Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was thrilled by the performance of his goaltender Linus Ullmark after 41 saves in a 6-2 Game 4 victory on the road against the Florida Panthers.
But it was not just Ullmark's shot-stopping that captured the affection of his coach, but also the fact that he tried to fight Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk.
The Bruins led 2-0 through a pair of power-play goals from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk, until Tkachuk snatched one back for the Panthers with four minutes remaining in the second period.
Tyler Bertuzzi put Boston ahead 3-1 early in the third, and after Sam Bennett's power-play goal threatened to put the contest back up for grabs, DeBrusk collected his second goal and a late double from Taylor Hall blew out the final score.
The late Bruins' onslaught was in the midst of a series of scuffles, and Ullmark challenged Tkachuk to a fight after being unimpressed by him instigating those.
The referees prevented the clash, and Ullmark was given a penalty for trying to escalate, but his coach did not mind one bit.
"I love it," coach Montgomery said of his goalie. "He's all-in.
"[The Panthers] came up with a really good push, [but Ullmark] allowed us to weather the storm and start going back at them.
"He's been doing that for us all year. It's amazing how calm I am when I see scrambles in front of his net, because he's calm."
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo added: "Tkachuk's kind of doing a lot of things to try and get under our skin, but for the most part we're doing a great job of keeping it between the whistles, and I'm proud of our group for doing so – but at times, you've got to show a little passion and push back."
DeBrusk scored his two goals despite suffering a nasty gash earlier in the contest from a puck to the side of the head, but he said it only helped to wake him up.
"Dusty, one of our trainers, kind of freaked out a little bit because there was a lot of blood," he said. "I thought it was the ear, but it was a little bit higher than that – it kind of woke me up honestly."
The win gives the Bruins – who set the NHL record with 65 wins this regular season – a 3-1 lead in the series, with the series heading back to Boston for Game 5.
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau revealed Julius Randle is still dealing with the ankle sprain he sustained last month.
Randle sat out the fourth quarter, scoring only seven points from 27 minutes on three-of-10 shooting, as the Knicks won 102-93 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday to go 3-1 up in their first-round playoffs series.
The Knicks power forward sprained his ankle on March 29 against the Miami Heat and missed the final fortnight of the regular season, before returning for this series, but is still finding his rhythm according to Thibodeau.
"The thing is, he had to work around the clock to get back," Thibodeau said. "That's what I love about Julius. He gives you everything that he has.
"There's 77 games, he sprains his ankle and then he works like crazy to get back, you know how important he is to the team, but to get back, to get ready to play - our medical people did a great job, but that's all him.
"He was working around the clock on that, he still is. That's the challenge that we have and that's what I respect about him. And we just got to get ready for our next game."
Randle is averaging 14.8, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists during the four games in the series, with the next game on Wednesday in Cleveland.
"Julius is our horse," Thibodeau added. "He's given us everything that he has. A lot of guys probably wouldn't even be playing, so I knew that with the quick turnaround, probably impact him more than most players.
"He was out an extended amount of time. So we got multiple days here before the next game, he'll get a chance to get some recovery time."
Jalen Brunson, who insisted the series was "not over", scored a game-high 29 points, making five-of-nine triples with six rebounds and six assists for the Knicks, while R.J. Barrett added 26 points.
Cavs' All-Star Donovan Mitchell was kept to 11 points on five-of-18 shooting, while Darius Garland tried hard with 23 points and 10 assists.
"This is not over with," Mitchell said. "The way we lost sucks. We can't hang our heads and ultimately give up. We're not that type of group. Like I said, we'll be ready for Game 5."
Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks accused the media of painting him as a "villain", leading to the decision to eject him for a flagrant 2 foul in Saturday's 111-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brooks was kicked from the game early in the third quarter after his left hand struck LeBron James' groin. The incident came following trash talk from Brooks directed at James, who he called "old" after Game 2.
The Grizzlies forward, who dodged reporters after Saturday's game, claimed the incident was an accident when he spoke on Sunday, before claiming his reputation had been affected by the media's portrayal of him, factoring into the officials' decision to eject him from Game 3.
"The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me," said Brooks, who has been ejected from games three times this season.
"So now you think I intended to hit LeBron James in the nuts. I'm playing basketball. I'm a basketball player.
"So if I intended – and that's whatever is in the flagrant 2 category – if you think I did that, that means you think I'm that type of person.
