Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was sent home after punching teammate Kyle Anderson in a timeout during Sunday's chaotic 113-108 win against the New Orleans Pelicans.

After an animated discussion on the sidelines in the second quarter, Gobert aimed a jab at the chest of Anderson and was removed from the team for the remainder of the game.

Gobert was taken to the locker room and it was swiftly made public that his involvement was over.

In a statement, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said after the game: "We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter.

"His behaviour on the bench was unacceptable and we will continue handling the situation internally."

Gobert's teammate Jaden McDaniels also failed to last the distance in Sunday's game, with reports claiming he broke his right hand when punching a wall at half-time.

The Timberwolves will travel to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of the Western Conference play-in tournament, and if they lose, they will have another chance to qualify for the playoffs by beating the winner of the nine versus 10 matchup between the Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson gave himself a sniff of another green jacket success as he rolled back the years at Augusta.

The American won in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and swept up the leaderboard into second place on Sunday thanks to a 65, setting an eight-under-par clubhouse target.

Jon Rahm was out on the course on 11 under through 13 holes, having overtaken Brooks Koepka on the front nine, so Mickelson needed the Spaniard to suffer a late collapse to have a chance of the title.

Mickelson and Koepka have been among the star names who have defected to the LIV Golf series in recent times, while Rahm was flying the flag for the PGA Tour, as players from both circuits went head to head for major glory.

Speaking after his stellar closing round, Mickelson said: "This is as much fun as I could possibly have playing golf.

"The final round of the Masters, and to play the way I did and finish it off with two birdies – this has been a lot of fun. Regardless of the outcome, this has been a really fun day for me."

Mickelson and the LIV Golf set have pocketed fortunes for joining that Saudi-backed series, but they relish the big occasions such as the Masters.

"I'm grateful we get to be here, to play and compete and be a part of this great championship, and to play like I did today was extra special," Mickelson said.

The 52-year-old was thrilled to shoot as low as he did, and he told Sky Sports it was his aim "to shoot low scores and continue playing at a high level".

"I have a unique opportunity given I'm physically not having any issues, and I'm able to play and compete and swing the club the way I want to," Mickelson added.

"If I can focus and work on my game, I can take advantage of this unique opportunity I have and try to do some special things in the game."

Speaking for the LIV players, Mickelson added: "We're all really appreciative to be a part of this. I think it's great for the championship to have all the best players in the world here, playing and competing.

"It's fun for me as a past champion to be able to be a part of this and continue to be a part of this great championship."

Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena has filed a complaint with police after he was allegedly assaulted by Real Madrid's Federico Valverde following Saturday's LaLiga match.

Spain Under-21 international Baena was reportedly involved in a heated confrontation with Valverde shortly after the game.

According to sports newspaper AS, Baena was punched while looking at his phone when making his way to the Villarreal team bus.

Baena played a full part in the LaLiga contest at the Santiago Bernabeu and assisted Samuel Chukwueze's late goal as Villarreal beat Madrid 3-2.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, in which Valverde was not referenced by name, Villarreal confirmed the police involvement and said Baena have the club's support.

The club said: "Villarreal CF player Alex Baena was assaulted last night while on his way to the team bus after the match against Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

"Faced with this situation, the player has decided to file a complaint against the aggressor with the police.

"Once again, Villarreal CF rejects any act of violence and firmly believes in the player's version of events and will support him throughout this process."

Baena has denied reports he made crude personal remarks about Valverde before the alleged attack.

The 21-year-old has represented Spain at every age-grade level from under-16 and has made over 50 appearances for Villarreal since making his senior debut in July 2020.

Valverde and Los Blancos have yet to comment on Saturday's alleged incident.

Jon Rahm reached the turn on Sunday at the Masters with a two-shot lead as he swept ahead of Brooks Koepka.

Coming into the final round at nine under, two behind Koepka, Rahm birdied the par-four third hole and the par-five eighth to reach 11 under.

