Kevin Durant believes his knee injury near the midway point of the NBA season "derailed" the Brooklyn Nets' campaign.

The Nets are sitting 10th in the Eastern Conference, occupying the last of the Play-In Tournament spots.

Durant did not play a game between January 17 and March 3 as a result of his injury, with the Nets going 3-10 in February.

If the season were to end now, the Nets would need to win on the road against the Charlotte Hornets, and then triumph again on their travels against the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks' matchup in their clash for the seventh seed.

Brooklyn have a winning percentage of .513 (40-38) for the season, but that jumps to .627 in games Durant has played (32-19), and plummets to .296 (8-19) when he has been absent.

"So I'm not looking at it like we're just not a good basketball team. There wasn't a lot of continuity with me and Kyrie [Irving] out of the line-up, that's just what it is. 

"When we're all on the floor together, I like what we got."

Reflecting on what has been a hectic season off the court, the two-time Finals MVP made it clear what it takes to be in the upper echelon of such a competitive league.

"You can talk about expectations and what you see this team on paper – I always said this, but everyday matters," he said. 

"You want to be a champion every second that you step on the floor, not just when we play a good team or the playoffs coming up. 

"I think being a champion is in the habits and the work ethic, the care that you have for the game. [There's] a lot of champions out here that never won a ring, but they approach their work that way.

"So that's how I felt our team needed to approach this season – and guys have – but some stuff that's out of individuals' control is the reason why we're in certain positions. 

"That doesn't stop you from having the championship mentality every day as an individual."

Durant was emphatic when asked if he spends time thinking about all the different scenarios the Nets could be faced with due to playoff seeding.

"Who cares?" he asked reporters.

"Whoever we play, we play. I don't care who we play. I don't care that we're in the play-in. 

"Just tip the ball up, see what happens. That's all you can control. 

"It's too stressful thinking about trying to dodge a team, just play the game. We'll see what happens."

Despite Durant's knee injury, he has still played in 51 games, while Irving has played in just 25 as New York previously had a mandate preventing players unvaccinated against COVID-19 featuring in matches in the city.

Kansas pulled off the biggest comeback in the history of NCAA National Championship games, recovering from a 16-point deficit to defeat North Carolina 72-69.

Kansas last won the National Championship in 2008, finishing runners-up in 2012 and making the Final Four again in 2018, while it was North Carolina's fourth title game appearance since 2008, winning titles in 2009 and 2017 and finishing runners-up in 2016.

Despite being considered two of college basketball's premier programs, Kansas was the much better side this season, entering March Madness as a one seed while North Carolina was an eight seed.

However, the Tar Heels were not interested in the script, and after a back-and-forth start, the first half belonged to North Carolina as cult hero Brady Manek splashed three triples on the way to a 40-25 half-time advantage.

But the Jayhawks had faced adversity earlier in the tournament and stuck to the task, storming back to begin the second half as Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson ignited a 20-6 Kansas run to pull the margin back to one at 46-45.

Remy Martin was a crucial spark off the bench for Kansas, chipping in with 14 points on five-of-nine shooting, but it was center David McCormack who rose to the occasion down the stretch.

Trailing 68-69 with less than 90 seconds to play, McCormack hit two consecutive contested hook-shots out of the post to deliver the final winning margin.

Alize Cornet was the highest seed in action on the first day of the Charleston Open, and showed her class, beating Alycia Parks 6-0 7-5.

Cornet, the 12 seed, was nearly perfect in the first set, winning 86 per cent of her service points (12-14) and 80 per cent of her return points (12-15).

15 seed Amanda Anisimova also made it through, and with an identical scoreline, defeating American compatriot Sachia Vickery 6-0 7-5.

China's Shuai Zhang is the 16 seed, and she also only needed two sets to see off unseeded opponent Francesca Di Lorenzo 6-2 6-4.

Hungary's Anna Bondar earned a second-round matchup against world number three Paula Badosa after defeating the Netherlands' Arianne Hartono 6-1 6-4.

Italian Jasmine Paolini will meet six seed and world number 13 Jessica Pegula in the second round after beating Romania's Gabriela Lee 6-2 6-3.

Meanwhile, in Bogota at the Copa Colsanitas, Brazilian qualifier Laura Pigossi defeated five seed Harmony Tan 6-4 6-3.