"I've been dealing with this [for] two years now. It is what it is. The fans can talk s***, whatever they want to. It doesn't matter to me.
"I'm going to keep playing my game and get better and better each and every day and as long as my career goes."
It has been widely reported that Brooks will be free to play in Game 4, avoiding any suspension for the flagrant 2 foul.
"I knew I wasn't going to be [suspended]," Brooks said. "They can't dictate this series like that.
"[Referee] Marc [Davis] probably had to call that 'cause of what happened [in Game 3] with James Harden, and that's just unfair. I get penalised, and I can't help my team try to make a comeback in the second half."
James got the last laugh against the Grizzlies in Saturday's game, having refused to be drawn into Brooks' narrative in the lead-up, scoring 25 points with nine rebounds in the Lakers' win.
Despite that, Brooks did not regret his provocation, or "poking bears" as he called it.
"Am I saying anything that's not facts?" Brooks said.
Superstar duo Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout made their presence felt on Sunday as they hit back-to-back home runs in the Los Angeles Angels' 4-3 home win against the Kansas City Royals.
Despite coming into the contest with the second-worst record in the majors (4-16), the Royals struck first through an opening-inning home run from young outfielder M.J. Melendez.
The Angels tied things up before the end of the first inning after Trout's double put Taylor Ward on third base, setting up Ohtani for the sacrifice fly.
Neither team scored in the next four frames as Angels starter Reid Detmers and Royals pitcher Jordan Lyles kept things tight, but the runs started to flow again in the sixth.
Vinnie Pasquantino gave Kansas City a 2-1 lead with his solo home run, signalling the end of Detmers' day, before Lyles had a rotten finish to his six innings.
Lyles threw a total of nine pitches in the sixth. The very first was hit 376 feet to left-field by lead-off batter Ward, before Trout followed with a 389-foot blast to center field three pitches later. Ohtani made it three in a row five pitches after that, launching a curveball 415 feet to center for the biggest of the bunch.
Top Royals youngster Bobby Witt Jr tried to drag his side back into it with his own solo homer an inning later, but Carlos Estevez was able to secure his third save of the season to pull the Angels' record even at 11-11.
It was the fifth home run of the season for both Ohtani and Trout, leaving them tied for 17th on the major league leaderboard.
Gausman guts the Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman pitched his best start of the young season in a 5-1 road victory over the New York Yankees.
Gausman made it through seven complete innings in 103 pitches, allowing only three hits and no walks to go with 11 strikeouts. The Yankees' only run would come from a consolation solo shot from Anthony Rizzo in the ninth inning.
For the Blue Jays, 24-year-old franchise star Vladimir Guerrero Jr connected on his fifth home run of the season, opening the scoring with a two-run bomb in the sixth inning. His batting average of .341 is eighth-highest in the majors, and his 29 total hits is tied for the sixth-most.
Yoshida stars for the Red Sox
AL Rookie of the Year contender and top international signing from the offseason Masataka Yoshida was the star of the show in the Boston Red Sox's 12-5 come-from-behind victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.
After signing a five-year, $90million free agent deal to come over from Japan's Orix Buffaloes, the 29-year-old Yoshida had his first game-changing performance for his new team, becoming the first Red Sox player since David Ortiz in 2008 to hit two home runs in the same inning.
The left-fielder, who starred for Japan in March's World Baseball Classic, hit a solo home run early in the eighth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, and eight batters later he stepped up again and hit a 407-foot grand slam to make it 12-4. Brewers third baseman Brian Anderson also hit two home runs of his own.
Victor Oladipo will miss the remainder of the playoffs after the Miami Heat announced he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in Saturday's 121-99 Game 3 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat on Saturday claimed a surprise 2-1 lead in their first-round series against the Eastern Conference top seed, but the victory was soured by Oladipo's exit with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Oladipo went down on a drive to the bucket following a foul from Bobby Portis, immediately clutching his left knee with an ominous look on his face, before being assisted off the court, sparking major fears for the injury-cursed guard.
"An MRI has revealed that Victor Oladipo suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. He will miss the remainder of the postseason," the Heat announced on Sunday.
The blow comes after Oladipo only played 79 games across the previous three seasons due to a run of injuries.
Oladipo played 42 regular season games this season, averaging 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
He joins Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro on the sidelines after he broke his right hand in Game 1, ruling him out of the series.
