Boston Celtics reserve Malcolm Brogdon has been named NBA Sixth Man of the Year for his stellar first season with his new team.
Brogdon, 30, was traded to the Celtics from the Indiana Pacers in July for a 2023 first-round draft pick and a combination of smaller contract for matching salary, and it has proved a shrewd move.
The 2017 Rookie of the Year had put together a rare 50-40-90 shooting season in 2018-19 to earn a big free agent deal with the Pacers, and he returned to his sharpshooting best coming off the bench in Boston.
Registering zero starts from his 67 regular season appearances, Brogdon averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his 26.0 minutes per game, while shooting 48.4 per cent from the field, 44.4 per cent from three-point range and 87.0 per cent from the free throw line.
Among players to play at least 20 games this season while averaging at least four three-point attempts per contest, Brogdon's 44.4 per cent clip is the third-highest in the league, trailing only Memphis Grizzlies sniper Luke Kennard (49.4) and Brogdon's Boston team-mate Al Horford (44.6).
His main competition for the award was New York Knicks spark plug Immanuel Quickley, who incredibly finished with almost identical averages to Brogdon at 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and while he played 14 more games than the eventual winner, 21 of his outings came in the starting line-up.
Quickley's performances in the starting line-up boosted his figures considerably, playing 38.6 minutes in those fixtures and averaging 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 46.9 per cent from the field, 40.1 per cent from deep and 84.6 per cent from the free throw line.
His late-season run as a starter likely cost Quickley some votes from voters who are stricter about their definition of a sixth man, as Brogdon received 60 of the 100 first-place votes, while Quickley scooped up 34. Milwaukee Bucks back-up big-man Bobby Portis finished third.
Jose Mourinho saluted Paulo Dybala after his late equaliser paved the way for Roma's dramatic extra-time victory over Feyenoord in the Europa League quarter-finals.
The Giallorossi set up a semi-final showdown with Bayer Leverkusen after coming from behind to defeat Feyenoord 4-2 on aggregate at Stadio Olimpico.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Roma were on the brink of elimination after Igor Paixao's header cancelled out Leonardo Spinazzola's earlier strike.
But Dybala, who was introduced as a substitute after missing Sunday's victory over Udinese through injury, levelled the tie with a sharp turn and finish forcing extra time, in which further strikes from Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini sealed the deal.
It was the former Juventus forward's 16th goal of the season and fourth in the Europa League – a tally only bettered by Marcus Rashford, Victor Boniface (both six) and Santiago Gimenez (five) – and his exploits drew praise from his head coach.
"My feeling is that he was seeking the joy, he had lost more than confidence," Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.
"He found it here. He has found a coach who understands him, a crowd that loves him and a space on the field in which to be a leader with his quality and personality.
"Dybala is a nice boy. He has the quality to play for the biggest clubs in the world, but he has found joy here.
"I gave him absolute freedom to come on tonight, and he could come off even two minutes later if he didn't feel up to it. But he played 30 minutes of extra time and 25 minutes regular, and he finished on a high."
Meanwhile, Dybala also paid tribute to Mourinho who, having guided Roma to the Europa Conference League title last season, is closing in on a sixth triumph in European competition.
"I think everyone knows Mourinho, his history, what he's done in Europe and at every club he worked at, I think he won something," the forward added.
"His mentality fuels you. He knew the game could end up like this and pushed us to give something more. He changed the tactical system, we started playing better and dominated extra time for a deserved victory.
"I think we all want to win, which is the most important thing. We have a coach with an incredible mentality. He told us the game would be like that, and he was absolutely right.
"This squad won the Europa Conference League last season, so they know what it takes to win. Now, we hope to go all the way in the Europa League too."
Massimiliano Allegri called on Juventus to become more ruthless despite the Bianconeri reaching the Europa League last four with a 1-1 draw at Sporting CP.
Juve took a slender 1-0 lead into the second leg at the Estadio Jose Alvalade after Federico Gatti's goal gave them victory in last week's reverse fixture at Allianz Stadium.