Meanwhile, after starting at 11 under, Koepka bogeyed the fourth and sixth to fall to nine under. They then both bogeyed the ninth, leaving Rahm at 10 under, and Koepka at eight under with the back nine to come.

Spain's Rahm, 28, stood potentially just nine holes away from the second major title of his career after also securing the 2021 U.S. Open.

It would also be his fourth win of the year after victories at the Tournament of Champions and The American Express in January, and the Genesis Invitational in February.

Koepka is coming off a win at last week's LIV Golf Orlando, and he was at 13 under when dismal weather brought an early end to Saturday's play, but by Sunday afternoon he looked to have run out of scoring power, with his last birdie coming on the eighth hole of his third round.

Two big names stormed up the leaderboard, with Jordan Spieth shooting a six-under 66 to reach seven under for the tournament and Phil Mickelson going one better with a 65 to get to eight under and set the clubhouse standard, moving level with Koepka.

After starting the day in the top 10, Jason Day capitulated with four double bogeys to be eight over for his round through 13 holes.

Dwane Casey has stepped down as Detroit Pistons head coach and will take up a new front office role.

Casey announced after the Pistons' final game of the season on Sunday, which ended in a 103-81 defeat to the Chicago Bulls, that he would not be staying on as head coach.

Detroit ended the season with the worst record in the NBA of 17-65.

Casey will remain with the franchise, but there will be a new head coach next season.

"This is my last game," Casey said. "I'm moving to the front office.

"I'm excited to go to the next phase of my life. Time to spend more time with my family. This team is on the right track. They probably need to hear a new voice. This is my decision.”

Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee and former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka are reportedly expected to be among the candidates to replace the 65-year-old.

Casey took over as Pistons head coach in 2018 and ends his tenure with a record of 128-262.

World number five Ons Jabeur secured her first title of the season on Sunday with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory over Belinda Bencic in the Charleston Open final.

Jabeur, 28, enjoyed the best campaign of her career in 2022 as she reached the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, but she was sidelined due to knee trouble following this year's Australian Open.

The Tunisian returned with early exits at both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open, meaning she came into Charleston without consecutive wins since early January.

But she looked right back to her best at the WTA 500 event, not dropping a set the entire tournament.

After beating Lesia Tsurenko, Caroline Dolehide, Anna Kalinskaya and Daria Kasatkina to reach the final, Jabeur had to respond to early adversity against Bencic as the Swiss secured a break in the opening game of the first set.

Down 5-4 in the opener, Jabeur broke back at the last opportunity to keep the set alive, and after falling 6-4 behind in the tie-break she rattled off the next four points in a row to steal it.

The second set was all about making the most of her chances, as Jabeur only had three break-point chances compared to Bencic's five, but she was able to convert all three while Bencic could only snag two.

The final was a rematch from last year's Charleston Open title match, where Bencic prevailed over Jabeur in three sets, and it is Jabeur's first title since the German Open in June, where she again had to overcome Bencic in the final.

Jabeur now leads their head-to-head 3-2 in matches played at WTA Tour level.

Mikel Arteta hailed Aaron Ramsdale for producing "magic moments" that could be pivotal in the Premier League title race after Arsenal's 2-2 draw at Liverpool on Sunday.

The Arsenal goalkeeper produced a trio of expert saves to deny Liverpool a late winner after Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino scored to drag the Reds back into the game from 2-0 down.

Ramsdale denied Darwin Nunez when one-on-one, superbly tipped a deflected Salah curling effort around the post and somehow thwarted Ibrahima Konate from point-blank range in the dying seconds.

Arteta likened Ramsdale's influence to the impact Alisson has had for Liverpool in recent years after the England international starred at Anfield, where Salah missed a second-half penalty.

The Arsenal manager said during his post-match press conference: "You need your goalkeeper if you want to win and be in title races. How many times has Alisson done what he has to do?

"You have to have that, you have to have those magic moments from the keeper. We had some exceptional moments from players today as well and to win at grounds like that, you need that."