Heat star Jimmy Butler had an injury scare in Game 3, sitting out the last quarter with a bruised glute, but head coach Erik Spoelstra declared he should be available for Game 4 in Miami on Monday.
Davis Riley and Nick Hardy earned their first PGA Tour wins on Sunday by securing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a tournament-record score of 30 under par.
The American duo shot scores of 64 and 63 in their four-ball rounds on Thursday and Saturday, and they also excelled in the foursomes format, posting 66 on Friday before closing with a seven-under 65.
With five birdies from their last eight holes, Hardy and Riley broke two strokes clear of the chasing pack, eclipsing the scoring record of 29 under set by the team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele just last year.
For their efforts, Hardy and Riley earned $1.24million each, along with a massive jump into the top 40 of the FedExCup rankings.
Two strokes behind in outright second place was the Canadian team of Adam Hadwin with Nick Taylor, who posted a final-round 63 to tie the tournament's foursomes scoring record, which Cantlay and Schauffele set on Friday.
Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler enjoyed an outright third finish at 27 under, while defending champions Cantlay and Schauffele were joined in fourth at 26 under by Matthew NeSmith with Taylor Moore.
The team of Keith Mitchell with Im Sung-jae came into Sunday's play at 25 under and finished the same way, blowing a golden opportunity to threaten the leaders, while the impressive young South Korean duo of Tim Kim and Kim Si-woo banked a top-10 finish at 23 under.
Iga Swiatek is delighted by the consistency levels she is demonstrating after completing a successful defence of her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title on Sunday.
The world number one overcame Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-4 to become the first back-to-back winner of the Stuttgart crown since Angelique Kerber (2015 and 2016).
Swiatek, who was appearing in her first tournament after a rib injury, claimed her second silverware of the season, in which she also completed a successful title defence in Doha.
The Pole has plenty of ranking points to defend this term having won eight titles during a dominant 2022 campaign.
Swiatek was also a finalist in Dubai and, despite a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, she is pleasantly surprised to have started 2023 in a similar vein of form.
"Honestly, the beginning of the season was so tough that I'm happy to be in that place now," Swiatek said during her post-match press conference.
"I just hope I'm going to continue having that good mindset without looking at all this stuff [defending points]. I was able to do that here. I really like playing on clay, so I just hope I'm going focus on just playing.
"I'm just pretty proud of my consistency, because when I was consistent on another level, it was nice, but this level, it's even over my expectations.
"Last year was really, really tough, and I felt like this season may be tough because of what people are saying and expectations from the outside. Also, I knew how it is to win these tournaments in a row.
"Now, I feel like I just can use my experience a little bit more. I'm just happy that I'm world number one for more than a year, and it's an exciting time."
Carlos Alcaraz eased to another win over Stefanos Tsitsipas to take the Barcelona Open title again on Sunday.
Alcaraz has never lost to Tsitsipas and maintained that record to defend his crown in Catalonia.
A battle between the top seeds briefly threatened to be a closely contested affair, but Alcaraz soon took control, with his 6-3 6-4 win wrapped up in an hour and 20 minutes.
It made for a successful start to the European clay season a month out from the French Open, while Tsitsipas falls to a miserable 0-10 career record in ATP 500 finals.
Tsitsipas broke first, leading 2-1 early in the opener, yet he did not forge another break point across the rest of the match.
Alcaraz was quickly back on terms and dominated his next two service games, creating the opportunity to apply pressure to the Tsitsipas serve.
That paid off with a decisive break, allowing Alcaraz to take his second set point.
A slightly more measured second set followed, but it again went the way of Alcaraz, breaking at the second attempt for a 3-2 lead to which Tsitsipas could not respond.
Holger Rune defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the BMW Open final for the second straight year but had to do things the hard way this time.
The top seed in 2023, Rune won his first career title at this event last year, albeit only after Van de Zandschulp retired from the final with chest pains.
It was "probably the worst way to win a final", Rune said back then, so Sunday's 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-3) victory would have felt especially sweet.
Van de Zandschulp's only career final appearances have been in Munich, meaning he is still waiting for a first title. That wait should have ended here.
Rune took the opening set, breaking immediately, but the fourth seed roared back in the second to tee up a decider.
Momentum was with Van de Zandschulp, who broke twice and forged a pair of match points.
Both were squandered, however, and Rune recovered to tie the set, then did so again when Van de Zandschulp broke into the lead once more and created two more match points.
