Paul George is keen to see the Los Angeles Clippers work out a deal for Russell Westbrook as "we need a point guard".
The Clippers traded Reggie Jackson and John Wall away at Thursday's deadline, while Westbrook ended a difficult spell with the Los Angeles Lakers as he was traded to the Utah Jazz.
Sixth in the Western Conference, the Clippers were beaten 119-106 by the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday to fall to 31-28.
Speaking after the defeat – in which he surpassed 16,000 career points – George outlined his desire to be reunited with Westbrook, who was a team-mate on the Oklahoma City Thunder and could seek a buyout from the Jazz.
"If there's somebody out there, Russell," George said when asked if the Clippers should bring in a point guard. "If it makes sense, and obviously it goes with our team, we're all for it.
"We need a point guard. But [at] the same [time], I think we're good as well. If nothing happened, we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work.
"But it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to get us in things and make the game easy. So, hopefully, Russell sees this, and we figure something out."
Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds on the Lakers this season, but Marcus Morris claims he could "play freely" and "be dangerous" at the Clippers.
"I'm campaigning, too, for him then," said Morris.
"He hasn't had an opportunity to play on a team where he could be himself and be able to play freely. Playing with the Lakers, it's like media, media, media.
"And from the outside looking in, like every time something bad went wrong – Russell Westbrook. Nobody else was really getting no blame, and it just kept spiralling down.
"But we accept him [with] open arms. Let him be himself. We need the personality, we need the veteran. He's been in the playoffs a lot of times, been to the championship.
"I want him to come. I think that you can't kill a wounded dog. You give him an opportunity to come back, it could be dangerous."
Luka Doncic is hoping to play alongside Kyrie Irving for the first time on Saturday, calling his new team-mate "probably the best ball handler ever".
Doncic was forced to sit out the Dallas Mavericks' 122-114 win at the Sacramento Kings on Friday with a heel injury, but is hopeful of featuring in the second game of a double-header against the Kings.
Irving – who joined the Mavs from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of this week's trade deadline – recorded 25 points and 10 assists at Golden 1 Center, with Dallas scoring 45 points in the first quarter to take control.
The Mavericks traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie for Irving, and Doncic was sorry to see his former team-mates leave, but is excited to see what Irving can bring.
"We'll obviously miss them here, but Kyrie's Kyrie, man," he said prior to Friday's game.
"NBA champion. Probably the best ball handler ever in the game. Amazing player, and he's going to be fun to play with.
"I never played with a guy like Kyrie, so it's obviously going to be a work in progress. But I think it's going to be fine. We both can play on the ball.
"For me, I think it's going to be a learning process, for sure. Outside of my first season, I didn't play off the ball. But with a guy like him it's going to be different."
On his recovery from injury, the Slovenian added: "Hopefully [Saturday] I can be back. Still painful. But it's way better every day."
The feeling appears to be mutual, as Irving said after Friday's victory: "I'm excited to see what that looks like with Luka out there.
"I'm constantly out on those breaks, so as much as we can make the game easier for each other and keep the pace going, that would be a benefit for us.
"But I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like with Luka out there and me running the wing, just shooters getting to their spots, and then if we don't have anything, just settling in the half court, we got some great options out there."
The Milwaukee Bucks made it 10 wins on the bounce as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-106, though Jrue Holiday had to be reminded of the fact.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was again the star of the show at the Crypto.com Arena, scoring 35 points along with eight rebounds and six assists, while Brook Lopez recorded 15 rebounds to go with his 22 points.
Antetokounmpo has scored 373 points during the successful 10-game period, the second-most points during a 10-0 stretch in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain, who had 416 as a rookie in 1959-60.
Asked after the win about the growing number of influential overseas players in the NBA, the Greek was glowing in his praise for his fellow international stars.
"It's been incredible," he told reporters. "It doesn't really matter where you're from right now, guys can come and compete and win games, guys can carry teams, you can be a franchise player.
"I feel like when I came in 10 years ago it was kind of hard, you saw I think only Dirk [Nowitzki] but now it's way more, from Luka [Doncic], to [Nikola] Jokic, from [Joel] Embiid, from [Pascal] Siakam, me, [Rudy] Gobert, both of the Bogdanovic's [Bojan and Bogdan], you see guys that are stepping up and helping their team win.
"People before set the path for us... and we have to set the path for the next generation, for people from overseas that 'you can come to the NBA and be that guy'."
Meanwhile, Holiday – who ended the game with 19 points – admitted he had not even realised he and his team-mates had won 10 in a row.
"There's a point in the season when things get repetitive, and winning has been," he said after the victory, emphasising the calm focus the Bucks have had in the last few weeks.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was pleased with his team after they followed up wins on the road over the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers with another against the Clippers.
"The guys' focus has been good, we're obviously in a good rhythm, it's good," he said.
"Now we have a couple of days without a game, catch up on our bodies and things like that so it was a very good road trip for us."
