New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green says Zion Williamson always makes the right play after marking his return from a hip injury with a double-double on Sunday.
The 2019 NBA Draft top overall pick scored 21 points, shooting nine-of-17 from the field, with 12 rebounds and seven assists in the Pelicans' 112-91 win over the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers.
Williamson had missed the Pelicans' past two games after suffering a posterior hip contusion in a heavy fall following a dunk attempt in their loss to the Utah Jazz last Sunday.
"Glad to have him back," Green said. "When he touches the ball - I've said it before - he makes the right play. Whether it's a score for himself or finding his teammates and kicking it out and continuing to move. He was fantastic."
Williamson missed all of last season with a broken foot having developed into an All-Star in his second season in 2020-21, averaging 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
The Pelicans power forward is averaging 22 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists across four games this season as he works his way back.
New Orleans have started the season 4-2 and loom as a danger side in the Western Conference with Williamson in full flight and he said he had developed his offensive game since his All-Star year.
"I would say before, I think I would rush it sometimes trying to see the open pass," Williamson said. "But now I just let it develop. I let the defense kind of shift towards me as soon as I see them take that shift.
"We got some special shooters on this team, and I'm able to find them and they knock the shots down."
Williamson also reassured that he was feeling better, albeit sore, after his hip injury.
"Still a little sore, man," Williamson said. "I've taken a lot of falls, but I ain't never had a fall like that one. But it was fine enough for me to play.
"Unless I'm truly injured, I'm going to be playing the game of basketball. That's just how I am."
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was almost brought to tears when speaking about Russell Westbrook buying in and delivering as a bench player after ending their winless start to the season.
Westbrook made a strong contribution for the Lakers, coming off the bench for the second straight game and playing 32 minutes with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers won 121-110 over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday to end their five-game losing run.
The 2017 MVP shot six-of-12 from the field including two three-pointers, while he was perfect with four-of-four from the free-throw line.
Westbrook's new role under Ham, who took over from Frank Vogel in the off-season, comes after the point guard was the subject of widespread criticism for the Lakers missing the playoffs in his first year at the franchise last season.
"I'm so happy for him," Ham told reporters. "Last couple of games, Minnesota and tonight, he's been phenomenal. Nothing short of amazing. But I'm so happy. I can't even imagine what that kid is going through.
"One of the biggest things about me getting this job was for him to get that respect that he deserved because a lot of what went on last year was not his fault.
"And everything, all the blame was placed on him. I told him, 'man, just listen to me, believe in me bro. I'm gonna put you in a position to succeed with the group, but you have to put the group first. I can't be about me or I or mine. It's got to be us, ours, we'. And he's done that."
Westbrook, who had 18 points and eight rebounds against the Timberwolves on Friday, may not have started on Sunday but he played a key role down the stretch, with a lay-up and two free-throws in the final two minutes.
"Like I've mentioned since day one, whatever is needed from me to help the team win, that’s what I'll do," Westbrook said.
The win improved the Lakers, who were the last winless team in the NBA, to 1-5 having missed the playoffs last season with a 33-49 record.
"I just think guys got tired of going through the same motions through the last four, five games where we've been highly competitive," Ham said. "I saw a different type of focus… It's a part of the process.
"Tonight we needed to prove something to ourselves, not the world, not to the media. That felt great how we responded throughout the game."
LeBron James top scored with 26 points, while power forward Anthony Davis was exceptional with 23 points and 15 rebounds but appeared to labor with a back issue.
"It's day by day," Davis said. "One day I feel great, the next day [I don't]. Just try to manage it and keep getting treatment. I'm not going to let that stop me."
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is the real deal according to head coach Pete Carroll after he kept them into first place in the NFC West with their third straight win on Sunday.
Smith threw two touchdowns, completing 23 of 34 passes for 212 yards with no turnovers, in the Seahawks' 27-13 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. He should have had a third TD pass if not for a Tyler Lockett drop on a would-be score.
