Second seed Ons Jabeur secured a berth in a second successive Charleston Open final after triumphing 7-5 7-5 in a tight battle with third seed Daria Kasatkina.
Jabeur trailed a break in both sets but won in 109 minutes, aided by a three-hour rain delay at 5-3 down in the first frame allowing her to re-group.
The Tunisian had been a double break down at 4-1 in the first set, with Jabeur breaking Kasatkina when she served for the set at 5-2.
Jabeur's progress means she has reached her 11th WTA level final, this marking her first since the 2022 US Open which she lost to Iga Swiatek.
Jabeur lost last year's Charleston final to Belinda Bencic and the two may face off again in this year's decider, with the Swiss fourth seed leading top seed Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-6 (2-4) before rain forced their semi-final to be postponed until Sunday.
Bencic looked to have blown a 5-2 first-set lead, failing to serve out the opening frame before Pegula squared it up. But Bencic held serve, then broke Pegula to love to claim the lead.
There were breaks in the opening two games of the second set before it went to serve, until rain intervened with Pegula having a slight advantage in the tiebreaker.
Play will resume on Sunday not before 1:30pm local time, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.
Second seed Tatjana Maria advanced to her second straight Copa Colsanitas final in Bogota, winning 6-3 6-4 over Briton Francesca Jones.
Maria will face either Peyton Stearns or Kamilla Rakhimova in Sunday's final.
Top seed Frances Tiafoe won two matches in a day to progress into the Houston Open semi-finals, while five other seeds bowed out on a busy Saturday of action.
Persistent rain this week in Houston meant the past three days of play have not been completed forcing a massive pile-up of matches on Saturday with the conditions clearing up.
Tiafoe took on Steve Johnson in the morning, winning 6-2 6-4 in the second round, before toppling Australian sixth seed Jason Kubler 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
The American, who only had a break of two and a half hours between his two matches, said: "I haven’t played two matches in one day in a long time.
"I thought it was unbelievable how I was able to come out here and play so well."
Tiafoe will take on Dutchman Gijs Brouwer in the last four after he got past fourth seed John Isner 6-4 7-6 (7-4), before taking down fifth seed J.J. Wolf 6-3 6-4.
Second seed Tommy Paul was another fancied American to bow out on Saturday, losing 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 to German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in the second round.
Hanfmann progressed to the semi-finals where he will face Argentinian eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, with the German getting past Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-2 6-1.
Machac had bundled out American seventh seed Marcos Giron 6-4 6-4 in the second round.
Etcheverry progressed with victories over Australia's Max Purcell and Chile's Cristian Garin, winning the latter 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 in more than two and a half hours.
The Los Angeles Clippers moved a step closer to securing a playoffs berth with a 136-125 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
The Clippers claimed a major advantage in the complicated race to avoid the play-in tournament in the Western Conference with Kawhi Leonard top scoring with 27 points.
Leonard shot seven-of-17 from the field for his 27 points with three triples, with eight rebounds and four assists, while Russell Westbrook added 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Norman Powell continued his strong form off the bench with 23 points for the Clippers who rallied back from a 70-64 half-time deficit on a 14-2 run early in the third quarter.
Kevin Knox II scored a game-high 30 points for the Blazers, shooting five-of-eight from three-point range.
The Clippers, who have won four of their past six games, are fifth in the West ahead of their final regular season game against the Phoenix Suns, who they will face in the playoffs first round if they hold fifth.
LA (43-38) can finish as low as seventh should they lose to the Suns, with the Golden State Warriors (43-38) taking on Portland, while the New Orleans Pelicans (42-39) can go ahead of them if they also beat the Minnesota Timberwolves as they own the tiebreaker against the Clippers.
Timberwolves rout Spurs to keep race alive
The Minnesota Timberwolves blew out the San Antonio Spurs 151-131, meaning the order of placings in the West's play-in tournament remains undecided.
Anthony Edwards scored 33 points in 25 minutes with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 22, with Spurs conceding their most points allowed in regulation time under coach Gregg Popovich.
The 41-40 Timberwolves are ninth in the West, but hold tiebreakers against the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans, who are both 42-39, ahead of Sunday's final slate of games. The Wolves face the Pels, while the Lakers take on the Utah Jazz.
One seed Nuggets fall to fifth loss in six
The Denver Nuggets may be the number one seed in the West but they suffered their fifth loss from their past six games with a 118-114 defeat to the eliminated Jazz.