Top seed and world number 33 Camila Osorio will kick off her tournament on Tuesday against Ylena In-Albon.

The New Orleans Saints have finalized a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire an extra first-round pick in this year's NFL Draft.

The deal sees the Saints acquiring picks 16 and 19 overall from the Eagles, as well as a sixth-round pick, and in return, the Eagles received pick 18, a third-rounder and a seventh-rounder in this year's draft.

Philadelphia will also receive the Saints' first-round pick in 2023, and their second-round pick in 2024.

Consensus around the trade is that it was a 'win-win', as the Saints will be able to add an immediate injection of quality young talent into an ageing roster, while the Eagles added another premium pick in next year's draft, which features a far superior quarterback class.

Philadelphia had three first-round picks before the trade, and will still enter the draft with three of the first 51 selections (15, 18 and 51), while New Orleans has three of the first 49 (16, 19 and 49).

Paul Pogba should leave Manchester United at the end of the season, Wayne Rooney believes.

Pogba, United's record signing, returned to Old Trafford in 2016 after flourishing at Juventus. 

The France star had not got an opportunity at United earlier in his career, but became one of Europe's leading midfielders while in Turin.

However, the move has failed to bring the success that had been envisioned, with United only winning two trophies since Pogba signed.

Pogba's future has long been up for debate, and Bruno Fernandes' form since his arrival in January 2020 has placed further scrutiny on the 29-year-old's place.

His contract is up at the end of the season and, so far, there has been no agreement made on a new deal, and Pogba's former team-mate Rooney thinks it is time for him to move on.

Rooney told Sky Sports: "It's probably got to a point now where it's better for him to move on.

"If Paul was honest with himself he probably hasn't had the impact he would have liked since he returned to Manchester United.

"I watch him play for France and he's a completely different player with everything, his vision, his control of the game is there every game for France."

Rooney, United's record goalscorer, also stressed that part of the problem has been a lack of a settled manager during Pogba's time at the club.

"There hasn't been a settled manager there since obviously Alex Ferguson so whoever comes in needs time to rebuild a relationship with those players," he added.

"I get that [Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in place for nearly three years] but I think they were going through a transition period and it didn't work, and I think that is obvious with Ole, but I think in the end it hasn't worked for the new manager who has come in."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that Kieran Tierney's knee injury "does not look good", with the defender set to see a specialist, while Thomas Partey's fitness is also a concern.

Tierney played twice for Scotland across the international break, but did not feature for the Gunners as they slumped to a 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace on Monday.

Following the defeat at Selhurst Park, Arteta confirmed that the left-back had felt a problem that will be further assessed in the week, though the initial prognosis is not positive.

"He came back from international duty and felt something wrong in his knee," Arteta told BBC Sport.

"There is some damage there. We will hopefully know more on Tuesday but it's not looking good.

"He is seeing the specialist on Tuesday and we will know more about the extent of the injury but the feeling that he had wasn't really positive and what the scan showed either. We have to wait and see what happens."

Arsenal potentially lost another key player to injury as they head into the run-in, with Partey going off with an apparent hamstring injury.

"I don't know but he felt something in the same area that he got injured previously so that's a big concern," Arteta told his post-match news conference.

Arsenal's defeat leaves them in fifth on goal difference, though they do have a game in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham.

Wayne Rooney would be "delighted" if Harry Kane surpasses him as England's record goalscorer, but hopes it happens before the 2022 World Cup.

Kane matched Bobby Charlton on 49 goals for the Three Lions when he struck the winner against Switzerland on March 26.

However, Gareth Southgate chose to rotate his squad for last week's meeting with Ivory Coast at Wembley.

England cruised to a 3-0 win, with Kane coming on in the 62nd minute, though the Tottenham striker did not score.

Rooney was stunned the forward, who he labelled as "one of the best players the Premier League has seen", did not start against Ivory Coast, as he believes it would be better for England if Kane breaks the record prior to the World Cup, which starts in November.

"I'd be delighted for him," Rooney said on Sky Sports. "I was so surprised he didn't play against Ivory Coast.

"I think for him, for Gareth as well, he should try and get that record before the World Cup so it doesn't become a distraction, so I would have played him to try and get that record before the World Cup comes along, so there's no distraction on it."

The Derby County boss was also asked if Kane, who he also called a "genuine, nice, humble guy" will go on to surpass Alan Shearer as the Premier League's record goalscorer. The 28-year-old is currently 82 short of the haul of 260.

