Joel Embiid had 42 points as he inspired the Philadelphia 76ers to a 123-120 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

With James Harden having arrived to bolster the 76ers' championship bid, but still missing due to a hamstring injury, Embiid served up a reminder of just how crucial he is with another supreme display on Thursday.

This time, it was reigning NBA champions the Bucks who were on the receiving end of a masterful showing from the 27-year-old, who also tallied up 14 rebounds and five assists.

The Bucks came close, though, and had their own MVP to thank for that – Giannis Antetokounmpo helping himself to a double-double of 32 points and 11 rebounds, while also contributing nine assists.

Embiid, fittingly, put Philadelphia ahead for good with a 10-foot shot in the final quarter. 

It marked a valuable return to form for the 76ers, who can enter the All-Star break on a high despite Tuesday's dismal 135-87 defeat to the Boston Celtics. They are third in the Eastern Conference with a 35-23 record, while the Bucks sit fifth (36-24).

Doncic downs Pelicans

Anything Embiid or Antetokounmpo can do, Luka Doncic is out to do it better.

The Dallas Mavericks star had 49 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in a 125-118 defeat of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Doncic has now had 45 points or more in three of his last four games for Dallas, who enter the break in fifth place in the West.

Nets back to losing ways

After snapping an 11-game losing streak with victories over the Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets fell to a 117-103 reverse in Washington.

Rui Hachimura led the way for the Wizards with 20 points, as they moved to 2-2 for their series against the Nets this season.

The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets to win for a third time in their last four games, while the Miami Heat were overtime winners over the Charlotte Hornets.

Favourites Reilly Opelka and Grigor Dimitrov joined top seed Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals of the Delray Beach Open after victories on Thursday.

With Norrie having already set up a quarter-final against last year's runner-up Sebastian Korda, the Briton was joined in the last eight by the second and third seeds. 

Grigor Dimitrov defeated Mitchell Krueger to mark his first appearance since a disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open in style.

The Bulgarian won 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, with Serena and Venus Williams watching on from the crowd in far from ideal conditions in Florida.

"It's always very tough [in your opening match], especially playing the last match on," Dimitrov said.

"I've been here for a week already and I was eager to get out there and play. Today was just a match I had to get through. Very tough conditions: rain, wind, cold, hot. It is what it is, and you've got to deal with it."

Opelka, who won the tournament in 2020, went the distance against fellow American Jack Sock, eventually prevailing 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1. 

He will face Adrian Mannarino in the last eight, after the Frenchman's 6-4 2-6 7-5 defeat of Brandon Nakashima. Dimitrov will play Australian John Millman.

At the Rio Open, only two of the four scheduled matches were completed due to rain.

Qualifier Miomir Kecmanovic dispatched sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego 7-5 6-4, while Francisco Cerundolo overcame Roberto Carballes Baena.

Top seed Matteo Berrettini's clash with Brazilian Thiago Monteiro was pushed back to Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz will resume his match against Federico Delbonis in a strong position in the first set.

Joaquin Niemann started strongest at the Genesis Invitational with an opening round of 63 on Thursday.

A round of nine birdies gave the Chilean a three-shot lead at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Niemann is the ninth player to open with a 63 on the course. Four of the previous eight players went on to win.

Four Americans ended the first day in a tie for second, including Jordan Spieth, while 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa is a stroke further back.

World number one Jon Rahm, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele all carded 69 for their opening rounds, as did Rory McIlroy, who dropped shots on the eighth and 13th holes.

Dustin Johnson finished with a two-over-par 73, while Patrick Reed endured a disappointing first day, a double bogey on the 13th resulting in a six-over-par finish.

"Sometimes I think about a score," Niemann said. "Today I was hitting it so good, I had fun just getting into the shot. I didn't really think of the score.

"But then on 18 I was thinking about [it]. I wanted to make birdie so bad. I wanted to make one more.

"You always work to have these kind of days. You always know that you're never going to have these days four days in a row. It's a good way to start.

"I know it's going to be different days during the week, so I've got to be ready for everything and have the best attitude for it."

Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto said being "competitive" was the team's ambition for 2022 as he unveiled the new F1-75 car – warning Mercedes and Red Bull would be tough to catch.

A sleek look meant Ferrari could be happy about their design work, but Binotto was adamant the proof would come on the track when the car's true pace against the rest of the field can be gauged. It was 2019 when the team last won races.