Friday marked two games with Kyrie Irving in the line-up, and two wins for the Dallas Mavericks as they beat the Sacramento Kings 122-114 on the road.
Irving – who was acquired before the trade deadline in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and three draft picks – led the Mavericks in scoring for the second game in a row as superstar Luka Doncic continues to recover from a heel injury.
He had 25 points against the Kings on five-of-14 shooting, hitting all 12 of his free throws, while also tying his season-high with 10 assists.
Irving was supported strongly by 22-year-old emerging Australian Josh Green, who chipped in 17 points on seven-of-12 shooting and a season-high seven assists, and rookie Jaden Hardy hit four of his five three-point attempts off the bench.
The Mavericks had been flailing without Doncic, having lost the first six games he missed this season, but they have now won three in a row during his current absence.
For the Kings, De'Aaron Fox was terrific with a game-high 33 points on 10-of-16 shooting, adding six rebounds and five assists, while All-Star selection Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
With the victory, the Mavericks are now 31-26, sitting fourth in the Western Conference, while the 31-24 Kings are third.
Giannis accomplishes feat not seen since Wilt
The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA and collected their 10th consecutive win with a 119-106 triumph against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 35 points (13-of-25 shooting), eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, giving him a total of 373 points during the 10-game winning streak. That is the most points by one player during a 10-game winning streak since Wilt Chamberlain's 416 during his rookie season in 1959-60.
At 39-17, the Bucks are just one game behind the 40-16 Boston Celtics in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the league.
Embiid dominates the Knicks
Joel Embiid was unstoppable as his Philadelphia 76ers defended home court 119-108 against the visiting New York Knicks.
Embiid scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-18 shooting, and his field goal percentage of 77.8 set a new season-high. He also added 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.
James Harden delivered, dishing a game-high 12 assists to go with his 20 points (seven-of-17) and eight rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey exploded for 27 points (nine-of-16) off the bench.
The 76ers (35-19) climbed up to third place in the East, while the Knicks (30-27) occupy the seventh seed.
World number eight Taylor Fritz is two wins away from his first title of the season after surviving a tough test against Marcos Giron 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-3 in Friday's quarter-final at the Dallas Open.
Fritz, who at 25-years-old is seeking the fifth ATP singles title of his career, allowed seventh-seed Giron only one break point opportunity for the entire match. Fritz himself only created two such opportunities, and further illustrating the closely-fought nature of the battle, Fritz edged the total point count 86-85.
With the win, Fritz booked his place against China's Yibing Wu in the semi-final after the 23-year-old defeated 34-year-old French veteran Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-4.
The other semi-final will be an all-American showdown after J.J. Wolf upset second seed Frances Tiafoe 4-6 6-3 6-4, and 37-year-old John Isner proved too much for Ecuador's Emilio Gomez in a 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 victory.
Meanwhile, Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas is one match away from a final in his home country after defeating Joao Sousa 6-4 2-6 6-1 in the quarter-final of the Cordoba Open.
Ramos-Vinolas will play Argentina's Federico Coria for a spot in the decider after he emerged victorious 6-3 3-0 (ret) against compatriot Francisco Cerundolo.
Heading into the quarter-finals, Francisco and his brother Juan Manuel Cerundolo were on a collision course to meet in the final, but now both are eliminated after 21-year-old Juan Manuel fell 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-0 to Bolivia's Hugo Dellien.
Dellien will play fourth seed Sebastian Baez in the other semi-final after eliminating Chile's Tomas Barrios Vera 6-1 3-6 6-1.
Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Tour title 12 months ago at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and he is looking to defend that crown as he heads into the weekend with a two stroke lead at 10 under.
A large chunk of the field still have between five and eight holes remaining before they complete their second round, with a delay on Thursday creating a backlog as players had to finish their first round early Friday morning.
Scheffler was part of the early group and followed his opening 68 with a seven-under 64, and he was the only player to shoot seven under on his second trip around TPC Scottsdale.
It is shaping up as a tantalising battle at the top of the leaderboard after Jon Rahm's 66 clawed his way into a tie for second at eight under, where he is joined by round-one leader Adam Hadwin, who still has eight holes to play.
Im Sung-jae will have his sights set on posting the best second-round score, with time being called while he was six under through 12 holes, and tied for fourth with Wyndham Clark at seven under overall.
The only other player with a second-round score of six under or better was Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas, rebounding strongly from an even-par opener, and he has four holes remaining to try and match Scheffler's heroics.
Also in a tie for sixth with Vegas are former world number one Jason Day and current world number six Xander Schauffele, while the dangerous duo of Tom Kim and Jordan Spieth are one further back at five under.
Major champions Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy are still in the hunt at three under, Viktor Hovland is at two under, and Hideki Matsuyama is at one under with five holes to play.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa expressed gratitude to the team for an extended stay in concussion protocol.
The third-year quarterback was diagnosed with two separate concussions this season and was limited to 12 games. He hit the back of his head on the ground on both occasions.
Tagovailoa first entered concussion protocol in September after he was knocked unconscious during a 27-15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and didn't return until nearly a month later.
