Former world number one Simona Halep says she suffered a panic attack during her second round match with Zheng Qinwen, contributing to her early French Open exit.
The 2018 Roland Garros champion became the latest big name to make a shock departure from Paris inside the first week after blowing a first set lead to lose 2-6 6-2 6-1.
It marked a major scalp for the unseeded Zhang, who previously lost to Halep in January, and was arguably the biggest win of the Chinese teenager's career at her competition debut.
But Halep, who looked to be in cruise control early on, revealed she suffered an unexpected setback that threw her rhythm in her post-match comments, though she has now recovered.
"I was playing well at the start," she stated. "I had a break in the second set, but then something happened. I just lost it.
"It was just a panic attack. I didn't know how to handle it, because I don't have [them] often. I don't really know why it happened, because I was leading the match. I was playing well
"After the match, [it] was pretty tough. But now I'm good. I'm recovered, and I will learn from this episode. It's good that now I can smile."
On her overall time at Roland Garros, Halep admitted she was happy to come through it unscathed, adding: "Tomorrow is a new day.
"I know it's like a cliche, but it's a new day, and I'll wake up motivated to keep working. [I've] no injury, which is really good. Now I'm in a good place."
Zion Williamson has been cleared to return to play without any restrictions.
The New Orleans Pelicans star did not play a single game this season due to a foot fracture as his team reached the playoffs through the play-in tournament, before losing 4-2 to the Phoenix Suns in the first round.
Williamson has been troubled by fitness issues throughout his NBA career, and the former first overall pick returned to full team activities in late November, only to suffer further setbacks.
However, the Pelicans confirmed on Thursday that the 21-year-old is finally able to return without restrictions, saying via a statement: "The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that recent imaging of Zion Williamson's right fifth metatarsal showed continued improvement.
"Williamson has been cleared in his return to play progression without any restrictions."
In the 2020-21 season, Williamson averaged 27.0 points and 7.2 rebounds from 61 games, and scored more than 20 in each of his last 15 games before getting injured just over a year ago.
Williamson is eligible for a five-year, $181million max rookie extension ahead of the 2022-23 season, and he will not think twice if that offer comes from the Pelicans, recently saying: "Of course, I couldn't sign it fast enough."
Only the understandable media attention is allowing Iga Swiatek to keep count of her incredible winning run that reached 30 matches on Thursday.
The world number one sealed her place in the third round of the French Open after a dominant 6-0 6-2 win against Alison Riske.
That victory made her just the fourth WTA Tour player this century to win 30 or more consecutive matches. She has also taken 46 of the past 47 sets she has played.
Speaking at a news conference following her milestone win, Swiatek insisted she does not follow the numbers – although she has no need to while her streak remains the focus of journalists.
"I know how many matches I have won in a row because you keep reminding me, basically," she said. "But I don't keep track.
"I'm not like noting or something. I just try to come back to these matches to get experience from them. But that's the only reason why I come back to them."
Swiatek was asked to explain what had inspired her imperious form, with her 39 match victories in 2022 already three more than she managed in the whole of 2021.
"I think basically I changed some things, like I started being more aggressive and trying to be more proactive on court," she replied. "That's something that my coach really helped me to do.
"But also, I think all the work we have been doing, even last season, it finally clicked somehow.
"You know, last season it was a year for me where I really gained so much experience. This year I feel like I'm using it the right way. I have this experience already, and I can just move forward.
"So I think it's the physical work I have been doing but also with my psychologist, I think it's the work of the whole team as well. I'm pretty glad that it clicks right now."
The 20-year-old conceded her form will not last forever, but she is determined to enjoy it while it lasts.
"I was saying from the beginning that for sure I'm going to reach a point where I'm going to lose a match, and it's pretty normal, you know," Swiatek said. "I have been losing matches in tennis for a long time.
"For sure, the things we are doing right now are pretty extraordinary, but I know in tennis that only one person wins at the end. I will be okay with that.
"For sure, it's not fun to lose, but I think it wouldn't be different than any other loss that I had in my career."
