Jalen Brunson shook off a right foot injury to score 24 of his 29 points in the second half, and the New York Knicks withstood an injury to OG Anunoby for a 130-121 win over the Indiana Pacers to take a 2-0 lead on Wednesday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Brunson was forced to exit in the first quarter with the injury but returned to warm up at halftime, sending the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy.

He fell short of becoming the second player in NBA history to score 40 or more points in five straight playoff games, but still provided the spark to move the Knicks halfway to their first East finals appearance since 2000.

The series shifts to Indiana for Game 3 on Friday.

Anunoby scored a career playoff-high 28 points before leaving in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury. New York is already playing without three key players (Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic) due to season-ending injuries.

Donte DiVincenzo also scored 28 points with six 3-pointers, Josh Hart had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists and Isaiah Hartenstein added 14 points, 12 boards and eight assists for the Knicks, who hit nearly half of their 3-point attempts (14 for 30).

Tyrese Haliburton bounced back from a poor Game 1 with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Pacers, who hurt themselves by shooting 10 for 17 from the free throw line.

Gavin Stone continued the Dodgers’ run of strong starts and was backed by Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run homer as Los Angeles won its seventh straight, 3-1 over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

Hernandez drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, who completed a 6-0 homestand and have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Stone limited the Marlins to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Five of the Dodgers’ starters during the homestand went at least six innings and posted a 2.33 ERA with 31 strikeouts and four walks.

Michael Grove pitched the eighth and Daniel Hudson worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

Hernandez’s RBI single marked the fourth consecutive game that Los Angeles scored in the first inning.

Bryan De La Cruz homered for the second straight game as Miami finished a 1-5 road trip.

Blue Jays cool Phillies

Kevin Kiermaier and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had three hits and Chris Bassitt pitched into the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak, 5-3.

Philadelphia had an 11-game home winning streak stopped, one off the franchise-record 12 straight victories at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies won 16 consecutive home games at Veterans Stadium in 1977 and 1991.

Bassitt allowed two runs and three hits over 6 1/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jordan Romano gave up a run in the ninth but retired Kody Clemens and Whit Merrifield with the tying runs on base.

The Blue Jays used five hits to score three runs in the sixth inning. Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider had run-scoring singles before Kiermaier’s hit scored Bichette.

Ozuna hits 2 home runs to back Sale

Red-hot Marcell Ozuna hit a pair of home runs and Chris Sale struck out 10 to beat his former team in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Ozuna’s second two-homer game of the season raised his major league-leading totals to 12 home runs and 38 RBIs, to go with a .315 batting average.

Orlando Arcia also went deep for the Braves, who won their second straight following a three-game skid.

Sale, who pitched for Boston from 2018-23, scattered six hits over six innings with one walk to win his fourth consecutive start. He recorded his 82nd career game with at least 10 strikeouts.

Gavin Stone continued the Dodgers’ run of strong starts and was backed by Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run homer as Los Angeles won their seventh straight game, triumphing 3-1 over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.

Hernandez drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, who completed a 6-0 homestand and have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Stone limited the Marlins to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Five of the Dodgers’ starters during the homestand went at least six innings and posted a 2.33 ERA with 31 strikeouts and four walks.

Michael Grove pitched the eighth and Daniel Hudson worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

Hernandez’s RBI single marked the fourth consecutive game that Los Angeles scored in the first inning.

Bryan De La Cruz homered for the second straight game as Miami finished a 1-5 road trip.

Blue Jays cool Phillies

Kevin Kiermaier and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had three hits and Chris Bassitt pitched into the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak, 5-3.

Philadelphia had an 11-game home winning streak stopped, one off the franchise-record 12 straight victories at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies won 16 consecutive home games at Veterans Stadium in 1977 and 1991.

Bassitt allowed two runs and three hits over 6 1/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jordan Romano gave up a run in the ninth but retired Kody Clemens and Whit Merrifield with the tying runs on base.

The Blue Jays used five hits to score three runs in the sixth inning. Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider had run-scoring singles before Kiermaier’s hit scored Bichette.

Ozuna hits 2 home runs to back Sale

Red-hot Marcell Ozuna hit a pair of home runs and Chris Sale struck out 10 to beat his former team in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Ozuna’s second two-homer game of the season raised his major league-leading totals to 12 home runs and 38 RBIs, to go with a .315 batting average.