That meant a tie-break, in which Rune swiftly gained control and held off the giant Dutchman for a hard-earned win.
Lucas Herbert was "shaking" prior to sinking the winning putt on the second playoff hole against Aaron Cockerill to win the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan.
The Australian was tied with his Canadian rival at 15 under par for the tournament after the regulation holes, Herbert having missed a 20-footer for birdie at the last.
Herbert, who had travel issues and arrived late into Japan, missed his birdie attempt at the first extra hole, where Cockerill agonisingly lipped out.
He then found the trees off the tee but recovered brilliantly to make birdie and take home a third DP World Tour title.
"It's pretty special. I got pretty lucky over there on the right to get a good lie after we dropped it," Herbert said.
"Nick [caddie Nick Pugh] gave me the number and it was basically perfect. It was exactly what you'd want off that lie.
"So it was good to hit a good shot in there. And then my hand was shaking all over the place just to get the putt started on line, and to have it fall in was pretty cool."
Calum Hill was third at 14 under, one clear of fellow Scotsman Grant Forrest and home favourite Hiroshi Iwata
Iga Swiatek scooped her 13th career title with a statement victory against Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday's Stuttgart Open final.
The world number one has seen her dominance take a dip this season, with Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina emerging as serious candidates to displace her at the top of the women's game.
However, Swiatek is the queen on clay and illustrated her prowess with a 6-3 6-4 win at the tournament that rewards its champion not only with a cheque for $120,150 and trophy, but also a Porsche.
This success made Swiatek the first player to defend the Stuttgart title since Angelique Kerber's back-to-back 2015 and 2016 triumphs, and it came in her first tournament back after a rib injury.
The 21-year-old Polish player entered the title match having said she and Ons Jabeur are the tour's best players on clay, and that put her there to be shot at by Australian Open winner Sabalenka, who has climbed to second place in the rankings.
This was the first time a tour-level final has featured the top two women in the world rankings since the 2018 Australian Open final, when Simona Halep beat Caroline Wozniacki.
It was also a repeat of last year's Stuttgart final that Swiatek won comprehensively, dropping only four games, amid a 37-match winning run that would bring her a second French Open title.
The traffic was not quite so one-way this time, but Swiatek was terrific and did not drop serve once.
For Sabalenka, the outcome meant a third consecutive defeat in Stuttgart title matches, having also lost in the 2021 showpiece to Ash Barty.
After Swiatek surged through the opener, she forced a break point at the start of the second set and a Sabalenka double fault handed over the advantage.
Unforced errors were costing the Belarusian, who could not capitalise on a break point in the fourth game of the second set, going on to fling a desperate forehand wide to hand over a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek took evasive action to avoid a fierce Sabalenka smash in the next game, after initially charging towards the net, but she remained firmly in charge.
The title was secured with a ruthless love game on serve, an outmanoeuvred Sabalenka left to watch her opponent drill away a backhand into an empty court.
Reflecting on her injury lay-off, Swiatek said: "It's been such an intense time in the last couple of weeks and tough decisions sometimes, but I'm so happy we're making the right decisions."
Sabalenka, who during the week made no secret of her eagerness to win the Porsche, said: "I'll keep coming back until I get the car."
Defending Suncorp Super League champions West Coast Fever suffered their first loss of the season, going down 64-63 to the Adelaide Thunderbirds at the RAC Arena on Saturday.
Led by the league’s leading scorer Jhaniele Fowler, who scored 51 goals from 53 attempts, the Fever outscored the Thunderbirds 20-17 and 15-14 over the first two quarters, respectively, to take a 35-31 lead into the half-time break.
Fowler has now scored 331 goals this season.
However, despite winning the third quarter 15-14, the Fever were unable to hold off the Thunderbirds, who stormed back to outscore the champions 19-13 in the final stanza to snatch victory. Eleanor Cardwell led the Thunderbirds scoring with 33 goals from 34 attempts but key to their victory was that she hit eight of her 14 super shots.
Wing Defence Latanya Wilson and Goal Keeper Shamera Sterling played key roles on the defensive side with nine intercepts between them. The much-anticipated battle between Jamaican teammates Fowler and Shamera Sterling proved decisive as the Goal Keeper, who had six deflections, made it difficult for Fever to connect into the circle and suffered their first loss of the season on home court.
