Naomi Osaka fended off Patricia Maria Tig at the French Open on Sunday, but the world number two admits she has plenty of room for improvement on clay.

Osaka has been at the centre of attention in the build-up to the tournament, with the 23-year-old refusing to attend mandatory news conferences and suggesting they were not beneficial to her mental health.

The second seed stood by her decision following a straight-sets win over Romanian Tig and was subsequently handed a $15,000 fine and warned repeat offences could see her thrown out of the competition.

However, Osaka did speak in an on-court interview after her 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier– just her second win of the season on clay.

"I'd say it’s a work on progress," four-time grand slam winner Osaka said when asked about her clay-court game.

"Hopefully, the more I play the better it'll get. I'm really glad that I won, it's a very beautiful court. I've only played two matches here – one before the roof [was installed] and one right now. Hopefully I'll keep it going."

Next up for reigning US and Australian Open champion Osaka is Ana Bogdan, who defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1 6-3.

ANOTHER FRENCH OPEN DUCK FOR KERBER

While Osaka took a place in round two, former world number one Angelique Kerber had no such luck as she came unstuck in the first round at Roland Garros for a third year running.

Now ranked at 27th in the world by the WTA, Kerber lost 6-2 6-4 to qualifier Anhelina Kalinina.

The French Open title has so far eluded Kerber, who has won every other grand slam, and the 33-year-old German has not won a match in Paris since 2018, when she reached the quarter-finals, having also made the last eight in 2012.

Indeed, the 33-year-old's run to the quarters in 2018 was the only time in her last six appearances at Roland Garros that she has progressed beyond the first round.

"She started well and had nothing to lose, while it took me too long to get into the contest," Kerber said. "I will try to learn from the match now because I played good the last few weeks and I had good matches."

SABALENKA AND KVITOVA BATTLE THROUGH

Aryna Sabalenka was the other top seed in action on Sunday, though she was made to work for a 6-4 6-3 defeat of Ana Konjuh.

The third seed, who is in the hunt for a first grand slam title having already won the Madrid Open this month, made a sluggish start and two breaks of serve had her 4-2 down to world number 144 Konjuh.

But Sabalenka rallied herself and a streak of four straight games handed her the set, and a further three successive breaks to start the second put her in command.

Konjuh managed to save the first match point, only for the Croatian qualifier to hit the net as Sabalenka progressed at the second time of asking.

Petra Kvitova, the 11th seed, needed three sets to overcome Greet Minnen 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-1, and had to save a match point in the process.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova was on the edge of a shock exit at 6-5 and a break down in the second set, but a backhand winner rescued her from the brink and forced another tie-break, which the Czech won before carrying the momentum into the decider.

"I would say that from my side it wasn't really good from the beginning," said Kvitova, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year.

"I was struggling, I was missing a lot, I was double-faulting a lot.

"I didn't really feel myself that well. I was pretty tight, it was really tough. I mean, I was fighting not only with her but with myself as well. I'm glad that in the end I beat myself as well and beat her, so that counts."

Kvitova will next face Elena Vesnina, who beat lucky loser Olga Govortsova 6-1 6-0 to seal a first singles win since she became a mother in 2018 and took a two-year break from tennis.

Dominic Thiem crashed out of the French Open in the first round as the US Open champion and two-time Roland Garros finalist suffered a stunning loss to Pablo Andujar.

Thiem looked to be easing to a routine win on the opening day of main draw singles action in Paris, having claimed the first two sets.

However, Andujar staged a remarkable fightback to end the world number four's bid for a third appearance in the final.

The Spaniard claimed a 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-4 win, his first victory over a top-five opponent at the age of 35.

Thiem hit 66 winners over the course of an epic that lasted four hours and 28 minutes, but his efforts were undermined by 61 unforced errors to Andujar's 47.

It is another low point in an underwhelming year to this point for the fourth seed, who has won only nine of his 17 matches in 2021.

And it is a result that opens up the bottom half of the men's singles draw, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all in the top half.