Denver's scratchy form ahead of the playoffs continued with Nikola Jokic shooting two-of-five from the field for six points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high and game-high 28 points with three-of-11 three-pointers as Utah snapped a four-game losing skid.
Sam Bennett is having quite the week at Augusta, and is "just trying to enjoy it" as he remained in third place at the end of Saturday's play at The Masters.
The 23-year-old amateur shot back-to-back rounds of 68 to start the tournament, the second-lowest 36-hole score by an amateur in Masters history, and featured in the final group of the third round along with leader Brooks Koepka and second-placed Jon Rahm.
Play was stopped early due to heavy rain, with the trio only able to play six holes, Bennett dropping shots on the first two before producing four pars.
He ended the day on six over par overall, seven behind Koepka and three off Rahm, but however his Masters ends, he is determined to have fun.
"I'm just trying to enjoy it," Bennett said after Saturday's play. "I feel comfortable out there. The bogeys on one and two weren't because of nerves. They were simply just bad swings."
The third round will resume on Sunday ahead of the final round, which will hopefully be played to completion given the more favourable weather forecast.
"Everybody coming into the week was, 'Yeah, hope you get Low Am,'" The U.S. Amateur champion added. "That's pretty much all they were saying. I just wanted to put two good rounds up. I knew my golf was good enough to compete out here.
"I've found myself in a situation that now I've got a golf tournament that I can go out and win."
No amateur has ever won The Masters, while an amateur has only ever finished in second place three times: Frank Stranahan (1947), Ken Venturi (1956) and Charles R. Coe (1961).
"Hopefully the weather, it's sunny, and the course is going to be soft. So I think it's going to be gettable," Bennett said.
"I'm sure there's going to be some mud balls out there... I'm just going to try to have fun."
Brooks Koepka agreed with the decision to call off play at the Masters on Saturday, with weather disrupting play for a second day in a row.
Inclement weather led to the action being halted at 3:15pm local time at Augusta National, when Koepka was on the seventh hole.
He had extended his lead over Jon Rahm to four strokes by the time Saturday's play came to an end, with a mammoth Sunday lying ahead if the tournament is to finish as scheduled.
While a second day of disruption will cause headaches for tournament organisers – the final group have 29 holes to play if the Masters is to avoid a Monday finish for the first time since 1983 – Koepka feels the decision was the right one.
"It's obviously super difficult. The ball's not going anywhere," he said. "You've got rain to deal with, and it's freezing cold. It doesn't make it easy.
"You've got to make some pressure putts. You know it was going to be a difficult day. You've just got to grind through it and try to salvage something.
"That seventh green was soaked. It was very tough. I thought I hit a good bunker shot, and it looked like it just skidded on the water. So, I'm glad we stopped.
"I think it was spot on. Maybe I couldn't have hit that bunker shot on seven, but at the end of the day, it's fine. I'm okay with it."
The Masters will resume at 8:30am local time on Sunday, dependent on the condition of the course and overnight rain, with the final round expected to begin at 12:30pm local time.
The NBA is investigating the Dallas Mavericks' team selection from their 115-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
The defeat ensured Dallas miss out on the play-in tournament but retain their number 10 slot in the 2023 draft lottery, still owing the New York Knicks a top-10 protected pick as part of a 2019 trade to acquire Kristaps Porzingis.
The Mavericks left out Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr, Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood, while Luka Doncic only played the first quarter at American Airlines Center.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd had called it an "organisational decision", later adding: "It's not so much waving the white flag. It's [that] decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We're trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully it leads to going forward."
Owner Mark Cuban had previously denied his team would deliberately tank, saying on Wednesday: "The guys don't want to do that. Players aren't going to do that. Players don't do that."
However, multiple reports on Saturday said the league would be looking into the matter, citing a statement from NBA spokesperson Mike Bass on Saturday.
"The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks' roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night's Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions," Bass said.
Kidd has already confirmed his star players will also not feature in Dallas' final game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Brooks Koepka extended his lead at The Masters to four strokes before play was suspended for a second day in a row.
Entering the day with a three-stroke advantage, Jon Rahm reduced the lead to two on Saturday morning as one of the players returning to finish their second rounds, posting a two-under 70 to move to 10 under.
Koepka extended his lead when the third round got underway, sitting four ahead of the Spaniard and one under through six holes before officials suspended play for the rest of the day at 3:15pm local time.