The 32-year-old Seahawks quarterback has been a revelation this season, having spent the past seven years primarily as a back-up, before taking over from Russell Wilson after his trade to the Denver Broncos.
Smith has already this year matched his career-best 13 touchdown passes in a single season from 2014, with nine games remaining.
"He's the real deal, we're seeing it," Carroll told reporters. "There's no mystery or, 'Oh, he's going to run out of gas or something.' It's not like that.
"He knows exactly what he's doing and he shows you week in, week out, throw after throw after throw. There's nothing for us to hold him but in the highest of expectations, really.
"What a thrilling story for the kid. He just hung in there so tough and outlasted it and now he's enjoying all the fun of it. He did great."
Smith has completed 181 of 249 attempts with a 72.7 completion rate for 1,924 yards with three interceptions this season.
The Seattle QB has also rushed for 158 yards with one touchdown, but would not get caught up in the universal praise coming for him as the surprise of he season.
"Man, we just got a win today," Smith said. "We only got a chance to play one game today, and we won it.
"We've got to continue to play hard throughout the season. Every single game is going to be a test. We know that.
"We always talk about each game being a championship opportunity and so we're just going to continue to focus on it day by day, not get caught up in the outside noise - and just do what we do."
The Seahawks are top of the NFC West with a 5-3 record, ahead of the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) and the Los Angeles Rams (3-4) and the Arizona Cardinals (3-5).
Dustin Johnson capped off a huge year by pipping Cameron Smith to clinch victory for the all-American 4 Aces GF at the LIV Golf Miami Team Championship on Sunday.
Johnson nailed a routine final putt of the season to cue the celebrations for his team, featuring Patrick Reed, Lalor Gooch and Pat Perez whom all had solid rounds in Sunday's Championship.
The Aces were crowned the inaugural LIV Golf team champions at Trump National Doral by one shot ahead of Cameron Smith's Punch GC, with Brooks Koepka's Smash GC and Louis Oosthuizen's Stinger GC well back.
The triumph capped a money-spinning season for two-time major winner Johnson, finishing with more than $35 million in earnings.
"It's been amazing," Johnson said. "This week's been incredible. This whole season has gotten better and better and obviously this finale has been unbelievable."
Among the four Aces players, they scored a combined seven-under 281 in the singles stroke-play on Sunday, with Johnson, Reed and Perez all finishing two-under-par, while Gooch was one under, having started the round with three birdies in his first for holes.
Johnson's team edged out Punch for whom Smith carded a round-best seven-under-par 65 with eight birdies. That was offset by Marc Leishman's 74, Wade Ormsby's 73 and Matt Jones' 70 as Punch combined for a six-under 282.
Smith, who won this year's Players' Championship before joining the LIV Tour, went head-to-head with Johnson.
Smash finished 11 strokes behind with a combined four-over 292, with Jason Kokrak their best with a four-under-par 68.
Stinger were a further six shots behind Smash with a combined 10-over 298, despite one-under rounds from Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, with Branden Grace shooting an 80.
The Los Angeles Lakers ended their winless start to the season to move to a 1-5 record with a 121-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
LeBron James scored a game-high 26 points with six rebounds and eight assists, while Anthony Davis excelled with 23 points and 15 rebounds, although he appeared to nurse a back injury late.
Russell Westbrook was solid again off the bench, adding 18 points on 50 per cent shooting with eight rebounds and eight assists. Westbrook scored four points in the final two minutes to see off any Nuggets' challenge.
The Lakers improved their three-point shooting, making 13-of-30 attempts at 43.3 per cent, while they also scored 48 points in the paint, taking advantage of the defensive limitations of the Nuggets' two-time MVP-winning center Nikola Jokic.
Jokic recorded a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds while Jamal Murray, who missed the 2021-22 campaign with a ruptured ACL, had his best scoring game of the season with 21 points.
The win ends the Lakers' five-game losing run to start the season. For Denver, the defeat means they are 1-3 on the road this season and 4-3 overall.