"I think he gets it, I think he beats Shearer. He's young enough to do that, if you look at his numbers, he'll have no problem," Rooney said.

Kane turned in a star performance in Spurs' thrashing of Newcastle United on Sunday. He provided one assist, but was involved heavily as Antonio Conte's team moved into the top four.

After a slow start to the season, Kane now has 12 league goals and six assists, and Rooney is thrilled to see how the forward has developed his game, in particular under Conte.

"When you get a bit older you lose that sharpness but I don't think it’s the case with Harry," Rooney added. 

"I think over the last couple of seasons, he has been dropping deeper, and I think this is the first time it looks like it's worked on. If you look every time the ball is played into him, Tottenham have got players sprinting and that allows him to use his quality. He can do both. He can play as a nine, a 10, he's an incredible player.

"I think Harry Kane of three, four years ago, all he's thinking about goals. Now he's thinking goals and assists.

"I've been there, I used to love assisting goals, so I know he wants to get the goalscoring record but I think he wants to get the assist record as well and he's capable of doing it.

"He's not old, he's a fairly young lad, I don't think his speed will have gone, I think he's done that on his own back but what Conte's done is he's gone in and worked on it. If you look at the reaction of the other players, they know he can deliver that pass. It's almost like [Francesco] Totti at Roma, he'd come deep and they'd have runners going beyond him.

"The one thing I think he needs to do a bit more is go and join in, once he's played the pass, because if it comes into the box he's the one player you want to be on the end of it."

Kane has assisted 40 goals in the Premier League; his first 20 assists were spread across his first 211 appearances in the competition, while his last 20 have come in his last 63 matches.

Mikel Arteta acknowledged Arsenal have to accept criticism and apologise after they were thumped 3-0 by Crystal Palace in a demoralising London derby defeat.

Arsenal saw their hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four damaged on Monday as their run of five straight top-flight away wins ended in emphatic fashion.

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew had Palace two goals up inside 24 minutes and a second-half penalty from Wilfried Zaha ended any hopes of a Gunners comeback.

The defeat leaves Arsenal fifth in the table, behind rivals Tottenham on goal difference, though they still do have a game in hand.

"From the beginning we were not at the races," Arsenal boss Arteta said to Sky Sports.

"When you come here you have to compete. You have to win duels and second balls and be aggressive – we were none of those.

"On top of that we were really poor on the ball. We were really inconsistent on the ball and that is unacceptable.

"It is time to accept the criticism, put your hand up and apologise because this performance was not good enough for this club and then react. 

"Congratulations to Palace because they deserved to win for the game they played. They always play like this.

"We are humble enough to accept the criticism. You don't feel sorry for yourself because we lost players and a football match.

"We made it impossible for ourselves with the way we competed. You have to be physical and run and then you earn the right to play. 

"We were poor, especially in the first half. I apologise to our supporters. We didn't have the presence or the composure to dominate the situation so that is what I'm most annoyed with."

Arsenal had 12 shots compared to Palace's six, yet the hosts got five of their attempts on target with the Gunners only testing Vicente Guaita three times.

Arteta added: "When we had the big chances we didn't score to give ourselves the best chance to get back in the game. 

"We tried in the second half, we had three or four big chances but the only half chance they had they got a penalty.

"First of all we need to put our hands up and get the criticism we deserve. Then we accept it, look ourselves in the mirror and look to the next game.

"This was not good enough. Some days you are not there and you are late all the time. They got on top of it and had a good atmosphere and we could not get out.

"We have to face the challenge and the opportunity is in our hands. We have to be honest with ourselves and support each other."

The loss was the first time Arsenal had been beaten by three or more goals in a Premier League London derby since suffering a defeat by the same scoreline to Palace in 2017, while the Eagles have now scored seven goals across their last two games in all competitions without conceding in return.

Arsenal have won just one of their last eight Premier League clashes with Palace (D5 L2), after winning nine of the 11 before that (D1 L1).

Arteta's side will look to bounce back when they host Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Arsenal's top-four hopes were dented by a 3-0 defeat to an impressive Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday. 

The Gunners were unable to reclaim their spot in the Premier League top four having been leapfrogged by arch-rivals Tottenham, who defeated Newcastle United 5-1 on Sunday. 

They struggled to cope with the intensity of Palace – coached by former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira – and shipped goals to Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew in quick succession in the first half. 