Andujar, who has never progressed beyond the third round at Roland Garros, will face Radu Albot or Federico Delbonis in round two.

Karim Benzema lauded the qualities of Zinedine Zidane as a coach and a man after his decision to leave the top job at Real Madrid for a second time.

It was announced on Thursday that Zidane would depart the hot seat at the Santiago Bernabeu after a season in which Madrid failed to win a trophy.

However, Zidane did lead them to the LaLiga title in 2019-20 and Benzema, speaking while on international duty after his surprise recall for France, was full of praise for the 48-year-old.

"He's a very great coach, on a human level, he's the perfect man," he said.

"With me, he's magnificent. I'm disappointed that he is leaving Real, but that's how it is. Life goes on."

Madrid ended the last campaign with an 18-game unbeaten streak (W13 D5) in LaLiga – the longest current undefeated run of any team in the competition, and their best such spell without a loss within the same league campaign since March 2014 under Carlo Ancelotti (W15 D3).

Benzema was involved in 32 goals in LaLiga this season (23 goals and nine assists), representing his best tally in a single campaign in the league after surpassing the 2015-16 term (31 – 24 goals and seven assists).

That form put him back in Didier Deschamps' plans ahead of France's Euro 2020 campaign, which begins against Germany on June 15.

Benzema had been frozen out by Deschamps since 2015 after becoming embroiled in a blackmail scandal involving international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena.

The 33-year-old has denied the claims and is due to stand trial on the charge of complicity in attempted blackmail in October.

He is now ready and raring to go once again on the international stage, where he is particularly looking forward to teaming up with Kylian Mbappe.

Asked how the Paris Saint-Germain striker stacks up against the world's best, Benzema said: "I don't like to compare, but he's a young player, a phenomenon.

"I was able to train with him, we play in one touch, there is movement, he puts a lot of speed, he is skilful. He's a very, very good player. "

Benzema won the most recent of his 81 caps for France against Armenia in October 2015, scoring twice in that 4-0 friendly victory to take his Les Bleus goal tally to 27.

Egan Bernal wrapped up victory in the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, showing consummate composure in the final stage on the road to Milan.

INEOS Grenadiers rider Bernal, who had finished second behind Damiano Caruso in the penultimate stage, was a favourite heading into this year's race and the 24-year-old duly delivered having worn the maglia rosa since stage nine.

He sealed an impressive general classification victory by one minute and 29 seconds.

Bernal, now a two-time Grand Tour champion after a successful Tour de France in 2019, needed to keep his cool in Sunday's closing time trial.

He began the 30.3-kilometre test from Senago with a 1:59 minute lead over Caruso, who celebrated his maiden Grand Tour stage win on Saturday, but Bernal only gave up 30 seconds in a closing stage that was won by his team-mate and reigning time trial world champion Filippo Ganna.

Ganna beat Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step) by 12 seconds, despite needing to change his bike mid-race.

Cavagna was hindered by a crash on the final bend, with the Frenchman losing control and flying over his handlebars, and despite being back on the bike within 10 seconds, it was a mistake which handed Ganna a second stage win of the Giro.

But the glory was all Bernal's, the Colombian able to take his time on the final stretch as he celebrated a supreme display over the three-week event.

It is INEOS' second successive victory at the Giro, following Tao Geoghegan Hart's triumph last year.

Simon Yates, another pre-race favourite, finished in third place in the general classification, 4:15 back from Bernal, who is going from strength to strength.

"The maglia rosa is special. It's the most beautiful race in the world's most beautiful place," Bernal told reporters.

"I'll never forget this Giro, how I won my first ever stage and the way I won it, with attacks and sprinting on the flat for bonus seconds against Remco Evenepoel. That's who I am and the cycling I like.

"In this race I found the freedom to race as I like to do. So winning in this final time trial is special.

"I was just focused on my effort and was just thinking I can't do a mistake, I didn't want to lose the Giro in one corner. I was starting to push in the parts where I could push, but in the corners, don't take any risks.

"It was special, [seeing] a lot of Colombian flags everywhere and all the people cheering for me. When I finished and realised I won, it was an incredible feeling. I can't describe what I'm feeling."