Chris Paul said he has "never played with this much talent" after helping the Phoenix Suns to an imposing 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in their first-round playoff series.
The Suns are among the favourites to reach the Conference Finals from the West given a stacked roster that now includes Kevin Durant alongside Paul and Devin Booker.
Paul (19 points), Durant (31 points) and Booker (30 points) all contributed in Saturday's 112-100 victory, which leaves the Suns one win away from progressing.
At 37, Paul – who spent seven years at the Clippers – has been around the block but this crop of Phoenix stars is among the best he has seen assembled.
"I've never played with this much talent," said Paul, who drained 12 of his points in the fourth quarter.
"Where people are doubling off of me. I've never seen so many open shots.
"It's something that I'm getting used to. Trying to figure out when to pick your spots, when to be aggressive. We're figuring this thing out on the fly. I'm just happy that a few of them fell tonight."
The Suns were sloppy at the start of the second half, giving up seven straight points in the opening minute, leading to Paul aiming a few choice words at the team from the bench.
"I think the way the third quarter started, I was p*****. We all was," Paul added.
"We were on the bench sort of going at each other. But it's healthy. Just trying to get us going. I tried to get myself going defensively. The shots, they're going to come."
One potential concern is a lack of depth, with Durant (45), Booker (42) and Paul (38) racking up big minutes – indeed the former two players are clocking an average of 43 minutes in the playoffs.
But Durant gave short shrift to the idea of being overworked.
"How'd I look tonight?" Durant said. "I felt great. I missed a lot of time this season.
"I want to be out there every minute. I wish I could play 48 every game."
Durant also had high praise for Clippers star Russell Westbrook, who had a game-high 37 points.
Westbrook endured a tough spell at the Clippers' rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, but Durant said he is among the best in the business.
"People going to always criticise when you're successful and doing your thing for this long. Russ has been resilient his whole life. He comes to work, doesn't say much. Just come hoop," Durant added.
"When he retires, people are going to really tell the truth about his game. Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ. But the way he's been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is."
LeBron James said it was not about making a statement after helping the Los Angeles Lakers take a 2-1 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies following a flashpoint with Dillon Brooks.
A raucous sell-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena roared the Lakers onto a 111-101 victory in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series.
James had 25 points, while Anthony Davis had 31 and 17 rebounds in a game where the Lakers raced into a 35-9 first-quarter lead.
The Grizzlies saw Ja Morant put up 45 points after missing one game with a sore right hand and also had Brooks ejected 17 seconds into the third quarter for a flagrant foul when he struck James in the groin.
It did not take the officials long to toss Brooks from the game, but James said the focus was merely on getting the win on the board.
"I didn't make a statement," James said. "I've been doing this too long.
"I'm not making any statements. We had the opportunity to come home and play well on our home floor, and we did that. No statement was made.
"We just wanted to play well, and we got a win. I don't need to make statements."
Brooks had been taunted by the Lakers crowd all game and head coach Darvin Ham said the vociferous home support was crucial in their efforts.
"I thought our crowd was phenomenal," Ham said. "Really felt them in the building. Thank God we gave them something to cheer about, the way we came out."
While Brooks did not address the media, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins merely said of the incident: "Officials made a call."
Morant scored 22 consecutive points for the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter, while he also had 13 assists and nine rebounds. Ultimately, though, Memphis' lowest first-quarter return in franchise history proved too big an obstacle to overcome.
"I think we won by double digits in the last three quarters, so obviously that first quarter pretty much hurt us," Morant said.
"I feel pretty good. Obviously some stuff you've just got to play through and tolerate.
"In that fourth quarter, I was just trying to win the game. Got it going pretty good, making shots, and just couldn't get it over that hump."
The Miami Heat will wait on scan results on a worrying knee injury to Victor Oladipo that soured Saturday's 121-99 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their first round series.
Oladipo went down on a drive to the bucket following a foul from Bobby Portis with 3:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, immediately clutching his left knee with an ominous look on his face.
The injury-cursed Heat guard was eventually assisted off the court by Miami's coaching staff, including head coach Erik Spoelstra, with the home court crowd cheering him out.
"We'll just have to see," Spoelstra said. "I feel like throwing up right now, but I don't know what the prognosis is. I want to stay positive on this, and we'll just see what happens."
Oladipo was restricted to only eight games in the 2021-22 season due to injury and only 33 during the 2020-21 campaign across three teams.