"For concussion protocol, I think the team did me the biggest service throughout that," he told USA Today on Friday. "They never allowed me to go through protocol normally until the season was done. So that’s why it might have seemed like it took forever, but they were just protecting me from myself. And me and my family are very thankful to the Dolphins.
"But it really entailed a lot of exertion, so like running, ocular and vestibular movements, so like balance, proprioception – things like that. Having went to see a doctor in Pittsburgh, got clear from him and then had to do a written test, memorisation."
Tagovailoa took another hard hit four days before the Cincinnati game during a win over Buffalo. He appeared to show concussion symptoms, but was evaluated and stayed in the game, drawing widespread criticism of why he was allowed to return.
He entered protocol for the second time on December 26, one day after a 26-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers. He sat out the remainder of the season, including Miami’s playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Tagovailoa said he is tired of being asked about his concussions, though he understands where people are coming from.
"For one, people haven't heard from me in however long after the incident, and I would say another thing is some people are actually genuinely worried about my health," he said. "I hear people telling… people that are in my close circle, like, 'Hey, you should retire, hey you should do this' – and I feel like I’ve heard it all.
"But I think I’ve had all the information that I need to move forward with the decision that I made with me and my wife and my family, and understanding that you're playing this sport, and understanding knowing the precautions that these things can happen. It's football. It's a physical sport."
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2023.
The four-team trade between the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers is at risk of falling through after Gary Payton II failed his physical with the Warriors on Friday.
Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning squad this past season before joining Portland in free agency, was set to return to Golden State after they shipped off James Wiseman to the Pistons, while Saddiq Bey went from Detroit to Atlanta, and the Trail Blazers received Kevin Knox and five second-round draft picks.
A key part of the deal for the Warriors was shedding Wiseman's contract, with the franchise's status as a luxury tax repeater meaning they were going to have to cough up over $100million total to cover his $9.6m salary this season and $12.1m in 2023-24.
However, the Warriors are now faced with the option to void the deal entirely after it was revealed during Payton's physical that his abdominal injury – which has limited him to 15 appearances this season – will keep him out for "up to three months", per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
It seems unlikely that the Warriors would bring Wiseman back into the fold after making the tough decision to cut ties with their former second overall pick, and Payton's timeline should mean he can return this season if the Warriors are a playoff team.
They will have until Saturday to decide whether to finalise the deal or not.
Steve Spagnuolo is the definition of a football lifer.
He's been in coaching since 1981, when he took on a job as a graduate assistant at the University of Massachusetts and, since being appointed as a defensive assistant on Andy Reid's original Philadelphia Eagles staff in 1999, he has developed a reputation as an aggressive coach who is not afraid to send the house in order to get results.
Now 24 years on, he is again on coach Reid's staff, having served as the defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs since 2019. That description perhaps does not paint a completely accurate picture of a coach who is more versatile in his approach than he is given credit for.
Spagnuolo will indeed go on the attack. In the 2022 regular season, only four teams blitzed with six or more pass rushers more frequently than the Chiefs, who did so 6.6 per cent of the time.
But the fact his defense is set to go against the Eagles' offense in Super Bowl LVII is in part a tribute to Spagnuolo's malleability.
The Chiefs were in the top half of the NFL when it came to overall blitz rate in the regular season, but their rate of 26.9 per cent was only enough for 15th in the NFL.
Kansas City sent four pass rushers 70.8 per cent of the time when defending aerial attacks, but they still led the NFL in pressures with 299.
In other words, Spagnuolo's defense can win with the blitz, but it can also succeed frequently getting pressure with just four down linemen, which is critical for every defense in an era where two-high safety coverages that protect against explosive plays have never been more prevalent.
The Chiefs' defense finished the regular season as the eighth-best by yards per play allowed and ranked ninth by Stats Perform's Efficiency Versus Expected (EVE) metric.
It is in the postseason, though, where Spagnuolo's defenses continually come alive.
That was the case in 2007 when his New York Giants defense held the finest offense in New England Patriots history, one that propelled them to an beaten 16-0 regular-season record, to just 14 points in Super Bowl XLII.
His first season with the Chiefs ended in Super Bowl glory as they swarmed Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers late in the fourth quarter in an underrated aspect of Kansas City's 31-20 comeback win in Super Bowl LIV. In the 2020 postseason, only a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that ruined the Chiefs' hopes of a repeat at the final hurdle had more pressures than Kansas City's 55.
And this postseason the Chiefs have again risen to the challenge on defense.
The Chiefs have racked up seven sacks in the postseason, second only to the Eagles, and tallied 23 pressures of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the AFC Championship Game, the most crucial being a sack by Chris Jones that gave the ball back to Patrick Mahomes for a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
Spagnuolo, though, does not appear interested in taking credit for the continual joy his defenses find in the playoffs, pointing more to the impact of players like Jones than any schematic wizardry.
"I always say this, what you've done in the past or prior games doesn't mean anything going into these games, it's all about our guys stepping up and doing it again," said Spagnuolo on Thursday.