After learning prior to Thursday's match that their 15-point deduction in Serie A for financial breaches had been suspended, an early Adrien Rabiot goal doubled Juve's lead in the tie, and though Marcus Edwards pulled a goal back for Sporting, the visitors held on to set up a semi-final clash with Sevilla.
Despite earning a last-four spot in Europe for the first time since 2017, Allegri warned his players they must be more clinical in future after spurning a number of chances to kill the tie off in the second half.
"It was a good day, as we headed to the semi-finals," the Juve coach told Sky Sport Italia. "We suffered, we did good things in the second half at the beginning.
"But we have to do better when it comes to our chances. We rushed the play in the box and more patience would have been needed. We shot little from outside the box and we must improve.
"We knew it would be difficult, but we are bringing home a good result."
Standing between Allegri's men and the final in Budapest on May 31 is Sevilla, whose six Europa League six titles are double any other team's trophy haul in the competition.
Sevilla beat Manchester United 5-2 on aggregate to seal their semi-final place but Allegri says he had predicted such a result.
"I expected Sevilla to be honest," he said of his next European opponents. "They are a tricky team, they play well and are good with the ball.
"They have won so many Europa Leagues, so they definitely have an advantage. The signs from the last game [in Manchester] were in their favour, I had that feeling."
Rabiot's close-range strike after nine minutes in Portugal gave Juve a crucial two-goal lead and capped a strong performance in midfield, one that saw him lead the Bianconeri in passes in the final third (15) and contribute defensively with three clearances and an interception.
Despite his impressive display, Allegri still believes Rabiot has parts of his game to work on, saying: "He has the qualities but he can still improve.
"Sometimes he gets close to the area and doesn't shoot. He has to improve but he has become important, extraordinary."
Erik ten Hag criticised Manchester United's "passion, desire and willingness" following their Europa League quarter-final exit at the hands of Sevilla.
United, who scored two late own goals in last week's first leg to leave the tie all square at 2-2, produced another desperate defensive display as they went down 5-2 on aggregate at Roman Sanchez Pizjuan.
Once again, Ten Hag's side gifted Sevilla two goals with Youssef En-Nesyri helping himself to a brace after errors from Harry Maguire and David de Gea.
United were without several key players, including the suspended Bruno Fernandes and the injured Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, but Ten Hag insisted that was no excuse for the visitors' display.
"We have to do better, that's the demand. We were not composed, not calm," he told BT Sport. "We didn't beat the press; when you do, there are so many spaces behind, and it was obvious at the start how to do it.
"We lost the battles, they had more passion, more desire, more willingness. That's difficult to win games.
"It's about the players on the pitch. They have to perform, I believe in them and trust them, but they have to show it, and they were not good enough.
"We have shown on so many occasions good things, but tonight we weren't ready for the game. At this level, playing for Manchester United, you have to be ready for every game.
"This was a great opportunity, a great occasion, to win something, and we gave it away – we have to blame ourselves.
"It's gone, we can't change it. We have to look forward to Sunday [against Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup semi-finals], that's the next opportunity."
Christian Eriksen also accepted United were not at the races as they squandered the opportunity to return to the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons.
"A lot of things happened. We didn't really give them a game from the first minute, and we gave them a lot of opportunities to finish us off," the midfielder said.
"We lost a bit of our coolness, we made more mistakes than we usually do, and the whole team could not catch up with mistakes our team-mates made.
"If you give away goals like we did, you lose, it's nothing to do with the atmosphere. Our own game was not strong enough. It's football, sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days, and it was a bad day.
"Every football player makes mistakes, they punished us straight away. It's how we bounce back, and today we were not strong enough to bounce back from the mistakes."
Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored in extra time as Roma battled into the Europa League last four after a 4-1 win over Feyenoord secured a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Leonardo Spinazzola's second-half goal on Thursday cancelled out Mats Wieffer's first-leg winner, only for Igor Paixao's header to put Feyenoord on the brink of the semi-finals with 10 minutes remaining.