The draw leaves the Gunners six points clear of second-placed Manchester City at the Premier League summit, albeit Pep Guardiola's reigning champions have a game in hand.

While Ramsdale stepped up in the decisive moments, the drew could be seen as a missed opportunity for Arsenal after Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus fired the visitors into the ascendancy.

A short trip to London rivals West Ham follows next Sunday for Arsenal, who then host strugglers Southampton before a trip to City on April 29.

Arteta acknowledged the late heartbreak of Firmino's 87th-minute leveller but backed his side to continue responding as they have done all campaign.

He added: "When you concede at the end, you always focus on dropping two points because you have it and you are suffering, but you are relying on certain moments and the feeling is 'Ah, we should have done it!'

"But being fair to ourselves, they had four big chances where they could have scored and [Salah] missed the penalty.

"We will have to look at ourselves in the mirror and we should have done much better in the second half.

"We've been responding for 31 games now. Every single day is a test and the test is now: how good are we going to be on Monday and how well are we going to prepare to beat West Ham and to play the way we want to beat West Ham."

Anthony Joshua has revealed his next fight will not be until December.

Joshua had not stepped into the ring for over seven months before returning to beat Jermaine Franklin via a unanimous decision at London's O2 Arena on April 1.

The two-time world heavyweight champion stated that he wanted to fight again in the next three months in order to "get the ball rolling."

Yet Joshua on Sunday stated that his next challenge will not be until the end of this year.

He wrote in an Instagram story: "My next fight is scheduled for December. Not ideal but everything is part of a bigger picture."

There has been talk of Joshua doing battle with either Dillian Whyte or Tyson Fury after he got the better of American Franklin.

The Brit lost his world titles to Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021 and lost his rematch with the Ukrainian In Jeddah last August.

Stephen Silas’ reign as Houston Rockets head coach is reported to have come to an end.

ESPN on Sunday reported that the Rockets have opted against taking up a fourth-year option on Silas' contract.

The 49-year-old took his first head coach role with Houston in October 2020, taking on the task of rebuilding the franchise.

Houston finished bottom of the Western Conference in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

A 114-109 over the Washington Wizards ensured the Rockets ended the 2022-23 campaign with three consecutive victories, second-bottom behind the San Antonio Spurs with a 22-60 record.

It appears that victory will be the Rockets' last game with Silas in charge.

Mikel Arteta called on Arsenal to take their point and move on after the Premier League leaders squandered a two-goal lead to draw with Liverpool, claiming the result was a fair one. 

Arsenal looked set to restore their eight-point lead over title rivals Manchester City when Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus handed the Gunners a comfortable first-half lead.

While Mohamed Salah rolled a penalty wide after pulling a goal back, Roberto Firmino came off the bench to net his 11th Premier League goal against the Gunners – only Harry Kane (14) and Wayne Rooney (12) have more against them in the competition.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the draw, Arteta lamented Arsenal's loss of control following their flying start, but conceded Liverpool deserved their share of the spoils.

"Very intense game. The game was under control but just before half-time we conceded a really sloppy goal and the game shifted momentum," Arteta said.

"We had to reset after half-time and started well in the first few minutes, but then we lost control. It became a very transitional game, very chaotic. 

"Liverpool could have scored three or four. It is true we could have scored two or three, so maybe at the end the score is fair.

"We could take three points. We should have played like the first half for another 15 minutes and then the game would have taken a very different trajectory. We didn't. We have to take the point."

Asked why Arsenal failed to maintain their early dominance, Arteta said: "I haven't seen anybody do that here. Nobody. They [Liverpool] beat every big team here, they played Real Madrid and could have been four up after 20 minutes. 

"They are going to have moments. You need to deal with them and we did. Our goalkeeper had a big part in that."

The result means City are six points behind Arsenal at the summit with a game in hand and a home match against the Gunners – set for April 26 – to come.

Asked what the result meant for the title race, Arteta said: "We have to move on, and convince them to keep playing like we did in the first 30 minutes."