STAGE RESULT

1. Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) 0:33:48
2. Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step) +00:12
3. Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) +00:13
4. Matteo Sobrero (Astana) +00:14
5. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) +00:27

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) 86:17:28
2. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) +01:29
3. Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) +04:15

Points Classification

1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 136
2. Davide Cimolai (Israel Start-Up Nation) 118
3. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Emirates) 116

King of the Mountains

1. Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroen) 184
2. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) 140
3. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) 99

Naomi Osaka has been fined and threatened with possible expulsion from the French Open after choosing not to take part in mandatory media interviews at the tournament.

Osaka declared her intentions in the build-up to the second grand slam of the year, stating that "people have no regard for athletes' mental health" during news conferences.

The WTA – organisers of the women's tour – encouraged the Japanese superstar to reach out for support with her mental well-being but stressed she had a "responsibility" to her sport to honour contractual commitments.

The 23-year-old conducted an on-court interview after beating Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday but did not appear at the allotted time for her post-match media conference.

Tournament organisers have fined Osaka $15,000 for breaching their code of conduct and warned she could be defaulted from the French Open – and face possible suspensions from other majors – should she continue a media blackout.

Osaka, holder of the US Open and Australian Open titles, has previously said any such fines should go towards a mental health charity.

A statement on the French Open's official website read: "Naomi Osaka announced last Wednesday on social media that she would not participate in the mandatory media interviews at Roland Garros 2021.

"Following this announcement, the Roland Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site.

"Following the lack of engagement by Naomi Osaka, the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open jointly wrote to her to check on her well-being and offer support, underline their commitment to all athletes' well-being and suggest dialogue on the issues. She was also reminded of her obligations, the consequences of not meeting them and that rules should equally apply to all players.

"Naomi Osaka today chose not to honour her contractual media obligations. The Roland Garros referee has therefore issued her a $15,000 fine, in keeping with article III H. of the code of conduct."

The statement went on to say: "We have advised Naomi Osaka that should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further code of conduct infringement consequences.

"As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future grand slam suspensions.

"We want to underline that rules are in place to ensure all players are treated exactly the same, no matter their stature, beliefs or achievement.

"As a sport there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honour their commitments."

The statement was co-signed by organisers from all four grand slams.

Marc Marquez crashed out on the second lap as championship leader Fabio Quartararo claimed a third MotoGP victory of the season at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. 

In a race overshadowed by the death of Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier after a crash in qualifying on Saturday, Quartararo became the first rider to win in Mugello after starting from pole position since 2014. 

Meanwhile, Marquez's hopes of securing a strong result in his fourth race since returning from a broken arm were ended at turn three on the second lap when he made contact with Brad Binder.

Quartararo started from his fourth consecutive pole, but he was usurped by Francesco Bagnaia almost immediately. 

Ducati rider Bagnaia fell from the front on just the second lap, though, handing the advantage back to Quartararo, who fought off the threat of fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco to seal a third win in six races.

This latest victory extended his lead at the head of the standings to 24 points over Zarco, who was leapfrogged by Miguel Oliveria into second with eight laps remaining, with Joan Mir pushing him off the podium soon after. 

Alex Rins pushed Zarco further down the standings, but he was denied a push at a podium place when he crashed on the final corner. 

Oliveira beat Mir to the line for second, although the Portuguese rider was initially demoted to third for exceeding track limits on the final lap. It later transpired Mir had also committed the same offence and they were returned to their original positions. 

TOP 10
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha)
2. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) +2.592s
3. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +3.000s
4. Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) +3.535s
5. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) +4.903s
6. Jack Miller (Ducati Team) +6.233s
7. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Gresini) +8.030s
8. Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha) +17.239s
9. Danilo Petrucci (KTM Tech3) +23.296s
10. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha) +25.146s

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Riders

1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) 105
2. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) 81
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenevo) 79
4. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenevo) 74
5. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) 65

Teams

1. Monster Energy Yamaha 169
2. Ducati 153
3. Pramac Racing 102
4. Suzuki Ecstar 88
5. KTM Factory Racing 64

What's next?