Yet Paulo Dybala levelled the tie in the 89th minute with a sharp turn and finish to set the stage for an extra-time period Roma dominated to set up a two-legged meeting with Bayer Leverkusen in the semis.
El Shaarawy prodded Tammy Abraham's low cross past Justin Bijlow to edge the Giallorossi ahead, before Pellegrini – who hit the post when the game was still goalless – lashed home a clinching goal awarded after a VAR review overturned an original offside decision.
That was the end of the scoring, but the VAR was involved again before the final whistle.
Anthony Taylor was sent to the touchline monitor and subsequently dismissed Santiago Gimenez for a rash lunge on Gianluca Mancini, with Feyenoord exiting the competition in frustrating fashion.
The Los Angeles Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard in Game 3 against the Phoenix Suns due to a knee injury for the two-time NBA champion.
Leonard averaged 34.5 points across the first two games of the first-round playoff series, despite sustaining a right knee injury in Game 1 and playing through the pain in Game 2.
Yet the 31-year-old will miss Thursday's third showdown between the two teams, with the series tied at 1-1, according to reports.
Leonard's recovery from a knee strain will be monitored on a day-to-day basis, ESPN said, as the Clippers hope their five-time All Star will be healthy for Saturday's Game 4.
The two-time Finals MVP's aggravation of a knee problem is not related to the ACL injury that saw him miss the whole of last season, the ESPN report added.
The Clippers are already without fellow star Paul George, who is also recovering from a knee injury.
Bayer Leverkusen waltzed into the Europa League semi-finals with a 4-1 defeat of Union Saint-Gilloise, sealing a 5-2 win on aggregate.
Xavi Alonso's Leverkusen went into Thursday's quarter-final second leg without a win in their past three visits to Belgium in European matches, but the Bundesliga side got the job done.
Moussa Diaby's coolly taken goal settled their nerves in the second minute, with Mitchel Bakker drilling in from close range to double the visitors' lead before half-time.
Bakker played a key role in Leverkusen's third, pressuring Union goalkeeper Anthony Moris into a dreadful clearance which was turned into an empty net by Jeremie Frimpong following what had been a bright start to the second half from the hosts.
Union got their reward for a spirited response when Casper Terho pulled one back with a deflected strike, but it proved to be only a consolation, with Adam Hlozek on hand to add further gloss to Leverkusen's win late on.
Leverkusen are into their first European semi-final since making the last four of the Champions League in 2002.
Manchester United again gifted Sevilla two goals as they crashed out of the Europa League following a 3-0 defeat in the away leg of their quarter-final.
Two late own goals at Old Trafford had seen Thursday's match at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan kick off with the tie all square at 2-2.
And another desperate defensive display saw United eliminated, with Youssef En-Nesyri helping himself to a brace after errors from Harry Maguire and David de Gea.
Loic Bade was also on target as Sevilla cruised through courtesy of a 5-2 aggregate success, with Juventus next in the semi-finals.
United had been quick out of the blocks at home last week, but they contributed to their own early downfall this time as Sevilla broke through in the eighth minute.
De Gea fed the ball into Maguire, who was quickly surrounded by three attackers on the edge of the penalty area and saw his attempted pass intercepted by Erik Lamela before En-Nesyri calmly slotted home.
Sevilla continued to pose the greater threat, and the VAR came to United's rescue five minutes before the break when Marcos Acuna strayed offside before Lucas Ocampos brilliantly fired past De Gea.
It was only a temporary reprieve as Ivan Rakitic's corner looped up off Bade's shoulder and over De Gea at the start of the second half.
Ocampos somehow failed to add a third in a goalmouth scramble, allowing United to attempt their own two-goal comeback as Casemiro and Christian Eriksen went close.
But any hopes of a United recovery were ended nine minutes from time when De Gea raced out of his box and failed to make clean contact with a clearance, giving En-Nesyri the opportunity to curl his shot around the stranded goalkeeper.
Juventus reached the Europa League semi-finals as a 1-1 draw against Sporting CP at Estadio Jose Alvalade sealed a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Buoyed by learning prior to Thursday's second leg that their 15-point deduction in Serie A for financial breaches had been suspended, Adrien Rabiot struck early on to double Juve's lead in the tie after Federico Gatti had given them a slender advantage in last week's reverse fixture at Allianz Stadium.