Rahm, who had back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth, sits one over in his third round, with third-placed amateur Sam Bennett two over but with a one-stroke advantage over Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland in the overall standings, as the Norwegian continues to fall after his opening round of 65 on Thursday.
Five-time champion Tiger Woods dropped to nine over par in soaking conditions, with the weather resulting in a mammoth day of action on Sunday if the tournament is to avoid a first Monday finish since 1983.
The final group must play 29 holes if the tournament is to finish on time, though the weather forecast looks more favourable.
Shot of the day
Lining up with Sam Burns and Jordan Spieth for the day, Cameron Young joined the duo by missing the green in regulation on the opening hole, which left the trio all turning to the wedge.
It seemed it would be pars all round but Young had other ideas, chipping the ball over the mound and watching it find the hole, resulting in the first roar of the round.
A little birdie told me...
Fred Couples had only half a hole to play on Saturday morning, having hit his drive on the 18th in Friday's second round before play was suspended due to inclement weather.
A bright and early start did not deter the veteran, who finished with a bogey to end 1-over par through 36 holes, ensuring he made the cut.
At 63 years and 183 days, Couples became the oldest player to make the cut in Masters' history.
Casper Ruud defeated Quentin Halys in a third-set tie-break to reach the final of the Estoril Open, where Miomir Kecmanovic awaits after defeating Marco Cecchinato.
The number one seed, competing in his first semi-final of the season, prevailed 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in Portugal to move within one match of a 10th singles title.
Ruud broke his opponent's serve in the opening game and saw out the first set, but Halys – competing in his first ATP Tour semi-final – hit back in the second to prolong the match.
Both men held as the contest went the distance, but Ruud's quality told as he raced 3-0 ahead in the deciding tie-break and did not look back as he set up a final with Kecmanovic.
World number 40 Kecmanovic needed a little over an hour to beat sixth seed Cecchinato, who had surprised Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the previous round.
Kecmanovic, aiming to add to his only previous singles success in Kitzbuhel three years ago, held serve throughout to claim a 6-3 6-1 win over the 2018 French Open semi-finalist.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the final seeded player fell at the Grand Prix Hassan II as Dan Evans was defeated 2-6 6-4 6-2 by Roberto Carballes Baena.
Carballes Baena has now eliminated three seeded players and will face Alexandre Muller in Sunday's final after the Frenchman saw off Pavel Kotov in straight sets.
Muller edged a first-set tie-break and proved too strong in the second as he saw out a 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 victory in Marrakesh.
Tiger Woods matched a Masters record as he made the cut at Augusta National on Saturday.
The five-time champion made the cut for a 23rd consecutive attempt, equalling a feat previously achieved by Fred Couples and Gary Player.
This is Woods' 25th tilt at the Masters, and he has only missed the cut once – on his second visit in 1996.
He added a 73 to his opening 74 this time, completing his second round on Saturday morning in Georgia after play was suspended due to dismal weather on Friday.
On a wet morning, Woods steered clear of trouble until he bogeyed 17 and 18, the latter after mishitting a drive "right off the neck" and finding rough in a position that ruled out reaching the green in two.
He was in danger of missing the rest of the weekend, hovering under the cut mark at one point after completing his round, but three over eventually proved sufficient for the 47-year-old, whose last triumph at this tournament came four years ago.
Woods said: "I've always loved this golf course, and I love playing this event. Obviously I've missed a couple with some injuries, but I've always wanted to play here. I've loved it."
Speaking after his round, while his fate was in the balance, he added: "I hope I get a chance to play this weekend."
Correcting himself, realising it was Saturday, Woods said: "I'm sorry, I got a chance to play on the weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds."
Woods was far from the business end of the leaderboard, being 15 strokes behind leader Brooks Koepka, who completed his second round before the storms curtailed play on Friday.
Jon Rahm led the chasers and was playing the 10th when play was called off on Friday, three shots behind Koepka at that point.
Spaniard Rahm closed the gap to one shot early on Saturday, but a bogey at 18 meant Rahm had to settle for a round of 69 to sit two back through 36 holes, with amateur Sam Bennett two shots further adrift in third spot.
Fred Couples proved himself a Masters specialist once again as the 63-year-old became the oldest man to ever make the cut at Augusta.