Dries De Bondt sprinted to victory on stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, as Jai Hindley remained three seconds adrift of race leader Richard Carapaz despite a late puncture.
It was De Bondt among a breakaway quartet who had the pace to take his maiden victory in a Grand Tour race in Treviso on Thursday.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider pipped Edoardo Affini, with Magnus Cort Nielsen third and Davide Gabburo just missing out on a podium at the end of a 156-kilometre route from Borgo Valsugana.
That group of four riders made an early move and there was no catching them on a day Belgian De Bondt will never forget.
The 30-year-old's win was his first since crossing the line first in the Belgian National Road Championships in September 2020.
There was drama when Hindley suffered a puncture, but the BORA-Hansgrohe rider did not lose time in the general classification battle as the mechanical issue came within three kilometres of the finish.
Carapaz finished 20 seconds after De Bondt as he retained the maglia rosa, with Mikel Landa staying in third place behind Hindley.
"I checked Landa and Hindley all the time as I knew there could be some gaps. I want to keep the maglia rosa till the end, I trust in my legs." INEOS Grenadiers rider Carapaz said.
Almeida ruled out after positive COVID-19 test
Joao Almeida was fourth in the GC standings, but the Portuguese rider's race is over after he tested positive for COVID-19 following stage 17.
UAE Team Emirates team principal Mauro Gianetti said: "We are obviously deeply upset because Joao and the supporting team were doing an excellent race.
"Our goals were the podium of the Giro and the white jersey as best young rider, and we were fighting to win them both.
"It is bad news, but this is the reality we have been living every day for two years. We have to accept it and look forward. Now the most important thing is that Joao recovers as soon as possible."
STAGE RESULT
1. Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) 3:21:21
2. Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) same time
3. Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education-EasyPost) same time
4. Davide Gabburo (Bardiani CSF Faizane) same time
5. Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) +0:14
CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS
General Classification
1. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) 76:41:21
2. Jai Hindley (BORA-Hansgrohe) +0:03
3. Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) +1:05
Points Classification
1. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) 254
2. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 132
3. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 124
King of the Mountains
1. Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) 218
2. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) 103
3. Diego Rosa (EOLO-Kometa) 94
Daniil Medvedev is outgrowing his phobia of spiders while learning how to handle his tennis fears as he targets a long run at the French Open.
The popular Russian made pain-free progress past Serbian Laslo Djere on Thursday, winning 6-3 6-4 6-3 to set up a third-round clash with Miomir Kecmanovic.
He spoke afterwards about the difficulties of staying informed about off-court matters, particularly whether there could be twists to come surrounding Wimbledon's ban of Russian and Belarusian players this year.
Medvedev is keen to keep his focus on what happens on court, and while tennis may stoke up emotions, such as when the world number two was cut up by his defeat to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final, he is determined to develop mechanisms to deal with trauma.
"I think fear is one of the toughest emotions in people's lives, because a lot of mistakes we do in life are because we are scared of something," Medvedev said.
"That's how I think. And yeah, I'm a little bit scared of spiders, but I need to say I was much more scared when I was 10 or 12.
"When you grow up you need to sometimes face your fears. I never saw a tarantula, so I think I'm going to be scared if I see one. I'm not scared any more of small spiders.
"Fear is actually what we can feel every day in tennis. You're scared to lose. Sometimes you are scared what people are going to think about you.
"For example, I was number one in the world for two weeks, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not scared if people are going to say, 'Well, yeah, it doesn't matter, you were only two weeks'.
"But you can be scared of this. I think in every sport, especially the higher you get, the more you can have this situation.
"I try to work hard on not being scared of anything and just learning, even if I do mistakes, not being scared to repeat them but try not to repeat them.
"To be honest, I'm not scared of much right now in my life."
Former world number one Simona Halep is out of the French Open after crumbling from a one-set lead against Zheng Qinwen in the second round on Thursday.
The 2018 Roland Garros champion, the most experienced player in the draw at this year's competition, fell to a 2-6 6-2 6-1 loss against her unseeded opponent.