Orlando Arcia also went deep for the Braves, who won their second straight following a three-game skid.

Sale, who pitched for Boston from 2018-23, scattered six hits over six innings with one walk to win on his fourth consecutive start. He recorded his 82nd career game with at least 10 strikeouts.

Real Madrid striker Joselu was in dreamland after he came on in the dying moments of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Wednesday and turned the game on its head with two goals to snatch a stunning victory.

Joselu, whose journeyman career has included spells at clubs such as Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96, Stoke City and Newcastle United, only touched the ball a few times in their 2-1 second-leg win, but it was a night he is likely to remember for a long time.

He pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, stabbing the ball into the net to equalise for Madrid in the 88th minute, and just under three minutes later, he volleyed them into the lead from a cross by Antonio Rudiger.

"I don't know anything about being a hero, but I'm very happy... You can imagine," he said. "It was incredible, something spectacular. This team never gives up, it's in its blood to fight to the end and that's what we've done.

"You always dream of this kind of performance, but not even my most beautiful dreams are as big as what happened today."

On loan from second-division side Espanyol, Joselu's journey to becoming the semi-final hero has been long and winding in a career involving a dozen clubs across Europe.

He began his career at Celta Vigo before being bought in 2009 by Madrid, where he excelled in their B team but rarely made it to the first team.

He was sold to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in 2012 and then loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Hannover 96 in 2014.

In 2015, he moved to Premier League side Stoke City, playing 27 times and scoring four goals, before spending two seasons at Newcastle United. He returned to Spain with Alaves, where he scored 36 times in three seasons.

He signed as a free agent with Espanyol in the summer of 2022, and a year later was loaned to Madrid and has scored nine goals in 32 appearances this season in LaLiga.

Joselu, born in Stuttgart, Germany, made his debut for Spain aged 33, coming off the bench against Norway to score twice in two minutes in March 2023.

"I don’t think Joselu will be sleeping much tonight, he’ll be useless in training tomorrow!" team-mate Jude Bellingham said. "He deserves it all, he’s been an amazing member of the squad all season, and it’s his night."

Rory McIlroy has urged professional golf to find a "compromise" to the ongoing rift between the PGA Tour and the breakaway LIV circuit.

The world number two suggested they should follow the example of the Northern Ireland peace process, recalling the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a peace deal that helped to end the Troubles in his homeland.

McIlroy noted the advantages of a deal being reached soon while admitting that both golf tours would have to compromise in the process.

Speaking ahead of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, McIlroy said: "I sort of liken it to like when Northern Ireland went through the peace process in the '90s and the Good Friday Agreement. Neither side was happy.

"Catholics weren't happy, Protestants weren't happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right?

"That was in 1998, and 20, 25, 30 years ahead, my generation doesn't know any different. It's just this is what it's always been like, and we've never known anything but peace.

"That's sort of my little way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here.

"It's probably not going to feel great for either side, but if it's a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again, and we can all get back together, then I think that's ultimately a really good thing."

Thomas Tuchel reflects on "tough to accept" defeat after Real Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 and knock Bayern Munich out of the Champions League on Wednesday.

After a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the semi-final at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took the lead in the 68th minute through Alphonso Davies.

However, Joselu came off the bench to score twice in three minutes to send the LaLiga champions to the Champions League final with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern.

"It hurts. It’ll take a while to recover, but on the one hand, it’s a loss where we left it all out on the pitch,” Tuchel told DAZN after the game.

"Of course, it’s tough to accept. It’s part of reality. No regrets. But on the other, there were too many injuries, a few too many substitutions, too many cramps.

"We started with a front four and by the end they were all off the pitch. And then Manu, who had been exceptional in saving us all night, made a mistake he wouldn’t make in another 100 years."

In stoppage time, Matthijs de Ligt had the ball in the back of the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.

The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and Tuchel was frustrated with how the situation was handled.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Tuchel said: "We are almost through, it's almost there and there was a very unusual mistake from our best player for the equaliser, then we conceded the second one in stoppage time.

"Then we scored one and there was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end. There was a huge fight, we left everything on the pitch, and we were almost there. Now we say congratulations to Real Madrid.