The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit plays host to the next race in the championship next weekend, with Quartararo looking for a repeat performance of his win there last year. 

Moto3 rider Jason Dupasquier has died following a crash in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday. 

Swiss rider Dupasquier, 19, was struck by another bike after falling and slid along the track at Mugello. 

After lengthy treatment by medics on the track he was airlifted to Careggi Hospital in Florence.

It was announced on Sunday he had died from his injuries. 

A statement on the MotoGP website read: "Despite the best efforts of circuit medical staff and all those subsequently attending to the Swiss rider, the hospital has announced that Dupasquier has sadly succumbed to his injuries.

"The FIM, IRTA, MSMA and Dorna Sports pass on our deepest condolences to Dupasquier's family, friends, team and loved ones."

Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Dupasquier was 10th in the World Championship standings after collecting 27 points from the opening five races of his second season in the competition. 

His team Prustel GP wrote on Instagram: "We're devastated and at this time all of our thoughts are with Jason's family

"You'll be sorely missed and never forgotten, Jason."

Naomi Osaka kicked off her bid for a maiden French Open title with a battling straight-sets win over Patricia Maria Tig on day one at Roland Garros.

The second seed, who has failed to get beyond the third round in four previous attempts, won 89 per cent of her first serve points on her way to seeing off Tig 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in a time of one hour and 48 minutes.

She had 39 winners to 35 unforced errors and will now take on Ana Bogdan – a 6-1 6-3 winner against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Sunday – for a place in the last 32.

Osaka, who announced before the tournament that she would not be doing post-match media duties, had just one clay-court victory to her name heading into the second grand slam of the year, but she soon found her groove against world number 63 Tig.

However, after earning an early break of serve, the Australian Open champion squandered three set points in the eighth game as Tig hit back.

Osaka made her superiority show in the following game to take a 1-0 lead in the match and held throughout a tight second set, which went the distance.

Tig, who reached the third round in Paris last year, initially held her own but Osaka pulled away to take the tie-break 7-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Data Slam: Osaka seeking more major glory

World number two Osaka has now won her last 15 matches at grand slams and, even accounting for her record on clay, she will take some stopping in Paris. 

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Osaka – 39/35
Tig – 19/21

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Osaka – 1/3
Tig – 4/5

BREAK POINTS WON
Osaka – 2/10
Tig – 1/2

Peter Bosz has vowed to bring "attacking and attractive football" to Lyon after signing a two-year deal to become the Ligue 1 club's head coach.

The former Ajax and Borussia Dortmund boss was most recently with Bayer Leverkusen and replaces Rudi Garcia at the Lyon helm.

He takes over a club that finished fourth last season, just missing out on Champions League qualification, and the 57-year-old is eager to make his mark at Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

"I am very happy to be here, in a great club," he said at a news conference on Sunday, with his appointment having been confirmed the day before.

"I have a philosophy: to produce attacking and attractive football, because we play for the supporters, not for ourselves. But obviously, it depends on the players in the squad. I prefer technical and intelligent players."

Bosz leant heavily on youth talent at Ajax, where he reached the Europa League final in 2017, and would not hesitate to take a similar approach in his new role, which will formally begin on July 1.

"At Ajax, like at Lyon now, it was important to play the youngsters," he said. "But it does not just depend on the age: I am not scared to give young players a chance and to put faith in them. They have the qualities. At Leverkusen for example, I gave Florian Wirtz a chance when he was just 16.

"In the Netherlands, it was said that the team started seasons slowly and finished strongly. In Germany, I was told that the team started strongly and finished slowly. What I want, in France, is to start and finish strongly.

"I am heading back for two more weeks of holiday, but I will of course remain in contact with Juninho to talk about the players, pre-season, the way of working. I will be thinking a lot about Lyon."

Bosz was sacked by Leverkusen in March and replaced on an interim basis by former Stuttgart boss Hannes Wolf, having endured a run of four wins in 18 matches in all competitions.