He sealed his place in the final stages of the major on Saturday morning, completing his second round with a bogey at 18 that gave him a second-round 74 for a one-over-par aggregate.
That was enough for the veteran American, who was champion at the Masters in 1992 and has often been a factor over the weekend in subsequent years.
Forty years since his Masters debut, Couples was relieved to get through to the business end of the tournament, having missed the cut in each of the last four years.
"I played really well the last couple days. I enjoy the place," he said.
Couples played his tee shot on 18 on Friday evening, before play was abandoned when trees began to fall amid stormy Georgia weather.
"I had 230 to the hole. All night long, I thought just make a five," Couples said. "I wasn't even thinking about a four, and I made a five. It's probably the best I could have done unless something crazy happened."
It was cold and wet at Augusta on Saturday, and that was set to make the rest of the day a test of resolve, with third rounds due to get under way.
"Am I going to look thrilled to play 18 holes in this this afternoon?" Couples said. "No, I'm a wimp. I'm an old wimp, but I'm excited to play.
"And I don't wear gloves. So I've got a couple of hours to try to figure out what I'm going to try and do if it stays like this all day long.
"But I am excited to make the cut. That's why I come here. The last four years have been really mediocre golf. Maybe one year I was semi close to making the cut. But that's my objective, and I did it.
"It's not like ha, ha, ha, now I can screw around and play 36 holes for fun. I'm going to try and compete. Play a good pairing with some younger guys and watch them play."
Fellow veterans Larry Mize and Sandy Lyle signed off their Masters careers on Saturday, as the champions of 1987 and 1988 respectively completed their second rounds, missing the cut.
Mize, 64, finished second-last on 15 over par after an 80, while 65-year-old Lyle propped up the leaderboard on 20 over after adding an 83 to his opening 81.
Lyle came out to welcome home Mize at the end of the round.
"That was very special for Sandy to come out and greet me there," Mize said. "Sandy's a good friend, a great champion, and to finish off with him is pretty cool."
Tennis great Boris Becker has emerged from a spell in prison as "a stronger, better man", having been "humbled" by his conviction for concealing assets last year.
Six-time grand slam singles champion Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in jail last April, having been found guilty of concealing £2.5million worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts when he was declared bankrupt in 2017.
The German was released after serving eight months of his sentence in December and was subsequently deported from the United Kingdom.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Becker said he had learned valuable lessons from his stint inside, where his legendary tennis achievements counted for nothing.
"Whoever says that prison life isn't hard and isn't difficult I think is lying," Becker said. "I was surrounded by murderers, drug dealers, rapists, people smugglers… by dangerous criminals.
"You fight every day for survival. Quickly you have to surround yourself with the tough boys, as I would call it, because you need protection.
"If you think you're better than everybody else then you lose. It doesn't matter that I was a tennis player. The only currency we have inside is our character and our personality. That's it, you have nothing else.
"You don't have any friends at first – you're literally on your own and that's the hard part. You have to really dig inside yourself about your qualities and your strengths but also your weaknesses."
Becker – who was previously a regular on the BBC's coverage of Wimbledon – reportedly cannot return to the UK until October 2024.
Having worked as a commentator with Eurosport in Germany for the Australian Open earlier this year, Becker is eager to rebuild his reputation.
"I'm usually good in the fifth set – I've won the first two sets, I've lost the next two and I'm planning to win that," he said.
"It certainly humbled me, it made me realise that whether you're called Boris Becker or Paul Smith, if you break the law, you get convicted and you get incarcerated, that goes for everybody.
"I never expected the good and I certainly didn't expect the bad but I'm a survivor, I'm a tough cookie.
"I've taken the penalties, I've taken the incarceration but I've also taken the glory and if anything this made me a stronger, better man. With my decisions in the future you can see whether I have learned from it or I didn't."
Ja Morant allayed concerns about an injury he sustained in Friday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks that secured the second seed in the Western Conference for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jaren Jackson Jr. top-scored with 36 points as the Grizzlies came from a point down at half-time to comfortably beat the short-handed Bucks 137-114.
Morant finished with 12 points and eight assists despite having to leave the court early in the game following a collision with Jae Crowder.
He was later seen with a protective wrapping on his right arm for a wrist and hand issue, but the 23-year-old dismissed the significance of the injury, saying: "I'm good."
Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins confirmed that X-rays had come back negative and revealed Morant should be able to "ice it up and be good to go."