Marcus Edwards quickly pulled one back for Sporting from the penalty spot after Rabiot's foul on Manuel Ugarte, but resilient defending saw the Bianconeri through.
Juve will feature in a European semi-final for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign and will do battle with Sevilla for a place in the final after they knocked Manchester United out.
Juve took the lead after only nine minutes as Rabiot was first to a loose ball in the box from a corner and lashed into the bottom left-corner.
Sporting were offered a way back into the tie when Rabiot brought down Ugarte in the area, with referee Francois Letexier pointing to the spot and Edwards firing the ball straight down the middle as Wojciech Szczesny dived to his left.
The hosts nearly drew level on aggregate when Ousmane Diomande nodded just wide before half-time, and they nearly fell further behind after the interval when Dusan Vlahovic failed to get his header on target.
Sporting pressed for a goal that would force the game into extra-time and nearly found one when Ricardo Esgaio blazed just over the crossbar, but Massimiliano Allegri's men held on to reach the last four.
Carlos Alcaraz moved into the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets defeat of Roberto Bautista Agut, but it was a miserable Thursday for Alexander Zverev on home soil.
Defending champion Alcaraz won an all-Spanish contest with Bautista Agut 6-3 7-5 on Pista Rafa Nadal.
Top seed Alcaraz will face another compatriot in the form of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who saw off Emil Ruusuvuori, for a place in the last four in his homeland.
Eyeing a third title of the year, 19-year-old US Open champion Alcaraz was a break down at 3-2 in the opening set before winning six games in a row to take the opener.
Bautista Agut broke the teenager's serve twice midway through the second set, but the favourite reeled off nine points in a row to seal victory in an hour and 54 minutes.
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-2, and Jannik Sinner, the fourth seed, battled past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 4-6 6-3, but Casper Ruud was beaten by Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets.
Lorenzo Musetti and Dan Evans advanced at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 along with Alex de Minaur, who went through with a walkover as Grigor Dimitrov withdrew due to injury.
Meanwhile, there will be no third BMW Open title for Zverev in Munich this week after he suffered a shock loss at the hands of world number 82 Christopher O'Connell.
Australian O'Connell saw off the third seed 7-6 (7-2) 6-4, while defending champion and top seed Holger Rune ousted Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-4, and Taylor Fritz got past Marton Fucsovics in three sets.
Lorenzo Sonego was another seed who bowed out, Cristian Garin beating the Italian 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Iga Swiatek is through to the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open after easing to a 6-1 6-4 win over Zheng Qinwen on her return from a rib injury.
Swiatek had not played since sustaining the issue in the semi-finals of Indian Wells over a month ago, but advanced on Thursday despite stating that she felt "rusty".
The world number one won 84 per cent of points after landing her first serve in as she made up for lost time.
Swiatek also forced eight break points, winning four of them as she took just and hour and 26 minutes to set up a quarter-final with Karolina Pliskova, who bested Donna Vekic in a thriller.
Pliskova looked to be on her way to a routine win as she claimed the first set 6-2, only for the Croatian to take the second via a tie-break.
The decider also went the distance, with Pliskova able to finally put Vekic away 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) to book her clash with Swiatek.
Coco Gauff perhaps paid the price for taking almost three hours to beat Veronika Kudermetova on Wednesday, as the fifth seed fell to a straight-sets loss to Anastasia Potapova on Thursday, going down 6-2 6-3.
Fourth seed Caroline Garcia will go up against Potapova next after she defeated Tatjana Maria 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, while Paula Badosa had few problems seeing off fellow Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 6-1 6-2 and will face second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight.
Delhi Capitals finally picked up their first win of the Indian Premier League season as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets on Thursday.
The Capitals had previously come out on the wrong side of all five of their matches, but an impressive display with the ball edged them to a nervy win to alleviate their early-season struggles, while Kolkata have now lost three on the bounce.