The injury soured a win that saw the Eastern Conference eight seed go 2-1 up with home court advantage for Game 4 against the top-seeded Bucks.
"It was a great win, but when you see a player go down like that and particularly a player like Vic, who has gone through so much in the last three years - I don't know what it is right now, so I don't want to jump the gun on anything," Spoelstra said. "But that's definitely not a good feeling to see."
The Bucks-Heat series has been riddled with injuries, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (bruised lower back) and Tyler Herro (broken hand) both unavailable for Game 3.
The Heat's injury concerns got worse with top scorer Jimmy Butler taking a hard fall in the third quarter and exiting the game with a bruised glute after 30 points in 28 minutes.
"He went back to the locker room and said, 'Hey, just give me a couple minutes, I'll be ready to go,'" Spoelstra said.
"I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15, but the second unit all night long gave us a tremendous boost."
The Bucks missed MVP candidate Antetokounmpo, shooting 44.7 per cent from the field and gifting 18 turnovers, while Miami scored 46 points in the paint compared to Milwaukee's 36.
"We'll continue to monitor him through the day tomorrow, through the day the next day," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters pre-game about Antetokounmpo's status.
"He's not in a place where he can go, so we'll just continue to monitor and work with him and hope for the best."
Anthony Davis bounced back while LeBron James scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 2-1 first-round series lead with a 111-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
Ja Morant returned from a hand injury for the Grizzlies, scoring a game-high 45 points, including 22 in a row for his team in the fourth quarter at Crypto.com Arena.
But the damage was done early, as the Grizzlies shot three-of-25 in the first quarter as the Lakers raced to a 35-9 lead.
Dillon Brooks was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul early in the third quarter following a hit to James' midsection, following tension between the pair after the former's comments after Game 2.
James put that aside to score 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting with nine rebounds, while Davis scored a team-high 31 points with 17 rebounds and three blocks.
The Grizzlies scored the final 10 points of the second quarter to close to 53-37 at half-time but were not helped by Brooks' ejection with 11:43 left in the third.
The Lakers kept Memphis at arm's length for most of the game, although Morant's remarkable fourth-quarter scoring run offered hope, getting within 10 points after a three-pointer with 2:54 left.
Jaren Jackson Jr lost the battle against Davis, contributing 13 points with five rebounds while Desmond Bane was kept to 18 points on three-of-seven three-point shooting. Morant made six-of-10 three-pointers, with 13 assists and nine rebounds.
Heat upset Bucks but left with injury worries
The Miami Heat claimed a 2-1 series lead with a 121-99 victory over the Eastern Conference top seed Milwaukee Bucks who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a bruised lower back again.
But the excitement for the Heat was quelled by a worrying knee injury suffered late by Victor Oladipo, while Jimmy Butler battled a sore glute.
Butler top scored for Miami with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting in 28 minutes. Duncan Robinson, on his 29th birthday, added 20 points on five-of-six three-point shooting.
Milwaukee shot at 44.7 per cent from the field, giving up 18 turnovers. Khris Middleton top scored with 23 points and six assists but was guilty for five turnovers.
Nets swept again, Suns go 3-1 up
The Brooklyn Nets suffered a first-round series sweep for the second straight year after the Philadelphia 76ers triumphed 96-88 in Game 4 despite the absence of Joel Embiid.
Tobias Harris scored a game-high 25 points with 12 rebounds, while James Harden had 17 points on four-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds and 11 assists. Embiid was out due to sprained right knee.
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie managed a team-high 20 points and Nic Claxton had 19 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks.
The Phoenix Suns took a 3-1 lead in their series against the Los Angeles Clippers with a 112-100 win headlined by Kevin Durant's 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Devin Booker's 30 points.
Randy Arozarena was the hero as the Tampa Bay Rays set a major league record for scoring homers in each of their first 21 games in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Arozarena brought up the milestone with a two-run blast over left-center field in the first inning, before hitting a walkoff RBI single in the 10th.
The Rays, who started the season with 13 straight wins, improved their record to 18-3, marking the best start by any side in the majors since the New York Yankees in 2003.
Tampa Bay also broke the Seattle Mariners' 2019 record of homering in 20 straight games to start that season.
The game was in the balance after homers from Eloy Jimenez and Yasmani Grandal for the White Sox, before Arozarena singled to left for Diaz to score at the bottom of the fifth.