The third quarter was where Memphis effectively won the game, outscoring Milwaukee 37-15, with Jackson crediting it to "better discipline, a little bit more effort."
He added: "We figured it out and I'm glad we did."
After sealing the second seed in the west for a second season in a row, the Grizzlies will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
"It's very important," Morant said. "We're a very good team at home, so we obviously want that home-court advantage. Definitely big time for us."
Anthony Joshua is hoping to carry momentum from his victory over Jermaine Franklin by returning to the ring within the next three months.
Two-time heavyweight champion Joshua ended a two-fight losing streak with last weekend's unanimous points triumph over Franklin at London's O2 Arena.
Joshua went eight months between losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia and facing Franklin, but he does not expect the gap to be as long this time around.
"It's been nine months since I was last in the ring and I don't want to leave it that long again," he told BBC's One Show.
"I want to get back in there in the next three months, I'd say, and just kind of get the ball rolling."
Tyson Fury has been touted as the most obvious next opponent for Joshua, who called out his countryman after overcoming Franklin 118-111, 117-111, 117-111.
"I know who the fans want – they said Fury. The ball is in his court," Joshua told DAZN in his in-ring interview.
"I would 100 per cent be honoured to compete for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. I stand here and I say that proudly. It would be an honour."
Drawn-out talks between the camps of Joshua and Fury have broken down on multiple occasions in the past.
Joe Joyce and Dillian Whyte have both called out Joshua over the past week, but the 33-year-old is still pondering his next opponent.
"I'm definitely going to be fighting in the next three months. But against who? It's still unknown," he said.
LeBron James feels "it is pretty cool" the Los Angeles Lakers will finish with a winning record this season after a dismal start.
The Lakers are not assured of making the playoffs, seventh in the Western Conference and set for the play-in tournament as things stand, but they are 42-39 and will finish above .500.
This comes after the Lakers started 0-5 and then 2-10, records James recalled after Friday's 121-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
"I was just telling AD [Anthony Davis] – I was like, 'man, can you believe that we're going to finish this season above .500? After everything that's gone on this season?'" James said.
"We've turned this thing around. And it's the regular season, obviously – there's a lot more basketball to be played – but to know that we're going to finish a few games above .500? It's pretty cool."
Darvin Ham is in his first year as a head coach and has had to cope without James for 27 games and Davis for 26.
But he is slightly more reluctant to yet reflect on a job well done, adding: "Our work is not done by a long shot.
"It'll be great at some point to think back, but hopefully I'll be thinking about this first year after we're holding the trophy or something.
"In the short form, it's a lot to be proud of. And in the long form, we've got more work to do."
If the Golden State Warriors stay healthy, Klay Thompson sees a clear path to another title this year.
With a single game of the regular season remaining, the defending champion Warriors have not yet booked their playoff spot – in large part due to the key absences they have had this year.
Stephen Curry has been restricted to 55 games so far, while Andrew Wiggins will not add to his 37 games before the postseason, although he is then expected back.
Still, the Warriors have their destiny in their hands: they will avoid the play-in tournament by winning at the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
That is due to an impressive 119-97 victory at the Sacramento Kings on Friday, only their 10th road win of the year.
It is not a record that suggests the Warriors will be among the leading contenders in the playoffs, but Thompson is expecting improvement in the coming weeks.
"It always feels great to win," he said after making five threes and scoring 29 points. "I think it'll click even more when Andrew's in the lineup, because he's such an important player to what we do.
"We still have another level to reach, so I think we should just keep staying humble and working hard, and we'll get there. I know we will."
Health is a key factor, but it is not the only one; the Warriors rank third in scoring (118.5 points per game) but 22nd in defense (117.3 points).
"I always say we have to value the ball more, take great shots and communicate on defense," added Thompson.
"Do those three things, and I don't see a team who can beat us in a seven-game series when we're healthy. If we do those three things going forward, I think we'll be in a great position to repeat."
Thompson's fitness at least has not been a concern this year.
He missed two and a half years through injury before returning for last season's title run, and he is back to somewhere near his best in 2022-23, scoring 21.9 points per game and leading the NBA in made threes (295).
"I've played a full season. I've missed like 13 games or whatever, but to play in almost 70 games is a huge milestone for me," Thompson said.
"To shake off the early season rust and have the shooting year I did is even more impressive.