Liam Reddy's 90th-minute penalty save earned Perth Glory a 2-2 draw with Wellington Phoenix at Eden Park in a result that leaves both sides' A-League Finals hopes hanging in the balance.

Phoenix opened the scoring in Sunday's match through Tomer Hemed's fifth goal in four games.

That well-taken strike was cancelled out by substitute Bruno Fornaroli's composed finish past Oliver Sail, before Callum Timmins completed the turnaround with a sensational long-ranger.

Perth were unable to hold on for a first away win in seven attempts, though, as another Wellington substitute in Jaushua Sotirio curled in an equaliser six minutes later.

There was still time for more late drama as Cameron Devlin went down under a challenge from Nick D'Agostino, only for Ulises Davila's resulting penalty to be kept out by Reddy.

Wellington are now unbeaten in a club-record 10 A-League games, but they are one point outside the top six having played a game more than Macarthur, while Perth are two points further back.

Brisbane Roar still have work to do if they are to seal a Finals berth, meanwhile, after losing 2-0 at Western Sydney Wanderers in the second of Sunday's matches.

Wanderers had lost three games in a row heading into the contest at Bankwest Stadium, but goals from Bernie Ibini and Bruce Kamau kept their slim top-six hopes just about alive.

Daniel Margush starred for the home side with six saves, including a couple of fine stops to keep out Riku Danzaki either side of Ibidi's 20-yard shot into the bottom-left corner.

The visitors pushed hard for an equaliser and had a penalty shout rejected when Jesse Daley went down inside the box under contact from Ziggy Gordon.

With players committed forward, Roar had a chance to pick off their opponents late on and Kamau made the most of his opportunity by chipping the ball over Jamie Young at his near post to seal the win.

A commitment from Donovan Mitchell to be less "exuberant" on the court helped the Utah Jazz take a 2-1 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies in their first-round playoff series.

Mitchell played just the second game of his return from injury on Saturday as Utah took the series lead with a 121-111 victory in Game 3.

After scoring 25 points on his return in Game 2, which came after a 17-game absence due to an ankle sprain, the 24-year-old shot 9-of-23 from the field to lead the scoring with 29 points.

Ten of those points came in a fourth quarter in which Memphis edged into a two-point lead for the first time in the contest with five minutes on the clock.

Mitchell, who scored two three-pointers in a strong Jazz finish, felt the benefit of having conserved some energy for the decisive moments.

"It's a long game," he said. "It's been a while and just getting back into it. That's really it.

"Understanding that trying to save your energy as much as possible, not needing to be as exuberant, I think that's the right word to use, but I think just not being as loud and kind of demonstrative in my movements."

Head coach Quin Snyder thought Mitchell's influence waned little despite his quieter approach.

"When you have a guy that has that much belief in his team-mates and that competitive fire, you know he's going to make some things happen," said Snyder.

"He's not going to be successful in every possession, but he was not going to be deterred either."

The Grizzlies edged the scoring 89-87 after the first quarter, but it was not enough to counter a poor start in front of more than 12,000 fans at their first home playoff game since April 2017.

"They made the plays down the stretch," coach Taylor Jenkins said. "Couldn't get the stops.

"The first quarter, we just didn't have the discipline. Too many breakdowns and they made us pay."

Game 4 is at FedExForum on Tuesday.

Fernando Tatis Jr. did it again, hitting a two-out, three-run home run in the ninth inning to tie the game before the San Diego Padres got another long ball in the 12th to defeat the Houston Astros 11-8. 

Houston led 6-1 after seven before the Padres scored two in the eighth, then three on the Tatis shot in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. 

The teams traded runs in the 10th and 11th innings before Wil Myers homered with one out in the 12th -- two batters after Houston intentionally walked Tatis -- to provide the winning margin. 

The victory kept San Diego (34-19) ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (33-20) for the best record in MLB.

Giants pound rival Dodgers

The San Francisco Giants pounded out 16 hits as they defeated the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 11-6 for their second consecutive win after dropping four straight to the defending World Series champions. Logan Webb allowed only one hit and did not walk a batter while striking out seven for the Giants. 