Halep, who is now coached by Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou, is the latest big name to suffer an early exit on clay this year.
The 30-year-old, who fought off a comeback from lucky loser Nastasja Schunk on Tuesday, looked to be cruising after the first set.
But Halep failed to navigate a fiery response from Zheng, who blazed through the second set to tie things up before an impressive rout in the third in her first appearance in Paris.
It marks revenge for the teenager as well, having fallen to Halep at the semi-final stage of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 earlier this year.
It continues a mixed 2022 for the Romanian so far, whose best finishes were victory in Victoria, followed by reaching the final four at the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells Masters.
Zheng will now face either 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko or France's Alize Cornet in the third round, with the pair set to play later on Thursday.
Jamaican Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight Randy “Rude Boy” Brown in putting Jamaican Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) on the map, but he wants to take the scenic route to the top.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Jamaican parents before moving to Jamaica as a toddler with his mother and then returning to the States at 16, the 31-year-old Brown entered the UFC in 2014 and has a record 9-4 with the MMA superpower and 15-4 overall in his career, with his last loss coming in August 2020 against current number-6 ranked Welterweight Vicente Luque from Brazil.
He’s built up some momentum going 3-0 in his last three fights with a possible date with a top-15 opponent on the horizon, something Brown says is not a priority at the moment.
“Honestly, I am knocking on the door of the top 15 but I’m not particularly in a rush to fight anybody in the top 15 right now because I feel like in the top 15, everybody is really trying to guard their ranking so you don’t really fight as consistently as you would like to,” Brown told Sportsmax.TV.
“Personally, I would like to fight a couple more outside of the rankings to build up the streak a little bit more and, you know, let the money grow as well. When the money grows and gets where it needs to get to then we look at the rankings and be able to afford fighting once a year. As of right now, I just want to fight consistently,” he added.
An exciting fighter to watch, Brown cited legends of the sport when asked about who influenced his style of mixed martial arts.
“Anderson Silva 100 per cent. Growing up watching Anderson Silva was a huge inspiration for me and, if we’re speaking current fighters, other people that influence me a lot right now are Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones,” Brown said.
Iga Swiatek again showed relentless form to ease past Alison Riske and book her place in the third round of the French Open on Thursday.
The number one seed stormed to a 6-0 6-2 victory on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, and will now face Danka Kovinic – the latest woman to attempt to halt the WTA Tour's winning machine.
Chasing her 30th straight win, there was an ominous start from Swiatek, who sealed the first set in just 20 minutes as Riske won just seven points.
Swiatek was ruthless as she sped through the games, winning all three break points against Riske to get halfway to victory in double quick time.
The American tried to fight back at the start of the second, but Swiatek seemed to move up a gear every time her opponent was able to win a point, breaking again in the second game.
Riske reached deuce in the next game, before finally holding serve to get herself on the board to a big cheer from the crowd.
The world number 43 showed more fight as she held serve again, but Swiatek's power and shot placement was ultimately too much as she motored to victory.
The 2020 champion has now won 39 matches this year (including Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers), three more than her tally for the entire 2021 season.
Data Slam: Dominant Swiatek
Swiatek's win here makes her just the fourth player this century to win 30 or more consecutive matches. She also won 85 per cent of points on her first serve (22 of 26) and did not face any break points.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Swiatek – 23/15
Riske – 6/14
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Swiatek – 1/1
Riske – 2/2
BREAK POINTS WON
Swiatek – 5/9
Riske – 0/0
Michelle Wie West, the teenage prodigy who went on to win the U.S. Women's Open, has announced she intends to step away from the LPGA Tour.
The Hawaii-born player, who burst onto the scene as a 10-year-old when she qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, will play just two more competitive events.
Wie West, who gave birth to her first child in 2020, is now 32 and has only played once on the LPGA Tour this year, at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January.
She will play the U.S. Women's Open next week and also next year, but that may be it for her as a professional golfer.