Warriors beaten by struggling Pistons
The Golden State Warriors had defensive issues again as they suffered back-to-back losses and fell to a 3-4 record after a 128-114 loss to the Detroit Pistons, who ended their own five-game losing run.
Last year's top NBA Draft selection Cade Cunningham was an assist short of a triple-double, contributing 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Pistons dominated after quarter-time.
Stephen Curry scored 32 points on 10-of-24 shooting, while Jordan Poole added 30 with Klay Thompson rested. The Warriors, who have given up 120-or-more points in five of their past six games, only made 12-of-39 three-point attempts (31 per cent).
Doncic matches rare Jordan feat
Luka Doncic became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1986 to score 30-or-more points in each of the first six games of the season as the Dallas Mavericks won 114-105 over the Orlando Magic.
The Slovenian point guard shot 17-of-26 from the field for 44 points with three rebounds and five assists. Doncic scored 30 of his 44 points in the first half.
Top 2022 NBA Draft pick Pablo Banchero failed to reach 20 points for the first time in his career, scoring 18 on six-of-20 shooting for the Magic.
The Buffalo Bills advanced their record to 6-1 as star wide receiver Stefon Diggs ignited his side's air attack in a 27-17 victory against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Bills quarterback and MVP favourite Josh Allen ended up completing only 13 passes in the win, but that did not stop Diggs from enjoying a big day.
After a one-yard touchdown pass from Allen to tight end Dawson Knox gave the Bills a 7-0 lead at quarter-time, they doubled that advantage with the first play of the second quarter when Allen found Diggs streaking down the sideline with a 26-yard bullet.
Diggs helped the Bills add another three points in the final seconds of the first half when his 53-yard catch deep down the center of the field set up a field goal to make it 24-7 at the long break.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was determined to make a game of it, and he ended up completing touchdown passes to rookies Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure to trim the margin to 10 points with six minutes remaining.
But after two fourth-quarter interceptions from Allen, the Bills safely navigated the closing stages with a run-heavy, clock-chewing attack.
Allen completed 13-of-25 passes for 218 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and nearly half of his total production went to Diggs, who collected six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Both teams ran the ball well, with Devin Singletary (67 yards), James Cook (35 yards) and Allen (50 yards) combining for 152 yards for the Bills, while the Packers, led by Aaron Jones (143 yards on 20 carries), racked up 208 rushing yards.
Nobody can say that Alvin Kamara doesn’t back up his words after his New Orleans Saints shutout the Las Vegas Raiders 24-0 on Sunday.
After saying his team intended to 'whoop' the Raiders, Kamara did his part as he scored his first three touchdowns of the season while the Saints' defense limited the Raiders to 183 total yards, rebounding from last week’s prime-time loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
"I stick to what I said," Kamara said. "We was going to go out there and beat their [butt], and we did that."
Kamara unleashed in a fiery postgame speech after the loss to the Cardinals, preaching accountability and playing "Saints football".
"I think [the swagger] is probably on its way back," Kamara said. "We had a nice performance right there, but swag ain’t s*** if it’s not consistent.
"You can do it one time, but you’ve got to be able to string it together. We’re looking for the same type of preparation this week. I know I am."
Next up for Kamara and the Saints is a Monday night matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
"Just because we had a nice game this week doesn’t mean that there’s a fall-off or taper down," Kamara said. "We’ve got to do the same thing the next week, and the next week and the next week. Put it together. That’s really what swag is. Swag is consistency."
Kamara believes the win was especially gratifying for head coach Dennis Allen, who was fired by the Raiders four games into the 2014 season. Kamara said Allen made no mention of what a win would mean to him until he addressed the team in the locker room after the game.
"He didn’t really say anything about it," Kamara said. "But in the locker room, he was like, ‘yeah, I lied. This game meant a lot to me'."
Even at 3-5, New Orleans are just one game behind the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons.
"The defence was challenged this week, in terms of stepping up and playing the way they’re capable of playing," Allen said. "I thought they came out and played with energy, passion. I thought they played with swagger, which was good to see."