Gavin Sheets squared the game up with a homer to right field at the top of the eighth, before Arozarena settled the game.
Jimmy Lambert intentionally walked Wander Franco with two out and a runner on second, before Arozarena's first-pitch single to right field, driving in Vidal Brujan. Arozarena finished with four RBIs.
Shane McClanahan sent down 10 strikeouts across six innings, while White Sox starter Dylan Cease had five K's.
Garcia crushed three HRs in Rangers rout
Adolis Garcia blasted three home runs and eight RBIs in five innings as the Texas Rangers smoked the Oakland Athletics 18-3.
Garcia blasted a two-run 432-foot homer at the bottom of the first, repeating the dose in the third inning with a 419-foot bomb over center.
The Rangers outfielder made it 13-2 at the bottom of the fifth with 401-feet blast, before a two-run double in the seventh capped a remarkable showing, taking his season tally to seven homers and 28 RBIs.
Garcia went five-for-four, becoming the third player since 1901 with at least 16 total bases, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs in a single game.
Tatis homers for first time since 2021
Fernando Tatis Jr blasted his first home run since returning from an 80-game drug suspension as the San Diego Padres won 5-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Tatis, in his third game back since the suspension elapsed, crushed a 374-foot homer over left field for his first blast since 2021. The Padres outfielder led the majors for homers in 2021, with 42.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove earned his first win of the season, following a toe injury sustained in the weight room during spring training, striking out six, giving up three runs on seven hits.
The Winnipeg Jets have been dealt a major blow with Josh Morrissey ruled out of the rest of their Stanley Cup first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights after Saturday's 5-4 double overtime loss.
Morrissey has had a career-best season, with 76 points in 78 games while averaging a team-high 24:14 per game, but collided knee on knee with Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud after four minutes in Saturday's game.
The Jets' All-Star defenseman favoured his right leg following the incident and exited down the tunnel and did not return.
Jets coach Rick Bowness confirmed the injury after the thrilling loss where Winnipeg had rallied back from 4-1 down, only to lose in OT, with VGK opening up a 2-1 series lead.
"It was very unfortunate to lose Morrissey, he's got a lower body [injury] and he's done for the series," he said.
"We've played all year long with a lot of injuries, every team does. You have the next man up. He's a top five D in this league right now. He plays important minutes. He drives the offense so he's a big hole.
"We played the rest of the game without him. We scored four. We're going to have the play the rest of the seirs without him because this series is far from over."
Adam Lowry had tied the game with 21.9 seconds left in regulation, capping the Jets' three-goal third period comeback, after goals from Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele.
But Michael Amadio scored at 3:40 of the second overtime to earn the Golden Knights a crucial road win.
Bowness added: "That was a hell of a hockey game. The crowd was fantastic. The guys laid it all out on the line. They played their hearts out.
"We're down three going into the third and we kept fighting. There's no quitting in this group."
Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy praised his experienced side for clinching victory after letting slip their three-goal lead.
"You shouldn’t give up a lead when you have a veteran group, you should find a way to get it to the finish line," he said.
"We're also a veteran group who can put it behind us. If you've followed our team all year, we've found different ways to win."
On Morrissey's injury, Cassidy added: "Obviously that’s a heavy minute, highly productive player that they'll miss. Their depth will have to come through for them.
"It's a tough break in the playoffs to lose a guy like that but it won't change how we're going to play."
Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler retained their lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a third-round 62 in Saturday's four-ball.
The duo carded a 10-under 62 to be 26-under overall heading into the final day, leading by one stroke from Keith Mitchell and Sung-jae Im at TPC Louisiana.
The three teams are tied for third at 23-under overall, in Vincent Norrman and Matthias Schwab, Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, and Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.
Clark and Hossler produced a bogey-free round with 10 birdies, including three in a row to start the back nine.
Clark birdied the 18th to ensure their solo lead from Mitchell and Im, who also went without a bogey for the round with the South Korean providing six front-nine birdies.
Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick also managed a third-round 62 to be 21-under overall, tied for seventh alongside two other teams.
Reigning champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay could only manage a six-under 66 on Saturday to slip down the leaderboard at 20-under overall.
Charley Hoffman, playing alongside Nick Watney, provided a highlight with a hole-in-one on the par-three ninth hole. The duo are back at 17-under overall.
The stroke play tournament concludes with the alternate shot format on Sunday.
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