"The linesman says sorry, but that does not help. To raise the flag in a moment like this... The referee sees we get the second ball, and we get the shot - it's a very, very bad decision. It's against the rules. It's a disaster. It's hard to swallow, but that's the way it is."

Manuel Neuer made five saves in the game and looked equal to Madrid’s threat until he spilled the ball in the build-up to Joselu’s first goal.

"Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now," he told DAZN.

"That we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 88th minute, it’s extremely bitter.

"We’d taken one step to London; we saw ourselves in the final, and now I’m lost for words."

Joselu was the hero for Real Madrid as he scored twice off the bench to send them through to the Champions League final.

The Spaniard’s late brace secured Madrid’s comeback after Alphonso Davies had given the German side the lead, securing a 2-1 victory on the night, and a 4-3 win on aggregate to set up a meeting with Borussia Dortmund on June 1. 

With only 10 minutes plus stoppage time to make an impact, Joselu made his time on the pitch count.

He scored with both his shots, becoming the oldest substitute to score a brace in a knockout game in the Champions League.

The forward is Madrid’s highest scorer in the competition this season with five goals, netting three of those after coming off the bench.  

It is also the second time he has scored a double against a German team in the Champions League this campaign, getting his other against Union Berlin in the group stages.

Bayern were left to rue a late lapse in concentration that saw them concede twice in the space of two minutes and 44 seconds.

After Davies, who has been heavily linked with Los Blancos, became the first Canadian player to score in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with what was his maiden goal in the competition, it was a mistake that led to Madrid's equaliser.

It is the first time since April 2021 against Paris Saint-Germain that Manuel Neuer made an error leading to an opposition goal in the competition.

Bayern have now lost 11 Champions League matches against Madrid, the most one side has lost against another in the competition’s history.

It was always going to be a tough game for Thomas Tuchel’s side even after taking the lead – Madrid have won four matches despite conceding first in the Champions League this season, the most by a side in a single campaign since they won the trophy in 2016-17 (five).

Los Blancos have reached an 18th final in the European Cup/Champions League, but this is the first time they will play the showcase game at Wembley or in England altogether.

Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti has reached his sixth Champions League final, two more than any other coach in the history of the competition. 

Real Madrid can "never be settled" as they hunt down a record-extending 15th European title, so says Jude Bellingham.

LaLiga champions Madrid claimed their place in the Champions League final thanks to Joselu's late double against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Joselu came on from the bench to score twice in the space of three minutes to seal a 2-1 victory on the night and a 4-3 win on aggregate.

Alphonso Davies' stunner had put Bayern on the brink, but Madrid will now face Borussia Dortmund – Bellingham's former club – at Wembley on June 1.

"They talk about how they won the 14th, how they want the 15th. You can never be settled," Bellingham told TNT Sports.

"The players feel like family, the fans feel like family. 

"When I was seven years old in Birmingham, I was dreaming of nights like this."

Madrid have won four matches despite conceding the first goal in the Champions League this season, the most by a side in a single campaign since Los Blancos themselves in 2016-17 (five), when they went on to lift the trophy. 

"There have been a lot of times we have looked dead and buried, but we have that mentality of never say die," Bellingham added.

"There is a reason we turn around so many games, it's because of these lot [the fans]. They give you an energy you can't get from anything else."

Brendan Rodgers has promised Celtic will be at their very best when they take on Rangers in the Old Firm derby on Saturday.

Rodgers’ side have a three-point advantage over their rivals and a superior goal difference going into the game, while a victory over Rangers would move them six points clear with just two games left to play.

Following the 3-3 draw in the Old Firm in April, Rangers stuttered with a draw and a defeat at the end of the first phase, while Celtic have won each of their last three matches to take control of the title race.

Going into the final league derby of the season, Rodgers is confident that his team are ready for the big test.

"When I look at the injuries and disruptions we've had this season, last weekend was about there in terms of availability, fitness and where the team is at," Rodgers told CelticTV.

"It's as good a place as we've been all season. When we will arrive into this weekend's game, this will be the best version of the team since I've been here."

Rodgers expects a raucous atmosphere at Celtic Park and highlighted how that helps the players in big matches.

He added: "The crowd in the Hearts game was brilliant for us. The emotion rolls down from the stands, and you see what it gives the players and how they respond to that.

"We will need the same at the weekend and I know we will get it. The supporters are liking what they see in the team. It should be a great occasion, and I’m really looking forward to it."