Christian McCaffrey accomplished a feat not seen in 17 years as he delivered a starring performance in the San Francisco 49ers' 31-14 road win against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
After being acquired in a trade from the Carolina Panthers less than two weeks ago, McCaffrey showed exactly why he is considered arguably the best running back of his generation.
Against the reigning champions, he became the first player since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005 to score a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in the same game.
His first score came through a trick play in the second quarter, as what appeared to be a regulation toss play to the right-hand side turned into a halfback pass as McCaffrey dialled up a 34-yard rainbow pass to Brandon Aiyuk in the end zone.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had his side leading 14-10 at half-time after a one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 16-yard toss to Cooper Kupp, but McCaffrey put the 49ers ahead with a nine-yard touchdown catch late in the third period.
It was followed by a quick Rams punt, before McCaffrey put the exclamation point on his day by punching in a one-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter.
The 49ers offense fired on all cylinders, with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completing 21 of his 25 passes for two touchdowns and no turnovers, as Aiyuk and George Kittle also caught touchdown passes.
McCaffrey finished with 18 carries for 94 yards on the ground, eight catches for 55 yards through the air, and completed his only pass attempt for 34 yards.
King Henry continues to own the Texans
Tennessee Titans workhorse Derrick Henry was unstoppable against the Houston Texans, carrying the ball 32 times for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a grinding 17-10 win.
Incredibly, it is the fourth consecutive matchup against the Texans where Henry has posted at least 200 yards and two touchdowns, and the sixth total time of his career against all teams. No other player in the history of the league has more than three career games of at least 200 yards and multiple touchdowns.
With his second touchdown, Henry – who had such a significant workload due to rookie quarterback Malik Willis making his debut start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill – broke the Titans' career touchdown record with his 75th.
Max Verstappen vowed to "go for more" after clinching a record 14th win of the Formula One season – as Red Bull's tactics earned plaudits from Lewis Hamilton.
Victory at the Mexican Grand Prix took Verstappen into the outright lead for the most single-season victories in F1 history, going past a mark previously jointly held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen pitted to swap soft for medium tyres in the Red Bull on lap 26 and Hamilton came in soon after for Mercedes and went out on the hard compound after beginning on medium.
The British driver was not happy with that choice and openly questioned the strategy during the race, with Mercedes seemingly hopeful Red Bull were on a two-stop plan.
However, Verstappen made it to the finish, with the championship winner adding another garland in a staggering season, while Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez finished third.
A strong start from pole by Verstappen allowed him to have command of the race throughout.
"Of course that helped me out a lot for the rest of the race, to stay in the lead after turn one," Verstappen said.
"We were also on a different strategy to the cars around us, but it's an incredible result. The pace of the car was again really nice. We had to look after our tyres because it was a very long stint on the medium, but we made it work."
When the 14th win was pointed out to him, Verstappen said: "It's been an incredible year so far. We are definitely enjoying it and we'll try to go for more."
Two races remain in 2022, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and Hamilton may struggle to prevent Verstappen further stretching his wins record.
Hamilton was booed by the Mexican crowd, despite describing them as "amazing". The negative reaction to Hamilton appeared to stem from fans favouring Red Bull, given home driver Perez races for the Austrian team.
"It has definitely been a bit awkward this time around with boos all day, but nonetheless I have so much love for Mexico and the people here. What a great race and event this weekend," said the seven-time champion.
"I was so close in the first stint, but the Red Bulls were clearly too fast today and also maybe they had the better tyre strategy."
He reiterated the point he made to his team that Mercedes may have gone this one wrong.
"I'm not sure it was the right tyre at the end," Hamilton said. "I thought we should have started on the soft, but obviously we had the opposite tyre. It was OK in the first stint, but the hard tyre was just the offset. So, congratulations to Max, and it's great to be up here and separate the two [Red Bull drivers]."
Perez, the darling of the Mexico City crowd, said: "I gave my best. Today at the start I really pushed hard."
He pointed to overtaking being "so difficult", and that was shown in a race where there was precious little drama.