"I would like the F1-75 to be the car that allows our fans to once again be proud of Ferrari," he said. "Our goal is to reignite the Prancing Horse legend and we can only do that by winning again."

Those words came in a bullish statement, and the team principal was perhaps more guarded about the prospects for topping the podium and championship success when he spoke at the launch.

"That is not our target, it is our ambition, because we are Ferrari," Binotto said. "I think we need to be somehow realistic, and if I look at last year the gap to the best was certainly very big at the end of the season.

"It means that those teams are very strong and if they have been strong in the past, they will continue to be very strong. So, they are still for us a benchmark.

"Our objective is to be back competitive, and for me being competitive means somehow being capable of winning races, and somehow try to go to each single race and to fight for the best position."

He said Ferrari's staff had been "brave", "united" and "open-minded" in coming up with the new car and backed drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as having "the right talent, the right capacity, the right mentality and the right approach" for the job that lies ahead.

"They are part of the team; they know to be on the podium, the best position on the podium, we need our car to be sufficiently fast to achieve it," Binotto said, in a video interview published on the official F1 website.

"Our objective together is to try to develop the car as much as we can, certainly at the start of the season to exploit it to the maximum of its potential, and let's see if our car will be fast enough to be capable to battle for the best position."

A host of technical changes in the sport this year have cast uncertainty on how the season might play out, but Binotto expects Ferrari, a distant third in the constructors' championship last year, will face a major challenge to reel in Mercedes and Red Bull. The team are not shying away from that, though.

Leclerc said: "We've got great people here in Ferrari, hopefully great drivers too, and hopefully when we put everything together on track, we'll be able to fight for wins."

Sainz is in the process of discussing a new contract, to keep him with the team beyond the end of 2022, and the Spanish driver said of those talks: "They're progressing. I'm very happy in Ferrari. We are both happy with each other. It's just now a matter of getting to agree on what's going to happen in the future. I hope we have something to tell you in the near future."

A former Los Angeles Angels communications director faces 20 years to life in prison after being found guilty of supplying drugs that caused the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Skaggs, who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Angels across a seven-year MLB career, was found dead in a Southlake hotel on July 1, 2019 after an overdose.

Eric Kay has been convicted of distribution offences, following the testimony of several other former Angels players who said he also dealt pills to them on team premises.

Kay was found guilty in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday and will be sentenced on June 28.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas said in a statement: "After less than an hour and a half of deliberation, a federal jury found former Angels communications director Eric Prescott Kay, 45, guilty of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

"According to evidence presented at trial, Mr Kay distributed the pills that killed Mr Skaggs.

"In the course of their investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration determined that Mr Kay allegedly regularly dealt the blue M/30 pills – dubbed 'blue boys' – to Mr Skaggs and to others, dolling out the pills at the stadium where they worked."

A pill examined by investigators, taken from Skaggs' hotel room, showed it had been laced with the synthetic opiate fentanyl.

Confirming Kay faced a considerable sentence, the statement added: "Mr Kay now faces between 20 years and life in federal prison."

U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham said: "This case is a sobering reminder: fentanyl kills. Anyone who deals fentanyl – whether on the streets or out of a world-famous baseball stadium – puts his or her buyers at risk. No one is immune from this deadly drug. A beloved pitcher, Tyler Skaggs was struck down in the midst of an ascendant career.

"The Justice Department is proud to hold his dealer accountable for his family and friends' unimaginable loss."

pic.twitter.com/ETEG3Nb9hv

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) February 17, 2022

The Angels said the evidence in the case had been "incredibly difficult... to hear".

The Major League Baseball franchise said in a statement: "On behalf of the entire Angels organisation, we are saddened by the devastating heartache that surrounds this tragedy, especially for the Skaggs family.

"The players' testimony was incredibly difficult for our organisation to hear, and it is a reminder that too often drug use and addiction are hidden away. From the moment we learned of Tyler's death, our focus has been to fully understand the circumstances that led to this tragedy."

The Green Bay Packers are set to appoint Tom Clements, who Aaron Rodgers has credited for his development during his early part of his career, as their new quarterbacks coach, according to reports.

Rodgers is expected to make a decision soon on his Packers future after winning his fourth NFL MVP award and second in a row.

He seemed set to leave the Packers as the reigning MVP last year as he pushed for a move, and that scenario could yet play out after the quarterback won again for 2021.