Arsenal are now winless in their last 10 Premier League trips to Anfield, drawing three and losing seven while conceding at least twice in each match.

Jurgen Klopp was left stunned and struggling to explain how Liverpool did not triumph after Aaron Ramsdale's two brilliant late saves secured a 2-2 draw for Arsenal.

Ramsdale expertly tipped a curling Mohamed Salah effort around the post before denying Ibrahima Konate from point-blank range as Liverpool were denied a last-gasp winner at Anfield on Sunday.

Those remarkable stops from England goalkeeper Ramsdale staved off hopes of a comeback victory for the Reds, who battled back from 2-0 down for a share of the Premier League spoils after goals from Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Liverpool manager Klopp was impressed with his side's reaction against the table-toppers after early goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, though he was without answers as to how the Reds did not manage to snatch victory.

He told Sky Sports: "It's a little bit typical for us this season. Arsenal have an open game, completely open, and they score with the first situation and not too long after they scored the second one. Our reaction was obviously good.

"It was a spectacular game in the end. How we didn't win it I don't know, with those chances we had. In the end it's a point and a good reaction on the two goals we conceded and that's positive.

"But I'm caught in between. I have no problems with drawing. For Arsenal, it's a super-important point because if you draw these kind of games you have a good chance to become champions. You cannot always be super, super, super convincing.

"They were good, but I think they would agree they could or should have lost this game today. They didn't, so the point for them is better than for us, but it's one for us as well."

Klopp said Salah's goal shortly before half-time "helped massively".

"We were in half-time [and thinking] OK, this game is not over, and maybe it didn't really even start. It was a sensational atmosphere, then we missed the penalty, and we got the equaliser at a good moment."

He added: "All of a sudden we were in charge in a wild game. In the end we deserved at least a point."

Klopp said Ramsdale's save from Salah in the closing stages was "exceptional", and added of the later chance: "If Ibou [Konate] uses his head, the ball goes under the crossbar, so then it's a goal. Maybe Ibou slipped. He had a chance, it was just there."

An entertaining draw left Liverpool 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, and a chance to play in the Champions League next season is slipping away.

The end-to-end thriller was somewhat marred by a half-time incident involving Andy Robertson, as the left-back appeared to be caught by an elbow from assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis.

Scotland captain Robertson seemed to be approaching Hatzidakis before television cameras captured a video of the official appearing to raise his elbow and make contact with the Liverpool defender.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for Premier League match officials, said it will investigate the footage after being made aware of the incident.

Klopp says the video evidence will tell the story as Liverpool await a decision from the PGMOL.

Asked for his thoughts on the incident, Klopp said: "I know what happened, but I didn't watch it. If it happened, the pictures will speak probably for themselves."

The body responsible for Premier League match officials will investigate after an assistant referee appeared to elbow Liverpool's Andy Robertson during Sunday's draw with Arsenal.

Liverpool recovered from 2-0 down to dent Arsenal's title hopes in a thrilling game at Anfield, with Roberto Firmino heading a late equaliser to deny the Gunners a crucial win.

The match was played out in a fierce atmosphere, and the end of the first half saw a bizarre altercation between linesman Constantine Hatzidakis and Reds left-back Robertson.

As Robertson spoke to the official, television pictures seemed to show Hatzidakis raise his right elbow and make contact with the Scotland international.

According to Sky Sports, Robertson alleged the official had elbowed him in the throat upon entering the tunnel at half-time, with Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson reportedly complaining to referee Paul Tierney.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for referees, vowed to examine the incident.

In a widely reported statement issued shortly before full-time, the body said: "PGMOL is aware of an incident involving assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis and Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson at half-time during the Liverpool v Arsenal fixture at Anfield. 

"We will review the matter in full once the game has concluded."

Liverpool's fightback means Arsenal's lead over title rivals Manchester City stands at six points, though Pep Guardiola's champions have a game in hand and will host the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium later this month.