"I give myself a pat on the back for those years of so much hard work when nobody was watching. Those were really tough times for me, and I persevered and still am hungry to be even greater than I was."
Next, though, focus turns to a must-win game in Portland, where the Warriors are 2-7 since 2017-18 – their fourth-worst road record against any opponent in that span.
Thompson added: "Anything can happen in this league, but we've got to go up there and just take care of business and play with that Warriors brand of basketball that's made us the dynasty we are."
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson produced a vintage performance to carry the Golden State Warriors to a 119-97 road victory against the Sacramento Kings on Friday.
One of the few teams still with plenty to play for in the final games, the Warriors needed a win to avoid falling into the play-in tournament placings, as they would get leapfrogged by the 42-39 New Orleans Pelicans if they finish with an equal record.
But with Kings stars Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox both out resting – with Sacramento (48-33) locked into the Western Conference's third seed – the Warriors took full advantage.
In a terrific defensive outing, Golden State did not allow a single Sacramento starter to score more than Harrison Barnes' 13 points, while Curry and Thompson combined for 54 points and shot eight-of-15 from three-point range.
Thompson top-scored with 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting (five-of-eight from deep), while Curry chipped in 25 (eight-of-14 shooting, three-of-seven from deep), seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.
Donte DiVincenzo continued to excel when given an opportunity, with the 26-year-old backup guard putting together 18 points (seven-of-10 shooting), nine assists and six rebounds.
He vastly outplayed fellow rotation guard and sixth man Jordan Poole, who shot a poor zero-of-10 from the floor, and the two will likely be competing for minutes in the playoffs.
The victory means the Warriors can secure their spot in the playoffs by finishing the season with a win against the tanking Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, avoiding the play-in tournament in the process.
Reaves, Beasley lead important Lakers win
The Los Angeles Lakers (42-39) are only a half-game behind local rivals the Los Angeles Clippers (42-38) after a crucial 121-107 triumph at home against the undermanned Phoenix Suns.
With Phoenix resting Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, the full-strength Lakers made sure to capitalise, although it was neck-and-neck until the fourth quarter.
Both LeBron James (six-of-19 from the field) and Anthony Davis (four-of-12) had poor shooting nights, combining for just 30 points, but role players Austin Reaves and Malik Beasley came to the rescue.
Reaves was arguably the Lakers' best player, scoring 22 points on nine-of-13 shooting with five assists, while Beasley came off the bench to hit seven-of-14 shots, including four-of-10 from long range for 21 important points.
The Lakers will finish their regular season at home against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, and they can steal the sixth seed if the Clippers lose their final two games against Portland and Phoenix.
76ers ruin Trae's big night
Trae Young put up a ridiculous stat line of 27 points and 20 assists, but it was not enough as his Atlanta Hawks went down 136-131 to the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime.
Young's 20 assists broke his previous career-high by two, and he shot an efficient seven-of-14 from the field, but his nine turnovers were costly. It is the eighth time in Young's career he has committed at least nine turnovers in a game.
While the Hawks were at full strength, the 76ers rode a career-high 16 assists from bench guard Shake Milton in a rare start, with stars Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey out of action.
Jalen McDaniels enjoyed his best game in a Philly jersey with 24 points (eight-of-17 shooting), 11 rebounds and three steals, and Georges Niang also added 24 points (nine-of-13) in a starting role.
Pittsburgh Pirates left-fielder Bryan Reynolds showed why he is one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he batted in six runs during his side's 13-9 home win against the Chicago White Sox on Friday.
Reynolds came into the game batting .417 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.444. He improved both those figures against Chicago as he went three-for-five at the plate with a single, a triple and a home run.
The 28-year-old had four home runs in his first six games this campaign, and he connected on his league-leading fifth with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. His triple came an inning later, when he also came around to score on the hit after a fielding error.
With his performance, Reynolds improved his batting average to .448 (fourth-best in the majors) and his OPS to 1.572 (third-highest).
It was part of an action-packed contest where the two teams combined for 30 hits, including six home runs.
Exciting 25-year-old White Sox center-fielder Luis Robert Jr blasted two homers – doubling his tally for the season – while going three-for-five with five RBIs.
Pittsburgh right-fielder Connor Joe was the one of two players to record four hits, with three doubles and a single, and he was joined by Chicago lead-off hitter Tim Anderson (four-for-five with two doubles and four runs).
The win improves the Pirates' record to 5-2 as they seek their first playoff berth since 2015.