After failing to take the chances that came their way, Arsenal were punished by a 74th-minute spot-kick from Wilfried Zaha that ended their hopes of mounting a late comeback. 

Arsenal had the lion's share of possession in the opening quarter of an hour but they fell behind when Mateta nodded Joachim Andersen's cushioned header into the back of the net. 

Palace doubled their lead eight minutes later when Gabriel Magalhaes failed to cut out Andersen's throughball to Ayew, who curled a fine finish into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box. 

Arteta replaced Nuno Tavares with Gabriel Martinelli at half-time and shifted Granit Xhaka to left-back but the Gunners still looked ponderous when attacking. 

They were found wanting when chances did come their way too. Emile Smith Rowe produced a tame effort when presented with a decent opportunity and in the 67th minute Martin Odegaard failed to hit the target from 12 yards out. 

Those misses proved costly when, after a long delay, referee Paul Tierney pointed to the spot following Odegaard's tackle on Zaha in the box and the Ivory Coast winger dispatched the resulting penalty. 

Eddie Nketiah struck the upright with a swirling attempt in the closing stages but Palace continued to frustrate the Gunners until the final whistle.
 

What does it mean? Gunners' grip weakens 

Arsenal saw a run of five straight away wins in the Premier League come to an end in south London. 

They sit below Spurs on goal difference but can take solace in the fact they still have a game in hand.

Palace, meanwhile, moved up to ninth and are now unbeaten in seven straight games in all competitions – a run that has also seen them reach the FA Cup semi-finals. 

Zaha shines 

The relentless running of Zaha made Palace a significant threat on the break but also played a part in them keeping a clean sheet. His efforts were rewarded with a goal from the 18th penalty he has won in his Premier League career – only Raheem Sterling (23) and Jamie Vardy (21) have won more. 

Nuno no good 

After failing to even challenge Andersen on the assist for the opening goal, Tavares did not track the run of Ayew on the second. He was deservedly hooked by Arteta at half-time. 

What's next? 

Arsenal entertain Brighton and Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, while Palace travel to Leicester City the following day. 

Milan dropped potentially crucial points in their bid to win Serie A after they were frustrated by Bologna in a 0-0 draw at San Siro.

The Rossoneri went into the international break holding a three-point lead on the back of three straight 1-0 wins, but they could not keep up that winning run on Monday.

Indeed, Bologna – whose coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was not present on the touchline as he is in hospital for leukemia treatment – restricted Stefano Pioli's team to little in the way of clear chances in their boss' 100th league match in charge, to the chagrin of an expectant Milan faithful.

With Napoli and Inter having both won on Sunday, Milan's advantage has now been cut to just one point with seven games remaining.

Rafael Leao had the first opportunity 16 minutes in, though the Portugal forward could not keep his shot down.

Michel Aebischer drilled straight at Mike Maignan following Marko Arnautovic's clever dummy, before Milan's goalkeeper tipped Musa Barrow's strike over after Gary Medel had made a fine block at the other end.

Bologna continued to frustrate their hosts after the restart, with Leao particularly wasteful, first skewing a cross out of play before failing to get a shot off when he had space.

Leao provided a sublime pass for Davide Calabria in the 61st minute, but Medel just managed to divert the full-back's shot wide – a touch the referee failed to notice.

Ante Rebic blazed over as Milan kept up the pressure, with Leao then curling wide from just inside the area.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given 20 minutes to try and make a difference, but the veteran headed over from the one chance that came his way as Milan were thwarted.
 

What does it mean? No milestone celebration for Pioli as pressure mounts

Pioli did not look longed for the Milan job early in his tenure, but the work he has done to turn the Rossoneri into genuine title contenders has been quite superb. Yet, his milestone 100th Serie A game in charge did not end in a victory, but instead a draw that could prove decisive.

Inter battled their way to a 1-0 win over Juventus on Sunday and are just four points back with a game in hand, while Napoli, who like Milan have played 31 times, are only a point behind the leaders. Bologna, meanwhile, did their coach Mihajlovic proud.

Medel leads brilliant Bologna rear-guard

Medel spent time at San Siro with Inter and the experienced, dogged defender was excellent at the heart of Bologna's defence, doing his old side a huge favour in the process.

