James Harden revelled in his history-making triple-double as the star-studded Brooklyn Nets stayed hot in the NBA.
Harden posted a triple-double of 21 points, 15 assists and 15 rebounds to fuel the in-form Nets to their fifth consecutive victory – a 117-112 win over rivals the New York Knicks on Monday.
Former MVP Harden became the first Nets player in franchise history to have a 15-plus point, 15-plus assist and 15-plus assist game.
Nets superstar Harden is averaging 25.0 points, 11.1 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game this season.
After the Nets (27-13) recorded their 13th win in 14 games, Harden was asked about triple-doubles and he told reporters "Whatever it takes. Like rebounding, I try to go help it, especially when we're small.
"I know I have to go rebound the basketball a little bit more. I know I have to put my body on bigs a little bit more because I'm not athletic enough or big enough to be able to jump with them. I've got to use my body just being crafty around that rim as far as rebounding.
"And then playmaking, it's just getting my team-mates shots and getting our bigs easy opportunities at the rim. Offensively, I'm not being as efficient as I want to be, but that's come and that's the least of my worries, the least of my concerns.
"I'm just excited and happy to continue this journey with these guys. We're playing some pretty good basketball right now."
Nets team-mate Kyrie Irving had a game-high 34 points as Brooklyn won the Battle of the Boroughs against the Knicks.
"As a kid, obviously New Jersey versus New York, that was a big thing," Irving added. "Whether the Knicks were at Continental Airlines Arena, or New Jersey was at MSG, now that Brooklyn versus New York, kind of the whole entire area, a lot of people I see on Instagram and Twitter, media outlets, just New York, New York versus this whole big thing.
"But I think as players we feel it naturally. But obviously, being from here, it's a little bit of have a different sentiment, because I got to go home and actually be around Knicks and Nets fans. It's my family. So it's basketball, it's competition. It's a world sport. So it's just nothing but respect. But obviously you want to come out here and just have fun going against New York Knicks. They've been playing well season so well, Coach, team, and just appreciate the opportunity."
Djokovic makes dominant start to Olympic gold medal bid
Novak Djokovic began his latest Olympic gold medal bid with a statement victory over Australia's Matthew Ebden at Roland-Garros.
The 24-time major winner took just 53 minutes to wrap up a comprehensive 6-0 6-1 rout on Court Philippe-Chatrier, to set up a potential second-round clash with Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic won bronze on his Olympic debut in 2008, but missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in 2012 and 2020, while he was beaten in round one in Rio by eventual silver medallist Juan Martin del Potro eight years ago.
However, there was no danger of a repeat of the latter this time around. The Serb took just 24 minutes to wrap up a dominant first set, in which he bageled his helpless opponent.
Ebden remained in positive spirits despite his ordeal. At one stage, he offered his racquet to the crowd, who gave him a wonderful reception when he won his first game of the contest at the 11th attempt.
Nevertheless, it only briefly delayed the inevitable, with Djokovic cruising to the finish line.
Data Debrief: Dominant Djokovic soars into second round
There was no messing around from the 24-time major winner on Saturday, as he was done and dusted in just under an hour at Roland-Garros.
He converted six of his nine break-point opportunities, while winning 14 of 19 net points (74%).
The identity of his second-round opponent is still to be decided, but we could well see a blockbuster clash with Nadal.
Westbrook joins Denver Nuggets on two-year contract
Russell Westbrook has joined the Denver Nuggets on a two-year contract containing a player option for 2025-26.
Earlier this month, Westbrook was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Utah Jazz, who reached a contract buyout agreement with the point guard.
Westbrook had long been expected to move on to Denver, with Utah receiving a series of second-round draft picks from the Clippers to facilitate the move.
On Friday, Westbrook was in Denver to put pen to paper on his deal, with his agent Jeff Schwartz confirming the length and terms of his contract to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The team subsequently announced the arrival of the 35-year-old on social media, with the Nuggets becoming his sixth team in the last seven years.
Westbrook will earn an estimated $6.8million with the Nuggets, who lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in last season's Western Conference semifinals.
In 2023-24 for the Clippers, he averaged career lows of 11.1 points and 4.5 assists with 5 boards.
He came off the bench in 57 of the 68 games he played, shooting 27.3 per cent from 3-point range – the second-lowest mark among the 226 players with at least 150 attempts from beyond the arc.
However, Denver believe the 2016-17 NBA MVP can still provide depth and ease the load on reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who was named the league's best player for a third time in 2023-24.
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
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