NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks 107-99 behind a dominant final quarter from LeBron James.
James posted 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds against the Hawks on the road, having only managed nine points through the first three quarters on Monday.
Lakers team-mate Anthony Davis scored 25 points of his own in Atlanta, where a small crowd were granted access to attend.
James was involved in a brief verbal confrontation with a female fan during the fourth quarter.
Trae Young (25 points and 16 assists) and Clint Capela (16 points and 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles for the beaten Hawks.
Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets tied an NBA record after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 136-106.
The Rockets knocked down 11 three-pointers in a 48-point opening quarter to match a league record away to the Thunder.
Eric Gordon (25 points) and DeMarcus Cousins (17 points) each finished with five three-pointers, John Wall (18 points) and Danuel House Jr. (13 points) nailed four from beyond the arc, while Victor Oladipo (15 points) made three of his own.
Monk cools Heat
Malik Monk starred off the bench, posting a career-high 36 points as the Charlotte Hornets outlasted the Miami Heat 129-121 in overtime.
De'Aaron Fox had 38 points, including 17 straight Sacramento points during the final seven minutes, to lead the Kings past the New Orleans Pelicans 118-109. It capped a night which saw seven Kentucky players score 20-plus points in the NBA – Fox, Monk, Davis, Keldon Johnson (25), Devin Booker (24), Bam Adebayo (23) and Julius Randle (23). According to Stats Perform, it is the most 20-point games by players from any single college on any single day in NBA history.
Nassir Little put up 30 points, however, the Portland Trail Blazers still suffered a 134-106 defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.
A double-double of 23 points and 18 rebounds from Jarrett Allen inspired the Cleveland Cavaliers' 100-98 success against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Trent struggles in Milwaukee
Gary Trent Jr. had a tough night for the Trail Blazers. In 29 minutes, he was three of 13 from the field and made just two of eight three-point attempts for eight points.
Danilo Gallinari did not fare much better for the Hawks. Gallinari finished two-of-10 from the field, while draining only two of his five shots from beyond the arc for six points.
Booker calls game
The Phoenix Suns trailed by two points at the death, but Booker nailed a clutch three-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to stun the Dallas Mavericks 109-108. It was Booker's fifth career game-winning shot in the final three seconds of a contest.
Monday's results
Los Angeles Lakers 107-99 Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets 129-121 Miami Heat (OT)
Cleveland Cavaliers 100-98 Minnesota Timberwolves
Chicago Bulls 110-102 New York Knicks
Milwaukee Bucks 134-106 Portland Trail Blazers
Sacramento Kings 118-109 New Orleans Pelicans
Houston Rockets 136-106 Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns 109-108 Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies 133-102 San Antonio Spurs
Denver Nuggets-Detroit Pistons (postponed)
Clippers at Nets
In-form Western Conference leaders the Los Angeles Clippers (16-5) will put their three-game winning streak on the line against the star-studded Brooklyn Nets (13-9) on Tuesday.
Ten Hag confident over Fernandes stay despite reported Bayern interest in Man Utd star
Bruno Fernandes is reportedly drawing interest from Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabian clubs but Erik ten Hag remains confident the midfielder will stay at Manchester United.
The Portugal international, who joined the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020, is said to be attracting attention from numerous clubs in the Saudi Pro League.
Bundesliga giants Bayern are also reportedly weighing up their options in attempting to sign Fernandes, though under-fire Ten Hag expects him to remain at Old Trafford.
When pressed at Tuesday's press conference on Fernandes' future, Ten Hag responded: "It is the same question as last week. So I answered.
"The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League.
"So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."
Indeed, since his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020, Fernandes leads United for chances created (644), goals (79) and assists (63) across all competitions.
In the same period, the 29-year-old also leads the way among Premier League players overall in chances created, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (519), Trent Alexander-Arnold (424) and Pascal Gross (388).
Though Ten Hag is keen to keep Fernandes in Manchester, Raphael Varane has announced his intentions to leave the Red Devils at the end of the current season.