"Unfortunately it didn't work out today but still it's a good podium in front of this crowd," Perez said. "I really wanted more today but fair play, this still is a good day."
Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate George Russell, resigned to missing out on a podium finish and complaining of worn tyres, pitted in the closing stages and produced the fastest lap of the race, a small consolation for the British driver.
Max Verstappen powered to a record 14th win of his championship-winning season as the Red Bull driver roared to victory at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The Dutchman matched Formula One's single-season wins record shared by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel when he snatched a 13th success last week in Austin at the United States Grand Prix, and in Mexico City he went one better.
Many in the crowd were willing on Verstappen's Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez, but he had to settle for third place and another podium, a repeat of his result last year at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Perez separated the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton, who finished second, and George Russell, who took fourth, with the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in fifth and sixth.
It was a race that was bereft of drama, and the tone was set from the start. It was clean as pole-sitter Verstappen held off the Mercedes pair, with Hamilton nudging ahead of Russell in the early stages and Perez getting between the Silver Arrows as he climbed to third place.
That was how it finished, of course, and there was little to report of any import between the start and finish.
Hamilton had cast doubt on Mercedes' ability to get a first win of the season, and despite taking second and fourth, they never really looked like rivalling Verstappen for the win.
Three-quarters of the way through the race, Hamilton asked his team whether he was running on the wrong tyres and was told by the Mercedes garage they were confident in their strategy. At the finish, he again cast doubt on team tactics.
He had also pointed to power drop-offs. At that stage, Verstappen led Hamilton by just over 10 seconds, and Mercedes were counting on the Red Bulls needing second pit stops, but that prospect went away.
Russell complained over the team radio that his tyres were "gone" on the 67th lap but was told "his tyres will be more gone than yours" as he looked to close in on third-placed Perez. Little changed as the drivers remained in the same order through to the finish.
A joyful Verstappen said on team radio, after being congratulated for his record drive: "Double podium as well, that's amazing here in Mexico, well done guys."
The Max and Lewis show rolls on
Verstappen and Hamilton were first and second, but the gap was 15 seconds by the end of the race and it was barely competitive. What the result means, though, is they have now finished first and second in a race on 33 occasions, extending the record they established in Austin.
Red Bull, meanwhile, have stretched their winning streak to nine races, matching a team-best set in the 2013 season when Sebastian Vettel won the closing nine races of that campaign.
F1? It's a team game
With Verstappen and Red Bull already having the championships wrapped up, others are jostling for places in the drivers' and constructors' standings.
Mercedes entered this race 53 points behind second-placed Ferrari, with only races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to come, and they had a strong day, raising hopes the Silver Arrows could yet finish as runners-up. The gap is now down to 40 points.
Ferrari's Leclerc saw his run of five consecutive podium finishes come to an end in a race where he was rarely a factor up front.
Seamus Power had his worst round of the week on Sunday but he did enough to fend off the challengers and claim the Butterfield Bermuda Championship with a score of 19 under par.
It is the second PGA Tour title of Power's career after the 2021 Barbasol Championship, but it was anything but smooth sailing down the stretch.
Power owned a share of the lead heading into the final round after a trio of 65s, and he was bogey-free with three birdies through 12 holes on Sunday before the nerves began to show.
He posted bogeys on 13, 15 and 16, but a birdie on 17 gave him a two-stroke lead on the final hole, and he needed that buffer as he also bogeyed the last to close with a 70.
Speaking to NBC after stepping off the 18th green, Power called the course "a tale of two sides", and reflected on how different it feels to get his second win.
"I knew it was going to be really hard coming in, and it was," he said. "I made hard work of it in the end, but delighted to get it done.
"It's a completely different feeling [from my first win], but just as special. It's just so hard, I've played a lot of tournaments and it's only my second win from – I don't even know how many events.
"It's amazing, it's special, it's going to take a while to sink in, but absolutely over the moon."
Alone in second place at 18 under was Belgium's Thomas Detry, while the joint-leader heading into Sunday, Ben Griffin, shot a one-over 72 to finish tied for third at 17 under.