However, the 38-year-old does not intend for another saga to follow this offseason, and bringing Clements out of retirement will inevitably be seen as an effort from Green Bay to convince Rodgers to return.

According to ESPN, Clements verbally accepted the job on Thursday, though his contract is yet to be signed.

The 68-year-old was previously with the Packers from 2006 to 2016. His most recent job was with the Arizona Cardinals, before his retirement in 2020.

Clements was QB coach for Rodgers in the Super Bowl season of 2010 and his first MVP season of 2011, before becoming offensive coordinator in 2012.

Rodgers often refers to Clements as an inspiration, and mentioned him after throwing to Davante Adams in the Week 17 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.

"I learned from Tom Clements, we always had three mortal sins [as] the quarterback: Don't throw late down the middle, don't make any blind throws and no premeditated decisions," Rodgers said after the 37-10 win last month.

"And so with all apologies to Tom and his excellent training over the years, I kind of had a premeditated decision to throw it to Davante on that play."

Regarding his future, Rodgers recently said: "I'll make a decision in due time and not a ton of time. I'll give the team plenty of time to do what they got to do.

"And I think that time is coming. There will be a decision in the near future. And I'm not going to keep a lot of people waiting."

Denis Shapovalov crashed out of the Qatar Open after losing in straight sets to France's Arthur Rinderknech in their quarter-final on Thursday.

The top-seeded Canadian lost in just an hour and 20 minutes as Rinderknech sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory to seal his place in the semi-finals in Doha.

Shapovalov struggled throughout, making nine double faults and having to face 10 break points, of which he managed to save eight.

Rinderknech will now face Nikoloz Basilashvili after the Georgian fought back to beat Marton Fucsovics 1-6 6-3 7-5.

The other semi-final will see Karen Khachanov take on Roberto Bautista Agut, with the Russian also coming from a set down in beating Marin Cilic 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Bautista Agut followed up Wednesday's 6-0 6-1 victory against Andy Murray by again winning comfortably against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, scoring a 6-1 6-1 success.

The number two seed won 74 per cent of points when landing his first serve as he sealed victory in an hour and 17 minutes.

At the Open 13 in Marseille, Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime increased his winning streak to six matches after beating French veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to head through to the quarter-finals.

"It was a special moment," Auger-Aliassime said after his win. "When the match was coming to the end, I knew it was going to be a special moment, a full-circle moment. He was my top idol growing up and I saw myself in him at times."

Auger-Aliassime will play world number 49 Ilya Ivashka next, while top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also went through after a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win against Hugo Gaston. The Greek star will play Russian Roman Safiullin in the last eight.

Ninth seed Benjamin Bonzi beat fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 6-3 and will go up against Aslan Karatsev in the next round, while Lucas Pouille overcame Radu Albot 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-2) and will tackle Andrey Rublev next.

Two-time champion Simona Halep strode through to the Dubai Tennis Championships semi-finals with a 6-4 6-3 win over eighth seed Ons Jabeur on Thursday.

A series of upsets meant Jabeur was the only seed left in the tournament going into Thursday, but she was outfought by Halep, whose win-loss record in 2022 now stands at 11-1.

The result followed two years on from Halep beating Jabeur in the second round at the same tournament, on that occasion needing a third-set tie-break to get the better of the Tunisia. Halep went on to win the title on that occasion.

"It was a very tough match. Even if it's in two sets, it felt much harder than that," Halep said of Thursday's win.

"I had in my mind big time the match from 2020, it was so close and I knew I'd have to fight till the end."

Quoted on the WTA website, former Wimbledon and French Open winner Halep added: "I've been focused on what I have to do, and I wanted just to push Jabeur back because she has such a big game."

Halep will face Jelena Ostapenko in the last four after the big-hitting Latvian overcame Petra Kvitova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (11-9).

Kvitova led by a set and a break, and twice served for the match, yet Ostapenko prevailed to add the 2013 Dubai champion to the scalps of Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek this week.

Ostapenko, who triumphed in two hours and 39 minutes, has now reached at least the semi-finals in four of her last seven tournaments.

The other semi-final will be contested by Veronika Kudermetova and Marketa Vondrousova.

Kudermetova reached her third career WTA 500 semi-final after beating lucky loser Jil Teichmann 6-2 5-7 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes.