"Chris Jones, if he's having the game he had last week [in the AFC Championship Game] that certainly helps us, we need our best players to play their best football and I think it comes back to those guys, I think that's why in the big moments we've been able to do that.
"None of that matters now, it's a whole different game and different gameplan, hopefully we can find 60 more minutes of good football."
Speak to the Chiefs' defenders, however, and they won't hesitate to wax lyrical about their coach's prowess for putting them in positions to thrive.
Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie has enjoyed an excellent rookie season, allowing a combined open percentage across man and zone coverage of 21.54 that is tied for the fourth-best among all corners, according to Stats Perform data.
McDuffie credits Spagnuolo's paternal influence and the varied way in which he uses his defensive backs as key reasons why he has thrived in year one.
McDuffie told Stats Perform: "He's very detailed, which could be tough at times because when you make one little mistake he catches it and it's like 'man yeah I was in the wrong', but he's such a loving dude, he's become such a father figure for me at least, I don't think I could have been here without just the guidance from him and the wisdom he's given me.
"I just love the mentality that our defense is aggressive, we are going to attack the offense, if you're a defensive player knowing you have an offensive gear like 'we're going to go attack the offense', it makes the game much more fun, because you can do so much more. I'm blitzing, I'm playing zone, I'm playing man. He's allowed me to do so much in the defense."
The numbers reflect McDuffie's words. The Chiefs have predominantly dealt in the kind of two-deep safety coverages that have proliferated across the NFL because of the threat posed by their own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
Cover 4, Cover 6 and Cover 2 are the coverages in which they have primarily lived, however, they have also played Cover 2 man, where every coverage defender except for the two deep safeties plays man coverage, on 8.92 per cent of pass defense snaps, well above the league average of 2.7 per cent.
Kansas City's defense does often get extremely aggressive when blitzing, playing Cover 1 man, where every coverage defender plays man except for a deep safety, on 25.24 per cent of blitzes, and Cover 0 – where there are no deep defenders – on 18.57 per cent of blitzes.
But there are still a significant amount of zone blitzes mixed in. The Chiefs run quarters (Cover 4) when blitzing 19.52 per cent of the time and Cover 2 on 9.52 per cent of blitzes.
Spagnuolo does look to 'attack the offense', but he takes a multi-faceted approach to doing so, one which consistently pays off in high-leverage situations.
The Chiefs have 27 sacks in the postseason since 2019, 16 of which have come in the second half or overtime, with five in the final two minutes.
Perhaps it is therefore Spagnuolo's timing that is the foundation for the success of his playoff defenses.
Against the Eagles, picking his spots will be crucial.
Aggression will almost certainly need to be tempered given Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' aptitude for capitalising on attack-mode defenses through his prowess running the zone-read, the read-option and the run-pass option.
It sets up a fascinating battle between arguably the NFL's most diverse and devastating offense, which consistently makes life easy on its quarterback, and a defense that is significantly more dynamic than many believe and excels at putting quarterbacks in difficult positions in the most important moments.
For Spagnuolo, the challenge is to craft a gameplan that maintains the attacking tendencies of his defense while protecting against the array of dangers Hurts presents.
"There's a lot of responsibility football when you play that kind of offense," Spagnuolo said.
"If we can be good on first and second down to get them in the long third downs, then maybe we can do that [attack], short of that you're always facing the possibility of a run or an RPO on any down and distance, and if you're doing something, you know it could be a big play for you, but it might be a really big play for them."
It's quite the dilemma for Spagnuolo to solve. Fortunately for the Chiefs, history is on the side of him succeeding.
The Houston Astros locked up World Series hero Cristian Javier on a five-year contract extension on Friday worth $66million.
First reported by Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, securing the long-term services of their 25-year-old budding ace was one of new Astros general manager Dana Brown's "foremost objectives during his first month on the job".
After primarily operating as a relief pitcher in 2021, with only nine starts among his 36 total appearances, Javier was promoted to a full-time starter in 2022.
He made 25 starts, and his 2.54 ERA was the second-best on the team among players to pitch at least 100 innings, trailing only AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander (1.75 ERA).
The Dominican-born Javier made headlines in June when he struck out 13 batters in a combined no-hitter at Yankee Stadium, and his star went up another level in the postseason.
In Game 4 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Javier threw six no-hit innings to set up only the second World Series no-hitter in MLB history.
From his two combined starts against the Yankees and the Phillies in the postseason, Javier pitched 11-and-a-third innings for 14 strikeouts, one hit, five walks and no runs.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the new deal will pay Javier – who has never made more than $749,100 in any of his three seasons so far – $3m plus a $2m signing bonus in 2023, $7m in 2024, $10m in 2025, and $21m in both 2026 and 2027 when he would have been eligible to enter free agency.
Open Sud de France top seed Holger Rune stayed on course to make the final in Montpellier after a straight-sets defeat of Gregoire Barrere.