Joining Griffin was Taiwan's Kevin Yu and America's Patrick Rodgers, with the latter's 65 tying for Sunday's second-best score.
Two Australians worked their way into the top-10 as Aaron Baddeley finished tied with Denny McCarthy for sixth place at 16 under, while Harrison Endycott was two strokes further back alone in 10th.
Novak Djokovic might be a player that drives fear into the heart of his opponents, but the Serbian insists he is not the Halloween boogeyman of the tennis tour.
As he prepares for a title defence at the Paris Masters, the 21-time grand slam winner is naturally out to put the frighteners up his rivals.
But when asked on Sunday whether he was "the monster of tennis", because of his strong track record against the cream of the sport, Djokovic had to smile and laugh it off.
"The monster? I don't know the significance of that word in your language, but in mine it is not really the best," he said in a press conference.
"I prefer not to be the monster of the tennis. But yeah, the record against pretty much all the top players is positive, which is great.
"We played so many tournaments throughout the year and throughout our careers, and some of us have been there more than some of the younger players. So playing more matches helps, I think, to know how to approach every next big challenge when you play one of your top rivals.
"I have managed to do well throughout my career, which is great, which is something that I always intended to do."
Djokovic earned a 27-23 win-loss record in his favour against Roger Federer and he leads Rafael Nadal 30-29 and is 25-11 up on Andy Murray across their tour careers.
He has lost his lone meeting with new world number Carlos Alcaraz, which came on clay in the Madrid semi-finals earlier this year, and there could be more such clashes during the final years of Djokovic's career.
At the age of 35, Djokovic remains a force to be reckoned with. He gets a first-round bye in Paris and will face Maxime Cressy or Diego Schwartzman in his opening match
The world number seven has won his last three singles tournaments, with a triumph at Wimbledon followed by titles at Tel Aviv and Astana.
Djokovic has six Paris Masters titles, the joint-most he has managed at any of the ATP 1000 events, level with his haul from Miami and the Internazionali d'Italia.
His ranking is unusually low, and that can to a large extent be attributed to him being prevented from playing in Australia and North America this season, due to his refusal to accept a COVID-19 vaccination.
Djokovic also suffered from Wimbledon being stripped of ranking points amid the Ukraine crisis, meaning that despite successfully defending his title at the All England Club, he lost the 2,000 ranking points he collected at the grand slam in the 2021 season.
He said his experience after being banished from Australia in January was "challenging".
"It was a completely new experience for me," Djokovic added. "Unfortunately not a great one but still a life experience, and a possibility for me to grow stronger out of that."
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a career-high four touchdown passes in Sunday's big 35-13 home win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was also a career day for Hurts' top receiver, A.J. Brown, who caught three touchdown passes for the first time – and he did it all in the first half.
Brown's first score came on a 39-yard deep-ball into the endzone, coming down with it between two Steelers defensive backs in the first quarter. He then added two more scores in the second quarter – a 27-yard touchdown and a 29-yard touchdown to open up a 21-10 lead.
He finished the game with six catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first Eagles receiver to total at least 150 yards and three touchdowns in a single game since 2007.
Hurts would start the second half with his fourth touchdown pass, this time to Zach Pascal, and a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown for Miles Sanders would complete the rout.
For the Steelers, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett completed 25 of his 38 passes for 191 yards and one interception, getting sacked six times and fumbling twice.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson collected one of those six sacks for the Eagles, and he also had the game's only interception.
The Eagles have a great chance to move to 8-0 on Thursday when they travel to take on the Houston Texans.
Tagovailoa leads strong Dolphins comeback
The Miami Dolphins had to claw their way out of an early deficit to defeat the Detroit Lions 31-27 in a high-scoring shootout.
Detroit jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after touchdown runs to D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams, and after Jaylen Waddle got on the end of a Tua Tagovailoa touchdown pass to trim the margin, Williams ran in his second score of the opening half to make it 21-7.