After a rain delay, David Warner won the toss and put the Knight Riders into bat, a decision that quickly paid dividends as his bowlers tore through Kolkata's top order to leave them three wickets down in the powerplay, though opener Jason Roy hung in to add 43 from 39 balls before he was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav.
Delhi's bowlers continued to dominate as the Knight Riders' innings crumbled, with Anrich Nortje (2-20) and Ishant Sharma (4-19) leading the charge as Kolkata were all out for just 127.
Warner reached his half-century off 33 balls to take Delhi to 93-4, before he was dismissed in a wicket maiden from Varun Chakravarthy in the 14th over, giving the Knight Riders some hope.
Those hopes were boosted as Delhi picked up just 23 for the loss of two wickets in the next five overs, but needing seven off the last, Axar Patel did just enough to get his team over the line.
Knight Riders' powerplay struggles continue
Kolkata lost three wickets within the first six overs to severely hamper their innings, and not for the first time, with the Knight Riders' 15 wickets lost in the powerplay in this season's IPL the highest of any team.
The target they set was just too small, despite a last-ditch effort from their bowlers, and Kolkata have work to do with the bat if they are to end this losing streak.
Warner plays a captain's innings
Warner's 57 runs off 41 balls means he is now the leading run scorer against Kolkata in IPL history, while he also moved to eight half-centuries against the Knight Riders, tied for the most alongside Suresh Raina.
The Australian went at a strike rate of 139 on his way to a fourth score of 50 or more in this year's IPL.
Wrexham will play Chelsea in a pre-season friendly on July 19 as part of their United States tour.
The National League leaders, who are owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, will lock horns with the Premier League side at the University of North Carolina's Kenan Stadium.
It is the latest coup for Wrexham, who recently announced they will also play Manchester United in San Diego on July 25.
Chelsea were already scheduled to be in the US for the Premier League Summer Series, playing Brighton and Hove Albion on July 22 in Philadelphia, Newcastle United on July 26 in Atlanta and Fulham on July 30 near Washington D.C.
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson told the club's official website: "Our tour of the United States will be an exciting part of the summer's build-up to the new season and something we will all be looking forward to in July.
"To have the opportunity to play a team of Chelsea's calibre at the Kenan Stadium, North Carolina, will be a terrific test for our players and form an important part of our preparations for the 2023-24 season.
"We're looking forward to meeting some of the fans who have supported us so passionately from afar this season at a renowned athletics stadium."
Wrexham are four points clear of second-placed Notts County with two games remaining in the National League and will secure promotion to League Two with victory over Boreham Wood on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta insisted Bukayo Saka will take Arsenal's next penalty, despite the England international failing from 12 yards in last weekend's 2-2 draw with West Ham United.
Saka, who had been successful from both his previous spot-kicks this season, shot wide at the London Stadium, with his miss proving costly as the title-chasing Gunners surrendered a 2-0 lead.
It was the 21-year-old's first failed attempt from 12 yards since Italy's Gianluigi Donnarumma infamously denied him in the Euro 2020 final 21 months earlier.
Nevertheless, Arteta was full of praise for Saka, who he is confident can use the setback to his advantage during the title run-in, which resumes against bottom side Southampton on Friday.
"He loves responsibility, but he puts a lot on his shoulders as well," the Spaniard said during his pre-match press conference.
"Again, if he had any doubt about how much people love him, respect him and admire him at the club, I think he had a very overwhelming reaction from everyone in the building and the club.
"In the end, I think it can be something very positive that can give him a big lift because everyone acted in an unbelievable way towards him. He deserves it because of the way he is."
When asked if Saka would step to the spot again, Arteta replied: "Yes. If not, I will go on the pitch and pass him the ball and make sure he takes the next one."
Arsenal are four points ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand, at the Premier League summit, with Saka playing an instrumental role in his side's season.
The winger has been directly involved in 22 goals (scored 12, assisted 10) with only Gabriel Martinelli (14) netting more for the Gunners, while Kevin De Bruyne (15) is the only player to provide more assists in the English top flight.
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