Casemiro is also said to be of interest in Saudi Arabia, where clubs are reportedly targeting moves for the likes of Mohamed Salah, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
Swiatek soars past Keys to seal Italian Open semi-final spot
Iga Swiatek soared through to the Italian Open semi-finals following a dominant straight-sets victory over Madison Keys.
The world number one took just 76 minutes to wrap up a commanding 6-1 6-3 win - matching the scoreline which saw her overcome the American in the Madrid Open last four a fortnight ago.
Swiatek broke her opponent four times and saved all 10 break points she faced on the way to setting up a semi-final showdown with either Coco Gauff or Qinwen Zheng.
Yet to drop a set this week, the Pole remains on course to complete a hat-trick of titles in Rome and land her fourth silverware of 2024, in which she now boasts a 36-4 record.
Data debrief
Reaching her 16th WTA 1000 semi-final from 30 main draws entered, Swiatek (53.3 per cent) surpasses Serena Williams (53.1 per cent, 26 from 49) for the highest rate of last-four appearances in such tournaments since the format's introduction in 2009.
The Pole also took her tally of WTA match wins on clay to 75 from 85, with only Monica Seles, Nancy Richey (both 80), Chris Evert (81) and Margaret Court (82) reaching that figure on surface in fewer matches during the Open Era.
Philadelphia Union v New York City FC: Cushing salutes togetherness of in-form NYCFC
Nick Cushing hailed the togetherness demonstrated by New York City FC as they look to continue their impressive form against a struggling Philadelphia Union.
The Boys in Blue endured a poor start to the MLS season – losing four of their opening five matches – but have tasted defeat just once in their last seven.
Last weekend's 3-2 victory over Toronto FC was New York's fourth in five matches, and Cushing saluted the character shown by his squad in recent times.
"We're training incredibly well," he said. "Our intensity and our culture is excellent at the moment.
"I'm so proud of the team because if you look at the way the bench celebrated the third goal [against Toronto], these are guys there that really want to get on the field.
"The way they celebrate for their team-mates and for the team shows me that [togetherness]."
Despite their impressive form, though, NYCFC face a potential banana skin in Philadelphia, who have prevailed in each of the last five meetings between the Eastern Conference sides.
"They are a really hard team to get results against, especially there [at home]," Cushing added. "There's an opportunity there for us, but we have to prepare well."
The Union are without a win in five matches – losing three – and have been beaten in each of their last three on home soil.
Jim Curtin's side had started the season with a seven-game unbeaten run, and the head coach has urged his players to draw inspiration from that as they bid to turn their fortunes around.
"I'm a big believer that you can make your own luck," he said.
"We've shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit in recent games, played from behind quite a bit, had to chase games and put a lot into them, and we get punished.
"We have to stick together as a group and find a way to tighten things up. We're on a really bad stretch here, but we know we're capable of going on unbeaten streaks already like we've had this year.
"We have to turn it around, and we can't feel sorry for ourselves."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Philadelphia Union – Daniel Gazdag
Despite Union's recent struggles, Gazdag has been in fine form – scoring in three straight home games, though they have all ended in defeat.
The Hungary international is the first player to score in three successive home matches but appear on the losing side each time since Colorado Rapids' Kei Kamara in 2019.
New York City FC – Hannes Wolf
Wolf set up two of NYCFC's three goals in their victory over Toronto FC last time out.
The midfielder became the first Austrian to claim at least two assists in an MLS game after Daniel Royer (2020), Andreas Ivanschitz (2016) and Andreas Herzog (2004).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK CITY FC
New York have won four of their last five matches, scoring multiple goals in each of their victories.
They had only scored two or more goals once in their opening seven games of this season.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia are currently on the longest losing home streak in their history, having lost each of their last three at Subaru Park.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Philadelphia Union: 49.7%
New York City FC: 22.8%
Draw: 27.5%
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