Tagovailoa then found his rhythm and delivered another touchdown to Waddle, with the talented young receiver going on to finish with eight catches for 106 yards and two scores. He was not alone as teammate Tyreek Hill gave the Lions' secondary headaches all game, catching 12 of his 14 targets for 188 yards.
A one-yard fullback dive from Alec Ingold and an 11-yard touchdown to Mike Gesicki would pull the Dolphins ahead 31-27 late in the third quarter, and their defense would rise to the challenge down the stretch to shut the door.
Cook carries the Vikings to impressive 6-1 start
The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising stories of the season and are likely playoff-bound after moving to 6-1 with a 34-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Star running back Dalvin Cook was at his best, shouldering 20 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Kirk Cousins and backup running back Alexander Mattison also collected rushing touchdowns.
Top Cardinals receiver De'Andre Hopkins enjoyed a big performance, catching 12 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown, but it was not enough as the Minnesota defense stepped up and denied Arizona a potential game-tying score on their final three drives.
Jamaica Defence Force Captain Dwayne Ford dethroned Guyana’s Lennox Brathwaite to win the Wogarth Cup as Jamaica won the Team Match by the smallest of margins as the West Indies Full Bore Shooting Council Championship came to an exciting climax at Twickenham Park on Saturday.
Jamaica’s eight-member team were forced to dig deep to hold off a hard-charging Guyana which made the victory satisfying for Jamaica Rifle Association Vice-President Karen Anderson, who was also a member of the winning team.
"Jamaica is positively thrilled to have won the West Indies Cup team match on home soil and defeating Guyana in the process," she said.
"It has been a long slog in trying to beat them over the years and to do it on home soil, in particular, after a really tough tournament. We showed a great level of consistency. There might have been some doubt after the long-range team match the day before where we finished last but it bodes well for the team's confidence how we managed to end the tournament and win that particular cup."
She also reserved special praise for team leader, Captain Ford.
"It is even more heartening when you see Dwayne Ford win the Wogarth Cup which is a tremendous achievement in defeating Lennox Brathwaite, who is a seven-time Wogarth winner. We are on a high and we are just going to build on this going into next year's competition."
Captain Ford, a recently crowned O-Class champion, led his team by example. He and teammate Nicola Guy shot impressively at 300 yards, each scoring perfect scores of 50.4 to give Jamaica an early five-point lead. The home team scored 373.23 over its nearest rivals Antigua and Barbuda with Guyana on 360.16.
Jamaica extended its lead after 500 yards with a score of 379.20 but Guyana eventually narrowed the gap and claimed victory with a score 383.23.
Braithwaite answered the call at 500 yard with score of 50.3 that would prove pivotal at the final range as he and Ford battled for the Wogarth Cup that goes to the top-scoring shooter in the West Indies Cup.
At 600 yards, Jamaica dropped 10 points early on and found themselves in a major shoot-out with Guyana. However, the shooters managed to steel themselves and recovered to score 1114.58 to hold off Guyana who shot a 1113.63.
In the end, Ford defeated the seven-time champion Brathwaite by 0.1 to take the Wogarth Cup.
The Denver Broncos survived a frustrating first half at Wembley Stadium to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-17 as Russell Wilson returned from a hamstring injury.
Wilson, who sat out last week, looked extremely rusty early on, almost throwing an interception from his first pass and then giving up a pick that presented Trevor Lawrence with a short field for the first touchdown of Sunday's game.
Having capitalised on that mishap, however, the Jaguars failed to make the most of a sloppy Broncos display thereafter.
Although Denver had an alarming 10 penalties for 71 yards at halftime, they trailed only 10-7, with a Lawrence pass picked on the goal line by Justin Simmons before Wilson led the Broncos up the field late in the second quarter for Jerry Jeudy to score.
Pressure had again been building on Wilson and coach Nathaniel Hackett up to that point, but a 98-yard drive early in the second half allowed Melvin Gordon to run in and secure the Broncos a first lead.