"Excited to announce the next phase of my career as I'll be stepping back from playing on the @lpga_tour full time," Wie said on Instagram on Thursday. "I'm so grateful for the past 14 years I spent on tour, travelling the world and competing against the best in the game.
"Excited to spend more time now on projects that I always wanted to do but never had time for and to continually work to help golf become a more diverse and inclusive space."
She will work with Nike on golf projects and could yet one day make a playing return, but for now Wie West is done with the grind of the tour.
"I don't have any regrets because I feel like I've always learned from every mistake that I've made," Wie West told Golfweek.
"I feel like even if it was a huge major fail, at least it makes for a good story now. I think if I hadn't won the U.S. Open, I'd still be out there competing week to week trying to get that U.S. Open win."
She said she felt "very happy in my decision".
Tipped to be the Tiger Woods of the LPGA Tour as a teenager, Wie West was a record breaker during school, setting a series of impressive benchmarks and raising the profile of the women's game.
At 14, she carded the lowest score ever by a woman competing on the PGA Tour with a 68 at the Sony Open, and turned professional just before her 16th birthday.
Injuries hampered her progress despite a slew of major sponsorships, but she fought back in 2014 to claim her only major, in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst.
Wie West won four other LPGA events during her career, most recently the HSBC Women's World Championship in 2018.
Despite stepping away from the tour, she has refused to call it a retirement, adding: "I'm definitely not ruling anything out."
Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales have signed new two-year deals with Aprilia.
The Spanish duo will continue to ride for the MotoGP team until at least the end of the 2024 season.
Espargaro will go into the Italian Grand Prix this weekend third in the battle for the title, having secured one win and three podium finishes this season.
Vinales continues to adapt to the RS-GP, but is 10th in the standings.
"This confirmation [of the new contracts] was just what the doctor ordered," Espargaro said. "We've worked hard together and grown together.
"We were a hope, now we are reality. In 2021, we had already seen clear signs of our steps forward and now we are able to battle consistently with the best in the world.
"Continuing to do so with Aprilia is a source of pride for me. We can grow even more and we want to demonstrate that on the track."
Vinales stated: "I'm extremely happy to continue my work with Aprilia Racing. Now our horizons are expanding and we'll be able to work with continuity to achieve ambitious goals.
"I believe in this project and I'm happy to be part of it. I've found a fantastic environment in Aprilia and this confirmation gives me the peace of mind to grow the way this team and I deserve to."
Leolia Jeanjean became the lowest-ranked woman to beat a top-10 player at the French Open since 1988 as the world number 227 stunned Karolina Pliskova on Thursday.
French player Jeanjean was a promising youngster whose career looked to have been scuppered by knee trouble, but at the age of 26 she is making her grand slam debut in Paris and is through to the third round.
On Court Simonne-Mathieu, she crushed last year's Wimbledon runner-up Pliskova 6-2 6-2, surprising herself with the way she brushed off the eighth-seeded Czech.
It made Jeanjean the lowest-ranked woman to beat a top-10 opponent at Roland Garros since a 16-year-old Conchita Martinez upset ninth seed Lori McNeil at the 1988 tournament.
The then little-known Martinez would go on to win Wimbledon in 1994 and reach number two in the world.
As a teenager, Jeanjean reached 676th in the world in 2013, but she had slumped to 1,180th by November 2020. A once-promising career looked set to end with Jeanjean sliding into obscurity, but she thrilled the Roland Garros crowds with her dismantling of Pliskova.
Mixing her studies in finance with college tennis at Lynn University and the University of Arkansas has helped Jeanjean climb inside the top 250 on the WTA Tour, and her big-stage breakthrough has finally arrived in her homeland.
"I'm very, very happy," she said. "What's happening right now is something I never imagined before. When I stopped playing for four to five years I never imagined I'd be in the third round of a grand slam.
"The fact I never gave up and always believed in myself is probably why I'm here today. Now I'm 26, and it's my first grand slam. I thought I would have lost in the first round in two sets and I find myself beating a top-10 player.