He made a joint team-high two blocks, including a fantastic one from Diaz in the first half, gained possession seven times and kept things simple on the ball, completing 33 of 36 passes before he had to go off with a head injury following a collision with Ibrahimovic.

Leao found lacking as Milan pay for their profligacy

It has been a fine season for Leao overall, with the 22-year-old scoring eight league goals so far.

His finishing was found totally lacking this time out, however, with only one of his eight attempts hitting the target, while four were blocked. His wastefulness summed Milan up, as the hosts tallied up 33 attempts to no avail.

What's next?

Milan travel to Torino on Sunday, while Bologna host Sampdoria.

Wayne Rooney believes Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United has not worked out, and suggested his former club concentrate on "young and hungry" players in future.

The duo played together to great success during Ronaldo's first stint with the Red Devils, winning three Premier League titles and a Champions League in the same team.

However, despite the 37-year-old scoring 18 goals in 32 games since returning to Old Trafford, United have had a season to forget.

The club are out of all cup competitions and sit seventh in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw against Leicester City on Saturday.

Speaking as a guest on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Rooney was asked if he agreed with fellow pundit Jamie Carragher's assertion that Ronaldo's signing had been a mistake.

When asked, 'Has it worked?', Rooney replied: "You'd have to say no, at the minute.

"He's scored goals, important goals in the Champions League early on in the season.

"He's scored the hat-trick against Tottenham, but I think if you're looking to the future of the club, you have to go with younger, hungry players to lift Manchester United over these next two to three years.

"Obviously Cristiano is getting on a bit, he certainly isn't the player he was when he was in his 20s, and that happens, that's football.

"He's a goal threat, but the rest of his game, I think they need more. I think they need young, hungry players."

The Derby County manager was also asked about United captain Harry Maguire, whose form has been heavily questioned this season.

"I like Harry, I know Harry personally," Rooney said. "He hasn't been in his best form this season, like a lot of players haven't.

"And then you look at England - he goes to play for England and he looks like a world-class centre back.

"A lot of it is confidence, I think the players need to feel winning again, to feel winning consistently to get that confidence back and if they do that, I think Harry Maguire is a big part of it."

Diego Simeone hailed the football that Manchester City produce but promised Atletico Madrid will play where they can hurt Pep Guardiola's side in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

Atleti overcame Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate in their last-16 clash to tee up the first-ever meeting in Europe between the Spanish side and City, who cruised past Sporting in the last round.

However, Simeone and Guardiola are no stranger to one another given they have faced each other three times, with the former eliminating the Spaniard's Bayern Munich in the 2015-16 Champions League semi-final.

Atletico averaged just 27 per cent possession across the two legs and scored twice from 18 shots, while Bayern netted the same number of goals from 53 attempts, as Simeone's team progressed on away goals.

Simeone was quick to praise City's flowing attacking performances, but insisted his side will look to exploit any potential weaknesses in the City line-up on Tuesday.

"What I like most from teams like City is the effort they have to win the ball back and continue to play attacking," he said at a pre-match news conference. "They're lovely to watch.

"They continue evolving because they have great players but what wakes me up, the important things are [Raheem] Sterling, [Kevin] De Bruyne, they're always active, never leave a ball lost. All managers want that."

He added: "We'll play where we think we can hurt them, use our characteristics the way we've played for years. We play to compete and we'll see."

Indeed, the reigning LaLiga champions will become the first side to face both Manchester clubs in the knockout stages of a European competition in a season since Juventus in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup.

Juve progressed from both of those ties before winning the competition that season, but Simeone's focus remains solely on the Etihad Stadium.

"We all have pressure, I don't know if pressure is the right word," he responded when asked if City were favourites to win the Champions League. 

"We all have it but no doubt City have extraordinary players and I'm sure they have better players than us.

"All clubs in the last eight want to win the competition. There are great rivals in all knockout games and I hope we can win.

"There are two games to play. City and Bayern are favourites because they have more options in their squads but last year not many expected Chelsea to win; they got better and played a good tournament."

Guardiola joked he would "overthink" to take a different approach to what Simeone might expect, but Atleti's coach is uninterested in all of the commotion between the managerial pair facing off again.

"Not at all, City and Atletico have great squads, very competitive with good players, different characteristics," he said when asked if it was Pep versus Simeone.

"They have a lot of personality. Tomorrow is a game for footballers, we as coaches try and help them and we'll do the same. I'll say again, I like watching City play."