Last year's Paris Masters champion Rune, who is in the hunt for his first title of the season, beat the Frenchman 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) and is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
The 19-year-old looks sharp, but so too does Jannik Sinner. Two years Rune's senior, the Italian made light work of his good friend and compatriot Lorenzo Sonego on Friday.
Sinner took just over 90 minutes to triumph 6-4 6-2 and tee up a semi-final with history-making 18-year-old Arthur Fils.
Fils, the world number 163, beat Quentin Halys to become the youngest Frenchman to reach a tour-level semi-final since Richard Gasquet in 2004.
"I have seen him [Fils] play here at this tournament," Sinner said of Fils, as quoted by the ATP Tour's official website.
"He is very strong physically already. He understands the game very well. He started off the year very well, so it is going to be an interesting match for sure."
Sinner will be the favourite despite Fils' hot streak, while Rune will go up against Maxime Cressy in a rematch of their Australian Open second-round match.
Cressy went down 7-5 6-4 6-4 in that meeting in Melbourne last month, though has the chance for revenge after seeing off Borna Coric 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.
Tom Brady has filed his retirement letter with the NFL and National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), effectively rubber-stamping the end of his professional career, according to reports.
The veteran quarterback originally announced his retirement last year following two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, before walking back on his decision.
Following Tampa Bay's defeat in the Wild Card round to the Dallas Cowboys last month, however, the 45-year-old announced he was to quit for good.
On Friday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Brady has written to the league and the NFLPA to formally confirm his decision to retire.
The move makes the seven-time Super Bowl winner eligible for the Class of 2028 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to which he is likely to be an immediate inductee.
Across a two-decade-plus tenure following his selection by the New England Patriots, Brady became one of the NFL's undisputed greats.
During his time in New England he won six Super Bowls, before adding a seventh ring to his collection during his spell in Florida with the Buccaneers.
Brady is set to take up a role as a broadcaster with Fox Sports for their NFL coverage following his retirement, though he will not start in the role until 2024.
He is due to instead take a year out from the sport, missing the 2023 season in all capacities, before he joins the commentary booth the following year.
J.J. Watt, the former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals defensive end who announced his retirement in December, quoted tweeted Schefter's report with the caption: "I was unaware there was paperwork... Definitely not gonna [sic] fill that out, but definitely retired."
Top seed Daria Kasatkina succumbed to a surprise quarter-final exit against Zheng Qinwen at the Abu Dhabi Open as Belinda Bencic marched into the final four.
Kasatkina was blown away in just 78 minutes by Zheng, who only dropped three games in her 6-1 6-2 upset of the world number eight.
Zheng, who defeated world number 12 Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday, executed her serve-and-volley approach expertly throughout, with the 20-year-old claiming the third top-10 victory of her career to reach her third tour-level semi-final.
Another Russian player stands between Zheng and a place in the final after eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova dispatched compatriot Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 6-3.
Bencic found form after edging a tough first set against qualifier Shelby Rodgers, who saw her run ended by a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 defeat.
Second seed Bencic will face Beatriz Haddad Maia in the semi-finals after the Brazilian railed to beat Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-3 6-2 less than 24 hours after beating Yulia Putintseva in a marathon three-hour encounter.
Meanwhile, top seed Maria Sakkari secured her progress to the last four at the Linz Open with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) straight sets win over Donna Vekic.
The Greek will face off with Petra Martic next, while Anastasia Potapova faces the unseeded Marketa Vondrousova in the other semi-final.
The NBA added three players to the player pool for the All-Star Game as injury replacements on Friday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards, the Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam and the Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox have been given the nod.
They are replacing three huge names, with Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Zion Williamson all missing the exhibition game in Salt Lake City on February 19.
Durant, Curry and Williamson were all selected as starters. Edwards, Siakam and Fox will be reserves, with Joel Embiid, Ja Morant and Lauri Markkanen getting promoted to the starting lineups.
While starters and traditional reserves are chosen for the All-Star Game by a combination of voting by players, coaches and fans, injury replacements are made by the office of NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Edwards and Fox have been named All-Stars for the first time in their careers, while Siakam was previously honoured in the 2019-20 game.
Fox's selection gives the Kings a second representative in the game to go along with three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.
The other teams with multiple players selected are the Milwaukee Bucks (Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday), Boston Celtics (Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown) and Memphis Grizzlies (Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.).
Antetokounmpo and LeBron James will serve as captains for the All-Star Game and – for the first time – will pick their teams on the night of the game, shortly before tip-off.
For most teams in most NFL seasons, the offensive linemen are not superstars.
Their work of attempting to prevent men of around 300 pounds from breaking into the backfield and trying to create lanes for the ground attack is a remarkably difficult one, but it is not normally one that is conducive to receiving large amounts of attention.
It may, therefore, seem a little bemusing on first blush to see center Jason Kelce with a plethora of cameras pointed in his face ahead of Super Bowl LVII.
Kelce is, of course, playing in special circumstances as he and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce prepare to become the first brothers to go against each other in a Super Bowl.