The New York Mets scored seven runs in the sixth inning to run away from the Atlanta Braves in a 13-2 rout. James McCann had four hits, including the first of five home runs the Mets hit in the game, while the entire Braves lineup managed only one extra-base hit. 

For the second consecutive day, a young Detroit Tigers starter shut down New York Yankees batters, as Spencer Turnbull allowed only three singles in a 6-1 Detroit win. 

Diamondbacks, Orioles skids continue

A late rally came up short as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell 7-4 to the St Louis Cardinals for their 13th consecutive defeat, while the Baltimore Orioles were swept in a double-header by the Chicago White Sox to run their losing skid to 12 straight. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates held Colorado Rockies batters to just six hits in 49 at-bats in sweeping a double-header with 7-0 and 4-0 victories. Colorado hitters struck out 14 times after their best player, shortstop Trevor Story, landed on the injured list earlier in the day due to right elbow inflammation. 

Rendon on the run

Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon had to cover a lot of ground to get to this foul pop off the bat of the Oakland Athletics' Matt Olson, then made a blind heave to double off Tony Kemp. 

Saturday's results

Chicago Cubs 10-2 Cincinnati Reds
Boston Red Sox 3-1 Miami Marlins
Detroit Tigers 6-1 New York Yankees
Minnesota Twins 6-5 Kansas City Royals
Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago White Sox 7-4 Baltimore Orioles
Chicago White Sox 3-1 Baltimore Orioles
San Diego Padres 11-8 Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Oakland Athletics
St Louis Cardinals 7-4 Arizona Diamondbacks
Seattle Mariners 3-2 Texas Rangers
San Francisco Giants 11-6 Los Angeles Dodgers
Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0 Colorado Rockies
Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 Colorado Rockies
Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 Washington Nationals
Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Washington Nationals
New York Mets 13-2 Atlanta Braves
Toronto Blue Jays-Cleveland Indians (postponed)

Giants at Dodgers

Kevin Gausman (5-0, 1.53 ERA) looks to stay unbeaten for the San Francisco Giants as they visit Clayton Kershaw (7-3, 2.94) and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Joel Embiid heard the opposing fans jeering him when he missed a dunk in the second quarter Saturday, so the Philadelphia 76ers star made sure to savour the response that followed. 

Embiid was dominant in a 132-103 Sixers rout of the Washington Wizards that gave Philadelphia a 3-0 series lead. 

His signature play in a 36-point night was an emphatic dunk with 1:10 to play in the first half, after which he cupped his hands to his ears to taunt the Washington crowd that had let him have it after he missed a dunk two possessions earlier. 

"They started booing, they started cheering just because I missed a dunk, and I had another opportunity where I actually made a dunk, so that's why I went over to them," Embiid told reporters afterward.

"I wanted to hear more boos because it gets me going. I like it. 

"I just love playing on the road. I love playing up to the boos or fans talking trash. It gets me going."

Wizards fans did not have much to cheer about when it came to their own team, as Embiid scored 25 in the first half on the way to setting a new career playoff scoring high even though he sat out the fourth quarter.  

After a while, the Philadephia fans in attendance won out, and "MVP!" chants echoed through the arena as the Sixers pushed Washington to the brink of elimination. 

Embiid was 14 of 18 from the field, attempting -- and making -- six more shot than he had in the equally comfortable Game 2 win in Philadelphia. 

He said he feels like the game has slowed down and he does not have to force anything, leaving him comfortable no matter how the Wizards choose to defend him. 

"I always want the ball because I feel like it is hard to stop me, whether you send a double-team or not," he said. 

"And if you do send a double-team I'm going to make the right play."

More often than not Saturday, the right play ended up being Embiid handling matters himself. 

Now the Eastern Conference's top seed is on the verge of advancing, though Embiid was not ready to discuss the possibility. 

"There's nothing to be happy about," he said. "The job's not done.

"We've got to close out the series. We've got to get one more win and then worry about the rest later."