"I don't know how it's possible that it's happening."
It was after Jeanjean sustained her knee injury that she chose to go down the US college route with her career, knowing many tennis stars have come through the system.
"I wanted to give myself another chance," she said.
Pliskova lost on clay to a player from outside the WTA top 200 for the first time since going down to Arina Rodionova in qualifiers for a tournament in Fes, Morocco, more than 10 years ago. Irina-Camelia Begu awaits Jeanjean in the third round.
Pliskova's exit was the latest in a string of shocks which have meant that for the first time at Roland Garros, six or more of the top 10 seeds have been eliminated in the first two rounds. She joined Barbora Krejcikova, Maria Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit, Ons Jabeur and Garbine Muguruza on that list of casualties.
The 30-year-old Pliskova said Jeanjean's variety made her an awkward opponent, and suggested the courts played slowly.
"I think this court is a bit too brutal,," Pliskova said during a news conference. "My serve was not working. I don't have a horrible feeling but, of course, like you lose, so of course I'm not happy about it, but I just want to give credit to her, I think she played a great match."
Rory McIlroy reflected on the US PGA Championship as "one that got away" after he failed to capitalise on a great start at Southern Hills.
McIlroy led the second major of the year after carding a five-under 65 in his first round last Thursday.
That proved to be a false dawn, as the Northern Irishman followed that up with a 71 in his second round and went in the wrong direction on moving day when he shot a 74.
McIlroy finished with a 68 to take eighth place in Tulsa, where Justin Thomas beat Will Zalatoris in a play-off to take the title.
It is eight years since McIlroy won the last of his four majors and he knows he missed a golden opportunity in Oklahoma.
"Regrets? Yeah I regret I didn't take advantage of the benign conditions on Friday afternoon," McIlroy said in a conference call to promote the new GolfNow Compete App.
"I regret the big numbers I made on the par threes on Saturday. The fact that I just needed to play the last 13 holes in one-under par to make a play-off on Sunday, and I didn't.
"So, yeah, I definitely feel like it was one that got away. But, again, I have to take the positives – and the fact that eighth place in a major is absolutely the worst I feel I could’ve finished last week."
The world number eight, runner-up in The Masters last month, is pleased with the progress he has made over the last year.
"The first two majors of last year, I missed the cut at Augusta and I finished like 50th at the PGA," he said.
"I just have to stay as patient as possible. I know that if I keep playing the golf that I'm playing the chances are going to present themselves and I'm going to give myself a few more chances this year, not just to win majors but to win golf tournaments in general."
McIlroy has not spoken to Dr Bob Rotella about his performance at the US PGA, but says his mental coach has been in touch.
"He sent me a nice text on Sunday night," he said.
"There's a lot to be positive about where my golf game is now compared to where it was last year, it's miles ahead of that. I feel like the consistency is back in my golf game that really hasn't been there.
"I feel like this year is very similar to 2019, when I had one of my best years ever and won four times, and I was PGA Tour Player of the Year."
McIlroy will play in the Memorial, the RBC Canadian Open, the Travelers and the U.S. Open. He will then miss the Irish Open and play in the JP McManus Pro-Am prior to The Open at St Andrews, which starts on July 10.
Jimmy Butler is confident the Miami Heat can turn things around after falling 3-2 behind to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Miami must now win back-to-back games after slumping to a 93-80 loss on Wednesday, despite having taken a 42-37 half-time lead.
Boston can seal the series on home court on Friday, but Butler is determined to take it to a Game 7 decider on Sunday.
"Besides the fact that anything is possible, we know what we are capable of," he said.
"We know we can play some really good basketball, and we know that we are going to play some really good basketball.
"It's going to have to start in this next game up in Boston. But I just think that we know that we can win."
Butler left Game 3 early with a knee problem and has since been 7-of-32 from the field in consecutive losses.
However, he was in no mood to make excuses for his poor showing.
"It doesn't matter; if I'm out there, I've got to do better," he said. "I've got to find a way to help us win, and I haven't been doing that.