But the attention is not limited to Kelce. Tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata each gathered a crowd this week at the Eagles' media availability and, as the former heavily emphasised ahead of their clash with the Chiefs on Sunday, being out of the ordinary is a defining trait of this group.
The makeup of the Eagles' offensive line is marked by its level of contrasts. Kelce and Johnson stand as the veteran lynchpins, two perennial All-Pros who have long since set the standard at their respective positions and are destined for the Hall of Fame.
On the other side of the spectrum, there is left tackle Mailata, the Australian former South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league player who was selected in the seventh round of the 2018 draft having never played a single down of American football but blossomed so quickly that he is now the Eagles' undisputed starter at one of the most critical positions on the roster and represents the biggest success story of the NFL's International Player Pathway program.
The stark difference in the journeys of the players anchoring the middle and the right side of the O-Line from that of the unexpected star on the left side is a situation unique to the Eagles.
But the Eagles have thrived on being unique in 2022. Their multi-faceted offense is unique in how it slows even the strongest and fastest defenses through the way in which Philadelphia utilise their dual-threat quarterback, Jalen Hurts, who has experienced a leap few envisaged in 2022.
And the joy they have experienced on offense has come in large part because the mix of All-Pro veterans, two extremely dependable guards in Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo, and a left tackle who has gone from greenhorn to a foundational piece of the attack has produced a calibre of play up front that no team in the NFL can match.
Indeed, the Eagles rank first in Stats Perform's pass block win rate and second in run block win rate, dominance that can be attributed to the approach of offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, whose distinctive coaching style helps make sure his group are never ill-prepared for any eventuality they might face on gameday.
"He's unique, he makes every meeting like a gameday with his voice," Johnson said of Stoutland.
"He's very loud, he asks a lot of questions, we call those 'cold calling' questions, which is like a pop quiz, a lot of that puts you on the spot, answer questions under duress.
"He likes to simulate a game-like meeting room, which can be uncomfortable at times but you kind of respect it and you love it."
The numbers illustrate the merits of Stoutland's unconventional brand of coaching.
Johnson ranks second in pass block win rate (89.6 per cent) among offensive linemen with at least 100 total plays, Dickerson is ninth on that same list with a win rate of 83.5 per cent.
Dickerson's pressure rate allowed of 3.9 per cent is the best among all guards, while Kelce (2.0) and Johnson (2.9) rank second in that regard among centers and tackles respectively.
Seumalo's 7.0 per cent may be less impressive, but it is still average (7.1) for guards this season.
Both Seumalo and Dickerson have unquestionably benefited hugely from playing next to Kelce, whose aggregate win rate across pass protection and run blocking of 83.48 per cent is the second-best in the NFL behind only Laremy Tunsil of the Houston Texans.
In the mind of Seumalo, who is finally solidified as a starter and was named a Pro Bowl alternate following years of persistent injury troubles, both Kelce and Stoutland deserve tremendous credit for how the Eagles' offensive line has coalesced into the elite unit in the NFL.
"To be a good offensive line you need really good players, and then Jeff Stoutland continually puts us in positions to be successful, we stick to our bread and butter and don't try to do too much," Seumalo told Stats Perform.
"And then on the field Jason Kelce puts us in really good spots. When you have a combination of really good players, really smart players and an offensive line coach that continually puts us in good positions, it’s going to be successful.
"Jeff Stoutland's work ethic is unmatched in terms of scheming and then knowing how to get guys lined up a certain way and also being ready for a lot of the grey.
"Being like 'let's show them what we expect' and then again, you're always going to get what you didn't see and then being ready to see that kind of stuff too.
"Sometimes it's going to be tougher than what it should be, the easier and simpler you can make it the better."
Mailata's progress encapsulates Stoutland's ability to make things easy on his players. While he is still far from the finished article in pass protection, giving up a pressure rate of 11 per cent, he has excelled at preventing teams from disrupting the Eagles' ultra-versatile run game.
He has allowed a run disruption rate of 6.6 per cent that is ninth among all offensive tackles to have played at least 200 snaps in 2022, conceding a disruption to a defensive player on only 27 of his 411 run-blocking snaps.
Johnson believes there is much more to come from Mailata and Dickerson, who entered the NFL with the equivalent of a football masters degree having played at Alabama under Nick Saban but has still demonstrated surprisingly quick progress in making the switch from center to guard after suffering a knee ligament injury in his final season with the Crimson Tide.
"You look at it just the size they have with Mailata, Landon, the strength they have is unique," added Johnson.
"There's a lot of boxes they’re checking, which is physically gifted, speed, the more they're playing the better they're getting, they're on their way to be consistent top of the game every year."
Mailata and Dickerson checking those boxes has allowed Hurts and the Eagles' skill position-players to torment opponents who reside in the defensive box, with linebackers consistently crippled by hesitation due to the variety of threats they must account for when reading the Eagles' quarterback at the mesh point with his running back.
Hurts would of course not be able to generate such indecision in the minds of defenders without faith in the ability of his offensive line to hold up.
