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• Brown bemoans 'everything going wrong' as Celtics team bus stuck in traffic before defeat

  Jaylen Brown did not want to make excuses but acknowledged "everything was going wrong for us" after the Boston Celtics' upset loss at the Washington Wizards.

  The Celtics had the opportunity to close to within one win of the Milwaukee Bucks and the number one seed in the East on Wednesday.

  Instead, they went down 130-111 to a Wizards team missing Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma.

  One of the Celtics' team buses was stuck in traffic for around an hour before the game, and although Boston recovered to make a solid start, it was the first sign of the troublesome night that was to come.

  "Tonight it just seemed like everything was going right for Washington; everything was going wrong for us," Brown said.

  "On top of all the stuff that was happening before the game... but I'm not one to make no excuses."

  The Celtics had recovered from a run of three straight defeats in early March to win seven of the next nine before visiting the Wizards.

  While Boston are now 2.5 games back, Brown knows they cannot afford this one-off defeat to become part of a slump.

  After the Bucks play the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, they welcome the Celtics to Wisconsin the following night.

  "Games like this are not supposed to happen. You're supposed to win," Brown said. "But it's over with now, nothing we can do about it.

  "I'm not concerned, because the way my brain works is you have just got to look forward to what's next.

  "You don't want one bad night to turn into three bad nights or a bad week. Nobody wants to see that. We don't want to see that, so you don't harp on it.

  "Obviously, we dropped the ball. But now you have just got to refocus and get ready for the next one."

• Rybakina wins 12th straight to reach Miami Open semi-finals, Pegula beats Potapova

  Elena Rybakina is now two wins away from completing the rare 'Sunshine Double' after defeating Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-0 to reach the Miami Open semi-finals on Tuesday.

  Only four women have ever claimed the Sunshine Double – which requires winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. Steffi Graf did it in both 1994 and 1996, Kim Clijsters did it in 2005, Victoria Azarenka accomplished the feat in 2016 and current world number one Iga Swiatek did it just 12 months ago.

  Rybakina knocked off Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka in consecutive matches en route to the Indian Wells title, and she has now extended her winning streak to 12 with Tuesday's victory. Against Trevisan, Rybakina served another 10 aces compared to zero from the Italian.

  In her fourth-round match the Kazakhstan representative became the first WTA player this season to post three consecutive matches with at least 10 aces, and with another she became the first woman since Serena Williams at the 2020 US Open to do so in four consecutive matches at the same tournament.

  She needed just 27 minutes to race through the second set, and in the process she booked a semi-final against third seed Jessica Pegula.

  America's top hope, Pegula had to come from behind against Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) result, saving two match points in the deciding set to force the pivotal tiebreaker.

  The match was delayed for hours due to persistent rain, and the contest lasted two hours and 38 minutes, meaning they did not finish up on court until nearly 1:30am local time.

  While consistently making it deep into major tournaments, Pegula only has two WTA singles titles to her name, and only once since the end of 2019. 

  With one more win she can book her spot in the final, and a chance to claim her second WTA 1000 crown after breaking through at the 2022 Guadalajara Open.

• Curry ignites crucial Warriors comeback, Mitchell drops 44 in Cavaliers loss

  The Golden State Warriors played an inspired second half to recover from a 20-point deficit and defeat the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 120-109 on Tuesday.

  As usual, the Warriors were led by reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry with a game-high 39 points on 14-of-25 shooting, hitting eight-of-15 three-point attempts while adding eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

  It was a rough start for Golden State as they found themselves trailing 63-43 late in the second quarter, but some early shenanigans between Draymond Green and the entire Pelicans team seemed to spur some life into the Warriors defense after the break.

  In typical Warriors fashion, they exploded in the third quarter in front of their home fans, putting together a 39-26 period to cut the lead to four going into the last.

  They ratcheted up the defense even further down the stretch, holding the visitors to just 20 points while piling on 35 of their own as Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole all drained deep triples to blow the roof off Chase Center.

  Despite the loss, it was another strong showing from Pelicans centrepiece Brandon Ingram. After his first career triple-double on Thursday and a career-high 13 assists on Saturday, Ingram again looked every bit of an All-NBA initiator with a team-high 26 points (nine-of-22), eight rebounds and seven assists.

  A loss for the Warriors would have seen them drop to 39-38 and potentially swap spots with the eighth-seeded Pelicans, but they instead improved to 40-37 and leapfrogged the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (39-37) in the process.

  Mitchell's 44 not enough for Cleveland

  Donovan Mitchell dropped 44 points on the road but it was not enough as the Cleveland Cavaliers fell 120-118 to the Atlanta Hawks.

  Mitchell shot 15-of-33 with five rebounds and five assists, while Darius Garland added 27 points (10-of-22) and Evan Mobley chipped in 20 points (10-of-13), 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocks – but the Hawks had all the answers.

  Atlanta had seven players score double figures, led by Dejounte Murray's 29 (11-of-22). Trae Young ran the show with 10 assists on an off-shooting night (four-of-15 for 16 points), and the Hawks' bench delivered in a big way.

  Backup center Onyeka Okongwu had a wildly efficient 20 minutes with 21 points (five-of-five from the field and 11-of-12 free throws), nine rebounds and three blocks, and trade deadline acquisition Saddiq Bey had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

  Hornets win a shootout in Oklahoma City

  The Oklahoma City Thunder received 30-point efforts from Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe – but still lost 137-134 to the surprisingly in-form Charlotte Hornets.

  Giddey had one of the best statistical games of his career with 31 points (14-of-22), 10 rebounds and nine assists; rookie Williams had 31 points (11-of-16), four assists and four steals; and Joe hit six-of-11 threes and 11-of-18 overall for his 33 points.

  But P.J. Washington was not going to let the Hornets lose, scoring a career-high 43 points on 16-of-24 shooting as he added six rebounds and five assists in an eye-opening performance from the well-rounded six-foot-seven 24-year-old.

  It was a standout showing off the bench for the spectacularly bouncy 22-year-old second-year center Kai Jones, collecting the first double-double of his career with 12 points (five-of-five) and 14 rebounds in 22 minutes.

  The loss for the Thunder means they slipped to 37-39, still inside the play-in tournament placings, but now tied with the 11th-ranked Dallas Mavericks.