Vondrousova, meanwhile, became just the third ever qualifier to reach the last four of the tournament thanks to a 7-5 6-4 win over Dayana Yastremska.

The Cincinnati Bengals will look at ways to improve their team and help superstar quarterback Joe Burrow after an outstanding season ended in defeat at Super Bowl LVI.

The Bengals, who had not previously won a playoff game in 31 years, came within minutes of their first Super Bowl victory.

But a drive led by Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp put the Los Angeles Rams into a 23-20 lead, which three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Aaron Donald protected when the Bengals attempted to come back down the field.

Donald finished with 10 pressures – a total only topped in a Super Bowl once since 2006 (Nick Bosa, 12, in Super Bowl LIV) – of the 23 Burrow faced.

In that same recent period, there have been six examples of a quarterback being pressured 20 or more times in the Super Bowl and only one (Patrick Mahomes, 28, also in Super Bowl LIV) has won.

Burrow's seven sacks tied the Super Bowl record (Roger Staubach in Super Bowl X) and followed his league-leading 51 in the regular season.

It is no secret that the Bengals' issues are on the offensive line, although that much was clear last year, too, when Burrow tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee after being hit by two Washington defenders.

Rather than address the problem with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who had played with Burrow at LSU.

The Bengals were rewarded as Chase had 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns in the regular season, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year honours, but their inability to protect Burrow proved costly in the closing seconds of the season.

Can they now belatedly find a fix? That certainly appears to be the plan.

"Joe is a smart player and that shines through," Bengals owner Mike Brown said. "He's accurate, he's tough as nails. We want to do some things to help him."

Brown added: "I think we have the core of a top team, we'll add to it and I think we can make it better."

If the Bengals can just keep Burrow clean a little more often, they have every chance of returning to the big game during the quarterback's tenure.

"We're a young team," Burrow said immediately after Sunday's defeat, "so you'd like to think we'll be back in this situation multiple times over the course of the next few years.

"We take this and let it fuel us for the rest of our careers."

Addressing the team's fans, Brown said: "My one regret is I'm not carrying a new trophy. The Bengals are real. The future is bright. You, our coaches and our players are going to have some trip."

Michael Masi will no longer serve as Formula One race director following a "detailed analysis" of last year's controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Masi's call to unlap cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to permit one lap of racing, allowing the Red Bull superstar to snatch the title, was widely criticised and has resulted in his removal from his role.

But that is not the only change to be introduced in 2022 as part of an "in-depth reform of the organisation of refereeing and race direction", which was presented on Thursday by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

As the FIA aims to move on from an episode that marred one of the greatest seasons in F1 history, Ben Sulayem outlined four key areas for reform.

"These changes will enable us to start the 2022 Formula One season in the best conditions, and our sport will be even more loved and respected," he said.

But what are these changes – billed as offering a "new step forward in Formula One refereeing" – and why have they been made?

VAR IN F1

As well as to ensure competition rules are enforced, these changes have been made to ease the pressure on the race director.

Masi's decision was all about an interpretation of the regulations, rather than an error based on an absence of technology, but Ben Sulayem feels the race director moving forward will benefit from additional support.

For this reason, a "virtual race control room" will be created to "assist the race director in the decision-making process".

"In real-time connection with the FIA F1 race director, it will help to apply the sporting regulations using the most modern technological tools," Ben Sulayem said.

If this sounds like football's VAR being introduced to F1, the FIA thinks so too. In his speech on Thursday, Ben Sulayem drew parallels with VAR, which operates outside of stadiums but assists match referees. The virtual race control room will similarly be positioned away from the circuit at FIA offices.

RADIO EXCHANGES TAKEN OFF THE AIR

In the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi GP, as F1 fans on both sides of the title divide raged, Masi was not helped by the official broadcast.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff fumed at Masi's decision to expose Hamilton, and Masi replied: "Toto, it's called a motor race, okay?"

This conversation, as with numerous exchanges throughout races, was relayed to those watching on television.

Leaked footage in recent weeks has suggested Red Bull implored Masi to make that judgement, using the same term in asking for "a motor race".

This conversation was not actually heard at the time, but Masi certainly did not benefit from being on display to the world as he made the biggest call of his career.

These direct radio communications will no longer be broadcast, Ben Sulayem revealed, "to protect the race director from any pressure and allow him to take decisions peacefully".