However, with aggressive defensive lines who get too far upfield in their efforts to pressure Philadelphia's quarterback extremely susceptible to the run, the line's odds of keeping the pass rush at bay are improved by facing defenders who are fighting their natural instincts, with that internal conflict also enabling the Eagles to get their blockers on the front foot in the run game and create chasms for Hurts, Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell to surge through.
"The threat of Jalen, he's become a really good passer this year, his ability to run and get a lot of offense there helps our offense tremendously and then his ability to scramble and make plays for sure is helpful, helps everybody, it’s definitely an advantage," added Seumalo.
In his praise of Hurts, Johnson once again leaned on what appears to be his favourite descriptor of this Eagles' attack.
"Just a unique guy with his strengths," said Johnson. "His ability to run, he's dynamic, so [with the] gameplan, you have to be very crafty with what you do because when the play breaks down he can scramble for 30 yards. Unique player."
Johnson clearly believes Philadelphia's offense, particularly the line, is one of one. Should the Eagles keep a Chiefs defense led by All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones at bay and prevail in Glendale, then there won't be many doubting Stoutland's group deserves recognition as one of the standout offensive lines of the Super Bowl era.
Tiger Woods is set to make his return to competitive golf at next week's Genesis Invitational, in what will represent his first non-major outing on the PGA Tour for over two years.
Woods has not played competitively since missing the cut at The Open at St Andrews last July, having struggled since he suffered serious leg injuries in a car crash in early 2021.
The 15-time major winner partnered Rory McIlroy in The Match in December, but he was unwilling to commit to playing regularly this year ahead of an outing alongside son Charlie at the PNC Championship that same month.
However, Woods announced on Friday that he had committed to the Genesis Invitational, the event run by his foundation at the Riviera Country Club in California.
"I'm ready to play an ACTUAL PGA Tour event next week @thegenesisinv," Woods tweeted.
The PGA Tour's communications account followed that message by saying: "Eighty-two-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods is committed to next week's Genesis Invitational.
"Thursday's first round will be Woods' first round in a non-major on the PGA Tour since the final round of the 2020 ZOZO Championship on October 25, 2020 (844 days ago)."
Woods has repeatedly said he will attempt to play a limited schedule including the major championships, with the injuries he suffered in 2021 requiring multiple surgeries and continuing to hamper his ability to walk.
Ireland walloped Wales and France edged a tight game with Italy in round one, whetting the appetite for a Six Nations clash in Dublin on Saturday between the title favourites.
With Ireland top of the World Rugby rankings, and France in second place, this is a game that could go a long way to determining who wins the championship.
Others will feel they can have a say too, particularly Scotland after last week's impressive win over England at Twickenham, another Calcutta Cup success for Gregor Townsend.
The onus will be on the Scots, at Murrayfield against Wales this weekend, to show they can build on that victory in London. Wales boss Warren Gatland, meanwhile, will be looking for a response from his team after last week's 34-10 loss to Ireland.
England host Italy, with Steve Borthwick eyeing a first win as head coach, but the Red Rose will be wary of the Azzurri's threat, given they pushed France close last time out and beat Australia in November.
Ahead of the second round of games, Stats Perform looks at the action to come, with the help of Opta data.
IRELAND v FRANCE
FORM
France have won their last 14 matches. They have also won each of their last three meetings with Ireland after tasting victory in just one of their previous nine Test encounters (D2 L6). The recent wins against Ireland have tended to be tight affairs though, each one decided by a single-figure margin.
A 15-13 win for France in Dublin two years ago means Les Bleus have the opportunity to bag back-to-back wins in the Irish capital for only the second time in the Six Nations, after previously doing so in 2005 and 2007.
While France's current streak of wins is the longest in their history, Ireland's form is also similarly foreboding, having won 18 of their last 20 matches (L2), including each of their last six.
The men in green have won 21 of their last 22 home games, including their last 12 – marking their joint-longest winning run on home soil. The last home defeat for Ireland was that France game in the 2021 Six Nations.
ONES TO WATCH
France wing Ethan Dumortier is a man Ireland will want to keep a close eye on. The Lyon player scored a try on his Test debut last week and has totted up 12 tries in his last 13 matches for club and country. He beat five defenders from just four carries against Italy, with Gael Fickou (6) the only France player to beat more, and Dumortier starts again this weekend.
Ireland's James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Dave Kilcoyne are all set to win their 50th caps for Ireland, while scrum-half Conor Murray makes his 50th Six Nations appearance. But expect all eyes to fall on captain Johnny Sexton, with the fly-half 15 points away from beating Ronan O'Gara's record of 557 points in the championship. Veteran fly-half Sexton has managed hauls of 15-plus points on 13 occasions in the Six Nations, including three times against France (2014, 2015, 2018).
SCOTLAND v WALES
FORM
Wales have won 13 of their last 15 matches against Scotland in the Six Nations (L2), while Gatland, back at the helm for a second stint, has won each of his 10 matches against the Scots while in charge of Wales.