"I'm fine. My knee is okay. I've just got to do better. It's no excuse."
Team-mate Kyle Lowry struck a similarly defiant tone as he sought to issue a rallying call ahead of a crunch clash in Boston.
"We have to continue to just keep working," Lowry said.
"It's the first to four, so we have to go into a hostile environment, and it will be amped up, but I like what our team can do.
"I like the opportunity that we have, and we've got to go in there and fight."
Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuna Jr and New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton were both absent from their teams' line-ups on Wednesday as they battle minor injuries.
Acuna, 24, returned at the beginning of May from a knee reconstruction that ended his 2021 season, and has looked largely like the two-time All-Star and Rookie of the Year that he is, even though his power numbers are down.
He had every intention of playing when he went to bed on Tuesday, but he reportedly woke up on Wednesday with tightness in his quad, before an MRI revealed a grade-one strain. He is considered day-to-day.
Stanton, on the other hand, has been placed on the 10-day injured list with what the team originally called a "right calf strain", before changing it to "right ankle inflammation".
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said while any injury is frustrating, he feels the prognosis for Stanton is positive.
"I feel like we got good news," he said. "The Achilles is fine, and no strain.
"So [we] just feel like this is something that's going to be short, and like we should knock it out and not mess with it and maybe it becomes something else.
"Hopefully he got out in front of it a little bit, and hopefully it's just 10 days."
Game-winner Tyler Bozak said the St. Louis Blues were not ready to go on holidays after they pulled off a stunning 5-4 comeback in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche to keep their season alive.
With the win, the Blues still trail 3-2 in the series, but they earned a chance to head home to St. Louis for Game 6
The Avalanche looked all set to move on to the next round after a pair of first period goals to Nathan MacKinnon, and a second-round strike from Gabriel Landeskog had them up 3-0 at the halfway point.
Instead of lying down, the Blues fought back in front of the raucous Avalanche crowd, with Vladimir Tarasenko pegging one back to make it 3-1 at the end of the second period.
The Avalanche were able to hold things together for the first nine minutes of the last period, until the Blues' pressure started to pay off, with Robert Thomas trimming the margin to 3-2.
Jordan Kyrou would have thought his goal would send the game to overtime as he made it 3-3 with less than five minutes to play, but the Avalanche answered straight back as MacKinnon finished off his hat-trick with under three minutes on the clock.
But there would be another twist to the tale, as Thomas was able to force home his second goal, the equaliser, with 56 seconds remaining in regulation.
Overtime only lasted 3:38 before Bozak silenced the home fans with the golden goal to keep the Blues' Stanley Cup dreams alive.
Speaking to post-game media after scoring the winner, Bozak said his side was not ready for things to end this way.
"Just a resilient group of guys," he said. "[We] got down, [but] didn't want the season to be over.
"[We] fought hard and got some big goals late. I just got a little bounce up top and saw a lane to the net.
"In overtime, there's definitely no such thing as a bad shot. I just tried to get it through on the traffic – all I know is that it went in, and that's all that matters."
Blues coach Craig Berube highlighted the gutsy effort to come from behind twice.
"We battle back, and then we give up that goal," he said. "It could have been deflating, but our guys have a lot of guts.
"Guys battled and kept battling. That's really what it boils down to.
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted, being down quick. I thought the second half of the second period we started to come with our game.
"Getting to the goal line, winning battles down there. We went north. That's what it boils down to."
Thomas had not scored in any of the Blues' first 10 playoff games, but said it was nice to break the drought.
"Better late than never, I guess," he said.
"You've got nothing to lose – you might as well throw it all out there. That was the mindset."
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown insisted his side will continue to win games with their defense after defeating the Miami Heat 93-80 on Wednesday.
The Celtics recovered from a disappointing first half to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, setting up a chance to clinch the series and an NBA Finals berth on their home floor.
Boston scored only 37 points in the first half, shooting 25 per cent from beyond the three-point arc, but only trailed by five points at the main interval.