"It will still be possible to ask questions to the race director, according to a well-defined and non-intrusive process," the FIA president added.

UNLAPPING RULE TO BE REASSESSED

Part of the difficulty in Abu Dhabi was that even seasoned F1 watchers were unsure if Masi had acted correctly. Red Bull clearly thought he had done; Mercedes, unsurprisingly, disagreed.

Should a similar scenario arise again, the FIA would hope its race director would have a clear idea of the process.

"Unlapping procedures behind safety car will be reassessed by the F1 sporting advisory committee and presented to the next F1 commission prior to the start of the season," Ben Sulayem said.

MASI OUT AND REPLACED BY TWO

Masi will be offered a role elsewhere in the FIA after he "accomplished a very challenging job" across three years, but rather than being replaced by a single new race director, the governing body is putting in place "a new race management team".

Masi had endured a draining season even before the Abu Dhabi drama, and the load will be shared moving forward.

Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, the two race directors, will act alternately, supported by a permanent senior advisor in Herbie Blash.

With multiple officials now overseeing the 2022 title race, the FIA will hope for less scrutiny of any one individual. The focus on Masi alone at such a crucial stage last year was surely hugely unhelpful.

LeBron James says it was "sickening" to see Anthony Davis suffer an ankle injury during the Los Angeles Lakers' win over the Utah Jazz but hopes his team-mate can make a swift return.

Davis reportedly faces two weeks on the sidelines after sustaining a suspected sprained ankle in the Lakers' 106-101 victory on Wednesday.

The forward left the Crypto.com Arena on crutches and will undergo an MRI scan on Thursday heading into the All-Star break.

James, who scored a team-high 33 points, said: "Obviously it's sickening to see AD go down in that fashion

"I hope he's fine. Obviously, I mean, I know he's not great, but obviously his health is most important for him individually, for our ballclub.

"I've seen [injuries] too many times, obviously. So I just wish him the best."

Davis had 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting before his participation was cut short.

In the absence of Davis, who had only recently returned after missing 17 games with a sprained knee, the Lakers stepped up to snap a three-game losing run.

They trailed by 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, but went on a 19-4 run with James inspiring the comeback.

The Lakers superstar scored 15 points in the final quarter and has now scored 25 points or more in a career-best 23 straight games.

Frank Vogel's side are now 27-31 for the season but are still down in ninth in the Western Conference, while the 36-22 Jazz are in fourth after suffering a first loss in seven outings.

DeMar DeRozan vowed to remain grounded after breaking a 60-year NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain in the Chicago Bulls' win against the Sacramento Kings.

The five-time All-Star scored a game-high 38 points in Wednesday's 125-118 victory at United Center as the Bulls won for a fifth game running to go 38-21 for the season.

In doing so, DeRozan became the first player to score 35 points or more and shoot 50 per cent or better in seven straight games.

That is a record previously held by legendary figure Chamberlain, who achieved the feat on separate occasions in 1960-61 and in 1962-63.

After writing his name in the NBA record books, DeRozan struggled to sum up his feelings.

"I can't. I'll be honest with you, I can't. I can't describe it," he said. "It's one of those things where I'm completely locked in as soon as I come to work."

DeRozan's run of at least 30 points in eight straight games is also the longest streak by a Bulls player since Michael Jordan in 1996.

"As a kid, as a fan of the history of the game, being in the league as long as I've been in this league – things like that continue to make me even more humble," he said. 

"Being an NBA player and being able to have the privilege to be able to play this long and have these opportunities, it's something I never take for granted. 

"And the crazy thing is I felt like I missed eight easy shots [against Sacramento] I normally would have made."

DeRozan is level with the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid for the longest streak of 30 or more points by a player this season.

He leads the Bulls this season with 1,547 points at an average of 28.1 through 55 games, which is the fourth-best tally of any player in NBA behind LeBron James (29.1), Embiid (29.3) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.4).

The Bulls are now guaranteed at least a share of first place in the Eastern Conference heading into the All-Star break, with the Miami Heat able to draw level when they face the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday.

While DeRozan has played a vital role in what has been an impressive campaign to date, head coach Billy Donovan has been pleased with the input from every player.

"I'm just really appreciative of this group of guys from top to bottom," Donovan said. 

"The way they come to work every day, how professional they are, how they try to keep themselves ready, how it's all about the team, all about winning and what each individual can do to impact and help in winning."