The omens are not great for Scotland, who also beat England in their championship openers in 2021 and 2022, only to come unstuck against Wales in round two both times. The Welsh have won just two of their last 11 matches since getting the better of Scotland 20-17 at the Principality Stadium 12 months ago, however.
Scotland made the most tackles of any side last weekend (214) and recorded the best tackle success rate (91 per cent) as they showed spirit as well as skill in London. Wales made the second-highest number of tackles (184), but it did not spare them a torching at Ireland's hands in Cardiff.
ONES TO WATCH
Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe tormented England at Twickenham with his two-try masterclass. He beat 11 defenders, the most by any player in a Six Nations match since Van der Merwe himself beat 13 against Italy in 2021, so Wales must surely prioritise stopping him if they are to stop Scotland.
Wales' Liam Williams (8) was the only other player to beat more than six defenders during the opening round. Rio Dyer also caught the eye for Wales in last week's losing cause, carrying for 108 metres from his seven carries. Among the 55 players to make more than six carries in round one, Dyer had the best average carry distance of 15.4 metres, followed by Van der Merwe (13m).
ENGLAND v ITALY
FORM
England have never lost three in a row at Twickenham in the Six Nations, but that will be the outcome if they go down to Italy on Sunday. Indeed, the last time they suffered three home defeats in a row in the old Five Nations was in 1971-72.
Erstwhile whipping boys Italy look to have more about them than in past seasons, helped by winning away at Wales in the final round of last year's championship. They have never won consecutive away matches in the Six Nations, but that is their objective this weekend.
Both these teams lost last week, but there were areas where they were high performers. England were the only side to carry for over 1,000 metres in the opening round (1,039), with Italy next on that list (828). These teams also made the most passes of all, with England (207) just ahead of Italy (202) in that metric.
ONES TO WATCH
England's Ellis Genge scored a try and made 18 carries against Scotland, the most carries by a prop in Six Nations history, beating his own record of 17, set in 2019 against Scotland. His carries total was the joint-highest of all players in week one, matching team-mate Lewis Ludlam and Scotland's Finn Russell, and Borthwick will be wanting a similarly all-action effort from the prop.
Italy's Ange Capuozzo would have enjoyed the sight of Van der Merwe rampaging through England's defence last week, knowing he is similarly capable of finding holes and exploiting them. The 23-year-old Toulouse full-back found his way to the try line against France and carried for 114 metres, the most by any player in the opening round. He has scored three tries and assisted one in his three Six Nations appearances, and England will do well to keep him under close observation.
Jamaican UFC Welterweight Randy “Rude Boy” Brown is brimming with confidence ahead of his upcoming fight with Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 284 in Perth on Saturday.
Brown enters the fight with a record of 16-4 and has won his last four bouts while Della Maddalena is 13-2 and currently on a 13-fight win streak. The 26-year-old Aussie has won all three of his UFC contests by knockout and Brown is wary of the challenge ahead.
“He’s young and dangerous,” said the 32-year-old.
“He’s a killer. I actually have a ton of respect for him and I’m a fan of his fight style but I know he has a long way to go,” Brown added.
A veteran of 14 UFC fights compared to three for Della Maddalena, Brown expects this advantage in experience to show up when the cage doors are locked on Saturday.
“I’ve been here and I’ve been doing this and he’s got a lot to learn so now’s the time to catch him early. He’s been using the term masterclass so I’m going to show him what it really means,” Brown said.
The bout will open the main card of the Pay-per-view which will be headlined by a Lightweight Championship fight between current Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski and defending Lightweight Champion Islam Makachev.
Eddie Jones accepts Steve Borthwick's criticism of his England team, but warned his successor there is "more pain to go" before they turn around their form.
The Australian's former assistant took charge of the national team for the first time in their Six Nations opener, suffering a 29-23 defeat against Scotland at Twickenham.
Afterwards, Borthwick offered an incisive repudiation of his predecessor's tenure, suggesting England "weren't good at anything" under him.
Jones, who is now in charge of Australia, acknowledged the former Leicester man's comments as a fair assessment, and pinned his side's struggles on their transitional phase.
"He is probably right," he said on his self-titled podcast EDDIE. "That was part of the problem.
"We were trying to morph a team that had been a very good set-piece [side] and a very good kicking team.
"The way the game is played at the moment, that will win you games, but it is probably not good enough to be a World Cup champion.
"Expanding the attack sometimes takes away from your strength. They are going through that difficult period now where they are trying to get the balance right in the game.
"There is no doubt Steve will fix it. Keep blaming me, that is alright. I have got a pretty strong back and pretty strong shoulders to absorb that."
Jones further warned there would be tougher times ahead for his former assistant, however, highlighting the natural flaws brought by inexperienced faces to the team.
"When you are young players, inconsistency is unfortunately a part of your apprenticeship at Test level," he added.
"You get lapses of concentration. As they build their Tests up and build their maturity, they will be really good players.
"There is probably still a bit more pain to go for England, which is hard for the supporters and hard for the coaches, but I am sure they will get through it."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