Lawrence, rather than Wilson, had struggled badly since his earlier interception, but Travis Etienne Jr. gave the Jaguars hope of a first win since Week 3, adding a touchdown to his 156 rushing yards.
Instead, Wilson came to the fore again with a 47-yard pass to K.J. Hamler that set up the game-winning drive, finished off by Latavius Murray before Lawrence threw a second pick to K'Waun Williams, ensuring there was no route back into the game for Jacksonville.
Daniil Medvedev celebrated "one of the best victories" as he beat Denis Shapovalov 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Vienna Open on Sunday.
Playing in his first tour-level final since winning the Mexico Open in August, Medvedev found himself on the back foot after Shapovalov came out on top in a 50-minute opener.
The world number four conceded serve twice in the first set – the first time he had been broken throughout his run in Austria.
However, Medvedev hit back to claim the second set at the first time of asking.
Having lost serve twice in the decider, Shapovalov hung on in to frustrate Medvedev, saving six match points before finally succumbing to a deft drop-shot that the Canadian could only clip back into the net.
The victory marks Medvedev's second title of 2022, while it also ensures the Russian – who worked his way to world number one earlier in the year – will play in the ATP Finals next month, after going for glory at the Paris Masters.
"This match was the best of the week because Denis was really playing unreal until probably 4-3 in the second set," said Medvedev, who is aiming for a strong end to the season.
"He dropped his level by maybe two per cent and I was able to use it. This is one of the best victories when you know your opponent is on top of you, but you try and stay there and do what you can.
"I like to play indoor hard courts at the end of the season. I feel that I do a great job with my team not to arrive burnt out.
"I'm looking forward to the last two tournaments of the year which are really important and I usually play well."
Felix Auger-Aliassime climbed to sixth in the ATP Finals chase as he earned yet another title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The Canadian had not won any of his eight career finals before this season, but he has now come through four of five in 2022.
Three of those have been in Auger-Aliassime's past three tournament entries, as he followed up successes in Florence and Antwerp by beating Holger Rune on Sunday.
Rune had himself won last time out against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Stockholm final, but he was brushed aside by Auger-Aliassime 6-3 7-5.
The world number nine threatened to wrap up the victory in double quick time as he raced through the opener, with Rune responding in the second set to drag the match out to 100 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime fended off a break point early in the second and two more later in the set, protecting his serve throughout and then going on the offensive.
The fourth of four break opportunities at 5-5 was seized, and Auger-Aliassime – fresh from beating world number one Carlos Alcaraz – served out the match at the third attempt.
The 22-year-old has never previously made the season-ending Finals but moved ahead of Andrey Rublev with his latest success.
Chad Ziadie and Wendy McMaster emerged winners of the recent National Shotgun Champions (NSC) held at the Grand Port Royal Hotel.
The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to have DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett – their leading two pass-catchers – available against the New York Giants on Sunday.
The Week 8 matchup pits two of the NFL's surprise packages against one another, with the Giants 6-1 in the NFC East as the Seahawks lead the NFC West at 4-3 despite trading quarterback Russell Wilson.
Seattle have received a boost ahead of welcoming the Giants to Lumen Field, as both Metcalf and Lockett could feature.
Metcalf was carted off in last week's win against the Los Angeles Chargers with a patellar tendon injury, prompting fears he could miss an extended period.
But the wide receiver avoided surgery, and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported he would face the Giants, while NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said he has "a good chance".
Metcalf has caught only two touchdown passes this season after a career-high 12 last year, although his 418 receiving yards rank in the league's top 25.
He trails team-mate Lockett, who has 468 yards and two TDs and also should play on Sunday.
Lockett has been managing both hamstring and rib injuries, but Schefter expects him to play. Rapoport described him as "a game-time decision" but with "some optimism he goes".
Elsewhere in the NFL, early reporting on Sunday had Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams and Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons both on course to play despite previously being listed as questionable.
Adams, whose Raiders go to the New Orleans Saints, was ill, while Parsons has been dealing with a shoulder injury ahead of the Cowboys hosting the Chicago Bears.
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