause to Sky in the event that the format of the competition did substantially change.

All opening round and final day matches will be shown live, as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One and Two during international breaks.

The deal also promises greater parity in the number of times clubs are selected for TV coverage is also guaranteed.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “This is a landmark broadcast deal for EFL clubs, establishing the league as a premium partner with a world-renowned broadcaster in Sky Sports.

“The EFL is an iconic sports property and one of the biggest and best attended leagues in European football.

“This increased investment and coverage from Sky Sports will showcase much more of our compelling match action to fans, while delivering record rights values as we seek to make our clubs sustainable at all levels.”

Clubs will gain an additional fee when selected for broadcast, but a debate on how these will be allocated will take place among the clubs later in the year.

No bid convinced the EFL to remove the blackout. The EFL estimated that removing it would cost £37m in matchday attendance revenue, and that had to be factored into any offer which sought to remove it.

EFL clubs have unanimously voted to accept a new £935million deal with Sky Sports which will see more than 1,000 matches a season being broadcast, but which keeps the Saturday blackout in place.

The five-year deal, made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing rights, will begin in 2024-25 and run to the end of the 2028-29 season.

It represents a 50 per cent increase on the league’s current deal with Sky which expires at the end of next season.

Altogether 1,059 league, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy matches will be shown live either on a Sky main channel or via a Sky streaming platform, replacing the iFollow service for domestic viewers.

Streaming platform DAZN had been keen to acquire the rights to screen all EFL matches and bring an end to the Saturday blackout period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

The blackout stays in place in the Sky deal, but more matches are available to stream, with six games across the Championship, League One and League Two now set to kick off at 12.30pm each Saturday.

The deal means 26 out of 36 matches will still kick off at Saturday 3pm – seven Championship matches plus 19 across Leagues One and Two.

The EFL acknowledges the changes in kick-off times can make planning difficult for matchday fans, and has committed to placing all live matches up to the FA Cup third round before the start of each season.

It is understood that based on the EFL’s distribution formula, Championship clubs will earn 46 per cent more in guaranteed broadcast income and clubs in Leagues One and Two will be 25 per cent better off.

EFL had announced Sky as its preferred bidder in early April, following the issue of invitations to tender earlier in the year.

Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his 20th birthday by beating Borna Coric to reach the final of the Madrid Open.

The Spaniard is bidding to win back-to-back titles in his homeland for the second year in a row after successfully defending the title in Barcelona last month.

Croatian Coric put up a good fight, with the first set in particular full of gruelling all-court rallies, but ultimately Alcaraz was too good and he claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory.

After the pair had shaken hands, the home hero was presented with an enormous birthday cake while the crowd sang happy birthday.

“It means a lot to me, playing a final again here in Madrid,” said Alcaraz. “It’s such a special place for me and I have great memories since I came here to play under-12s. Of course last year was amazing.

“Turning 20 like that is special, so I will enjoy the final here and of course I will try to make all of Spain happy.”

Alcaraz’s latest win came amid the news Rafael Nadal will miss the Italian Open in Rome next week as he continues to recover from a hip injury, and the younger Spaniard is rapidly establishing himself as the French Open favourite.

Novak Djokovic missed Madrid with an elbow problem and, if he wins the title this weekend, Alcaraz will only need to play a match in Rome to ensure he returns to world number one.

Lionel Messi has publicly apologised to Paris St Germain following his unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

The Argentinian was reportedly fined and suspended by the Ligue 1 leaders after undertaking a promotional visit to the Middle East country without permission.

The 35-year-old, who is an ambassador for the Saudi Tourism Authority, was pictured in Riyadh on Monday, the day after his side suffered a surprise loss to Lorient.

Messi says he had to make the trip for contractual reasons having previously cancelled it, and had assumed he had a day off.

The issue has highlighted an apparent souring of the relationship between the World Cup-winner and PSG, with reports since emerging that he is set to leave the club in the summer.

Messi said in a video posted on Instagram: “I wanted to make this video due to everything that is happening.

“First of all, I want to say sorry to my team-mates and to the club. I honestly thought that we were going to be free after the game, as had been the case in previous weeks.

“I had organised this trip to Saudi Arabia, which had been cancelled previously and this time I couldn’t. I apologise again and I’m here for whatever the club decide. All the best.”

Messi, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, joined PSG in a blaze of publicity after Barcelona ran into severe monetary difficulties two years ago.

He has been linked with a return to the Nou Camp but it is widely thought the LaLiga leaders’ financial position makes that unrealistic. Saudi Arabia and the United States are rumoured to be other potential destinations.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 5.

Football

Napoli celebrated their first Serie A title win for 33 years.

Neil Warnock will be back in football in nine months…

Liverpool unveiled their kit for next season.

Cricket

Katherine Sciver-Brunt retired from England duty.

What a hat-trick ball.

Golf

Back trouble for Robert MacIntyre ahead of the PGA Championship.

Darts

Michael Van Gerwen was frustrated.

Formula One

A trip to the Dolphins for Valtteri Bottas.

Haas boss Guenther Steiner was mixing it up.