Brown asserted that their defence is critical in limiting the damage when they are not clicking on the offensive end, keeping the team in games.
"Our defence is key," he said after the win. "Every night we come out and hang our hat on that side of the ball. It was great to have, even in a limited role, Marcus [Smart] and Rob [Williams III], to be able to be out there, because their presence on that side of the ball is felt.
"Every night we give ourselves a chance with our defence. We didn't play great in the first half but we only gave up 42 points. Kept us in the game, we were down five, got settled in the second half and the game opened up and it was over from there.
"Our defence is what continues to win us games and we've got to keep hanging our hat on that defensive side of the ball."
In what has been a primarily defensive series, Game 5 was no different, with Miami generating a great amount of offensive impact from their defensive stops.
Brown was a prominent figure in that regard, coughing up four of Boston's 10 turnovers for the half as the team shot 38.2 per cent from the floor.
The 25-year-old took over in the second half, however, not turning the ball over once while scoring 19 points off eight-of-12 shooting.
Post-game, he said there was little variation in approach, despite a dressing down in the first half from Celtics coach Ime Udoka.
"We knew if we took care of the basketball, we would get some open opportunities and knock them down," Brown said. "Just continue to play basketball and be aggressive, that's why basketball is 48 minutes.
"I think he [Udoka] was talking to the whole team. I wasn't the only person to have some turnovers but it is what it is. I'm going to keep being aggressive, keep getting into the paint and making them stop me.
"Miami do a really good job of slapping down, reaching and grabbing and making it tough for you, so it's a little bit of both. I've got to do a better job for sure, but overall as a team, we've got to do a better job too."
The Atlanta Braves had it working with both bat and ball as they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 at home on Wednesday.
The Phillies opened the scoring through a massive 431-foot solo home run to Odubel Herrera in the top of the second inning – the biggest hit by either team in the game.
But they would not finish the second inning in the lead as William Contreras connected on his own home run to left-field, tying the game, before Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson drove in another three runs with base hits.
Philadelphia mounted a comeback in the middle innings, with Herrera driving in his second run via a base hit in the fourth, followed by Nick Castellanos' ground-out RBI and Jean Segura's RBI single, tying it at 4-4.
It would be all Braves from that point on as their bullpen allowed just two hits from the last 14 outs, with Spencer Strider striking out five in two innings.
After Swanson scored on a fielding error to put the Braves up 5-4, they made no doubt about the result with further solo home runs to Austin Riley and Swanson to put the game to bed.
Swanson finished with four hits from five at-bats, with two runs and two RBIs.
Phillies MVP candidate Bryce Harper also played well, with four hits from his five at-bats, including two doubles.
Long ball reigns supreme for Tigers
The Detroit Tigers came back from an early deficit to defeat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 in extra innings – with every score coming from home runs.
Trevor Larnach put the Twins ahead 2-0 with his two-run homer in the fourth inning, before Tigers shortstop Harold Castro pegged one back with a solo shot in the sixth frame.
Castro struck again in the eighth inning, hitting another solo home run to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the extra inning, Jeimer Candelario was the hero, blasting the first pitch of his at-bat over the center-field wall to make it 4-2 and set the table for closing pitcher Andrew Chafin to come in for the save.
Yankees pitcher holds Orioles scoreless in debut start
The New York Yankees grinded out a hard-fought 2-0 victory against the Baltimore Orioles, thanks in large part to a terrific debut start for pitcher J.P. Sears.
Sears, 26, had two relief appearances for the Yankees this month before being trusted with his first start, and he repaid their faith with five scoreless innings, striking out five batters while giving up three hits and two walks.
The Yankees' bullpen also contributed, allowing just three baserunners, while Miguel Andujar had the most clutch hit of the game to break the deadlock in the fourth inning.
The Boston Celtics claimed critical home-court advantage and a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, earning a gritty 93-80 Game 5 win against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
In all four quarters the Celtics held the Heat to 23 points or fewer, but the offensive side of the ball was also far from clicking early on.