Trout blasts his first pitch at Angel Stadium this season
Mike Trout could not have made a better start to the Los Angeles Angels' home opener as he crushed the very first pitch he saw for a home run.
The Angels went on to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 thanks to a big three-run homer from Bo Bichette in the seventh inning, but Los Angeles' three-time AL MVP still gave the home fans something to cheer for.
After Taylor Ward was issued a lead-off walk in the first inning, Trout stepped up second and sent a first-pitch fastball 441 feet over the wall at left-center. It was Trout's second homer of the season, and he is slashing .348/.531/.696 in a hot start.
Rays remain MLB's only unbeaten team
The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 to extend their perfect start to the season to 7-0.
After back-to-back series sweeps against the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals to open their campaign, the Rays made a winning start against Oakland thanks to more power hitting.
Tampa Bay hit five home runs in the contest, highlighted by an Isaac Paredes grand slam in the second inning. Harold Ramirez (second inning), Manuel Margot (third inning), Christian Bethancourt (third inning) and Wander Franco (eighth inning) also sent a ball each over the fence.
The Dallas Mavericks entered play Friday facing a must-win game to stay in contention for a play-in spot, but decided as an organisation to give up on their playoff dreams this season.
Facing elimination, the Mavericks decided to sit All-Star Kyrie Irving and four other regulars against the Chicago Bulls in a game with draft implications. They ended up going down 115-112 in a game where superstar Luka Doncic only played the first quarter before sitting out the rest of the way.
Dallas needed to win their final two regular-season games and have the Oklahoma City Thunder lose to the Memphis Grizzlies in their final game for the Mavericks to get the 10th seed in the Western Conference.
Despite being alive for the playoffs, the Mavs chose to instead prioritise their potential assets in June's NBA Draft. They had traded their 2023 first-round pick to the New York Knicks back in 2019 as part of the package for Kristaps Porzingis, and placed a top-10 protection on the pick.
It means if their pick this year lands in the top 10, Dallas will get to keep the pick, but if it is 11th or lower it will get sent to New York.
The decision to punt on the rest of this season boils down to the fact that the Mavericks were tied with the Bulls for the 10th-worst record in the NBA at 38-42, but with Friday's loss they greatly improved their chances of landing in the top 10.
Speaking to the media prior to the game, head coach Jason Kidd emphasised that this was not a decision by himself or the players.
"We were fighting for our lives, and understanding this is a situation we're in," he said. "But the organisation has made the decision to change [course].
"So, you know, we have to go by that and that's something that happens. So the guys that are playing, we got to go out there and put our best foot forward, and we talked about that this afternoon.”
When asked if he agreed with the decision, Kidd said: "Those are my bosses – so yes."
Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals last season and appeared primed to make another deep run after pulling off a blockbuster trade for Irving in February, but the team has wilted down the stretch.
The Mavs are just 5-11 when Irving and Doncic play together, and the team are 9-16 since Irving’s debut.
Despite giving their best effort to lose, Dallas led Chicago 91-85 after three quarters as the Bulls rested Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Beverley, having already locked up the East's 10th seed.
The stage is set for a star-studded final weekend at the Charleston Open as top four seeds Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Daria Kasatkina and Belinda Bencic all advanced to the semi-finals on Friday.
It is the first time since the 2012 Stuttgart Open that all four top seeds reached the final four in a WTA 500 event.
Pegula, the top overall seed and the only remaining American, used her commanding serving game to overwhelm 12th seed Paula Badosa 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
She ended up winning 80 per cent of her accurate first serves – compared to 57 per cent for Badosa – and it resulted in the Spaniard producing just one break point opportunity in the match, which she could not take.
Pegula will meet fourth seed and Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic next after her relatively comfortable 6-3 6-3 triumph against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Switzerland's Bencic needed just 80 minutes to get the job done, creating 12 break point chances compared to Alexandrova's two, while winning the first three games of each set.
After coming into the tournament without consecutive wins since early January, reigning Wimbledon and US Open finalist Ons Jabeur looked back to her best in a dominant 6-0 4-1 (retired) drubbing of Anna Kalinskaya.
Jabeur is yet to lose a set in Charleston, and she will try to keep that the case when she faces Daria Kasatkina in her semi-final.
Kasatkina earned her spot in the final four with Friday's only three-setter, emerging victorious 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 against Madison Keys in just over two and a half hours.
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