Can you speak up George Russell?

Some track fun for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

Kieran Freeman is encouraged by Dundee United’s return to form going into the final five cinch Premiership fixtures but insists they are “far from out” of relegation trouble.

The Tannadice side have won three consecutive games with one defeat in six under boss Jim Goodwin, who took over from Liam Fox on a short-term contract on March 1.

United moved up to 10th place, above Kilmarnock on goal difference and four points ahead of Ross County, before the league fixtures took a break for last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Goodwin’s side return to action in the bottom six on Saturday with a trip to Tayside rivals St Johnstone, who parted ways with boss Callum Davidson after a run of six games without a win.

Interim boss Steven MacLean managed a 1-1 draw with Hibernian last time out to leave them just two points above United but Freeman remains wary.

The 23-year-old defender told DUTV: “One weekend with the results going against us and we could be bottom again.

“We are far from out of it but it has been positive the last few weeks and hopefully we keep that going.

“It was good form to go into it (break) but it shows you how far off we were that after three consecutive wins we are still in it.

“We need to start afresh again and pick up as many points as possible.

“We have been playing well as a team, the clean sheet we had (2-0 win over Livingston in last game) helps and getting more bodies forward.

“The gaffer has got us organised and hard to beat and that makes a big difference.

“He has been brilliant since he has come in but that’s no disrespect to Foxy, it was the players that let him down, it was nothing to do with Foxy.

“But we are working together to try to keep the club up.

“We would be delighted if we woke up on Sunday morning above St Johnstone, that’s one place away from the drop so that’s a positive but we have to take each game as it comes and try to get the three points.”

Kilmarnock midfielder Rory McKenzie admits the painful memories of relegation are spurring him on to avoid the same fate two years on.

McKenzie is one of the few survivors of the team that lost to Dundee in the play-offs before coming straight back up as cinch Championship title winners.

Derek McInnes and his squad occupy 11th place in the Premiership which would consign them to another play-off but there are five matches left to save their top-flight status, starting with Saturday’s trip to Motherwell.

McKenzie said: “I would much rather be playing in the top six but I’m relishing the game in terms of how big a game it is for the club.

“You want to play in big games and for a club like Kilmarnock, having been in this position, I know how bad it feels to be relegated and it just makes it a whole lot bigger. In that sense it’s a great occasion and a good game to go out and win.”

The 29-year-old is using past pain as motivation.

“Definitely, I have been thinking about it the last few weeks,” he said. “It’s a horrible, horrible feeling and I do not want to feel that again.

“I have let the boys know that and we are going to do what we can to not have any sort of feeling like that again.”

McKenzie was raised in Troon and his association with Killie goes back many years through his formative spell in the club’s academy but he does not feel his affection for the club should make him any more determined than his team-mates to help the cause.

“I don’t think it should,” he said. “It might come across as that because I am from here and I know the club better than most, but if you are a professional it’s not something you want to have on your CV.

“Yes, I am from here but it should mean the exact same for everyone in the squad whether you are here full-time or on loan. You don’t want to go back to your parent club on the back of a relegated season.

“Everyone has their reasons why and it should mean the same to everyone.”

Killie are looking to follow up on their first league away win of the season last time out against St Mirren.

McKenzie: “It was huge because it became a thing. For one reason or other we weren’t starting games well. We were conceding early and there was no real belief we could get back in the game.

“Last week we performed well. It was a big game for St Mirren and it was a good crowd and to come out on top against a good side was a big confidence boost.”

The attacking midfielder admits preparing for an away game on the back of a win feels different.

“I would say so, especially when your next game is away from home,” he said.

“It’s a huge confidence boost because I would be sitting here answering the same questions if we hadn’t won two weeks ago. So that’s quite pleasing.

“You are asked why the away form was so poor and we didn’t know, or we don’t know. It’s a frustrating one because last week just shows if we do everything right and it goes to plan, it’s sometimes quite straightforward.”

Killie have Joe Wright, Fraser Murray and Liam Polworth back from illness and injury and Kyle Vassell is set to feature despite suffering a hamstring issue in Paisley.

“He is still not perfect but he has always been a quick healer,” manager Derek McInnes said.

“We got him scanned and we got him moving again. We feel Kyle is a key player for us so we would much rather have him out there.”

Andy Murray defeated French teenager Luca Van Assche to reach the semi-finals of the Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence.

The Scot opted to drop down to the second tier after his first-round loss at the Madrid Open last week and the decision has paid off, with Murray’s 6-2 7-6 (6) victory over 18-year-old Van Assche his third in a row.

The teenager is regarded as a big talent and is already ranked in the top 100 but Murray was solid from the baseline and, unlike in his second match against Laurent Lokoli on Thursday, he managed to avoid being taken to a deciding set.

The second set was not without its frustrations, with Murray missing a match point at 5-4 and then seeing an early lead in the tie-break slip away.

Van Assche had two set points but Murray, who needs one more victory to climb back into the top 50, saved both and yelled in delight when he made it over the line.

The 35-year-old is looking for his first title at any level since Antwerp in 2019 having lost his last four finals.