The Heat led 19-17 at quarter-time and after winning the second frame 23-20, they held an incredibly low-scoring 42-37 lead at the long break.
In the first half, both teams shot under 39 per cent from the field and 26 per cent from three-point range, but the Heat were winning the physical battle on the boards, pulling in nine offensive rebounds to just two for the Celtics.
The two teams also combined for just six fast-break points in the first half, illustrating the slow, grinding pace of play as both defences locked in, forcing better ball and man movement.
Back in Game 1, also in Miami, the Heat who came out of the locker room for the third quarter and went on a rampage to swing that game, but this time the shoe was on the other foot.
The Celtics doubled up the Heat in the third period, winning it 32-16 as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford found rhythm on the offensive end.
Boston led 69-58 after three quarters, and extended that lead to 23 points in the opening minutes of the final frame, as Brown knocked down three big triples.
After a first half where he was the subject of plenty of criticism for his loose ball handling – with four first-half turnovers – Brown made the difference after half-time, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and five-of-nine from long range. He also had no turnovers in the second half, and the biggest dunk of the game.
Jayson Tatum was also at his playmaking best, with 22 points on a mediocre seven-of-20 shooting, but he added 12 rebounds and nine assists, consistently creating opportunities for shooters off the dribble and showing advanced ability to make reads as play unfolded.
The real story of the Celtics' success was their ability to take away the three-point line for the Heat, though.
With Jimmy Butler's jump shots not falling – finishing with 13 points on four-of-18 shooting – Miami simply had no avenue to reliable outside scoring.
The Celtics' ability to chase hard over the top of screens and dribble hand-offs made life miserable for Max Strus and Duncan Robinson, taking away their catch-and-shoot opportunities and turning them into dribblers, far outside their comfort zones.
Strus finished zero-of-nine from the field, missing all seven of his three-point attempts, while Robinson was four-of-12, including three-of-10 from long range. As a team, the Heat were just seven-of-45 (15 per cent) from beyond the arc.
Instead, the Celtics dared the Heat to beat them inside, banking on the stoutness of their terrific interior defensive duo of Horford and Robert Williams III. That pairing combined for 17 rebounds, five blocks, two steals and just one foul.
Game 6 will head back to Boston, meaning the first-seeded Heat need to win on the road to save their season and force a Game 7.
World number one Novak Djokovic highlighted the joy of having fans back in full attendance after he collected his second consecutive straight sets win to advance to the third round of the French Open, beating Alex Molcan 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
In his first-round fixture against Yoshihito Nishioka, Djokovic won 55 per cent of the total points in the first set, and increased that number in the second and third.
This time, however, it was Molcan who was slowly improving as the match wore on, as Djokovic won 70 per cent of the first-set points, 57 per cent in the second and 53 per cent as he was taken to a tie-breaker in the third.
Speaking to the media after his win, the Serbian star said he feels in good touch, and gave credit to his "tricky opponent".
"I'm pleased with the way I'm feeling on the court [and] the way I’ve been striking the ball," he said.
"I think today was also under challenging conditions and playing against a specialist on clay, someone that is a tricky opponent and coming off from the [Lyon] final last week.
"It was never going to be an easy match, but I thought I performed very well."
He went on to discuss how energising it is to have a full crowd after there was a limited capacity for his 2021 triumph.
"It's great to see the crowd back [and] the full capacity on all courts," he said. "Lots of young people, lots of kids, this is something that I really love to see.
"It always gives you energy. For me at this stage of my career, a crowd and this energy of people coming to watch me play is one of the biggest reasons why I keep on competing [and] playing professional tennis."
Djokovic will play Slovakian Aljaz Bedene in the third round, and despite being aware of his collision course with Rafael Nadal set for the quarter-finals, he said looking ahead that far serves little purpose.
"You are aware what's going on with the other guys, at least in my case, and I know that everyone else is watching everybody else," he said.
"[But] that cannot be dominating most of your time and energy that you invest in a day.
"So you are aware, but then of course it's really not up to you what they do. It's what you have to do, win matches and make good results."
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